COVID-19 prevention series: An introduction

“A healthy lifestyle has been an important part of the beliefs of the Adventist Church since its early years and remains so. We are still committed to live, share, and promote healthy living as expressed by the holistic Adventist health message entrusted to the Church. The Adventist health studies have confirmed the unequivocal benefits of increased longevity and quality of life through implementing...

Change resistant: Why don’t we eat enough fruits and vegetables?

Our attitude towards fruits and vegetables as well as other plant-based foods is almost paradoxical: they are probably the healthiest of foods, they are tasty (or can be prepared to be, with little skill), and they are relatively cheap. However, most people consume these super foods in smaller quantities than is necessary.

Diet rush: What should we eat in order to lose weight?

What should we change in our diets in order to lose weight? It is estimated that at least half of the female population—and a few men who are scared by their doctors, family, friends or what they see when they look in the mirror—want to lose weight.

Breathe deep: An interview on vaping with Professor Renee Bittoun

Our brain develops, unfortunately, a quirky response to nicotine. It shouldn’t really be there. It shouldn’t be in your breath, let alone you reacting to it, let alone you smoking anything or vaping anything. We shouldn’t even be near it.

“Don’t you have a lifestyle pill?” An interview with Dr Zeno L. Charles-Marcel

Dr Zeno L. Charles-Marcel is an associate director in the Department of Health for the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

A sharp mind at the age of 100

Growing old is inevitable, but experiencing a significant cognitive decline isn’t. An encouraging piece of news uncovered by several studies that focus on people in their old age suggests that changing one’s lifestyle could increase the chances of having a sharp mind up until the age of 100.

COVID-19: Hope ordinances and a divine governance

Fines, military ordinances, police and army patrolling the streets – this is the reality we have suddenly found ourselves living in. It is a tightening reality, a rigid corset-like structure of rules.

What could console our terrible fear of death?

Along with the rising death toll due to coronavirus complications, a usually latent aspect of our fear becomes harder to ignore. Despite the fact that it is the only certainty we all share, realising that our own end is a reality we might need to confront sooner than we had thought leaves many of us fervently searching for consolation.

COVID-19: White money for black days: using savings when you #stayhome

One of the most powerful pieces of literature illustrating the proper preparation for a financial crisis comes from antiquity. More precisely, from the Bible.

Health begins with accurate information

A healthy lifestyle starts with acquiring information properly. In a world flooded with information, patients are often confused and overwhelmed by conflicting nutritional recommendations and spectacular promises about proposed diets. In this context, it is essential to assess the validity of information using well-established criteria.

Dare to eat plants like Daniel

In late 2019, an explosive new documentary, Game Changers, was dominating fitness industry headlines. Boasting the approval of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Novak Djokovic and Lewis Hamilton, the documentary claimed that peak athleticism could be attained on a plant-based diet—combatting longstanding assumptions about eating meat for muscle growth.

COVID-19: How can we transform the crisis?

Tens of thousands of articles about the new coronavirus crisis are filling news outlets around the world these days. What is the crisis, how we go through it, what to do, how to do, when to do it etc. Only one thing seems certain these days: our uncertainty about the future. We would prefer an authority to go out in public and tell...

The solution to addiction doesn’t come from within

How should addictions be understood? Addiction is usually regarded as a failure of the will, or as a sickness. Lately, the tendency is for the younger, educated generation to embrace the second answer. The idea that addiction is a failure of the will, a sin, from a Christian perspective, is seen as outdated.

They call it poppy love

I have an acutely vivid memory which triggered this article. It was a wet day in London in the winter of 2002. My 145kg frame was squished in the front seat of a tiny blue Fiat Punto with two colleagues in the parking lot of a Burger King.

The end of drugs?

In mid-April 2014, the words 'scandal', 'secret', 'drugs', and 'Roche' (the Swiss drug giant) delighted the medical press, which was quick to publish tantalizing news about the ineffectiveness of Tamiflu and the enormous amounts spent by governments in order to stock up on the drug, in preparation for possible flu epidemics.