The question of “why do we sleep?” has long been asked and has never been well understood. Despite it being a subject of study as early as the 1700’s (although probably earlier), there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding our need to spend up to a third of our lives in an unconscious state. As suggested by Jessen et al. (2015), the 25% reduction in brain energy metabolism isn’t really enough to suggest that sleep is a means of energy conservation. When thinking on an evolutionary scale,

How’s your new year’s resolution going? If you’re one of the stereotypical Americans who made a resolution to get in shape and lose weight this year, then you might also be the stereotypical American who loses motivation for that goal a few weeks into the new year. A new study published in Neurology may help you to regain that motivation.

It’s not uncommon for us to hear in the news about the negative effects that obesity can have on the peripheral parts of our body—things

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is pretty daunting. Current conventional medicine will tell you that there is no cure. The media is constantly reminding us that the disease is not just devastating to the person with the diagnosis, but to the caretakers as well. Especially in the beginning stages, it can be extremely frustrating for the inflicted person to know that they are losing their cognitive abilities and the capability to care for themselves. It’s no surprise that as people age, minor lapses in memory such as

Whether you skipped the turkey and opted for a soy-based protein during yesterday's holiday meal, or if you sat silently judging your millenial niece as she refused a serving of the feature dish, you might be wondering: "what's all the fuss about soy?"

Even if you aren't able to keep up with the latest health food trends, you’ve probably heard about soy and its reported health benefits and concern about its potential dangers. Depending on who you ask, you can hear vastly different opinions about the effects

When you're going back for seconds (or sevenths) at Thanksgiving dinner, load up on these brain boosting dishes.

Turkey

About an hour after the last slice of pie has been served, someone in your family - perhaps the crazy uncle, or the social-media obsessed aunt - will inevitably release an exaggerated yawn before blaming their sudden drowsiness on "all that tryptophan". It happens year after year. After 'Turkey' and 'Thanksgiving' itself, 'tryptophan' is the hottest buzz word every fourth Thursday in November. This oft-repeated myth even prevails despite

It’s not unusual to hear of a new study finding a link between the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and… well, pretty much anything: drinking too much alcohol, not drinking any alcohol, having a stroke, pre-eclampsia, not exercising enough, head trauma earlier in life, having high blood pressure, taking opioids, taking beta-blockers, eating soy, eating too many carbs and unhealthy fats, having diabetes, having herpes virus…the list goes on. As does the list of things to do to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease: exercise more, stay social, drink