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561.368.0191|Richard A. Levine, MD FACP Board Certified Internal Medicine

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Nutrition

Home/Nutrition

Doctor’s Notes: Fall 2021 – Riding the Rapids

May this note find you safe and well.

As we usher forth the Holiday Season and New Year, I remind myself that the times we find ourselves in, has no Owner’s Manual. Instead, it is being written on a day by day basis.

That being said we must be cognizant of our ongoing health and wellbeing. The prevention and early detection of illness may seem inconsequential in our busy lives but is actually the cornerstone of a life well lived. During these trying times we must remain free of contractible disease while at the same time showing  diligence for our routine health maintenance.

Here are some Current Issues that are good to keep in mind;

  • Continue to Stay Safe. If you are, and have been, well please continue to do the things you do as you are. Do not deviate from tried and true practices. Be proud of yourself, as slow and steady wins this game. Masks – Distance – Hygiene have not gone out of style.
  • I recommend vaccinations. COVID 19 booster vaccinations are currently being used for older adults with chronic illnesses and for individuals with major immune conditions such as those undergoing cancer therapy, transplant patients, those on high dose corticosteroid therapy and those with no spleen to name some groups.
  • Your immune response to the COVID 19 vaccinations can be assessed by a simple office lab draw. If you are unaware and interested in your status you may set up an appointment.
  • Flu vaccination for the 2021-22 Flu season has begun.  Please call the office and make an appointment for yours.

REMEMBER to keep at least 2-3 weeks between getting any COVID 19 booster and your yearly flu shot. That rule also goes […]

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Doctor’s Notes: Fall 2018 – Eat Better. Feel Better.

“ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
– Benjamin Franklin

”You don’t have to go on a diet, just change your diet.”  But, there are so many choices and we are all different in our makeup, routines, environments, genetics, habits and comfort foods. Of course, but if you could feel better from a change in your habits and comfort foods, mixed in with some education on the subject, it might just be worth it.

It is not that difficult. Health minded approaches to nutrition have made their way to your local grocery store and your favorite restaurant. It is understandably difficult to know where to begin in our busy lives. Let’s try to understand how we nourish and what to nourish with.

Everyone is talking about taking probiotics, “they are good for you”.

The World Gastroenterology Organization Global Guidelines define a probiotic as “live microorganisms that confer a health benefit on the host when taken in the adequate amounts” and “strictly speaking, are live microbes shown in controlled human studies to impart a health benefit”. The evidence based applications for adults are associated with active disease imbalanced states such as acute diarrheal states, antibiotic related diarrheal states, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and certain liver diseases. The Human Microbiome Project began in 2007 and is active today at the Mayo Clinic and Scripps Institute among other centers worldwide.  What if you don’t have any of those conditions and you generally feel well?

What are my personal “probiotics” and how are they?

They are your own personal group on microbes localized mostly in your large intestine, the colon. They become associated with us while we are in the womb, increase in number during vaginal birth and stabilize […]

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Diet and Exercise and…?

We have all heard that the best way to reach a healthier weight is through diet and exercise. Many of us have tried this combination unsuccessfully, mostly because we were unable to define it well enough on our own or institute the correct personal regimen [...]

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