Researchers have identified an amino acid that may be the key to warding off the damaging changes linked to two common conditions – chronic stress and depression. According to these studies, the link between mood disturbances and this amino acid is so strong that measuring its levels in the blood may soon be used as [...]
What have all these symptoms got in common? Chest pain, stomach upset, insomnia, anxiety, anger, depression, overeating, drug abuse and social withdrawal. If you answered stress, you got it right with one word. To be more precise, each item on the list can be caused by stress. It's a condition that can affect people's physical [...]
One of your brain’s biggest enemies is oxidative stress – the buildup of toxic molecules called free radicals that can oxidize and destroy neurons and the network connections among brain cells. When free radicals overwhelm the brain’s antioxidant defenses, your memory and ability to think straight take a hit. To keep this potential disaster under [...]
Do you look good in clothes but not so alluring in the buff? Maybe it comes down to a condition called sarcopenic obesity, or more commonly, 'skinny fat'. I’d never heard of this, but it’s fascinating and has some implications for your health. A slim look can hide the fact that the upper arms, upper [...]
One of the good things about brain health is that the main things you need are inexpensive or even free. For example, you've got to have two simple vitamins that offer priceless protection from a brain-destroying amino acid. They’re available practically everywhere, for pennies. These two nutrients preserve memory and thinking power like all get [...]
In the midst of our junk-food-addled, sleep-deprived, over-medicated culture, there exists at least one popular trend that’s good for our brains: The near-death of the necktie. The traditional suit for males is still hanging on – barely -- but the necktie that used to go with it has nearly disappeared. You may see ties at [...]
What was her secret? It's not only that neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini lived to the age of 103, the only Nobel prize winner who ever achieved that distinction. It's that she was still engaged in research at that advanced age. Her youthful vitality and mental powers were undiminished right to the end of her very long [...]
If you want to keep your brain strong enough to resist Alzheimer’s disease and fight back against other memory-robbing illnesses, you need to strengthen one muscle in particular that the brain depends on: your heart. When we think of building strong muscles, we don’t often think in terms of the heart. We should. Research shows [...]
"This is a major breakthrough in the management of Alzheimer's disease." So states Professor John Nolan, lead scientist in a new human trial. He wasn’t talking about a new drug. He was talking about a formula made up of nutrients found in ordinary foods like sardines and spinach. Another of the study authors, Dr. Alan [...]
Over a century ago, Dr. William Howard Hay proposed that meals heavy in proteins and carbohydrates upset the digestive system and lead to weight gain. The Hay (food combining) Diet still has loyal followers today – I’ve heard it mentioned by a couple of alternative doctors -- but food scientists say separating proteins from carbohydrates [...]
