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I’m all for the health benefits of exposure to natural sunlight, but with skin cancer rates on the rise, it’s important to be mindful of the sun’s potentially harmful effects on your skin and prevent getting sunburn or overexposure.

But the ingredients of many sunscreens on the market may be cause for concern, too. Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) evaluates the ingredients and effectiveness of over 1,500 sunscreens and SPF-rated moisturizers and lip balms, with particular at…

I wake up this morning to a toxic smell, likely coming from a navy ship that is currently burning off of San Diego. I can only imaging what toxic stuff is being released into the environment. I check the air quality in the region using an app. It doesn’t look good, and we are facing a heat wave which will make it worse.

Normally, we have windows open for fresh air. But this morning I run around making sure all of them are fully shut and turn my three air purifiers on full blast. Yes, I have…

• Do you experience energy crashes in the afternoon?
• Are you a night owl, getting a boost after 10 pm?
• Do you suffer from indigestion, but only at night?
• Do you drag in the morning, struggling to get up and get going?

We all experience shifts in mood, energy level, digestion, and many other physiological processes that correspond with our 24-hour day (AKA circadian rhythm). But instead of fighting these rhythms which can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, mental fog, indigesti…

It wasn’t too long ago that scientists believed that mapping the human genome would provide us with the answers to the mysteries of life and lead to the cure for many diseases. Well, the human genome project was completed in 2003, and although a few gene technologies have been developed to help some rare diseases, it turns out that our genes are less like a static and unchanging map and more like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” series.

Choose Your Own Adventure

You see, instead of our geneti…

Hand Sanitizer Hazards: Why You Should Still Wash Your Hands

We saw a mad rush for hand sanitizer this year with concern about spread of germs due to the pandemic. But while hand sanitizer may be a good alternative when soap and water are not available, frequent use of hand sanitizer can create issues such as dry skin or dermatitis, alter the microbiome, expose you to hazardous chemicals, and in some cases it is just not as effective as washing your hands. Is hand sanitizer really the key t…

The Karma of Consciousness

In “Resilient Health: How to Thrive in Our Toxic World” I write about the karma of consciousness in terms of climate change and our toxic environment. And these principles can also apply to many areas of our lives beyond our physical environment. How do our actions and our choices create the world we live in?

“… One way to think about this issue is in terms of karma, which is a word that is sometimes misunderstood, but in simplified terms just means action. When …

Tending Your Mental Garden

In the early morning, I sat pulling weeds one by one. Gripping them by their roots and placing them in a bucket to discard, they seemed endless. As I labored on, this ordinary task got me thinking, because these weeds were actually growing in artificial turf! Despite my best efforts to discourage their growth, there they were – sprouting precisely and somewhat unexpectedly where I did not want them.

As I carefully and meditatively grasped each one by the root, I …

Take a Media Fast

[Excerpt from “Resilient Health: How to Thrive in Our Toxic World” by Valencia Porter, MD, MPH]

“…while it may seem informing and even empowering, the media in all forms is designed to influence your behaviors, thoughts, and feelings—sometimes to the point of manipulation.”

For most of my life, the television was a constant fixture and was on any time that I was home. But when my daughter was an infant, I suddenly became more aware of the constant stream of violence …

What’s the Difference with Different Probiotic Species and Strains?

Different strains of probiotic bacteria have been shown to have different functions and are concentrated in various places along the digestive tract and in and on the body. For supporting the general microbiome, I usually recommend products that contain multiple strains of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and other species.

Some strains have been identified as having particular health effects:

• L. acidophilus: supports di…

Mind Your Microbes

In the last century, a war was waged against disease-causing microbes. This was an important advance in reducing harm caused by infections. But more recent scientific research has shown us that not all microbes are harmful. And in fact, some can be vitally important to our health and wellbeing. And it is the balance of this ecology that we must pay attention to.

The symbiotic bacteria that we live with – called our microbiome – do a lot of things for us. In addition to p…