On Mondays I attend my favorite yoga class. Every week, as class disperses and the yogis and yoginis depart, most of them head straight to their phone to see what they’ve missed. The hour they spend unifying their breath and body, finding peace, and practicing mindfulness, is shattered almost immediately after they leave the studio. Why is it so hard to practice mindfulness in our modern society? Here is my take on why practicing mindfulness every day is so hard. In the era of the 24-hour news cycle, portable devices that go everywhere with us, and social media – my apology to the medium that... Read More

Colorado is frequently ranked high on lists of the most dog-friendly places. Denver has gotten positive feedback for its overall dog-friendliness, including rankings on the dog-centric community website Rover and financial consulting company SmartAsset. Match.com ranked Colorado as the number one dog loving state. Spending quality time with pets, specifically dogs, provides humans with companionship and can improve health. From a physiological standpoint, being with your dog can release feel-good hormones such as serotonin and oxytocin that elevate your mood. There are also other ways in which... Read More

Researchers have found that people who stuck to a diet that included foods like berries, leafy greens, and fish had a decrease in their risk for the dementia and related brain diseases, which affects more than 5 million Americans over age 65. There is an eating plan associated with this research called the MIND diet, short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. The diet combines elements of the Mediterranean diet, that features olive oil and vegetables, and the DASH diet, an eating plan developed specifically to help treat or prevent high blood pressure. The MIND diet... Read More

Scientists have talked for years about the impact global climate will have on our planet.  Some are even speculating that, at this point, there are some things that have happened as a result of the changing climate that are already irreversible. For example, mountain glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in the driest months may already be a foregone conclusion. Did you know that global climate change is having an impact on your health now? Some scientists say that impact may also be irreversible. Catastrophic weather such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes,... Read More

There is a plethora of information about super foods and what you should be eating to be healthy, live longer, have good brain health and more.  You probably already know that avocado is a nutrient superstar, full of healthy monounsaturated fat and linked to successful weight loss.  Dark chocolate is another food celebrity loaded with antioxidants and a protective agent against heart disease.  Let’s talk about some of the unexpected foods that have health benefits that you might not be eating. Embrace egg yolks! Eggs are a misunderstood fat-rich food that’s an incredible source of vitamin... Read More

Thirty percent of Americans only brush their teeth once daily.  That is certainly enough to reduce the level of plaque-causing bacteria–it takes about 24 hours to develop on teeth–but you are more likely to have cavities if you only brush once daily, particularly if you are only brushing in the morning.  If you are going to brush once a day, it should be at night. It is always tempting to take a few shortcuts to simplify our lives.  I’d like to make the case that brushing once daily is not enough. Let’s talk about the health benefits of brushing twice daily. Prevent gum disease.... Read More

New research suggests people who get too little sleep during the week can make up for it on the weekends. According to a study published in the Journal of Sleep Research, people who slept less than five hours each night throughout the week had an increased risk of early death compared to those who slept six to seven hours every night. People who get less than five hours during the week, but who catch up on some of that lost sleep on the weekend, do not have the same risk. These results suggest that sleep is not a risk factor for mortality if it is combined with a medium or long weekend sleep. Some... Read More

The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 40 million adults—18% of the population—struggle with anxiety. Anxiety is normal; job interviews, public speaking and other everyday occurrences can cause anxiety.  It only becomes a problem when it extends beyond worry in an unreasonable, uncontrollable way. Anxiety can be a symptom of another mental illness, such as panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Anxiety and anxiety disorders are the most common behavioral health issues in the U.S. There are some important health habits... Read More

It’s almost summer, a time for outdoor activities including sleeping in the great outdoors.  Camping helps us refresh our mind and soul. There’s nothing better than seeing the wilderness wake up as the sun lights up the sky! Camping requires some preparation to keep you warm, safe, and healthy. If you are planning a camping trip this year, keep in mind these essential health and safety tips.   Assess your fitness level.  If you are planning a particularly strenuous trip, make sure you are fit enough to withstand the strain of the journey. You may want to consider working with a fitness... Read More

I was recently talking to someone close to me who is participating in a weight loss challenge at work.  The company hired a personal trainer to give each participant a plan to follow.  Apparently, there were some participants who didn’t like the calorie count of their food plan.  They were certain they needed only 1200 calories per day and the trainer had recommended 1400-1600 depending on whom you ask. Let me oversimplify dieting for just a minute by summarizing some basic principles of dieting. All diets work. If you eat few enough calories, you can be on the Gummy Bear Diet and will... Read More

