Latest Stories

Latest Stories

Joyce Hollman

Another major study confirms: Multivitamins slow cognitive decline

Clinical trials have already shown multivitamins can help reduce cognitive decline. Now findings not only confirm they can improve memory performance by years, but why people with heart problems should be especially excited about this research…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Sweet, salty and boozy: A recipe for holiday heart syndrome

The holidays are about celebrations. They’re also about alcohol, sweets and salty savory treats and big meals that can leave you with a permanent heart condition. Here’s how to avoid holiday heart syndrome and the signs to watch for…

Carolyn Gretton

Snacks that come with a license to cheat

You might think that if you eat healthy otherwise, splurging on a few snacks a day balances out. It depends. Choose wisely and you’ll carry less fat compared not only to those who snack on the wrong stuff, but also compared to those who don’t snack at all…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

3 ways an unhealthy gut worsens arthritis and joint pain

More and more health problems are being linked to an unhealthy gut, from Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s and heart disease. But osteoarthritis and worsening joint pain? You’ll be a believer when they detail how fixing your gut may be the truest way to find lasting relief.

Jenny Smiechowski

6 ways to reignite your youthful energy

You used to run mini-marathons in the morning, work a full-time job, catch a late show with friends and still have energy to spare. But now you need to take a nap after grocery shopping and doing a load of laundry. What happened?

Carolyn Gretton

The 50-step-a-day activity that slashes heart disease risk

Having trouble getting in 10,000 steps a day? I have good news: Many studies show that much may be overkill. The magic number for better heart health may be much, much lower — as long as you’re getting them this way…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

3 factors that dramatically increase women’s blood clot risk

There are blood clot risks that both men and women face that can change everything in an instant. But every woman should be aware of the intersection of three factors that, for them, can ramp that danger anywhere from double to eight times the risk.

Jenny Smiechowski

Does the sea hold the solution to your food allergies?

In this day and age, it seems like nearly everyone has some type of food allergy — gluten, dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts. Chances are you’re avoiding one (if not more) of these allergens.

Joyce Hollman

Joint supplement ingredient fights MS better than approved therapy

Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system. As more people are diagnosed, the current therapy isn’t cutting it. But research into a common supplement ingredient shows it may be possible to restore function in some patients…

Carolyn Gretton

Yoga: Heart protective enough even for heart failure

Yoga has many proven benefits. But what if your heart is failing? Research has shown a short course of yoga to be helpful in receiving some heart failure symptoms. But what you really want to know is whether it can help your heart function over the long term…

Carolyn Gretton

7 things happy people do that reduce depression by 57%

The factors influencing depression are very complex. But researchers keep digging into why some experience it more than others and they’ve discovered seven things that, if you follow, could take depression down, even if genetics is a factor…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Blood pressure management: Why winter can derail it

If you’ve managed to keep your blood pressure under control despite all the factors working against you, I’ll bet you never imagined the weather could throw a big kink into your readings…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Study finds exercise has ‘mind-blowing’ effect on genetic cancer risk

Study after study has already proven exercise to be one of the most valuable weapons in the battle against cancer. But what about people who are genetically predisposed and carry much greater odds? To quote one researcher, it was mind-blowing…

Joyce Hollman

Why late nights lead to blood sugar trouble

Can avoiding diabetes really be as simple as switching from a night owl to a morning person? The science says the difference can be substantial. But if your circadian rhythm or job makes that hard, you’re not doomed…

Jedha Dening

5 reasons you need more folate over 50

The health problems certainly seem to stack-up on us as we age… And one reason is because of changes in the body that affect nutrient absorption. In mature adults, more commonly known deficiencies include vitamin D and B12. But folate is one nutrient that’s equally important and often forgotten. Here are 5 ways it can help you age better…

Joyce Hollman

How a fat-burning hormone could keep Alzheimer’s away

Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease for which there still isn’t an effective treatment. Experts say the newest drugs carry risks far higher than any noticeable benefit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have another way to slow Alzheimer’s, one much less likely to cause a brain bleed that may already be supporting your health?

