Elizabeth Yarnell's Blog, page 4

Inflammation and Health

Could inflammation be holding you back from reclaiming your health? Listen in to the Simply Jewel podcast as she and I discuss all the ways inflammation could be affecting you without you even knowing it!

Plant-Based Eating? What Does That Really Mean?

Doesn’t “plant-based eating” really mean “following a whole foods-based diet”? That’s the argument I made recently as a guest on “The Lisa Show” on BYUradio. In a nutshell, all life on this planet comes from the sun. The sun shines down on plants, the plants photosynthesize and grow, people and animals eat the plants and […]

Painless Pain Management by Addressing Inflammation

Is chronic pain ruining your life? I recently joined Megan Van Buren on her “Painless Pain Management” podcast to discuss a different approach to pain management by focusing on reducing inflammation. Since most–if not all–symptoms are due to inflammation, addressing the underlying inflammation by identifying and eliminating the personal inflammatory triggers is not only a […]

Looking to up your bone density?

Have you ever been concerned about your bone density? Maybe you’ve tried increasing your intake of calcium or vitamin D. Maybe you’ve added more weight-bearing exercise to your daily routine. Maybe you’ve even upped the amount of leafy greens in your diet. While these are all good steps to take, Osteostrong is a new kind […]

Would You Rather Take A Daily Pill or Change Your Diet?

To what lengths would you go to to avoid taking a daily pill that promised to increase your life span? New research out of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that one in three people would risk having a shorter life rather than having to take […]

Low-Sodium Recipes for Glorious One-Pot Meals

Reader question: Love the recipes! Am a former culinary instructor who just recently was put on 1500 mg of salt per day. As a result I have been concentrating on your low sodium recipes. After making the Fish with Hong Kong Sauce for the first time since my sodium restrictions, I decided to double check […]

The Link Between Nutrition and Mental Illness

Clinical psychologist Julia Rucklidge at the University of Canterbury insists that optimizing nutrition is a safe and effective treatment for mental illness. She argues that our reliance on pharmaceuticals has led us down the wrong path when it comes to mental illness. While she notes that medications can be very effective in the short term, […]

Why I’m Not A Fan of the Paleo Diet

I cheered when I read the recent Washington Post article dissin’ the Paleo Diet! Finally, a voice of reason and sanity to refute those who still believe that the Paleo Diet is the healthiest way to eat. While I totally agree that we did not evolve to eat refined, highly-processed, or chemically-laden foods, we didn’t really […]

Could Your Gut Bacteria Be Making You Anxious or Depressed?

New research from neurobiologists at Oxford University shows there could be a link between the health of your gut microbiome and your emotions. The study suggests that using probiotics to populate your gut with good bacteria together with eating enough prebiotics –carbs that nourish your bacterial population– can help lift your mental state. Foods high in probiotics […]

Could Bacteria Play a Role in Colon Cancer or Polyps?

A new study has found bacterial ‘bunches’ are prevalent on colon polyps and cancers. Perhaps we may be able to reduce the risk of colon cancer just by taking probiotics and prebiotics to help keep the levels of bad bacteria at bay. Plant-based digestive enzymes would likely also be helpful to reduce and inhibit biofilm formation. Here’s the whole […]