6 Habits for a Healthy New Year

Margaret Durst says six habits can lead to having a healthy, happy near year.

As we ring in the new year, it’s a good time to reflect upon things each of us can do to be healthier. The biggest impact that can be made on our health is in our day to day actions. Reviewing those actions and resolving to change just a little each year can set us on a course to better health. Here are some areas for consideration.

Fruits and vegetables. Yes, it’s that basic – eat more broccoli, cabbage, green beans, spinach, squash and other non-starchy vegetables. Eat an apple for a snack instead of crackers or potato chips. Eating fruits and vegetables, preferably raw or lightly cooked helps our bodies in several ways. Fruits and vegetables contain enzymes (when raw), essential minerals and vitamins, and fiber. Fruits and non-starchy vegetables are somewhat cleansing to the body, helping us to eliminate the byproducts of what we eat so that our body doesn’t have to create something like inflammation, or cholesterol, or joint pain, etc. Read more

6 Cancer-Fighting Superfoods

The best cancer treatment is prevention. Eating these six superfoods can reduce your risk of cancer, says Leslie Barrie.

To reduce your risk of cancer, look no further than your fridge. "All the studies on cancer and nutrition point to eating plant-based foods for their phytonutrients and other special compounds," says Richard Béliveau, PhD, chair in the prevention and treatment of cancer at the University of Québec at Montreal and author of Foods to Fight Cancer.

Aim for five to nine daily servings of all kinds of fruits and vegetables—especially these six superstars. Read more

Chai-Yok: A Spa Treatment for Your Vagina

Chai-yok, is a Korean treatment for the vaginal area.that involves sitting on an open-seated stool in a spa. It is said to reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles, and aid infertility.

Pungent steam rises from a boiling pot of a mugwort tea blended with wormwood and a variety of other herbs. Above it sits a nude woman on an open-seated stool, partaking in a centuries-old Korean remedy that is gaining a toehold in the West.

Vaginal steam baths, called chai-yok, are said to reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles and aid infertility, among many other health benefits. In Korea, many women steam regularly after their monthly periods.

There is folk wisdom — and even some logic — to support the idea that the carefully targeted steam may provide some physiological benefits for women. But there are no studies to document its effectiveness, and few American doctors have even heard of it. Read more

Breastfeeding Improves Academic Performance, Especially for Boys

New research suggests that mothers should consider breastfeeding if they want smarter children..

Evidence for the long-term benefits of breast-feeding — well beyond infancy — continue to grow. In the latest analysis of the academic performance of children who were breast- or bottle-fed, researchers found that breast-fed babies scored higher on tests of math, reading and writing skills at 10 years old, compared with those who were bottle-fed as babies. Read more

How to Cleanse Your Liver, Colon, and Blood

If you want to cleanse your liver, colon, and blood, add green superfoods to your diet for 30 days, says Margaret Durst.

Green Supplements are one of the basic four supplements that I recommend for everyone. Now you probably do not want to take another pill, but if you aren’t eating as many servings of fruits and vegetables as you should, then a supplement that makes up for that is a good idea.

I like to backtrack a little when I address the need for a supplement. So, here goes. The main reason to take supplements is to supplement your diet with something that isn’t there so that you stay healthy. Almost everyone agrees that if we all ate what we should and didn’t eat the things we shouldn’t, then we would all be in pretty good shape. Read more

Mistletoe Can Be Magic

Gail Cox says that mistletoe can counter the bad effects of traditional cancer treatment and may even help kill tumor cells.

According to folklore, mistletoe 'magic' may seal romance, bestow fertility and bring peace to warring spouses.

The plant has also been credited with the power of healing – an attribute currently being harnessed by a new outpatient unit at the independent Raphael Medical Centre in Kent, which offers integrated cancer care.

The centre uses mistletoe (known by its Latin plant name, viscum album) to combat undesirable effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, such as fatigue, nausea, weight loss, low mood and infections.

Advocates believe the herb boosts the immune system and may even help kill tumour cells – particularly breast, gynaecological, colo-rectal, pancreatic and lung cancer, along with lymphomas and leukaemia. Read more

8 Ways to Reduce Your Chemical Load

We live in a world filled with noxious pollutants and toxins, and while our bodies have systems to remove toxins naturally, we can remove some of the burden by reducing our exposure to them. Mark Sisson gives eight simple, inexpensive ways to reduce our own biological "chemical load.".

... The idea here is reducing our own biological “chemical load,” the number and amount of toxins we carry in our bodies. This includes everything from heavy metals like mercury, arsenic and lead to virtually omnipresent flame retardant compounds called PBDEs to chemicals like phthalates, formaldehyde, PCBs, and bisphenol A (just to name a few). These toxins are invaders, and the body knows it. Some, like the heavy metals, impact neurological functioning. Others, like phthalates, disrupt the endocrine balance. PBDEs, at lower levels, can seriously impact thyroid functioning (an issue for a number of our readers) and at higher levels, can impair reproductive and neurological functioning. In short, this issue is nothing to shake a stick at.