Carolyn Gretton

The supplement that may soon fight tooth decay

Dental caries, or tooth decay, is one of the oldest and most common diseases known to man. Yes, it’s a disease and its damage goes far beyond your mouth. So we brush and floss and try to avoid the sugar that kicks it off. But a powerful phytonutrient just may make caring for our teeth easier…

Carolyn Gretton

How fitness influences Afib and stroke risk

The most dangerous outcome of atrial fibrillation is stroke. People with this heart rhythm disorder have five times the stroke risk of their peers. How can you avoid being one of the 40 million worldwide with Afib? Research says a low level of fitness should do the trick…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Fast-working over-the-counter ED gel gets FDA approval

The famous little blue pill helped men with ED discover they no longer had to suffer in shame or silence. In just 30 minutes you could get your sexy back. But thanks to a newly approved gel, spontaneous romance is back, and coming to a pharmacy near you.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The little-known drug danger people with obesity face

Over the years, we’ve learned that obesity carries higher levels of health risks. But a shocking and little-known obesity-related danger comes from a surprising source: medication that’s rendered ineffective or unsafe by increased body fat…

Joyce Hollman

6 ways to bake heart-healthy holiday sweets

Holiday baking is going into full swing. That means lots of butter and sugar, right? If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that it isn’t the butter that will kill you. It’s the sugar. Here are seven ways to enjoy holiday sweets without heart attack danger…

Easy Health Options Staff

Halloween horror diet scares away calories

Sitting through a horror movie can make you scream and sweat. Even better, it activates metabolic activity that can burn calories from dipping into the bowl of candy you got for the trick-or-treaters! Here are the top 10 calorie-burning horror movies…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

The weird connection between constipation and blood pressure

Having constipation can be uncomfortable. But its effects on the body don’t just impact the gut. Constipatiion and hypertension are two conditions where the conditions and their treatments can team up to make matters much worse…

Carolyn Gretton

Ignoring these bathroom symptoms can cut your life short

If you’re a man in your 50s or older, you may have experienced frequent urination and problems emptying your bladder. You may think it’s just a part of aging you have to put up with. But research shows the consequences of ignoring lower urinary tract symptoms can be dire…

Jenny Smiechowski

Tis the season for high risk heart trouble on Christmas Eve

You’re just about to tackle the last of the of unwrapped presents when you feel tightness in your chest. A heart attack? On Christmas Eve? It’s more common than you think. So if you experience pent-up emotions this time of year, or plain old stress, time to manage them…

Joyce Hollman

Mistletoe: From Christmas tradition to cancer treatment

Hanging mistletoe is a popular holiday tradition. But mistletoe extract has gotten the attention of researchers as a potent anticancer agent. It’s already shown promise in treatment resistance cancer, so what’s next?

Carolyn Gretton

Blood pressure: The one thing you should take lying down

You may think your high blood pressure is managed well. Better yet, your readings may indicate you’re in the clear. But did you try measuring your blood pressure lying down? It’s taken 25 years to get the data, but this is going to change the way we monitor our blood pressure, for good reason.

Joyce Hollman

What giving up fats and carbs does to your life expectancy

Which is more important: a perfect body or a long and healthy life? That’s the kind of question that can make you go hmmm, because we think they’re one and the same. Healthy weight, healthy body, healthy life, right? Not if you’re going to extremes to get there.

Joyce Hollman

Why glaucoma may be the sneakiest sight stealer

You probably get a yearly checkup. But when was the last time you had your eyes examined? As we age, several conditions can degrade our eyesight. Glaucoma is one of them. And new research has found you could be suffering that damage right now — without any obvious telltale signs.

Carolyn Gretton

The natural ingredient that resists fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease can be a setup for severe liver disease, diabetes and heart disease. There’s no treatment, so exercise and diet changes are recommended. But it just got a lot easier to resist a fatty liver and improve metabolism…

Margaret Cantwell

The simple reason statins don’t work for everyone

One of the reasons many people have a hard time with their cholesterol is because of how they respond to the popular statin drugs used to treat it. For some, drug therapy works, but for others, not so much. But a few tweaks can fix that…

Joyce Hollman

Experts validate 5 factors that drastically affect heart disease risk

If you have a family history of heart disease, you might assume you’re a time bomb waiting to go off and there’s little you can do about it. But you’d be wrong. As much as 90 percent of our risk comes from factors within our control. And some of those factors have recieved an updated seal of approval from the experts, validating their potential to save your life…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The pesticide that helps pack on the pounds

It’s no secret that for decades Americans have been getting heavier. There are a lot of reasons why, and we’ve been conditioned to believe they are within our control, and that not following a healthy diet or overeating is no one’s fault but our own. But it may not have been the food all along, and instead, what was on the food…

Carolyn Gretton

Is exercise a good idea with AFib?

