Do you often find yourself reaching for antacids or other digestive relief medication? Is it getting harder and harder to eat certain foods without stomach upset? Digestive diseases—a category that includes ailments from peptic ulcers to colitis to everything in between—account for more than 36 million practitioner visits a year, according to the National Institutes...
Author: Jordan Ray (Jordan Ray)
Iodine Deficits Can Hurt Female Fertility
Although best known for helping to promote proper thyroid functioning, iodine has also been found to play a crucial role in helping women become pregnant. A study team led by the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development tested the urine of 467 women who were attempting to conceive. The volunteers were questioned...
Remember to Eat Your Greens
Adding a daily serving of green leafy vegetables to your diet may be a simple way to help promote brain health,” says nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris, ScD, who led a study group at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Morris and her team asked 960 older people, none of whom had dementia, to fill...
Additional Immune Support for Children
Solid nutrition and gentle, time-tested herbs form a strong base to protect your kids against sneezes and sniffles, but immune supplements formulated with children’s unique needs in mind help provide an additional line of defense. For instance, tasty chewables can make it easier for parents to get extra vitamins A, C and E into their...
Getting Your Sleep Part 2
Sleeping Naturally For centuries, people have turned to natural remedies in their efforts to end sleeplessness. Warm milk before bedtime is one popular option. We now know that it contains protein-like molecules called peptides, which have been found to ease stress and promote sleep. Herbs are also commonly used to induce slumber. Chamomile is the...
Getting Your Rest Part 1
It has become a never-ending battle: your quest to get a solid night’s sleep. At first, it happened every once in a while, after a particularly stressful day. But now sleeplessness plagues you at least four or five nights a week. What’s worse is that you are finding it more and more difficult to function...
Fiber Variety Part 2
Besides supplying omega-3 fats, flax seed also contains lignans, fibers that promote healthy hormone balance and may fight colon cancer development. Given all the functions fulfilled by the various types of fiber, it’s not surprising that high fiber intake has been linked to reduced disease risk. For example, one large study found an association between...
Fiber Variety Part 1
What could be more straightforward than the idea of consuming more dietary fiber? Most Americans don’t get enough of either bowel-regulating insoluble fiber or the cholesterol-controlling soluble type, so health authorities have been telling us for years to eat additional helpings of fiberous foods such as whole grains and fresh produce. As it turns out,...
Smile Sweetly Part 2
Banning Bacteria Plaque’s stickiness is what makes it so problematic. Scientists call it a biofilm, a mixture of bacteria and protein that can be very difficult to remove. Xylitol, found in various berries, vegetables and mushrooms, helps disrupt plaque because it cannot be digested by tooth-eroding microbes, reducing bacterial growth. Xylitol also makes the mouth...
Pain, Pain Go Away Part 2
Hemp and Friends One principle of natural medicine is that plant-based compounds work best when used with other complementary therapies, and that holds true for hemp phytocannabinoids. India’s Ayurveda has long used boswellia, a tree resin, to support healthy blood flow to the joints. Today, we know it is a potent anti-inflammatory agent. In a...