Latest Stories

Over the past decade, the number of people taking muscle relaxers long-term has skyrocketed. These drugs were never approved for long-term use. But that’s not the worst of it. Here’s what you need to know about the potential dangers of muscle relaxers, plus other options to stop the spasms and the pain…

Putting your feet up at the end of a long day comes naturally. But what if your feet, ankles and legs are swollen and painful? More than an annoyance, this could be a sign of a much more serious condition. Here are a few to check out…

Acupuncture, medical marijuana, cognitive behavioral therapy, curcumin and anti-inflammatory diets are all popular, effective options for pain management. But there’s one more natural pain solution I’m willing to bet you’ve never heard about…

Once you hit middle age, chronic and degenerative diseases become the biggest threat to your health and longevity. Many of these diseases occur when oxidative stress causes free radicals to attack your cells… including Alzheimer’s. But a few potent antioxidants could protect you from the oxidative stress that puts you at risk for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s…

According to research, the way most of us shower could increase our risks for eczema and even skin cancer. Here’s what you need to know about getting clean, plus the only three areas you should soap in the shower…

Patients and readers often ask me about the risks of soy: Is there a connection to cancer? Can it help hot flashes? And as a cardiologist, I’m probably asked most often… Is soy really beneficial for heart health? Recently, the evidence really swung in soy’s favor…

Chewing your food thoroughly does more than prevent you from choking. It eases the strain on your digestive system, prevents disease and guarantees that the nutrients in your food will be put to good use and not wasted.

A new study has found a plant compound known as the “sugar destroyer” that’s been used in Ayurvedic medicine, a tradition that goes back three centuries that could help you beat your sweet tooth and put down that chocolate bar…

Everyone loses some bone mass with age, but women going through menopause lose the most by far. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to protect your bone mass during menopause, but, unfortunately, one of the most popular methods for maintaining bone density may not work for menopausal women…

Millions of Americans suffer from chronic knee pain and turn to surgery. But after knee surgery usually comes weeks of physical therapy. If you’re going to have to work to rescue your knees and regain range of motion after surgery, it may be easier and less painful to try these Harvard-backed exercises before going under the knife…

Checkpoint inhibitors are the latest powerful cancer drug. They show promise but come with a price tag… they can cause colitis, a form of irritable bowel disease that can itself lead to colorectal cancer. That’s why researchers are looking to an easily available supplement to not only help prevent cancer, but to also help their therapies work better.

A lot of us are working from home now. If you are, or even if you’re still going into a workplace where you sit for much of the day, you’ll want to develop some new habits now, before your health deteriorates. That’s because yet another study indicates not moving can increase your risk of death by cancer up to 82 percent….

Depending on what microbes you have in your gut, you’re going to end up with different metabolites… and potentially, different diseases. If you want to change these metabolites to support a healthy heart with less cholesterol and arterial plaque, a new study shows exactly what you need to do…

For a long time, red meat has been Public Enemy #1, making us more likely to have high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. But there’s some good news for meat lovers: New research on red meat consumption calls much of this into question.

Diet is one of the most effective weapons you have in the fight against heart disease. But can you narrow down all the diet advice to what does your heart the most good? Recent research from Harvard did and found these four approaches can lower your heart disease risk by as much as 21 percent…

The symptoms of low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, can mimic symptoms of many other conditions. But given the right testing, a case of hypothyroidism is hard to miss. The problem is that the “standard” test for thyroid malfunction can actually hide the problem. Here’s what you should know if you suspect hypothyroidism is behind your symptoms.

If you get diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor will advise you to reduce your salt intake. At one point, several large-scale studies conclusively linked high-salt diets to high blood pressure, but we’ve learned that the connection between salt and blood pressure isn’t so cut and dry… and it includes your gut.

