whole food - Cellementals

Activating Collagen

Like other nutrients in the body, collagen does not act alone. Crucial for maintaining the structure of our skin, bones, tendons, and other connective tissues, it relies on a variety of biomolecules to support its production and function in the body. Collagen is the most abundant protein in a complex network called the Extracellular Matrix…

Health without the hack

Trendy, novel, and with the potential to leverage how we look, feel, and function, health hacks are attention grabbers. But, as the old adage goes, when a price tag is attached, “buyer beware!”, as it’s easy to get reeled-in by savvy sales marketing. Like being enticed to buy an expensive kitchen gadget to peel an…

Worst health informing best health

When I worked as a direct care RN on a critical care pediatric unit, what gave me the most peace of mind was not planning for best outcomes, but for worst ones and then thinking how to prevent them. This way of inverted thinking has broad application including the leveraging of personal health. Instead…

Ingredient spotlight: Sea cucumber

Did you know that sea cucumbers are marine invertebrates in the same phylum (share evolutionary similarity) as starfish and sea urchins? Despite being consumed as a food and health tonic by many cultures, today and traditionally, sea cucumbers are still considered quite the oddity with their peculiar characteristics and unique composition. A case in point…

Ingredient spotlight: Sea buckthorn

Did you know that the sea buckthorn berry–plump, orange, grows on thorny bushes, thrives in the artic–possesses a plethora of amazing attributes? Having to withstand extreme conditions, sea buckthorn is well-provisioned with unique properties that impart an impressive robustness. This, along with its history of use and beauty, gave us plenty of reason to pick…

Where it is vs. where we want it to be

The body’s ability to recover from injury, disease, and other assaults to its well-being is paramount. As the crisis created by these insults often takes precedence over less pressing bodily needs, it’s in the body’s best interest to respond appropriately for timely restoration of health As the restoration of health is physiologic, it is most…

Where we all want to live

We’re all familiar with the typical paradigms of quantifying health (e.g. vital signs, lab work), where treatment (e.g. medications, procedures) is dictated by where we fall within standard parameters. Less familiar is the qualifying of health, something unique to us and that we are the best assessors of. No one knows us better than…

I’m on to you, you’re not good for me; it’s over!

I’m on to you; you’re not good for me; it’s over! Despite the claims, I’m left unfulfilled–good riddance. It happens all day, everyday; the sacrificing of food quality and nutrient density in favor of foods that are misrepresented by company marketing. Enticed by misleading advertising and then hooked by a food’s hyperpalitability and convenience, unsuspecting…

Apoe4 – the Ancestral allele

APOE4 (A4) carriers, especially homozygotes (carry 2 copies of the APOE4 allele, A4/4s) are considered to have a genetic predisposition to a shortened life-span, cardiovascular disease, and most notoriously, to Alzheimer’s disease (up to 12x the risk). Because of this, A4 has been dubbed the Alzheimer’s gene, with some going as far as calling it…

Muscle – our most valuable metabolic asset

As muscle is our most valuable metabolic asset, not having enough creates a liability. Like our finances, muscle is something we need working for us today, providing security for us tomorrow, and hedging against unexpected losses. Skeletal muscle is an essential asset contributing to our metabolic wealth. Accruing muscle Muscle is a repository for glucose.…