Planting a Medicinal Herb Garden
Add Beauty to Your Outside Spaces, Attract Pollinators, and Have Access to Natural Remedies Long before the post-Industrial Revolution emergence of modern (or allopathic) medicine (i.e., the practice of using drugs or surgery, often in conjunction with counseling and lifestyle modifications, to treat health conditions), mankind relied on plants to treat ailments. While the earliest […]
Know Your Nutrients: Collagen
by Aliza Becker, BA, MPS Collagen, a type of protein, is a primary structural component of the body that can be found in the skin, tendons, bones, ligaments, cartilage, and organs. Beginning with the discovery of Collagen II in the 1960s, at least 28 different types of collagen have been identified.1 All types of collagen […]
Five Power-packed Vegetables You Should Try
These five vegetables may not be your usual go-tos, but they pack a powerful punch when it comes to nutrition…and they taste good too. So jazz up your menu and get adventurous in the kitchen! Common Purslane Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea), also known as little hogweed or pursley, is a drought-tolerant summer annual weed […]
The Sunny Side Up of Eggs
Unscrambling the Truth About Their Nutritional Value While eggs are a breakfast staple, the debate around their health benefits and risks continues to unfold. Nutrition researchers and scientists have long questioned their nutritional value. In fact, the American Heart Association (AHA) once recommended that people eat no more than three whole eggs a week.1 Now, the […]
Dietary Fats: The Good and the Bad
by Aliza Becker, BA, MPS Dietary fat provides the body with fatty acids that influence the metabolism, function, and responsiveness of cells and tissues to hormonal and other signals.1 However, not all dietary fats are equal. First, although all fats include a chain of carbon atoms bonded to each other and to hydrogen atoms, the […]
Temperance Training: Fitness with a Purpose
Temperance Training is nonprofit inclusive community of men and women who are recovering from alcohol or drug addiction and who value spiritual and physical fitness. Their mission is to inspire health and hope and to destigmatize the disease of addiction in our society. Here, the NHR staff talks with cofounder and head coach of […]
The Need to Personalize the Approach to Nutrition
by Aliza Becker, BA, MPS A variety of factors are known to influence our individual nutrition choices. As such, malnutrition may develop in response to external influencers in the surrounding environment, demographics, lifestyle choices, and congenital conditions alike. Originating as a concept in Scotland in the 1990s, a “food desert” is a geographic area with […]
The Juicy Details About Celery Juice
Celery as a medicinal herb is nothing new.1 It has been used for thousands of years for a variety of medicinal purposes.2 Recently, celery juice has found its way into the health food limelight. Social media wellness influencers and celebrities have been all a’ buzz over this fresh, frothy juice, claiming it to have healing […]
5 Herbal Teas and their Benefits
Herbal teas aren’t actually true teas because they are not made from the leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, as true teas are. Herbal teas are made from infusions of dried flowers, fruits, herbs, and/or spices, termed tisanes.1 True herbal teas do not naturally contain caffeine. Many herbal teas have been […]
Know Your Medicinal Plant—Holy Basil (Tulsi)*
Hindi name: Tulsi Latin name: Ocimum tenuiflorum Appearance: A small, aromatic herbaceous annual with fragrant green or purple leaves and purple or white tubular flowers on terminal spikes. Habitat: Native to India and other tropical areas of Asia; grown extensively in Central and South America; in more temperate regions, holy basil is often grown in […]
Know Your Nutrients: Choline
by Aliza Becker, BA, MPS Choline, a water-soluble nutrient that has been recognized as essential for body function and health by the United States (US) Institute of Medicine since 1998.1 First discovered in 1862 by German chemist Adolph Strecker as a novel nitrogenous chemical created when lecithin from bile was heated, further research revealed that […]
Superfood Spotlight: Chia Seeds
Chia seeds have been cultivated as a food source as early as 5500 BC in Central America.1 Recognition of the chia seed’s nutritional benefits can be traced back to the Mayans and Aztecs, when the seeds were used in the preparation of folk medicines, food, and even as offerings to the gods.2 While chia seeds […]
