Do you need to take a B vitamin?

Learn Functional Medicine for Hashimoto's

Could Toxins be causing your symptoms?

Are you one of the millions of individuals suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)? Do you find yourself constantly searching for...

Many people have been seeing functional medical care instead of the traditional medical care for their health conditions. A common example we see at pure health is when patients have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. These symptoms can include hair loss, feeling cold, fatigue, weight gain forgetfulness or brain fog. If you haven't been to a traditional medical doctor for this yet lets, explain what seems to happen as my patients explain it. They tell the doctor they hav

Did you try and fix your gut, but you didn’t get any results, or were the results short lived? That could be because you have biofilms in your GI tract. What is a Biofilm and are they making you sick? A Biofilm is an extracellular polymorphic matrix of gel-like consistency that some bacteria/fungi can produce. It provides protection and a perfect inhabitable environment for bacteria and fungus. Biofilms make the infectious bacteria, antibiotic or antimicrobial resistant to t

You should be searching for a Functional Medicine doctor when you are trying to find the causes of any symptoms you are having that your body is experiencing. You see, a symptom is nothing more than your body’s alarm that something is going wrong. When you seek the traditional allopathic medical system, the system is set up to treat the symptoms solely with medication. For example, if you have a cough, you’re given a cough suppressant. They won’t find what is causing the co

Histamine intolerance occurs when there is a buildup of histamine in the body. Many foods contain high histamine levels, and various health conditions and medications can contribute to an intolerance (See below for a list of common symptoms). Histamine is a chemical that sends messages to the brain, signals the release of stomach acid for digestion, and is released as part of the immune system's response to an injury or allergic reaction. An intolerance to this chemical happe

You probably already know what Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is and how it can help, If not, you can go to BHT Hormone Therapy for more information. For this article, we will answer what the best form of hormone replacement therapy is. But first, let's begin with the different forms of hormone replacements. HRT can be administered via different routes, including orally, transdermal creams (through the skin), intravaginally, injections, and pellets. Traditionally the mo

At Pure Health where Functional Medicine comes first, we have chosen to partner with Biote , a biotechnology company who specializes in manufacturing and developing of Bioidentical Hormones. They have a proprietary pelleting system that provide the highest standard and purest bioidentical hormone supplementation, pellet dosing and administration in the industry. Pure health has been testing hormones for over 8 years and while some people have healthy levels there are those

Why is nutrient testing so important? Many people assume that if they eat relatively healthy or take a daily multivitamin, their nutritional needs are covered. Unfortunately, that assumption is often incorrect. Even individuals who follow a balanced diet may still suffer from micronutrient deficiencies that impact their energy, immune function, brain health, and overall well-being. This is why micronutrient testing is so important it has become one of the most valuable tools

Certain vitamin deficiencies are liked to stroke let's dive in! This study especially hits home for me and not just cause it's a Canadian study :) but because I am heterogyguous for a genetic mutation in the MTHFR gene. This makes me 30-40% less efficient at methylating . The study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal revealed that people low in vitamin B12 had an increase risk of a fatal heart attack and stroke. The study focused on the relationship between

Fifty-six patients with hypercholesterolemia were divided into two groups – half receiving 2000 IU/ day of vitamin D and half receiving a placebo for six months. In the supplemented group, triglycerides were decreased by 28 mg/dL more than in the placebo group. The result was even more dramatic in patients whose vitamin D levels were lower than 30ng/mL at baseline (commonly accepted as a deficient level). In these deficient patients, the difference in reduced triglycerides

A research review, published in the January 2014 issue of Nutrition Reviews, found that four probiotic strains—Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242, Enterococcus faecium, and the combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12—significantly lowered LDL and total cholesterol. In addition, two synbiotics, L. acidophilus CHO-220 plus inulin and L. acidophilus plus fructo-oligosaccharides, also decreased LDL and total cholesterol. In two multicenter st

Let's discuss the benefits of Activated charcoal, and we are not talking about cooking those summer steaks. Activated charcoal is a fine, porous carbon powder that supposedly binds to toxins in the gut and helps flush them out of your system. In fact, ER rooms have used activated charcoal for years in overdose and other toxicity cases. There are reasons to be cautious about using activated charcoal on a regular basis. In addition to possibly binding to toxins, it might also

Kimchi, a cabbage-based Korean staple, was recently hailed by Health magazine as one of the five healthiest foods in the world (along with yogurt, olive oil, soy and lentils). Cabbage contains a substance known as vitamin U, which has anti-ulcer properties. Cruciferous vegetables also contain compounds that increase glutathione production in the body. Simply put, glutathione is an antioxidant and is associated as an anti-aging nutrient. So, this is a GOOD THING :). As a note

News you may have learned is that elevated fibrinogen, hsCRP , a CT heart scan and homocysteine are among the many known risk factors for progressive heart disease. It now turns out that there is a blood test that is an even a better indicator than any of these, especially if they are all normal. The test is simple and inexpensive and readily available and reliably shows the level of cardiovascular risk you are at. For one, this test can show if you need bypass surgery or a

Phytosterols (Plant sterols) can stop your body from absorbing cholesterol. Eating foods daily that have just under a gram of phytosterols can lower your LDL. Adding phytosterols to your diet in a supplement form might lower your beta-carotene level, so make sure you are also eating more fruits and vegetables in your diet. The primary mechanism  is that phytosterols compete with cholesterol for absorption in the gut . Plant sterols have a chemical structure almost identical