Dr. Josh Shields

Dr. Josh Shields Integrative Wellness Centers, located at 38777 Six Mile Road Suite 401, is Michigan's premier functional and naturopathic health destination.
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TRANSFORMATION → through Better Thoughts | Better Behaviors | Better Biology
Helping you heal from the inside out by addressing the root cause through a systems-based approach. Our expert team of holistic health professionals offers personalized care to help you achieve optimal wellness by addressing the root causes of your health concerns. As a leading wellness center near you, we specialize in

integrative approaches that blend the best of conventional and natural medicine. Discover how our holistic health center can support your journey towards renewed vitality and well-being. Experience the difference with Michigan's best in functional medicine and start your path to healthier living today.

Candida gets treated like an invader that shows up out of nowhere. It doesn't. It's usually already there, in small amou...
07/31/2026

Candida gets treated like an invader that shows up out of nowhere. It doesn't. It's usually already there, in small amounts, in most people's gut. The question isn't whether you have candida. It's whether your terrain let it get out of balance.

Broad spectrum antibiotics, high sugar intake, chronic stress, and low stomach acid all create an environment where beneficial bacterial populations that normally keep candida in check get suppressed. Candida takes the opening.

Symptoms people associate with overgrowth include brain fog, sugar cravings that feel almost compulsive, recurrent yeast infections, oral thrush, and skin issues. I want to be careful here because candida gets blamed for a lot of things that turn out to be something else entirely. Testing, through a comprehensive stool analysis, actually confirming overgrowth matters before you commit to a protocol.

When it's confirmed, caprylic acid and oregano oil are two compounds with reasonable antifungal activity, mostly demonstrated in vitro with clinical use supporting them, though robust human trial data specifically for candida overgrowth is limited. They're tools within a broader protocol, not stand-alone solutions.

The terrain matters more than the killing agent. Address the stomach acid, the sugar intake, the beneficial bacteria populations, or the candida just grows back.

Struggling with sugar cravings, recurrent yeast issues, or gut symptoms that keep returning? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=candida+albicans+overgrowth+gut+dysbiosis

I get frustrated when SIBO gets treated as a single diagnosis with a single protocol. It's not one thing, and treating i...
07/31/2026

I get frustrated when SIBO gets treated as a single diagnosis with a single protocol. It's not one thing, and treating it that way is why so many people don't get better.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth happens when bacteria that belong in the colon migrate upstream into the small intestine, where they shouldn't be living in large numbers. What they produce there depends on which organisms are overgrowing, and that changes the clinical picture entirely.

Hydrogen-dominant SIBO tends to present with diarrhea, bloating that's often worse later in the day, and rapid symptom onset after eating fermentable carbohydrates.

Methane-dominant SIBO is different. Methanobrevibacter smithii and related organisms consume hydrogen and produce methane instead, and methane specifically slows gut motility. That's why this subtype tends to cause constipation rather than diarrhea, and it often responds differently to antimicrobial protocols.

Breath testing has to measure both gases, not just hydrogen, or you're missing half the picture. I've had patients treated for months with a hydrogen-focused protocol while their actual driver was methane-dominant overgrowth the whole time.

Same label. Different condition, functionally. Different treatment.

Struggling with bloating, irregular bowel habits, or SIBO treatment that hasn't worked? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=methane+hydrogen+SIBO+breath+test

Gallbladder gets removed, and patients are told "you'll be fine, just avoid greasy food." Sometimes that's the whole con...
07/30/2026

Gallbladder gets removed, and patients are told "you'll be fine, just avoid greasy food." Sometimes that's the whole conversation. It shouldn't be.

Bile acids emulsify fat so your digestive enzymes can actually break it down. Before those bile acids get released, most of them are conjugated, bound to either taurine or glycine, and that conjugation affects how well they work and how they get recycled through your gut.

Taurine is an amino acid, and without adequate taurine status, bile acid conjugation can shift, potentially affecting fat digestion and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K. For someone without a gallbladder, whose bile is now dripping continuously rather than released in a concentrated burst with meals, getting this conjugation right matters even more.

There's a newer thread of human research looking at taurine and cardiometabolic markers, blood pressure, lipid handling, that I'm watching but wouldn't call settled yet. Interesting early signal, not a prescription.

I don't push taurine on everyone. For patients post-gallbladder-removal with ongoing fat digestion complaints, or anyone with signs of poor fat-soluble vitamin absorption, it's worth a look alongside a proper bile support protocol.

