Nutrition: Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. In an experiment, adults who drank eight ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning and evening for two weeks reported significant reductions in insomnia severity and saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep on average. The researchers suspect tart cherries’ natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin – a natural antioxidant in cherries with established ability to help moderate the body’s sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is produced naturally by the body in small amounts and it plays a role in inducing sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day. Cherries may help boost the body’s own supply of melatonin and increase sleep efficiency. Read More…
Psychology: Looks like Trevor McKinney was right – paying it forward does work. Much in like the 2000 film with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, a study done by UC San Diego and Harvard has now provided laboratory evidence that cooperative behavior is contagious and that it spreads from person to person. As illustrated by the experiment where strangers played a game, when people benefit from kindness, they “pay it forward” by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network. “The flow of good and desirable properties like ideas, love and kindness is required for human social networks to endure,” said Nicholas Christakis, co-author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “In turn, networks are required for such properties to spread. Humans form social networks because the benefits of a connected life outweigh the costs.” Read More…
Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey had author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma,Food Rules), actress and author Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, The Kind Diet) and Chipotle restaurant founder Steve Ells as guests on her show for “Food 101″, an episode dedicated to food. The show focused on the truth about the food we eat – where it comes from, what is added to (or removed from) it, and different diets. A big shout-out to all the guests and to Oprah, for having the courage to shed a little light on a crucial topic. We watched the show and here is what we each had to say about the subject. Read More…
All food is not created equal. As you read in our post Why Organic?, buying organic means no genetically modified organisms (“frankenfoods”,) synthetic pesticides or herbicides in your fruits and vegetables, among other benefits (check out the video below.) Still, organic food is not readily available everywhere the way it is here in Los Angeles. So, for those of you who can’t always buy organic but wish to give your liver a break and avoid eating as many pesticides as you can, here is a wonderful tool: The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. Read More…
I was shopping at Whole Foods the other day and while waiting in line, someone asked me something I thought people who shopped at this type of establishment would already know: “Why organic?”
As my produce, soy butter, cereal, bread, cinnamon and non-dairy milk were all organic, I guess the person behind me wanted to know why it was that someone only bought what to many was just “the more expensive stuff”. “Isn’t it the same thing?”
I came across this video in which Dr. Blaylock describes how all diseases of the brain are caused by excitotoxins, and I thought I’d share it with all those interested in keeping their brain healthy. Read More…
