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This is a great question. It can be challenging (and frustrating) to determine how much attention and weight to give each week’s “new” health and nutrition news updates — and given that it’s health we’re talking about, the pressure is on to find the best information in order to make the best decisions. However, the Harvard School of Public Health just published a nice article for deciphering media stories on diet. To start with, the article suggests a few key questions to ask yourself about the article:

1. Is the story reporting the results of a single study?
2. How large is the study?
3. Was the study done in animals or humans?
4. Did the study look at real disease endpoints, such as heart disease or osteoporosis?
5. How was diet assessed?

These alone are a good starting point, but you can find more details regarding these questions and read the full-length guide online for free on the Harvard School of Public Health website.

James A. Duke’s book The Green Pharmacy is a well-regarded and long-standing guide to using herbs for health. The book has been in print for more than 10 years, and is available online and in bookstores.

Here are a couple of other recommended books from our friends at Herb Companion magazine:

Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Balch & Balch

Herbal Remedies for Dummies by Christopher Hobbs

The New Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

You can also find a lot o…

One good place to look is the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center website, www.mskcc.org. Check out their page on screening guidelines for different types of cancer here. The risk factors for cancer can vary dramatically depending on your family history and lifestyle, so it’s always a good idea to discuss this with your doctor.

There’s a lot of information out there about herbs and supplements and sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. But if you’re interested in using medicinal herbs, doing your homework first is definitely a good idea.

Herbs can be used to treat many different medical conditions, some mild and some severe. But as with pharmaceutical drugs, herbal medicines can have serious side effects, especially when you start combining them. In general, it’s always a good idea to do a little research on a new …

While some cancer has genetic causes, many forms of the disease may be attributed to environmental factors, according to Linda B. White, M.D., assistant professor of Health Professions at Metropolitan State College, Denver. In an upcoming Mother Earth News article on avoiding cancer, she recommends the following:

Crunch cruciferous vegetables. This plant family (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and others) contains glucosinolates, which break down in the body to form anti-cancer s…

Sleep is essential to great health, yet the amount of sleep Americans get each night is on the decline — 100 years ago, nine and a half hours was the nightly average; in the 1960s, the average dropped to eight hours; and today it’s seven and a half hours. Because sleep is so important to your well-being, it’s worthwhile to make it a priority in your life. Try some of the tips below to get the rest you need, naturally.

Important note: If you suffer from persistent sleep problems that don’t respond…

Macular degeneration, a condition in which the center of the retina deteriorates, is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people 55 and older. Although the condition can’t be reversed, its progression and severity can be slowed by using natural remedies and making healthy lifestyle changes. (If you have macular degeneration, be sure to see an eye doctor regularly to monitor the condition and keep it from worsening.) Here are some herbs, supplements and other suggestions that might help:

* B…