Your microbiome goes way beyond your gut. It extends across your whole body, including your most sensitive area. When the bacterial balance gets out of whack down there, you’re left with a nasty infection known as bacterial vaginosis. Luckily, a few specific strains of probiotics can quickly get your vaginal microbiome back on track…

Have you ever heard about the heart-health liver link? Scientists have known for a while that poor liver health can lead to a diseased heart but weren’t sure exactly why. Now they know… and if you want to keep your heart pumping strong, you’ve got to love your liver…

Making a habit of eating close to bedtime can really pack on the pounds. That’s no secret. But beyond weight gain, eating against your circadian rhythm can set you up for one of the most preventable diseases, and that’s just for starters…

Decades of scientific evidence supports the mind-body connection. Still, it’s easy to forget just how closely your mental and emotional state impacts your health. Here’s a good reminder: a new study shows feelings of well-being and happiness could protect you from dangerous intestinal pathogens that cause infection. Here’s how to boost yours…

If you’ve been putting off your trip to the dentist, you may be risking more than just a cavity. In fact, you could be setting yourself up for inflammation of your gut lining. Here’s the connection you’ve probably never heard of between the bacteria in your mouth and your chances of developing inflammatory bowel disease.

If you’re not already taking vitamin D, it’s time to rethink that strategy. Not only can it help you maintain healthy bones and a strong immune system as you age, an exhaustive review of scientific research has found the sunshine vitamin can protect against cancer and even improve prognosis. But it all comes down to your vitamin D status…

There’s a good reason everyone always tells you to eat your greens. They’re chock-full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that keep you happy and healthy — including one specific vitamin that’s essential to your body’s ability to clot blood, create bone, maintain healthy blood pressure and, now, a new study shows it could help you live longer.

When you’re craving a snack, you have two choices. You can reach for something salty, crunchy and processed (like potato chips) that won’t do your heart health any favors. Or you can reach for something that’s just as satisfying that significantly improves your cholesterol, blood vessel health and cardiovascular disease risk…

Exercise helps keep your heart, blood sugar and metabolism in check. But it doesn’t make it any easier to commit to exercise, especially if you rely on outward signs to show it’s actually doing anything for you. But new science reveals thousands of changes that occur in your body in as little as 10 minutes of exercise…

Depression and anxiety are well-known risk factors for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Recent research has shown that simply falling into a pattern of repetitive negative thoughts could raise that risk even higher — leaving physical marks on the brain directly linked to Alzheimer’s…

Are you one of the lucky few that can fall fast asleep and stay asleep for hours? A great many of us can’t. Besides feeling unrested, there’s a bigger problem: Fragmented sleep and hardening of the arteries go hand in hand. Lucky for us, research discovered what’s at the root of that connection…

We all know smoking is risky. Coronary heart disease, COPD, lung cancer… plus about nine other specific cancers and various diseases are tied to smoking. If you’re ready to quit, consider your cessation method carefully, however. One could send cancer cells straight to your brain…

Researchers have persisted in looking for natural remedies to act as cough suppressants when honey and lemon just aren’t enough — and narcotics like codeine are way too much. That’s where the chemical in cocoa that knocks out coughs comes in…

Confused about whether or not grains are good for you? I don’t blame you. There’s a lot of conflicting information… But despite these differing opinions, there’s one fact about grains that’s undeniable…

One of the barriers to eating healthy is cravings. Fortunately, with a little effort, we can retrain the body to hunger for healthier items by eating foods that balance and sustain our blood sugar throughout the day.

What really is sexual energy? We are sexual beings, and thankfully so. However, I believe this energy is greatly underutilized and misunderstood.

If you’re a carb-oholic struggling to lose weight, you need all the extra help you can get. If chips, crackers and pasta are your downfall, that little extra push you need to avoid these pound-packing choices is easier to find than you might think.

If you’re following a gluten-free diet, your exposure to arsenic and mercury could be higher than most people’s. At high enough concentrations, these elements can lead to cardiovascular disease, neurological problems and cancer. You need to fully understand how gluten-free diets can cause this problem in the first place…

Yoga is essentially full-body weight training. You burn calories during (and for hours after!) your workout, while toning muscles, gaining flexibility and eliminating fat.

Does the grayness of winter, an unfulfilling job, a disappointing relationship or just a bad day bring you down? Well, there may be a sure-fire way to improve your mood quickly, without a lot of fanfare, prescriptions or counseling sessions…

While many core exercises focus on stomach crunches, there’s one piece of equipment that beats them all for dynamic training: the stability ball — because it keeps all the right muscles firing…

The first way a natural approach can help is in finding preventative measures that can help you avoid a cancer diagnosis in the first place. And it seems the Japanese have held a cancer prevention secret in their hands for thousands of years — the everyday consumption of green tea.