If you have the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (AFib), you may be confused as to whether it’s a good idea to exercise. No wonder. To this point, the few studies on AFib and exercise have been contradictory. But, there’s been positive indication that a carefully structured exercise program may help some people with AFib better manage their condition…

Joyce Hollman

The grain you’ve never heard of that could prevent diabetes

Most of us have gotten the message: eating more whole grains (as opposed to refined grains like white flour and white rice), is key to healthy living, especially if you want to avoid chronic disease. And nothing can become chronic faster than jumping from prediabetes to a full-fledged diagnosis. But the right grain can completely turn things around, and it’s gluten-free…

Carolyn Gretton

How many steps a day really lead to a longer life?

You’ve probably heard that 10,000 steps a day can lead to better health and longer life. But have you ever wondered why 10,000 steps? Truth be told, it was an estimate with little science behind it. Recently, researchers set out to determine exactly how many steps per day are needed for those optimal health benefits. Luckily, you can live a lot longer while walking a lot less…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Shocking number of lives could be saved by giving up this one thing

It’s no secret that eating or drinking too much sugar is an unhealthy choice. Foods and beverages laden with the sweet stuff have been strongly linked to type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart attack and heart disease. Scientists quantified sugar’s effects and found a shocking number of lives could be saved by giving up the worst culprit. One of those could be yours…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The secret to lower blood pressure with flavonoids

Flavonoids are known to have great effects on lowering blood pressure levels. But the results haven’t been consistent for everyone. Researchers found why, and how you can make them work better for you…

Carolyn Gretton

Targeting what drives prostate cancer at its source

About one in eight American men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, and one in 41 will die from the disease. Researchers determined to improve those odds are working to uncover more effective ways to treat prostate cancer — and they may have found an answer in the way these cancer cells feed themselves…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How resistance training helps you enter ‘fat-burning mode’

Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce chronic disease risk. Why? It helps burn fat that can lead to metabolic syndrome, a constellation of factors that increase your risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. But the number one factor is an accumulation of fat around your middle. So if you’re going to exercise, pick one known to go straight for this fat…

Joyce Hollman

5 factors that can crush genetic risks for Alzheimer’s

Having a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s can be really scary. But the National Institutes of Health found that people who adhered to at least four of five specific healthy lifestyle factors lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s by sixty percent. Best news of all? Even octogenarians can avoid Alzheimer’s by following these habits…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

How an acidic diet can take your kidney health down fast

When most of us think about the foods we eat, we get stuck on things like fat, calories and the amount of sugar in them. Yet, one thing few of us consider is the effect of food on the pH balance — alkalinity to acidity ratio — of the body, which is equally as important… even moreso, for your kidneys.

Joyce Hollman

Fermented foods or fiber: Tackling the driving force behind disease

Research has shown that the makeup of your microbiome greatly affects your immune system. But that’s not all. It impacts your weight, healthy aging and your risk of numerous chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. Two types of foods, fiber and fermented foods, have been known to increase bacterial diversity in the gut. But one does a much better job…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Scientists calculate which foods add or subtract minutes from your life

Don’t you love the advice to eat better? Silly question. In fact, we hate to hear it because, what is better, specifically? Oftentimes, it’s conflicting. And it rarely includes our favorite indulgences. That’s why we struggle to choose and stick to a healthy diet. But would it be easier if you knew which foods added or subtracted minutes from your life?

Joyce Hollman

The drink that slashes your risk of heart failure

To keep our hearts healthy, we’re bombarded with well-meaning advice. Eat this, don’t eat that. Exercise this much. Don’t sit too much. Avoid bad habits and reduce the stress levels in your life. But there’s one simple piece of advice that, if you follow especially during midlife, could eliminate heart failure from your future…

Carolyn Gretton

Feeling like leisure time is a waste of time risks health and happiness

We have more leisure time than ever, between 36 and 40 hours a week by some estimates. But we live in a society that makes us feel like every moment must be a productive one. Once you believe that, and internalize the message that leisure time is a waste of time, research shows you’re going to be more depressed and less happy, unless you think of it this way…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The CBD solution to painful mouth ulcers

Random mouth ulcers are just plain painful. Over-the-counter topicals or prescription mouthwashes may reduce the pain, but they don’t help heal those canker sores so much. So a group of scientists decided to put CBD to the test. It’s been shown to do so much, why not?

