Stress, anxiety and depression are major factors in the lives of many of us. An estimated 9.1 percent of the population of the U.S. suffers from depression every year, which translates to approximately 28 million Americans suffering from depression for at least two weeks with significant symptoms each year. This figure does not include greater or lesser degrees of apathy. Major depression claims 4.1 percent of the population, which is to say, from 12 to 13 million...

Toxins come in a variety of forms. Our environment is full of them, and not all of these are man-made. Many toxins are found in everyday foods. Worse yet, some of the most dangerous toxins—toxins linked to breast and prostate cancers, for instance—are made in our own bodies. Of course, we are not without inborn defenses against toxic assaults. Indeed, the liver, in particular, is an organ, which is equipped to deactivate and remove poisons from our systems.

The stakes...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately six percent of Americans suffer from asthma. This is a surprisingly high figure and it is on the rise. It is surprisingly high in part because asthma is one of a number of health conditions that can be present, yet unrecognized, in both children and adults. Yet being out of sight is not the same as being benign. Nearly 500,000 Americans are hospitalized each year for asthma and more than 5,000 die from it.

In this age of marketing of new fruits of every stripe—“super,” “exotic,” “rainforest,” etc. — it is easy to overlook the fact the best of the fruits for many purposes may be those long known. Bilberry is a good example. Black currant is another. Also called the cassis berry (Ribes nigrum), black currant offers many benefits similar to those found with bilberry and blueberry. Indeed, the list of benefits is quite impressive and includes brain, digestive and eye...

No one doubts that obesity is a problem in the United States. According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in January 2010 analyzing the period 2007–2008, the prevalence of obesity was 32.2 percent among adult men and 35.5 percent among adult women. The age-adjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity combined was 68.0 percent overall; 72.3 percent among men, and 64.1 percent among women. That’s right: in 2008 an estimated 68 percent of Americans were...

—Kevin M. Connolly, Ph.D. Coauthor

Bone health is one of the most widely written about topics in the United States and most of us, no doubt, feel we have a grasp of how to protect ourselves. Sadly, most of us would be wrong in judging our own risk of suffering from osteoporosis or related conditions and most of us would be wrong in evaluating which nutrients are most important for protecting...

In mid-2012, Nestlé Health Science acquired a stake in Accera®, the U.S. maker of Axona®, a medical food targeted at people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. Aside from the fact that the purchase shows that Nestlé is placing a strategic bet on the future direction of medical food demand, this acquisition also is interesting for its potential validation of a tropical oil that alternately has been damned and praised for its role in health: coconut oil.

On the one hand, there...

Recently, this magazine ran a series of articles on vitamin and mineral supplements addressing the seemingly simple question, “Who needs them?” This seemed like a good jumping off point. Whenever you look at a supplement, you ask yourself what benefits its various ingredients will deliver. One formula promises to provide insurance against a multitude of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, another to supply protection against stress, and a third claims to protect against, say, bone...

Back in the news is MSM (short for methylsulfonyl-methane, also known as dimethyl sulfone). MSM has generated broad anecdotal support for its benefits in cases of allergies, arthritis and joint pain. However, the list of conditions that are said to respond to MSM is much longer. Broadly speaking, MSM has been tested with clinical results in inflammation, joint and tissue pain, muscle spasms, hair and nail growth, even snoring! So just what is this compound and how does it work? Is it really...

Can stress cause weight gain? The short answer is "yes." This is one of the many topics covered in the User's Guide to Weight-Loss Supplements (Basic Health Publications User's Guide paperback) and the discussion there explores one of the reasons that weight loss programs often fail. In a 1986 Dutch study, men who experienced many life events in a short period of time — one definition of stress — gained weight. This study also showed the importance of identifying...

Most of us, when we think about the signs of aging, think about wrinkles, sagging skin, sun damage, aches and pains, perhaps weight gain. Biochemists and medical researchers see those same signs, but to these scientists the important changes are structural. To their eyes the significant changes are those that alter the nature of cell membranes, change DNA expression, oxidize fats and make proteins less usable. These changes alter the body's repair mechanisms.

Stevia, sold as a “dietary supplement,” is no stranger to the health food world and under this heading one finds extracts of quite varying composition and purity. More narrowly, stevia also is used to indicate an extract consisting only of stevioside. The leaves of stevia rebaudiana Bertoni are the primary source, but related species are native from Mexico to throughout South America and known by names such as sweetleaf, sweet leaf and sugarleaf, as well as stevia....

With the current constant push to reduce the intake of fats in the diet, it is easy to forget certain fats are essential for health. Likewise, as pointed out in a previous [April 2012 Food: Combining and Timing For Health] article on food combining, fats often are blamed for what are, in fact, the consequences of the consumption of sugars, especially fructose, and refined carbohydrates. A number of...

Brain function plays a major role in how much energy we have , how we handle stress, whether our immune system is up to par, and, in general, how much zest we have for life. Concentration, memory and mood — whether we are fifteen and struggling with math or sixty-five and looking forward to an active retirement, these matter. Nutrients which support brain health should be a part of any supplementation program.

It has long been known that an infant’s diet is important for mental development. Increasingly research is showing that the diet and everyday environmental factors during the first three to five years of life can have important consequences in the areas of mental health and the ability to interact socially as well as determining whether the child will grow up obese, develop diabetes or suffer from heart disease in later life. Moreover, it seems that the mother’s eating habits and overall...

It is easy to overlook the health benefits of common foods, especially if, as is true of the orange and other citrus fruits, we typically consume only the juice. Yet components found in the pulp and peel of citrus fruits long have been known to offer a variety of health benefits. More interesting still is the fact that one or more compounds found in citrus rinds can be turned into even more potent health protectors with a little help from science. Diosmin is a good example of a health...

Is a Calorie a Calorie? This question was posed not long ago in a column in the New York Times and it is well worth asking. The answer from the nutrition establishment, with some notable exceptions, long has been to paraphrase the Second Law of Thermodynamics (conservation of energy) and then, with great gravitas, explain that calories are calories and that reducing their intake while increasing their expenditure leads to weight loss. It is as simple as that.

Located in a mountainous region in the west of China on the slopes of the Himalayas, Bama County is famous for longevity. Indeed, it sometimes is called the "home of longevity" because, despite its small population of less than 230,000 people, circa 2000 there were at least 79 men and women over one hundred years old and still in good health. The ratio was 3.52 centenarians per ten thousand people, seemingly the highest found anywhere in the world. The inhabitants of Bama look younger than...

Red Yeast Rice (rice fermented with Monascus purpureus) is no stranger to the dietary supplements marketplace. For quite some time, it has been viewed as a better “natural alternative” to statin drugs by many individuals who visit health food stores as well as numerous health care practitioners. Recently a large university study of statin-intolerant individuals has provided evidence in support of this position. However, is Red Yeast Rice merely an alternative to statins for some...

It is easy to overlook the health benefits of common foods, especially if, as is true of the orange and other citrus fruits, we typically consume only the juice. Yet components found in the pulp and peel of citrus fruits long have been known to offer a variety of health benefits. More interesting still is the fact that one or more compounds found in citrus rinds can be turned into even more potent health protectors with a little help from science. Diosmin is a good example of a...