Most Recent Health Tips, Health News, and Easy Healthy Recipes

In mentioning traditionally fermented sourdough bread in a previous post, I received a number of thoughtful messages on this topic, including the following from my friend Myra in Oaxaca, Mexico:

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Hi, Ben!

Thank you for your post about sourdough bread (and all your other great posts, also!). It's good to hear about how an ancient process can transform whole grain into a more generally useful foodstuff. Read more about Traditional Methods of Preparing Staple Foods

Just a brief post to share some information on a Japanese Chef's Knife that I recently gifted to myself and shared at our Instagram page. Read more about Japanese Chef's Knife

One of the first things that is taught in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is how to stand up efficiently while protecting oneself against a malevolent force.

Called the Technical Stand Up, the idea is to get back on your feet while retreating and remaining physically balanced and ready to defend yourself.

There are a few simple progressions that make learning the Technical Stand Up relatively straight forward. Read more about Technical Stand-Up Progressions

Dorsiflexion describes flexing your ankle joint up toward your head - it's the opposite of plantar flexion, which is what your ankles do when you stand on your tip toes.

Your ankles dorsiflex with every step you take, be it while walking or running. Ankle dorsiflexion is what allows your toes to clear the ground as your back leg swings in front of you and your heel touches the ground to begin your next stride. Read more about Ankle Dorsiflexion - Essential for Optimal Balance and Proprioception

Prickly pears, also known as cactus pears or cactus fruit, are well worth adding to your diet whenever you can find them. I have consistently found that prickly pears are well digested, support healthy bowel movements, and offer protection against sunburn, most likely because of their abundance in richly pigmented antioxidants (betalain, betanin, and indicaxanthin). Read more about Cactus Pears, Cactus Fruit, Prickly Pears

Above: Sourdough toast with creamy avocado slices and garden fresh Roma tomatoes and just a pinch of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Read more about Sourdough Bread

The latest statistics on heart disease indicate that about a third of us will find out that we have heart disease just before we're about to die from it. Fortunately, modern medicine provides us with a number of tools to assess and monitor our cardiovascular health. And more importantly, we are aware of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Read more about Top 3 Determinants of Heart Disease

Contrary to popular belief, your vision doesn't have to decline over time. With regular exercise of the muscles that control your eye movements and visual acuity, you can reduce eyestrain and maintain or even improve your vision. Utilization of a few acupressure points can also help your vision by encouraging healthy blood flow to your eyes. Read more about How to Improve Vision Naturally | Vision Therapy Exercises

Before taking your body through mobility exercises, I think it's helpful to foam roll all of your major muscle groups. If you can use a specific foam rolling routine to follow, please feel free to have a look at the basic regimen that I do daily:

Foam Rolling Routine Read more about Mobility Exercise Progressions

If you are mobile and functionally strong enough to condition your shoulders and scapulae with hanging and swinging exercises, I believe you'll appreciate the progressions in the following videos by Dewey Nielsen. If your body isn't yet ready for hanging and swinging, you can gradually build your mobility and strength via a routine like the one shown here:

Mobility and Functional Strength Routine Read more about Scapular Hanging Progressions and Brachiating Basics with Dewey Nielsen