Stanwood Integrative Medicine

02/23/2026

Happy Monday! I hope everyone got to enjoy the brief moment of sunshine over the weekend. Part of the new trends for 2026 is actually a continuation of trends from 2025. A trend is the digital detox. While for some, this may be more difficult due to a variety of reasons, it should still be considered particularly for our younger children and teenagers. There is a very interesting podcast on the Diary of a CEO in which they talk about the brain rot that can occur with the use of social media platforms (yup, I see the irony as I write this) and particular the short form videos (less than 1 minute). I encourage you all to take a listen to this podcast and decide if you need to curtail your social media use.

How is Tiktok rewiring your brain? Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Harvard physician Dr Aditi Nerurkar reveal how tech addiction and short-form video ...

02/15/2026

As we started the new year, I listed some expected health trends for 2026. One of the was the use of micro-workouts as part of your daily routine. As many of us sit throughout the day as part of our job, we need to break up the routine of sitting a little and start to sprinkle in short sets of body weight exercises to help stay fit. I wanted to provide a few examples of what can be included but you can get creative what you are doing. Before, I list a few examples, I wanted to address something that I hear constantly when I ask about exercise, many respond by stating that the x # of steps per day. This is great but our body is also great at becoming more efficient at what we do routinely. We have to shake things up a bit. One of my favorite ways to shake up the walking is to throw on a weighted vest or if you want to get fancy...a ruck sack. This is a great way to challenge the system. Now for our list of body weight exercises:
A. Lunges
B. Squats - if you have problems with balance, hold onto the door jam or the edge of your desk.
C. Push up -you can start against the wall and as these get easier start to change your angle
D. Jump rope
E. If you are in an office building...take a quick flight of stairs or two
F. Wall sits

This is just a short list. There are numerous resources online to ideas of what will work for you. We are six weeks into the new year. It isn't too late to make changes for your health. Let's get moving my friends!

02/02/2026

It is odd to think that in 2026, we would still have extensive problems with the internet but it still occurs. The week before last, our starlink service failed (wiring issue perhaps) and this system has been in place for 2 years. I happen to live out in the country where either you have good internet with WiFi or you have an old school hardline (landline) based phone available. Well once we got our starlink in, we canceled our other internet service and our landline. The problem came with troubleshooting the issue and then getting it resolved. Long story short, it was a week before we could get a service restored (went back to old school internet and no more fancy starlink)and I wanted to share some insights about not having access to internet, phone and TV (streaming service) that occurred to me. Now for the majority of my patients, many of you enjoy things like camping and unplugging but I haven’t done this in quite some time. It was actually quite freeing not to be checking on the news or the internet with any frequency and even better to engage in other creative activities that were put to the side due to other readily available distractions. Sleep was improved (and I work to prioritize my sleep) and I realized that there was a low level tension that just wasn’t present last week. I am hoping that this break from the internet will continue to be a tool that I use throughout the year. If you haven’t done this, please take a break and engage in something offline! Give your brain a reset!!!

01/17/2026

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone has had a great week and are enjoying the break in the rain. Today is going to be a longer post but I hope that you all take the time to read (at some point, I will explain why I don’t do the short reels). I just finished listening to a fabulous lecture that ties into the “health trends for 2026.” Sadly, I can share the lecture as this is created for a private group but I can still share the important information. I have had a few patients present the past 2 weeks that have been interested in stem cell IVs for overall health and longevity. One patient asked “how do we know that they are making a difference?” This is great question as some individuals don’t feel any difference at all after the IV and this is quite understandable. When we are talking about using these newer techniques to help with overall health and longevity what is the actual goal? The goal should be to reduce inflammation, support the immune system and reduce overall all cause mortality. The primary drives of mortality are cardiovascular disease and cancers as a broad group. Before we dive into IV stem cells we need a strong foundation. The core elements of a strong foundation include: Sleep, Hydration, Protein consumption, Anti-inflammatory diet, and regular Exercise. On top of this foundation, core supplements include curcumin (1000-2000mg per day) to reduce inflammation, Omega-3 fatty acids (1000-2000mg per day), Vitamin D3 2000IU per day and magnesium at 300-500mg/day. The next level is peptide therapy to support these first 2 structures. The core peptides are thymosin-1 alpha to stablize the immune system, BPC-157 to support the GI and musculoskeletal systems and Sermorelin to support sleep and the top of the tier for health are exosomes which can be given for system support either via IV or nebulized (in the comfort of your own home). We can evaluate if there is an overall change in your health by monitoring some basic labs (done prior to any therapies, at 6 months and again at 12 months). Ok…as I mentioned this is long…let me know what questions you have!

