I have a confession to make. Even after many years of using and working with natural medicine, I still have an underlying fear of chiropractors. Not the men and women who make up the profession. But the actual process of getting an adjustment. I’ve just never gotten used to the cracking and popping sounds brought about by manual adjustments. However my concerns are often at odds with some of the positive evidence that exists about this widely utilized holistic technique. The most recent figures published by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine estimate that upwards of $4 billion a year is spent on “chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation” in the US alone. It appears that many health conscious consumers do not share my reservations about visiting their friendly, neighborhood chiropractor. Read more »

There are many road blocks to achieving successful weight loss and long term weight maintenance. Chief among them is a lack of culinary creativity and access to a wide variety of diet-friendly foods. When you read the final part of that last sentence, certain unexciting foods probably came to mind such as carrot and celery sticks or, perhaps, the much dreaded rice cakes. That’s not my idea of an ideal snack if you’re looking to shed excess pounds or maintain a healthy weight. Read more »

Before stepping foot in the Anaheim Convention Center to attend Natural Products Expo West, I formulated an introduction for all the exhibitors and representatives I planned to meet. First, I would introduce myself. Then I’d explain what my site is all about. Finally, I’d reveal my basic objective – to learn about the most cutting edge developments in the natural health industry so that I might pass them along to my readers and subscribers. I knew this was the correct approach for me because it fits right in with my overall strategy for this site. Simply put, I want to share current, “under the radar” medical information with you and those whose lives you touch. Every Monday you can count on me presenting at least five natural health items that specifically fit into this category. According to my calender, today is Monday, so here goes! Read more »

Natural medicine provides real solutions for health issues that literally span a lifetime. In today’s column, I’ve collected several items from the scientific literature that will illustrate this quite clearly. As you probably know, my goal is to have you all share at least one of these news items with someone in your sphere of influence. But some of today’s content involves rather prickly topics such Alzheimer’s Disease, constipation, menopause and Parkinson’s Disease. I realize that it may not be possible to just come right out and offer up advice about these somewhat sensitive conditions. However there’s almost always a creative way to disseminate such information. Read more »

It’s Thursday once again and that means it’s Twitter time. This week I’m going to highlight a whole new group of gurus and health authorities that caught my eye over the past several days. In this week’s line-up is “America’s doctor”, Dr. Mehmet Oz; the grandaddy of alt-med integration, Dr. Andrew Weil; the nutritionist, therapist and trainer to the stars, Dr. Jonny Bowden; my local newpaper’s very own health column and finally Mr. Excuses Begone! himself, Dr. Wayne Dyer. Read more »

There’s a common perception out there that academics live in “ivory towers”. The papers and studies they publish often seem distant from the realities of life outside of the halls of academia. However some researchers clearly don’t fit this mold. An example can be found in the most recent edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Within the pages of the journal resides a paper written by a staff member of the University of Washington. The topic revolves around a guide referred to as The Nutrient Rich Foods Index, a “formal scoring system that ranks food on the basis of its nutrient content”. The author of this particular paper set out to identify the most affordable, nutrient rich foods. Read more »

Patterns are vital pieces of information in the field of preventive health care. Researchers are constantly on the look-out for trends that can be applied in the prevention of just about every medical condition known to man. Even maladies that have a strong genetic component are of interest because certain lifestyle choices can activate or de-activate genes that are associated with such illnesses. When it comes to lifestyle factors, dietary influences have received the lion’s share of scientific interest. The interplay between diet and gene expression has even been given a name: nutrigenomics. Read more »

Several years ago I was thinking about my life and wondered whether there was a simple activity I could perform everyday that would contribute something positive to the world. In the past I would visit natural health forums and do my best to answer questions posed by other visitors. Now I try to do my part by writing this daily blog and using HungerSite.com as my homepage. This is a cost-free way of benefiting a variety of charities. You just click on a button and it donates a small amount to non-profit organizations that address the needs of animal shelters, the hungry, literacy groups and even rainforest preservation. This is all well and good, but I want to try to do more and I need your help. 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 »

Today I’m announcing a new feature on HealthyFellow.com. Every Thursday I plan to highlight some of the more informative and useful messages I find on Twitter. As you may know, HealthyFellow has a very active presence on Twitter where I share facts, research and tips in addition to what is covered on this site. I also use this form of social media to follow some of the leading health experts in the field. Here are some of the more noteworthy “tweets” that I came across during this past week. (Please note that “tweets” are often written in a short-hand style because you are limited to 140 characters per message.) Read more »

It’s a good thing that some scientists never paid attention when their mothers warned them not to play with their food as children. If they had, they may never have discovered that topically applied onions, soybeans and turmeric powder can demonstrably improve the appearance and cellular health of skin. Several new presentations at this year’s meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology explain the exact “hows and whys” of this phenomenon. Read more »

Today I want to discuss a very special kind of pharmacy. It’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It doesn’t close for holidays and the staff is always on call. One of the best features of the place is that all medications in stock are 100% natural and entirely compatible with your individual physiology. I know what you may thinking: “This place sounds very expensive”. Or perhaps: “My doctor or health insurance company never works with these ‘holistic-type’ facilities”. Fortunately for us all, none of these concerns apply here. Read more »

This past weekend was a little different than most. Instead of spending it with family or friends, I took a little road trip to Anaheim, California – probably best known as the home of the Angels baseball team and Disneyland. But, my destination was neither a sporting event nor “the happiest place on Earth”. Rather, I was on a mission that would take me deep into the heart of the natural product industry. March 12th through the 14th marked the 30th annual Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo. I was there along with approximately 56,000 other members of the natural health industry. This is my first report from the field. Read more »