In the early 1900s, Americans consumed about 18 pounds of butter per person per year—and that doesn’t include the butterfat they got from whole milk, cream, and cheese. Today that number stands at about five pounds, a slight increase over the last few years from a low of four pounds per person per year. What…

Everyone likes to talk about the good ol’ days, and in food circles, we hark back to ancestral diets that were more natural and more nutritious. However, in one respect, modern people enjoy a huge advantage over their ancestors: Everybody in the world today has access to plentiful, inexpensive salt. An interesting article on the…

The impact of mitochondria on health has received increasing attention in recent years. Mitochondria affect the quality of life and the rate of aging; hence, protecting mitochondria can prevent aging and chronic diseases, and even fight cancer. According to a paper in the journal Molecular Basis of Disease, metabolic abnormalities are prevalent in many chronic…

In the time of New Year’s resolutions, many resolve to eat a healthier diet—but even those with the best intentions may be thwarted by the vast amount of advice and information available. Where do we start? I get this query all the time—and my advice for the first step on the journey to healthier eating…

Research shows that in addition to lifestyle changes, what we eat may play a role in preventing or slowing hearing loss—but what exactly do we need to eat to protect our hearing? Hearing Loss: Listen Up Hearing loss: It’s a condition usually associated with aging. It is the third most common chronic health issue in the United…

Before “pumpkin spice” became a flavor synonymous with seasonal lattes, cinnamon, cloves, and other warming herbs were valuable medicines used to keep out the cold. The idea of an herb possessing heat comes from ancient Greek and Chinese healing traditions, where the notion of temperature is one of the basic fundamentals of good medicine. Before…

Turmeric has been revered in India and China as both food and medicine for thousands of years, but the West has been very slow to embrace it. The ancient Greeks through Marco Polo were familiar with turmeric, but to them it merely served as a source for yellow dye. Up until the last few decades, even…

Modern people typically believe that the brain rules the body. But according to ancient Chinese doctors, the heart is in charge. In traditional Chinese medicine, the heart is considered the emperor of the body. It sets the tone and direction for the rest of the organ systems to follow. What did they see in the…

Many people with high blood sugar levels are told by their doctors that they don’t have diabetes because their fasting blood sugar levels are normal. Normal is below 100 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dl). But here is the problem: Early in the disease, diabetics often have a “normal” fasting blood sugar, yet one hour after they…

What’s in the Regular Flu Shot? Egg protein and avian contaminant viruses Thimerosal (mercury): in multi-dose vials Polysorbate 80:allergen; infertility in mice Formaldehyde: carcinogen Triton X100: detergent Sucrose: table sugar Resin: known allergen Gentamycin: antibiotic Gelatin: known allergen Do Flu Shots Work? Not in healthy babies: A review of 51 studies involving more than 294,000…