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For some people, marijuana — also known as cannabis — is a wonder drug. Some consider it a relatively harmless recreational drug. The truth? The active chemical compounds found in marijuana, either alone or in combination, can have beneficial and harmful effects on a person’s physical and mental health and fitness. These effects can vary significantly depending on the product being consumed, the manner of consumption, and the individual. Adding to the argument, two people sharing the same product can experience vastly different sensations. What makes one individual feel more outgoing and creative can make another feel anxious and paranoid. What stimulates one person’s appetite can make another feel nauseous or give a third person indigestion or heart palpitations. With marijuana, this adage holds true: If it’s strong enough to produce a positive effect, it’s strong enough to produce negative side effects, as well. In this post, we provide an […]

Constipation: Symptoms, Causes, and Relief When someone says they’re constipated, the complaint is met with immediate sympathy from anyone who has suffered this seemingly innocuous symptom. Despite the annoyance and inconvenience, there’s the discomfort and often pain accompanying constipation. And that doesn’t even take into consideration other medical conditions. In addition to the bloating, gas, and abdominal pain often involved, constipation can negatively impact your quality of life. Unfortunately, constipation is common among all age groups in the United States. About 16 percent of all adults struggle with constipation, and it’s more than twice as prevalent (33 percent) among those age 60 and older. The good news is that constipation responds well to treatment, and many constipation treatments are readily available in the form of both self-help and medical interventions. In this post, we explore the symptoms of constipation and present a stool chart that enables you to rate your

If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, getting only six hours or less of sleep instead of the normal eight or nine hours that your body needs, you may be suffering from magnesium deficiency & maybe consider a functional medicine in Tampa, FL. While we often think of magnesium as being an essential mineral that’s needed for normal bone development, it is also a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate biochemical reactions in the body. These include protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, and the regulation of blood pressure and glucose. For example, magnesium is required for energy production, oxidative phosphorylation (a process for harnessing energy), and glycolysis (a first step in the breakdown of glucose for the purpose of extracting energy for cellular metabolism). It is required to synthesize DNA, RNA, and glutathione — a powerful antioxidant. Magnesium also plays a role in the

Looking for a IV therapy in Tampa FL? Most health-conscious individuals take vitamins — even if they’re only over-the-counter (OTC) multi-vitamins — to supplement the vitamins and minerals they obtain through their diet. Supplementing a diet with vitamins is generally a good idea for most of us because the modern diet, even when you’re eating healthy, doesn’t provide all the vitamins and minerals the body needs. In addition, physical and emotional stress depletes the body’s reserves of key vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients. Unfortunately, taking OTC vitamin and mineral supplements orally may not deliver optimal results. This do-it-yourself method has the following limitations: OTC supplements don’t specifically target your nutritional needs. As a result, they’re likely to provide too much of some nutrients and insufficient amounts of others. Taken orally, some nutrients are poorly absorbed and are more likely to be eliminated as waste products than delivered to the cells

To hear her tell it, Ariel Lofaro, CHC, is not a big fan of the Western medicine model, preferring instead the highly personalized and in-depth approach to good health offered by functional medicine practitioners such as those here at BioDesign Wellness Center. Ariel, who joined us in 2022 as our medical support specialist, said she understands the importance of getting to the root cause of a patient’s health issue by discovering, treating, and eradicating what got them sick in the first place. And for Ariel, this outcome is personal. Having suffered with her own health conditions and her mother’s recent diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer, she is convinced of the importance of her work at BioDesign. She said her task is to make the patients’ experience as easy and seamless as possible. Among her duties are making sure patients get their lab work scheduled and supplements delivered in a timely

Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, famously claimed, “All disease starts in the gut.” And for the most part, this comment from the Father of Modern Medicine remains spot on to this day. Imbalances in gut bacteria can damage the thin lining of the gut, allowing harmful substances to pass through it into the bloodstream. These substances then trigger immune system dysfunction, resulting in widespread chronic inflammation that can negatively impact nearly every cell and tissue of the body. Inflammation is at the root of many chronic illnesses, including digestive disorders, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. What we are only beginning to understand, however, is the reason why so many diseases start in the gut. Specifically, we are starting to recognize the important role that the trillions of microorganisms living inside our digestive system play in gut health and overall health and exactly what they do that’s so important.