If you are looking for your first new habit for 2019, try eliminating soda (diet and regular) from your diet. Every time I give a speech, I use “giving up soda” as an example of a health habit to adopt. I talk about the incredibly huge amount of sugar in…
Happy New Year! Dr. Gabe Mirkin, whose health newsletter I have been reading for years, and highly recommend, reported on a study published last summer with wonderfully positive news: lifestyle factors can have a positive impact on the way your body responds to your genes. Researchers looked at identical twins…
I am an advocate of adopting new habits all year long, and not waiting for New Year’s Day. That said, calendar events (birthdays, the start of a month, and the start of a year) can inspire people to focus on personal development. And with a new year on the horizon,…
The way I approach the sixth of my Six Simple Rules, “Be Healthy,” is closely connected to the fifth, “Be a Lifelong Learner”. I regularly read health-related articles to keep up on the latest science around eating well and exercise, and work on new habits according to what I learn.…
With dementia (and specifically Alzheimer’s disease) a part of my family history, an article in The Atlantic, “The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer's,” caught my attention. Its sub-title, “A high-carb diet, and the attendant high blood sugar, are associated with cognitive decline,” reinforced my commitment to the way I…
Early this summer, the New York Times published “How Long Can We Live? The Limit Hasn’t Been Reached”. The piece explains, “The mortality rate flattens among the oldest of the old, a study of elderly Italians concludes, suggesting that the oldest humans have not yet reached the limits of life…
I have learned the best way to visualize the about the amount of sugar in anything is to look at the nutrition label and divide the number of grams of sugar by four. That will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar are in one serving of that item. Every…
Earlier this year, the New York Times published an article regarding weight loss—specifically, the best way to lose weight. One conclusion: The best diet is the one you can stick to. I have written and spoken frequently about the way I eat. I don’t push a particular diet and I…
Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health e-Zine is one of my go-to places for keeping up with the latest suggestions for my health. In a recent article entitled, “What You Eat, Not Your Genes, Determines Your Microbiome,” Dr. Mirkin wrote, “The hottest area of medical research today may well be…
I had the good fortune of sitting in on a “You Are What You Eat” presentation by Talia Segal Fidler. Talia came to the United States years ago to continue her education. After a few years here, she developed a health condition. One thing led to another and she eventually…
In the “Be Healthy” chapter of my book, I provided 52 suggestions for healthier eating. It’s been nearly six years since the book was published and I was wondering how many of my eating suggestions would be different if I wrote the book today. As much as I would have…
Someone sent me an article about a company that purposely made some decisions they knew would make them less profitable. The goal was to impact the environment in a more sustainable way, and the author wrote about the various ways to define success. The person who sent me the article…