Scientists in both the human health and environmental sciences are learning from the growing use of biomonitoring surveys, in which blood and urine samples from humans (and animals) are tested for the presence of certain toxins. A person’s chemical load is, in part, determined by where they live and how old they are, but it’s also strongly influenced by what kind of lifestyle they lead and the measures they take to minimize their exposure to environmental and consumer toxins in their home and work places.

We’re all about taking charge of our health and well-being, we thought. “So,” we asked, “What are some easy and inexpensive ways for all of us to reduce our chemical load?” Check it out. Read more

The Health Benefits of Himalayan Salt Inhalers

Salt-air therapy is the ancient, natural way to relieve respiratory, sinus, and asthma ills, says Edward Group.

We all know about the great health benefits of Himalayan salt, especially when used with food. Now, there is a new way of getting more of its “healing energy” into our bodies. Using a Himalayan Salt Inhaler offers an easy, drug-free way to conveniently get many of the multiple benefits of salt-air therapy. The following article will discuss Himalayan salt inhaler therapy and the health benefits associated with its use.

What is Salt Therapy?

Human beings have been using salt for therapeutic use for thousands of years. Anyone who has spent a day at the ocean intuitively knows that salt-filled air is good for them. Just ask our good friend, the ancient physician Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine), who used to steam salt to purify the air and the lungs. Read more

Home Remedy for Thicker Hair

This video demonstrates how to make a home remedy for thicker hair using rum, castor oil, and jalapeños.

Sunshine, Vitamin D, and Supplements

Mark Sisson explains why it's important to get high doses of vitamin D from either sun exposure or supplements. .

From the presence of vitamin D receptors in our cells and vitamin D factories in our epidermis, along with the central role vitamin D plays in calcium metabolism, immunity, and gene expression, it’s pretty clear that having adequate vitamin D is an essential component of being a healthy, successful homo sapien. And yet, many health practitioners suggest that vitamin D deficiency is one of the biggest nutrient deficiencies in modern society. The question, then, arises: What’s the best way to get enough vitamin D – via oral supplementation or sunlight?

To determine that, let’s examine a few common questions surrounding the various modes of intake.

Is it natural? Read more

The Bacteria Timebomb in Your Home

Angela Epstein tells how to eradicate household bugs that can trigger heart disease, allergies, and stroke.

Most of us never give a second thought to how long we’ve had that old chopping board – or those pillows, even that hairbrush.

But while they may all look clean and serviceable enough, these seemingly innocent household items can actually harbour potentially harmful bacteria if used too long, regardless of how often they’re cleaned.

Here, with the help of scientific experts, we examine how often you should spring clean those everyday household items – and when it’s time to simply throw them in the bin . . . Read more

Why Your Body Craves Plain, Pure Water

Are you drinking dehydration fluids? Margaret Durst explains why your body craves plain, pure water.

... Many health problems have dehydration as a component. These include allergies, asthma, hypertension, constipation, cholesterol, premature aging, Alzheimer’s, back pain, migraine headaches, obesity and depression.

Studies show that the average American drinks only 4.6 glasses of water per day. Almost 10 percent of Americans drink no water at all. The average American also drinks 4.9 glasses of dehydrating beverages such as coffee and tea per day. In terms of hydration, you need to drink 1 glass of water for each beverage containing caffeine that you drink just to remain neutral. This means that the average American is dehydrated since they would have to drink 12.9 glasses of water per day to overcome the effects of the dehydrating beverages plus get their recommended 8 glasses. Read more

The Best and Worst Vegetables to Eat

Joseph Mercola gives tips on selecting the best vegetables to eat.

There's little doubt that one of the best ways to improve your health is to make sure you're eating plenty of fresh, minimally processed high-quality vegetables, ideally locally-grown and organic, with a majority of them consumed raw. One simple way to boost your vegetable intake is to juice them.

Juicing organic vegetables is highly recommended to patients in our clinic who are working to restore or improve their health. I am firmly convinced that juicing is one of the key factors to giving you a radiant, energetic life, and truly optimal health.

I simply do not know of any other single nutritional intervention that has a more profound influence on health than eating and/or juicing fresh, organic vegetables.

You can review my comprehensive approach to how to juice on my vegetable juicing page. Read more

Being Even a Little Overweight Increases Health Risks

A recent study concluded that being even a little overweight increases the health risks associated with obesity.

Lugging around a few extra pounds? One of the largest studies to look at health and weight finds that you don't have to be obese to raise your risk of premature death. Merely being overweight carries some risk, too.

Obesity increases the risk of death from heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. But whether being merely overweight contributes to an early death as well has been uncertain and controversial. Some research has suggested being a little pudgy has little effect or can even be a good thing.

The latest research involving about 1.5 million people concluded that healthy white adults who were overweight were 13 percent more likely to die during the time they were followed in the study than those whose weight is in an ideal range.Being Even A Little Overweight, Increases Health Risks. Read more