Expert Contributor: Boost Your Superhuman Abilities with these Five High-Performance Tips

What would it take to become a superhero like Captain America? I’m sure all the fanboys are rolling their eyes, thinking, “The Super Soldier Serum, duh!” OK, maybe the Captain is out of our league – but not by too much. Attaining consistently high performance without breakdown, with the help of nutrition and recovery, has been my main focus for many years. I developed an approach that helps to identify, rectify and maximize human performance and supercharge health. This system is the result of 20 years of extensive research in the highly fragmented field of sports performance. I conducted my own expert interviews, as well as incorporated my own real-life experience working with professional athletes, which currently includes 20 out of the world’s top 50 golfers. Chronic Inflammation The core principle of my method is to eliminate chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is like a slow fire burning constantly through the body, leaving a path of scarred joints, muscles and t
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New Peanut Study In Infants Opens Up a New Line of Thinking About Allergies

If you’ve ever known a friend or family member with a peanut allergy, you understand the care and awareness that’s necessary to prevent a serious issue. Peanuts are the most common cause of food-related death, and affect over three million people in the United States alone. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has shown that feeding peanuts to infants that are at high risk of developing a peanut allergy, can significantly reduce the risk of developing a peanut allergy as they age. By 2008, many studies showed no evidence to support the claim that elimination of allergens from a diet helped in preventing the development of food allergies, causing the American Academy of Pediatrics to revise its stance on the topic. Since then, it has been unclear as to whether early exposure of the allergen might be an effective measure to prevent the allergy. This study is a big step in providing answers to this question. About 500 Infants between 4 and 11 months old who were
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Antibiotics and Superbugs: Recent Outbreak Highlights Dangers

An outbreak of a “superbug” at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has left two dead and more than 170 exposed to the deadly bacteria that’s resistant to strong antibiotics. Medical devices used in endoscopic procedures were found to be housing the superbug carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CRE produces an enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM, that eliminates the effectiveness of antibiotics. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the endoscopes had not been properly sanitized, even though they had gone through a thorough disinfection process. The NDM-producing CRE bacteria was still present on the endoscopes after following the manufacturer’s directed cleaning procedure. A superbug is a strain of bacteria that’s heavily resistant to different types of antibiotics. The CDC estimates that 23,000 people are killed and over two million people are affected by superbugs each year. The rise of these statistics in
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Nestle Moves to Eliminate Artificial Colors and Flavors From Chocolate Candy

Earlier this week, Nestle USA announced a commitment to remove all artificial flavors and colors from its line of chocolate candy products by the end of 2015. The move comes as a response to research conducted by the brand that indicated a strong preference for the removal of these artificial ingredients from its products. The popular Nestle Crunch bar will now use real vanilla instead of artificial vanillin. Butterfinger’s new recipe will be replacing Red 40 and Yellow 5 food coloring with annatto, a natural food coloring that’s derived from the seeds of the achiote tree. Annatto is commonly used to color various cheeses and will help maintain Butterfinger’s signature orange center. It’s worth noting that there are anecdotal cases of food allergies related to annatto, many of which link to irritable bowel syndrome. In this letter to the editor of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, a retired immunologist urges more studies be done on this potential link between an anna
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Ring in the Year of the Goat with these delicious recipes!

In honor of this Chinese New Year, we thought we’d take a look at one of the staples of Chinese culture: the (delicious) food. First, a quick history lesson on why a typical Chinese restaurant in America serves dishes that Chinese citizens may have never heard of before. When Chinese immigration began to rise during the California Gold Rush, many of the citizens coming into the country were from a rural area called Taishan. After this short period, the United States passed a series of anti-immigration laws, severely limiting the Chinese immigration cap. Until the laws were changed in the 1960s, a large portion of the Chinese population in America was from this rural region, either descendants or relatives of the original population that migrated. What Americans came to know as Chinese food was being represented by a small rural region of a gigantic country. If you think about how much the types of food can vary among different cities of the U.S., never mind when it involves a rura
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Following Your Passions Leads to Greatness

