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Intravenous NAD+ and Your Telomeres

In recent weeks, there’s been a noticeable upsurge of interest in the anti-aging therapies we offer at WholeHealth Chicago. Maybe it has something to do with pandemic year 2020. Now that we’re vaccinated and peeking our heads out from our hidey-holes, emerging from darkness into light, we sense we’ve lost a year. Since we can’t […]

How To Slow Aging and Track Your Results

Most people figure they must be getting older based on how they feel and look. We wince at our first grey hair, deepening wrinkles, and shifting body fat. We huff and puff climbing the stairs, forget names, and occasionally leak fluids. We relate to the line from a Leonard Cohen song, “I ache in the […]

Anti-Aging Peptide Therapy

Ask ten people to define peptide therapy and it’s doubtful you’ll get a coherent response. Search for it online and you’ll be overwhelmed by information and likely put off by claims that sound too good to be true (“Burn fat! Combat mental decline!). Let’s face it, we’d all like to enhance fat burning, slow aging, […]

A Genuinely Useful Blood Test

Many a time, in person or via phone, someone will say a variation of “Look, I’m taking all these vitamins and minerals but I really don’t know what I’m doing. I think I’m eating right, but I might have some vitamin or mineral deficiencies I know nothing about and I don’t know the consequences.” This […]

Returning To School + Phosphatidyl Choline for Chronic Illness and Anti-Aging

Before I start this Health Tip on phosphatidyl choline I want to voice a quick opinion about kids returning to school in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. The stance of the Chicago Teachers Union seems totally correct, that the decision should be based on a meeting of the minds: those of teachers and those […]

NAD+: Finally Getting Serious About Anti-Aging Therapy

We’re living in a time of major, worldwide breakthroughs when it comes to understanding how we age and also the steps we can take to not only slow down aging, but to all appearances reverse the process. Over history, the fountain of youth seekers came, literally and figuratively, to dead ends, but back then Ponce […]

To A Long and Healthy Life!

You may have read earlier this summer about the public health statisticians who announced that Chicagoans could get a reasonable estimate about how long they’ll live based on their neighborhood, sort of a Death by Zip Code. If you live in Streeterville, you’ve got a good chance to reach 90. If you’re struggling in Englewood, […]

Male Menopause: Is It Real?

Short answer: Yes, but don’t hope for any quick fixes—that’s pharmaceutical industry-think. Another way to view male menopause: Sure, a ball will bounce, just not as high over time. I get asked about male menopause all the time, almost always by women (who, admittedly, represent the majority of my patients) and only rarely by my […]

Disappointments With Testosterone

For 80 (!) years physicians have prescribed testosterone to men without being certain if it actually had any effect other than raising testosterone levels. The only FDA-approved indication for testosterone is pathological hypogonadism, in which there’s an actual disorder of the male reproductive system that results in the body not producing enough testosterone. Examples are […]

Can We Slow Down Aging?

Ever notice how people age? Some people just look younger or older than their actual age. We see an old friend after an absence of a few years and think, “Jeez! Did he age!” and wonder what might have befallen him to press the fast-forward button on the aging process.

DHEA

The steroid Hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) has been hyped as a supplement that will deliver the virtual fountain of youth, with extravagant claims that it can slow aging, melt away Fat, enhance memory, prevent osteoporosis, and increase libido. Naturally produced and released by the adrenal glands, DHEA is ultimately converted into estrogen (the female sex hormone) and androgen (the male sex hormone).

Selenium

The trace mineral selenium makes its way into our bodies because it is contained in certain foods. Over time, it becomes part of nearly every cell, with particularly high concentrations in the kidneys, liver, pancreas, spleen, and testes.

The most concentrated food source for selenium is the Brazil nut; a single one contains 120 mcg, (which is about twice the RDA). Seafood in general, as well as poultry and meat, are also good sources. So are grains, especially oats and brown rice.

Saw Palmetto

From the olive-sized berries of the saw palmetto tree comes a remedy for benign enlargement of the prostate gland. While harmless, this common condition (BPH, or benign prostatic hyperplasia) can interfere with the urine’s exit from the bladder, causing frequent urination, nighttime awakenings, and other uncomfortable urinary symptoms. It’s not clear what causes BPH. But as the millions of men who suffer from it can attest–more than half of men over 60 are affected–relief is welcome indeed.

Phosphatidylserine (PS)

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid, a type of fat found in every cell in the body. It is particularly concentrated in the brain, where it has the important task of keeping cell membranes fluid, flexible and primed for nutrient absorption. PS also plays a critical role in supporting nerve tissue; it aids proper release and reception of neurotransmitters in the brain, for example. In short, PS helps to keep memory-related pathways functioning smoothly.

Green Tea

Legend has it that in ancient times, a Chinese emperor was drinking some hot water when leaves from a nearby tea shrub (Camellia sinensis) dropped into his cup. He apparently liked the soothing drink that resulted from this chance event. And so began what is today a worldwide love affair with tea. It’s now second only to water as the most popular drink in the world.

Grape Seed Extract

As its name implies, grape seed extract is derived from the small seeds (and occasionally the skins) of red grapes–the same kind that are pressed to make wine. Used extensively in Europe, grape seed extract is rich in flavonoids, phytochemicals that have antioxidant properties some consider even greater than the old standbys vitamin C and vitamin E. Antioxidants are believed to prevent and control numerous ailments by safeguarding cells against the ravages of unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals.

Glucosamine

Glucosamine, a sugar produced in the body and found in small amounts in foods, plays an important role in maintaining cartilage, the gel-like material that cushions joints. When taken as a dietary supplement, glucosamine may help to relieve the pain, stiffness, and swelling of osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disorder that affects 12% of the population, in which cartilage has worn down. Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers report improvements with glucosamine supplements as well, as do individuals with other types of joint injuries. Some 70 countries around the world sanction glucosamine as a treatment for individuals with mild to moderately severe osteoarthritis.

Ginkgo Biloba

This popular herbal medicine is extracted from the fan-shaped leaves of the ancient ginkgo biloba tree, a species that has survived in China for more than 200 million years and now grows throughout the world. (The leaves are double, or bi-lobed; hence the name biloba.) Long used in traditional Chinese medicine, it is only in the last few decades that the medicinal uses for the herb have been studied in the West.

Flaxseed Oil

A source of fiber for linen fabric since ancient times, the slender flax plant (Linum usitatissimum) also boasts a long history as a healing herb. First cultivated in Europe, the plant’s brown seeds were regularly used to prepare balms for inflamed skin and healing slurries for constipation. Today, flaxseeds–also called linseeds–are best known for the therapeutic oil that is derived by pressing them. Rich in essential fatty acids, or EFAs, flaxseed oil has earned a solid reputation for treating a range of ailments, from heart disease to lupus.

Fish Oils

Heralded for its heart-healthy actions, fish oils offer high concentrations of polyunsaturated fats called omega-3-fatty acids. While all fish contain these fats, cold-water fish–salmon, sea bass, tuna, trout, mackerel–are particularly rich sources because of their diet: plankton packed with omega-3s. Interestingly, the colder the water, the more omega-3s in the plankton. Cold-water fish also boast the most potent forms of omega-3s: the essential fatty acids known as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). Consumed as part of a fish-filled diet or in supplement form, omega-3s have myriad healing powers.