Welcome! Here you’ll find information on a wide range of wellness topics including nutrition, healthy aging, supplements, exercise, and more - all to help you improve your health. We’re constantly adding new articles, so please bookmark this page and visit us often.
From air pollution and food additives to pollutants in our drinking water, homes and even personal care products, the truth is that your body is literally bombarded with toxins on a daily basis. And no matter how “clean” a life you lead -- healthy eating, exercise, regular stress relief -- your body is likely to show evidence of accumulated toxicity. In fact, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted the Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, the most comprehensive assessment yet of Americans’ exposure to environmental chemicals, they found some very shocking results …
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Except for sugar and fat, few foodstuffs have been demonized more than humble table salt. For decades now, Americans have been urged to cut back on their sodium intake in order to lower their risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. But before you set the salt shaker down for good, it’s wise to identify where the vast majority of the salt in your diet comes from. Despite your best intentions, you could do yourself more harm than good.
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When you’re in pain, seemingly nothing else matters. Whether it’s a dull ache or a stronger sensation, pain easily interferes with your ability to enjoy life and even function normally from day to day. What makes chronic pain even more difficult to deal with is often a lack of effective, long-term solutions. There are, however, many pain relief options out there, some that you may not yet be aware of. Best of all, the following options are completely safe and natural, which means they can be used successfully by just about everybody.
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You can survive for weeks without food but if you lack access to water for just days, it can be deadly. This is because water is a crucial element to your survival and your ability to thrive. While public health experts vary on just how much water you need to stay healthy, no one will argue with the fact that access to clean water is a cornerstone of human health. What may surprise you, however, is that securing pure water may not be as simple as turning on the tap or even opening a bottle.
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If you describe yourself as a die-hard grill fanatic ... or even if you just like a nice grilled steak now and again, you should know that by making small changes in your grilling habits you can drastically' alter the health and safety of the grilled foods you feed your family.
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Few human attributes signal health and youth like a clear, glowing complexion. We all start out with a similarly clean slate skin-wise, but by the time you reach your 20s, and definitely in the decades that follow, your skin will start to reveal what type of lifestyle you've lead. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to get healthier, more even, younger looking skin -- without resorting to plastic surgery or chemical peels. Some of the best solutions for healthy skin come from leading a healthy lifestyle and improving your skin's appearance from the inside out.
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About 50 million Americans, or one in five, suffer from allergies, making it the fifth leading chronic disease among all ages, and the third most common among children under 18. Whether your allergies are seasonal or present year-round, there are simple steps you can take to keep your home as allergy-free, and therefore as comfortable and healthy, as possible for you and your family.
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Nuts earned a bad reputation during the low-fat craze of the ‘90s. It was during this time that many Americans shunned nuts simply because of their relatively high fat content … amid false fears that these nutritional powerhouses would make us fat. Fortunately, the low-fat craze has ended, and it’s now becoming common knowledge that healthy fats are not only okay to include in your diet, they’re essential for keeping you well.
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Inside your home the dust, dirt and grime of a long season spent indoors are probably at their peak. This is why spring is an ideal time for doing a deep cleaning. The tips in this article will help you to get your home truly clean using inexpensive and non-toxic products you probably have on hand already.
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Supplements have grown increasingly popular in recent years - from 4,000 dietary supplements on the market in 1994, to about 75,000 in 2008. Sifting through today’s massive number of supplement options is no easy task, and there are some important facts you should know to not only protect your health but also make sure you’re getting the best return on your supplement investments.
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Only one-quarter of Americans eat fruits and vegetables five or more times a day, which is unfortunate because within these foods are some of the healthiest nutrients you can put in your body. This article focuses on the sweeter side of functional foods - spotlighting seven fruits that offer outstanding advantages for you and your family.
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At the crux of your food choices should be the so-called “functional foods” -- those foods that supply your body not only with nutrients, but also with extra “oomph” to help prevent and fight an array of health issues. There are a variety of functional foods on the market today, many created in a lab where they are fortified with specific antioxidants and compounds intended to promote your health. But there are functional foods that come right from nature, too, and it is these natural functional foods that we will be focusing on in this article.
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Little in the world of nutrition has been more surprising than the meteoric rise in the reputation of chocolate from the candy store -- perhaps, the most indulgent, no-no food of them all -- literally to the health food store.
