Stop the War on Salt

Mark Sisson sets the record straight on the demonized element and blood pressure.

The salt debate rages on outside these halls, but I've never really opened MDA's doors to the tempest (beyond a short dalliance several years ago). Today, though, I am. We've likely all consumed a fair bit of sodium chloride over the past holiday weekend, and I imagine a few of us are wondering whether that's a problem or not. Ever timely, reader John has written in with his salt story and a simple question: how much salt is suitable for humans?

Here's his question: Read more

An Aspirin a Day? No Way

Margaret Durst discusses four natural, safe alternatives to aspirin.

K is for klotting – which doesn’t really start with a ‘k’, but it’s what I want to write about. Many people take an aspirin a day to prevent stroke and heart attack based on aspirin’s ability to thin the blood and prevent blood clots.

Most alternative doctors have been against aspirin for a long time because it damages the stomach lining and causes kidney and liver damage. Aspirin is responsible for a significant number of emergency room visits because it causes gastrointestinal bleeding.

New studies are now showing that an aspirin a day actually increases risk of stroke and heart attack in 40 percent of the people who take it. Research is also showing that long term use of aspirin increases your risk of macular degeneration and cataracts by as much as 44 percent. Read more

Is the 2 Meal a Day Plan Right for You?

Caloric restriction is the only proven strategy to significantly increase lifespan, and, of course, it's the only way to lose weight. One of the easiest ways to reduce your calories is to eat fewer meals. You can skip either dinner or breakfast, and eat regularly for the other two meals, and end up eating fewer calories without feeling deprived. Based on history and anthropological studies, this seems to be the natural human meal plan.

What is the two meal plan?

It is a healthy lifestyle practice where you eat just two meals each day with no snacks in between.

It may seem like a radical approach, but it's the healthiest way to eat. Read more

If you need more information about how to follow a two meal a day plan, the 2 Meal Solution is by far the best resource.

Breakfast Before or After a Workout?

The order of your morning routine could impact your weight loss or gain a new study reports.

The premise: Breakfast is billed as the most important meal of the day—but you may want to hold off on eating it until after your daily workout. Researchers in Belgium set up a six-week study to determine if the order of men’s morning routines would make a difference in terms of weight loss and other health aspects. “We hypothesized that training in the fasted state would be a better strategy to improve fat metabolism,” says the study’s lead author Karen Van Proeyen, Ph.D. “However, we were rather surprised that almost all measured parameters were more beneficially affected following a training program before breakfast, compared with a similar training session after breakfast.” Read more

An Exercise That Will Wildly Improve Your Memory

Did you know that with that with proper diet, fitness, and practice, memory can actually improve as we age? Besides that, there is an exercise that can wildly improve your memory.

If you ask any elementary school teacher what children forget in the classroom every day, you’ll learn that in addition to forgetting facts, they also leave behind all sorts of things: books, pens, iPods, etc. But what you won’t hear from the kids is, “What’s the matter with me? I’m eight years old, and my memory is going!” or “Gosh, another junior moment!”

Unfortunately, in our society, after age 25 or so, many folks begin to focus on any glitch in memory as evidence for its demise. Normal forgetting is cataloged as a “senior moment,” and the decline of memory becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Neuroscientists agree that with proper diet, fitness and practice, memory can improve as we age. They’ve also discovered that learning something new is one of the best ways to strengthen your brain over the years. Read more

The UpDayDownDay Diet: Turn On Your Skinny Gene

The only way to reduce your weight is to reduce calories. The Alternate-Day Diet developed by James B. Johnson, M.D. achieves calorie restriction by severely limiting calories every second day so the result over time is a reduced calorie diet. This program is based on animal studies that indicate that restricting caloric intake on alternate days can turn on the “skinny” gene.

Getting started on the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™ plan is easy... and unlike many other diets, long-term adherence is easy, too! The diet is ideal for individuals who are trying to lose weight, but it is appropriate for anyone who is looking to improve their health and prevent premature aging. Dr. James Johnson developed the diet based on studies showing that alternate-day calorie restriction decreases the risk of disease and prolongs life in virtually all organisms tested. Resveratrol is also believed to promote similar effects. Read more

5 Herbal Remedies for Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction, formerly called impotence, is the inability to obtain an adequate erection for satisfactory sexual activity. About 300,000 men each year are diagnosed with erectile dysfunction in the United States alone. Although, pharmaceuticals are often used to treat the condition, they are not suitable for many men who have other medical problems. Besides that, drugs are expensive and may have side effects. Herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction may often be cheaper and safer than pharmaceuticals are. Here are five herbal remedies that are used for erectile dysfunction.

