In this week’s edition of Twitter Thursday I’m going to focus on practical ways to avoid some common pitfalls of 21st century living. Our expert line-up today includes a few familiar faces, such as Dr. Michael Eades, author of The 6 Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle and Rick McGuire, one of the most informative and prolific health figures on Twitter. But there are also some new contributors in the bullpen: Dr. Soram Khalsa, a founding member of the American Holistic Medical Association; Joy McCarthy, an influential nutritionist from Toronto, Canada and last, but not least, some words of wisdom from Neatorama – one of the more enjoyable and entertaining sites on the worldwide web. Read more »

I recently had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Krista Varady, one of the leading researchers in the field of alternate day fasting (ADF). By my count, Dr. Varady has co-authored six studies and two scientific reviews on the effects of ADF and caloric restriction in both animal and human models. In addition, there are several other trials that are complete and/or in the works that will hopefully be published in the near future. Dr Varady was extremely generous with her time and imparted quite a lot of information. So without further ado, here’s part one of my two part interview with Dr. Krista Varady of the University of Illinois, Chicago. Read more »

In a perfect world we could control all of our dining choices. But the reality is that we’re sometimes placed in situations that effectively sabotage the best laid dietary plans. This isn’t an issue for all people, but it does impact a rather large segment of the population that’s trying to lose weight or otherwise improve their health. In such instances, one can always exercise abstinence. However there’s another resource available that can help minimize the consequences of occasional decadent meals. Read more »

Several years ago, I was working in the casting department at a major film and television company. On one particular day I was asked to pull some scenes from the film Pay it Forward (starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osmont) that would highlight the considerable acting skills of Mr. Spacey. While reviewing the film, I remember thinking that screenwriters sometime like to write young characters into their films because they can say things that older actors can’t. Take this line for instance: “I guess it’s hard for people who are so used to things the way they are – even if they’re bad – to change. ‘Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses”. As spoken by the young Haley Joel Osment, the dialog was effective. But even a great performer such as Kevin Spacey might have a hard time pulling off those lines without sounding corny. Read more »

I was listening recently to an interview with Dr. Richard Bernstein that was conducted by David Edelman of Diabetes Today. During the course of the interview David posed a few specific questions that I genuinely wanted to know the answers to: “What did you have for breakfast and for lunch?”. These aren’t exactly hard hitting inquiries or the kind of material that is likely to convert anyone to Dr. Bernstein’s philosophy for controlling blood sugar. But it does offer an intriguing glimpse into how a seasoned expert applies his own recommendations to his daily life. After all, isn’t that what we’d all like to know? How do we take the concepts and guidelines presented in books, magazines and websites, and incorporate them into our regular routines? One way to accomplish this is to replace damaging diet elements with healthier options. Read more »

This edition of Twitter Thursday truly embraces the concept of holistic wellness. Without a healthy body, you can’t expect to have a truly balanced mind. Likewise, a tormented spiritual life can offset many of the benefits of productive lifestyle choices such as eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep and proper stress management. It’s a question of symmetry. Find the areas of yourself that are out of proportion and augment them for improved health and quality of life. Several of my favorite “tweeple” have some thoughts about how to accomplish this goal. Read more »