Home Remedies
Home Remedies That Work When Modern Medicine Fal…
Modern medicine has come a long way from bloodletting and lobotomies. The Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) movement got its start in Canada when physicians at McMaster University began asking tough quest…
The Cookie Cure: How Coconut Macaroons Became a …
Some home remedies refuse to fade away — not because anyone is promoting them, but because people keep writing to say, “This actually helped.” One of the most enduring examples we’ve encounter…
Will Garlic Ward Off Colds?
When days are short and the weather is cold, many of us look for ways to ward off colds. Some families have strong traditions that they have used to try to avoid sniffles and sneezes. Perhaps your gre…
Show 1420: The Cooking Oil Controversy Spotlight…
This week, we dig into the cooking oil controversy. For decades, we’ve heard that we should be using vegetable oils rather than butter, lard or other fats (possibly even olive oil). Oils from corn, …
What Can Vitamin K2 Do for You?
The early 20th century was the Golden Age of vitamin research. Scientists identified previously unknown compounds and named them in order: vitamins A, B, C and so on. The B vitamins turned out to be a…
What Can You Do for a Kitchen Burn?
A kitchen burn or other minor household burn is painful. Such burns usually cause redness and sometimes blistering. Cold water is the standard first aid recommendation. In fact, cold tap water is just…
Can You Use Oil of Oregano with Confidence?
For years, readers have been telling us that they use oil of oregano as an antifungal or antimicrobial agent. Scientists have found data to support this use. For example, oregano oil applied topically…
Solutions For Split Fingertips
Cracked, split fingertips are more often a problem when the weather is cold and the air is dry. Warm weather poses different sorts of challenges for the skin. Sometimes, however, the solutions can be …
Saturated Fat Reconsidered: New Research Challen…
Have you ever heard the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"? It's not true. Many old dogs learn new tricks with the right training and motivation. It turns out that it could be a lot harder…
Can You Ease Sinus Woes Without Decongestants?
Hay fever and other seasonal allergies can cause a lot of discomfort. The congestion such allergic reactions cause can lead to sinus woes that seem to last a long time. Usually, medication choices are…
Can You Take Quercetin for Your Allergies?
Quercetin is a flavonol, an antioxidant compound many plants make. Scientists have been studying this compound since 1857. Within the last decade, they have identified a number of health benefits it c…
Does Dark Chocolate Provide Healthful Cocoa Flav…
Whenever a new study comes along to demonstrate that yes, chocolate does have health benefits (see one here), nutrition experts step forward to caution people not to start gobbling chocolate under th…
Can Restricting Eating Time Help Control Blood S…
People at risk of developing type 2 diabetes may be able to reverse this process by restricting eating time to a nine-hour period every day. Other approaches that seem to rely on the same body process…
Natural Approaches for Arthritis May Provide Rel…
Many readers have noticed that as they add more candles to their birthday cakes, their joints may get stiffer and become painful. Although over-the-counter pain relievers are popular, they do have sid…
How to Brew Green Tea for Maximum Benefit
You can brew green tea simply by plopping a tea bag in a cup and pouring hot water over it. Or you can make it into a complex ritual such as a Japanese tea ceremony. When it comes to getting the most …
How to Eat for Better Blood Glucose Control
When public health experts point out that nearly one-third of American adults have prediabetes, we figure that we could all benefit from an appropriate diet for better blood glucose control. After all…
Why Don’t Doctors Like to Prescribe Desicc…
The thyroid gland is small and unassuming, so it doesn't usually command a lot of attention. When it misbehaves, though, its owner suffers. That happens more often than you might imagine. The American…
Are There Natural Remedies for Constipation?
Constipation is a very common complaint. While doctors rarely become concerned about constipation unless the patient seems to have obstructed bowels, sufferers find that this problem really affects th…
What Are Pros and Cons of Cinnamon for Blood Sug…
Millions of American adults have prediabetes. The CDC defines this as having fasting blood sugar over 100 but less than 126 mg/dL, the cut-off for a diagnosis of diabetes. Learning that you have predi…
Can Elderberry Juice Really Fight Flu Virus?
Elderberries and elderberry juice have long had a reputation for fighting the flu. Most physicians undoubtedly have considered this just another old wives’ tale. One reader remembers how her family …
Can Soap Chips in Your Socks Ease Leg Cramps?
