Latest Stories

Healthy blood pressure equals a healthy heart. Or so we’ve been told. But, according to recent research findings, relying on normal blood pressure as a sign that a heart attack or stroke is not in your future has painted a pretty picture that’s been revealed to be nothing but a facade — a false sense of security that could put you in deadly danger.

A new study has some sobering information for those of us who’ve made a regular habit of it eating takeout. Along with your favorite foods and a hefty side of convenience, those takeout containers carry a mega dose of plastic that’s finding its way into your meals. Here’s how, why you should be concerned and how to reduce the harm…

The human body has two different immune systems with different roles. But did you know that one of those systems can be trained to seek out and destroy cancer? That’s exactly what immunotherapy is all about and why researchers are excited about a nutrient found in certain foods that could double our immune power against cancer.

When you eat in a way that helps lower cholesterol and improve overall heart health, you’re also helping lower risks associated with cancer, dementia, arthritis and other diseases. Here’s why and how…

Based on available research, a ketogenic diet may be associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes and HDL cholesterol levels. And now, it certainly looks promising as a nutritional intervention for heart failure.

Do you take your temperature and regularly find it hovering around 97 degrees? Or feel sure you have a fever only to find the thermometer reads a “normal” 98.6? There are several theories as to why this happens, but if you’re like me, you want to know if it’s anything to worry about. Here’s what we’ve found…

Shingles can strike anyone who’s had chickenpox, although older adults tend to be more susceptible. This painful, burning, itching rash takes time to heal. But you can relieve its symptoms through a number of natural means while waiting for it to disappear…

Taking a low-dose daily aspirin has been widely accepted for decades as an easy way to prevent a heart attack or stroke. But aspirin’s safety in prevention has been challenged over the last couple of years, and now it’s a call you should leave up to your doctor. Luckily an old test may provide new insight into whether it’s worth the risk for you or not…

While we tend to hear a lot about cancer of the lungs, breasts and colon, liver cancer tends to be ignored — kept as kind of a dirty little secret. Yet, deaths from the cancer are skyrocketing. But there is good news. A brand-new study has found a simple way to keep your liver healthy and decrease your risk of liver cancer dramatically. And it has to do with how much you eat.

If you’re a woman, simply not socializing enough can put your heart at as much risk as if you put on weight, regularly take medications with cardiovascular side effects or eat a lot of salt.

From preventing osteoporosis to shoring up your immune system, vitamin D is one of the most important supplements you can take. But most people are barely getting the minimum when there’s good reason to get more. To avoid frailty, stay strong, fit and active, higher amounts matter.

You may think of artificially sweetened beverages as a better alternative to sugar-laden drinks and a good way to avoid weight gain. Surely one is at least heart-healthier than the other, right? That’s not just wrong… it could be dead wrong.

For many years, omega-3s have been reported to be heart healthy. The Mayo Clinic recently quanitified that as a fact in a review of 40 clinical trials. And now we’ve learned that in the event of a heart attack, these fatty acids can make all the difference…

Colorectal cancer is most commonly treated with chemotherapy. But the most widely used chemotherapeutic agent is only effective in less than 30 percent of cases. More and more researchers are turning to nature to try to broaden the array of effective therapies, and one plant is stepping up to the plate…

Your doctor put it all on the line: Lose weight or have a heart attack. How would you do it? Diet? Exercise? Bariatric surgery? It’s a lot to think about, but the Cleveland Clinic has some pretty shocking information that may help you make up your mind…

Research has proven that small particles breathed in from polluted air are connected to Alzheimer’s. Now we’ve learned they can lead to Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease. This brain damage starts at an astoundingly early age because with every breath, aluminum, iron and titanium may build up in your brain…

People with type 2 diabetes are often told to avoid potatoes because they’re high on the glycemic index and thought to raise blood sugar. But a new study shows potatoes may actually be the starch of choice…

Research has indicated exercise may improve the prognosis of cancer, but experts haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly why. One theory was that exercise activates the immune system to support the body’s ability to prevent and inhibit the growth of cancer. Now researchers know why it works, and not just in mice…

We’ve seen plenty of research on brain plaques and tangles, the telltale signs of Alzheimer’s. But experts may have linked the disease’s beginnings to a surprising cause… one that bolsters a long suspected association with diabetes and increased risk for this mind-robber — sugar made in the brain.

