Do This to Minimize the Effects of Sitting
“Sitting is the new smoking” has been repeated often to emphasize the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, people who sit for eight hours a day are at a much greater risk of dying early, especially from cancer and heart disease. But there’s hope for desk […]
We Need One Another For Optimal Health
When people have limited in-person connections with others, they often forget to care for themselves and lose motivation to keep up lifestyle habits, such as exercise and healthy eating. They also have a greater risk of sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression. Isolation also impacts physical health, increasing the […]
Why Coconut Oil May Not Be a Health Product
Coconut oil has been touted as beneficial to the body. The research doesn’t support these claims. A major misconception is that coconut oil’s saturated fats don’t affect the body in the same way that saturated fat from animals does. Unfortunately, coconut oil is composed mostly of […]
Take Your Exercise Intensity Down a Notch
You may not have to push yourself as hard as you thought in order to get a good workout in—at least not when it comes to living longer. A five-year study on over 1,500 seniors in Norway took a look at how exercise intensity impacts longevity. Participants were […]
Doing This Could Extend Your Life
Research on blue zones—regions in the world where people live to be 100 or older—found that centenarians had some commonalities in their lifestyles, including a whole-food diet and exercise. But there’s one life-lengthening activity that might surprise you: gardening. Gardening offers many benefits for physical and mental health. Of […]
It Might be Time to Ditch Meat
Can animal viruses transmit to humans? If in doubt, consider the bird flu (H5N1)—an outbreak that began in Chinese poultry farms in 1997—and the swine flu (H1N1)—which most likely started on a factory farm in North Carolina in 2009. Different types of hepatitis have also been found in […]
Should You Avoid Soy to Prevent Breast Cancer?
Excess estrogen has been shown to contribute to breast cancer. Because soy contains phytoestrogen, a plant form of estrogen, many have avoided soy products, too. But just the opposite is now known to be true. Here’s the backstory. It turns out that the breast tumors themselves produce […]
Dairy Consumption Linked to Obesity
It’s frightening that over one-third of American adults are obese. But even more frightening are the statistics showing that an increasing number of children suffer from obesity. While several societal factors are at play, the USDA Dietary Guidelines on dairy may not be helping, as a 2012 literature review has […]
Why Hand Washing Really Could Slow Down an Epidemic
Still harboring secret doubts that something as simple as washing your hands could significantly impact the spread of a pandemic? New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will make you think again. Epidemiologists know that the primary way that disease spreads globally is through […]
Vitamin D is More Effective Than Flu Vaccine
A national representative study reported by Time magazine has shown that vitamin D supplementation could prevent more than 3.25 million cases of the cold and flu each year in the UK alone! This is due to the fact that the activation of vitamin D receptors is indispensable […]