Note: This is another guest post by Stefanie Stevenson, M.D., the Nourish Integrative Physician. Stefanie has been attending the Health and Wellness Conference in Boston this week and sending us updates!
Last day! It was a great conference and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to listen and learn from the experts in this area. I’m now sitting in the Boston Airport reflecting on what I’ve learned. I appreciate doing these updates because it helps me really reflect on what information is the most meaningful to patient care and public health care. This morning I heard from Dr. Walker, an expert in probiotics. Without getting too detailed, it is critical that babies get colonized with the good bacteria during childbirth, early feeding, and during weaning. When a child reaches 12- 18 months of age, they have acquired their complete adult gut (intestinal) flora (the good bugs). If a child, for a multitude of reasons (C-section, bottle fed, frequent antibiotic use) does not acquire this optimal flora they are at increased risk for asthma, allergies, and more frequent colds and stomach illnesses. There are things that can be done to help these children, mainly probiotics and prebiotics, yet this area can seem confusing. I can help if you have questions!
The last lecture of the entire conference was on genetically engineered foods. If you don’t know much about this I would encourage you to learn more. The speaker was Sheldon Krimsky, who has done a tremendous amount of research in this area. The two biggest GM (genetically modified) crops are corn and soy. There is a paucity of research in the safety of GM foods and as consumers, we don’t know which products contain these foods because our government does not require labeling. For now, organic and Non-GMO Project labeled foods, do not contain GM foods. The process of inserting genetic material from another organism into a different organism can create a variation of a protein that may promote allergies. Consider the great increase in food allergies in this country over the last decade.
I hope my updates stir up your own curiosity into how food relates to health. If you want to discuss your own health concerns and how my approach could help you feel better, please call me at 513-245-4224 x 5. I would love to hear from you!
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” – Thomas Edison