Healthy Holistic Living

Whether you are already a devoted magnesium fan, or you are newly curious about the possibility of magnesium deficiency in your body, finding out about supplementing with magnesium is always information worth researching. If taking magnesium supplements turns out to be the correct choice for you and for your diet,...

Love chocolate oatmeal cookies, but hate the sugar that comes with them? We have a solution!. Chocolate soothes the soul, comforts weary minds, and triggers all those pleasure sensors in our brains. From chocolate bars to chocolate milkshakes, humans love to infuse their senses with the smell and taste of this delectable treat. Unfortunately, health-conscious people can’t indulge as much as they’d love to because too much sugar and processed carbs equals one sad result: an unhealthy body. How many times have you longed for a sweet snack, resisted the cravings, and later binged because you simply couldn’t take it anymore?

Flu brain is a thing. And this season especially, everyone’s trying to avoid it. And no, you aren’t imagining it. People really are throwing you side-eye when you cough, sneeze or sniffle in public. Nobody wants the flu. You likely know the symptoms all too well. But did...

Grandparents who show up are the real superheroes. They are a treasure that should never be underappreciated. I’m sure that not all grandparents are winners. There are always relationships that have more challenges than we would like. But hopefully, you were blessed with at least one amazing grandma or grandpa – it’s such a unique and important relationship.

This is one of the craziest articles I saw all year. A single consumption of high amounts of Brazil nuts improves the cholesterol levels of healthy volunteers. OK, that’s interesting. They gave 10 men and women a single meal containing zero, one, four, or 8 Brazil nuts, and found that the ingestion of just that single serving almost immediately improved cholesterol levels. LDL, so-called “bad” cholesterol levels in the blood were significantly lower starting just nine hours after the ingestion of nuts, and by no insignificant amount, nearly 20 points within a day. Even drugs don’t work that fast. It takes statins like four days to have a significant effect. But that’s not even the crazy part.

Do you find it difficult to keep up with all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals we need to stay healthy? It seems every day there is something new to worry about, and decide whether it’s time to make diet or lifestyle changes. Take magnesium for instance. It is needed for a host of bodily functions, including maintaining a healthy balance of calcium to avoid blood clots. So what exactly is magnesium and why is it so important to our body’s chemistry? Let’s start with the basics. (1,2)

What does the food you eat have to do with how your brain functions? Turns out an awful lot. While we’ve always known that what we eat affects our bodies and how we look, scientists are also learning more and more that what we eat takes a toll on our brains. Yes, brain foods matter (especially for our gray matter).

Arthritis is a common condition characterized by stiff and painful joints. Does diet play a role in arthritis severity? What are the best (and worst) foods to alleviate symptoms?. In our society, getting older is associated with aching joints. “Oh, my arthritis is killing me,” is almost a punch line....

Arthritis is a common condition characterized by stiff and painful joints. Does diet play a role in arthritis severity? What are the best (and worst) foods to alleviate symptoms?. In our society, getting older is associated with aching joints. “Oh, my arthritis is killing me,” is almost a punch line....

Have you ever experienced chronic pain that lasts for days, weeks, months or even years? If so, you know just how debilitating it can be. Not only does chronic pain interfere with just about every aspect of daily life, but it can also cause feelings of hopeless and intense frustration.

Purple veggies are delicious and pretty — and packed with nutrition. See why they should be on your plate. Purple vegetables may be pretty, but they also have powerful health benefits. See why and get mouthwatering recipes for 10 purple vegetables. The color purple often symbolizes royalty and magic. And...

How do you naturally slow aging? It’s a question that’s been asked for centuries. In fact, attempts to combat or reduce the effects of aging have dated as far back as mankind itself. Most people want to look and feel young, driving experts to invest many hours and thousands of dollars into finding silver bullet anti-aging formulas. While there isn’t a special formula that magically erases the wrinkles away, incorporating certain anti-aging foods into your diet is the best way to help bring you closer to that goal.

There are several autoimmune diseases that affect the thyroid gland, the most common being Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Graves’ disease results in hyperthyroidism, an overactive thyroid gland. Though slaughterhouses are supposed to remove thyroid glands, should some neck meat slip in, you can suffer a similar syndrome, called hamburger thyrotoxicosis. But that’s not from your body making too much thyroid hormone, but your body eating too much thyroid hormone. Graves’ disease is much more common, and meat-free diets may be able to help with both, as plant-based diets may be associated with a low prevalence of autoimmune disease in general––as observed, for example, in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Maybe it’s because plants are packed with antioxidants, which are possible protective factors against autoimmune diseases. Maybe it’s because plants are packed with anti-inflammatory compounds. After all, a whole food plant-based diet is basically synonymous with an anti-inflammatory diet. But you don’t know, until you put it to the test.

Delayed-onset muscle soreness is the discomfort that starts the day after a, particularly grueling workout. Microtears in the muscle leads to inflammation, and so the leading pharmaceutical interventions are over-the-counter NSAIDS, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen—provided people are offered “a reasonable guidance on the dangers of their use.”. “The use...

A plant-based diet is thought to have played a significant role in human evolution and the consumption of whole plant foods…[and even just] extracts has repeatedly been associated with… decreased risk [of] aging-related diseases.” And, by healthy aging, I’m not talking about preventing wrinkles. What about protecting our brain?. “Two...

A growing body of research suggests that viral DNA or proteins introduced into the body can contribute toward the development of serious diseases long after the initial viral infection has passed. Now, a groundbreaking study by a team from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital shows that exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus...

I have an autoimmune condition — secondary progressive multiple sclerosis — that put me in a tilt-recline wheelchair within three years of diagnosis. I saw the best doctors at multiple MS centers around the country. I took the newest drugs, including Tysabri, but continued to decline for 7 years steadily.

Accidental science is the best. One of the greatest lifesaving drugs in history – penicillin – was discovered purely by accident, and such experiments truly show how intricate and unpredictable science is. So, when researchers from the University of Pennsylvania began their journey looking for a type 2 diabetes treatment...

Doesn’t it frequently seem true that the natural solutions that work the best come from the last place you’d expect? For example, willow tree bark provides pain medicine, and we have found unbelievable immune support in cordyceps, which is a caterpillar-eating fungus!. The same thing is true for honokiol extract....

Researchers have been able to reverse the age-related loss of functionality in intestinal stem cells in a very simple way. A 24-hour fast has been shown to dramatically improve how these important cells regenerate in both old and young mice. The study, reported in Cell Stem Cell, looked at the...