We all need a good night’s sleep, but it’s not uncommon to struggle with getting one. It’s estimated that one in three people will suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives. Most of us will experience short-term insomnia, which is caused by stress or a short-term disruption in sleep patterns, like travel, a sick child, noisy neighbors or excitement about an upcoming event. Long-term insomnia, which is defined as continuously broken sleep patterns lasting more than four weeks, can be a sign of clinical depression or another serious medical condition that you should discuss with your doctor. Insomnia [Read More]
How Sleep Deprivation Affects Health
We are a sleep-deprived nation. A recent study revealed that 70 million Americans do not get adequate sleep. Experts say we need seven to nine hours a night consistently, but many of us get about five to seven. Furthermore, while our bodies were made to recover from one interrupted night’s sleep, studies now show that less than optimal sleep for a few nights in a row can change your sleep pattern, weaken your immune system and lead to an increased likelihood of weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, heart conditions, loss of long-term memory and more. Even one off night can [Read More]
Why Detoxification Matters
I’ve had the issue of detoxification on my list of articles to write for some time because it’s such an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The foods we eat, the chemicals we put on our face and skin, inhale in our homes and outside, and ingest through our cooking have been shown to cause cancer, lead to sex changes in animals, and overwhelm our immune systems. We all need to find some simple ways to minimize our exposure and to help our bodies rid themselves of what we’ve already been exposed to (even babies are born with a toxic [Read More]
What You Need to Know About Sunscreen
As we get ready to officially kick off summer in New England (which happens the July 4th weekend) after a very long cold winter and an unusual spring, we are all ready for some summer sun and fun! Regardless of the season you are enjoying as you read this, however, it is never the wrong time to talk about safely managing our sun exposure. While everyone agrees that getting a sunburn is not a good thing, both for your personal comfort as well as your longer term health and wellness, in our quest to avoid a sunburn we may unwittingly [Read More]
Vitamin D: Why It May Be One of the Most Important Supplements for Good Health
I started work on an article about sunshine and its role in preventing and treating cancer. There was so much research about the health benefits of sunshine and vitamin D that I’m still digging through it all! While that’s coming soon, in the meantime, I thought it would be helpful to lay the foundation for why vitamin D is so important and look at the multitude of health benefits it provides. Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has been getting a lot of press lately, and for good reason. While we have always known it helps with bone health as it [Read More]