There’s one type of ingredient that can elevate your cooking like no other: herbs. Easy to use, they add bold flavors and freshness to any dish. Here are some tips for getting the most out of them.

Dried vs. Fresh Herbs

A common dilemma many home cooks face is deciding whether to use fresh or dried herbs. Tougher and woodier herbs have inedible stems (thyme, rosemary, oregano). They taste better when dried, since their flavors have a chance to intensify through the drying process. Add dried herbs at the beginning of a dish’s cooking time, since these herbs tend to release more of their flavors the longer they’re cooked.

Delicate and tender herbs (cilantro, basil, chives, parsley) are better fresh. Since these herbs tend to have more subtle flavors, add them at the end of a recipe’s cooking time. This way they can maintain their bright colors and mild flavors.

Growing and Storage of Herbs

Growing your own herbs is a cost-effective way to constantly have a supply on hand. If an outdoor garden is not an option, consider planting herbs in pots. Place them on a sunny indoor windowsill. Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut off the amount you need.

Purchased herbs can easily spoil—especially the delicate varieties. When you bring fresh herbs home from the store, keep them damp by wrapping them in a wet paper towel. Store them in a plastic bag or container that has a few holes in it to allow the herbs to breathe. This will help them retain their freshness.

Tips for Using Herbs 

• When chopping fresh herbs, be careful not to bruise their soft leaves.
• Never chop through them more than once or twice. Excessive chopping causes their natural oils and flavors to dissipate.
• Before adding dried herbs to a dish, crumble them between your fingertips. This helps release their natural flavors and oils.
• If you prefer the taste of fresh herbs—or if fresh is all you have when a recipe calls for dried—substitute 3 to 4 times more fresh herbs than dried herbs.
• If you find that you’re out of a certain variety when making a dish, switch one herb for another. Try these simple swaps: Marjoram for oregano; rosemary for thyme; mint for basil; cilantro for parsley; tarragon for chervil.

Proper hydration keeps you from experiencing heat exhaustion or stroke, helps you to cool down in hot weather, aids your muscles and joints to work properly, helps you to maintain healthy skin and so much more. One recent study found that healthy men and women who added an additional 550 mL of water (roughly a bottle of water) within two hours after waking and another 550 mL before bed (in addition to whatever amount of water they habitually drank) experienced significantly decreased systolic blood pressure after 12 weeks.

Symptoms of Dehydration and Tips to Avoid It

• Feeling thirsty or experiencing dry mouth, flushed skin, fatigue, or head-ache can all be signs of dehydration. Hydrate the body with some water.
• Heat and dehydration can affect children (and elders) most. Remind kids to drink water throughout the day. Adding a bit of juice to water can help them make the switch from sugary sodas.

Staying Hydrated

Making sure your daily water and fluid intake is up to par may at times seem like a daunting task. Here are some tips and ways to get those extra glasses in a day with the greatest of ease.

Tips to Increase Your Fluid Intake

• Try to drink at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of pure, clean water every day—but not with meals so as not to dilute your digestive juices.
• Make drinking water a daily habit. When it’s hot out or you’re ill, take in even more water—two to three glasses more than usual.
• If you don’t like plain water, try adding lemon, lime, or fruit juice for flavor.
• Municipal water supplies—and even well water—can be contaminated with microbes and chemicals. Invest in a water filtration system.
• To increase your fluid intake, enjoy a few pieces of fruit a day, as well as some homemade vegetable soup.
• When traveling by plane, stay hydrated by drinking lots of water and avoiding alcohol and salty foods.

Exercise, Weight Loss and Water

• Exercise will increase your need for fluids. Make sure to drink water before and during your workouts. This will help reduce body temperature, moderate cardiovascular stress, and improve performance.
• When you’re trying to lose weight, drink a few glasses of water about 30 minutes before a meal. This will calm the appetite, hydrate the tissues, and can also lower the amount of food consumed.

Chronic inflammation contributes to conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, depression, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

What Causes Inflammation?

Acute Inflammation

While inflammation is a sign of damage, it’s also the body’s natural defense mechanism. When we’re injured, white blood cells rush to the area and release a chemical that stimulates blood flow to begin the healing process. This is why an injury swells and becomes hot to the touch. That’s the positive work of inflammation.

“When you train hard you’re always going to get a certain amount of micro-trauma in the muscles and connective tissues that’s absolutely necessary to bring out the body’s repair mechanisms,” said cardiologist and avid runner Robert Liao, MD. “This type of inflammation is acute, or temporary, and can be remedied with nutrients that help clear our system of free radicals and repair oxidative damage.”

Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a different story. It occurs when our adrenal glands elevate our levels of cortisol—a steroidal hormone that’s released when the body is under stress.

“Our bodies are not designed to handle elevated cortisol levels over long periods of time,” said Keri Claiborne Boyle, a former nationally ranked triathlete and certified coach of USA Triathlon. “It suppresses the immune system, decreases bone formation, and makes our bodies work overtime.”

Your Diet Affects Inflammation: Eat Right!

We’ve begun to realize that chronic inflammation can be reduced through diet. “Wheat, sugar, red meat, and dairy are all inflammatories,” explained certified health coach Liz Keller. “When our body is inflamed it can show up as joint pain, digestive issues, asthma, even poor oral health.”

Eating the right nutrients, especially those that specifically target inflammation, can help both acute and chronic cases.

Natural Anti-Inflammatory Foods

• Curcumin

  “Curcumin is a natural antioxidant,” Keller said. “It’s the primary active ingredient in turmeric, which is considered a ‘power spice’ because it promotes healing.” Prominent in Indian foods, this bright orange spice has potent anti-inflammatory effects.

