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Maca root (Lepidium meyenii Walp) is a cruciferous root vegetable prized by the indigenous Andean people as a remedy for stress, improving energy, and enhancing libido in men and women. Popularly known as “Peruvian Ginseng,” Maca is in a class of herbs known as adaptogens, which help the body adapt

During times of high stress, especially physical stress, the body is in danger of accumulating metabolic build-up. Add to this all the toxins that get into the body through soil and water, the food supply, the air we breathe, and medications we take, and you’ve got a perfect storm of

With 15 colleagues in my Harvard Medical School Media and Medicine intensive (made longer by the coronavirus, and more intensive too) co-signing and editing, I wrote an Op Ed for USA Today on the coming scarcity of ventilators and critical care resources, including clinicians themselves. The National Academy of Medicine

Magnesium is well-known for the role it plays in the structure and function of nerves and muscle tissue. And it’s absolutely essential for nearly every chemical reaction that takes place in the body. Why do we need magnesium? Magnesium is especially helpful for helping you meet physical demands. For example,

The evidence couldn’t be clearer: Exercise is the best prescription for a healthy life. Exercise aids in the prevention of chronic disease, enhances brain and nervous system function, and helps us manage stress at every age. It’s so potent for our well-being that many medical organizations are now educating physicians

How to build your immunity against the coronavirus, Naturally: because coronavirus is novel, much more contagious than common colds and can survive on surfaces for nine days, depending on the surface, we have much work to do in fending off this nasty virus. For many people, it is a matter

It’s only within the last decade or so that a Vitamin D supplement became widely accepted by the conventional medicine community. Today, it’s one of the most highly regarded supplements in both natural and conventional medicine and viewed as essential to good health. What prompted the change? Vitamin D made

Depending on who you believe, coconut oil is either a nutritional miracle food or pure poison. Nearly 70% of Americans view coconut oil as a health food—but only about 37% of nutritionists view it that way. Coconut oil is 88% fat, most of which is saturated fat. However, the structure

From Asian cuisine to gluten-free and other special diets, rice is a staple food for many people. But is it healthy? Depending on where it is grown, rice can contain one of the world’s most toxic elements: arsenic. Arsenic can be passed into the human body and build up in

Did you know just how many of today’s modern medicines were actually first part of “folk” apothecaries, often handed down from ancient knowledge? Take the heart medication digitalis (aka digoxin), for example: it’s extracted from the dried leaves of the purple foxglove plant (digitalis purpurae) and used to strengthen heart

Eat this, not that! Eat that, not this! One day a certain supplement or medication is great for you, but a week later you’re being advised not to take it… With so much confusing (and often conflicting) information flying around, how can you become an informed consumer of health information?

This is the 40 minute invited “The Science of Nature as Medicine”, guest lecture (zoom video) to Harvard’s “Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine” course I taught in January 2020, with 20 minutes of questions. Many of the references for the studies I cite can be found in the Nature Therapy Primer