Blog

From nutrition and exercise to preventive care, Dr. Larson's blog encompasses a wide array of topics dedicated to a holistic approach to well-being.

US News & World Report: Could Intestinal Parasites be Causing your Gut Issues?

Marcelle Pick left for Mexico with visions of herself splashing in the ocean, relaxing on the beach and feasting on local fare. Let’s just say those visions were quickly blurred. “I was on the floor a lot more than I wanted to be because I was in so much discomfort,” says Pick, an OB-GYN nurse practitioner in Yarmouth, Maine.
Read Article

Recent Posts

US News & World Report: Antibiotics Screwed up My Gut, Now What?

“Better safe than sorry” were Andrea Duclos’ famous last words. She s...

Read More

US News & World Report: What is Adrenal Fatigue and Why is it Controversial?

Angela Rocchio was doing everything right: She was sleeping eight hours a n...

Read More

US News & World Report: Could Intestinal Parasites be Causing your Gut Issues?

Marcelle Pick left for Mexico with visions of herself splashing in the ocea...

Read More

Flo & Grace: HPA AXIS DYSREGULATION & ADRENAL FATIGUE

We all have those moments of feeling like we’re running on empty. It’s ...

Read More

Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is a combination of co

Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is a combination of conditions—like obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and abnormal cholesterol—that increase the risk of heart issues. Each aspect of MetSyn can lead to atrial fibrosis (scar tissue in the heart’s upper chambers), which disrupts the heart’s electrical signals ⚡️ and sets the stage for atrial fibrillation (AFib). Chronic inflammation 🔥, common in MetSyn, speeds up fibrosis by triggering pathways that damage heart tissue (mainly excess oxidation).

Atrial fibrosis and AFib are closely linked, creating a cycle where fibrosis raises the chances of AFib, and AFib makes fibrosis worse. Hypertension and insulin resistance contribute to this cycle by causing sodium retention, activating the nervous system, and damaging blood vessels. This structural remodeling of the heart keeps the atria stiff and prone to more scarring, making AFib persistent and harder to treat.

Managing MetSyn can help break this cycle and protect heart health ❤️. Lifestyle changes like losing weight, staying active, and eating well, along with individual medical management, can slow or even reverse atrial fibrosis. By tackling MetSyn, we can reduce the risk of AFib and support a healthier, stronger heart 💪.

From the CDC's MMWR report of August 11, 2022: "As

From the CDC's MMWR report of August 11, 2022:
"As SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to circulate globally, high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools have substantially reduced the risk for medically significant COVID-19 illness (severe acute illness and post–COVID-19 conditions) and associated hospitalization and death. These circumstances now allow public health efforts to minimize the individual and societal health impacts of COVID-19 by focusing on sustainable measures to further reduce medically significant illness as well as to minimize strain on the health care system, while reducing barriers to social, educational, and economic activity.“

Response from Jeffrey A. Tucker from Brownstone:
In English: everyone can pretty much go back to normal. Focus on illness that is medically significant. Stop worrying about positive cases because nothing is going to stop them. Think about the bigger picture of overall social health. End the compulsion. Thank you. It’s only two and a half years late.

Another quote from the CDC reversal:
“CDC’s COVID-19 prevention recommendations no longer differentiate based on a person’s vaccination status because breakthrough infections occur, though they are generally mild, and persons who have had COVID-19 but are not vaccinated have some degree of protection against severe illness from their previous infection.”

Again from Jeffrey Tucker:
"Also, universities, colleges, the military, and so on – which still have mandates in place – do you hear this? Everything you have done to hate on people, dehumanize people, segregate people, humiliate others as unclean, fire people and destroy lives, now stands in disrepute."

And even in the New Yorker Post:
Cities across the country fired teachers, firefighters, health care staffers, police officers, sanitation workers and so many others because they refused to get vaccinated ... while we baked banana bread and patted ourselves on the back for ordering from Uber Eats. Now the CDC acknowledges this was the wrong thing to do. Whoopsie!

Here are some quotes from an article published tod

Here are some quotes from an article published today at Brownstone Institute by clinical epidemiologist, Paul Elias Alexander, PhD.

"Our greatest fears have now seemed to materialize. The school closures, social dislocation, the two years of isolation, the lockdown psychosis, plus dehumanizing masking and the resulting anxiety, depression, and despair, may have unleashed and may have enhanced depraved and murderous behavior."

"Two major incidents have been in the news but the trend is larger. The FBI reports that deaths from active shooter incidents have soared. In 2021, the number of deaths reported as a result of active shootings (103 total) was a 171% increase from 2020."

"Consider the 18-year-old kid who shot up an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 young children, a teacher, and his own grandmother ... we already know the core problem: the gunman, filled with rage and hate, had been locked out of his school for a long period, denied essential social contact, support, and interaction that might otherwise have checked evil impulses."

"Similarly, a few weeks ago, a deranged 18-year old entered a TOPS grocery in Buffalo, New York and shot a reported 14 and killed 10 people ... He shot principally people based on their racial-ethnic makeup, being black. Raw, vicious hate."

Before slaughtering people, the killer wrote:
"I started browsing 4chan in May 2020 after extreme boredom, remember this was during the outbreak of covid ..."

