Despite the bad rap that saturated fats have, there’s a lot of evidence indicating that saturated fat is essentially good for you. The real harmful and unhealthy fats include trans fats, hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils.

If your goal is to lose weight, look and feel your best and live a healthy, vibrant life, be aware of the damaging additives and synthetic chemicals in the foods you buy and eat. Seventy-five percent of the average American diet is from processed and packaged foods, which equates to approximately 10 pounds of additives eaten annually.

From the moment chocolate was discovered it was considered a valuable, divine and decadent treat. The first chocolate candies were invented in the 1860s by Cadbury, who was also the first to market them in a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day that same decade.

It seems that every culture has a probiotic food that has been made for centuries. The Koreans have Kimchi. The Japanese have Miso Soup and Kombucha. The Africans have Amasi and the list goes on and on. Our history and ancestors have fermented and preserved many types of foods. This actually benefited our health and well being. Meanwhile, in our generation we have gone away from these traditions and have added antibiotics to our bodies. These antibiotics can be found in both our medicine and our food. This has caused a great imbalance in the beneficial bacteria that belongs in our bodies. This imbalance has contributed to a wide variety of diseases. Today, we are seeing a great come back with both probiotic supplements and foods.

When Jay Mesinger heard about a study seeking Golden Retrievers to help fight canine cancer, he immediately signed up 2-year-old Louie.

From raisins to onions to acetaminophen, the typical Ahwatukee home is filled with items that can be toxic to pets.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the No. 1 cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. The top risk factors, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, diabetes and obesity are poorly treated, often with toxic pharmaceutical drugs, and most patients never reach their goals. There are also more than 400 coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and mediators now proven.

The Mountain Pointe baseball team has been invited to participate in the USA Baseball’s 2014 National High School Invitational (NHSI) next season.

We are all familiar with the fact that chemicals, particularly pesticides and herbicides, have negative side effects. The United States and international government agencies have acknowledged that different pesticides have been linked to a variety of health problems including hormonal disruption, skin, eye and lung irritation, birth defects, weight gain, nervous system toxicity and cancer. Many times, the negative effects of pesticides can take a long time to show, and by the time symptoms are clear, a lot of damage may have already been done.

After the holidays thousands of people make New Year’s resolutions. Included at the top of this list is getting healthier, fitter and losing weight. The majority of people who make New Year’s resolutions give up on their goals within four to six weeks.

With flu season upon us, many people question whether or not they should get a flu shot. Instead of putting your health at great risk by getting a flu shot, a healthier option is to boost your immune system naturally and limit immune suppressors.

So much of Chinese medicine is linked to how our emotions are connected to our health and well being.  In fact the very fundamentals of Chinese medicine are reflected in the five elemental theory. This theory states each major organ has a specific emotion that affects it. It also states that out of that negative emotion can come a positive drive. For instance, at one point in my life I got angry with the way that I was being treated as a patient. I was also upset that there were no options to help me in my condition. If that wouldn’t of happened I would have never thought of becoming a health care provider. Out of that anger came a passion to help others in their healing process.

In her second book, Ahwatukee Foothills resident and fitness expert Paula Owens hopes to share the secret to permanent weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.

The holiday season is upon us. Over the next few weeks, schedules will be filled with shopping, holiday parties, relatives, plenty of food and spirits and obligations. Socializing during the holidays can be stressful and challenging for some people, especially if your friends and family are not as health-conscious as you. The abundance of holiday treats and homemade goodies can be hard to resist. Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to avoid holiday weight gain.

Insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and obesity (diabesity) are global epidemics that continue to rise and come with major health consequences. Type 2 diabetes is commonly associated with poor diet and inactivity. However, there is now evidence of autoimmunity in Type 2 diabetes.

Which scenario would you prefer?

If you aren’t in the mood for a big, fat rant — skip this article. If you are (most find my ire humorous), sit back and enjoy. Because “obesogens” have me riled up.

The transition to menopause can be an unpredictable and uncomfortable time in a woman’s life.

Did you know that every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer? Do you think breast cancer affects women only? Think again. Men are not exempt from breast cancer. Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. Although there are numerous reasons why women predominantly experience estrogen dominance (use of birth control, menopause and pregnancy), both men and women are increasingly affected by estrogen dominance.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and current health statistics indicate that asthma is the most chronic childhood disease in Arizona, affecting 9.4 percent of children and being a leading cause of absences from school.

More than 300 million people worldwide experience severe or debilitating headaches. Migraines alone affect 9 percent of the U.S. population and cost $1 billion a year in direct medical expenses. The incidence of individuals who suffer migraine headaches has increased by 50 percent within the last 20 years with 75 percent of migraine sufferers being women.

Teenage girls may prefer the pill, the patch or even wishful thinking, but their doctors should be recommending IUDs or hormonal implants — long-lasting and more effective birth control that you don’t have to remember to use every time, the nation’s leading gynecologists group said on Sept. 20.

A recently released study on human energy expenditure (“Hunter-Gatherer Energetics and Human Obesity,” Herman Pontzer et al.) has garnered some attention in the media. The reason for all the attention? The study debunks a commonly held belief that our obesity epidemic is in large part due to our decreased physical activity.

Despite the bad rap that saturated fats have, there’s a lot of evidence indicating that saturated fat is essentially good for you. The real harmful, unhealthy fats are trans fats, hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils.

Patient after patient asked: Is eating organic food, which costs more, really better for me?