ArcaMax

"Red is a powerful color," a report by the folks at Scientific American proclaims, "the color of love and of hate. ... Some of the hue's significance has a biological basis. Many humans get red in the face from increased blood flow when they are angry. A similar process activates a flush of embarrassment." The sight of red can also trigger a ...Read more

As the saying goes, "you are what you eat." This mantra of sorts was said to have first been coined as early as 1826 by French philosopher Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. Its meaning has resonated throughout the years and seems especially relevant in 2025. What it is saying is that the food one consumes directly impacts not only one's health and ...Read more

An August Gallup poll reveals that nearly half of Americans now view alcohol consumption as bad for health. Notes Jamie Ducharme in a Time magazine report, "drinking, at least in moderation, was once seen as a harmless -- or even healthy -- indulgence that could strengthen your heart and even lengthen your lifespan. But in many scientific ...Read more

As I pointed out last week, tobacco consumption in the Americas goes back over 1,000 years. And today, if we have learned anything, it is that it is one very old and deadly habit we can't seem to shake off and eliminate. Tobacco continues to hold firm as the leading cause of preventable death and disease in this country.

At the same time, a ...Read more

According to World History Encyclopedia, the act of smoking tobacco "in the Americas goes back over 1,000 years when natives of the region chewed or smoked the leaves of the plant," which grew wild but would eventually be cultivated and ultimately commercialized globally. Despite all we know of the habit's association with death and disease, it ...Read more

If you subscribe to the resolution of eating healthier in 2025 but don't know exactly where to start, Dr. Federica Amati, a registered public health nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition, has a suggestion for you.

"Start with the worst offender: soda. The evidence of links between high intakes of soda and poor health outcomes is now ...Read more

Well, sure enough, it wasn't long after the ball dropped in Times Square, and the last sparkler across the land had fizzled, that tallies as to the most popular New Year's resolutions for 2025 were issued. And sure enough, there in the top five, according to the data company Statista, sits "to eat healthier." According to a CBS News report, many...Read more

When this year's favorite New Year's resolutions are compiled and reported upon, I believe (or maybe just hope) "eat better in 2025" will be a prominent one. That means steering clear of ultraprocessed foods. As many of you may know, I have been beating the drum on the issue of diet-related chronic disease and its connection to ultraprocessed ...Read more

To say it's cold outside is a relative statement. It depends on where you live and how one defines "cold." As America is the fourth-largest geographic country in the world, temperatures here can run the gambit from tropical to polar, with lots of varying conditions in between. The thing we all share is that winter is now upon us. But to be clear...Read more

Back in 2013, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss released a book that was destined to become a bestseller. Some would proclaim it to be one of the best books of the year. In the provocatively titled "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us," Moss enlightens readers with some troubling and shocking facts about ...Read more

Say you happen upon an older individual walking along at a brisk pace. It's midday and they are wearing just regular street clothes, nothing that would be considered exercise wear. But they are walking in a way that says exercising is exactly what they are doing. You notice them because they are talking out loud as they walk, engaged in an ...Read more

At this point, it should surprise no one that many of the foods Americans eat nowadays are ultra-processed and spiked with chemical ingredients designed to enhance their flavor, texture, color, shelf life and addictive appeal. They make up what Amy Bentley, a food historian and professor at New York University, calls "the industrial palate." As ...Read more