Health

My name is Elizabeth Vines, and I am a 39-year-old Breast Cancer Survivor.
To this day whenever I tell people that I 'had' cancer, I know that most people think I must have a family history of cancer because it’s just impossible to think young people could get such a horrible disease. Well that could not be further from the truth. Only 20% of breast cancer is considered hereditary, the other 80% are just your average women like myself. I'm married to a wonderful man for the last 14 years, and have an amazing 8-year-old son.

First, let’s get clear about what gluten is. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. And yes, it’s found in the ancient grains of wheat, like kamut, farro, einkorn and spelt. What about oats? The simple answer is oats are naturally gluten free. However, it is common practice that the machinery used to produce rolled oats, as an example, is the same machinery that is used for making crackers (from wheat). This practice contributes to significant cross-contamination between wheat and oats,

The storm of the #MeToo phenomenon has certainly stirred up the status quo. Many have been and are continuing to come out of the closet to admit to abusive sexual experiences that had been quietly swept under the rug for many years. Although much of the #MeToo publicity has centered around those in the limelight, there have been millions of ordinary people tweeting their own cries of #MeToo. And despite controversies around exacerbating false accusations, this movement is casting a needed light of awareness onto societal shadows.

After sorting through hundreds of Apps on the market that are in any way related to sexual health, intimacy, sexual desire, dating, relationships, sexual performance/functioning, fun & games, toys, flirting, and sex education; I found several that stood out in each category. Far too many to cover in one article… However, there were three that definitely stood above the rest when it came to helping couples with rekindling sexual desire, fostering closeness and connection in the bedroom, and learning new and creative ways of exploring sexual thoughts and fantasies.

Integrative and Functional Nutrition:
What should you expect when meeting with a healthcare professional? 

I’m often asked what is Functional Nutrition? What makes it different? Taking a peek at how an initial session with an experienced integrative practitioner unfolds reveals just how unique the experience is…
There are two things every new client should understand. First, “integrative” means that food is just one aspect of health. We also talk about stress, sleep, sunshine and movement (or lack thereof). Second, this is not “urgent care” – meaning that you aren’t showing up today because of something that happened yesterday.

I once heard a comedian say, “I’m sooo upset! My muffler just fell off my car and now I have to go buy a louder stereo.” The joke makes a point that can be well applied to American health care. We spend the majority of our resources trying to mask (ignore) symptoms instead of fixing the underlying problem.

The issues arising from the misdirected focus of treating symptoms is best illustrated when it comes to back pain. The standard medical approach consists of pain medication

Raynaud’s Syndrome occurs when the blood vessels supplying the fingers or toes (sometimes other parts of the body) are restricted to a trickle. This leaves them cold, white or blue in tone and often numb. The cause to Raynaud’s is medically unknown, but seems to be related to an overreaction to cold temperatures or stress. This article will share one woman’s journey to a resolution of Raynaud’s Syndrome in her left foot.

Sarah suffered for more than a month with a painful, blue, little toe on her left foot. She first visited her primary care physician who referred her to a vascular specialist.

One of the most common issues I come across in my work with couples is a lack of quality time together. In today’s world, it’s easy to get caught up in everything that has to get done at work and at home: long hours at work; home maintenance; running errands; shuttling kids or loved ones from place to place…endless “to-do” lists. Too frequently, I hear couples say that their quality time happens at the end of a long day, when they’re able to just collapse on the couch together

Your ability to hear is crucial throughout your day—whether talking to your family, hearing cars and other dangers when walking down the street, or when relaxing by listening to music or watching TV. However, with hearing loss, each of these becomes more difficult. Hearing loss can also be particularly detrimental at work.
Why hearing is so important

If you or your teenager suffers from acne, I invite you to learn which foods will make acne symptoms worse, and which foods may make it better.
Simply stated, one of my philosophies is to “add in to crowd out,” so before we get into the list of “don’ts”,

Tackling the Do's:
Consume 5 – 10 servings of veggies every day. Given the average American consumes just a couple of vegetables servings every day, think of this as a great opportunity to make improvements. There are lots of ways (aside from eating salads) to increase veggie consumption: smoothies, veggie noodles, and vegetable soups.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this scenario. There is something difficult weighing on your mind. Maybe you have a problem that needs to be addressed; a decision that needs an answer; an uncomfortable relationship issue. The difficulty often feels more and more overwhelming as nighttime approaches. And then you “sleep on it.” When you awaken in the morning you’ve got a fresh perspective. The problem that seemed so insurmountable last night does not feel so big. Why is this?

For most of our life, we’ve been bombarded by our parents, the media and food manufacturers about what to eat, how to eat and when to eat. Let’s expose some of the ‘food rules’ that we’ve formed (consciously or unconsciously) and actively decide which ones are worth breaking!

Breakfast: Many of you might gawk at me in a lecture when I suggest you try eating veggies for breakfast. I, myself, this morning had spinach

Meditation exploded onto the scene in 2017 and became more than a niche trend in the United States. Now it’s time to gain more clarity about what meditation is, what makes it valuable and why people from all walks of life would be savvy to incorporate it into their daily routine.
First, let’s get to the basics, it’s all about tuning in and waking up, NOT tuning out and turning off.

Dreams are a powerful natural resource containing incredible wisdom, support and guidance. In order to tap into this rich reservoir of our dreams, it helps to be able to recall them.

What keeps us from remembering our dreams?

Is it that some people are just naturally graced with excellent dream recall and others are destined to live a life cut off from the dream realm? We are all given the gift of dreams and we can all find ways to remember them.

I’ve received a lot of questions over the past several weeks about whether or not a vasectomy affects a man’s sexual functioning or desire. There seems to be a bit of confusion about what exactly occurs during a vasectomy procedure, and how it may or may not impact one’s sex life.

Alternative cancer treatments can't cure your cancer, but they may provide some relief from signs and symptoms.

Many people with cancer are interested in trying anything that may help them, including complementary and alternative cancer treatments. If cancer makes you feel as if you have little control over your health, alternative cancer treatments may offer some feeling of control. But many alternative cancer treatments are unproved and some may even be dangerous.

I hope you are having a life experience that pleases you most of the time. If you are, mind training will definitely enhance your enjoyment. If you’re not, mind training will definitely enhance your enjoyment.

Survival, Relief and Foundation
Increasing my own daily meditation practice 20-30% these past five months has gradually improved my inner state amidst a confluence of tumultuous life challenges.

The term detox is nothing new.  Over the last few years the term has skyrocketed in popularity and the detox definition barely makes sense any more. Everyone has a detox answer and a method

On the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 2011, I sat down with my family to watch television after a typical day at work. I’d performed ultrasounds and examined mammograms that day, as Director of Breast Imaging at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, and reviewed some of my research into 3-D mammography.

How much of your hard-earned cash is dished out for take-out or eat-in lunch each year? Never considered it? The total is about $3000 if you buy it Monday through Friday, 50 weeks out of the year. Besides the perceived convenience, what do you really get for those 3000 bucks? In other words, what’s the cost to your waistline,