Food & Drink Remedies
Thousands of years ago, Hippocrates said Let food be your medicine. Foods and beverages provide relief from an amazing number of common ailments.
How Hot Peppers Can Improve Your Health and Exte…
OK, I admit that is one of those headlines that seems far too good to be true. Full disclosure, I must confess that I (Joe G.) am a pepperhead, ie, someone who loves (actually craves) hot chili pepper…
Can You Fight Depression by Eating the Mediterra…
Depression is challenging to treat during the best of times. During the pandemic it has been especially difficult, because therapists have been overwhelmed with cases. Zoom therapy is not always an id…
Will Spices Help Protect Your Memory?
Dementia is as frightening to most people as the prospect of heart disease or cancer. You probably know that to avoid heart disease you want to control your weight, eat a healthful high-vegetable diet…
Is It Safe to Drink Cinnamon Tea Every Day?
There is increasing interest in the power of spices for promoting health. Research on spices has also been growing, with scientists documenting their value in blood sugar control, for example (Food C…
Can You Help Nerve Pain with a Diet Rich in ALA?
Doctors often have a hard time treating nerve pain, also called neuropathy. When diabetes causes neuropathy, physicians ask patients to control their blood glucose very strictly. In addition, they may…
What Are the Health Benefits of Cocoa Flavanols?
Do you think of chocolate as a sinful snack or a healthy bite? Chocolate candy itself probably should be considered sinful. It usually contains too much sugar to count as health food. The cocoa flavan…
Will You Live Longer If You Sip Green Tea?
Is coffee or tea your beverage of choice? A study from China, where a lot of people prefer tea, suggests that you might want to sip green tea. Recently, a symposium sponsored by the US Tea Council sum…
Pickle Juice to the Rescue
Modern medicine is skeptical of most home remedies. It relegates them to the category of anecdotal old wives’ tales. Instead, prescribers prefer FDA-approved medicines that are supported by clinical…
Show 1298: The Health Benefits of Tart Cherries
In our nationally syndicated radio show this week, we talk with two scientists who have been studying how eating cherries affects our physiology. Both are experts in sports medicine who have done some…
Pectin and Grape Juice to Ease Sore Joints
People with arthritis usually rely on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen for pain relief, but these medicines can cause trouble if a person takes them for a lo…
Why Grandma Was Right About Vegetables
Your grandmother may have told you to eat your vegetables. Ours certainly urged us to do so. If she did, she was right. Vegetables and fruits are good sources of flavanols, plant compounds that appear…
Extract from Wild Blueberries May Help Wounds He…
Wound care can be an extremely difficult problem. Chronic wounds, especially pressure ulcers and diabetes-related sores, may fail to heal due to inadequate blood supply to the tissues. They can cause …
Will Drinking Dragon Fruit Juice Improve your He…
Have you seen a new product on supermarket shelves lately? Some stores are stocking dragon fruit juice, which might have you wondering what that is. One of our readers is wondering whether it has heal…
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…
How Can You Use Beets for Better Blood Pressure?
With concerns about contaminated antihypertensive medications, many people are interested in ways to lower their blood pressure without drugs. There is a wide range of options: exercise, weight loss, …
Diet and Exercise Can Help You Manage Diabetes
Being told you have a chronic health problem like type 2 diabetes can be frightening. It often triggers a cascade of prescriptions intended to manage diabetes and keep blood sugar under control. Using…
What Should You Eat to Reduce Your Risk of Demen…
Do you know how to keep your brain healthy as you grow older? Often, people want to know what you should eat to reduce your risk of dementia. The Framingham Offspring Study offered some answers to tha…
What Is the Best Diet to Lower Cholesterol?