01/06/2026

Here is an additional post that is too good not to share….it is from Chris Kresser:
“Recent neuroimaging research continues to support what Indigenous traditions have long intuited: psilocybin may help reset the brain's functional networks, particularly in people with low mood and emotional dysregulation.
A new study using magnetoencephalography (MEG) found that a single dose of psilocybin disrupted the rigid, over-connected brain activity patterns seen in persistent low mood and promoted more flexible, globally integrated neural dynamics. These changes weren't just immediate—they persisted for up to three weeks.
Participants with the greatest increase in connectivity also saw the biggest improvements in symptoms. The researchers suggest psilocybin may loosen entrenched patterns of brain signaling, opening a window for emotional and cognitive change.
It's not a magic bullet, but paired with the right therapeutic setting, it could offer a powerful opportunity for healing at the level of both biology and belief.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02068-0?fbclid=IwY2xjawPJUElleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeg86lDvs1iBIZ0-kw4j2c0Pejq1wVVofrITSmFUOlLTUvExoJD9zbvwV9SkM_aem_2hbL8EBRGjjVSZ7kYGr1Tw

Hammo et al. show that a single dose of psilocybin rapidly and sustainably relieves both chronic pain and anxiodepressive-like behaviors in mice by restoring prefrontal activity through partial agonism at 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors.

01/05/2026

Happy New Year SIM family. I hope everyone had a good holiday and are ready for this year. I was doing a little web search before posting to see what was expected to be the new medical/health trends of 2026. Some of what I found was quite interesting and some of it is basic Naturopathic Medicine. Other items were things that I have already been trying to stress to my patients. The list includes: Contrast Therapy, Connection as medicine, Longevity training (grip strength, mobility and fascial work, balance and coordination, and cognitive integration), Microworkouts, Zone 2 cardio training, strength training, star bathing, weighted walks and personalized supplementation. As we move through these next few weeks, we will dive into these topics in a bit more detail. I look forward to another exciting year of being your partner in health.

12/21/2025

As we enter into the final days before Christmas, I hope that everyone is doing well and is safe from the significant weather that we have been experiencing the past 2 weeks. I wanted to take a minute to provide you all with an admin update for the schedule the these next 2 weeks. The clinic will be open on 23 December and 30 December. We are taking some time to spend with our families and hope that you have the opportunity to do that as well. We will be open regular hours on these 2 days but do keep in mind that we will be close the remainder of each week. For any medical urgency/emergency, please go directly to the urgent care clinic or ER. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and I will see you all in the new year.

12/15/2025

I hope everyone is safe after last week's experience with the atmospheric river events that passed through and my prayers go out to those families who experienced flooding from these weather events. Today, I wanted to share a couple of interesting articles that I came across. The first one is on the GLP-1 medications. Now many of you know I support the sustainable use of these medications for weight loss as long as the patient is still doing their part as well (prioritizing proteins, getting sufficient exercise and getting good sleep) however there has been a lot of talk about these medications potentially curing all sorts of diseases or at least putting them at bay. Many of us were awaiting the results of the Evoke trial to see if there was a benefit for treating patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer Dementia (AD). The trial, performed by Novo Nordisk (a pharmaceutical manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy) failed to show that these medications were helpful in stopping the progression of AD. The hope was that this medication would cross the blood brain barrier to reduce the neuro-inflammation associated with AD.
In a separate article, researchers as looking at the use of artificial sweeteners and the impact on brain health. In a recent study published in the journal, Neurology, the researchers reported a link between artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Saccharin, acesulame-K, erythritol, xylitol and sorbitol were linked to declines in memory as well as overall thinking skill that was "equivalent to approximately 1.6 years of brain aging."
So the story here is that don't rely on a medication to save your brain, eat real food and if you are going to indulge in a sweet, the artificial sweeteners are not your friend.


https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-glp-1s-actually-help-treat-alzheimers-latest-trial-data -1-agonists-and-Alzheimer-s-The-Evoke-trials

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/artificial-sweeteners-and-brain-aging-what-we-know-so-far #1

In this In Conversation podcast episode, MNT discusses a study from Brazil which found links between seven artificial sweeteners and accelerated brain aging, and other possible long-term effects.