1) Aswagandha

The herb Aswagandha (Withania somnifera), also called Indian ginseng, has been known for centuries as a tonic for stress relief. It works by decreasing performance anxiety and aiding better circulation.

2) Damiana

Mexican natives are known to use the herb damiana (Turnera diffusa) as a male aphrodisiac. Damiana has proven efficacy in alleviating problems of achieving and maintaining erection among men, besides soothing anxiety symptoms rising from fears of inadequate sexual performance.

3) Gingko Biloba

The most important way that ginkgo biloba works as an aphrodisiac is by improving the circulatory system of the body. Among males, this also leads to improved arterial inflow to erectile tissues through arteries and veins without any adverse effect on systemic blood pressure. Enhanced supply of blood to the sex organs is crucial to attain and maintain erection. In this way use of ginkgo biloba may help in the treatment of impotence caused by poor circulation among men. Among healthy males, it can help in achieving prompt and longer lasting erections as well as more intense orgasms.

4) Ginseng
One of the herbal remedies that has gained considerable acceptance in recent years is Ginseng. Although the term ginseng has been used to refer to a variety of unrelated plants, many of them show remarkably similar properties and thereputic values. Among them, Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng), Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), and Female ginseng (Angelica sinensis or Dong Quai) show poptential as treatments for erectile dysfunction.

5) Saw Palmetto

Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) has received attention in the past years as an effective treatment for libido loss for its ability to help the body retain testosterone levels.

Erectile dysfunction is a condition that affects a lot of men, but just because you have it, does not mean that you have to use pharmaceutical for the rest of your life in order to have sex. For many men, herbal remedies are a viable alternative to erectile dysfunction drugs. Consult with an alternative medical practitioner or herbalist about the best herbal remedy for your condition. Before you know it, erectile dysfunction may become just a bad memory.

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Bruce Lee's Ab Move: The Dragon Flag

Bruce Lee’s go-to abs exercise is your ticket to true core strength.

The dragon flag, a move named after its supposed inventor, Bruce Lee, isn’t just a flashy exercise that got dumped into the Rocky IV training montage because it looked cool. “It’s intense and very tough on your entire core,” says Jon Chaimberg, a strength coach for some of the world’s top MMA fighters. “The key is to work it slowly.” Despite the obvious advantages most guys still don’t write it into their programs. Remedy that by grabbing onto a bench and following the simple steps below. You’ll feel like a champ once you’ve finished a few sets. Just be careful. Screaming “Drago!” while you’re doing it will probably get you kicked out of the gym. Read more

Natural Ways to Treat Insomnia

Learn prevention tips and treatments for insomnia from pharmacologist Joe Graedon of the popular public radio show The People's Pharmacy.

A Fitness Plan So Easy a Caveman Could Do It

Mark Sisson's fitness plan requires minimum effort for maximum effect. If you just want to be fit, this is the simplest, easiest program you will find.

... But what’s the best way to exercise?

The mainstream prescription for exercise is ineffective, unsustainable, and downright unpleasant. Don’t believe me? Head down to your local gym and tell me what you see:

Men and women logging endless miles on a treadmill, slogging through their workouts with miserable looks on their faces and a perpetual spare tire around their waists – that never seems to go away.

Pencil-legged guys using machines to isolate individual arm muscles, staring in the mirror, and getting nowhere.

People trudging wearily across the gym parking lot, looking like they’re heading for an execution.

I don’t know about you, but that sounded like an awful way of exercising to me, so I decided to come up with my own program.

I call it Primal Blueprint Fitness, and it’s incredibly simple, to-the-point, and highly effective. Read more

Feed Your Brain

A fish-rich diet speeds it up and boosts memory, says Sadie Whitelocks.

Eating oily fish such as salmon and trout can significantly improve your memory say scientists.

A new study found that a fatty acid found in fish and seafood can boost memory function by 15 per cent.

Scientists are now highlighting the importance of a fish-rich diet for maintaining optimal brain health and preventing the onset of dementia. Read more