Posted on: December 14, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

How omega-3s and omega-6s impact cancer risk

If you’ve been a health nut for any length of time, you certainly know about the benefits of omega-3 essential fatty acids. You may hear less about them, but omega-6’s have their benefits as well, although with a few caveats. In any event, it won’t surprise you to hear that research has uncovered a way that both of these fatty acids may protect us from the most dreaded disease of…

Posted on: December 14, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The one health hack you should do every morning

Drink eight cups of water a day. You’ve probably heard the mantra and may even follow it. But what is all that water doing, other than improving hydration and increasing bathroom trips? Some research has indicated it can help us lose weight, live longer and maintain good heart health. But there hasn’t really been one study that’s looked specifically at the impact of water on health — until now. Their…

Posted on: December 13, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

What happens to your body and heart during sleep

When it comes to keeping your heart in great shape, many of us think about diet, exercise, and avoiding smoking. But there’s another crucial element to heart health: sleep.  In fact, sleep is now officially recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) as part of the Essential 8 — a set of lifestyle measures proven to enhance cardiovascular health.  So how does sleep protect your heart? What happens to your body during…

Posted on: December 12, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The bone-weakening effects of a common thyroid medicine

Approximately 30 million Americans suffer from hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland doesn’t make enough thyroid hormones. Symptoms include weight gain, fatigue, depression, brain fog and more, but it can be hard to get an accurate diagnosis since these symptoms mimic many other conditions. Still, roughly 23 million are treated with a drug called levothyroxine, sold as Synthroid, making it one of the most commonly prescribed thyroid medications across…

Posted on: December 11, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The prostate drug that reduces hair loss and heart disease

Since 1992, men suffering from an enlarged prostate have been prescribed a drug that blocks an enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, a hormone that causes prostate growth. Five years later, the same medication was approved to treat hair loss when scientists discovered that by reducing DHT levels, finasteride also worked to block hair follicle shrinkage and promote hair regrowth. Now, research is suggesting this wonder drug could…

Posted on: December 11, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Kimchi takes down weight and triglycerides

In 2024, the U.S. reached a grim milestone: it was estimated that over 4 in 10 adults have obesity. That’s more than 40 percent of Americans afflicted with a condition that carries numerous health risks, including heart disease, “diabesity,” cognitive decline, chronic inflammation and more. Of course, diet and exercise are the twin pillars of any anti-obesity strategy… But when it comes to diet, some foods are more effective than…

Posted on: December 10, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Twins help reveal powerful reason diet links to depression

Depression can be a tough nut to crack. Doctors usually prescribe an antidepressant, but it doesn’t work in 2 out of 3 people. So they try another, and in 30 percent of cases that one doesn’t work, either. Even if the antidepressant does provide relief, it often comes with its own set of problems: nausea, weight gain, fatigue, constipation, irritability, anxiety and low sex drive. So what can you do?…

Posted on: December 10, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The drink to save your heart from high-fat stress eating

We’ve all done it. Life gets stressful, and we reach for the bag of chips to comfort us. It’s so common a behavior that it has a name: stress eating. No surprise there, right? You’re stressed, and that ice cream is just so comforting, and you deserve those guilty pleasures, right? But you don’t deserve the detrimental effects of stress eating… Overeating junk food can lead to obesity. And obesity-related…

Posted on: December 7, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

4 heart health reasons to switch to maple syrup

Whether it’s whipping up special desserts or adding a teaspoon or two to coffee, tea or a warm bowl of oatmeal — or the added sugars that show up in processed and packaged foods, an excess of the sweet stuff is doing some dangerously sour things to our health. But those non-nutritive low-calorie and no-calorie substitutes have some major drawbacks too. Does that mean we’re doomed to a life of…

Posted on: December 4, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The syndrome that speeds up heart disease risk by decades

Numerous factors affect the risk of developing heart disease. Some, like lack of exercise and poor diet, simply increase your risk of ending up with heart problems at all. Yet, others actually speed up your cardiovascular risk clock, causing you to develop the disease far sooner than you otherwise would. According to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2024, possibly the most dangerous of the latter leads…