With Lissa Rankin, M.D.

We live in an era in which individualism is rewarded and collectivism is seen as weak. We raise our children to be independent and self-reliant. It's so hard for us to ask for help. Interestingly, we also practice medicine this way. We teach our...

It's Mother's Day, a time to celebrate the person who brought us in to this world, who taught us the basic lessons of life and planted the seeds for who we become.

Today, I want to celebrate my mother because she taught me something so essential and enduring that...

Everybody feels stress and knows it intimately, but very few of us think about what stress actually is.

Stress is a thought. That's it. No more, no less. If that's true, then we have complete control over stress, because it's not something that happens to us but something that...

Last week, I flew to Greenville, S.C. to meet with the Kluge family. I talked with them about their health, looking to understand the roots of their family crisis of morbid obesity, pre-diabetes, renal failure, disability, financial stress, and hopelessness.

We talked about how they could dig themselves out...

If we discovered a new vitamin that helped us live longer, prevent heart attacks, and cure depression, we would all want to take it.

In fact, there is such a vitamin. It is called vitamin P -- the P stands for pets.

Pet ownership provides multiple health benefits....

Watch my recent appearance on Katie, where I discussed food and lifestyle prescriptions for common health problems.

For common health problems, there are often simple diet and lifestyle solutions that get to the root of the problem without the need for medication, which often...

Can burgers and fried chicken really be good for you? Yes. But not the Five Guys killer burger -- not that kind. It's burgers and chicken you cook yourself. And why do you need to cook them yourself? Here's why.

Eating out can kill you, especially if you...

It might be hard to imagine, but being healthy in today's world is a revolutionary act. In so many ways, our health has been taken from us. That's why I am so passionate about getting people to stand up together for health. And that's why I...

In my last blog, I explored how your diet affects not only your personal health but the health of the soil, water, air, and global climate. What we choose to eat determines whether or not we deplete nature's capital as well as our human capital, the richness that...

I get in my own way. Chances are, unless you are an enlightened master, you also have blind spots, areas of your life that just don't work -- relationships, work situations, your health, finances, your family, etc. How do you deal with them?

If you are like me, you can't...

We each own a secret weapon that weighs only a few ounces. If this was strategically deployed for one day, we could transform our world into a better place. We could end obesity and chronic disease, revitalize our children's health, achieve academic excellence, topple corrupt governments, restore our depleted soils,...

How do you lose weight? Substitute diet drinks for sugary drinks. Eat low-fat foods. Just eat less of the bad foods -- it's all about the calories. We are told, "Just have more willpower."

These ideas are false. They are food and diet industry propaganda that make and keep...

The cure for what ails us -- both in our bodies and in our nation -- can be found in the kitchen. It is a place to rebuild community and connection, strengthen bonds with family and friends, teach life-giving skills to our children, and enrich and nourish our bodies and...

Does sex really count as exercise? Should you set conservative weight loss goals of 5-10 pounds instead of 50? Does adding a little bit of exercise regularly over a long period of time really add up to significant weight loss?

A recent analysis of weight loss research by The New...

Eat better, sleep more, exercise more, learn more, love more, love better, be a better son, father, friend, be a better doctor, reach more people, heal the planet, end obesity, starvation, and global warming... arrrghhh!

It's enough to make me want to stay in bed and watch movies on...

Eating outside the home comes at a high price. We spend our hard-earned dollars up front only to pay more at a later date due to hidden health care costs not seen on the menu.

Temptations from the food industry are addictive, such as salty, sugary, high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods that...

It may seem like a paradox, but obesity and malnutrition often go hand in hand. Processed, high-sugar, high-calorie foods contain almost no nutrients, yet require even more vitamins and minerals to metabolize them.

These processed foods, made cheaply and easily accessible by government subsidies, are consumed to excess, driving...

Happiness is what our nation is founded on -- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

But maybe we have it all wrong in pursuing happiness through fierce individualism and seeking out material things, which give us momentary pleasure and success.

I have found a repeatable path to guaranteed...

We are shaped by our thoughts,
We become what we think
When the mind is pure,
Joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
-- The Buddha

Last time, in part one, I wrote a little about my pilgrimage to Bhutan. I was deeply...

What we can be sure of is change, the unpredictability and shifting nature of life. How we relate to that change determines everything. Does it beat us down or hone us into more refined ways of being? Does it tear apart what we know, leaving nothing, or does it guide...