Your genetics make you who you are, but sometimes they get a little out of whack and the results can be quite unusual. Here are 10 interesting genetic disorders and what they are all about. Abdominal Wall Defect: Gastroschisis is a rare genetic condition in which a baby is born with its insides on the outside.…Read More

Microorganisms have been studied for hundreds of years. Recently the pendulum of focus has swung from disease-causing microbes and germ theory, which revolutionized sanitation, to the realization that some microorganisms may actually be of benefit to our health and the immune system. Next came the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), launched in 2008 by the US…Read More

If you have been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), you may have heard about a low-FODMAP diet. FODMAPs are specific groups of short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) and sugar alcohols that may trigger gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in people with IBS. FODMAP is an acronym that stands for Fermentable, Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols. Ok, so what…Read More

Food intolerances seem to be more prevalent than ever before. Maybe it is what has been added to the food we eat, maybe it is that we eat more convenience foods, or maybe it is because we inhale meals to get through our busy lives. Regardless of the cause, we need to know what foods…Read More

Chances are you’ve heard the term “leaky gut,” but do you really know what that means or why it happens? Under normal, healthy circumstances, we eat a meal and our digestive tract does an amazing job of breaking down foods into particles small enough to be transported from the small intestine to the blood stream.…Read More

You hear a lot about sugar these days and how bad it is for you. The funny thing is glucose, which is a sugar, is the primary source of energy for our brains. So, for starters, not all sugars are bad. Foods are made up of different types of sugars. These sugars are digested, metabolized,…Read More

Bacteria in the gut (gastrointestinal tract) sound frightening, but certain bacteria actually keep your digestive tract healthy and help keep the harmful bacteria away. Have you ever heard of prebiotics and probiotics? These are the friendly bacteria that you should get to know. Probiotics are live bacteria found in certain foods. These are the good…Read More

CSID is clinically known as Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency. Diagnosed in infancy, the deficiency was thought to be extremely rare. The affected child would have to receive a mutated recessive gene from both parents for it to be expressed. Thanks to advances in genetics, we now know that symptomatic carriers exist and that there are many…Read More

Just about everyone is a diet expert or a diet participant at the start of each New Year. The gyms are packed; the vegetable aisles are depleted; and let’s face it, a bunch of people are “hangry.” With so many diets pushed by celebrities and trainers, it’s really hard to know which one to choose.…Read More

In the last three decades, sugar consumption has increased by over 30 percent in the United States. For people with sugar intolerance, this widespread use of sugar means many of these foods should be avoided because of the sugar content. What specifically is sugar intolerance? Sugar intolerance is a person’s inability to digest sucrose –…Read More

The suffix “ose” is used in biology to indicate a sugar, salt, protein, or fat. Let’s focus on the sugar piece. Multiple sugars are available from food. The overall goal is to get the sugars from their starting state to their smallest state for absorption via digestion. The smallest state for sugar is a monosaccharide.…Read More

National Sucrose Intolerance Awareness Week is April 2 through April 8. For those who are unaware of sucrose intolerance, let me paint a picture for you. Imagine you are enjoying an evening out with friends and have one small bite of dessert. About 20 minutes later, you are scrambling to find the nearest restroom and…Read More

Everyone seems to have an allergy to something these days. It’s amazing we can get through social events without someone encountering an offending food. So, what’s the deal? Are people more allergic now than they were 50 years ago? What do we even mean by the word “allergy?” Anaphylaxis, hives, rash, or something altogether different?…Read More

“Merriam-Webster’s” dictionary defines “rare” as “seldom occurring or found: UNCOMMON.” Rare diseases are certainly “uncommon.” To qualify as “rare” in the United States, a disease must occur in fewer than 200,000 people. Because relatively so few people are affected, these diseases don’t always appeal to researchers, so making great strides toward curing or eliminating them…Read More

Since 1973, March has been named National Nutrition Month. That makes March a great time to focus on nutrition as we move out of winter with its abandoned crash diets, bitter cold, sedentary living, and too many chocolate and candy hearts into spring with more fresh fruit and vegetables and warmth and sunshine. Information about…Read More

Sucrose Intolerance, also known as Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency (CSID), is the body’s inability to breakdown sucrose, resulting in gas, bloating, stomach pain, and diarrhea after consuming foods containing sucrose. To avoid the symptoms, all you have to do is just avoid sweets, right? Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Sucrose, also known as…Read More

Summer is quickly approaching, and many of us are in that hard-core-diet phase before putting on shorts or swimwear. This is a time where food choices consist of copious amounts of spinach, protein shakes, and chicken breasts but lack sweet treats to finish off the meal. We know that fruits are a “natural sugar,” but…Read More