Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

When you think about liver disease, what cause pops into your mind? Alcohol? Viral hepatitis? Drugs? Genetic? Autoimmune? While all of these can cause liver disease, the most common liver disease in America and the world over is not caused by any of these agents. Rather, the most common cause of liver disease affecting us has only been around for the past few decades and it is increasing by the millions annually. This liver disease is known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a disease that is caused by the conversion of fructose to triglyceride in the liver and leads to deposition of fat in the liver and abdomen. This then causes the liver to get inflamed and begin to [more]

Obesity Reversal: Eliminating "Watery Fruits and Vegetables"

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and is now spreading to much of the world as well. Obesity is nothing new however. It just affects so many more people than ever before. I just finished reading a fun book written in the 1850's by a French Doctor, Francois Dancel. My book was translated into English in 1973. It was titled: Obesity, or Excessive Corpulence: The Various Causes and the Rational Means of Cure. He was a prominent Parisian Physician during the middle of the nineteenth century and found a rational cure for the obesity problem affecting the upper class people of France in his hay day as a physician. It was assumed that the logical way to reverse obesity at that [more]

Celiac Disease: More of the Story.

Celiac Disease When I wrote The Lyons Lifestyle, I mentioned that I had a much larger article than I wrote about in the book. This is the additional information not included in the book. I hope this gives you a better understanding about gluten and celiac disease. Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic medical condition wherein a person develops an inflammatory immune reaction to the storage protein components (collectively called gluten) found most commonly in wheat, barley and rye. This immunologic reaction leads to damage to the intestinal lining in the first part of the small intestine known as the duodenum. In severe cases, the inflammation can be more extensive. If gluten is removed from the diet, a marked improvement in the damage [more]

"Doctor, Why is My Lab Test Abnormal?"

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a blood test to check your omega-3/Omega-6 status. The beauty of this test is that it allows me to counsel my patients concerning dietary changes required to balance their omega fat intake. Overwhelming data now show that we, as a nation, are omega-3 deficient while consuming massive quantities of omega-6 fat in the Western diet. The FDA recommends that we consume 12-20 grams of omega-6 fat; at the same time, they do not have any recommendations concerning the consumption of omega-3 fats. Numerous studies reveal that without a balance of these two fats, we are in a chronic state of inflammation due to the excess omega-6 fats. I wrote a book, 42 [more]

CONTINUING EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENT

I have spoken to many of you about this fall event and told you I would post an announcement when class starts; so here it is. I have been asked to teach a class at Tacoma Community College, Gig Harbor, WA campus beginning on October 10, 2017. The class will be a series of one hour talks commencing that evening (Tuesday) from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. The course will cover the following: 1) An Historical Perspective of Nutrition in America; 2) Omega-6/Trans Fats; 3) Omega-3 Fats; 4) Fructose and Metabolic Syndrome; 5) Carbohydrate Metabolism and It's Consequences on our Health and 6) How to Establish and Maintain Nutritional Health. I have been studying various aspects of these topics for a [more]

COCONUT OIL: SCIENCE vs. "FAKE NEWS"

A recent article posted on line by CNN Health news (cnn.com; Aug 18, 2017 by Lisa Drayer) suggests that coconut oil is not healthy for people to consume as it raises LDL cholesterol (considered by the American Heart Association as a risk factor for heart disease) and the author states that "for day-to-day use, vegetable oils such as olive, canola or soybean oil, along with nuts and seeds, should be your primary fats." I normally do not comment on "fake news" such as this but, as a scientist and physician, I felt compelled to help educate you on the facts surrounding coconut oil and saturated fat. First of all, let's talk about some of the most important risk factors concerning heart disease. Diabetes, elevated [more]