What Impact Does Exercise Have on Sleep?
Regular exercise and high-quality sleep are both critical for long-term health. Sadly, most people don’t get enough exercise OR sleep. Plus, a significant percentage of the population suffers from sleep problems that make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep once they do. In any 12-month period, 20…
How Much Protein Do You Really Need in Your Diet?
Protein – bodybuilders love it and some seem to believe that more is better. So, they supplement their diets with protein bars, protein powders and shakes, and, sometimes, isolated amino acids - all in the name of growing more muscle. We know that the amino acids from protein are…
Are You Making These Post-Workout Nutrition Mistakes?
One thing we know about exercise is that it expends energy, and sometimes, lots of it. It’s macronutrients from the food you eat, mainly carbohydrates and fat, that fuel an exercise session. If you don’t supply your body with adequate fuel, your exercise performance may suffer. That’s why extreme…
Does a High-Sodium Diet Increase the Risk of Heart Disease?
For years, many health care professionals recommended that patients cut back on sodium, mainly due to concerns that a high-sodium diet causes a rise in blood pressure. With cardiovascular disease being the top cause of death in Western countries, anything that can lower blood pressure, a risk factor for heart…
5 Foods that Help Lower Blood Pressure
One in three adults suffers from high blood pressure and some are unaware of it. That’s because hypertension is a silent disease that frequently causes few or no symptoms. However, untreated high blood pressure can damage organs, like your heart and kidneys, as well as your blood vessels. According to…
4 Science-Backed Reasons to Add More Fermented Vegetables to Your Diet
You’re probably familiar with sauerkraut, the tangy, fermented form of cabbage. You might have even munched on a plate of it on occasion – but did you know that you can ferment other vegetables as well? In fact, almost any vegetable can be fermented, although some are hard to…
6 Dietary and Lifestyle Factors that Can Lower Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a growing epidemic and one strongly associated with obesity, so much so that scientists have now coined a new term “diabesity” for the growing number of Americans who are overweight or obese and have this common condition. Why should we be concerned about diabetes? The incidence…
How Negative Reps Help You Gain Muscle Strength & Size
Are you familiar with the term “negative rep” or “negative training?” This form of training places emphasis on the negative, or eccentric, portion of an exercise. The reps that you do when you weight train or work with your own bodyweight consist of a concentric phase and an eccentric…
How Meditation Can Help You with Weight Training
Meditation and weight training would seem to have little in common. Meditation burns few calories and it’s a sedentary pursuit that lowers your stress level and your metabolism. In contrast, weight training boosts your metabolic rate and places stress on your body, a good kind of stress, but stress nevertheless.…
What Does Science Say about Red Meat and Cancer?
Red meat consumption has declined over the past few decades. In fact, based on a study published by the National Resources Defense Council, American beef consumption dropped 19% between 2005 and 2014. Although consumption of poultry and fish also fell off, the decline was less steep than for beef. One…