Many cultures have arranged their work days around digestion and its link to time and the position of the sun. The Latin term for our midsection is solar plexus, which means gathering place for the sun. According to Marc David, former nutrition expert at Canyon Ranch, we digest and assimilate better — and burn more calories — the more efficiently we harness the warmth of the sun. We are meant to be outside in sunshine and to time our eating to the position of the sun in the sky. The fact that most of us now avoid the sun and [Read More]

This time of year, there are lots of cold and flu viruses going around and if you get one, you know that there isn’t much your doctor can do. While antibiotics can fight bacteria, there are no prescriptions for viruses. That doesn’t mean, however, that nature hasn’t supplied us with some great natural remedies instead. A few weeks ago, I woke up exhausted and feeling so tired and achy, I knew I was fighting off a flu. My immune system is pretty strong but I immediately went into attack mode to try to beat it and the next day, I [Read More]

As I watched people struggle to try to lose weight or change their diet in order to regain their health, I have observed the 98% rule over and over again: 98% of people who diet will gain back the weight and more. Usually in 6-12 months. I became curious about what it takes to be among the 2% who actually do succeed. So I started talking to people who had succeeded and those who had failed, experts and regular folks, and I started researching how to make lasting change: I read every book and research study I could find! I [Read More]

When I worked for a leading online women’s wellness company (helping women balance their hormones through all stages of life), one of the biggest challenges we saw facing women today was increasing exposure to toxins known as endocrine disruptors (And guys, they are just as big a concern for you!) Most of us know that eating foods with artificial flavors and colors, dyes, chemicals and preservatives is not the best strategy for fueling a healthy body. But despite the fact that many of us are now choosing organic and local, grass fed and hormone-free, if you shop at your local [Read More]

What is Stress? Just Breathe Not long ago, we had a severe storm in New England that knocked out power lines across the region. I lost my power on a Thursday evening and the kids and I did homework by candlelight. It was kind of fun sitting together in the dark without the normal daily distractions. We talked about a lot of things, including what it must have been like for kids years ago to eat and do homework by candlelight with no TV, radio, Nintendo DS or Wii. While some in the area began to get their power back [Read More]