DrCarney.com Blog

Can we be honest? One of the very best things about the standard American diet (SAD) is its convenience. Although I love cooking, I admit there have been a few days when I've missed the ease of my former diet. I could swing through a fast food joint and grab a quick, warm meal. I...

Oil can be a controversial subject among plant-based diet advocates. There are many who believe that omitting meat, eggs, milk, and other animal products like cheese and yogurt is enough of a dietary change to improve our health. I wholeheartedly agree that removing all animal products from our diet is an important step towards maintaining...

A study published in JAMA Surgery documents a dramatic increase of colon and rectal cancer (CRC) among younger adults. Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center predict that based on current trends, by 2030 the incidence rates of colon cancer will increase by 90% and the rates for rectal cancer will go...

Evening snacking might affect much more than the numbers on the bathroom scale. A new study shows that waiting longer between supper and breakfast reduces our risk of both breast cancer and diabetes. Eating in accordance with our body's natural sleep-wake cycle appears to regulate our blood sugar levels, thereby reducing our risk for diseases...

When the presentation was over and the question session started, I found myself staring at dozens of hands popping up like sweet summer corn bursting through warm, fertile ground. For 45 minutes, I answered question after question from the audience who had attended my talk entitled "What Women Want (to Know)." When I finally had...

Researchers looked at the effect of four healthy lifestyle characteristics on 13 cardiovascular biomarkers including blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting insulin. They found that the more of the healthy lifestyle characteristics a person incorporated on a daily basis, the more favorable biomarkers levels they had. These results aren't surprising. What was surprising is that...

Each year, diverticulitis accounts for over 200,000 hospital admissions in the United States. Diverticulitis is a disease of the gastro-intestinal system in which diverticular pouches become infected or inflamed. The suffix "-itis" means inflamed, whereas the suffix "-osis" means "affected with".  Diverticulosis, the most common lowe...

The sugary beverage industry spends billions of dollars every year on advertisements encouraging us to consume sugary beverages to refresh ourselves, but here is a caveat emptor: soft drinks have been implicated as a contributing factor to the development of many diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and Alzh...

Enlarged varicose veins are not only a cosmetic matter, they can cause aching pain, ulcers, burning, and cramping to varying degrees, and in some cases, more serious complications. The etiology of varicose veins can be multifactorial, says the scientific medical community — listing pregnancy, standing for long periods of time, a sedentary lifestyle, age, obesity, and family...

"A large number of studies have been conducted, all of which support the concept that salt intake is the major factor increasing [blood pressure] in the population. The diversity and strength of the evidence is much greater than other lifestyle factors, for example, overweight, low consumption of fruit and vegetables and lack of physical exercise,"...

The Mediterranean region of the world is famous for its supposed Mediterranean diet. An emphasis on whole plant foods — fresh vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, and replacing butter with a plant-based oil — gives the Mediterranean diet some strength. But who would have thought of Finland as a leader in health? In the 1970s,...

Keeping blood pressure within the healthy range is vital to maintaining excellent cardiovascular health. High blood pressure also known as hypertension increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, both of which are the leading causes of death in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 75 mil...