Fitness & Nutrition

In just four months, you could be tossing your blood pressure medication in the trash. A new study presented at the American Heart Association’s annual Joint Hypertension Scientific Sessions highlights just how important lifestyle changes are for improving heart health—and how impressive the results can be. Researchers studied 129 overweight or obese men and women to see […]

Cucumbers are mostly made of water, which makes them low in calories, but they come packed with many nutritional benefits. Those are good reasons to devour fresh cucumbers in your salad, on toast, or in a smoothie. The moisture-rich anatomy of a cucumber consists of vitamins K, C, A, magnesium, potassium, anti-inflammatory substances, and of […]

Depression is a common mental health issue, and while it can’t be cured through diet, a diet for depression can play a part in managing symptoms. Research suggests that what a person consumes can affect mental health. It is believed that many different factors contribute to depression. A recent study published in BMC Medicine showed […]

A good way to recharge your brain at work might be with a short bout of exercise that doesn’t require much concentration, according to a small study from Japan. “The present study suggests that simple exercise is better than cognitively demanding exercise during working hours,” lead author Keita Kamijo, an assistant professor on the faculty […]

Smartphones and tablets are convenient babysitters and pacifiers for bored or crying children. But they may be preventing those children from developing the necessary hand strength to hold pencils, cut with scissors, and perform tasks children their same age could easily do just a decade ago. A new review from the Heart of England Foundation […]

The idea that healthy food costs more than junk food is something I hear a lot. Students tell me they’d like to eat better but can’t afford to. There is a strong belief that cooking from scratch costs a fortune, and with takeaway meals priced as low as £1 ($1.30USD), they have little incentive to […]

Negative childhood experiences in physical education (PE) classes may have long-term effects on adult physical activity, a large study suggests. Researchers conducted an online survey of more than 1,000 adults, ages 18 to 45, across 46 states about their best and worst memories of their PE experiences, as well as their attitude about physical activity […]

Behind the curtain, our gut is responsible for putting our body into working order. As it breaks down the foods we eat, our gut absorbs nutrients that support our body’s functions—from energy production to hormone balance, skin health to mental health, and even toxin and waste elimination. In fact, about 70 percent of the immune system is housed […]

On Sept. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest health statistics for the United States. The report provides a snapshot of Americans’ health up to 2016, revealing several key trends—including that Americans who don’t finish high school continue to lag behind. Again and again, the trends across educational levels indicate that adults […]

Twenty-four. That’s how many hours we get in each day. That’s how many I get, you get, Elon Musk gets, and Leonardo da Vinci got. So how is it that some people manage to live extraordinarily productive lives and some can barely stay on top of the laundry. (Eh hem.) If you’re like many people, […]

The marathon race has long been considered the ultimate test of human endurance. But the last few decades have seen growing numbers of runners regularly tackling distances exceeding the traditional marathon. So-called “ultra-marathon runners” contest races from 35 miles to 100 miles—and occasionally further—in a single stage. I began my ultra-marathon journey about 10 years […]

If you were drinking too much, what would you be concerned about? It might seem that health risks would be viewed as the biggest issue. However, a recent study of middle-aged drinkers found that overall, they’re far more concerned about social stigma than potential health problems. Researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia looked at a […]

When my brother and I were kids back in the ‘80s, we loved going to Long John Silver’s. But it wasn’t just for the fish. It was for the vinegar—malt vinegar. We would uncap a bottle at the table and swig that tangy, delicious nectar of the gods straight. Are most of you repulsed? Probably. […]

Many older people find they’re not able to move as freely as they did when they were younger. They describe their movements as feeling stiff or restricted. In particular, there’s a feeling of stiffness when getting out of bed first thing in the morning or after sitting for a long period. That eventually eases with […]

Martina Ptackova is a tough young woman. In fact, pound for pound, she’s one of the toughest women in the world. In the Czech Republic, where she is from, she’s a source of national pride, having distinguished herself as an elite athlete in the often brutal sport of kickboxing. But Ptackova is not a brutal […]

Autumn is a time to celebrate the change in the weather as the heat and light of summer recede, leaving us with cooler days and nights. Our physical beings register these changes and cause us to become more reflective as we head toward the Thanksgiving holidays and beyond. Autumn also affords us the opportunity to […]

Elderly husbands may devote just as much effort to caring for a sick spouse as their wives might do if the situation were reversed, a German study suggests. Plenty of research on gender roles among older couples has found women do the bulk of housework even if both spouses have similar amounts of time available […]

Whether you are slim or obese, one thing is clear: calorie-dense processed foods increase cancer risk, regardless of body weight. Researchers studied data from 92,000 postmenopausal women who took part in the Women’s Health Initiative, a 15-year study of health in postmenopausal women. They focused on the energy density of the women’s diets—“high energy” diets […]

There are roughly 9 million pigs in North Carolina––the same number as people. There are also a multitude of poultry farms containing 819 million chickens and 33.5m turkeys and there is even a thriving fish farm industry in North Carolina. Many thought after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 drowned thousands of […]

The honey in your pantry may taste delicious in your tea or drizzled over your pancakes, but what can it do for your face, nails, or hair? The answer is—a lot! The next time you grab that jar of (preferably) raw honey to sweeten your beverage, be sure to set some aside for your beauty […]