Arthritis can be painful, and the traditional treatments used may not always work.

Did you know that more than 90% of Americans suffer from inflammation or an autoimmune disorder?

Why we age is far from resolved, but researchers have developed some pretty compelling theories.

Clay has been used for centuries as a natural remedy to heal many medical ailments.

Herbal extracts provide strong anti-inflammatory benefits.

Have you taken your omega-3s today? Even if you have, you may not be reaping all the benefits they have to offer.

Probiotics are great for your gut, but might they also be the next beauty and skincare miracle?

A recent Harvard Medical School study implicates white blood cells as the bridge between stress and heart attacks.

Garlic, fresh or as an extract, has a ton of beneficial health properties.

Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, has been shown to prevent cancer, treat depression, and ease pain.

If you have crashes, cravings and can't wait until your next sweet treat, might that be an indication you're addicted to sugar?

Extracts from a Mediterranean tree have been shown to block a powerful inflammatory pathway associated with over 1.5 million deaths.

Food sensitivities are very common and have a more serious impact on your health than previously thought.

Arthritis is a painful, debilitating condition. What if there was a way to ease your symptoms naturally?

With summer just around the corner, it's time to fire up your fat burn and shed some pounds.

Suffering from pain? Your body has the ability to actually heal itself given the right tools.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28.5 million adults are diagnosed with sinusitis yearly.

If there were five simple things you could do to keep your youth, wouldn't you at least try them?

Is there a way to stop a heart attack from happening?

Trying to find the right supplements can be overwhelming and frustrating. How can you identify the best ones for YOU?

What happens to your adrenal glands when you're constantly stressed?

Do you suffer from red irritated eyes, itchiness or swelling in your eyes? It could be conjunctivitis, better known as pinkeye.

An asthma attack can be truly scary, especially for a kid. Avoid feeling helpless and learn how to help your child prevent these attacks.

The first thing you want to do while undergoing treatment is find foods with a detox benefit.

Last week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report that found American's life expectancy has yet again increased for both men and women. Individuals born in 2009 can expect to live longer than ever before - approximately 78.5 years, up from just 78.1 years one year ago.

A gain of more than a third of a year in just one year. At this rate, this might be interpreted to mean the 30 year old person (in 2010) making healthy choices who would have been estimated to live to 95 in 2010, would make it to 115+ by the time she is 90 in 2070.

Since the data were collected and analyzed, life expectancy has increased even higher to 78.7 years, according to the CDC website, in-line with this potential. But will these be healthy vibrant years. Yes, you can make them that.

Thanks to improvements in medical technology for treating heart disease and stroke, Americans are living longer lives than ever before. The downfall of these technologies is that while they are able to buy a few extra years, they are not necessarily providing quality years of health and wellbeing.

Prevention is needed to do that.

Can you truly heal your body naturally? Evidence from real people suggests it's very possible.

Hypnosis and mind-body techniques are helping millions of people live free of pain.

We had a saying in Naturopathic Medical School that stated, "if you want to heal a person, heal the gut." It's fitting that I have written about digestive issues like intestinal permeability or "leaky gut syndrome" and all of its complications various times in the past decade and the time has come again.

Intestinal permeability describes a cascade of symptoms and disorders that stem from small intestine's semi-permeable membrane becoming excessively permeable for a variety of reasons, allowing infiltration of microbial and metabolic toxins (as well as undigested food) into the bloodstream. These symptoms include fatigue, immune deficiency, food allergies, asthma and eczema.

Intestinal permeability may also be a contributor to other modern illnesses such as insulin resistance, obesity, neurotransmitter disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer. In fact, it may account for 50 percent of chronic illness.

One symptom that I have not linked to intestinal permeability in the past, which has been getting my attention lately, is the vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, an overlooked aspect of inflammation.

Also known as frankincense, boswellia produces a sap containing anti-inflammatory and antiseptic compounds.

Changing ingrained habits can be a painful process. However, it's an essential part of leading a pain -ree life.

Inflammation due to excess fat can cause other health dangers. A recent study using overweight cats offers hope.

Chronic inflammation accelerates aging and is an underlying factor in many of the diseases associated with aging.

Maintaining balanced neurotransmitter levels along with healthy blood flow to the brain can be an effective strategy to lessen the impact of a migraine headache.

Improving mental performance through brain cell regeneration is possible with gastrodin, an extract of the exotic orchid Gastrodia elata.

