SELF-HEALTH

Many people use the word metabolism, but few know what it actually means. Indeed, if you asked a room filled with a hundred doctors and nutritionists, “What’s the definition of metabolism?” you’d likely hear a hundred different answers. It’s no surprise, then, that the rest of us would be confused about this topic. So in the spirit of furthering science and making nutrition and health a lot more interesting, let’s take a look at the old definition of metabolism, and come up with a newer one that’s more crispy and fresh.

Here’s the basic, undisputed classic textbook definition of metabolism:

Metabolism is the sum total of all the chemical reactions in the body.

Are you surprised it’s that simple? Of course, we can talk about the

metabolism of such specific tissues as the liver and thyroid. We can talk about the metabolism of specific substances such as cholesterol. We can also talk about the metabolism of different body systems, such as digestive metabolism. People who say “I want to speed up my metabolism” are actually referring to calorie-burning metabolism, also known as thermic efficiency...

Starting the process of recreating one’s body and engaging in healthier habits may seem like a difficult task, but few things will change one’s life as much as getting into shape. Many understand that changing their diet and starting an exercise regimen will shed pounds, but few realize just how all-encompassing these changes can be. For those that would like that nudge in the right direction, here are five of the top reasons that getting into shape will improve almost every face of their life.

Quite literally, your gut is the epicenter of your mental and physical health. If you want better immunity, efficient digestion, improved clarity and balance, focus on rebuilding your gut health...

By supporting this mighty system, you’ll see chronic health issues (like fatigue, fogginess, colds, aches and pains) diminish, and you’ll feel abundant energy return. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really isn’t. I’ve experienced these results, and I’ve seen hundreds of readers do the same. Now it’s your turn...

Life doesn't work like the deli counter. We don't all go out in the same order we came in.

I am 63, four years older than my mother was when she died. Unlike my mother, I am not overweight, diabetic, nor do I share her aversion to doctors. She made her choices and I made mine -- in no small part in response to hers. In the scorecard of life, so far I'm ahead.

I prefer to fight the aging process -- which, I'd like to point out, has nothing to do with dressing like a 20-something or running for Botox every time I spot a wrinkle.

By Ruthie Streiter

"As a Rolf Practitioner and therapeutic yoga teacher, I often work with intelligent, well-educated, earnestly interested people who are uninformed or ill-informed about what it means to engage in sensible body conditioning.

I believe we need to elevate common knowledge of the body, fitness and self-care to a respectable, constructive level.

Even when I work with clients who have exercised with “personal trainers” for years, I witness a trail of misconceptions and debilitating residue of harmful work-outs."

"Manage your energy, not your time" says the famous quote from Tony Schwartz. Physical energy is the most important element of it, here we take a closer look:

Schwartz famously proclaims in his book, that most of us are chasing the wrong resource: hours in the day. Instead, we should focus on something entirely different: our energy.

Our energy can be broken down in 4 different elements:

You know the bad boy you dated in high school or college? You knew he was bad news, you even knew it would end badly, but you dated him anyway. That's cortisol.

Cortisol is a stress hormone designed to give us the bursts of energy needed to escape a dangerous situation, like running away from a tiger. Unfortunately, modern life often convinces our brains that everything is a stressful situation -- and it's nearly impossible to escape an overflowing inbox. Instead of resolving the issue, we stay on high alert all the time, with elevated blood pressure and glucose levels. Over time, this becomes a serious health issue, despite how conventional medicine neglects the importance of this bad-boy hormone -- and that's not just my opinion, but the evidence continues to mount.

Until now, evidence that the Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of heart disease was weak, and some experts had been skeptical that the effect of diet could be detected.

The findings, published on The New England Journal of Medicine’s Web site on Monday, were based on the first major clinical trial to measure the diet’s effect on heart risks. The magnitude of the diet’s benefits startled experts. The study ended early, after almost five years, because the results were so clear it was considered unethical to continue.