Fitness

Electrolytes are more than just ingredients in colorful sports drinks. They play a crucial role in hydration, and they’re also necessary for nerve function and muscle contractions. In this article, we explore the many ways electrolytes are essential for bodily functions and how to maintain a healthy electrolyte balance with your food and beverages.

Strong muscles aren’t just for athletes, bodybuilders, and actors in superhero movies. Building and maintaining muscle mass as you age is critical for your overall health. Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to move your body, strong muscles can protect against metabolic disorders and even lower the risk of dementia. So what are the best ways to build muscle? What’s the role of exercise and food? And is it really possible to get and stay strong if you don’t eat animal products?

As the earth’s human population tops eight billion, we need to figure out how to feed all those people without destroying the planet itself. In recent years, pea protein has emerged as a promising alternative to animal sources of protein, like meat and dairy. But is pea protein, a processed food, really better for us and the environment?

We’ve known about the vitamin antioxidants for a long time: vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene leap to mind. Recently, other phytonutrients such as lycopene and resveratrol have been having their day in the sun. But there’s one antioxidant that may be the most important of all, and it hasn’t really received the amount of attention justified by its impressive benefits. In this article, let’s get to know the dietary antioxidant glutathione.

Feed a cold, and starve a fever. Or is it the other way around? It can be hard to separate fact from well-meaning fiction when it comes to preventing and recovering from colds and flu. But science has been busy, and now we have simple and powerful strategies to keep from catching a cold — and to suffer less and get better faster if we do. Here are five lifestyle strategies and seven superfoods proven to help keep you well during cold and flu season.

The cutting edge of medicine is largely focused on longevity through genetic manipulation, nanotechnology, and advances in cellular science. While most of this is still in the realm of science fiction, the good news is that we already know a great deal about how to extend human life and health. There are several societies that produce far more than their expected share of centenarians and other healthy long-lived people. What can we learn from the Blue Zones, and how can we apply their wisdom to our lives?

When the conversation turns to weight loss, calories often take center stage. But is counting calories the only — or best — way to balance energy intake and expenditure? Or can focusing on calories confuse or disempower you, and distract you from what really matters when it comes to food choices?

For many people, hiking is one of the great joys of life. During a hike, you immerse yourself in the natural world and can boost both your physical health and your emotional well-being. But a lot of traditional hiking food undermines both reverence for nature — producing a lot of waste and contributing to environmental deterioration — and personal health. In this article, we’ll explore healthy, convenient, and delicious plant-based hiking food options.

The B vitamins are commonly grouped together as “B-complex,” but each one plays a unique role in your everyday health, metabolism, and body functions. Here’s why the B vitamins are so important, which ones may deserve extra attention, and where you can find them on a plant-based diet.

Green fitness means exercising outdoors, in nature. It conveys so many benefits that if it were a drug, it would be an all-time bestseller. And those benefits aren’t just for the people exercising in nature, but for the planet itself. So why would you exercise outdoors? What are the benefits? And how can we make nature accessible to all?

Some people love spinach, and others, well… don’t. Regardless of your feelings, what's the truth about spinach for your health? And how can you prepare it well in order to incorporate spinach as part of your regular diet, and get the most from its nutritional potential?

We used to check our watches only when we wanted to know what time it was. Now, that little device on your wrist can display your heart rate, blood oxygen, stress level, calories burned, and how many steps you’ve taken since you got out of bed. Health trackers are here to stay. And they’re getting ever more sophisticated in the data they can collect, and the nudges they can provide. But should you wear one? And if so, which kind? And are there any downsides to them?