Does What You Eat Really Matter?
You are what you eat is a saying you’ve probably heard many times. But what you eat really does matter when it comes to your current and long-term health.
At Precision Regenerative Medicine, Tammy Penhollow, MD, offers a range of services to improve your health through your diet. Dr. Penhollow provides lifestyle medicine as a natural way to improve your health and lower your risk for medical problems.
We also provide supplement recommendations that support your gut health, which directly impacts your quality of life.
Why gut health is important
Within your gut is a microbiome of many microbes like fungi, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. These microbes have a major impact on your health and play a role in developing conditions like cancer, inflammatory disorders, poor metabolism, and depression.
Optimizing the microbiome of your gut can reduce your risk for chronic diseases that affect your health in the long run. We can recommend probiotics and other supplements to keep your gut and your body healthy.
How your diet contributes to your health
Good nutrition can go a long way to keeping you healthy and reducing your risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
If you’re not eating healthy foods, you may also be at increased risk for vitamin deficiencies affecting your nervous system and mental health.
In addition to chronic illness, a poor diet can cause:
- Chronic fatigue
- Anemia
- Poor concentration
- Dry, brittle hair
- Weight loss
- Chronic inflammation leading to osteoarthritis
Nutrition experts recommend incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. At mealtimes, aim for a plate of colorful foods, such as dark green, leafy vegetables, red tomatoes, or blueberries. These items are full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that support your health.
You should also avoid sugary, starchy food to lower your risk for Type 2 diabetes and limit how much red meat you eat to reduce your heart disease risk.
You can also learn more about the food groups you should focus on following the US Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate Plan.
When your diet isn’t enough
Some people still experience vitamin or mineral deficiency issues even when they follow a healthy diet. This may be due to underlying medical issues that limit how much of these essential nutrients your body absorbs. Often times, it is underlying chronic inflammation within the gut that does not allow proper absorption of food or medications.
Dr. Penhollow can recommend an individualized all-inclusive lifestyle medicine program to meet your needs. She offers comprehensive medical evaluations and may request blood work or other lab tests to personalize a treatment plan using the lifestyle medicine approach.
When you’re unable to lose weight following your current diet, you may benefit from the weight loss recommendations we offer in-office. Dr. Penhollow utilizes a holistic approach including mentoring through nutritional counseling, developing a “food as medicine” nutritional plan for life, a structured curriculum to learn and adopt good habits for food shopping, prepping and eating, as well as a fitness program, hormone balancing and judicious use of any dietary supplements that help you burn calories more efficiently and lose weight safely.
When you’re overwhelmed by the many “healthy eating for life” choices available, schedule a consultation at Precision Regenerative Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona, online or call the office today.