12/10/2025

Feel like an aquatic animal yet??? We are in round 2 of the atmospheric river moving through our area for this week and I hope that everyone is staying as dry as they can and that if you are living near the river that there is minimal flooding for you. I wanted to make a quick post about weight loss. I have posted before that for some individuals it isn’t as easy as calories in-calories out and there still are a number of biased opinions but that’s a different rant for a different day. Now when a person is desperate to lose weight they will try just about anything. Many people have done very well on the 2 major GLP medications that are available (Semaglutide and Tirzepatide). There is a lot of excitement about the newest drug that seems to be FDA approved but doesn’t seem to be commercially available yet. This is retatrutide. This is a triple receptor agonist medication based on the same principle as the other 2 medications with an additional mechanism of action to allow for the body to burn more fat and result in greater weight loss. Pharmaceutical versions of this medication are NOT readily available yet. It appears that the peptide community (of which I generally love) has a version available but the sources that I have seen thus far are research grade versions. What this means to you as the consumer is that these research grade peptides are not screened as thoroughly as pharmaceutical grade medications and can contain contaminants that can make an individual sick. You can certainly receive a COA (certificate of analysis) on the product but this only shows you that the vial contains what it says it contains and doesn’t tell you the purity of the product. PLEASE DO NOT obtain research grade peptides.

11/30/2025

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for that I feel it would take an entire post. I do want to make sure that each you that are part of SIM family and follow this fb page know that you are part of this group. I have always wanted to provide quality medicine since I was a child and I am honored that each of you have chosen me to be a part of your health journey. The holiday seasons can get lost in the commercial aspect of it all but it is a commercial which triggers today post. Recently, I saw an advertisement for Chevy. They partnered with the Alzheimer's Association to make amazing advertisements centered around family and in one dementia. When many people hear about a friend or family member who has developed a neurological condition, there is typically a "culprit involved." For Alzheimer's Dementia, there are 2 usual suspects: Tau particles and amyloid beta particles. These are actually normal proteins that are circulating in the brain. The amyloid beta particles are important in helping to generate memories where as the Tau particles take part in stablizing the nerve cell itself (neuron). It is when we get an abundance of these particles that abnormal pathology (disease) sets in. Most medications to date only slow the process down. There are providers who are actively looking to the regenerative medicine field to help reduce neuroinflammation and stop the overabundance of these particles to keep the brain healthy. Most inflammation starts with poor lifestyle habits (bad sleep, poor diets, limited meaningful social interaction and no exercise). Don't wait for the new year to start to make positive improvements in your health. Pick one aspect and make a change today.

11/24/2025

I wanted to share another interesting talk that I had the opportunity to attend while at the Age Management Medical Group (AMMG) conference. The opening lecture for this conference was Dr. Eugene Shippen. This gentleman is still practicing (limited hours) well into his 80s. He gave an amazing lecture on the use of high dose Vitamin D for treatment of many autoimmune conditions as well as chronic Lyme's disease. His work is a variation of the Coimbra protocol. Dr Coimbra is a neurologist out of Sao Paulo Brazil and has been using high dose Vitamin D to treat MS and keep it remission. The premise behind this is there are individual doses of vitamin D that are supportive for the body. Now some will argue that high doses of vitamin D will contribute to calcification of the arteries (hardening of the arteries). In fact, the science behind this shows that low vitamin D levels, increase concentrations of parathyroid hormone (master regulator of calcium) which creates increases in calcium within the blood circulation. Higher serum 1,25-vitamin D levels were associated with lower amounts of vascular calcification. This is particularly startling to me as I see more facilities reporting "normal vitamin D levels" as being in a 30-60 range. Are we keeping ourselves sicker by not optimizing our vitamin D? Before you undertake increasing your vitamin D, please work with a knowledgeable provider to monitor your parathyroid hormone levels.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.CIR.96.6.1755
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33897704/

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is a secosteroid and prohormone which is metabolized in various tissues to the biologically most active vitamin D hormone 1,25(OH)2D3 (calcitriol). 1,25(OH)2D3 has multiple pleiotropic effects, particularly within th...

11/23/2025

Happy Sunday! I hope that if anyone is starting their Thanksgiving travels today that you all travel safely to your destination and have an amazing time. I wanted to let you all know about the holiday hours for this coming week. We will only be in the office on Tuesday, 25 November, for regular clinic hours. We will be closed starting Wednesday 26 November for the long Thanksgiving weekend and will return on 02 December for normal clinic hours again. Should you need urgent/emergent care, please go directly to the ER or Urgent care clinic near you. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.