Struggling with digestion issues after gallbladder removal, or fat malabsorption symptoms? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=taurine+bile+acid+conjugation

I hear "PMS is just something you deal with" more than I can stand. It's not a character flaw. It's often a fixable horm...
07/30/2026

I hear "PMS is just something you deal with" more than I can stand. It's not a character flaw. It's often a fixable hormonal pattern, and vitex is one of the better studied tools for it.

Vitex, also called chasteberry, doesn't act like a hormone itself. It works upstream, at the pituitary, where it appears to mildly modulate prolactin secretion. That matters because elevated prolactin, even mildly elevated, can interfere with progesterone production during the luteal phase, the back half of the cycle, which is exactly when most PMS symptoms show up.

Multiple human randomized trials, not just older observational data, show vitex reducing symptoms like irritability, breast tenderness, bloating, and mood swings compared to placebo, generally over two to three menstrual cycles before full effect.

It's slower than a pharmaceutical. It doesn't work in a single cycle for most people, and I tell patients that upfront so they don't quit at week two expecting instant results. It's also not appropriate for everyone, and definitely not something to combine with hormonal birth control or fertility medications without talking to your provider first, since it can interact with those.

Struggling with PMS, luteal phase symptoms, or mood swings tied to your cycle? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=vitex+agnus+castus+PMS+trial

Ashwagandha gets marketed as a stress herb, and it is one. What gets left out of most of that marketing is what it might...
07/29/2026

Ashwagandha gets marketed as a stress herb, and it is one. What gets left out of most of that marketing is what it might be doing to your thyroid, and that cuts both ways.

Small human trials, mostly in people with subclinical hypothyroidism, show ashwagandha supplementation modestly raising T3 and T4 levels over several weeks. The proposed mechanism runs through its adaptogenic effect on the HPA axis and possibly direct support of thyroid gland function, though the full pathway isn't completely mapped out yet.

Here's the caution most influencers skip. If someone has hyperthyroidism, or is already on thyroid replacement medication at a well-managed dose, adding a supplement that can raise thyroid hormone output is not automatically a good idea. I've seen people self-prescribe ashwagandha and end up with symptoms of thyroid hormone excess, racing heart, anxiety, insomnia, without connecting the dots back to the supplement.

Research on ashwagandha specifically reducing TPO or thyroglobulin antibodies, the autoimmune markers in Hashimoto's, is thinner and less consistent than the T3/T4 data. I'd call that piece promising but not established.

If you're hypothyroid and considering this, get your labs checked before you start and again a few weeks in. Don't guess with your thyroid.

Struggling with thyroid symptoms or stress that's affecting your hormones? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=ashwagandha+thyroid+function+trial

Homocysteine is a lab I run far more than most primary care doctors do, and I still get asked what it even is.It's an am...
07/29/2026

Homocysteine is a lab I run far more than most primary care doctors do, and I still get asked what it even is.

It's an amino acid your body produces as a byproduct of normal metabolism. Under healthy conditions it gets cleared out fast, through two separate routes. One is remethylation, which depends on folate, B12, and yes, MTHFR is part of that pathway, but it's one contributor among several enzymes involved. The other route is transsulfuration, which depends on B6 and a different enzyme entirely.

When either pathway is sluggish, homocysteine builds up. Elevated homocysteine in human research is associated with higher cardiovascular risk and, separately, with cognitive decline. I want to be careful here. Association isn't the same as proof of causation, and the research on lowering homocysteine to reduce hard outcomes has been mixed. But as a marker of methylation function, it's genuinely useful.

This isn't a test that shows up on a standard annual physical. It should.

Struggling with brain fog, family history of heart disease, or nutrient concerns nobody has investigated? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=homocysteine+cardiovascular+cognitive+risk

Ask most people what vitamin C is for and you'll get "immune system, colds." That's true, but it's not the whole story, ...
07/28/2026

Ask most people what vitamin C is for and you'll get "immune system, colds." That's true, but it's not the whole story, and I think the more interesting piece gets left out entirely.

Your adrenal glands hold one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any tissue in the body. It's not decoration. It's a required cofactor for the enzymes that build cortisol and the catecholamines, adrenaline and noradrenaline. Every time you mount a stress response, you're burning through vitamin C to make that response happen.

Chronic stress means a chronic draw on that reserve. Add in the fact that vitamin C isn't stored in large amounts and has to be replenished regularly through diet, and you get a mismatch. High demand, low reserve, and a Standard American Diet that's often light on the foods that actually supply it.