Flavanols are natural antioxidants found in certain fruits and vegetables as well as tea and cocoa. They have well-researched benefits that just keep piling up, like substantially lowering blood pressure to help support arteries and prevent strokes.

There’s no question obesity is a serious disease that’s spreading among Americans. And scientists are working overtime to find ways to treat it beyond the usual diet and exercise. One group of researchers may have found an answer hidden in a common vitamin…

Do you spend lots of time on your laptop or smartphone or binge-watching your favorite shows? If so, you could set yourself up for sleep trouble. Here’s why those screens are trouble, along with a simple solution for better sleep and sight…

Brushing and flossing your teeth is about far more than just avoiding cavities. In fact, the health of your mouth is tied to serious conditions from diabetes to heart disease. But until now, the reason wasn’t clear. Now researchers know it’s tied to a particularly powerful immune cell that, when hyperactivated, can circulate through your body to do major damage…

Asthma can be deadly. The symptoms include coughing, tightness in the chest and wheezing. Because there currently is no cure for asthma, management of the condition is the best our health care providers can offer. However, recent research is proving those treatments can come at a cost…

Some recent research has made me feel a lot better about my pretty minimal exercise program. The research insists that even a little bit of physical activity every day can improve health — but I was shocked at just how little could help me avoid disease and live longer…

Doctors and scientists have long suspected a link between Alzheimer’s and sleep apnea. What they haven’t known is exactly how similarly these two conditions damage the brain. Now, researchers have untangled the puzzle and why, if you’re living with sleep apnea, you need to make brain health your top priority right now…

Resveratrol may be great for your heart, but there’s another natural antioxidant that your body absorbs much more easily, and that does the same thing and more! Found in blueberries or supplements, it just may be the help your blood pressure is looking for…

When you have type 2 diabetes, managing your disease includes avoiding food that could cause your blood sugar to skyrocket. Going too low could also be a problem. But integrating dietary care into daily life could also be as simple as adding beverages shown to impact your health in a very positive way…

Triglycerides are not all that important for heart disease risk on their own. Rather they’re more significant depending upon the company they keep and whether they’re very high. The combination of low HDL and high triglycerides is a particularly worrisome profile. For that reason, let’s talk about how to get them lower…

Right now, costly therapy and questionable drugs are the approved treatments for OCD. But cannabis may hold potential for providing a break from the chronic cycle of obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors those struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder deal with on a daily basis…

Inflammatory bowel diseases are more than just uncomfortable. They’re downright dangerous. But what if you could knock out your symptoms and one of the scariest complications of these diseases simply and simultaneously? Well, you can…

Painful chronic conditions that become more common with age, such as arthritis, cancers and neurological diseases to name a few, are among the top reasons your doctor may prescribe a certain medication that just might carry the worst of side effects…

People today are more than twice as likely to develop osteoarthritis than people before World War II. That means something in our modern lifestyle is making us more arthritic. You may guess it’s because people are living longer. You’d be wrong…

You may have read that evidence is stacking up against that supposedly “healthy” glass of wine with dinner. But that’s not the final word when it comes to drinking to your health. There’s been another twist in the alcohol-health debate…

Women in their mid-50s, with osteopenia, only face a one percent chance of fracturing a hip in the next 10 years, but their doctors have already scared them into osteoporosis. That’s 10 years that could be spent shoring up a major deficiency…

Stretching can give you flexible joints and help your body move more efficiently. And it should increase your range of motion, so you’re less likely to exceed it and injure yourself. But only if you do it the right way…

Aging can be difficult enough, especially if you’re facing thinning bones. But if you want to make it harder on yourself, there’s one surefire way… And that’s carrying around too much extra weight. But losing the weight is not so easy — or safe — for obese seniors, and here’s why…

Losing your hearing doesn’t just make you feel old before your time, it can take away your independence and risk your safety. If you’re starting to notice your hearing diminishing and your saying, “What?” more often, making your friends and family repeat themselves, try these…

It’s common practice these days to take medications for our ailments. And while medications may be designed to assist your body in some way, they also have to take a trip to the kidneys for filtering. And if you think your kidneys are “safe” from the effects of those drugs, think again…

Do you have horrible back pain that runs down through your buttocks and upper thighs to spread pain into the backs of your legs? Have you tried everything and are still in pain? You could be suffering from sciatica.

