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News and ideas worth your attention.
Four decades of writing on living long and living well, with 1,000+ posts on functional and longevity medicine.
451 written by Dr. Frank Lipman
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Jun 7, 2021 · Health & WellnessFast and Effective Fixes for the 3 Most Common Tech Injuries
For the last 16 or so months, all those hundreds of daily, small postural compromises we’ve unconsciously made while being tethered to computers and devices, have taken a toll. These folded over, rolled and forward-jutting body shapes we’ve assumed —sometimes for hours at a time—got repeated over and over, until they started pulling millions of spines out of alignment. The result? Structural issues like back pain and hip imbalances which have triggered problems body-wide – and hardly the recipe for a productive day at the (home) office.
May 31, 2021 · Health & Wellness10 Frequently Asked Questions on CBD Use
Not long ago, it seemed like few people in the States had ever heard of cannabidiol, or CBD, much less knew what to do with it. And those who were vaguely familiar often confused it with the stuff that gets you high. Fast forward five or so years and today, CBD is everywhere, tucked inside everything from oils, tinctures and pills to candies, smoothies, bath bombs and beauty creams. Safe to say, CBD is a ‘thing.’
May 24, 2021 · Nutrition4 Reasons to Dive into Sustainable Sardines
Your body loves fish, and all the benefits they confer, but there are ethical and ecological concerns that come along for the ride as well. As with most things, it’s best to weigh the options carefully, and buy consciously, the healthiest, highest quality fish available.
May 17, 2021 · Health & Wellness7 Ways Laughter Makes Staying Healthy Easier
Excerpt: Just like eating your veggies and getting good rest and daily exercise, adding frequent doses of laughter to the mix is an easy and pleasurable way to support the health of your heart and brain, while also lightening some of life’s darker moments. Plus, it’s safer than any Big Pharma pill-of-the-moment. Over the years, I’ve seen laughter in action in my practice on an almost daily basis -- patients with a good sense of humor tend to heal better and faster than those who don’t.
May 10, 2021 · Gut Health8 Ways Prebiotics Make Your Gut Health Soar
Probiotic foods help ‘seed’ the gut, adding beneficial bacteria, which helps keep ‘bad bacteria’ in check, aids digestion and keeps nutrient absorption humming. But, probiotics are only part of the story. There’s another ‘biotic’ in the gut-supportive mix, namely the less talked about prebiotics. These are plant fibers that feed the beneficial bacteria (like, for example, the lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) in the gut – and they are essential to your gut health.
May 3, 2021 · Gut HealthUnderstanding SIBO — 7 Things to Know If You’re Struggling With Gut Troubles
There are any number of belly-based ills that can make life very uncomfortable. Ailments like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, IBS or all of the above can, in addition to making you feel lousy, interfere with your body’s ability to get nutrients to where they’re needed, negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being and set you up for serious health problems down the road. One possible underlying cause of all this unhappiness? SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Trouble is, medical professionals often overlook it or misdiagnose it.
Apr 26, 2021 · Gut HealthThe Gut Sleep Connection: 15 Ways a Healthy Belly Helps Sleep
An out-of-rhythm lifestyle can throw off the gut and your sleep. And an out-of-rhythm gut can throw your entire life off-kilter – and screw up your sleep to boot. Conversely, good gut health can facilitate good sleep. So, the better you tend to your gut, the easier it will be to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Apr 19, 2021 · Health & Wellness11 Tips on How to Enjoy Sunshine Responsibly
Beyond just simply being drawn to the sun – its light, its warmth, the everything-will-be-OK vibe it brings – we actually need sunshine. Much like plants which harness the sun's rays through photosynthesis, our bodies use sunlight to help the skin produce the vitamin D it needs to build bones, tame inflammation, boost the immune system and protect against cancer.
Apr 12, 2021 · SleepBetter Rhythms for Better Sleep
The biological laws that govern sleep are more potent than social obligations and work responsibilities, as well as the pharmaceuticals created to override them (we’re looking at you, Ambien). They were written back when our ancestors were living in caves and huts, waking with the sun, eating the plants provided by nature, and resting as darkness fell. Even if our lifestyles are quite different today, our DNA hasn’t changed all that much.
Apr 5, 2021 · Healthy AgingProtect Your Heart, Brain and Life with Sulforaphane
If I had to pick a ‘best of’ group for your body, tying for first place with leafy greens would be cruciferous vegetables, those slightly sulfuric-scented veggies from the brassica family. They’re versatile, tasty, fairly easy to grow and most importantly, they’re nutritional superstars, rich in a very powerful sulphur-based nutrient compound, known as sulforaphane or SFN, whose benefits can push your health in a very positive direction and could even help save your life.
Mar 29, 2021 · Gut Health13 Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Digestion Now
Digestion is one of those routine bodily processes you probably don’t pay much attention to. That is, until ills like bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation rear their ugly head. While some people just try to ride it out, frequent gastrointestinal distress isn’t ‘normal.’ Rather, it’s your body’s way of telling you that your digestion needs some TLC.
