Anyone who has experienced any sort of long-term stress can tell you that it can have just as much of an effect on you physically as it can mentally. One of the most notable physical effects that we look at is our weight. A recent study explored the relationship between chronic stress (via cortisol levels in hair follicles) and weight (via waist circumference and BMI). Why cortisol? Because cortisol is one of the most influential hormones released during times of stress. It has roles in reducin...

Probiotics have been around for thousands of years, but we seem to just now be cracking the code. It all started when farmers began storing their food. In Asia, fisherman would catch large amounts fish at once, so they began wrapping the fish in rice for storage (sound familiar?). They found that this preserved the fish much longer, not realizing until later that it was because of a certain bacteria in the rice. By the early 1900s, a Russian researcher conducted a study that looked at the asso...

The most important macronutrient in our diet is water. Water is required for essentially every single working system in our bodies. This includes temperature regulation, joint health, immune health, etc. In fact, a lack of water can cause a number of adverse effects such as decreased kidney function, weight gain (our bodies can mistake hunger with dehydration….), headaches, migraines, decreased cognition and overall function, decreased sleep quality, and so on. So why is it so difficult...

Losing weight is hard, but keeping weight off can be even harder. For anyone who is familiar with the show “The Biggest Loser,” one season showed 30 contestants who lost an average of 125 pounds each over a 30 week period. Six years later, however, and only one person was able to keep the weight off despite everyone’s continued efforts to diet and exercise. Now, you may be thinking that these people just couldn’t maintain their same lifestyle once the show was over (whic...

It is no news that the United States has been struggling with the obesity epidemic for the last several decades. Every year more and more weight loss companies come out with the next new “quick fix” or diet, yet the numbers continue to rise. In 2010, a government-run organization which aims to improve the health of Americans set a goal of lowering the rate to 30.5 for youth by the year 2020. Just three years away, and the rates have only continued to increase; more specifically, by 3...