There's older human research, the parachute jumper studies specifically, showing vitamin C supplementation blunted cortisol response and subjective stress under acute physical stress. Not a huge body of literature, but a real signal.

I'm not telling you to megadose. I'm telling you that if you're under chronic stress, this is a nutrient that's working overtime and probably needs more attention than "eat an orange occasionally."

Struggling with burnout, low resilience to stress, or feeling depleted no matter how much you rest? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=vitamin+C+cortisol+stress+response

Sugar cravings get moralized constantly. Willpower this, discipline that. Sometimes the biology is working against the p...
07/27/2026

Sugar cravings get moralized constantly. Willpower this, discipline that. Sometimes the biology is working against the person, and chromium is a piece of that story that rarely gets mentioned.

Chromium is a trace mineral involved in how efficiently your insulin receptors respond when insulin shows up at the cell door. When receptor sensitivity is poor, insulin has to work harder to get glucose into cells, blood sugar swings get wider, and cravings for quick sugar follow those swings.

I want to be honest about the evidence here rather than oversell it. Human trials on chromium supplementation for blood sugar and cravings show benefit most consistently in people who are actually chromium deficient or have significant insulin resistance to begin with. In people who aren't deficient, the effect is smaller or inconsistent. This isn't a universal fix. It's a targeted tool.

Refined carbohydrates and processed food, ironically, deplete chromium over time, which means the diet driving the cravings can also be depleting the mineral that would help regulate them. That's a frustrating loop.

I don't lead with chromium. I lead with the diet and the insulin picture. But for the right patient, particularly someone with a strong sweet tooth and a family history of blood sugar issues, it earns a place in the protocol.

Struggling with sugar cravings or blood sugar swings that feel out of your control? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=chromium+insulin+sensitivity+supplementation

Burning feet at night. Tingling that wakes people up. I hear this described as "just circulation" more than I'd like, an...
07/27/2026

Burning feet at night. Tingling that wakes people up. I hear this described as "just circulation" more than I'd like, and sometimes it's neuropathy that nobody screened for.

Peripheral neuropathy from elevated blood sugar develops gradually, often before someone crosses into a formal diabetes diagnosis. Chronically elevated glucose damages small nerve fibers through oxidative stress and impaired blood flow to the nerves themselves.

Alpha-lipoic acid is one of the better studied compounds here, and I want to be specific because the evidence is genuinely stronger than most supplements I talk about. It's used intravenously in Germany as a standard treatment for diabetic neuropathy, with multiple human trials showing reduced pain, burning, and numbness scores. Oral forms show benefit too, generally requiring higher doses and longer timelines than the IV protocols.

It works, at least in part, as an antioxidant that helps regenerate other antioxidants like glutathione and vitamin C, protecting nerve tissue from ongoing oxidative damage.

This is not a substitute for getting blood sugar under control. It's support while you're doing that work, and for nerve damage that's already occurred, it may help prevent further progression.

If your feet are burning at night, get your fasting insulin and hemoglobin A1c checked before you assume it's aging.

Struggling with nerve pain, tingling, or blood sugar concerns nobody has fully investigated? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=alpha+lipoic+acid+diabetic+neuropathy+trial

I'm not anti-statin. I want to say that up front because this post tends to get read as a hit piece, and it isn't.What f...
07/26/2026

I'm not anti-statin. I want to say that up front because this post tends to get read as a hit piece, and it isn't.

What frustrates me is the sequence. Patient gets a high LDL number. Gets a prescription. Nobody asks the more useful question, which is why the LDL is high in the first place.

Here's a mechanism I see driving elevated LDL constantly, and it rarely gets explained. Insulin resistance causes fat cells to leak free fatty acids into circulation more than they should. The liver picks those fatty acids up and has to package them into transport particles to move them through the bloodstream, first as VLDL, which then converts into LDL. More free fatty acids leaking means more particles getting made. It's not necessarily that your liver is producing more cholesterol out of nowhere. It's that insulin resistance is forcing it to build more transport vehicles.

Inflammation, thyroid function, and bile flow all play secondary roles too. This isn't a single-pathway story. But insulin resistance is, in my experience, the piece that gets skipped.

Fix the insulin resistance and the LDL often follows, sometimes without a single medication change. Sometimes medication is still the right call. Both things can be true.

Struggling with high cholesterol and want to understand why instead of just treating the number? Get my Free Balance Toolkit, comment BALANCE.

Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=insulin+resistance+LDL+VLDL+mechanism

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38777 Six Mile Road, Suite 401
Livonia, MI
48152

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