On masking
"So very much communication, emotion, care, tenderness, and non-verbal cues can be seen in each other’s faces. Unable to interact with others and unable to see faces when one does, we necessarily blunt compassion, connection, and empathy. It is entirely possible that young people were placed into sheer terror and loss as their entire social existence and connectedness were thereby shredded."

On lockdowns
"We may have opened Pandora’s box with these crushing school closures, forced masking, and lockdowns. The ramifications are beginning to emerge. Lockdown policies have damaged society, structurally and psychologically, and for a very long time to come."

That was a message I sent in a group family text a

That was a message I sent in a group family text after the passing of an awesome family member.

Be Simple and Be Tough
Louise was 100 years old when she died. Having grown up with a bunch of brothers and sisters on a farm in the midwest, she definitely had to be tough. Her simple life values were forged growing up during The Depression when meeting the most basic of needs was the daily goal.

Be Adventurous
Later in life she never turned down the opportunity to get out of town and see the world. She visited every continent, some multiple times, with the exception of Antarctica. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if she had actually gone there. She always brought back gifts for us -- necklaces, clothes, handmade blankets and bags, and sometimes interesting local items that were so different from ours, like black toothpaste. One time, she brought back a blow dart gun, I think from Indonesia. Three young boys with a blow dart gun -- what can go wrong?

Smile a Lot
When I think back at all of the memories I have of her from the many times my brothers and I spent the night when we were little kids, all of the holiday get togethers, and even her 100th birthday party last year, I can only remember her always smiling. Kind of remarkable, really. Maybe that was her secret sauce to a long life. She also kept herself fit, and although she didn't forbid anything, she didn't indulge either. When I walked in to see her at her 100th birthday last year, she popped right up out of her chair and effortlessly walked over to give me a hug. No limping or aching or complaining. I think all that smiling gave her a positive mindset that affected all aspects of her health.

Make Your Own Jelly
Oh, and yes, she did actually make her own jelly, and she made it for everybody else also. I remember countless times, removing the lid from a fresh jar and popping off the hardened wax seal to get to the sweet homemade jelly underneath. 'Make your own jelly' also has other meanings to me -- do it yourself, don't be entitled, do good work, and share it with others.

As a lot of us are trying to emerge from the Covid era, I hope Louise's lessons serve you as they did her

This is an excerpt of a recent private newsletter

This is an excerpt of a recent private newsletter ...

Spring is a transitional time between Winter and Summer. Geographically this is a time of rejuvenation, regeneration, and blossoming. The same is true for our bodies. Spring is a great time for transformation and regeneration of your own internal system.

Instead of whining about the lack of 'health' in public health, I thought I'd mention a few things that you can do today to start regaining agency over your health.

There has been a trend toward an excess of comfort and an avoidance of discomfort. This inevitably leads to fragility. Mental fragility. Physical fragility. Immune system fragility. Cardiovascular fragility. And so on. We live in constantly controlled indoor climates, our food is prepared, processed, deboned, and soft so that even our chewing is comfortable. Everything is clean and sterile. We are never hungry. We walk on unnaturally smooth and soft surfaces. We rarely have to sweat. We bathe in the perfect temperature. We never have to interact with nature.

Avoidance of discomfort has led to a bunch of scientifically validated issues for us -- depression, anxiety, loneliness, obesity, drinking, drug addiction, to name a few. So, the message is: bring a little discomfort into your Spring. There are endless ways to get started but here's one way.

Do these Five S's at least 5 times per week for 5 weeks:

1. Sleep 8 hours -- without a device for 2 hours prior to bedtime
2. Skip a meal -- and try not to make up all the calories in the next meal
3. Shiver -- being cold is a universal discomfort and effective at becoming antifragile; cold shower, cold bath, cold plunge in the ocean or a lake, etc.
4. Some kind of movement for at least 30 minutes -- walk, jog, play pickleball, yoga, bike ride, lift weights... you get the idea
5. Sunbathe -- pro tip: stack this with the movement above for a two for one; another pro tip: if you sunbathe between 12PM and 3PM, only sunbathe unprotected for half the time it takes you to burn; or use the D Minder app

If you find benefit from these, keep going, mix them up, add or subtract, and have fun experimenting. Celebrate the discomfort and have a better Spring.

Pfizer, the company that pleaded guilty to a felon

Pfizer, the company that pleaded guilty to a felony violation and paid the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice ($2.3 billion)

AND

The company that was the first drug company to be convicted of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for promoting unapproved off-label uses (the RICO Act is traditionally used to combat organized crime)

AND

The company that was ordered to pay $1.2 billion in lawsuit settlements for a drug that caused women to develop breast cancer, and intentionally suppressed that information while reaping massive profits, as thousands of women's lives were changed forever

AND

The company that conducted an illegal trial of an unregistered drug on Nigerian children, lives were lost, the company still maintains innocence, never apologized, and took 15 years to compensate the families

AND

The company that had to pay settlement charges of $60 million brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), for bribing foreign officials in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Serbia

AND

The company that said their covid vaccine would stop transmission

AND

The company that said their covid vaccine would stop viral replication

AND

The company that said you need 2 shots ... I mean 3

AND

Now the CEO said the 3rd shot is not enough and you will need a 4th

AND

We're supposed to trust him ... just how stupid do they think we are?

Evidently pretty stupid.

Thanks @Shawnmodel for bringing this to my attention.