Processed foods can be a double-edge sword. On one hand, they’re easy, convenient time savers. But they are often made with questionable ingredients, from high fructose corn syrup, excessive salt and added sugars.

In 1942, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals introduced the first hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women going through menopause. Over the intervening decades, doctors have gone back and forth on the safety and efficacy of using HRT to treat symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal discomfort.

Many of us take active measures to control our exposure to germs. This includes carrying hand sanitizer, cleaning public spaces with antiseptic wipes and stocking our homes with antibacterial soap.

Ten years ago, the World War ll-era British motivational catchphrase, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” reemerged as a worldwide meme. And for good reason. We’re always dealing with a regional, national or global crisis, be it a weather-related catastrophe, war, economic decline or a pandemic. Even so, the stress level of these remote crises pale in comparison to that of personal challenges like illness, death of a loved one, divorce and financial woes.

In a world plagued with chaos, how do you keep calm and carry on?

Summer 2023 was the hottest summer on record, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (more commonly known as NASA). And summer 2024 is on track to beat it.

American interest in gut health began rising about 15 years ago. But research on gut microbiome dates back to the 1840s when European scientists studied the role of bacteria in the breakdown of food, the effects gut microorganisms have on health and the importance of probiotics.

Here’s a little secret about your heart: Your ticker loves it when you sleep.

Good, consistent sleep is great for our heart. Poor sleep, notsomuch.

Sleep helps everything from our immune system to our mental health. But our heart also benefits.

Let’s start with blood pressure. When we sleep, our heart rate slows down and our blood pressure decreases. This gives our cardiovascular system a reprieve from the day’s stresses while our cells repair themselves.

Sleep is still a little bit of a mystery. While we don’t know everything about sleep, we think it does several important things.

Sleep helps us conserve energy. When we sleep, our metabolic rate drops. We use about 35 percent less energy than we do when we’re awake.

That doesn’t mean our body is at complete rest when we’re snoozing. For example, our body is busy repairing the damage we did when we were awake. Our cells repair themselves and regrow. They create proteins and hormones and other substances that help us function when our eyes are open.

Will the bird flu be the next pandemic? The answer is probably no. In fact, only one mild case has been found in humans in 2024.

But that hasn’t stopped it from being front-page news.

Yes, public health officials are on high alert: Bird flu has a high death rate. However, the rate of transmission to humans is very low and vaccines to help prevent it and medications used to treat it are still effective, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 50 percent of the world’s population relies on rice. It’s a staple in more than 100 countries because it’s affordable, convenient and versatile, lending itself to many different dishes and types of meals.

Generally, rice is gluten-free, high in carbohydrates, with some fiber and protein and very little sugar and fat. Many rice varieties are rich in vitamins, minerals and flavonoids – plant pigments with possible anti-cancer properties.