Are your joints feeling a little stiff? Not moving with the easy fluidity you had in the past? Is it difficult to squat or run, or to simply toss a ball or pick up a child? You’re not alone. Studies indicate between 50 to 75 million people now suffer from painful swollen joints — and the number is increasing. It’s not that we don’t expect
Has it been a while since you were able to exercise? Even with the best intentions, life can get in the way. Before you know it, it’s been months since you were able to flex your muscles and build up a sweat. Now you’re eager to get back into the groove—but guess what? Your body isn’t too happy about the prospect of having to work
The basic definition of a food color additive is “any dye, pigment or substance which when added or applied to a food, drug or cosmetic, or to the human body, is capable (alone or through reactions with other substances) of imparting color.” That’s pretty straight forward. Artificial food colors color food. However—why is coloring food important to begin with? With or without an additive color,
Skin defines us. It’s’ our largest organ, serving as the protective covering that supports the life of all our other body parts. Even our hair and nails are skin extensions that provide additional protection. What Skin Does for Us Besides being the most obvious body part that we present to the world, skin performs a number of crucial tasks: Prevents germs from reaching and injuring
Having studied the healing power of music for decades, scientists know it has a profound effect on the mind, body and emotions. Music has a way to move us that seems to go to our very core as living beings and can transcend borders, cultures and race. Music can be highly therapeutic and healing. Stroke victims, for example, have recovered through intonation therapy when many
To avoid sleep deprivation, doctors recommend at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night. That’s just for adults. For teenagers, the suggestion is for nine to 10 hours, because their minds and bodies are growing fast! Younger children should be allowed more than 10 hours. Some researchers believe the deepest period of sleep is when young children’s neural networks of are produced in the
“Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him.” Mark Lawrence, King of Thorns Sleep Deprivation and Memory Loss If we are the sum of our memories, the loss of them can be devastating. Memory loss is attributed to a number of conditions such as age, Alzheimer’s, injury,
Have you ever noticed a physical reaction in your body when you experience intense emotions? Maybe you’re happy about seeing an old friend, or you passed an important test, or you discovered a five-dollar bill on the dresser that you thought you’d lost—whatever the reason, such experiences generate an elation that expresses as an actual sensation in your body. That’s why we refer to a
Our busy lifestyles often leave us little time for rest, which has resulted in a major change in sleep patterns. Now people sleep an hour to two hours less than they did just 50 years ago. While some people might consider this great for productivity, it’s not a good situation for our health. Recent research indicates there’s a link between those shorter hours of sleep
Back pain can be serious. Unfortunately, an uncomfortable back ‘tweak’ isn’t all that uncommon. It’s easy to strain yourself just doing every day activities such as pulling weeds, lifting children, taking out the trash, rearranging furniture, carrying grocery bags, or climbing a ladder If you don’t bend or stretch your body in just the right way while doing your chores, your back will suffer. There are
