845-268-1655   
     Request an Appointment
Hudson Valley Functional Medicine
  • Longevity Medicine
    • What is Longevity Medical Consulting?
    • Why Longevity Medicine?
  • Functional Medicine
    • What is Functional Medicine?
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Dr. Sheryl Leventhal
    • Longevity Health Team
    • Testimonials
    • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Request an Appointment
    • Contact
    • Office Hours
  • Menu Menu
Diet, Lifestyle, Longevity Medicine

Flexible Dieting: Building Lifelong Habits To Promote Optimal Wellness

Flexible Dieting - Lifelong Habits for Optimal Wellness

The Epidemic Of Chronic Weight Gain And Rising Obesity

There are many reasons why we in the US and other western nations, and now also underdeveloped countries, have experienced a rising tide of obesity. We do eat more calories than in the 1950s –in some surveys, the American adult eats 500-700 calories more per day than 70 years ago. And yes, we are more sedentary. Our jobs are increasingly desk and computer-centered, with factory, farming, and manual jobs on the decrease or partially automated. Read more

February 28, 2023/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/shayda-torabi-3iexvMShGfQ-unsplash-crop.jpg 500 1400 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2023-02-28 12:02:132023-03-04 13:44:37Flexible Dieting: Building Lifelong Habits To Promote Optimal Wellness
Diet, Longevity Medicine

Plentiful Protein: How Much Protein Do We Really Need?

What is healthy protein intake?

The Recommended Daily Allowance Is Less Than Optimal

Protein - SalmonThe RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight and is the absolute minimum amount needed to not become ill from protein malnutrition (known as “Kwashiorkor”- think of pictures of children with protuberant bellies and toothpick arms, drawn faces). However, most academic protein scientists and nutrition professors agree that 0.8 grams per kilogram is not the optimal intake, nor was it designed to be. The minimal amount not to die is distinct from the optimal amount needed for optimal life span, immune function, brain aging, and muscle and bone preservation. Keep in mind that previous generations thought living to 70 was achieving “longevity”. Now in the US, we have an average lifespan of almost 80 years and an ever-increasing number of centenarians. The prevalence of frailty and an unhealthy final decade in our oldest generation is very apparent. Read more

February 17, 2023/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ive-erhard-unsplash-crop.jpg 500 1400 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2023-02-17 18:06:472023-03-02 13:35:31Plentiful Protein: How Much Protein Do We Really Need?
Diet, Longevity Medicine, Sleep

The Glymphatic System: New Discoveries On Sleep And The Aging Of The Brain

The Glymphatic System: New Discoveries On Sleep And The Aging Of The Brain

Our Brain’s Newly Discovered Lymphatic System

Somehow, despite thousands of neurosurgeries and thousands of brain images, we missed it: there is a system of drainage vessels buried under the dura mater, the leather-like outer layer that surrounds the brain. It was theorized to exist in 2015 and definitively found in 2017. The glymphatic system is the lymphatic system of the brain, responsible for removing pathological proteins, including amyloid, that build up during the course of the day. The glymphatic system functions primarily during sleep, and mainly during the deeper phases of sleep, medically termed “N3” sleep.  As we age, our other two systems of brain “cleaning” slow down, our sleep quality deteriorates, and metabolic debris, along with amyloid, begins to stack up… another challenge of aging. Read more

April 1, 2022/by Jay Lombard, DO
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/brain-gbcdd639a2_1920-copy.jpg 500 1400 Jay Lombard, DO https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Jay Lombard, DO2022-04-01 14:23:442022-04-01 14:27:02The Glymphatic System: New Discoveries On Sleep And The Aging Of The Brain
Diet, Longevity Medicine

URIC ACID: Much Bigger Than A Big Toe Problem!

Uric Acid Crystals

A Malady Of Kings 

Uric acid is probably most famous for causing gout, an extremely painful, acute arthritis typically in the big toe but occasionally in other joints. However, new research over the last 10 years has exposed this circulating purine breakdown product as a metabolite that warrants our attention and concern, and not just for the health of our toes! There is accumulating evidence that uric acid directly causes fat accumulation, predicts the development of diabetes, and plays a major role in the appearance of metabolic syndrome (hypertension, diabetes, high lipids, abdominal fat deposits). All this can happen with or without a red-hot toe.  Read more

March 28, 2022/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/towfiqu-barbhuiya-J6g_szOtMF4-unsplash-belly-fat-composite.jpg 500 1400 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2022-03-28 13:15:552022-03-29 13:49:47URIC ACID: Much Bigger Than A Big Toe Problem!
Diet, Longevity Medicine

