Greencastle Family Practice

07/01/2025

For all who follow our page and may be interested in what is going on, we want to squash a rumor that we have been bought by Wellspan. That simply is NOT true. We are still independently owned and operated. We recently agreed to be part of a Quality/Performance Improvement Network for Wellspan insured individuals. Thank you for passing this on to your friends.

02/22/2025

Greens may help athletes improve their performance and benefit people with high blood pressure and peripheral artery disease. Greens are win-win—rich in nitrates and a good source of potassium. The nitrates from green leafy vegetables are converted to nitric oxide in our body, and potassium increases nitric oxide release.

Nitric oxide from vegetable nitrates, from greens, for instance, not only improves oxygen efficiency, but also oxygen delivery by vasodilation of blood vessels—that is, by opening up our arteries so there’s more blood flow. We can improve our artery function within minutes of consuming greens.

Of all the food groups analyzed by a team of Harvard University researchers, greens were found to be associated with the strongest protection against major chronic diseases. Each additional daily serving may reduce our risk of both heart attacks and strokes up to about 20 percent.
Greens can be added to nearly any meal—in soups, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, and on. If eating more greens, such as kale or collards, is intimidating to you, just chop them up and cook them down.

Watch the videos "Oxygenating Blood with Nitrate-Rich Vegetables" at https://buff.ly/2Q6G7Zc and “Lowering Our Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio to Reduce Stroke Risk” at https://buff.ly/2FhoBPh to learn more.

PMIDs: 19254743, 15523086, 11412050, 10517425, 24780514, 19202069, 21454745, 22709704

02/09/2024

02/09/2024

Seven dates a day for three weeks are put to the test in a randomized controlled trial.

01/05/2024

More than a decade ago, the Quarterly Journal of Medicine published a review entitled: "Vegetarian Diet: Panacea for modern lifestyle disease?" The answer

01/05/2024

Around the world, ultra-processed foods consistently account for more than 50 percent of dietary caloric intake in higher-income countries.https://bit.ly/460mCWQ

Discover the optimal diet and lifestyle for the longest, healthiest lifespan based on the best available balance of evidence. How Not to Age is out now https://see.nf/HNTABook.

12/15/2023

Why would we need to digest milk after weaning from the breast? Most people experience symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, intestinal gas, and watery stool or even nausea and vomiting from consuming lactose. The global prevalence estimate of lactose malabsorption is more than two out of three people, and, in the United States, it’s more than one in three.

It’s really mostly those of Northern European origin who can handle lactose throughout adulthood. So, to say that everyone should drink cow's milk seems like an example of racial bias in federal nutrition policy. Not everyone is of Northern European descent.

We can get calcium in our diet by including calcium-rich plant-foods, such as kale, collards, broccoli, bok choy, tempeh, navy beans, tahini, and almonds, and by drinking fortified plant-based milks, like soy milk.

How Not to Age is out now https://see.nf/HNTABook.

Watch the video “Is Soy Milk the Most Nutritious Non-Dairy Milk?” at https://see.nf/milks.

Subscribe to NutritionFacts.org’s free newsletter! As a thank you for subscribing, receive the preface of How Not to Age. nutritionfacts.org/subscribe

12/07/2023

11/20/2023

We’ve long known that higher consumption of oats and other whole grains is associated with a lower risk of diabetes. There have been more than a dozen randomized controlled trials looking at the metabolic effects of oat consumption in people with type 2 diabetes. Oats were found to significantly improve both short- and long-term blood sugar control, fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c, respectively, in addition to lowering LDL cholesterol levels. We think the benefits arise from a fermentable fiber in oats called beta glucan, because cholesterol falls even if you just get the oat fiber straight. There’s also improvement in blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Dozens of randomized controlled trials show that the types of fiber found in oats and beans can improve long-term blood sugar control in people with diabetes. By how much? Nearly double the FDA threshold required for new blood sugar-lowering drugs.

Watch the video “How Does Oatmeal Help with Blood Sugars?” at https://bit.ly/3IJePnL.
* If you are on insulin or blood sugar pills and plan to improve your diet, make sure to talk with your medical professional first so your medications can be closely monitored and adjusted as needed.

11/20/2023

Having higher levels of C-reactive protein in your blood may increase your risk of dying prematurely by 42 percent. Those with the highest levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), another marker of inflammation, may increase premature death risk by 49 percent. What can we do to lower these levels?

The most pro-inflammatory food component is saturated fat, which is found in meat, dairy, eggs, and junk, along with other pro-inflammatory food components like cholesterol and trans fat.

The most anti-inflammatory food component is fiber. It appears that an increase of just 10 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories would equate to four fewer years of cellular aging. Now, of course, diets high in fiber and diets with significant amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains go hand in hand. So, fiber just may be a marker of eating lots of whole, healthy plant foods.

Anthocyanins, the antioxidant pigments that give berries those bright red, blue, and purple colors, have been demonstrated in dozens of randomized controlled trials to reduce inflammation.

Half a dozen studies combined show that pomegranates, a fruit packed with anthocyanin pigments, can bring down inflammation over time. Turmeric, garlic powder, and ginger powder were also found to reduce IL-6. Antioxidant supplements, specifically vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and selenium, as well as turmeric supplements, however, provided no benefit for reducing markers of inflammation.

How else can we bring down inflammation? When individuals switched to strictly plant-based nutrition, their diets flipped to become anti-inflammatory. Not all plant-foods are anti-inflammatory, though. If all you do is boost your intake of less healthy plant foods, like juice, white bread, white potatoes, soda, and cake, you can end up with more inflammation. A really clean diet of whole plant foods can significantly reduce levels of Lp(a) (which we didn’t even think was possible with diet), as well as drop LDL cholesterol. It can also reduce levels of inflammatory markers. We’re talking about a 30 percent drop in C-reactive protein and a 20 percent drop in IL-6. Cutting down on both animal products and processed foods may be the most effective dietary strategy to combat inflammation.

How Not to Age is now available for preorder and releases on December 5. https://see.nf/preorder

Watch the videos “Which Foods Are Anti-Inflammatory?” at https://see.nf/plantshift and “What to Eat to Prevent Telomere Shortening” at https://bit.ly/3Y2jXsR. Learn more about anti-inflammatory diets at https://see.nf/3PxxVid.

06/10/2023

https://youtu.be/iA89i33CDYE

Only 2 out of 12 supplement companies were found to have products that were even accurately labeled. Are there any safe and effective dietary supplements for...