Health Blog
Tips, insights, and resources for your wellness journey.
Epigenetics: How Your Lifestyle Shapes Your Genes
Have you been told that you just have ‘bad genes?’ Although genetics can play a role in our overall health and well-being, there is always more to the story. Beyond just genetics and...
The Amazing Benefits of Bone Broth
In recent years, bone broth has gained quite a bit of attention, not just as a savory broth or soup base, but as a powerhouse of health benefits. The art of making bone broth is rooted in traditional...
Unleash Your Body's Defender Mode With These Tips
Did you know that your overall health is crucial to the resiliency of your immune system? A robust immune response relies on the harmony of various bodily functions, and a healthy lifestyle provides...
Signs Of Nervous System & Hormonal Dysregulation
Your body is amazing. Even if it doesn’t feel amazing right now, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it was designed to thrive. You see, our bodies are intricately connected, with systems...
Transforming Health: Why it's a journey, not a destination.
Here we are…A few days into 2024! I know 2023 was quite the year, most likely filled with ups and downs for all of you. In our fast-paced world, the demands of daily life can seem overwhelming and...
The Link Between Sugar and Cancer Risk
This might not be news to you, but what you eat has a huge impact on your overall health…And it seems like the rest of the world is finally waking up to the fact that your diet matters . In fact,...
Do Castor Oil Packs Actually Work?
In a world overrun with ‘modern’ medical products, it's easy to overlook the time-tested remedies that have been used for centuries to promote health and well-being. Castor oil packs,...
Supporting Your Liver: The Key to Optimal Health
When it comes to our overall well-being, we often focus on aspects like diet, exercise, and mental health. However, we often overlook the vital organ responsible for detoxification and maintaining...
Can You Do These 5 Things the Next 30 Days?
In today's fast-paced and sedentary lifestyle, maintaining a healthy metabolism is crucial for overall well-being. Metabolic flexibility is the ability of the body to efficiently switch between...
Unraveling the Signs of Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance can be sneaky to detect and most people have little or no symptoms until it’s too late. Unfortunately, this condition affects millions of people worldwide. It occurs when cells...
Blood Work Markers Everyone Should Test Now
Blood work is something you should be getting done to keep tabs on your health. But… how often should you be checking things, and what should you be checking? Let’s take a closer look at some of...
Aluminum & Alzheimer’s – The Real Story
Aluminum is widely used in everyday life due to its versatile properties. But does it lead to neurodegenerateive diseases like Alzheimer's? Let's take a look at the link between aluminum...
The Miracle For Your Brain That You’ve Been Looking For
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, is a protein that plays a crucial role in the growth, survival, development, and proper functioning of neurons. There has been a lot of buzz in the health...
Supporting Your Liver: The Key to Optimal Health
When it comes to our overall well-being, we often focus on aspects like diet, exercise, and mental health. However, we often overlook the vital organ responsible for detoxification and maintaining...
Is Sunscreen Safe?
Is Sunscreen Safe? The safety of sunscreen has been a hot topic for a few years now. Sure, we all want to protect our skin from sun damage, but what if there was a better way? With many people...
Is A Cleanse Right For You?
Dr Ben’s Advice Spring is right around the corner, which has the health space in a frenzy with cleanses, detoxes, supplements, and diets all touting the same benefits. If you’ve been part of the...
Blood Sugar Balance Can Change Your Life
Blood sugar balance can truly change your life. This is why it is so foundational here at F8. And, if you’ve followed me for very long, you’ve probably heard me say this: Blood sugar balance can...
The Dangers of Fragrance
The Power of Scent The power of scent is amazing for its ability to trigger memories, moods, and positive feelings. However, there is a darker side to the world of scented products. Even though your...
Banish Brain Fog For Good
Are you ready to banish brain fog for good? If you or someone you love has ever dealt with brain fog, you know how debilitating it can truly be. Sure, we can all walk out of the room and forget our...
Weight Loss: What Really Moves The Needle
It’s that time of year again. The sun is shining, the temps are warming, and most people start working toward their ‘summer body’. Every year you see the ads, shouting at you to join this gym...
How Stress Speeds Up The Aging Process
Have you ever found yourself stressed about stress ? The truth is, it can come from a variety of sources such as work, relationships, financial pressures, or health problems that we can’t always...
Our Top Sleep Tips
One of the most common things we hear from our patients is… ‘ I can’t sleep .’ Even though it can feel like you are the only person you know not sleeping, you aren’t alone. It is estimated...
My Top Health Hacks
In the health space, you often hear the term ‘health hack’. There are small, but foundation tips that can make a big difference in your health when you start utilizing them every day. In this...
Gut Health & The Immune System
The idea that the gut and the immune system are connected is not new, yet many still do not truly understand this concept. Sure, you’ve seen the latest probiotic touting amazing digestive benefits,...
