The Aesthetics Advisor

STORY AT-A-GLANCE Cortisol is primarily a rescue hormone. It's a glucocorticoid, so it increases your glucose level by shredding your muscle protein to produce glucose. Cortisol also accelerates the aging process and is implicated in most chronic diseases. It also uses your brain tissue to use amino acids to make glucose which contributes to brain atrophy and subsequent depression Your mitochondria can only burn one fuel at a time — either fat or glucose — and there’s a stealth switch that controls which of these fuels your mitochondria will burn. This switch is known as the Randle cycle Ideally, you want to metabolize (burn) glucose in your mitochondria, as this only generates 0.1% reactive oxygen species (ROS). This route also generates energy most efficiently, creating 36 to 38 adenosine triphosphates (ATP) for every molecule of glucose that is metabolized. For this to occur, you need to consume less than 30% of your calories as fat When you consume significantly more than 30% f...

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the best diet plans . This year marks the seventh consecutive year that the Mediterranean diet has been ranked the best diet overall. The Mediterranean diet is a healthy departure from our typical modern diet. Ranked at No. 2 is the DASH diet. The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a flexible, balanced and heart-healthy eating plan promoted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to do exactly that: to stop (or prevent) hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure. The DASH diet is also one of U.S. News & World Report's Best Diets of 2024. Ranked at No. 3 is the MIND diet. The MIND diet, which stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, takes two proven diets – DASH and Mediterranean – and zeroes in on the foods that improve brain health to potentially lower your risk of mental decline. Daily Mediterranean Diet Composition The typical diet includes: Ca...

Digestive problems are incredibly common. According to a 2022 survey 1   by the American Gastroenterological Association, some 60 million to 70 million Americans suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) disease and nearly 40% stopped routine activities due to bowel problems in the previous year. Data (2) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases confirm these sad statistics. Chronic constipation, for example, affects an estimated 63 million Americans, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects about 20% of the population. Proper digestion is important because it breaks down food into nutrients your body can use for energy, growth and repair. Poor digestion, therefore, can have a serious impact on your health, especially in the long term, as your metabolism and energy production become impaired. Let me review a few important fundamentals for optimizing your digestion. Fundamentals: Chew Your Food Research 3  on gut transit tim...