Alternative News & Perspectives

Americans are rethinking what belongs in their supplement cabinets. A study published in JAMA Network Open tracked how supplement habits changed across more than two decades of nationally representative health data, and the pattern it revealed is clear.1 The old approach, grab a multivitamin and call it a day, is giving way to more complex, individualized routines built around specific nutrients and health goals. This shift ...

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published December 31, 2025. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide, with an estimated 404.6 million cases in 2019 — and women are affected the most.1 They’re often blamed on hygiene habits or anatomy, but a growing body of research points to another contributor — contaminated meat. For years, I’ve reported ...

Most people think of tooth decay as a surface problem — something that starts on the outside of your tooth and works its way in. Brushing, flossing and regular dental visits target that outer layer, and they matter. But your teeth aren't static objects. They're living structures that constantly lose and regain minerals. That process depends on what's happening inside your body, not just what you ...

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are disorders characterized by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, leading to their eventual death. This decline disrupts essential brain functions, resulting in symptoms that significantly impair daily living and overall quality of life. Common neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).1 Individuals affected by these conditions often experience memory loss, impaired movement, and difficulties ...

For decades, xanthan gum has slipped into the food supply with almost no scrutiny. Manufacturers add it to gluten-free breads, salad dressings, sauces, ice cream, protein shakes, and countless packaged foods because it thickens, stabilizes, and improves texture without changing flavor. Many people don't think twice when they see it on an ingredient label. Yet that confidence rests on surprisingly little long-term safety data, and most ...

If you have ever abandoned a supplement routine, the problem may not have been discipline. It may have been its complexity. Most supplement routines ask you to add tasks to a day that already has too many, and before you know it, the routine of taking it falls by the wayside. For a supplement to make a difference in your health, the formula needs to be ...

Ultraprocessed foods have moved from a niche nutrition concern to the center of a national debate, and researchers recently asked a question that gets skipped in most of that conversation: What do Americans actually want their government to do about it? Not whether people think these foods are healthy, but which specific policies they'd support — official definitions, dietary guidance, school restrictions, grocery store limits, or ...

Dementia is characterized by progressive loss of memory, thinking, judgment, and the ability to carry out everyday tasks. This means the brain gradually loses the ability to process information normally, making familiar conversations, appointments, and even simple daily routines increasingly difficult. In advanced stages, it can lead to dependence on others for daily care, which is exactly why the modifiable factors discussed in the featured research ...

Long before refrigeration, people figured out that pulling water from food bought them time — to survive winter, travel long distances, or weather a bad harvest. That instinct still shapes modern pantries, lunchboxes, hiking packs, military rations, and disaster supplies, where compact, lightweight, shelf-stable food matters most. But the methods have changed dramatically. Beyond the familiar hot-air dehydrator, food manufacturers now reach for freeze-drying, vacuum drying, ...

Once people awaken to vaccine issues, one question emerges: why does the medical field maintain such rigid ideological attachment to vaccination? This phenomenon reflects three converging factors: • First, human society has always been defined by competing groups vying for status and wealth, and it is a very recent development that doctors have attracted the prestige and salary the profession commands. This was accomplished through: ◦Market ...

When it comes to nutritional supplementation regimens, most research focuses on what's in the bottle. Far fewer studies investigate the more decisive question: what makes a person actually take it, day after day, long after the initial motivation has faded? Because the finest nutrient ever formulated does nothing if it stays in the bottle. As it turns out, human behavior has some stubborn patterns worth understanding, ...

Americans now consume linoleic acid (LA) at levels that would have been unimaginable a century ago — close to 30 grams per day, up from just 2 grams in the 1860s. That's led to a fundamental change in the way your body operates at the cellular level. This polyunsaturated fat (PUF) was once a minor player in the human diet. You need it, but only in ...

We don't fight food the way we fight pills. There's a reason a child will happily eat a strawberry and fight you over a vitamin. We are wired for food. It's familiar, it's pleasurable, it belongs to some of the most enjoyable parts of our day. Taking a pill, by contrast, tends to feel clinical — a dutiful act we perform because we either know or ...

Over the last year, I've worked to bring the public's attention to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) a forgotten natural therapy which rapidly treats a wide range of conditions and that many studies have shown is very safe (provided it's used correctly), and most importantly (thanks to the 1994 DSHEA act which legalized all natural therapies)1 is now readily available. Since I believe DMSO has immense potential to ...

Walk any supplement aisle and you're basically walking through a contest of numbers; 1,000 milligrams of this, 5,000 units of that. High potency. Extra strength. Mega dose. The entire pitch rests on a single unspoken promise: that more is better, and the biggest number on the bottle wins. Most people sense, somewhere, that this can't be the whole truth. And there's an everyday clue. Take a ...

Children sit in a dental chair with little say over the material placed in their mouth. The choice may depend on the dentist they see, what their insurance covers, or which government program pays for the procedure. Parents may simply hear "dental filling" and consent without being told that dental amalgam is made with approximately 50% mercury. Mercury is the most vaporous of the heavy metals, ...

Chocolate has a history that stretches back thousands of years. Ancient civilizations prized cacao as both a food and a ceremonial drink, and today dark chocolate is often promoted as a healthier choice because it contains antioxidant compounds called polyphenols. You break off a square or two expecting something close to a guilt-free pleasure, rich, satisfying, and backed by articles praising its benefits. What you probably ...

You may have heard of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an organosulfur compound, as a remedy for joint pain or inflammation. DMSO is produced both naturally and synthetically. It's found in trace amounts in certain foods and widely used as a solvent in scientific research and industrial processes due to its ability to dissolve organic compounds. In medicine, DMSO is used as a topical pain reliever and anti-inflammatory ...

If I were stranded on a desert island or knew the world was ending and I could only bring a few therapies with me, one of them, without a doubt, would be DMSO. This is because: It effectively addresses acute injuries (e.g., sprains) and chronic musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., arthritis). It’s one of the most effective pain killers in existence. It treats severe, often incurable illnesses and ...

For nearly 40 years, beta blockers have been a standard prescription after a heart attack. Today, more than 80% of patients who survive an uncomplicated myocardial infarction leave the hospital with one of these drugs.1 A myocardial infarction, better known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow to part of the heart becomes blocked, causing damage to heart muscle. Symptoms often include chest pain, pressure, ...