​Does Your Food Look Like and Taste Like Plastic? Here’s the Reason Why
Have you noticed that your meat is unnaturally rubbery, and your vegetables seem to bend, not break? This is a sign of a serious issue-they're contaminated with phthalates, a problem that's now at epidemic levels. The concerning part? Government regulations are lagging behind the mounting evidence of the health risks these phthalates pose.

What Are Phthalates?
Named the “forever chemical,” phthalates are plasticizers used to create durability, flexibility, transparency, and longevity in products that contaminate our foods. They are used in canned foods, infant foods, packaging, and sealants; they are everywhere. The government regulates a “safe” level, but that safe level does not seem to be consistent with current research on the levels that cause adverse health impacts.

Where Are Phthalates Found?
Foods highest in phthalates are:

• Restaurant and fast food.
• High-fat dairy.
• Fatty meats and poultry.
• Cooking oils.

Consumer’s Report tested 100 foods and found phthalates in almost every food and at high levels. They were in sliced peaches, low-fat yogurt, and even organic products!

What Are the Health Problems Associated with Phthalates?

These eight plasticizers are all endocrine disruptors that have ill effects on reproductive health, childhood development, insulin resistance, the development of high blood pressure, obesity, breast cancer, allergy, asthma, and diabetes.

The FDA has continually denied petitions from other groups to change the levels of plasticizers allowed in food products, even being sued once. However, despite years of protests, petitions, and lawsuits, the FDA refuses to change the levels they have deemed safe despite proof that such levels cause human harm.

Reducing Your Exposure to Plasticizers
Here are some action tips to reduce your level of contamination from forever chemicals.

1. Use reusable containers like a Brita water pitcher and fill water containers instead of using plastic water bottles.
2. Use real silverware instead of plastic.
3. Use aluminum foil rather than plastic wrap.
4. Get your meat from a butcher wrapped in paper.
5. Buy from the farmer’s market.
6. Read labels on cosmetics, and don’t buy those with phthalates in them.
7. Eat less processed, packaged food in plastic wrap.
8. Get rid of plastic toys.
9. Invest in a water filter.
10. Stay away from fragrance.

Summary
It looks like plasticizers are here to stay, so just try to avoid them as much as you can. It is sad that we cannot depend on the FDA to protect us from known contaminants that cause human harm. After all, isn’t that one of their roles?

Comment from Reader
 Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances also known as "Forever Chemicals" are used in many chemical and manufacturing processes. Humans can be exposed to PFAS in the air, food, water, dust, soil, food wrappers, cosmetics and personal care products. PFAS have been associated with serious health effects including cancer, organ damage and endocrine disruption.  
 
Various common foods, including meat, seafood, dairy, grains, and produce, can contain PFAS. Tests on several brands' food packaging have shown elevated PFAS levels. Consuming contaminated foods exposes individuals to potentially harmful levels of these chemicals. Cooking with contaminated water can also be a significant source of  exposure to PFAS in food. Both tap water and some bottled waters have been found to contain potentially dangerous levels of forever chemicals  
 
 
Find out more on:
https://www.consumernotice.org/environmental/water-contamination/pfas/food/ 
https://www.consumernotice.org/environmental/water-contamination/pfas/products/

Thank you for reading my blog and I encourage more of my readers to interact with my blogs.
 
 

​Functional medicine focuses on global health by emphasizing the personalized and systems-oriented approach found in the functional medicine matrix. At the heart of this is the consideration of everyone as a “biochemically individual” patient. Just what does this mean?

Definition of “Biochemical Individuality”

This term represents the concept that the human body is a composite of each individual's physiological structure, nutritional, and chemical makeup as influenced by their environment, lifestyle, and genes. Some geneticists say we control 80% – 97% of our genetic expressions. Genes are turned on and off by nutrition and the environment. The term was coined in 1956 by Dr. Roger Williams, so it is not a new concept, just a newly used concept.

It is a familiar concept in integrative medicine, but not so much in allopathic approaches such as obtained with traditional medical doctors who have had no osteopathic or integrative experience.

Functions of Biochemical Individuality in Functional Medicine

This term explains how the body individually reacts to stimuli such as:

• Detoxification rates of drugs and chemicals
• Whether the harmful chemical homocysteine will cause heart damage or not
• How cancer genes respond
• Why some people are drug addicted or get certain diseases like diabetes
• Why low-fat diets cause some people to gain weight
• One person needs a higher level of a nutrient than another person to remain healthy

Determining the Biochemical Individuality often Require Specific Tests

The most accurate test to determine the nutritional status of the blood is not always a blood test. A “challenge” test or other more specific tests are often needed to determine individuality.

 For example, a simple blood test of B12 levels may show values in a normal range, but testing for antibodies to vitamin B12 may uncover a problem that otherwise would not be seen. Antibodies against B12 mean you may have adequate B12 levels in the blood, but you also have substances causing the B12 not to work.

