And when you start learning about the causes and triggers of inflammation, it can begin to feel a little overwhelming. How do you know if you’re suffering from it? Do you absolutely need to get a bunch of fancy tests or pay out-of-pocket to see an integrative medicine doctor? Here’s how to know if chronic inflammation is a problem for you: According to Marvin Singh, M.D., an integrative gastroenterologist, the common signs he looks for in his patients include “joint aches, rashes, fatigue, food sensitivities, bloating, fever, mouth sores, abdominal pain, bloating, allergies, brain fog, changes in bowel habits, muscular pains, obesity, hormone imbalance, among many other things....

“We need to stop blaming ourselves,” Hari says. “If you can’t focus and pay attention, if your kids can’t focus and pay attention, it’s not your fault. There’s not something wrong with them; there’s something wrong with the environment in which we live.” Leading philosopher of attention in the world James Williams, Ph.D., worked as a Google strategist for over 10 years. During his tenure at Google, he saw firsthand what big tech companies are doing to monopolize people’s attention....

Her words have even more resonance in today’s on-demand culture where porn (largely produced, directed, and watched by men) is sometimes the only sex education young men get. But in her book, O Wow: Discovering Your Ultimate Orgasm, Jenny Block suggests that it has more to do with female-to-female sex being less about reaching a proverbial finish line and more about creatively exploring pleasure. Does that mean straight women are just stuck with the short end of the stick forever (no pun intended)?...

To my surprise, visualization worked stunningly well. It seemed that as soon as I started practicing visualization for weight loss, a subtle shift happened inside of me. I just wasn’t as hungry. I started to crave healthier foods, and I started to become more active. I had more energy and less appetite. In just over two years I lost 220 pounds without forcibly restricting the quantity or quality of the foods I ate, and without forcing myself to exercise....

Beyond their plump golden interior, the stem4 and peel (and sometimes leaves) of pineapple plants are also praised for their anti-inflammatory5 and immune-supporting6 abilities. That’s because they contain bromelain, a type of digestive enzyme derived from pineapple juice, peel, and stem. Among its multiple uses, bromelain’s5 therapeutic benefits expand from treating osteoarthritis7 and cardiovascular disease8 to reducing oxidative stress and inflammation9. We can all agree that food is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal when it comes to combating inflammation....

“Although certain types of approved pesticides can be used in organic agriculture, they are often natural substances, whereas conventional agriculture uses harsher man-made pesticides,” says registered dietician, Erika Fox, RDN. Additionally, Fox says organic produce is grown using natural fertilizers compared to conventional, which uses (you guessed it) synthetic fertilizer. Our soil contains critical microbial life that typically gets destroyed when crops are sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and so on....

While body acne may be easier to hide at times, it can still cause deeply rooted insecurity and frustration. Plus, knowing how to treat acne on parts of the body, like the chest isn’t always as openly discussed. To help you out, we asked derms for the 101 on chest acne from causes to treatments and more. Let’s dive in. “However, as compared to facial acne, there are a few things that set it apart, primarily the fact that chest and back acne can more easily be aggravated by excessive sweating and heat because clothing can further occlude the skin and contribute to irritation and friction,” Fenton adds....