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The benefits of pet ownership extend far beyond having a loyal friend to curl up at your feet. As even ancient humans may have sensed, and new research is continuing to reveal, owning a pet can be wonderful for your health. Numerous studies have shown that owning a pet can lower your blood pressure, relieve feelings of depression, loneliness, stress and anxiety, and even boost your self-esteem.
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Should you decide to improve your diet and eat the foods doctors and dieticians recommend for better health, would it be enough? Actually, there is some evidence that the fruits and vegetables available to most people today don't contain the nutritional value they had about 40 or 50 years ago.
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I spent the summer of 2005 doing one of the hardest -- and best -- things I've ever done in my short adult life: being a primary caregiver to my best friend. For many of you, there's not enough hours in the day to take of yourself, much less someone who is very ill. What can you really do? Here's a few life lessons learned along the way, plus some suggestions from valuable sources.
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Long gone are the days when vitamin D was something you took only to enhance calcium supplementation for bone strength. While it remains true that vitamin D and calcium have important interactions in the body, evidence from peer-reviewed medical journals continues to mount in support of a much greater role of vitamin D in maintaining health and longevity than was previously known.
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Despite all the advances in modern medicine, prevention is still the best cure for cancer. A large body of research suggests that many types of cancer can be prevented with a healthy diet and lifestyle (e.g., regular exercise, not smoking)…
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In Part 1 of our Supplement Savvy series, Jeremy Appleton ND, CNS uncovers little-known truths behind food and supplement labeling.
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When you take a 500 mg tablet of acetaminophen, you expect the tablet to contain 500 mg of acetaminophen. Federal regulations require pharmaceutical manufacturers to adhere to rigorous standards of quality assurance and quality control. Supplements manufacturers should also adhere to these same “pharmaceutical” standards, but federal regulations do not require them to do so. This article will take a look at the on-going challenges of supplement potency.
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Many herbal products are safe and effective. However, the DSHEA guarantees neither their safety, their efficacy, nor even that the products are what they say they are. If the Food and Drug Administration discovers that an herbal product does not meet its label claims, it has the authority to pull the product; however, there are no pre-market requirements for potency or authenticity for any herbal product. So how can you tell if you are getting the real thing?
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People who buy nutritional supplements are often unaware of the many critical factors that affect product quality and purity. Their purchases are more often dictated by product cost, packaging, advertising, and recommendations. However, any product may fail to meet its label’s claims for the content of its active ingredients. Worse still, there may be adulterants or contaminants present that are not ever tested for. In this article, you'll learn about important issues that affect product quality and purity.
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Getting a handle on all things emotional during the holidays is easily within your grasp. With the Holiday Season kicking into high gear, all you really need are 10 reminders to keep your emotions and expectations into perspective and to be generally more mindful about your overall health.
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For whatever reasons -- be they be lax oversight or long out-of-date environmental regulations -- unseen and health-harming toxins are frighteningly pervasive in our homes and our world, which begs the question: What can you do to protect your family from harm?
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As men progress past the age of 50, the majority of them experience varying issues related to prostate health. In this article, Jeremy Appleton, ND, looks at natural options that lack the incidence of adverse events common with conventional prostate care.
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One of the best and easiest things you can do over the long haul to improve your health is to get the right amount of restful sleep every night. What follows is a common sense list of tips, tricks and pointers you can use to regularly achieve the amount of sleep you need to feel your best every day.
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The Recommended Daily Allowance was, until 1997, the official word on how much of any nutrient you were supposed to be eating each day. But most people don't realize that RDAs were geared not towards promoting health but towards preventing overt nutrient deficiencies. The new recommendations in effect today are called the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). Find out why DRIs are a much better yardstick for maintaining health than RDAs.
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With some smart planning and shopping, you can begin to improve your health and save some money right away with a trip to your local farmers' market. Here are some tips that'll better help you find healthy, locally grown foods at a farmers' market near you or the corner grocery store.
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Healthy habits of fifty-somethings -- or lack thereof -- reliably predict how Baby Boomers feel heading toward age 80. The key to maintaining a successful exercise program is all in the preparation. What follows are some simple, common sense tips that can make this healthy transition a much smoother one.
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Some believe the jury is still out on the merits of memory food -- all the preventative measures seniors can use to protect their brains from the ravages of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Here's a list of common-sense recommendations that may bolster the health of your brain and body, all without taking a single drug.
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