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In the world of supplements and alternative medicine, some herbs come up time and time again. One of them is ashwagandha, also known by names like Indian Ginseng and Winter Cherry. The herb is part of traditional Indian medicine, known as ayurvedic medicine, and has been used for centuries. Like many herbal remedies, ashwagandha has been used to cure or treat pretty much any disease or condition known to man. How effective it is at treating various ailments depends a lot on the ailment, however. So what can ashwagandha do, and is it safe to mix with caffeine? All About...

Millions of people struggle to lose weight every year. Diet fads come and go, exercise plans attract thousands to individual routines of weights and machines, and everyone has their secret formula to sell you. Well, here's the true secret: losing weight requires a caloric deficit. How you achieve that caloric deficit doesn't matter, so long as you do it. One pound of weight is around 3,500 calories, which means you need to burn that many calories more than you eat to lose that pound. Consider that the ideal diet for an average adult is between 2,000 and 2,600 calories per...

Year after year, science studies more and more about the compounds found in traditional medicine, herbal remedies, and common healthy beverages. Green tea, Camellia sinensis, is one of the most well-studied, but even now science is working to understand what compounds within it lead to what benefits. One such compound is L-theanine. L-theanine, also known simply as theanine, "is a non-protein amino acid mainly found naturally in green tea (Camellia sinensis) and some mushrooms (Boletus badius). Theanine is related to glutamine, is speculated to increase levels of GABA, serotonin, and dopamine." – Science Direct. As one of the beneficial compounds...

You've heard of amino acids before, but do you know what they are? Do you know the difference between a nonessential and an essential amino acid? When you buy amino acids as a supplement, do you know what you're getting? Education is an important part of keeping yourself healthy, so let's talk about it. Essential Vs. Nonessential In the world of nutrition, you've probably heard the term "essential" used to describe certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other compounds. In common parlance, "essential" means "necessary" or "crucial", and that's still the case, but in biology, the term has a specific...