Have you ever wondered what you should be eating to optimize your health? Nutrition scientists have been arguing that the entire dietary pattern matters more than a handful of individual foods reputed…
How to Make Gin-Soaked Raisins for Joint Pain
Have you looked at the side effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) lately? Drugs like diclofenac, ibuprofen, indomethacin, ketoprofen, meloxicam, piroxicam and naproxen can cause hig…
What Is the Evidence That Cocoa Flavanols Improv…
An ongoing argument often surfaces around Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween. You'll see a number of feature pieces suggesting that chocolate is actually good for you. These stories are frequently …
Can Eating Beets Benefit Eyesight as Well as Blo…
Do you like beets? We do, but we've heard that a lot of people object to their earthy flavor. On the other hand, research demonstrates that people who eat beets regularly may have less trouble with hi…
Taking Garlic at the First Sign of a Cold
During cold season, it can be difficult to follow all the rules that are supposed to protect us from cold viruses. We can certainly wash our hands many times a day and refrain from touching our faces.…
Will a Plant-Based Diet Lower the Likelihood of …
Decades of data from nearly 50,000 men demonstrate that a plant-based diet can reduce the likelihood of prostate cancer (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 4, 2022). The men answered detail…
Do People Who Skip Meat Have a Lower Chance of C…
A large new study suggests that people who skip meat most of the time are less vulnerable to colorectal cancer. Although previous studies have produced similar results, this is by far the largest. How…
Can Beet Juice Really Lower High Blood Pressure?
If you have hypertension, your doctor has probably prescribed medicine to lower high blood pressure. You may have gone through quite an extensive period of trial and error to find a drug that works wi…
Show 1291: Which Cooking Spices Are Contaminated…
Do you add thyme to your chicken soup? Basil and oregano to your pasta sauce? These herbs are staples in most kitchens, and they help good cooks make their meals extra-tasty. We love using herbs and s…
Is Coffee Really Bad for You?
Health professionals just can’t seem to make up their minds about coffee. Is it good or really bad for you? They have been arguing about the pros and cons of coffee drinking for at least half a cent…
Do Sunflower Seeds Keep You Alert Behind the Whe…
How do you stay alert when you are driving? Some people listen to the radio or to audiobooks. Others sip on a travel mug full of coffee. One interesting tactic that some readers use is munching on sun…
Too Much Potassium Poses Danger
We refer to potassium as the "Goldilocks" mineral. That's because too much potassium or too little can cause serious health problems. Potassium needs to be "just right." Normally, the body handles p…
Will You Age More Slowly If You Eat a DASH Diet?
Several decades ago, the popular nutrition writer Adelle Davis said: “You are what you eat!” Her message warned Americans against highly processed foods full of sugar and white flour. As a celebri…
Cold Yellow Mustard Relieves Burn
We learn so much from our listeners, readers and visitors. They like to share the results of the home remedies that others have recommended. One of the most popular remedies is yellow mustard to ease …
Will Certo and Grape Juice Help Your Sore Knees?
People with sore joints face a terrible dilemma. Pain interferes with quality of life. On the other hand, medications like diclofenac and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can make p…
Coconut Cookies Help Control Diarrhea from Colit…
Ulcerative colitis can be a devastating disease. Symptoms can include pain and cramping in the abdomen, a sudden urge to rush to the bathroom, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, nausea, fever, sor…
Should You Drink Cherry Juice for Your Brain?
Tart cherry juice has a reputation for fighting inflammation. Readers of our syndicated newspaper column have been singing the praises of tart cherries for decades. They have been using this sour frui…
Amazing Benefits from Half a Tablespoon of Olive…
We have been writing about the health benefits of olive oil for decades. A study in the January 18, 2022 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) suggests that as little as ha…
Are Plant-Based Spreads Better Than Butter?
Ask a nutritionist if you should be eating a plant-based diet, and the answer is likely to be yes. Consuming more vegetables, more fruits, more nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains–it's all good fo…
Power of Pomegranate to Promote Health
The clock is counting down! That’s because pomegranate season is almost over. In the US, this ancient fruit is available roughly between October and December. That means we may have another week or …
Onion Cough Remedy
Every winter, we hear from people who'd like to share their favorite family remedies for coughs, colds and flu. We haven't conducted research on any of these, but one that keeps cropping up year after…
Cinnamon Offers Health Benefits but Also Carries…
For a spice that has a history going back over 4,000 years, you would think that there wouldn't be much controversy or confusion. Au contraire. Cinnamon offers health benefits, to be sure, but the pro…
Can Grape Juice with Pectin Ease Your Joint Pain…
Arthritis and joint pain are extremely common problems as we grow older. The pain itself can interfere greatly with your quality of life. On the other hand, because people suffer from joint pain frequ…