IS COCONUT OIL UNHEALTHY?

Yes, coconut oil lovers, it’s true—the American Heart Association released an advisory report on the role of dietary fats in heart disease in which they called out coconut oil as particularly dangerous due to its high saturated fat content. 

The report's authors recommended avoiding the oil altogether: “Because coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, a cause of cardiovascular disease, and has no known offsetting favorable effects, we advise against the use of coconut oil.” 

But if you’re freaking out over that, and all the subsequent click-baity headlines—“Coconut Oil Isn’t Healthy. It’s Never Been Healthy” or “So Coconut Oil Is Actually Really, Really Bad For You”—take a deep breath and refrain from tossing your jar of organic cold-pressed coconut oil in the trash just yet. 

4 THINGS THAT MAY TRIGGER FOOD ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES.

You can’t open a health magazine these days without reading story after story about gluten.

But while our collective gluten obsession has probably gone a little overboard, the science on gluten helps underscore the complexity of our digestive systems and how food-related gut issues emerge. 

While there’s no question some people have an allergy to gluten, which is known as celiac disease, there’s a great deal of expert debate regarding the existence of “non-celiac gluten sensitivity”—a condition separate from celiac that’s linked with abdominal pain, headaches, fatigue, and other symptoms.

Throw in the concept of a food “intolerance,” and it’s hard to keep all the terminology straight—let alone the triggers. 

5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DRINK KOMBUCHA.

Do a quick search of kombucha online and you'll find that the fizzy drink (produced by fermented tea, sugar, fungi, and bacteria) supplies sky-high energy, quells pain, fends off certain cancers, detoxes your body, helps you shed weight, and turns your immune system into a fortress.  Guzzlers of the health beverage preach these promises, too.

But is our beloved kombucha really a health elixir in a bottle? Here are five things to keep in mind before you take a swig. 

Immune System, part 3: Crash Course A&P #47

Part 3 of the series on the Immune system. Let us know if you found it useful and informative.

Related: Part 1, Part 2

Immune System, part 2: Crash Course A&P #46

Here is part 2 of the very informative video about how our immune system works. Hope you enjoy it. Let us know what you think.

Related: Part 1 - Immune System Crash Course, Part 3

Immune System, part 1: Crash Course A&P #45

Really informative video about how the immune system works. Let us know if you found it useful.

Related: Part 2

11 FOODS THAT HELP TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL NATURALLY

If you're already eating plenty of the following foods that lower cholesterol naturally, keep up the good work!  

But if your idea of eating well is to opt for the buttered popcorn instead of the extra buttered popcorn, consider adding these healthy choices to your diet, and learn how to lose weight fast.

Oats

If you're looking to lower your cholesterol, the key may be simply changing your morning meal. Switching up your breakfast to contain two servings of oats can lower LDL—bad—cholesterol by 5.3 percent in only six weeks. The key to this cholesterol buster is beta-glucan, a substance in oats that absorbs LDL, which your body then excretes.  

10 INFLAMMATION FIGHTING FOODS.

When you have a headache or joint pain, the easy fix is to reach for an over-the counter anti-inflammatory. However, recent studies show an alarming trend. 

It turns out that even one dose of the most popular OTC and prescription anti-inflammatories is enough to significantly increase your risk of heart attack. When taken regularly or in large doses, those same drugs can also cause serious gastrointestinal damage.

THE SCIENCE OF PAIN

Everything hurts,” the Renaissance legend Michelangelo once declared. Let’s be honest: we’ve all felt that way at one time or another.

Physical pain, emotional pain, aches, soreness, pricks, pangs, twinges, throbs - pain is everywhere.

In fact, a recent review published in the BMJ Open journal, part-funded by The British Pain Society, has found that a staggering number of people in the UK - nearly 28 million, or over two-fifths of the population - is living with pain lasting three months or more, with women more likely to suffer from chronic pain and prevalence increasing with age.

Pain can be disabling and debilitating, but it’s also what helps us to survive and protects us from damaging injured parts of our body.

Here’s what you need to know about the science of pain...

FERMETED DRINKS TO KEEP YOUR GUT HAPPY.

You know the drill. Sunday fear becomes Monday blues becomes a slow start to another week that you’re not really feeling. 

If that’s a cycle you want to break, hitting up a healthier life is the best way to a zippier you. And recent scientific research suggests that one way of contributing to a holistically balanced body lies in getting your gut in a good place.   

8 Sick Remedies That Actually Work - Scientifically!

Good video that has some really handy sick remedies.

DIABETES AND EYESIGHT. 7 SIGHT SAVING STRATEGIES TO KNOW.

Diabetes steals the sight of 12,000 to 24,000 people each year and is responsible for 8 percent of blindness in the United States, making it the leading cause of new blindness in people ages 20 to 74, according to the American Diabetes Association.

One problem even reflects in its name the close relationship between diabetes and the eyes: diabetic retinopathy, a catchall term that refers to diabetes-related damage to the retina.  

EXPERTS REVEAL HIDDEN DANGERS BEHIND SOME SUPPLEMENTS

Many herbal supplements contain hidden pharmaceutical ingredients that could be causing serious health risks, according to a team of experts from Queen's University Belfast, Kingston University London and LGC.

