Skincare Column

Topical vitamin C is effective in preventing skin damage and treating compromised skin.

The antioxidant is essential for healthy skin, but is not produced by the human body. For this reason, skin care regimens must be supplemented with topical vitamin C products. However, just because a product label lists vitamin C as an ingredient doesn’t mean it contains it in a bio-available form.

In fact, L-ascorbic acid is the only form of vitamin C that’s effectively assimilated into the body topically and orally. However, L-ascorbic Read More

Hygea Health Bite: Health-Wrecking Ingredients to Avoid like the Plague

My favorite post on Facebook this week said, “You are what you eat – so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake.” 

That’s easier said than done in this crazy, fast-paced world we live in. While it may not be possible to home-cook 100 percent of our meals, simply avoiding the following “health wreckers” will go a long way in protecting you and your family. The only commitment you need to make is to flip over the package and read the label. You can do it!

Noteworthy health wreckers to avoid…

• •GMOs– GMO stands

How the Hen House Turns

Strolling Coyote, Poncho and Raccoons

The coyotes are back in Walnut Canyon, far off somewhere. Or it could be Pueblo Canyon that reverberates with their cascading chorus of high yips at 3-5 a.m. every day this week.

Their concert reminds me of the days in the ’70s when a singular coyote haunted our neighborhood with his tortured sopranino yodeling

One day Strolling Coyote came by, the one who sang as if being strangled, who also made a habit of moving along the back fence, setting all the neighborhood dogs to barking their heads Read More

Hygea Health Bite: 6 Tips to a Sexy Healthy Body

Our relationship with food is easily the most intimate one we have. Sound crazy? Think about it, the food you ingest becomes your body parts – making up our blood, brain, lungs, and every other part of us.

Providing your body with the building blocks it needs means that you’re going to feel FABULOUS – looking FANTASTIC is also a welcomed side effect. Nothing is sexier than a healthy body and here are six tips to get you started.

Eat Your Colors – We have to thank Mother Nature for color-coding our nutrients for us. Phytonutrients (“phyto” Read More

How the Hen House Turns

Dogs As Bird-Sitters

When our first chickens arrived in a cardboard box 40 years ago, including Peeper’s mom Peeky, we had already adopted Poncho.

As a “Santa Fe Shepherd,” his instincts were just about right. He helped us herd the chickens back into the pen for the night. (Chickens don’t herd, but that’s another story.)

We didn’t try to train Poncho as a sheepdog, but we did train DeeDee and Scooter, pointer-heeler shelter dogs we adopted after the 2000 fire in Los Alamos. They were natural Read More

Fitness Column

Fall Prevention and Improving Gait and Balance through Exercise

Proper balance and gait are essential components of physical function. If a person is going to be able to perform most activities of daily living, they need to have the capacity to safely stand and walk.

There are many causes of affected gait and balance including chronic disease, muscle weakness, neurological conditions, aging, cognitive impairments, and extremity disabilities.

Balance is a person’s ability to control upright posture under a variety of conditions. There are three sensory systems Read More