Would 51-year-old James (Tony Soprano) Gandolfini or Tim ("If it's Sunday, it's Meet The Press") Russert be alive today if their docs had followed the new cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines just issued by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association?

This week, we asked that question to many of the docs with whom we work at the Wellness Institute. We just do not know enough about Gandolfini or Russert; however, you know enough about YOU—that's the key. And the likelihood is Gandofini and Russert both would have been taking statins if their docs had followed the new guidelines...and aspirin and exercising, losing weight and changing their diets (and Russert and Galdofini weren't doing food –perhaps the most important choice—right if observations and news reports are correct.) You might too—and we want you to stay alive.

Removing built-up toxins from your body is often the first step towards feeling better and living healthier.

Halloween involves just as many treats as tricks. Learn tips to survive this sugar-filled holiday, while still letting your kids (and yourself) have fun.

Are you disease-proof? What if you were able to reduce your risk of disease by a whopping 80 percent?

Cancer affects almost everyone in some way. Why is the prevalence on the rise with all the fundraising efforts for "the cure"?

Although the human body is relatively adept at managing acute stressors, chronic stress can produce a variety of harmful effects.

Occasional constipation is usually not a big deal. For most of us, with better hydration, it resolves itself without much of a hassle.

However, chronic bouts of constipation are not only uncomfortable, but also can inflame your colon's mucosal lining. This inflammation can cause bowel motility problems in the future.

The problem with chronic constipation is that no one really knows how to define it or treat it. The conventional approach usually involves bowel stimulants which can be unpredictable and ineffective.

Not only that, but who wants to have to rely on bowel stimulants for long periods of time? They're just not a good option for effective relief.

If you're avoiding sugar there are a dizzying array of other sweeteners to choose from. Which ones are good? Bad? Even downright dangerous?

What is a poison? Well, interestingly, there are different theories as to what makes something a poison. But most of them go something like this:

"A dangerous chemical, natural or unnatural, enters the blood through the skin, gut or lungs and travels to the liver, the primary organ of detoxification."

The liver attempts to "detoxify" the chemical creating metabolites — sometimes the metabolites are less toxic and sometimes they're not — in order to excrete the chemical and any remnants of it out of the body.

So for us to believe that fructose is a poison, it needs to follow, in some respects, the pathway I just described — and I'll get to that soon.

But first, let's clarify something...

Anthocyanins are a type of plant-based antioxidant found in abundance but not exclusively in berries. Take, for instance, blue corn, which is regular yellow corn that has a high level of anthocyanins. The anthocyanins are actually what give it a bluish hue.

Fortunately, anthocyanins are good for you from any source, including corn. Just take a look at this short list of benefits that are commonly attributed to anthocyanins:

Enhance glucose metabolism and reduce glucose absorption
Induce cancer apoptosis (programmed cell death) in several cancer cell lines.
Metabolize toxins and inhibit DNA damage.
Inhibit inflammatory gene expression and reduce inflammation.
Reduce capillary permeability and fragility and boost nitric oxide.
Metabolize carcinogens.

So this is why I am interested in both blue corn and anthocyanins. See where I am headed now?

The Presidents' arteries, and what it means for you and yours.

George W had a positive stress test and received a stent to open up one (or was it more—we do not know) of his coronary (heart) arteries.

Was the stress test appropriate, and was the stent needed? Or could food choices have changed the need?

George W isn't the first President with arteries that show aging and plaque. Clinton's did. So did Reagan, and Ike and Harrison and Roosevelt's times two, and maybe every President. Just look at Obama's hair, or Bill C's heart arteries before he radically changed his diet and stress levels - or you can look at Ike or Harrison or - chose any President - it is a job laden with aging stress.

Inflammation is the way your body responds to a problem. Whether battling an infection or cancer, or healing from a bone fracture, your body needs to deliver powerful immune and repair cells to the impaired location through your bloodstream in order to fight and fix the problem.

Inflammation is really designed to be an acute process that gets in and out quickly. The longer the immune and repair cells stay in a location, the greater the chance they'll actually cause damage to surrounding healthy cells and tissues.

Chronic inflammation, simply put, is acute inflammation that did not resolve properly. The result is damage and disease. This is why we call chronic inflammation the common denominator of all age-related disorders.

Tart cherries provide relief from everyday muscle pain and aches without dangerous side effects.