Egg fads of decades past include the steak-and-egg diet popularized by bodybuilder Vince Gironda in the 1950s and the egg-and-wine diet that appeared in the 1962 book Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown.

Vogue jumped onboard in the seventies, and wine and eggs garnered popularity. But that’s history, and this is a new century. The egg is traveling solo now as the star of a hard-boiled egg diet.

Nutritional Benefits of Eggs

• Good Source of Protein

  With a high protein content (6 grams) and only 78 calories, a hard-boiled egg is nutritious.

• Metabolic Booster

  Because of their protein, eggs require extra calories to digest. This can boost your metabolism, one key to weight loss.

• Make You Feel Full

  Eggs make you feel full longer. Compare hunger pangs at 10 a.m. if you’ve had just a slice of toast for breakfast, with how you feel if you’ve had eggs.

The Basic Hard-Boiled Egg Diet

While there are many variations, the egg diet consists of having eggs with certain fruit for breakfast and eggs or another lean protein with low-starch veggies for lunch and dinner, according to Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, a dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Restrictions on the Egg Diet

“Grains, dairy, and fats are all off limits,” she says.

According to nutritionist Keri Gans, MS, RD, specific no-nos of the hard-boiled egg diet include:

• processed foods
• high-carb vegetables
  • potatoes
  • corn
  • beans
• sweet fruits
  • bananas
  • dried fruits
  • pineapple
• sweetened drinks (even fruit juice!)

Is an Egg Diet Healthy?

While it can help you lose weight, it’s not a long-term solution for maintaining a healthy nutritional profile and keeping weight off.

Like most fad diets, this one is unbalanced, according to Greg Hamilton at the University of Florida.

Lack of Fiber

"While eggs are “high in protein and low in calories,” he says, “they contain virtually no fiber, so your body loses out on that digestive aid.”

Dietary Restrictions

A boiled-egg diet may jump-start weight loss, but the restrictions that “make it difficult to follow long term also make it challenging to meet your nutritional needs,” says Rachael Link, MS.

There’s a risk of nutritional deficiencies from the elimination of entire food groups, and lost weight may come back.

Consult a Professional

Check with your healthcare provider and a dietitian. They can help you decide whether this diet is the right one to start you on your way to meeting your weight-loss goals.

Our paranasal sinuses are mucus-making air cavities in the bones near the nose. The mucus keeps the inside of the nose moisturized and stops micro-organisms from entering the body.

But blocked nasal passages can trap mucus in the sinuses and lead to sinusitis—an infection or inflammation of the sinus lining.

It can be hard to tell the difference between allergies and sinusitis. The two conditions share the symptoms of runny nose, nasal congestion, and sinus pressure. Itchy, watery eyes and an itchy nose are telltale symptoms of seasonal allergies; thick green or yellow nasal discharge is the calling card of sinusitis.

Plant Extracts for Sinus Relief

• Andrographis to Reduce Sinus Inflammation

  This herb, native to India and Sri Lanka, has long been used in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine practices to stimulate the immune system and reduce the inflammatory symptoms of sinusitis. But anyone taking certain meds such as blood pressure–reducing drugs, anticoagulants, and antiplatelet drugs should not use andrographis.

• Bromelain to Thin Mucus

  Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple. Studies show that taking bromelain supplements can help improve symptoms of sinusitis, including the thinning of mucus secretions. Bromelain thins the blood, so consult your healthcare practitioner if you take blood-thinning meds or have a bleeding disorder.

• Quercetin as a Natural Anti-Histamine

  This natural plant compound acts as an antihistamine and reduces mucus secretion. It’s often combined with bromelain and vitamin C in supplement form.

• Butterbur for Allergy Relief

  Butterbur works well for allergies, appearing to inhibit inflammation. In one study with more than 300 participants, butterbur worked as well as Allegra at reducing hay fever symptoms. 

Our best friends grow old too quickly. By age seven, dogs and cats are considered “senior” pets, and just like their human companions, they begin to experence symptoms of aging–joint pain, reduced stamina and range of motion, physical weakness, digestive problems, and confusion or cognitive decline.

With help from supplements, an improved diet, and a comfortable exercise routine, your elderly dog or cat can enjoy a long and comfortable old age. 

Support for Senior Pets

• A Sensible Diet

  How can we make their lives more comfortable? A sensible starting place is the diet. Aging dogs require higher quality protein than younger dogs, and older cats as well as dogs may have trouble digesting and absorbing nutrients from food.  

  Digestive enzymes release micronutrients in food, improving their assimilation. Protease breaks down proteins, lipase digests fat, and amylase processes carbohydrates. Because heat processing destroys the enzymes that occur naturally in food, enzyme supplements can improve digestion in dogs and cats, especially those who eat a commercially prepared diet.

• Joint Support

  Most dogs and cats slow down physically as they age, and the symptoms of osteoarthritis include limping, having difficulty sitting or standing, sleeping more, hesitating to jump or run or climb stairs, weight gain, decreased interest in play or other activity, and behavioral changes, including increased irritability. 

