Zoom H. Heaton

Latest Author Features

How Do Imbalances in Essential Elements and Heavy Metals Affect Your Health?

When we don’t feel good, we often don’t realize that nutrient deficiencies may be responsible for the decline in the biochemical processes that should keep us functional on a daily basis. We also neglect to make the connection between our declining health and heavy metal toxicity. Our exposure to essential and toxic elements depends on our diet, where we live, and our lifestyle choices. We are exposed to toxic elements through environmental pollution in the air we breathe and through our skin. Our exposure is also impacted by levels in the soil or irrigation water used to grow the foods we eat, the supplements we take, and the water we

Are You Concerned about Coronavirus Variants?

COVID-19 vaccines are all the buzz right now as people scramble to get their lives back to a semblance of normalcy. Millions have been vaccinated, but new, mutated strains of coronavirus are causing concern around the world. COVID-19 cases have fallen nationwide, but health officials warn that these variants could trigger a new surge of infections. A new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was first reported in December 2020. Since then other variants have been identified. Are the new variants more contagious? Will the current vaccines cover them? Variants occur when there is a change (mutation) to the virus’s genes. As a virus mutates, mistakes and changes are

How Can LDN Help in Chronic Conditions and Pain?

Nearly half of all Americans have at least one chronic disease. Once you have one chronic disease, you have a higher risk of developing others. Inflammation seems to be at the root of all disease. What if there were a cost effective agent that could help fight inflammation, that could regulate your immune system so it doesn’t get out of hand, and that could be useful in treating major health issues like chronic pain, mental health conditions, autoimmune conditions, and even cancers? It does seem too good to be true, so let’s look at the science, and then you can decide whether this may be right for you. What is

Could Some Hormones Be More Protective Against COVID-19?

Good news for those of you who are currently on hormone replacement therapy especially if you’re a woman — new research suggests that sex steroids may play a role in keeping people from developing severe COVID-19 symptoms. One trend that has emerged is the tendency for males to have a more difficult experience with the disease than females. The ratio of COVID-19 deaths are higher among men than women. For every 100 women who die, 135 men die from the disease. In an article recently published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, Graziano Pinna from the University of Illinois in Chicago outlines some of the evidence suggesting that female reproductive

Set Yourself Up for Health in 2021 with a Simple Test

Are you feeling run down and tired for no reason? Are you taking a handful of supplements each day, and trying to eat cleaner, and questioning whether what you’re doing is working? This COVID-19 pandemic has isolated most of us enough to make us reassess our own health. Many of us flock to the next fad thinking it will help us slim down, give us more energy, make us more beautiful, and maybe even extend our years here on earth. Foods, supplements, and nutritional support are only good if we can absorb them. Most of us go through our whole lives thinking we’re doing what is right, but in the

Gearing Up Your Health in the New Year

2020 isn’t going to win any awards for the difficult and unpredictable year it’s been, with its controversial presidential election, pandemic, economic hardships, racial tensions, and widespread fear and uncertainty about health and quality of life going forward. Thousands have succumbed to a newfound virus called SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) that continues to elude medical doctors and scientists. Many of us found out that we aren’t as healthy as we thought and that we should have been taking better care of ourselves. Looking to the new year, what can we do to help our bodies become stronger and perhaps more resistant to the many pathogens out there? Perhaps

Beat Holiday Angst and Depression with Gut Health

The holiday season is almost upon us and this year is no different when it comes to stress with running around preparing food, buying gifts, decorating and dealing with hard to please relatives. But with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, anxiety and depression appear to have skyrocketed. The number of Americans suffering from mental health disorders like these has more than tripled during COVID-19 according to a new survey from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published by JAMA. Stress and anxiety can trigger symptoms in the gut, and gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation sends signals to the brain and has been linked to mental illnesses including

Histamine Could Be the Hidden Culprit in Your Food that is Keeping You Fat

Do you suffer from bloating and gas after you eat? Do you eat next to nothing and still gain weight? Do you have acne, joint pain, fluid retention, fatigue, inflammation, and the inability to lose weight no matter what diet you’re on? You could be allergic to foods that are high in histamine. Most people have heard of histamine because it is known to “cause” allergies. In fact, the body’s defense reaction to foreign proteins in the blood is what causes allergies. Part of that reaction includes the release of histamine from mast cells — these are a kind of white blood cell that releases histamine and other substances. Although

Changing Times: What to Expect When the Flu and Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19 Collide

The best thing to do as we go into this potentially deadly season is to build our immune system to shield and help us fight no matter what hits us. My, how things have changed, and changed drastically, in a few short months. The corona outbreak has everyone scrambling from the way we socialize and practice healthcare to how we live day to day and more importantly how we see our future. Scientists and physicians are trying to figure out how to manage the beast called SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 disease as it keeps evolving and changing. The problem now is that flu season is right around the corner

Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Boost Immune Function in the Face of COVID-19?

We are all scrambling during this pandemic, trying to figure out how to keep ourselves healthy under the threat of COVID-19. I love searching out any new clinical research that may help us put our health in perspective and perhaps help us strengthen our bodies, not only against COVID-19 but against any other invader lurking around the corner waiting to pounce once it gets half a chance. The immune system is and should be our number one priority right now, especially with an invisible enemy on our tails. Current literature suggests that hormones may be protective of our immune system. If you are perimenopausal, menopausal, or andropausal, and on hormone