Do you drink freshly brewed coffee to start off your day? Or is a cup of English breakfast tea a better option for you?

There are suggestions that fish oil is good for a range of health conditions including arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, mental health and heart disease. It’s even been suggested that fish oil might make people smarter, so should we all be taking supplements?

Eating a low-gluten, high-fiber diet changes bacteria in the gut, decreases gastrointestinal discomfort such as bloating, and is linked to modest weight loss, according to new research.

There is a movement afoot (pun intended) to get more people exercising by involving their family doctors.

Modern life has many benefits. Transport, comfy furniture, smartphones, TV, the internet, dentistry and advanced medicine would be at the top of most people’s lists. Our bodies also show signs of responding positively to modern life.

The healthy human body is swarming with microorganisms. They inhabit every nook and cranny on the surfaces of our body. But by far the largest collection of microorganisms reside in our gastrointestinal tract – our gut.

As the population grows older, more and more people are using a combination of drugs to treat multiple conditions. This can lead to interactions and side effects that we all need to be aware of.

Alcoholic drinks should all carry calorie counts according to a leading UK public health doctor writing in the BMJ today, because of their contribution to obesity. Fiona Sim, Chair of the UK Royal Society for Public Health, writes that while adults who drink may be getting as much as 10% of their daily calories from alcohol, most people are unaware drinking contributes to their energy intake.

The average American generates about 1,500 pounds of garbage annually, and then spends lots of tax dollars disposing of it. Even as recycling has taken off across the country in recent decades, the volume of all this trash has kept growing – albeit at a slower pace.

The idea of eating a tub of ice cream to cope with being upset has become a bit cliche. Though some might not need a tub of chocolate swirl to help perk themselves up again, there do seem to be systematic differences in the way that people cope with upsetting events, with some more likely to find solace in food than others.

As you read this, a strange object that looks like a 2,000-foot floating pool noodle is drifting slowly through the central north Pacific Ocean. This object is designed to solve an enormous environmental problem. But in so doing, it brings attention to a number of others.

The midterm elections have further loosened marijuana restrictions in the United States. Voters in three of four states with ballot proposals on marijuana approved those initiatives.

It’s that time again. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released a new edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. That sound you hear is Americans collectively sighing.

Antibiotics kill harmful bacteria that cause disease. But they also cause collateral damage to the microbiome, the complex community of bacteria that live in our gut. This results in a profound, though usually temporary, depletion of the beneficial bacteria.

Many people wonder why they’re not losing weight when they follow a strict diet and exercise routine. One possible reason is that what look like healthy options aren’t what they seem.

Adam was fortunate to survive a major car accident three years ago. He was in hospital for several months but had no ongoing physical injuries. He looked like he made a full recovery. But he was argumentative, childish, vulgar and his family said he “was not the same person”. Adam had a severe traumatic brain injury.

For eons, human beings have lived in harmony with the light of the sun. But only in the last hundred years or so, since its introduction, have we become rather well adapted to artificial lighting. The advent of artificial lighting liberated us from our dependence on daylight for the accomplishment of most activities, and in so doing it has fundamentally transformed human life.

The UK’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has said that doctors should prescribe dance classes and trips to concert halls as well as pills and physio – and set out plans to make this “social prescribing” a reality.

Your perceptions of your parents directly affects your physical health and wellness, according to new research. And regardless if they are true, you might be stuck with them for life.

That animals touch us in a deep, central place is not a modern-day phenomenon, but one that pervades the history of the human-animal relationship. We sense that we can benefit spiritually in our relationship with animals, and we are right. They offer us something fundamental: a direct and immediate sense of both the joy and wonder of creation.