  Dr. Liao said that he began taking turmeric “to reduce soreness after running, and it worked so well, I no longer needed ibuprofen.”

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids

  EPA, DHA, and ALA help ward off inflammation by reducing exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness. EPA and DHA are abundant in coldwater fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, while ALA is found in walnuts, flaxseeds, and some other plants.

  “Fish oil plays a huge role in my daily supplementation as an athlete,” said coach and marathoner Sabrina Wieser. “A high dose of fish oil capsules (especially after races or harder workouts) helps me decrease inflammation, enhance protein utilization, and reduce recovery times.”

• Ginger

  This tasty herb has been shown to have strong anti-inflammation properties. Add it to foods, savor it in tea, or try it in its many supplement forms.

• Berries

  Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and others are packed with antioxidants that help clear inflammation-causing free radicals from the body. “All berries are anti-inflammatories, but the darker the berry the more healing power it has,” Keller said. Though they aren’t technically berries, tart cherries and their juice have also been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory effects.

Stress Affects Inflammation: Relax!

While we all have stress in our lives, minimizing it can help reduce chronic inflammation. Icing, massage, soft-tissue work, and stretching are great for sore muscles, but you need to take a whole-body approach to address chronic inflammation. Even making small changes—like breathing deeply to slow your heart rate in high-pressure situations—can help. Make a conscious effort to meditate or practice yoga, or take the time to do relaxing, low-stress activities.

“If you’re worried about vascular inflammation, you can have your hs-CRP [highly sensitive C-reactive protein] levels checked,” Dr. Liao said. “If it’s not abnormally elevated, spending hundreds of dollars on supplements may not be a good use of your money.” But choosing to eat fish a couple of times a week, indulging in Indian food regularly, and taking a yoga class just may be.

Scents are everywhere. When you intentionally turn to them to improve your well-being, you’re practicing what’s called aromatherapy.

What is Aromatherapy?

A form of herbalism, the therapeutic use of fragrance relies on a plant’s oils, which are extracted from the leaves, bark, roots, and seeds. Aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years. Today, plants’ oils are bottled as “essential oils,” and nearly 300 different kinds are available.

Whether in a peaceful lavender-infused bath or a perky peppermint moisturizer, scents relax and refresh, relieve and restore. They also can repel mosquitoes, neutralize body odor, or seduce a lover.

Four Surprising Aromatherapy Facts

Maybe you use aromatherapeutic essential oils regularly. But here are four things about them that might surprise you.

• Aromatherapy is Backed by Science.

  When absorbed through the skin, essential oils enter the bloodstream and affect the nervous and lymphatic systems, among others.

  “The molecules of an odor interact with the receptor proteins of cell membranes, thereby creating physiological changes,” such as relaxation or stimulation, says Kurt Schnaubelt, PhD, scientific director of the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy in San Rafael, CA. Schnaubelt is the author of the forthcoming book The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils. When you breathe in a scent, neurons in your nasal cavities send messages to your brain, triggering emotions or memories.

• Caution is Critical When Using Essential Oils.

  In their book, Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art, Kathi Keville and Mindy Green warn: Start with oils made from plants, not synthetics (look for the botanical, or Latin, name on the label). Don’t dab undiluted essential oils directly on your skin; and keep them away from eyes, mouths and children. Use too many drops and the oil may irritate or burn your skin, damage your liver and/or kidneys, or affect your nervous system. If you’re pregnant, elderly, or have serious health problems, see an aromatherapist before trying essential oils.

• Essential Oil Extraction Matters

  The most common way to draw out the oils from plants is steam distillation: Steam from boiling water pulls out the plant’s odor molecules, which then float on top of the water as it cools. It’s also possible to press the oil. Flowers that contain a small amount of oil are sometimes processed using solvents such as petroleum ether, hexane, toluene, and acetone (to name a few). The downside of these chemical solvents is that they can lead to headaches and allergic symptoms; they may even be carcinogenic. According to David Schiller, cofounder of the International Aromatherapy and Herb Association, the best methods are carbon dioxide extraction—a clean and efficient method that uses high pressure and low heat—and steam distillation.

• Aromatherapy Shifts Your Mood and Attitude

  “Aromatherapy can be a great way to change your life for the better, if you open yourself up to it. You have to want to make a positive change,” says Schiller, who is also the coauthor of Aromatherapy for Life Empowerment. Conversely, “If you don’t believe in aromatherapy, you can make it not work for you.”

  Certain scents can change the way you perceive and deal with your thoughts and feelings. Aromatherapy also helps you reflect. “Put on some soothing music, rub in the oils, relax, and let them take their course. They’ll help you clear away the noise and lead you to what’s most important to you in your life,” says Schiller.

  Whether it’s from a bottle of rosemary essential oil or the rosebush in your own backyard, a sweet fragrance wafts in the world. And maybe, just maybe, that breath takes you somewhere you never expected.

The plant-based Portfolio Diet has been shown to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure while improving other markers of cardiovascular health. The diet emphasizes inclusion of a “portfolio” of four foods:  

• 42 grams (g) of nuts (tree nuts or peanuts) per day. That’s about an ounce and a half.
• 50 g of plant protein per day from soy products or dietary pulses (beans, peas, chickpeas, or lentils). That’s about an ounce and three quarters.
• 20 g of viscous soluble fiber per day from oats, psyllium, eggplant, okra, apples, oranges, or berries.
  • A bowl of oatmeal offers about 3 g of soluble fiber; an orange contains about 2 g.
• 2 g of plant sterols per day from supplements or sterol-enriched products.

    A new study published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases found significant reductions in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and C-reactive protein in participants who followed the diet.