Health

How To Keep Your Brain Young

brainAre forgetfulness and “senior moments” inevitable parts of aging? Many medical professionals (including the doctor in CNN’s news brief above) say it’s perfectly normal to start having memory lapses by the time you reach middle age.

I disagree. In fact, if you notice memory lapses, you may want to seriously consider making some immediate lifestyle changes to help reverse, or at least minimize further damage that might lead to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

 

28 Apr 2015

Grief Can Weigh on Immune System in Older Folks, Study Says

old-man-grievingExperiencing the loss of a loved one takes a heavy toll on your emotional health, but it doesn’t stop there. The extreme stress that results during bereavement affects you physically, too, and can manifest as both chronic disease and acute illness.

Stress plays a major role in your immune system, and can impact your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, brain chemistry, blood sugar levels, and hormonal balance…

 

27 Apr 2015

Endurance Exercise Can Damage Your Teeth—Here’s How…

endurance-exerciseAccording to dental professionals, endurance athletes are at greater risk for dental problems than non-athletes, courtesy of their fitness regimen. Why would that be so?

As it turns out, there appears to be two primary culprits contributing to this phenomenon: consuming large amounts of sports drinks, and breathing improperly during training, causing dry mouth.

Either of these can wreak havoc with your oral health, and the risks are amplified when you add them together.

 

26 Apr 2015

5 Yoga Poses to Help You Touch Your Toes

yoga-poseIn the US, yoga has become an increasingly popular form of mind-body exercise, with the number of those who practice increasing by close to 30 percent in recent years.

Nearly 9 percent of US adults practice yoga for reasons that vary from improving strength to relieving back pain or stress. The Yoga Journal actually revealed the top five reasons why so many people try yoga, and they ranked as follows:

 

25 Apr 2015

7 Underrated Medicinal Plants

medicinal-plantBefore there was modern-day medicine and its pharmacopeia of synthetic drugs, there were plants, and ancient civilizations knew how to use them strategically to treat common ailments and even life-threatening diseases.

The ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, a scroll from 1550 BC that’s over 100 pages long, details 700 medicinal herbs and how to use them. The Greek Corpus Hippocraticum from the 16th century BC also details the use of herbal medicine…

 

24 Apr 2015

Plants Can Hear Themselves Being Eaten, and Can Communicate the Threat to Their Neighbors

plantsThe interconnectedness between soil, microbes, plants, pests, and ultimately human health, is a fascinating area of study.

With the rapid evolution of technology, much of what used to be common-sense farming and gardening knowledge was lost. However, science is starting to reaffirm age-old wisdoms, showing that nature is far smarter than we may have given it credit for…

 

24 Apr 2015

The Future of Food,GMOs, Gene Patenting, and the Corporatization of Our Food Supply

pharmcorn

The GMO food labeling movement has gained momentum over the past several years, passing labeling laws in three states. America’s awareness of the risks of genetically engineered (GE) foods and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to their health and the environment continues to expand.

The Future of Food is not a new film, but still does an excellent job of covering contemporary issues that continue to threaten your health, including genetic engineering, gene patenting, and the corporatization of the food supply.

 

23 Apr 2015

Juicing—One of the Best Tools for Improving Your Health

download (1)Vegetable juice is an enormously helpful tool for improving your health. Dr. Andrew Saul, who’s been a guest here many times before, is a lifelong juicer.

His book, Vegetable Juicing for Everyone: How to Get Your Family Healthier and Happier, Faster!, is a fantastic resource, offering lots of practical tips for integrating juicing into your life, and having fun doing it…

 

22 Apr 2015

Herbicide and Insecticide Use on GMO Crops Is Skyrocketing, and Rubber-Stamped Approvals Now Usher in Next-Gen GMOs

gmo-cropsA recent Huffington Post1 article penned by David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, highlights the dire problems we face as pesticide use on genetically engineered crops continue to rise.

It’s quite shocking to realize that the way we grow food in the US, as well as many other regions of the world, is producing a toxic legacy that our descendants will undoubtedly struggle with as time goes on…

 

21 Apr 2015

Turmeric Compound Boosts Regeneration of Brain Stem Cells, and More

brain-cellsMany spices have powerful medicinal properties, which is why they’ve been used to promote healing for thousands of years prior to the advent of patented synthetic drugs.

Some spices are clearly more useful than others, and one “star player” within Nature’s pharmacy is turmeric, a yellow-pigmented curry spice often used in Indian cuisine. Turmeric also has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda…

 

20 Apr 2015