Whether commanding the attention of rock star Neil Young or apparently being supported by the former head of Greenpeace, genetically modified food is almost always in the news – and often in a negative light

A new study finds quantifiable evidence that walking in nature could lead to a lower risk of depression. “These results suggest that accessible natural areas may be vital for mental health in our rapidly urbanizing world,” says coauthor Gretchen Daily, professor in environmental science and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

In a quest for a perfect tan, many people – especially young white women between age 18 and 25 – may head to a tanning salon, using tanning booths, sunbeds and sunlamps to kick-start their tan. Others (including people who are more prone to burn instead of tan) may head to the salon to slowly develop a “base tan,” with the mistaken belief that it will prevent a sunburn.

Health insurance for freelancers can be expensive. When employed by a company, health insurance is generally covered, but strike out on your own and you find yourself paying several hundred dollars or more per month for minimal coverage. As freelancers are expected to make up fifty percent of the U.S. workforce by 2020, one can’t help but think there has to be a better way—and there is.

The effects of postnatal depression on children’s emotional development can be profound. These children have more mental health and behavioural problems as they grow up. And in low-income countries, the effects of maternal depression extend to higher rates of childhood stunting and physical illness.

I can’t promise perfect health any more than I could promise a life without problems. That’s not what life seems to be about. Instead, I am offering you another way to look at your health, and your life, that takes you out of helpless victim mode and reminds you that you are in charge.

The article in The Australian by Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonjhelm highlighted some very good points about wind turbine noise and its effect on people living near them. People are complaining of a range of health related problems and are attributing them to wind turbines. The question is: what is the cause of these health problems?

For a new study, researchers measured telomere length of poor and moderate-income whites, African-Americans, and people of Mexican descent in Detroit neighborhoods to determine the impact of living conditions on health.

The key to gardening is dirt. If you can grow good dirt now, you can grow good vegetables this spring. And you don’t have to run to the garden store to load up on boxes and bags of stuff to do it if you start early and think of it as a year-round project.

We’ve known for some time that too much sitting increases your risk of diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and early death. But until now it’s been unclear how much standing during the work day may counter this increased risk.

The key characteristic of the loving landscape is healthy, living soils which foster plant and animal health without artificial inputs. Compost, mulch and worms form the holy trinity of organic soil health.

Drought-stricken regions such as California are trying to restrict water use by residents, and that puts a target on the lawn. But Americans are wedded to the green, even if some resort to artificial lawns and other water-saving alternatives.

Midway through spring, the nearly bare planting beds of Carolyn Leadley’s Rising Pheasant Farms, in the Poletown neighborhood of Detroit, barely foreshadow the cornucopian abundance to come. It will be many months before Leadley is selling produce from this one-fifth-acre plot.

Both compost and mulch foster the life of the soil, and both are important components of the loving landscape. Sometimes they are confused for one another, but they are quite different animals.  Compost, which we talked about last week, is more nutrient rich than mulch. It’s full of life, and inoculates soil with that life.

A Latino family strolls leisurely through the park, immersed in conversation. Coming up fast behind is a blonde woman in designer exercise gear and earplugs, intent on maintaining her power-walking pace. Bringing up the rear is a young man with his Husky, both of them staring up at a patch of sun that has appeared from behind the clouds.

A growing body of advice suggests doing small amounts of moderate exercise can make a significant difference to your health. Academic research is being turned into headlines such as: “Spending two minutes an hour walking instead of sitting can help you live longer” and “Can’t be bothered to exercise? Just WALK”.

A dollop of peanut butter and a ruler might be a way to confirm a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste and the University of Florida, came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity when she was working with Kenneth Heilman, a professor of neurology at the University of Florida.

Picture this scenario: Seven days ago you had a really bad attack of back pain. You can hardly get out of bed, and getting dressed and in and out of the car is slow and painful. It’s making life seem miserable. You’re middle-aged but, other than this pain, are well.

I began experimenting with the tuning forks with a few of my massage therapy clients. I found that if a client was complaining of pain in a particular area, the fork would produce either a loud, sharp tone or a tone full of static and “noise.” After holding the fork over the area, I found that after a few moments the tone would become clear...