It’s been over a year and half since I first started writing columns for HealthyFellow.com. Since this site’s inception, I’ve posted hundreds of blogs dealing with every conceivable facet of natural health and wellness. I believe that the majority of what I cover here has lasting power. I choose my sources of information carefully, which gives me confidence that the data I present will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. However, that doesn’t preclude me from updating new developments regularly for virtually every topic I’ve examined in the past. Medicine, be it alternative or conventional, stands still for no one. Read more »

The first stop on today’s Twitter tour is a visit with Dr. Andrew Weil to get his two cents about the relative merits of honey as a sweetener. Then two new contributors to Twitter Thursday – Nancy Onyett, a certified family nurse practitioner, competitive bodybuilder and director of the Pyramid Preventative Medicine and Dr. Bill Yates, a Tulsa-based physician with a keen eye for interesting neuroscientific research. Finally, we’ll round out today’s column with some input from a few familiar Twitter sources: Neatorama and Dr. Wayne Dyer.
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Some people “age better” than others in terms of external measures of beauty and youth. But regardless of outward appearances, you can count on this: if you’re lucky enough to grow old, significant changes will occur in the internal nooks and crannies of your body. Cursory examinations of older patients sometimes miss some of these shifts. An example is detailed in the December 2009 issue of the journal Magnesium Research. A group of Italian scientists reveal that “plasma magnesium (Mg) concentrations are remarkably constant in healthy subjects throughout life, while total body Mg and Mg in the intracellular compartment tend to decrease with age”. The authors go on to say that “dietary Mg deficiencies are common in the elderly population” and are likely a result of excess urinary loss, poor intestinal absorption and reduced bone stores of Mg. The relevance of this lack of magnesium cannot be underestimated as it may contribute to the likelihood of many health concerns such as asthma, chronic fatigue, inflammation, muscle loss (sarcopenia) and more. 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 »

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 »

Last Friday I was zigzagging between exhibitor booths at the Anaheim Convention Center. One of the most pleasant surprises I discovered was the omnipresence of stevia-based items and finished products sweetened with stevia. Even the coffee shops and concession stands throughout the convention center provided only honey, sugar and stevia as condiments. There was nary an artificial sugar substitute to be found at this gathering. Read more »

Several weeks ago I posted a link on Twitter about the benefits of drinking water on weight loss. One response I received essentially asked, “Doesn’t everyone know that drinking water helps you lose weight?”. Well, I suppose many people do. But this reader’s question may reflect similar thoughts you’ve had while reading my daily blogs. You may detect familiar ground in some of the issues I cover. In fact, at times I even point out that I’m updating a particular health issue. The reason I do this may not be entirely clear. Scientists generally like to re-test widely held beliefs in order to clarify and verify them. Even the most widely accepted concepts in medicine benefit from further investigation. The result of such inquiries often add to the knowledge base and allow for a more accurate application of the information in question. Read more »

Life may seem rather complicated when you look at all the moving pieces. Living in today’s world means that you must constantly be aware of cultural and environment considerations, governmental regulations and political issues, interpersonal relationships, religion and spiritual practices and technological advances. Ignoring any of these elements could spell trouble or otherwise put you at a disadvantage. But if it ever seems as if all of that is too much to handle, just remember that your brain is already overseeing a vastly more complex landscape every minute of every day – the incredibly intricate and magnificent machinery that resides within the body. It requires the utmost precision and skill to coordinate all of the disparate functions and physiological components that are absolutely vital in order to keep us alive and thriving. In most instances, the mind manages this enormous task seamlessly. Read more »

It probably comes as no surprise that I’m generally not a big fan of pharmaceutical medications. However my actual position may be a bit more nuanced than I’ve let on. My overall view on prescription drugs falls somewhere between absolute acceptance and universal avoidance. I believe that certain medications, such as antibiotics, can be lifesavers. On the other hand, I’m deeply concerned about the chronic use of multiple medications. At a bare minimum, I believe that most prescribed drugs should be categorized by allopathic physicians much like nutritional supplements are by holistic practitioners. By that, I mean that medications should only be used if, and only if, there isn’t a more fundamental approach to addressing a health issue, such as diet or lifestyle modification. Read more »

Tomorrow we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s a time when many Americans reflect on countless blessings that are often taken for granted. The most fortunate among us will have the opportunity to spend this holiday catching up with family and friends. During these joyful gatherings tradition dictates that there be a feast that is shared by all. As the meal concludes, most households consider it customary to include a delicious dessert known as pumpkin pie. Read more »

In life and in medicine we tend to categorize as a way of simplifying things. But every so often we learn something new about a medical technique that genuinely surprises us. Take the Mediterranean diet for instance. Doctors and patients throughout the world associate this way of eating with cardiovascular benefits. It’s the “heart healthy” diet. This view is both accurate and incomplete. Read more »

Improving personal health and the health of our communities, countries and the world at large can take place one small step at a time. I was thinking about this the other day and I wondered whether there was a simple change that I could implement and suggest in order to do my part. Pretty much everywhere I go, I see people of all kinds drinking soda. The drinks range from high-calorie to no-calorie, loaded with caffeine or caffeine-free and artificially or naturally flavored. Some of the fizzy pop is as clear as water while other varieties are chemically enhanced to produce any color of the rainbow and beyond. But the one thing that these beverages have in common is that they always contains some questionable ingredients and virtually never provide any nutritional content. In my opinion, a health promoting alternative to such popular drinks is long overdue.
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There’s an extract of French lilac (Galega officinalis) that’s been attracting a lot of attention lately in the field of oncology. Perhaps the news of yet another “natural” cancer fighting compound is no longer a surprise to readers of this site. But would it surprise you to discover that the particular substance I’m referring to is actually a prescription medication that’s generally used to help manage diabetes? The drug in question is metformin. It’s a medication that was developed over 50 years ago and is often used to combat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It also supports cardiovascular health and promotes weight loss/maintenance in those with blood sugar abnormalities and metabolic disorders. It’s estimated that over 35,000,000 prescriptions for metformin were written in 2008 alone. This figure is likely to increase in the future for a few very important reasons. It’s cheaper and more effective than many of the newer medications in its class, and this is one drug that may actually help save lives. Read more »

Many people throughout the world suffer from chronic pain. The exact locations of the symptoms and the causes of the discomfort vary widely. Determining the origin of inflammatory processes can often be elusive. Therefore, doctors and patients alike generally turn to powerful medications to alleviate physical suffering. This is, of course, understandable and sometimes necessary. But there is new research that may offer an innovative tool in the fight against many pain related conditions. It turns out that the answer may lie in a simple blood test, some added sunshine and an inexpensive nutrient known as vitamin D. Read more »

When you walk into a health food store you have a few different ways of acquiring information about prospective products. You can look product labels, ask for guidance from a store employee, or peruse the books that are often sold alongside nutritional supplements. There’s no question that you’ll get some information from all three of these resources. Part of what you’ll learn will likely be accurate and some of it will be based mostly on well meaning, but anecdotal and/or preliminary information. When I worked in the natural health industry, I experienced a similar advisory experience whenever a customer asked about olive leaf extract. Read more »

No matter what area of medicine you study, you’re bound to find some degree of controversy or debate. Do you think exercise is good for cardiovascular health or improving mood? Much of the evidence supports that position, but some studies dispute that as well. How about eating fresh fruits and vegetables? That’s got to be healthy, right? A preponderance of the evidence points to that conclusion but, again, there are always findings to the contrary in scientific literature. It’s important to know that there are always opposing points of view. So a study with negative findings should not cause one to lose faith in a perfectly viable remedy. Read more »