It’s been called “the most effective, potent way that we can improve quality of life and duration of life.” If it were a drug, “it would likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever developed.” It isn’t a new supplement or super food, and best of all it’s free. It’s . . . exercise! In a recent issue of Time magazine, reporter Mandy Outlander explored the cutting edge of exercise research with various experts who have become increasingly excited about “exercise as medicine.” His own research prompted the rave reviews above from genetic metabolic neurologist Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky at McMaster University in Ontario. That exercise is good for us isn’t exactly news, but Dr. Tarnopolsky hopes that by pointing out all its wonderful rewards, he may motivate us enough to jump up out of our chairs and actually do it! Rewards being documented are both immediate and long-term. Right after a short exercise session, measurable results include improved mood, less arthritic and lower back pa…

As we envision a healthy future for ourselves, our children, and our planet this month, let’s take a look at cell phones. Although more than 90% of the US population now owns one, cell phones have never been proven safe.  In fact, evidence for their ability to harm continues to accumulate. Although it’s too late to put the genie back in the bottle—we’ve become too dependent on our cell phones to give them up—both adults and especially children must limit cell phone use if we want a healthy future. Nutritionist Anne Louise Gittleman has pointed out that the kind of electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit causes subliminal stress that raises blood pressure and cortisol (a stress hormone) levels, alters blood sugar regulation, lowers thyroid hormone output and can interfere with getting a good night’s sleep. Cell phones also affect fertility and have been linked in children with behavioral disorders, learning difficulties and depression. Of particular concern have been…

More than 80% of the US population has too much sugar in their blood. Although only about 10% of these have outright diabetes, all are being harmed by a process called glycation, in which body proteins get “sugar-coated,” damaging blood vessels, nerves, the brain, the eyes, and even DNA, and releasing harmful chemicals causing oxidation and inflammation. This is why diabetics have so many “diabetic complications,” like heart disease, kidney disease, neuropathies, and liver disorders. To a lesser extent, high blood sugar contributes to these same problems in non-diabetics. How can you tell if you’re among this 80%? By getting your fasting blood sugar measured—it should be 75-85 mg/dL. But even with good blood sugar levels after fasting, you may be having unhealthy blood sugar spikes after meals. These too can be measured and should be less than 120 mg/dL one hour after eating. Blood-sugar problems tend to increase with age (while about 9% of the US population has diabetes, more t…

Insulin resistance has become a major problem in our overweight, sedentary, stressed out, sleep-deprived, refined sugar-eating society, and is a probable co-morbid complication in COVID-19. What is insulin resistance, and how does it lead to diabetes?  Excessive sugar in the blood is a dangerous, inflammatory situation.  It is the hormone insulin’s job to keep blood sugar levels from getting too high by escorting sugar into the cells where it can be either burned to make energy or stored.  However when cells are constantly asked to take on excessive amounts of sugar they become “insulin resistant.”    The body responds by making more insulin, forcing more sugar into the unwilling cells. But over time, the cells become increasingly resistant. Eventually sugar builds up to unhealthy levels, a condition called pre-diabetes.   According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1/3 of our population has prediabetes. …

Gloria Swanson is known for playing the delusional Norma Desmond in the movie “Sunset Boulevard.” But in real life, she was a very sane and smart woman, and an early convert to the natural health movement. In the 1970s she toured the US helping her husband William Duffy to promote a book he authored that became a dietary classic, Sugar Blues. Sugar Blues is an indictment of refined sugar as a dangerous and addictive toxin with disastrous effects on the brain and mental health (both Linus Pauling and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who agreed with Duffy about sugar, are cited in the book). Although Duffy’s book has had a significant impact on a health-conscious minority, sugar consumption continues to ravage the mental health of millions of Americans in minor and major ways. It has been linked with all kinds of mental distress, from depression to schizophrenia, while sugar and a high-glycemic diet have been linked specifically with depression. As noted in a recent Newsclips article,…