Questions and Answers About Health

Read this introduction to “intact whole grains,” which are recommended by Dr. Michael Greger and other nutrition experts. I cover what “intact” means when it comes to grains, plus related topics that compare intact whole grains to whole grains processed in various ways. If you want a basic introduction to “intact whole grains,” this post is for you.

Here’s a free PDF summary of “How Not to Age” by Dr. Michael Greger. Use the summary as a guide or map as you read the book, or read the summary on its own to get the gist of Greger’s coverage and recommendations. The book and summary are chock-full of lifestyle choices you can make to slow the aging process and preserve your body and functions for as long as possible. Genetics accounts for only 15-30% of lifespan probability: the rest is under our control.

This review of Dr. Michael Greger’s book How Not to Age provides an overview of the book’s content as well as some examples of what he covers. My commentary covers my view of the book’s strengths and a few aspects that would have helped me understand it better. The book is a must-read at the intersection of aging and nutritional research. No one else has—or could have—brought these two specialties together in the way that Dr. Greger does.

In this post I discuss my daily tea-drinking habits and how I’ve had to fit my tea into a schedule that optimizes my health. While tea and coffee have many health benefits, there are certain ways to time them in your day for optimal health.

In this post I examine the growing evidence of chronic inflammation’s apparently central role in some of the deadliest diseases on the planet. Chronic internal inflammation makes us more vulnerable to serious diseases by creating the conditions in which diseases can emerge and grow.

This is the third post in my “Understanding Chronic Inflammation” series. I describe what causes low-level chronic inflammation in everyday language. Many aspects of the modern world and modern lifestyles can trigger the immune response and a constant state of low-level inflammation. The good news is that we can address a number of these causes and calm the inflammation that may be causing us pain or contributing to the risk of chronic diseases.

This is the second post in my “Understanding Chronic Inflammation” series. I describe what inflammation is. We hear so much about inflammation, but rarely do we make the connection between immune cells, triggers, and inflammatory effects. This post covers what happens when the immune response is triggered, consequences of the immune response, and the most common inflammation-related conditions.

Help reduce the risk of disease and pain with an anti-inflammatory diet. In this post I address salads and share the salad ingredients that have the highest anti-inflammatory effects. Links to recipes are also included.

This is the first post in my “Understanding Chronic Inflammation” series. I provide a succinct but critical foundation to understanding chronic, meta-, and age-related inflammation, namely, an overview of the immune system itself, which is the culprit behind chronic inflammation. This post covers the purpose of the immune system, the component parts, some interesting facts about the immune system that are not widely known, and some of the major reasons why the immune system overreacts and causes inflammation.

Eat snacks that satisfy you but also fight chronic inflammation. This list of 25 anti-inflammatory snacks is based on the foods scientists have identified as able to reduce inflammation more than other foods. Whether you like fruit, vegetables, teas, smoothies, or snacks like black bean hummus, there’s something in this list for you.