Sea greens, also known as sea vegetables, are a group of foods in the seaweed family, that grow in the ocean. If you eat Japanese food you may be familiar with some sea greens – nori, the dark green wrapper on your sushi, or kombu, a common ingredient in miso soup. If you think you’ve never had seaweed, think again! Agar, a gelatinous substance that comes from red seaweed is used as a thickener in many foods. Sea vegetables are some of the most nutrient-packed foods on earth, packed with fiber vitamins and minerals. They are beneficial to us because they slow the aging process by promoting... Read More

Researchers think Tom Yum Gung, a zesty Thai soup, might have cancer-fighting ingredients as well as good taste. Also called hot and sour soup, Tom Yum Gung is a shrimp soup with herbal ingredients like coriander, lemon grass, lime leaves and even galangal roots, a pungent root similar to ginger. A recent joint study by Thailand’s Kasetsart University and Japan’s Kyoto and Kinki Universities has found that the ingredients in Tom Yum Gung soup are 100 times more effective in inhibiting cancerous tumor growth than other foods. Soup has long been thought to have health enhancing properties.... Read More

Recently, the American College of Sports Medicine released their 2016 Fitness Index, a scientific snapshot of the state of health and fitness by metropolitan area. The report looks at the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, as defined by census data. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were chosen as the unit of measurement because they represent the group of counties comprising the larger urban areas where residents live, work and access community resources. The Denver metro area ranked 3rd in the nation on this index, largely because over 80% of us are physically active and... Read More

Winter is not a fun time to date.  On the coldest of days you might not feel like going anywhere or doing anything.  You’re bundled up in your warmest, perhaps least sexy-feeling clothes and have hat hair.  So how do you break out of the winter dating funk? Here are some tips to make your winter dating experience a little brighter. Tell your friends.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those who love you. There’s a feeling of trust that comes from meeting your friends’ friends. It can be scary to tell people that you’re looking for love, but 39% of people report meeting their mate... Read More

Sugar is everywhere, almost impossible to avoid.  It’s in foods like bread, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and ketchup. It can be challenging to find sugar in your food because nutrition labels are not required to list all sugar.  In 2018, nutrition labels will be required to call out all added sugar but, in the meantime, you’ll have to do some sugar sleuthing to manage your sugar intake. The Institute of Medicine has made recommendations for sugar intake.  Since sugar isn’t a required nutrient in the diet, the institute has not issued a recommended dietary allowance, but does suggest... Read More

Every new year brings with it resolutions, goals, intentions – whatever you want to call it.  In short, we make plans for how to be better versions of ourselves.  I’d like to suggest that we think differently about the new year by considering our big WHY? Your big why is something you plug into emotionally that drives you when things get tough. It’s not a wish or a goal, it’s something that will change your life or others around you or do something for you that really matters to your soul. It’s your purpose. If you made a resolution, you may already be feeling like you should... Read More

If you’ve ever worked in a cube farm, you know the difficulty of establishing a temperature that suits everyone.  As someone who was cold natured, I frequently wore a sweater in the office on sweltering August days. Now that I work from home, I have complete control of the environmental temperature in my work space. While there are factors that influence how cold natured you are, such as low body fat, being cold could be a symptom of a health condition.  The most common condition that causes one to feel cold is anemia. Anemia is a blood disorder caused by a shortage of red blood cells,... Read More

We in Colorado may hike more than anyone else in the U.S., but did you know there is science behind the benefits of hiking beyond the cardiovascular?   Research shows that exercising outdoors is beneficial on many levels.  For example, outdoor air might be cleaner than indoor air. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that indoor air is more than twice as polluted as outdoor air. Not only is hiking a great cardiovascular activity, it also strengthens your hips and legs and provides great core and stability training. In addition to the physical benefits, you can also get vitamin D while... Read More

There is no perfect diet for everyone, in spite of what you might have heard.  It seems the human body can adapt to almost any diet and survive, even thrive!  Consider the diet of the Inuit, the people indigenous to polar locations such as Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Theirs is a mostly meat diet, and yet they are a hardy population who consume few to no vegetables in their diet. In the US, experts recommend a diet largely focused on healthy grains, fruits and vegetables.  Most Americans don’t get the recommended 5 servings per day, and even fewer eat the 5-9 servings that is considered... Read More

Did you know that only 8% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions achieve them? Typically, the reason they fail is the lack of a plan to ensure success.  Most resolutions are vague like “eat less”, “lose weight” or “exercise more”.  These are admirable goals, but they don’t offer a tactical strategy for execution or, more importantly, a plan for failure. In order to establish a successful goal, you have to think through how you will accomplish your goal.  Instead of a New Year’s resolution, how about a SMART goal for 2016? Specific – Lose weight is not a specific... Read More