Understanding The Connection Between Autoimmune Disease and Leaky Gut
Are you dealing with occasional digestion issues, or is it something deeper? After all, everyone has occasional heartburn and indigestion, right? If your digestion is a bit off, it can be an isolated...
Is Organic Really Better?
The main difference between organic and non-organic produce comes down to one factor: the use of the herbicide Glyphosate. There has been much debate in this area, with some touting the safety and...
A Holistic Approach to Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
Adrenal fatigue is an imbalance driven by chronic stress, and it’s so important to discuss. These days, people are facing more stressors than ever before, and so adrenal fatigue is becoming a more...
Natural Lupus Remedies and a Holistic Treatment Approach
Autoimmune conditions are now a leading cause of disease and disability, affecting an estimated 23.5 million Americans , and this number is expected to continue rising. One of the most common...
Functional Medicine for Hashimoto’s
What is Hashimoto’s? Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune condition that results when the immune system attacks the thyroid tissues. In this situation, the immune system mistakes thyroid...
How to Balance Thyroid Hormones
The thyroid is a small, butterfly shaped gland that is located low on the front neck. The thyroid has many functions, but primarily it secretes hormones that are responsible for metabolism,...
Long Covid Symptoms: The Functional Medicine Approach To Getting Your Health Back
Do you still struggle with brain fog, hair loss, or any of the more than one hundred reported Covid-19 symptoms? You’re not alone. A whopping 43% of individuals are estimated to still have at least...
Long-Haul COVID Brain Fog: How to Get Your Brain Back
Are Neurological Symptoms Hanging on After you recovered from Covid? Are Neurological Symptoms Hanging on After you have recovered from Covid? Even though new COVID-19 cases are dropping, we’re...
How to Heal from Brain Injury
Brain injuries are a major cause of disability in the United States with side effects lasting days or a lifetime, depending on the injury and treatment plan. Your brain is in a constant state of...
Five things you can address that cause insomnia
It seems almost everyone has insomnia these days, including, possibly, you. People either can’t fall asleep, they wake up after a few hours of sleep and can’t go back asleep, or they aren’t...
Are You as Metabolically Flexible as You Can Be?
Flexibility is more than touching your toes, in fact, metabolic flexibility is even more important. The term metabolic flexibility refers to your cells’ ability to move between burning glucose for...
Is the Keto Diet the Answer to Alzheimer’s?
Nutrition is not only involved in preventing all of the known risk factors for Alzheimer’s and dementia, but it’s also one of the most powerful tools we have to reverse and improve declining...
The Top Six Clues that You Have Imbalanced Blood Sugar
The scary reality is that millions of people are living with imbalanced blood sugar, unknowingly. While type 2 diabetes is at epidemic levels , an estimated 84 million Americans are pre-diabetic, and...
Is Your Work-out Balancing Blood Sugar?
Even for non-diabetics, imbalanced blood sugar can lead to serious health risks and unwanted symptoms. Many of our patients unknowingly suffer blood sugar spikes and dips throughout the day leading...
Is your Gut Sabotaging your Cardiovascular system
More and more research now points to the connection between an unhealthy gut and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. One of the recent key findings is a metabolite called trimethylamine N-oxide...
Is Your Brain Being Destroyed by Stress
One of your body’s most powerful adaptations is its response to stress. Whether your body is faced with acute stress or long-term stress, your nervous system has evolved to improve your chances of...
What’s the Deal with Celery Juice?
Have you been hearing whispers of the potent healing potential of celery juice lately? If you haven’t picked up on this new nutrition trend, don’t be surprised if you begin to see and hear more...
If Your Labs Look Normal, Then Why Do You Feel So Badly?
Most of my patients have seen plenty of providers over the years that have heard their symptoms, ordered labs and reported that everything was “normal”. They are commonly told that their...
Is Your Approach to Acid Reflux All Wrong?
Symptoms of GERD, often referred to as acid reflux, is so common these days that providers don’t blink an eye before prescribing proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s). Antacids are practically as...
The Top Five Reasons your Diet isn’t Working
Remember when cutting calories was the simple solution to weight loss? Turns out, the “calories in and calories out” theory isn’t very effective and is increasingly ineffective as we age. In...
The Power of Functional Medicine
There are so many descriptive words in healthcare these days that it can be easy to dismiss them as trends or fads or group them all together as one modality. Between alternative, Eastern, Western,...
The Real Cause of PMS
For decades the medical community has assumed that symptoms of PMS (premenstrual syndrome) are related to the hormone shifts associated with the menstrual cycle. Why one woman suffered mood swings,...
The Curious Link Between Blood Sugar Balance and Leaky Gut
Blood sugar imbalance and related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, neuropathy, and cardiovascular disease have a well-established relationship to dysfunction within the gut. In fact, the...
Is Going Gluten-Free Really Better For Your Health?
Eating gluten-free has become the “norm” for millions and can mean big health advantages for those with gluten sensitivities and other associated health conditions. However, avoiding gluten is...