  Some of the most widely prescribed supplements for older pets include glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which help relieve arthritis symptoms. Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may also make a difference.

  Because over-the-counter and prescription drugs can have significant side effects for pets, many holistic veterinarians prefer herbal supplements such as boswellia, devil’s claw, ginger, licorice root, or turmeric, all of which have been shown to address the underlying causes of pain and discomfort with few complications. Most pet supply stores and natural food markets carry a variety of products labeled for pet use that contain these and other ingredients for joint pain.   

• Prebiotics & Probiotics

  During the past decade, much research involving dogs, cats, and humans has focused on the microbiome, an umbrella term used to describe communities of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes in the body. Because a healthy microbiome destroys harmful pathogens, including disease-causing viruses, fungi, bacteria, and parasites, it is the immune system’s first line of defense. A healthy microbiome improves digestion, creates some nutrients including vitamins and short-chain fatty acids, and helps regulate the body’s endocrine system.

  Simple ways to improve pets’ microbiomes include feeding them fresh, whole foods, avoiding antibiotics and prescription drugs as much as possible, and supplementing their diets with probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help keep the digestive tract healthy by controlling the growth of harmful bacteria, while prebiotics feed beneficial bacteria. Products labeled for pet use containing one or both are sold as digestive aids, skin and coat conditioners, immune system support, and senior-care supplements.

• Cognitive Support

  Senility in elderly dogs and cats has been a growing concern since laboratory tests developed in the 1990s detected brain changes in dogs similar to those seen in humans with Alzheimer’s disease. Subsequent laboratory tests examined learning and memory deficits in older and younger dogs. Studies of older and younger cats are now under way.  

  Several products designed to treat Canine Cognitive Dysfunction—and its feline equivalent—are now available, containing calcium-binding proteins derived from jellyfish, combinations of medicinal herbs and vitamins, and other nutraceuticals. Do they work? The evidence supporting individual products is limited and often weak because few are placebo-controlled, double-blind studies, most studies are sponsored by manufacturers, and the results are not always statistically significant. Anecdotal reports from veterinarians and pet owners suggest that these supplements do help many pets.

Estrogen and progesterone—life’s pretty good when they’re functioning well, but the natural rhythm of their rise and fall each month is easily disrupted by stress, diet, age, blood sugar, and so much more.

Fortunately, herbs and natural approaches ease hormones back into balance. But be patient. Most hormone-balancing herbs work best when taken long term, and requiring approximately four months to build up to begin to show benefits. Compared to pharmaceutical hormones, they’re far gentler. Instead of providing hormones, they generally support whole-body balance to help your body work out its hormonal wobbles.

Herbs for Hormonal Balance

• Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa)

  Black Cohosh (formerly Cimicifuga racemosa) roots seem to support healthy estrogen levels not by providing estrogen but by improving brain-ovary communication and modulating cell receptors.

  Consider black cohosh in perimenopause and for menopausal complaints like hot flashes and night sweats. It’s also used to ease depression and relax uterine spasms and inflammation.

  Recent studies have demonstrated impressive effects on polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), uterine fibroids, and fertility—on par or better than medications. Opt for Remifemin (the best-studied extract) or United States organically cultivated roots to avoid liver-toxic adulteration concerns.

• Phytoestrogens

  Phytoestrogens modulate estrogen levels. They tend to bind preferentially to estrogen receptor sites in the body, yet they have much weaker (1 percent or less!) estrogenic effects in the body. This means that if you have excessive estrogen—sometimes referred to as “estrogen dominance”—or are exposed to potentially problematic xenoestrogens from the environment, phytoestrogens might limit the negative estrogenic impact.

  Meanwhile, if you’re postmenopausal and are producing almost no estrogen, phytoestrogen helps fill in some of the gaps to reduce bone loss and hot flashes. Food phytoestrogens are likely best here. Try organic fermented soy like miso and tempeh, beans, and legumes, as well as ground flax seeds—which also have fiber and other beneficial constituents for hormone balance.

  Herbs including red clover, sage, hops, shatavari, fenugreek, and motherwort have their own individual benefits and even weaker phytoestrogens.

  Phytoestrogens tend to reduce the risk of estrogen-dependent cancers, but because there are so many forms and variables, most practitioners err on the side of caution and recommend avoiding them if you have an increased risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.

• Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus)

  Vitex, also called chaste tree berry, focuses more on progesterone support. Progesterone is produced primarily post-ovulation by the corpus luteum (no ovulation = no progesterone) in the second half of the cycle. PMS, mood swings, breast tenderness, and other unpleasant symptoms that arrive premenstrually (or in perimenopause or if there’s no ovulation mid-cycle) tend to relate to progesterone.