Mar 22, 2021 · Health & Wellness6 Common Drugs Your Body Needs to Try Cut Ties With
Contrary to what you might think, I’m not against medications, but I am against their overuse – and we are a nation of over-users. Lots of people think pills are harmless: they may do some good, and well, the doc said to take an Advil and call him in the morning, so why not? I’ll tell you why not. Drugs, be they prescription or over-the-counter, unbalance the system by design.
Mar 15, 2021 · Gut Health10 Essential Ways to Protect Your Gut Microbiome
A happy, trouble-free gut is the key to keeping your entire body healthy, and never more so than when we’re (still) in the midst of a pandemic. The stronger and more resilient your gut is – and the more harmoniously balanced the trillions of bacteria that live there -- the better your heart, brain, immune system and just about every other part of your body will function.
Mar 8, 2021 · Healthy Aging6 Ways Cold Exposure Helps Slow – and Even Reverse – Your Aging Roll
If you want to live well longer, the classics of good sleep, good food, plenty of movement and relaxation are absolutely foundational. Building on that solid base, you can get a little more creative with this powerful anti-aging, vitality-enhancing health hack, cold exposure, incorporating brief periods of exposure to cold temperatures into your daily routine. Why? In simplest terms, it may help make you one of the physiologically youngest people you know!
Mar 1, 2021 · Sleep8 Key Times to Prepare Your Mind and Body to Sleep Like a Baby
Sleep – and doing it well – has become a huge issue, even for those who never had much trouble with it, pre-pandemic. On the bright side, the new, slowed-down routine has given the sleep-deprived time to focus on straightening out their sleep issues. By the time we get to the other side of the pandemic, those new, good sleep habits will be firmly entrenched.
Feb 22, 2021 · Health & Wellness18 Ways Kindness Can Save Your Life and Change It For the Better
While kindness may have seemed in short supply during the upheaval of the past few years, now is the perfect time to reconnect with the idea of sharing kindness that only you can give. Not only will it make others feel better, it will also support your own physical and mental well-being. In other words, everybody wins!
Feb 15, 2021 · Gut Health5 Ways the Gut Strengthens Immunity and Wellbeing
Even with vaccines starting to roll out, everyone still needs to keep focused on what they can do for their own immunity. With more easily spread mutations unloosed and clusters and spikes still to be battled through, it will be months before the world can truly breathe a sigh of relief, if we’re lucky. Until then, your best immunity defense – whether you’ve had the shots or not – is to keep your gut in tip-top shape: to feed it, care for it and tend it like your life depends on it because it does.
Feb 8, 2021 · Sleep9 Tips for Better Sleep — Starting Tonight!
Poor or inadequate sleep takes a big bite out of how well you learn, how clearly you think, how well you age, how effectively you fend off illness, your mood, your weight and yes, even your sex drive. So, if you think sleeping like crap every now and then is no big deal, think again.
Feb 1, 2021 · NutritionHow to Kick Sugar Off Your Plate and Out of Your Life
When you cut out sugar – whether by going cold turkey or by tapering off – all sorts of wonderful health changes begin to kick in almost immediately. You’ll start feeling the difference within a matter of days. So, if you want to feel better, look better and age better in 2021, now’s the time to break up with the sweet stuff.
Jan 25, 2021 · Health & Wellness5 Benefits of Making Music Your Medicine
Music has the power to heal, to encourage feelings of well-being and to soothe a stressed-out mind – making it the perfect elixir for our current moment. It’s also one of the healthiest ways I know to self-medicate and I encourage everyone to dose up frequently.
Jan 18, 2021 · Nutrition7 Timely Tips to Slay the Sugar Monster – and Look Younger Fast!
No doubt about it, the last few months have been tough. With so many of life’s pleasurable activities restricted, or gone altogether, small wonder so many folks have had some dietary slip-ups, with too much sugar topping the list.
Jan 11, 2021 · NutritionFour Immunity-Boosting Medicinal Mushrooms to Eat Now!
Whether you’re just beginning your nutritional ramp-up, or returning to a healthier routine after a hit-or-miss past few months, loading up on leafy greens at every meal is a great, impactful first step. What else? How about one of my favorite dietary ‘easy adds’ – those under-rated edible fungi, mighty mushrooms.
Jan 6, 2021 · Health & Wellness11 Healthful Tips to Get 2021 Started in the Right Direction
Get this New Year started out right with Dr. Lipman's top health tips to get started right now.
Jan 4, 2021 · Health & WellnessLet 2020’s Lessons Make 2021 Your New Year of Resilience
2020 is not an easy time to look back on. For many of us, anxiety, isolation and loss were frequent companions. But, if nothing else, 2020 served up countless lessons, which, had there been no pandemic, might have taken a lifetime to learn. Talk about a learning curve!