Jenny Smiechowski

8 foods most likely to trigger diarrhea

My gut is somewhat out of whack thanks to long-term antibiotics I took several years ago. So I’m familiar with an urgent bathroom run. But there are some surprising things about some foods that can trigger diarrhea even if you have an iron stomach. If you’d rather not be caught off guard, watch out for these eight…

Joyce Hollman

Could you omit just 200 calories a day to save your heart?

The aorta, the main artery coming into the heart, becomes gradually stiffer with age, even without other risk factors, like smoking or obesity. This stiffening is the main reason the risk of hypertension increases as we get older. But even if weight is a problem, you might be surprised to find you don’t have to starve to make a significant difference in your heart health…

William Davis

How do you know if you have leaky gut?

People suffering from Leaky Gut spend years looking for relief. Knowing the symptoms and conditions that can be tied to leaky gut is a good starting point for you to nail down what’s ailing you and how to get relief…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How fructose supersizes the way your gut absorbs fat and calories

It’s no secret that high amounts of fructose are hiding in hundreds of foods, from condiments, like ketchup, to luncheon meats, apple sauce, breakfast cereals and more. It’s contributed to an obesity epidemic, but scientists were truly surprised to see exactly how: by conditioning the gut to absorb supersized amounts of fat and calories…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The strange connection between migraines and diabetes

The fact that migraines and diabetes are linked at all seems rather unlikely. While migraines happen in your brain, diabetes is caused by issues with your pancreas. And there’s a lot of body separating these two organs. But research has uncovered an odd connection that may seem like a silver lining for at least one of these conditions…

Carolyn Gretton

The surprisingly big benefits of starting exercise later in life

You may believe there comes a point when taking up exercise won’t make any difference to your health. But don’t give up just yet. Research in more than 30,000 people indicates that becoming physically active later in life can be almost as good for a longer, healthier life as having exercised consistently for years…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Want to feel better fast? Try a canine cuddle

From watching funny pet videos to relaxing with our favorite pooch, pets make us laugh, make us smile, and make us feel better. That’s why doctors and hospitals have long enlisted therapy dogs to help patients, whether they’re recovering from a physical injury or need emotional support. Here’s how your pet can help you feel better fast…

Joyce Hollman

Walnuts crack the code to longer years and less disease

Certain foods have a reputation as superfoods, meaning they possess particularly heathy attributes that confer improved health and even longer life to those who eat them. You can include them as part of healthy diet or, in the case of this one, the worse your diet is, the bigger the benefits you’ll see…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Study finds 4 big benefits of intermittent fasting

Time-restricted eating is a type of intermittent fasting. It’s an eating plan where you restrict consuming your calories or food to a specific window of time each day. You might eat during an hour 8 hour period and fast for 16 (a chunk of that when you sleep). It’s not for everyone, but these four big health benefits might inspire you to give it a try…

Joyce Hollman

Alzheimer’s to stroke: What playing an instrument does for your brain

At any given moment, I can listen to the right tune to help me feel calmer, happier, more focused or primed for sleep. But playing music also improves your life in multiple ways. In fact, learning to play a musical instrument is well worth the effort, especially for your brain, even if you don’t start learning until you’re an older adult…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

When erectile dysfunction is a three-alarm warning for your heart

Erectile dysfunction is a subject most men don’t want to talk about. After all, many men take it as another sign, along with laugh lines and a receding hairline, that they’re just getting older. But if you’re experiencing problems in the bedroom that you’ve been ignoring, the results of a study of over 95,000 men in Australia may be a wake-up call for you…

Carolyn Gretton

Missing link explains how heart disease can start in the gut

There’s a reason we’ve learned to trust our gut instincts. Research has revealed that it works for the body like a second brain and that its effects on total body health can reach far beyond its intestinal confines. That’s why when scientists had a gut feeling about its connection to heart disease, they couldn’t shake it until they discovered this missing link…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Keto: The diet with potential to starve cancer cells

Nobel Prize-winning physiologist and biochemist Otto Warburg hypothesized over 90 years ago that cancer cells use sugars for energy. If you take a cancer cell’s preferred energy source, what happens then? On the keto diet, the body turns to burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates, but cancer might starve…

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