September 25, 2018

Can Supplements Truly Lift Your Mood?

Mood is one of those human experiences that’s difficult to quantify, tricky to change. You know when you’re in a good mood and when things are sour. But what’s at work physiologically in determining your mood? Can transitory events, like a baby shower, cause mood swings? Can you change your mood with a simple shift in outlook? Can supplements help? When it comes to shaping your mood, it might help to think of it like building a house; you start by fortifying the foundation with more bricks and mortar. For the brain—your body’s cornerstone—that means fat. The brain is composed […]
August 28, 2018

Could Omega-3 Supplements Help With Depression?

An article appearing on August 8, 2018 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology:
May 1, 2018

What Can Mushroom Supplements Do?

Neither fish nor foul, not animal nor even technically a plant, mushrooms occupy a nether-region of life, with tantalizing health benefits such as better athletic performance and even, perhaps, an answer to cancer. Mushrooms are much more than just stir-fry fodder. Mushroom compounds called polysaccharides have been studied for decades for improving immunity. Beta-glucans in mushrooms have been proposed to act as “biological response modifiers,” based on their effects on the immune system. This means that they don’t so much stimulate the immune system as they simply make it work better. Want more mushroom magic? A few years ago a […]
March 14, 2018

Tummy Troubles? How Supplements Can Help

If there’s anything more uncomfortable to discuss than digestive and gut-health issues, it’s the astounding
July 25, 2017

Plants That May Help Boost Sexual Performance

The earliest humans used plants for medicine as well as for food. By medieval times, people were making huge amounts of money trading spices around the globe. People wanted to make their food taste good, of course. But the perceived medicinal benefits also were extremely important. According to author Jack Turner, “In the medieval mind, spices and medicine were effectively one and the same. Not all drugs were spices, but all spices were drugs.” An 11th-century monk named Constantine wrote that ginger, cinnamon, galangal (a root related to ginger) and pepper could be used to treat impotence. Indeed, the search […]
March 21, 2017

Gingko Biloba Boosts Memory & Longevity

The herb Gingko biloba, or gingko for short, has been used medicinally both in Europe and the U.S. since the 1700s though it is native to China, Japan and Korea. Though it is one of the most frequently prescribed herbal remedies in Germany currently, there is evidence of ancient Chinese healers describing this herbs medicinal properties. Used to treat many health conditions, gingko is especially used for cognitive function including for memory improvement and even for longevity, possibly because of its link to cardiovascular health support. Read on to learn more about the potential benefits as well as the risks […]
August 21, 2016

Why Are My Cookbooks Different?

Through the years I have seen the connection between healthy food
August 1, 2016

What Foods Can Help Us Detox Our Bodies?

We can overwhelm our liver and its ability to pull toxins out of our body; yeast and parasites can inhabit our bowels; and secondhand smoke and air pollution can affect our lungs. So, about once every few months, or whenever I’m not feeling well, I go on a detoxification regimen. I like to cleanse my whole system through herb-spiked liquids, healing foods, and nutritional supplements. Pure water may be the ultimate detoxifying flush for kidneys, liver, lungs, and bowels, but green tea is also excellent.  Here is a list of my top 10 favorite detoxing foods: Artichokes Daikon radish Chia […]
May 24, 2016

Finally! A Guide to Supplements

By Jessica Rubino It was sometime between embracing healthy, nutrient-dense foods and waking up to toxins in my cosmetics that supplements took over my medicine cabinet and sundries bag. Somewhere on that ever-complicated yet increasingly inspiring path to wellness—one filled with choices and pitfalls, improvements and setbacks—I began to believe in the power of those powders and pills as one vehicle to help drive me in the direction of a healthy lifestyle. Perhaps, as is the case for many supplement users, it started based on faith—the belief that an ingredient used for thousands of years, found in nature, could help […]