In an ideal world, we’d all love our jobs. When we can work with enthusiasm, doing something we truly like, it fires our creativity, our energy and our stamina. It also spills over into our personal life in positive ways. We can accomplish great things. Jack Haskel, trail information specialist for the Pacific Crest Trail Association – a guy who loves his job – talked to Well.org recently about a man who followed his passions and became an American icon, John Muir. Muir founded the Sierra Club, the American environmental movement and was personal hiking buddy to President Teddy Roosevelt. The stretch of trail that began what would eventually become the Pacific Crest Trail is named after him. And it’s also likely there would be no National Park system without him. That’s following your passions. “If anything, he was just a fan of natural places and getting out and walking and protecting places, so the spirit can soar,” Haskel says. “He just wrote a lot and promoted the
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Rutgers Study Links ADHD and Common Pesticide

It’s estimated that 2.5 percent of adults and 5 percent of children in the United States have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. The condition is often spotted in school-age children with symptoms including distractibility, fidgeting and frequent daydreaming. While causes for the condition are still unknown and current thought points to a genetic component, a new Rutgers study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology has discovered a possible link between the pyrethroid pesticide deltamethrin and ADHD. The researchers found that mice exposed to the pesticide in utero and during breastfeeding demonstrated hyperactivity, attention deficits, dysfunctional dopamine signaling in the brain and impulsive behavior, which are often seen in those with ADHD. The study’s lead author Jason Richardson says that based on the findings, exposure to pyrethroid pesticides like deltamethrin may be a risk factor for ADHD. In addition to the find
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Is Your Water Chlorine-Free?

Water is one of those basic elements of life a lot of Western civilization tends to take for granted. We don’t give it much thought unless there’s a reason. Well, here’s a pretty good one: chlorine. You might be thinking: “I filter my drinking water, so I’m good!” It’s not the drinking water we’re talking about. We’re talking about the water that goes on your skin. “It’s completely dehydrating and damaging,” says organic skin care expert Kim Walls. “It’s horrible for the microbiome [natural beneficial microorganisms residing in our bodies]. It’s horrible for the skin’s cell structure. It’s horrible for the mitochondria. It’s horrible with the energy source of the skin cells. It reduces the skin’s ability to regenerate and to turn over and it’s those new, fresh turnover cells that actually have that beautiful glow.” And while you’re in the shower thinking you’re doing your body good, you might actually be doing your skin a disservice. The h
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Is Mold in Your Home Making You Sick?

We watch what we eat and we exercise regularly, but a commonly overlooked aspect of our health is our living environment. What’s even more troubling is the toxins that may already exist in our homes. Dave Asprey, who is now an expert in high-performance mind and body training and founder of The Bulletproof Executive, learned firsthand about how your home can impact your health from when he was growing up. He suffered from toxic mold exposure because the basement he lived in had suffered water damage from a flood. And Asprey was breathing in the toxic mold every day. At the time, he was overweight, had asthma and suffered from frequent nosebleeds, sometimes 10 times a day. He would bruise for no reason and had rashes all over his body. The doctors he went to didn’t have answers for him even after performing an allergy test. “They said, ‘You’re allergic to cockroaches and kapok,’ which is a kind of filler for life vests in the ‘70s,” Asprey says. “I’m like, ‘Really
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Multiple Studies Confirm Flower Power

Happiness and good health can start with flowers. According to a behavioral study by Rutgers University in 2005 and others by Harvard and Texas A & M universities, the presence of flowers can bring immediate and lasting positive effects. Some might see it as old fashioned, but it might be the best way to make your Valentine’s Day come up roses. Researchers from Rutgers studied first how women responded when given flowers, then how both men and women reacted when receiving a flower in an elevator. Finally, they studied members of different retirement communities when flowers were present in their homes. The 10-month study found that all – regardless of gender, age or ethnic group – who were presented with flowers conveyed genuine smiles and gratitude for what they had received. People also said the moods were lifted with flowers around. They reported feeling happier, less nervous and had a greater sense of enjoyment in general after receiving flowers, even creating more social in
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