Ode to Dark Chocolate: The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate for Aging Skin

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate’s Health Benefits Include Skin Health

No website or blog on longevity medicine would be complete without a piece on aging skin, which includes UV-induced photodamage, loss of dermal matrix, and wrinkles. Of course, hormones, lifestyle, and sun exposure play a large role in how our skin ages, and we are covering those topics in other pieces. But I recently came across a series of articles highlighting the large beneficial effect of one of my favorite foods: dark chocolate! Read more

October 21, 2021/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/dark-gd47cd1016_1920-cropped.jpg 500 1400 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2021-10-21 18:19:142022-03-28 13:18:48Ode to Dark Chocolate: The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate for Aging Skin
Diet, Fitness, Immune System, Lifestyle, Longevity Medicine

Your Immune System Reboot: Diet & Lifestyle

Your Immune System Reboot

When the coronavirus SARS-co-v2, a devastating communicable disease, descended upon the global population in December 2019, it became clear early on that there was a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from almost nothing to diarrhea, severe pneumonia, stroke, and death. By May of 2020, it became even more clear that there are particular conditions (“comorbidities”) that markedly increase the disease severity and death rate, and that these conditions had in common an immune system dysfunction with the shared characteristic of chronic inflammation. We have learned that people with chronic inflammation have higher levels of furin and that furin acts as a facilitator to allow better binding of the viral spike protein to our ACE2 receptors. Harboring chronic inflammation turns us into something like Velcro, attracting more virus, secreting more furin, and allowing more severe disease states to evolve.  Read more

February 16, 2021/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/chuttersnap-zYvuRX4kIWE-unsplash-crop.jpg 534 1429 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2021-02-16 17:28:322021-08-05 14:34:34Your Immune System Reboot: Diet & Lifestyle
Diet, Longevity Medicine

Merlot Meets TMAO!

Merlot Meets TMAO - Longevity Medicine

This is a story that starts with some negative publicity for meat, fish, and eggs, but has a better ending, although much controversy remains and science is still working out pathways. Fortunately for us, all sides agree that wine and high-quality olive oil, as well as other high polyphenol foods, emerge as “fixers” of this newly discovered risk factor.

In 2013 there was renewed interest in the compound TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide), which our bodies (specifically our gut bacteria and liver) make from dietary choline, carnitine, and lecithin. Those primary ingredients are enriched in meat, fish, and eggs in particular. Fish contain the highest amount of preformed TMAO of any food group. Several papers found associations between higher plasma levels of TMAO and increased risk for cardiovascular disease (heart attack or stroke) between 2013 and 2019. The papers caused a small panic in the paleo and carnivore camps, which had been advocating avoidance of grains, beans, and fruit due to the potential inflammatory effects of lectins, sugars, and processing. Also, it was difficult to square this new TMAO effect (risk) with the consistent and strong protective effects of frequent fish consumption. Other studies were published that did not always confirm the connection. The dietary ingredients (or sometimes they were given as supplements) were carnitine, choline, and lecithin.  They were converted by the microbes to TMA and then by the liver to TMAO.

Read more

December 14, 2020/by Sheryl Leventhal, MD
https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Merlot-Meets-TMAO2.jpg 650 1757 Sheryl Leventhal, MD https://www.hvfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hvfmlogo_large-1030x139.png Sheryl Leventhal, MD2020-12-14 20:08:522021-08-10 13:56:40Merlot Meets TMAO!

HVFM Blog

Longevity Medicine is the future of your health! Watch the HVFM blog for the latest developments in all areas longevity – genomics, diet, technology, lifestyle, and more.

Categories

  • Longevity Medicine
    • Diet
    • Fitness
    • Immune System
    • Lifestyle
    • Sleep
    • Technology

Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • October 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020

The Future of Health is Longevity

Take charge of your future health. Schedule a Longevity Consultation with Dr. Leventhal today.

Optimize Your Health

Find out how a whole systems-based approach can effectively address your health challenges. Schedule an Appointment with Dr. Leventhal today.

Request an appointment

707A EXECUTIVE BLVD, VALLEY COTTAGE, NY 10989
845-268-1655  • 
INFO@HVFM.ORG

  

PRIVACY STATEMENT • HIPAA POLICY • CONTACT

707A EXECUTIVE BLVD
VALLEY COTTAGE, NY 10989
845-268-1655
INFO@HVFM.ORG

  

PRIVACY STATEMENT
HIPAA POLICY
CONTACT

Scroll to top