DrCarney.com Blog

It's amazing how much the media and popular culture affect our health concerns. Oil in our diet is one example. For decades no one gave a thought to their fat intake. That changed in the sixties when the American Heart Association came out with recommendations to switch from saturated fats like butter and lard to...

Iron. Iron is a necessary mineral in our diet that can be found in both meat and plants; however not all iron is created equal. Iron comes in two forms: heme iron which comes from animal products and non-heme iron which comes from plant sources. Whole grains, legumes and dark green leafy vegetables provide the type of iron...

Fear of weak bones is what drives concerns about calcium intake. But calcium alone doesn't build strong bones. Exercise, Vitamin D, and a variety of vitamins and minerals from whole plant foods all strengthen our skeletal system. As the muscles work during exercise, they pull on the bones, signaling our bodies to build up bone...

As a dietician, Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LD, LN advocates for a whole-foods plant-based diet in order to get sufficient protein. "Nature has made sure we are protected against a protein deficiency, as all whole, natural foods are abundant in protein. Whole grains, starchy vegetables, vegetables, and legumes are all excellent sources of high-quality protein." My...

As someone who suffered from asthma and allergies since childhood, I'm very familiar with the tight breathing, the nasal congestion, and the throat irritation associated with those conditions. For most of my life, I'd eaten what I thought was a pretty "healthy" diet. I ate my fruits and veggies. (Well, okay... I ate fruit; I...

Life expectancy in the U.S. is listed as number 27 or 28 of the 34 OECD free-market democracies. In the video below, Dr. Michael Greger explains how the overall patterns of healthy lifestyles have declined in the last 18 years. When U.S. health trends are examined, they reveal some pretty sobering statistics based on one...

Hot flashes are a classic symptom of menopause here in the United States. Understandably, many women have concerns regarding hormone replacement therapy (HRT) due to the increased risk of blood clots, strokes, heart disease, dementia, high blood pressure, weight gain, depression and uterine, breast and ovarian cancer. So what's a woman to do? Carry a...

Once the diaper stage is over, no one really talks to us about our bowel habits. And if we have questions, who is there to ask? That's where I can help out. In my medical practice, I see patients all the time who are constipated. Quite a few of them know that they have a...

As an emergency physician for 19 years, I certainly saw my share of patients come in with symptoms of diverticulitis. Severe abdominal pain, cramping, and bloating were among the classic symptoms that pointed toward a diverticulitis diagnosis. Sometimes I could give these patients pain relievers and antibiotics and refer them to their primary physician or...

Girls in the United States are entering puberty at younger and younger ages says a study published in Pediatrics. Breast development is the first marker of the onset of puberty in girls. Researchers documented that in 2010, 10.4% of seven-year-old Caucasian girls, 23.4% of African-American girls, and 14.9% of Hispanic girls had begun breast development....

The Mash-up of Medical Research and Marketing We've all seen books, articles, or internet stories on the alleged "miracle" properties of coconut oil. And we've watched as coconut oil has gotten more and more dedicated shelf space at our local grocery stores. Have you ever stopped to wonder why a food product that had been...

The Good: While high cholesterol is a health problem that plagues those consuming the typical American diet, it is a condition that in most cases is easily treated and reversed. I have seen cholesterol levels drop dramatically simply by switching to the Starch-Smart® System. That means eating beans, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains while avoiding added oils. You...