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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing ChatGPT and what it means for health practitioners. (In case you missed it, you can catch up here and here.)

• Should it be used and if so, in what context?
• Is it cheating?
• What are the deeper implications of its use?

We’ve gotten quite a few responses from others on the use of ChatGPT. And honestly, it’s a mixed bag. Some practitioners are all for it, they see it as another helpful piece of technology and are excited about its utility. We were surprised to realize; this was the majority opinion.

We’ve kept this series mindfully neutral so far but, that neutrality ends now.

There are at least 20 different ways to explain why using ChatGPT deserves a much deeper level of consideration than it’s being given but in the interest of time we’ve settled on an analogy that hopefully will speak to you, as a health and wellness professional.

ChatGPT is to the health practitioner what fast...

In case you missed it, we've been taking a look at what ChatGPT means for health professionals.  Last week, we shared what happened when we used it to write a sample health protocol.

Today we're exploring our next big question...What do health professionals need to consider before using ChatGPT?

Before diving into that, let’s briefly talk bandwagons.

We’ve always been passionate about not jumping on bandwagons right away. Instead, our modus operandi is to deeply consider all sides of something before taking action on it (hence, this article series). 

For us, ChatGPT is another shiny bandwagon with a loud, musical horn, enticing us all to come aboard.

Once again, we’re all faced with a profound decision – do we jump on it, or not? 

And if we do, where will it take us?

Before making a quick judgment on this, we’re inviting you to explore it on a deeper, fundamental level, with considerations such...

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it 1000 times – ChatGPT.

Our teenage son was the first to bring it to our attention. Interestingly, he was also the first to tell us how “stupid it was that people couldn’t write their own stuff” (his words, not ours).

Then, a friend of ours, who is going back to college in her 40s mentioned it. She has been struggling to balance work, school, and life and was amazed that “this thing could write her papers for her”.

Most recently, a practitioner we know was working on writing content for her website and was beyond thrilled, calling it "a Godsend!”

Now, if you know us at all, you might be able to guess how we might feel about something like ChatGPT.

But if we know you at all, you might be curious about it.

Should health professionals use it? If so, in what context – in social media posts, articles, or patient protocols?

And true to form, we’ve done some investigative...

Now that it is a new year, people are talking about resolutions again. And while this is a fun tradition, we all know how dismal the statistics are in achieving them.

Maybe most resolutions fail because they aren’t addressing the real issue in the first place.

So, this year, instead of talking about resolutions, let’s talk ruts. 

A rut is something that keeps you going in a certain direction because you've gone down that path so many times before. It gets so deep that, no matter how much you wiggle the steering, you can't seem to get out of it. The worst part? Many times, we are not even aware we’re in a rut.

A rut, to put it in functional medicine terms, is the “root cause” of why people want to make a New Year’s resolution in the first place.

While ruts come in many forms, they all keep us stuck in a spot where we really don’t want to be.

For patients, a rut might be related to their health – perhaps they're too busy to make...

Have you ever wondered about the accuracy of micronutrient testing? 

You know, the laboratory tests that evaluate a patient’s vitamin and mineral status. 

They sound incredible, but are they too good to be true? 

We investigated the accuracy of micronutrient testing and found some interesting information. 

In this article, we're going to focus on what we found on one of the more well-studied and popular micronutrients in the Functional and Nutritional Medicine industry - magnesium.

But first, let’s cover some basics.

What Are Micronutrients?

Quite simply, the word micronutrient refers to all the vitamins and minerals necessary for the human body to function properly. Everything from all the B-vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamins D, E, and K, as well as the minerals calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, selenium, molybdenum, and even boron. Each of those is a micronutrient.  Micro means small, and nutrient is something...

SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, is a diagnosis that has gained a lot of attention and recognition in the past decade or so. Before that, few people had ever heard about it, but now all of a sudden, practitioners are testing for it and patients think they have it.

Could SIBO be the next candida, gluten sensitivity, or adrenal fatigue – everyone has it, it’s difficult to treat, and is the cause of just about everything

What Is SIBO

Simply put, SIBO is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestines. By itself, this might be relatively insignificant, but higher amounts of bacteria, or certain types of bacteria, can contribute to significant health issues such as anemia, edema, polyneuropathy, and more. These are a result of issues with digestion and absorption of macro and micronutrients such as fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals.  

What Causes SIBO

SIBO is essentially caused by two different things – small intestine stasis, or a...

Is Protein Important?  

Most people equate protein with muscle.  

But the amino acids from protein, which means “first” or “primary” by the way, are responsible for helping us build the hundreds of thousands of proteins our body needs for optimal health. 

Things like neurotransmitters, channels, receptors, hormones, immune system proteins – they are all made from amino acids, which are from protein. 

If we don’t supply amino acids in the diet, our body breaks its own proteins down to provide them. 

In other words, making sure you (and your patients) have adequate protein intake should be one of the first health checkpoints to consider. 

How Much Protein Do You Need?   

The RDA, and just about every primary authority, tells us 0.8 g/kg body weight is all we need to be healthy.  

But that is only enough to prevent deficiency.  

The fitness industry tells us to eat one gram...

Is Everyone Vitamin D deficient?

Measuring vitamin D has become quite popular in recent years for a couple of reasons.  

Number one, the whole process is simple. Run serum vitamin D levels, compare the result to a reference range, if levels are low . . . supplement. Done. Easy.  

Secondly, vitamin D has been dubbed as some sort of panacea. Who needs it? Everyone. Need immune support? Vitamin D. Want to improve your bone health? Vitamin D. Have aches and pains? Vitamin D. Feeling blue? Vitamin D. Have a chronic disease? Vitamin D. 

This enchanting combination of a turn-key system for an all-healing wonder supplement has elevated vitamin D to super-hero status. It's paved the way for talk shows, blogs, podcasts, and everyone from health enthusiasts to well-trained professionals recommending the vitamin D “Test – Supplement – Done!” approach. 

We have made vitamin D too simple.

It’s time for an update. 

Vitamin...

Can You Be Too Acidic ?

We’ve all heard it…

“Everyone is acidic.”

“We all need to alkalize.”

“When people alkalize their body, then and only then, can they start healing.”

If you’re skeptical by nature, like we are, you chalked this up as watered-down, pseudo-scientific, nutrition babble.

But guess what, there IS something to this (kind of).

We did what we do best – looked to the scientific literature to see if this had any validity.

Keep reading for what we found...

Does Food Make You Too Acidic?

The acid/alkaline story in circulation is based more on rumor than science and is missing the important nuances to navigate this topic with accuracy.

However, it is correct in the premise that foods we eat can influence the acid load on our body appears to be valid.

According to the scientific literature, the foods we eat can have a significant effect on how much acid or alkali (base) the body produces. 

Foods may have...

Selenium is a critically important, yet often misunderstood element.  

On the one hand, selenium has many important roles having to do with proper immune system function, glucose regulation, reproduction, mood, cancer prevention, as well as for optimal functioning of specific selenoenzymes necessary for proper thyroid hormone synthesis and glutathione use. 

 On the other hand, selenium is said to have a ‘narrow therapeutic window’, and according to research, exceeding this optimal intake level might lead to some of the very same issues selenium deficiency prevents. 

Despite this narrow window between deficiency and excess, clinicians and practitioners are quick to recommend selenium supplementation to their patients for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, thyroid-improving, and glutathione-boosting properties.  

This is problematic and could cause patients more harm than good.

As part of this research, we took a close look at a popular...