With 40 million Americans suffering from anxiety disorders, it is the most common mental illness in this country and with the long list of side effects and addiction from anti-anxiety medications, many are searching for an alternative.

Research has shown Green Tea to be beneficial in many inflammatory conditions including heart disease, cancer, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease1, but it might be surprising to learn of the effect Green Tea has on inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. Green tea is made from unfermented leaves of Camellia sinensis and the average cup of green tea contains 50 to 150 milligrams of polyphenols. Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants which contain catechins and have been shown to be up to 100 times more potent than Vitamins C and E.

STUDIES SHOW THAT A DIET HIGH IN POTASSIUM CAN REDUCE MUSCLE CRAMPING, LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, REDUCE THE RISK OF STROKE AND INCREASE PROTECTION AGAINST OSTEOPOROSIS.

ROOIBOS TEA IS BEGINNING TO GAIN POPULARITY AND FOR GOOD REASON. IT IS A FROM A SHRUB NATIVE TO SOUTH AFRICA AND IS LOADED WITH NUTRIENTS AND ANTIOXIDANTS.

Feeling tired all the time? Too hot? Too cold? Thinning hair? Constipated? Lots of diarrhea? Unexplained weight gain? Infertility? Brain fog? Depression? Eczema? Low libido?

We live in a world where chronic stress affects pretty much everyone, whether we realize it or not. One of the most important things to understand when we start to address stress management is the difference between acute stress and chronic stress.

The main way in which stress depletes the body of magnesium is that it is utilized in multiple facets during a stress response. If you think about all of the different ways your body responds to either acute or chronic stress- remember it’s all the same response, but a chronic stress response is ongoing- there are a lot of processes involved there. Liver function, heart function, adrenal function- and there are so many ways in which magnesium is used to do all the things our body has to do in a stress response we’d be here all day naming each one.

One of, if not the most important mineral you can focus on in times of stress, is magnesium. When the body is in a state of stress, magnesium is released to help cope. In fact, The link between magnesium and anxiety is so strong that researchers can actually induce anxiety in lab animals at will, simply by depriving them of magnesium. So it may not be news to you that magnesium can help you to cope with stress. There’s even a supplement called “Natural Calm” that markets itself as being an anti-stress drink, and it’s just a basic magnesium citrate powder.

When it comes to popular trends around gluten-free diets, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some health professionals think the avoidance of gluten could be beneficial to almost anyone. Others believe that unless you have Celiac disease, avoiding gluten isn't necessarily beneficial at all.

But what about when it comes to Hashimoto's?

Circadian rhythm is our natural sleep-wake cycle mechanism. This 24-hour cycle is influenced primarily by changes in light during the day. As the day ends and the sun goes down, we typically become more tired. Conversely, morning light wakes us up. Important hormones are released during this cycle that influence our feelings of wakefulness and fatigue. Cortisol is released in the morning hours (beginning at about 3-4 am) to prepare us to wake. Melatonin is released in the evening (from about 8 pm-11 pm) to induce sleepiness. Our brains contain a master clock known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The SCN is a group of nerve cells that receives light through the eyes. Light or darkness triggers the release of cortisol or melatonin coordinated by the SCN.

Most of us are exposed to a variety of stressors every day. We lead very busy lives. We are overscheduled, overworked, and juggling many different responsibilities at once. This can take a toll on our health and wellbeing, and for some, it can lead to health issues involving our adrenals and thyroid function. Let's explore how our bodies handle stress and what can go wrong when it's just too much.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a prevalent diagnosis in the US. The condition is characterized by a lack of healthy red blood cells (RBCs). RBCs (specifically the hemoglobin within RBCs) carry oxygen throughout the body to various tissues and organs and bring back carbon dioxide to be expelled from the lungs. This process is essential for adequate physiological function and iron is required to make hemoglobin.

The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet was developed by RUSH University nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris, ScD, along with her colleagues.1 The MIND diet is a hybrid of the Mediterranean (MD) and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, as both dietary patterns have been shown to have neuroprotective effects.

The seasoning of food is a personal, cultural, regional, and sensual experience of adding flavor to a dish. Some examples of seasonings can include salt, herbs (the leaves or shoots of a plant), spices (the seeds, fruit, flowers, bark, or roots of a plant), acids (vinegars, citrus juices), and, although technically considered a condiment, fats (butter, vegetable oils, animal fats).

There are nearly 300 species in the genus asparagus, most of which are used for their medicinal properties rather than culinary uses.1 This article focuses on asparagus officinalis, which is the asparagus commonly used in culinary dishes and comes in three color varieties: green, white, and purple.

In our previous blog post, we looked at what vitamin D does in our body and why it is important, but how do we properly assess vitamin D status and how do we know if supplementation is truly necessary? Why is this important? Supplementing with vitamin D is an excellent way to correct a deficiency, or insufficiency, that has been diagnosed by a healthcare practitioner. However, supplementing without repeated monitoring by your healthcare practitioner can be dangerous.

Supplements are a popular intervention that people use to, at the very minimum, meet their recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Under the care of a health provider, supplements can be used to correct deficiencies or support body systems in certain health conditions. Vitamin D is an increasingly recommended supplement, by health providers, as many people show insufficiency or deficiency in their lab work. But is supplementation really necessary? For some people yes, but for others there may be avenues to try before jumping on the D train, especially without testing for deficiency first. In this two-part blog series we will look at the importance of vitamin D and how to determine if supplementation is truly necessary.

Surgery is a common intervention in the U.S. that ranges from minor surgery to major surgical procedures. Surgery can be minor, like removing a mole, cataract removal, dental surgery, biopsies, and require less recovery time. Major surgical procedures, like cesarean sections, joint replacements, bariatric procedures, hysterectomy, mastectomy, and heart procedures all have a higher risk for infection and longer recovery time.