Leg cramps can be terribly painful. Athletes exercising in hot weather do all they can to avoid them, including sipping pickle juice. But ordinary mortals can get them, too, during daytime activities …
Better Diet for Poor Americans Is Not a SNAP
Poor diet may underly a wide range of undesirable health problems, from obesity to diabetes and heart disease. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was designed to help very low-income…
Will Extra Vitamin C Prevent Colds?
Every winter, millions of people suffer with congestion, coughs, fever and other symptoms of the common cold. They may lose days from work. (If they don't take time off, they spread the virus causing …
Pomegranate Juice and Rosuvastatin…a Surpr…
Do you know which foods might react badly with your medications? As a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan over 50 years ago I was intrigued by food and dru…
Study Shows No Need to Shun Coffee to Keep Heart…
Coffee has a bad reputation when it comes to irregular heart rhythms. For years, cardiologists have warned patients with atrial fibrillation to avoid coffee. They worried that caffeine would aggravate…
DASH Diet for High Blood Pressure
For nearly 30 years, nutrition scientists studying dietary outcomes have noted that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products can help people control their blood pr…
Are There Helpful Home Remedies for Eczema?
Eczema is a common skin problem, sometimes referred to as "the itch that rashes." Doctors call this condition atopic dermatitis. They don’t know precisely what causes it, although some individuals h…
Milk of Magnesia Is Magnificent Deodorant
Most people think of milk of magnesia as a liquid laxative. That is how it is marketed, and it is certainly effective for that purpose. But many readers have found that topical milk of magnesia makes …
Should You Worry About Serious Melatonin Side Ef…
Millions of people take melatonin every night to fall asleep. How many millions? That's anybody's guess. Tracking dietary supplement use is challenging. A research letter in JAMA (Feb. 1, 2022) report…
Beets Lower Blood Pressure
Doctors love scientific explanations for how things work. That is why they are quick to prescribe medications for a variety of conditions. FDA approval provides reassuring evidence of effectiveness. U…
Common Lack of Vitamin B12 Linked to Depression …
Vitamin deficiencies are supposed to be a thing of the past. But a lack of vitamin B12 may be surprisingly common. Most people don't think twice about this nutrient, also known as cobalamin. Vitamins …
Listerine Cured Infectious Dandruff
Flakes on the shoulder is a likely sign of dastardly dandruff. A businessman wearing a perfectly tailored suit can completely destroy his polished image with snowy shoulders. Ditto for a woman in a bl…
Natural Approaches for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common and challenging to treat. People who have IBS may feel incredibly frustrated because often doctors tell them there is no observable problem. All the same, they…
How to Ease Arthritic Knees with Natural Remedie…
Osteoarthritis puts its victims in a dreadful double bind. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are the standard pain relievers for arthritis, such as diclofenac (Voltaren), ibupro…
Does Berberine Protect Against Diabetes and Pros…
Berberine is a fascinating compound. It is one of the key constituents of the Oregon grape holly plant (Mahonia aquifolium). Traditionally, this natural compound was used to treat digestive disorders …
Do Glucosamine and Chondroitin Increase Your Cho…
What happens if you take something for a presumed benefit only to discover that it has a downside? This happens pretty frequently with pharmaceuticals; everyone is familiar with the idea of side effec…
Beating Back Garlic Breath with Parsley or a Spo…
Garlic breath can be a real social disadvantage. As delicious and healthful as garlic may be, the consequence can really put others off and even cause trouble within families. What can you do? Taming …
Zinc for the Common Cold…Just NOT in the N…
People have been searching for a cure for the common cold for centuries. To date, we have seen nothing that actually overcomes cold viruses the way antibiotics conquer bacteria. (By the way, antibioti…
Is There Anything to the Pycnogenol Hype?
Dietary supplements can go through fads. One year, there is a lot of enthusiasm for the supplement du jour. The next year, you hear nothing about it. Part of that is driven by the research–or lack t…
How Can a Man Tell if He Needs More Testosterone…
Historically, the FDA has been quite clear that it does not approve routine prescribing of testosterone, even if men have low levels of this hormone. Here was the official word from the feds: "None of…