Neurofeedback: Unleash the Power of Your Brain
We learn destructive ways of interpreting the world around us through life events, some of which are highly stressful. What if there was a way to teach to your brain to overcome the negative patterns...
Mystery of The Epstein Barr Virus
Would it surprise you to know that over 90% of Americans are harboring a potentially harmful virus called Epstein Barr (EBV)? It’s a fact, but fortunately for many people this virus lies inactive,...
Thyroid Disorders
Approximately 20 million Americans will suffer from some kind of thyroid disease in their lifetime. Nearly 60 percent of those affected with thyroid disorders do not recognize that they have a...
The Top 5 most missed causes of digestive distress
From acid reflux to intestinal pain and stomach upset, digestive distress causes discomfort for millions of Americans. While symptoms are often masked with prescriptions, assessing symptoms and...
The Root of your Thyroid Imbalance
If you are suffering from symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, dry and brittle hair and nails, hair loss, constipation, cold hands and feet, depression, joint or muscle pain, difficulty getting...
Top 3 Habits to Help your Child Focus
If you have ever received a phone call or email from your child’s teacher or principal to inform you that he is having behavioral problems at school, you know the feelings of stress and...
10 Steps to help Depression
While conventional medicine will have you believe that antidepressants are the lone approach to treating depression , research has shown that there are many more effective ways to lift your mood and...
7 Types of ADD
Classic ADD Symptoms: Inattentive, distractible, hyperactive, disorganized and impulsive. Normal brain activity at rest; decreased brain activity during concentrated tasks. Cause: Dopamine...
Top 7 Natural Alternatives for ADD
Attentions disorders are on the rise with over 11% of American children struggling with some variation of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While...
Blood Sugar and the Brain
The brain consumes roughly one-half of all of blood sugar energy in the body. Hyperglycemia is commonly caused by diabetes because when glucose levels rise, either the insulin levels in the body are...
The Gut and Brain Connection
Those are not just butterflies in your belly THE GUT AND BRAIN CONNECTION The sensation of “butterflies in your belly,” and “having a gut feeling,” are more than just sayings these days. More...
The Gut Brain Connection and Top 7 Foods to Help Your Gut
Subject Line: The Gut/Brain Connection – and top 7 foods to help your gut. You’ll never believe what number five is! Bone broth With 80 percent of your immune system located in the gut, it makes...
Top 5 Questions to Ask Before Putting Your Child on ADD/ADHD Meds
If your child has recently been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, you are likely facing a decision about whether medication is going to be part of the treatment plan. While pharmaceuticals are the mainstream...
The Art of Functional Medicine
By Dr. Ben Galyardt “He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” What is your definition of health? Is it just the absence of disease in your body like many in the...
6 Greatest Myths About ADD / ADHD
There are a lot of misconceptions about ADD (also known as ADHD). This can make it hard to know what’s true and how best to support your child. Let’s separate myth from fact. Myth #1: ADD Isn’t...
You’ve Been Diagnosed with Thyroid Dysfunction … Now What?
During the last few months you’ve been tired, exhausted really. Perhaps you’ve even been on an emotional rollercoaster or have had difficulty getting motivated to do anything at all … So you...
How Gut Health Can Affect Mood
A new research study from the University of Ohio shows that the quality of good and bad bacteria in the gut can have a profound effect on mood, attention and focus in children. Diet and its effect on...
Dr. Galyardt in BellaSpark Productions
Take a moment to read this article featuring Dr. Galyardt and his experience as an applied kinesiology practitioner. Applied Kinesiology: Effective, Affordable Alternative Medicine What if your body...
Kendal’s Story
Please take a moment to read one of our patient’s amazing story about her daughter finding some relief from Type 1 diabetes after working with us! From the blog: Be Balanced 52 It is highly unusual...
Is Your Shoulder Pain All In Your Head?
Technically speaking– yes! No, it is not imaginary, it is your brain restricting the range of motion. The vast majority of frozen shoulder/restricted shoulders can be fixed quickly when we can...
Going Gluten Free
How to Go Gluten Free We’re going to explore some basics tips for getting started on your gluten-free lifestyle. Know What Gluten Is Gluten is a type of protein in wheat, rye and barley. It is the...
FAQ for AMIT
1. WHAT IS AMIT? Advanced Muscle Integration Technique is a system treatment of common joint and muscle conditions experienced by active people. AMIT is a revolutionary paradigm in sports medicine....
Don’t Miss the Simple Joys of Living
At the end of our days, the simple, joyous moments accumulate into one beautiful symphony of life. Such a symphony makes for a life well lived. But if chronic pain and illness are a part of your...
Help Him Find Success
Childhood should be filled with laughter, happiness and many small achievements. But for children wrestling with ADD or ADHD, childhood is often a long, frustrating battle to do the things that many...
Find Relief From Thyroid Disorders
Few disorders can steal more from your vibrant life then a malfunctioning thyroid gland. The sheer loss of energy from thyroid disfunction alone is enough to cause your life to spiral out of control....