Emeritus Professor Duncan Burns, a forensically experienced analytical chemist from the Queen's University Belfast's Institute for Global Food Security, has been working with a team of specialists on a peer-reviewed paper to examine the detection of illegal ingredients in the supplements.

How To Make Anti-Inflammatory Juice

MANAGING PAIN WHILE AVOIDING OPIOD ABUSE

Rather than being considered a miracle pill that magically takes away pain, prescription opioids are increasingly being seen as a precursor to heroin addiction and the cause of potentially deadly overdoses themselves. However, select patients do still benefit from the use of opioids in the management of chronic pain. The trick, for any prescriber, is to identify those patients who are appropriate for opioid management and to provide that therapy safely.

The first step, says Christopher J. Burnett, MD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Texas A&M College of Medicine and director of the Baylor Scott & White Health's Temple Pain Clinic, is to follow the guidelines the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last year. "The CDC guidelines, which outline when to prescribe these drugs and provide guidance for how to do so safely, are a good starting point for providers caring for chronic pain patients," Burnett said.

HERBS AND SUPPLEMENTS THAT MAY HELP HEART DISEASE

1.     Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

2.   Atherosclerosis is related to heart disease and causes plaque to build up in your arteries, blocking the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your heart and other organs.

3.   Many herbs and supplements can help prevent heart disease and reduce symptoms by lowering blood pressure, improving breathing, and clearing arteries.

Cardiovascular disease, also known as heart disease, or coronary artery disease (CAD), is the number one killer in the United States. Diet and lifestyle play an important role in preventing and reversing heart disease, and certain herbs and supplements can help lower your risk for heart disease and treat heart conditions you've already been diagnosed with.

How To Make Allergy Cure Juice

Check out this video with some natural juice to help fight allergies.

HEALTHY BRAIN AGING LINKED TO OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

Two new studies link patterns of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood to the integrity of brain structures and cognitive abilities that are known to decline early in aging.

The studies add to the evidence that dietary intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can promote healthy aging, the researchers said. Further research is needed to test this hypothesis, they said.

The brain is a collection of interconnected parts, each of which ages at its own pace. Some brain structures, and the abilities they promote, start to deteriorate before others, said University of Illinois M.D./Ph.D student Marta Zamroziewicz, who led the new research with psychology professor Aron Barbey.

"We studied a primary network of the brain -- the frontoparietal network -- that plays an important role in fluid intelligence and also declines early, even in healthy aging," Zamroziewicz said. Fluid intelligence describes the ability to solve problems one has never encountered before.

6 Reasons To Eat More Nuts

Nuts are great. There, we said it.

Not only are they a far better alternative to biscuits when you get your mid-morning hunger pangs, but they also work wonders for health.

Don’t believe us? Here are six scientifically-backed benefits to eating them regularly. 

They could help you live longer.

Eating a handful of nuts a day keeps the doctor away - and might help you live longer, according to two long-running Harvard studies.

“We found that people who ate nuts every day lived longer, healthier lives than people who didn’t eat nuts,” said study co-author Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The report showed that daily nut-eaters were less likely to die of cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.

Overall, the daily nut-eaters were 20% less likely to have died during the course of the study than those who avoided nuts. (Peanuts, which are actually legumes, counted as nuts in this study).

Immune Boosting Juice

Good juice to boost your immune system. What do you think?

6 HEALTH FADS FROM THE PAST THAT SOUND SERIOUSLY CRAZY NOW.

Miracle cures, health tonics, super foods—these sorts of cure-alls have always proved irresistible to Americans. Eager to adopt the next lifesaving physic, we’ve downed countless potions, brews, tonics and tablets in pursuit of longevity, fitness, beauty, happiness—or, preferably, all of the above. Some were relatively harmless and maybe even beneficial; others were downright dangerous. Here are some of the most fascinating—and terrifying—miracle remedies Americans have embraced.

Meat juice. (Really.)

“Dear Sir: I have been using your 'Meat Juice' on different cases in this Hospital. It has more than answered my expectations,” wrote Dr. Walter Reed to Mann S. Valentine on April 16, 1872. “I find that patients improve rapidly in appetite and strength under its administration. Of all the various preparations of Meat that I have met with and used, I consider yours by far the most serviceable.”

“It is par excellence the medicine food of the age,” agreed Dr. W.M. Brodie some months later, in February of 1873. “One lady has used a dozen bottles, and does not tire of it.”

ACCORDING TO DOCTORS - YOU MAY NOT NEED TO TAKE A FULL COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS

When you last took antibiotics, your doctor probably told you to “complete the course”—that is, take the pills for the length of time prescribed, even if you felt better before the end. But there’s growing evidence that this old-school approach does more harm than good. 

You might assume prescribing lengths are standardized, based on solid scientific principles. Not so, says Professor Jack Gilbert, PhD, faculty director of the Microbiome Center at the University of Chicago. “The length of time we use an antibiotic for is pretty arbitrary.” He says most doctors opt for five to 10 days, but there’s no consensus about where these figures came from.  

“They may reflect long-standing convention or be based on a manufacturer’s decision during an initial drug trial,” according to an opinion piece by infectious diseases specialist Professor Lyn Gilbert.

Related: 5 Natural Powerful Antibiotics You Should Consider