Review The Power of the Right Diet in Digestive and Immune Issues: How do you Choose? with Dr. Liz Lipski

There are many therapeutic dietary approaches to working with people who have immune and digestive issues. It’s difficult to know which approach to take. With so many options, it’s good to begin with food. Often within a week or two, the right person on the right diet for them at that moment, will feel a lot better than they have in a long time.

Hawthorn welcomes Dr. Liz Lipski for her webinar presentation The Power of the Right Diet in Digestive and Immune Issues: How do you Choose? This webinar recording is now available to review in our Webinar Archives.

This webinar will focus on the clinical thought process to provide for the best therapeutic benefit. We’ll explore the current research on specific therapeutic diets and how to determine which may work best by looking at the core root issue. Is this an antigenic or inflammation reaction, dysbiosis, or enzyme insufficiencies? What diagnosis or diagnoses does this person present with?  

Approaches to be explored include: Mediterranean diet, FODMAP diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, 6-food Elimination Diet, Comprehensive Elimination Diet, Paleo-Immune, Elemental Diet, and a restorative diet for people who have several maldigestion or malabsorption issues. 

Learning Objectives:

1. The attendee will be able to more easily discern which dietary plan may provide the best therapeutic outcome for a specific client;

2. Utilize root cause issues to determine recommendations;

3. Gain practical skills and tools to utilize in a clinical setting. 

Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, CNS, BCHN, LDN, CFM is Professor of Clinical Nutrition and the Director of Academic Development, Nutrition & Integrative Health at Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH). She is board certified in Clinical Nutrition, Holistic Nutrition, as a Nutrition Specialist, and in Functional Medicine. Dr. Lipski is nationally known for her pioneering work and expertise in the field of functional and integrative nutrition, and digestive health.

Liz is a faculty member at the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), for the Metabolic Medicine Fellow ship through A4M. She is a board member for the Accreditation Council for Nutrition Professional Education, an advisory board member for the International Association of Health Coaches, and the Autism Hope Alliance.

Dr. Lipski is a contributing author for the book Integrative Gastroenterology, co-authored a chapter for the IHMT Study Guide, and is published in peer-reviewed journals. She is the author of Digestive Wellness, now in its brand new 5th edition, The Digestion Connection, Digestive Wellness for Children, and Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Through her work at MUIH she is training the next generation of nutritionists. She is also bringing the current state-of-the art in clinical nutrition to current healthcare practitioners by speaking at professional conferences, teaching for IFM, and offering webinar-based mentoring programs and advanced nutrition forums for nutritionists, dietitians, and other clinicians through her company, Innovative Healing Inc.

Disclaimer: The webinars may present information that does not fully reflect Hawthorn University’s philosophy. Nonetheless, these presentations have been chosen because of their overall quality of information.

Dr. Liz Lipski
Author, Digestive Wellness

Review Drug-Nutrient-Botanical Interactions: The Interconnected Web of Healing with Bianca Garilli, ND, IFMCP

Botanical medicine (also referred to as plant medicine, phytotherapy, and herbalism) has been practiced by humans for thousands of years. Archaeologists describe the use of herbalism as far back as 60,000 years ago in Iraq and 8,000 years ago in China. Humans have always relied on plants for food, shelter, and more recently medicine, in a relationship that has proved valuable for survival since the beginning of time. However, the use of plants for their healing energetics requires a deeper understanding of the energies, chemical properties, synergistic effects, etc. of each botanical.

Hawthorn faculty member Dr. Bianca Garilli, ND, IFMCP joins us for her webinar presentation Drug-Nutrient-Botanical Interactions: The Interconnected Web of Healing. Dr. Garilli's presentation recording is now available to review in the Webinar Archives, HERE.

This webinar touches on the deep history of plant medicine and explores its relationships with new-to-the scene pharmaceutical medications. The interactions between herbs and drugs can be both detrimental and advantageous depending on a variety of factors, particularly the combinations of herbs and drugs being utilized. Learn how herbs can support the use of pharmaceutical medications in the human body and which combinations should be used cautiously or avoided all together.

Learning Objectives:

• Review the ancient history of “plants as medicine”;

• Examine the biased elimination of botanical medicine from the Western medicine construct and more recently the resurgence of this healing modality into the modern health scene;

• Discuss the various ways botanical medicines are currently being introduced into US healthcare;

• Consider the various safety concerns regarding Drug-Botanical interactions; explore some of the most common scenarios and how to assess for safety;

• Examine the various ways in which botanical medicines can be helpful in Drug-Nutrient Depletion situations. 

You will come away from this webinar with a new found appreciation for the rich history that botanical medicine can bring to your practice and your clients’ health while also gaining an understanding of the cautionary and wise use of herbs in various situations. 

Dr. Bianca Garilli is a former US Marine turned Naturopathic Doctor. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Maryland and her Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. Dr. Garilli has been on staff at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California Irvine (UCI) and volunteer clinical faculty at UCI medical center. She was the Director of Lifestyle Medicine at the Institute for Restorative Health in Davis, CA and in 2012 established her private practice in Northern California (NCCLM) which focuses on the prevention and treatment of chronic illness in all age groups through the effective use of natural and lifestyle medicine approaches. In addition to private practice, Dr. Garilli is a consultant for the Institute for Functional Medicine and for Metagenics; she is also a member of the Speaker’s Bureau for Metagenics. One of her passions is teaching, as such she is a faculty member of Hawthorn University where she teaches various courses in the Masters of Holistic Nutrition program. She also loves to write and frequently publishes in various health-care journals and publications. Dr. Garilli is the current President and founding board member of the California Chapter of the Children’s Heart Foundation and sits on the National board for the Children’s Heart Foundation.  She lives in beautiful Northern California with her husband, their two (very) active children, four backyard chickens, and a newly added dog.  She loves to read, cook, garden and preserve fresh produce to enjoy year around.

