A year later, when my friend and I had a happy reunion in California, and I was, again, expressing my thanks to him, he smiled. "Let's face it," he said, "you and I wouldn't be sitting here today if you hadn't gone to high school with the right guys."
Access to fresh groceries changed everything for Elijah and his mom. For many families in Los Angeles and other metro areas across the country, things are not as easy -- but they are getting better.
Here are the five foods the Mayo Clinic says can lower cholesterol and protect my heart:
Before we start indiscriminately dumping statins into the water supply as an easy way to reduce cardiovascular disease, we must individually -- patient by patient -- examine the tradeoffs.
If you can walk, you can lose weight and get your heart in better shape. All you need is 30 minutes a day.
When it comes to health, your baseline is a whole atlas of personal health information. Knowing how to read that atlas can help you to set goals on your wellness journey -- and to achieve them.
It's wonderful what dogs do for us. But the best part might be what they let us do for them. All in all, not a bad deal.
Hardly a day goes by without a headline trumpeting what we should or shouldn't eat. But often these snippets about diet and nutrition are only half true: They're partly supported by science, but overall they're misleading because they come with big caveats.
Some fats promote good health, some don't. The Mayo Clinic recommends you enjoy good fats -- in moderation. But today you eat. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, you fast -- and moderation blows.
We all have excuses for not eating healthy foods. My oatmeal excuses are endless: it tastes bad; takes too long to make; is mushy; and makes the hardest dish to wash ever if you don't rinse it right away. But then I discovered that most box cereals have the nutritional value of a Twinkie.
Treating risk factors like high cholesterol is misguided. We must treat causes -- what we eat, how much we exercise, how we handle stress, our social connections and environmental toxins are all more powerfully linked to creating health and preventing disease than any drug on the market.
You know that squeaky clean feeling you get after you have eaten a fresh picked apple? Your gut may be telling you something important.
I'm often asked the question, "What is the single most harmful food in our diet today?" The evidence is mounting that it is the excess consumption of sugary beverages in our diet.
Two million Americans have a heart attack or stroke every year and more than 800,000 of them die. Million Hearts is a joint venture involving governmental agencies together with private sector partners.
Heart disease is a prime example of how a half truth turned into a partial cure, with many people being led down the wrong path, either by themselves or by their doctors.
It's time to bring forward some reasoned arguments against the wave of "evidence" and public opinion claiming that meat is unhealthy, unethical, and unattractive.
