Synthetic and genetically engineered hormones in meat, dairy products, poultry, and eggs can block the release of thyroid hormones. Soy products, especially if not fermented, may also depress thyroid function in people already at risk.

For many of us, the number on our bathroom scale makes or breaks our day: joy, if it moves downward a few pounds, and despair if it creeps upward, as we diet, sweat, and stress our way toward that magical number we believe defines our ideal weight.

It’s no surprise that the rate of obesity is rising, as Americans eat ever-larger portions. But extra calories may not be the only problem: New research suggests a common sweetener in fruit drinks, soda, yogurt, and some cereal affects hormones in ways that make people likely to eat more and gain weight.

Scan the diet section of any bookstore and you'll note that three food categories tend to take the most heat: dairy, wheat, and sugar. Indeed, walk into any health food store, and you'll hear legions of tales about chronically ill people who gave up one or all of these dietary demons and suddenly careened back to health.

Some reasons for white tea’s potency may be that it’s younger and that it’s dried in the sun without any processing, says Milton Schiffenbauer, the microbiologist who led the study. Both may leave more of white tea’s beneficial chemicals intact. And though the research was done in the lab, there’s good reason to think white tea’s antimicrobial properties will work in people, too, Schiffenbauer says.

Buying seafood these days is no easy feat. With wild fish stocks disappearing fast and concerns about the safety of farmed fish rising (not to mention the negative impact it’s having on the ocean environment) health-conscious consumers want to know which is better: wild or farmed?

The myth of chocolate as damaging to the skin takes a 360'degree turn: chocolate‘s new reputation suggests that it might function as a potent skin protector. Acccording to a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition, the flavonoids (antioxidants) in chocolate improve skin quality. After 12 weeks, the women in the study who drank about 3 ounces of cocoa fortified with 326 mg of cocoa flavanols a day had thicker, denser, better hydrated skin with less roughness.

So what do we do when it’s freezing outside and our skin is parched? The natural response is to soak in a long, hot bath. Turns out nothing could be worse. “Heat and prolonged immersion strip water from the skin.

Well-known for devouring the flesh of corpses, fly larvae, also known as maggots, are the last thing you’d expect—or want—to see in a hospital room. Yet based on a new study published in Wound Repair and Regeneration, these disgusting critters may just be the saviors of people suffering from a particularly intractable type of wound.

Studies show yawning stimulates the part of the brain responsible for generating empathy and social awareness. So intentional yawning may actually strengthen our ability to be kind to others.

Ashtanga happens to be one of the most physically demanding yoga styles around. In a typical nine 90-minute class, students are led through a series of nonstop moves. As your body temperature rises, your muscles stretch like Silly Putty. Each pose builds on the next until, by the end, you're a shoo-in for Cirque du Soleil.

In the following article we listed the best Yoga poses for your sign, for example, Aries, Taurus, Gemini. Read on to find more information if you are practising some yoga poses.

Yoga offers powerful self-healing tools for women with breast cancer--from diagnosis and treatment through recovery. How you practice yoga is as important as what you practice, so be sure to: Balance effort with relaxation. Treat yourself kindly. Challenge yourself-but never strain in a pose. Consult your physician if you have any questions about the appropriateness of any of these postures.

Studies show that yoga poses designed for stretching the upper body reduce pain and improve grip strength in CTS sufferers. So take back your finger flexion and release your wrists with two stretches.

Read on the following article to learn more information about treating running injuries and add these poses to your pre- and post-run routine so you have more power to go the distance.

You've learned to include fears in the mix of a total experience. Perhaps you've started to blur the distinction between upside down and right side up, allowing for a vibrant sense of nowness wherever or however you are. Creative types who see things from all sides are drawn to inversions and so are those of us who just like to shake things up.

Yoga, done with the right intent, can help manage the emotional snafus we sometimes find ourselves in when we’re the center of someone else’s attention. With conscious breathing and focused movement, your innate confidence, grace, and poise will always shine through—no matter what kind of situation you’re in.

Local resource for yoga mats in New Albany, IN. Includes detailed information on local fitness retailers and yoga specialty shops that give access to yoga accessories, yoga gear, non-skid yoga mats, eco-friendly yoga mats, sticky yoga mats, as well as yoga bricks and yoga straps that will assist you in your yoga practice.

Because you use the same facial expressions every day, you’re engaging only a few of the 26 paired muscles you have in your face. Moreover, these repeated expressions crease the skin in the same places, which causes wrinkles to develop and deepen.

A yoga practice can strengthen what Jungian analyst Marion Woodman calls "the connection to our souls"—yoga gives your soul space to find rhythm, to be held, and finally, just to be.

In fact, antiaging products have seen the largest growth in the personal-care sector. It’s unclear what has spiked male interest in personal-care products—whether it’s shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and the “metrosexual” trend or simply a growing desire to remain healthy and youthful for the long haul.

In addition to color, mineral makeup’s main ingredients—zinc oxide and titanium dioxide—create a natural sunscreen for the skin.