Disclaimer: The webinars may present information that does not fully reflect Hawthorn University’s philosophy. Nonetheless, these presentations have been chosen because of their overall quality of information.

Dr. Bianca Garilli, ND, IFMCP

Mindful Eating in 5 Simple Steps

by Kira Whitham

If you’ve ever sat and scrolled through your Facebook feed while eating, or scarfed down a meal between meetings, then this article is for you.

We all know just how important a high-quality diet is, and that what we eat affects our health. But there is one nutritional component that is often overlooked: mindful eating. What seems like a minute component of health, is actually a crucial piece of wellness.

As a society, we are conditioned to have poor eating habits. Many people struggle with overeating, undereating, emotional eating, eating on-the-go, and all-around mindless eating. Eating is meant to be a sensory experience, and yet so many don’t even realize what they’ve just eaten. Unfortunately, if you’re guilty of mindless eating, you’re potentially causing harm to your health (1, 2).

Forget about food for a moment and consider the gut’s biology. We know now that digestion goes beyond the physiology of the digestive tract. Digestive secretions work appropriately when the body is in a parasympathetic state, or ‘rest and digest.’ They stop working efficiently when the body is in a sympathetic state, or ‘fight or flight.’ So, if you’re constantly eating in a mindless way, then digestive secretions do not work as they are meant to. When that happens, you will not properly digest or absorb nutrients, which then leads to health issues (3).

Additionally, it takes about twenty minutes for the body to release a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK), which registers how full you are. If you eat too quickly, then you’re apt to overeat since CCK hasn’t had time to kick in. Ultimately this can lead to bloating, weight gain and other health issues. The problem with rushed eating is that not enough time has been given to the cephalic phase (the sensory component of eating), which is crucial for healthy digestion. This is where thoughts, textures, and smells all trigger the release of digestive enzymes and other juices (4).

The goal of mindful eating is to listen to hunger cues, and also to be present during the meal. The average American chews each bite of food only a handful of times, and often with several gulps of water to chase it down. Not only does that hinder the cephalic phase, but also carbohydrate digestion, which affects the flavors of food. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth with chewing, so you may notice that the more that you chew carbohydrate foods, the sweeter they taste. While some claim that it’s best to chew your food 200 times, I encourage clients to chew until food is applesauce texture, to reduce the work of the stomach and small intestines and enjoy the tastes of the food (4).

So, what exactly does mindful eating include, beyond chewing well? I’ve broken it down into 5 steps:

1) Become aware of how you eat. It doesn’t always need to be at a table, but it shouldn’t be while you are driving, paying your bills, or running around between meetings. Sit down somewhere, relax, and enjoy your meal.

2) It also means learning your hunger cues, versus emotional eating or eating out of boredom. Determine whether you are eating because you truly need the nutrition, or if you’re eating just because it’s a habit.

3) Learn to enjoy food (and possibly even cooking). Use your five senses while preparing your meals, and then savor them. When you’re eating, appreciate the nutrients you are putting in your body and be thankful for the benefits you’re gaining.

4) Create a relationship with eating. Recognize that food is nourishment, and that some foods are healthier than others, but also don’t beat yourself up when you make a not-so-wise choice. Food is not black or white, there’s a lot of gray in between.

5) And finally, stop when you are satisfied. Often we overeat because there is more food on our plate, but in reality, you should stop when you’re no longer hungry, not wait until you’re full.

Mastering mindful eating is easy, though changing habits may not be, as many of us fall back into our old patterns. I encourage you to spend some time identifying where you are struggling around mindful eating and take the appropriate steps to slowly start improving upon your relationship with food.

A simple activity to get started with mindful eating:

One of my favorite activities is to get a little square of dark chocolate and place it on your tongue. Instead of chewing it, let it sit on your tongue and begin melting. Notice the texture, the flavors, and the increased sweetness as it breaks down. A similar activity would be to chew a few almonds or walnuts, until there’s nothing left to chew. These are great activities to show just how delicious food can be when we remember to stop and savor it.

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1. Dallas, Mary Elizabeth. “The Health Risks Posed by Mindless Munching.” WebMD, WebMD, 6 Apr. 2016, https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20160406/the-health-risks-posed-by-mindless-munching.

2. Albers, Susan. Eating Mindfully: How to End Mindless Eating and Enjoy a Balanced Relationship with Food. New Harbinger Publications, 2012.

3. Konturek, Peter C, et al. “Stress and the Gut: Pathophysiology, Clinical Consequences, Diagnostic Approach and Treatment Options.” Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology: an Official Journal of the Polish Physiological Society, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22314561.

4. Liska, DeAnn, and Jeffrey Bland. Clinical Nutrition: a Functional Approach. Institute for Functional Medicine, 2004.


Kira Whitham holds a Master’s in Health and Nutrition Education from Hawthorn University, as well as additional training through the School of Applied Functional Medicine, The Metabolic Healing Institute, and IFM. She combines the principles of holistic nutrition and functional medicine to help people bring their bodies back to their intended state of wellness. She is a firm believer in the healing power of food and works hard to help her clients improve their relationship with food while gaining an understanding of what nourishes and depletes the body.