Did your mother always tell you to eat your vegetables while you were growing up? While green leafy vegetables can help you stay physically fit, recent data shows they can keep you cognitively fit by feeding and protecting your brain.

If you’re a woman, there’s a certain carcinogen you need to be extra careful about… the heavy metal cadmium. Cadmium mimics estrogen. And, it’s been tied to hormone-related cancers. Breast cancer is one of them. And now, it seems, it may fuel endometrial cancer too…

Kale, chia, spirulina, blueberries — they’ve all been hailed as superfoods. And like many, you may have jumped on the superfood bandwagon. But when a new superfood is discovered every other day, sometimes we forget about the tried and true ones. So let me help you rediscover…

The practice of being in nature and “taking in the forest atmosphere” has been researched quite a bit by Japanese and South Korean researchers, and they’re trying to spread the word on its amazing health benefits…

We’ve learned a lot over the last few decades about foods, nutrients, exercise, and how these basics play an important role in helping us live a long and disease-free life. So it makes sense that more people want to project the youthful vitality they feel inside…

There’s a vitamin that could keep you safe from skin cancer, which is notorious for coming back again and again. And this time, it’s not vitamin D, but it’s just as important to keeping you…

In this modern world, it’s easy to look to man-made pharmaceuticals to treat all your ailments. But why do that when there are medicinal miracles hiding in plain sight? Take the humble strawberry as an example.

There’s no reason to accept the stomach pain, nausea, alternating constipation and diarrhea, indigestion and gas that is irritable bowel syndrome, especially with new research shedding light on a much simpler answer to overcoming your symptoms.

Poor eating habits can easily become a vicious cycle. But side effects of food additives may be more to blame. Turns out some keep your stomach from telling your brain you’re full and send your appetite into overdrive.

Can you afford to go on not really knowing how to meditate? Considering the far reaching health benefits, the answer is “no!” No longer is meditation only considered an ancient spiritual practice: its many physical benefits have been scientifically proven… in fact Harvard says it really works.

Problems with the bacteria in your gut have now been linked to everything from obesity and irritable bowel syndrome to depression, immune system malfunction, hormonal issues, heart disease and cancer. The best way to counter this problem is to…

Traditionally turmeric has been used to fight inflammation, colds and asthma, but in recent years scientists have discovered a wide variety of reasons why it’s especially good for men’s health.

It’s no secret that the skin on your face and neck are the first places to show signs of aging. And a single wide-spread problem, inflammation, is a big contributor to those signs of premature aging. That why scientists coined the term — inflammaging. But the right nutrient may be all you need…

Eating yogurt is one of the healthiest ways to get your daily dose of dairy. And I’m guessing you know why… because it’s packed with probiotics, of course! But if you’re bored with the plain old yogurt you usually eat (or even if you’re not), you may want turn to yogurt’s more thirst-quenching cousin…

Stinky, foul smelling breath is far more than just a social embarrassment. It could be a warning about your health. In fact, checking your breath regularly could even save your life. Let’s look at the 9 things your breath could be trying to tell you about your health.

In its most genuine state, gratitude is not merely the act of acknowledging positive aspects or blessings in your life, but of feeling a true appreciation for them. And when the feelings of gratitude are genuine, something amazing happens: Your brain actually changes…

There’s a good chance MS symptoms are aggravated by deficiencies and food allergies. Anyone who has MS, or any autoimmune disorder, like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or Sjögren’s syndrome, should get tested. But why not go ahead and support your body with super supplements?

Its health benefits are why it’s the second most popular beverage worldwide after water. People sip it to ward off cancer, speed up their metabolism, balance their blood sugar and live a longer life. But there’s another way to drink it that you may not have thought of…

Most of your adult life, you’ve been warned to keep the carbohydrates to a minimum. Most of the time, the reasoning behind those warnings centered on weight loss issues. But there’s another very important reason you’ve probably never heard of…

What helps you get out of bed in the morning? Is it your family? A job you love, or, are you just high on life? Because if something inspires you to keep getting up and going at it day after day, that’s likely the reason you are getting a good night’s sleep too…