Indigenous crops to provide food security in the dry American Southwest
The plight of Native people losing their way of life, including their agricultural know-how, and adopting the cheap diet provided by the food industry, is a well-documented story. The debilitating diabetes epidemic that afflicts these communities compounds poverty and food insecurity. Rebuilding Read More...
Could part-time work be the key to happiness?
Work-related stress is an epidemic linked to degrading public health in America. Not so much in the Netherlands, ranked the third happiest country on earth in this year’s World Happiness Report. Indeed, one of its secrets seems to be the widespread practice of the reduced-hour week. Working Read More...
These 5 impacts of meditation on your brain carry long-term health benefits
Here is an easy, quick and informative read. If meditation is already a regular practice in your life, then you may enjoy grabbing one little extra bit of information, and being generally reminded, about its health benefits. If you’ve been meaning to get started tomorrow and keep procrastinating, Read More...
Organic food diet linked to dramatic drop in level of pesticides in the body
The health benefits of organic foods have been recently put into question in the United States by various studies with scientific credentials. This is a rather interesting development given the steady growth of the American organic foods segment in an otherwise stagnant food market. It turns out Read More...
America’s #1 poultry producer renounces antibiotics
Superbugs have become a major public health hazard in America. Scientific research has conclusively shown that they are caused by the routine sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics by the meat industry. Early March, food giant McDonald’s, one of the largest buyers of chicken in America, announced it Read More...
Sugar pills as good as Tylenol for low back pain
The next time you tweak your back, think twice before heading to the medicine cabinet. Acetaminophen, best known as the active ingredient in Tylenol, is the most popular drug in the world for treating low back pain. But a new study shows that it doesn’t help any more than a placebo, or inert Read More...
Eat almonds for heart health
Men who ate 50 g of almonds a day (about 1 ¾ oz, or around 35-40 whole almonds) had improved blood flow and lower blood pressure after 4 weeks compared to men who stuck to their normal diets. They also had higher levels of the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol in their blood. Alpha-tocopherol is the Read More...
Water based batteries can make electric cars even cleaner
Electric cars are great for reducing air pollution and global warming, but the materials used to make the car’s batteries come from chemicals that are damaging to the environment. That’s why this invention by a team of scientists from the University of Southern California is so important: a car Read More...
What you don’t know about the microorganisms in your body
Scientists are continuing to learn more about the collection of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies: our micro-biome. The Dutch science journalist Jop de Vrieze wrote a book about it: Allemaal Beestjes (All kinds of critters). The Dutch team at The Intelligent Optimist collected nine Read More...
Green tea sharpens your memory
Scientists have published the first physical evidence of how green tea improves memory, paving the way for its therapeutic use among people with memory problems like dementia. In addition to its well-documented benefits for the body, like cancer protection, heart health and weight loss, a number of Read More...