In addition, folate and B12 should be measured at the same time because deficiencies of both can cause similar symptoms. The Schillings test tells the practitioner if you are absorbing that average level of B12 properly. The methylmalonic test detects early B12 deficiency that a regular blood test would not pick up. These are tests that an MD is unfamiliar with, but that shed light on the intricacies of precise deficiencies and how to fix them.

Gene-Nutrient Interactions

Each of us may have a unique “barcode” that separates us as individuals buried in our genes. The mind, emotions, behavior, and physiological functioning are all determined to a great extent by the interaction of this “barcode” with nutrition. For example, metabolic syndrome progression largely depends on gene/nutrition/environment interactions. The importance of nutrition cannot be overstated. Studies have shown that personalized dietary instruction improves insulin sensitivity in those with metabolic syndrome, a disease for which no one treatment is entirely adequate.

This raises questions about the adequacy of the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) levels established by the government and based on “normal” people. The RDI levels did not consider biochemical individuality.

Genetotrophic Disease

These diseases result from genetically determined metabolic needs not being met through diet and supplements. Medications, the environment, or other nutritional factors may have altered the genes. Nevertheless, the disease will develop if the nutrient in question is not provided.

Remember, your doctor does not usually test the vitamin status of your blood, yet these tests are available and are often ordered by dietitians or integrative medicine practitioners. Insurance may cover these tests if properly coded and ordered by a licensed professional such as a Physician's Assistant or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Companies such as Labcorp, or Ulta Labs perform micronutrient tests.

​*Note: RDs may be able to order reimbursable labs once our licensure is in place next year in 2025. We can already order clinical diets in hospitals and long-term care.

Application
Consideration of each person's biochemical individuality is integral to a comprehensive functional medicine assessment. Implementing patient-specific treatment plans based on biochemical individuality is essential to the success of patient outcomes.

​Clinical nutrition used within the contextual framework of Functional Medicine (FM) is similar in structure, but not theory, to Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) practiced by registered dietitians as commissioned by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). The difference lies in the theory and how the framework is applied to the individual, where MNT is expanded to operate out of the Functional Medicine Matrix of assessment and treatment.

What is Medical Nutrition Therapy in Functional Medicine?
​ MNT is a clinically focused approach with a defined system of assessment charting and intervention, evaluation, and follow-up considerations. The acronym for this system is ADIME, assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring, and evaluation, and often forms the basis for charting notes.

Assessment
In functional medicine, the assessment phase differs for clinical nutrition from that of a traditional dietitian or practitioner. In the assessment phase, the probing for information and the tests are clinically specific, and the information is globally pertinent in the areas of environment, society, culture, relationships, stress, sleep, anxiety, eating disorders, food/medication interactions, and work. All this information is considered in the nutrition assessment phase of the FM practitioner as opposed to a pure nutrition assessment of calorie intake, food preferences, and medical history.

While the traditional dietitian asks for general labs, the FM practitioner may ask for more biochemical absorption and metabolism tests, such as the Shillings test for B12 absorption or a urinary iodine test for thyroid function.

Diagnosis
Clinical nutrition diagnoses are biochemically individual based on specific laboratory tests and the functional medicine matrix assessment.

Intervention
The interventions for an FM clinical nutrition patient may contain elements gathered from the FM matrix and may often include stress interventions to lower cortisol, which affects carbohydrate metabolism, or sleep interventions that affect appetite control during the day.

Monitoring
After an intervention, one of the most frequent problems is the loss of patients to follow-up. Nutritional therapies must be monitored as many are short-term, and lab reassessments are needed to determine progress and future treatment. For example, a person with high cholesterol/triglycerides may be placed on a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with Berberine 500 mg 3x/day for six weeks. Then, a total cholesterol \triglyceride redraw is done to see if progress is being made to determine if berberine needs to be continued or the diet tweaked.

Follow-up
Follow-up is similar to monitoring, but you are making specific scheduled visits to obtain monitoring data, so the patient expects to come back to see the practitioner on a given date and time. It stresses accountability for the intervention.

Goals of Clinical Nutrition in Functional Medicine
The goals of clinical nutrition are to use the MNT model in such a manner that:

• A healthy eating pattern is learned and maintained.
• It is expected that healthy physiological parameters such as weight, blood lipids, blood pressure, glucose, and kidney function will be maintained.
• Maintenance of positive messages about healthy eating is assessed.
• There is a delay in the development of disease, i.e., prediabetes.
• The therapist provides individuals with the tools for day-to-day meal planning rather than focusing on a single food or micronutrients or fad diets.
• The therapist promotes and uplifts the feeling of well-being and zest for all aspects of life surrounding nutrition.
• The patient avoids intake of unhealthy substances such as trans-fat, alcohol, and smoking.

Application
Clinical nutrition is essentially MNT applied within the Functional Medicine Matrix, which customizes all assessments and interventions to personalize the individual's care. It is a comprehensive approach to nutritional intervention that goes deeper yet is more expansive than traditional medicine.