  Synthetic and naturally derived progesterone creams supplement progesterone directly, but vitex works more by boosting the brain-ovary communication and production, strengthening and lengthening this cycle phase.

  I like to combine it with stress-supportive adaptogens like ashwagandha or schisandra. While vitex is generally beneficial, some women find it worsens depression.

• White Peony Root (Paeonia lactiflora)

  White peony root from traditional Chinese medicine is emerging as an effective and more broadly tolerated herb for progesterone cycle support.

  Both black cohosh and white peony also show promise in PCOS, especially when combined with licorice and/or fenugreek as well as blood sugar support measures.

• Adaptogens

  General tonics for reproductive health and mood that may benefit both estrogen and progesterone balance include adaptogens maca and shatavari and the nervous system restorative damiana. Bonus: All three may boost libido and mood while decreasing anxiety too!

• Bitters and Fiber

  Herbal bitters like dandelion leaf, dandelion root, and artichoke leaf as well as broccoli family foods encourage the liver to function better to detoxify, metabolize, and excrete old hormones.

  Fiber (whole grains, roots, beans, nuts, seeds) binds to the liver’s waste (bile) for better excretion through the feces. Food forms work best.

  Put this together, and you can see how eating a plant-centric diet can, alongside supportive herbs, dramatically improve our hormone cycles and overall well-being over time.

As we age, it’s normal for the brain to work less nimbly than in years past. Memory’s inevitable decline starts as early as the 20s, although it’s subtle enough that most people won’t notice that they’re losing mental ground until after age 60.

Age-Related Memory Loss

Memory lapses usually start small, such as forgetting why you walked into a room, where you put your keys, or drawing a blank on an acquaintance’s name.

This normal part of the aging process is called age-related cognitive decline, with the main signs being memory problems, less aptitude for learning new information, and difficulty concentrating.

People of all ages want to keep their minds sharp—from middle-aged people who may have noticed the first inklings of age-related cognitive decline to older adults concerned with the potential for serious memory problems.

Preventing Cognitive Decline

Fortunately, memory experts have found ways to retain brainpower.

Nutrition

Adopting a diet rich in "brain food" has shown benefits in studies.

• Mediterranean Diet

  Adopting a Mediterranean diet—the cuisine typical of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea—may be the most powerful dietary route for preserving gray matter.

  When nearly 2,000 older individuals and their diets were tracked for many years, the benefits of a Mediterranean diet became clear. As a person’s score (representing how closely they followed a Mediterranean diet) went up, their chances of later experiencing cognitive problems such as dementia went down by 10 percent.

  The Mediterranean diet also showed clear benefits for memory, language use, and overall thinking ability.

  The omega-3 fatty acids in fish account for some of the brainy benefit in this diet. For the greatest benefit, select fatty fish such as salmon, trout, tuna, or sardines a few times a week. These fish are the richest in a brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acid called DHA. Dietary supplements of omega-3 fatty acids offer a great alternative for those who don’t care to regularly eat fish.

• The MIND Diet

  A variation of the Mediterranean diet, the MIND diet combines Mediterranean-style eating with the DASH diet (which aims to reduce blood pressure). When people eating foods from this diet were tracked for more than 14 years, clear benefits were documented for retaining verbal memory skills.

  The MIND diet is rich in fish, berries, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, and leafy, green vegetables. It avoids red meat, cheese, and fried foods.

  Another tasty way to keep your brain humming along? Blueberries. Powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins in blueberries account for this benefit. Current thinking holds that the anthocyanins boost brain cell connections and communication, as well as the regeneration of brain cells.

  When older adults with cognitive complaints take either a daily tablet of fish oil or anthocyanins, something remarkable happens: thinking gets clearer.

  A specialized type of fat called phosphatidylserine (PS) is found in brain cell membranes, where it facilitates communication among the cells to aid memory and clear thinking. Research suggests that PS supplements can help safeguard brain function in older adults and can also counteract some amount of age-related cognitive decline.

Herbal Supplements

Many herbs have the potential to enhance thinking powers.

• Curcumin

  Curcumin, extracted from the herb turmeric, has been shown to help prevent cognitive decline in older people. Curcumin can increase the levels of BDNF—brain-derived
  
  neurotrophic factor—in the brain. A deficiency of BDNF has been linked to depression and Alzheimer’s.

  Because curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, it can sharpen memory and ramp up learning ability. This herb has been put to the test in a group of older people. Daily curcumin supplements provided an attention and memory boost, as well as a mood lift.

  Turmeric (Curcuma longa) can be added to food, but supplements of a standardized extract can be a more reliable way to garner a significant therapeutic effect. Aim for 400 milligrams (mg) of a curcumin standardized extract once or twice daily.

• Ginkgo

  A growing body of research shows that ginkgo, taken alone and in various combinations with other supplements, benefits cognition.

  Ginkgo extract supplements show effects on cognitive symptoms similar to those of the dementia medication Aricept, with the advantage of being safer to use.