Getting in shape is one of the most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions. So what can you do to stick to it once and for all? When it comes to success at exercise, and most anything, a little healthy competition will go far.

What if you could increase your happiness, vitality and motivation in just two weeks by making one small tweak to your diet? Would you try it? What if I told you this one small change could completely overhaul your mind and body? And here’s the best part…

In recent years, it’s been discovered that inflammation is much more than an ache, pain or arthritic condition. We all face the likelihood of an increased inflammatory response. It’s now recognized that every single disease begins with chronic inflammation in our cells.

Low back pain is one of the leading causes for doctor visits, but mainstream medicine has finally admitted they’ve been treating it incorrectly. That’s because drug therapy, their first-line treatment option, has done nothing to help. Finally, they’re admitting which alternative therapies work…

Not so long ago, some faulty research led to the belief that eating fat was one of the worst things for your health. Fast-forward a number of years and we now see sugar as the predominant villain of the modern day diet. And for good reason…

Think you’re already trying every trick in the book to keep your memory sharp and your brain dementia-free? Well, I have one more unique way you can fend off Alzheimer’s in the years to come…

Constipation can be caused by many things, though most people never suspect the medicines they are taking. But, it turns out that there are seven sneaky medications you could be taking right now that could be making your restroom trips more troublesome than they should be.

If you are choosing interval training, you’re probably doing so for one of two reasons… You either want to find short exercise you can fit in to a busy schedule, or you want the optimum fat burning potential with your exercise. You can have both with intervals.

If you’re like me, you probably experience anxiety, irritability, self-doubt and even hopelessness at times… maybe even often. The circumstances around you seem to largely control how you feel. However, how you interpret your circumstances is the first key to mastering healing thoughts.

If you want to prevent disease and attain optimum health, it’s vital to detoxify your body from the chemicals and pollutants it faces on a daily basis. The easiest way to do that is to pick out a few detoxifying foods you enjoy and add them to your daily diet, like this snack…

Strangely enough, mounting evidence suggests poor meal timing could sabotage your heart health just as much as poor food choices. That means your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to learn how to optimize your daily meals and snacks for a healthy heart…

Omega-3 fatty acids are classified as “essential” because they are required for human health, but your body is incapable of manufacturing them. That means you have to get these nutrients from food.

One form of neigong exercises is known as “standing post” postures, of which there are over a dozen. Many people credit these exercises with anti-aging benefits including significant improvements to balance, strength, immune function and wellbeing.

The culprit behind vision loss is known as macular degeneration. And, the drugs used to combat the disease have a whole host of their own problems, from eye pain and more visions problems to even bleeding from your eyes. But a certain rare spice shows hope for saving your vision…

Among the many factors that impact prostate inflammation is your choice of foods and beverages. Every man is different, but most men with prostatitis are most affected by these five foods and beverages, and eliminating or significantly limiting them may provide symptom relief.

Menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and sleep disruption can cause anxiety… and anxiety can increase these symptoms. Regardless of the order they come in, if you’re in those menopausal stages, it can be a very rough roller coaster ride. If you’re reading this and nodding your head, you’re not alone.

Summer vacation may get you excited… On the other hand you may pull out those sleeveless tops and run screaming back into the dressing room. Help is here. In just a few weeks, you can get stronger, sleeker toned arms that you’ll be proud to show off.

Kidney stones are a serious matter. And if you don’t believe me, consider this… a kidney stone can get as big as a golf ball, while also staying sharp and crystal-shaped. Just imagine passing some of that through your urinary tract. Yikes!

Herbology is, in a nutshell, the study of the properties of herbs, their collection, preparation, benefits and how to use them. Chinese herbs have been used for the treatment of illness and disease in Chinese medicine for thousands of years.

We’ve all been told to drink milk and eat dairy products to ensure strong healthy bones… But what do you do if you’re lactose intolerant, follow a vegan diet or simply don’t care too much for dairy? Turn to dietary sources of non-dairy calcium…

There isn’t much worse than foot pain that just won’t go away. They ache when you walk on them. They throb while you rest. They give off sharp, searing pain that leaves you begging for relief. When you take a look at your feet, it’s easy to see why they can experience so many problems.