Thrive MD Nutrition Blog
Over the years at Thrive MD Las Cruces, I have helped patients with symptoms including abdominal pain, fatigue, headaches, auto-immune illness, endometriosis, abdominal bloating, joint pain, chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea, depression, anxiety, eczema, and psoriasis. Patients find me, or are referred to me, often when they find a dead-end to relief of their symptoms. They are looking for solutions to their symptoms that continue, despite the best efforts of modern medicine.
Research has shown that the digestive system, where we receive our daily hydration and nutrition, is frequently where our problems start. We often refer to the digestive system as the gut – meaning the pathway starting in the mouth, passing through the esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines, and ending in the rectum. Please consider the following:
- 70% – 80% of our immune system is in our gut.
- The gut is our largest endocrine organ – hosting 30+ hormones and bioactive peptides.
- The gut is considered our second brain due to the nerves and neurotransmitters present in the gut and their connection to the brain.
Seeing these connections, it makes sense that changing what you eat, supplementing your body with nutrients it has been missing, and making additional lifestyle changes can help you feel better, and more control of your health.
My blog will highlight topics that can support you in your health journey.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions regarding my practice or would like to schedule an appointment.
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Inflammation
August – Inflammation We’ve heard inflammation is the root of all diseases. When it’s acute—aka your body’s response to an illness or injury—it can be a powerful healing mechanism. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation is linked to a wide range of diseases—from cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Inflammation has been found to play a contributing role in autoimmune conditions, where it both causes and results from ongoing immune dysregulation. Research published in Nature Medicine estimated that chronic inflammation contributes to up to 50% of all deaths worldwide through its role in chronic disease. Chronic low-grade inflammation also increases your rate of aging. As awareness inflammation and its negative impacts increases, people are no longer just managing symptoms. They want to manage their internal terrain. They’re looking into blood tests to measure their inflammation levels, choosing an anti-inflammatory diet and looking at ways to modify stress to lower inflammation. They’re turning to wearables to learn track metrics such as sleep, heart rate variability, and recovery scores which are data points that can influence inflammation levels. It is impowering to understand present health issues and the steps to take to improve those health concerns. Lowering inflammation you see your health improve physically
Annual Bloodwork
July – Annual Bloodwork Routine physicals typically include a basic metabolic panel, vitamin D levels, and annual cholesterol check. But these labs only tell a part of the picture when it comes to health. As the standard blood panel begins to feel outdated, people are seeking advanced or specialty blood tests that dig deeper, looking at everything from insulin resistance and inflammation to hormone balance, metabolomics, and even genetic risk. Advanced or specialty bloodwork can reveal potential issues before symptoms show up—whether that’s subtle insulin resistance, inflammation linked to cardiovascular risk, or hormonal shifts that can affect metabolism and mood. Digging deeper with labs may help enable people to make shifts in their diet and lifestyle to prioritize their health. These tests also make it easier to track progress over time and see how those changes are paying off. Are you curious about changes in your own body – that might show up in annual bloodwork? Ask your primary care doctor, or schedule here at Thrive MD. When labs indicate underlying health issues, addressing those issues early will lead to better outcomes…better health.
Choosing a Diet
June – Choosing a Diet Changing our diet, can change how we feel…for the better. But what diet is best. You hear the trends…paleo, vegan, ketogenic, vegetarian. How do you know what is best for you? No single diet is “best” for everyone; for long‑term health and adherence, most evidence favors well‑planned plant‑forward eating (vegetarian or near‑vegetarian), while strict paleo and ketogenic patterns tend to be more limited, harder to maintain, and sometimes riskier if poorly designed. Across large comparative studies, diets higher in minimally processed plant foods and lower in red/processed meat and refined carbs consistently show better cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes. Plant‑based patterns (vegan and vegetarian) are associated with lower risks of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers when well planned and not overly processed. Ketogenic diets can improve weight, triglycerides, and glycemic control in the short term, but may increase LDL cholesterol and are not well studied for decades‑long use in the general population. Paleo diets can lead to weight loss and better glycemic control but often raise saturated fat intake and exclude legumes and whole grains that are strongly linked to reduced chronic disease risk. To feel your best, and be in
Sleep
May – Sleep Life seems to get busier every year. To adjust, we tend to cut back on sleep, in order to get everything done. The trade off however, may not be worth it. Getting enough quality sleep improves brain function, emotional balance, physical health, and long‑term disease risk. Sleep strengthens memory, learning, and problem‑solving by consolidating information and clearing metabolic waste from the brain. Adequate sleep improves attention, reaction time, and work or school performance, while lack of sleep impairs judgment and productivity. Adults who routinely sleep well think more clearly, feel more stable emotionally. Those who get a good night’s sleep get sick less often and have lower rates of conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Sufficient sleep helps the immune system detect and remember pathogens, so you get sick less often and respond better to vaccines. Ongoing sleep loss increases susceptibility to infections like colds and other viruses. Quality sleep lowers nighttime blood pressure and inflammation, supporting heart health and reducing risk of hypertension, heart attack, and stroke. Deep sleep supports insulin sensitivity and appetite hormones, helping with blood sugar control and healthy weight maintenance, and lowering risk of type 2 diabetes. Most adults feel best with
Where Do You Start to Improve Your Health
April – Where Do You Start to Improve Your Health Better health is not a destination, it’s a path. That path begins in different places for everyone. The best place to start if you want to make a concerted effort at improving your health is with a couple of very small, doable changes in the core pillars of health: how you eat, how much you move, how you sleep, and how you manage stress and connection. Trying to overhaul everything at once backfires; start with small, sustainable changes and build from there. A good rule is: choose one change that feels almost “too easy,” do it daily for 2–4 weeks, then add another. Here is an example: Physical Activity: Add a 10–15-minute walk most days. Sleep: Go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Diet: Add one serving of vegetables to lunch or dinner. Stress/Connection: Take 3–5 slow breaths when you feel stressed.
Stress
March – Stress Stress. It is a part of our daily lives. While some stress is good, a good bit of our daily stress has a very negative impact on our health. Long-term stress raises the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, depression, and other health problems. Reducing stress can improve sleep, mood, energy, focus, relationships, and even help with weight control and muscle tension. Where do you start? Everyone has different ways they prefer to manage their stress. Slow deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or a brief walk to calm the nervous system and lower stress hormones. Practices like yoga, stretching, or gentle movement combine physical activity with relaxation and are effective stress reliever These are considered body-based tools. Mindfulness or meditation helps shift attention to the present and reduces rumination, worry, and emotional reactivity. Bringing mindfulness into your daily routine, helps you to navigate very stressful situations, with calm and ease. Lifestyle tools also have a big impact on our stress. Regular sleep, a balanced diet, limited alcohol, physical activity, and time for hobbies and social connection all buffer stress. If you are feeling stressed, see if you can incorporate several of these tools into your