Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world, and after millennia of use we are now discovering that tea and coffee may have many beneficial effects for our mental health.

Content Warning: This article talks about the stigma of obesity and presents some of the research on negative effects of discrimination. Some of this article discuses body-shaming.

Who do you think lives longer: people with “normal” weight or those whose weight falls in the “overweight” category?  The answer may surprise you. Research has shown that those in the overweight category actually live longer!

In September 2014, after attending the Functional Medicine Conference, I spent a weekend at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center.  The Tree of Life is one of a handful of health retreat centers in the U.S. 

If we get a cut, the area around it becomes red, swollen, and hot. This is an example of acute inflammation, which works to heal the cut and prevent infection. This kind of inflammation is a good thing. Once the cut is healed the inflammation resolves.