Chicken has long been considered a healthy alternative to red meat. And it is indeed low in saturated fat, contains higher amounts of omega-6 fatty acids than other animal meats, and is high in protein and essential vitamins and minerals such as B6, B12, iron, zinc, and copper. However, there is a widely-held misconception that chicken and other poultry meats have been shown to improve health. The truth is, it's quite neutral overall. 

Dementia has an established genetic component, meaning that your risk of developing it increases if someone in your close family has or had the disease. But unfortunate genetics don't solidify your fate. In fact, even people with the highest genetic risk can lower their likelihood of developing the disease with healthy habits and optimized biomarkers. So that's what I'm doing.

Spring is here, and that means race season is in full swing; after months of enduring winter training, it's finally time to put your hard work to the test! Whether you're looking for a better result the next time you toe the line, an edge over the competition, or even a shiny new PR, your biomarkers can make all the difference. Here's how some of the key markers we test can help you have your healthiest and strongest race season yet.

We've all weighed the costs and benefits of working out when sick: "My throat hurts, so I'll stick to weights and avoid heavy breathing." Or, "maybe a good sweat will break this fever." Often times, it just boils down to, "yeah I feel like crap, but I have a plan I have to stick to." So we compromise and try to push through our workouts, even though we’re suffering (more than normal, that is). After all, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, while forcing a workout when you’re ...

Sleeping through your alarm. Showing up unprepared to a presentation. Forgetting an important birthday. Getting stressed out just reading? I can relate. But by making my InsideTracker goal ‘Reduce Stress,’ tracking certain biomarkers, and making some lifestyle changes, I’ve been able to find relaxation, mindfulness, and balance in my fast-paced daily life. 

Have you ever wished you could sleep all day without judgement from others, or even worse, yourself? We’ll admit – it’s certainly crossed our minds once or twice. With the fast-paced, dog-eat-dog world out there, restful nights can be few and far between.  So to help combat the imbalance between hours spent awake and those spent sleeping, we’ve created our “Sleep Better” goal. No, we didn’t quite figure out how to add hours to the day or turn ourselves into cats. But we did put together a ...

We're often asked if hormonal contraceptives can affect female biomarkers. The answer? Yes. It makes sense then, that women begin to wonder how they are affected, and to what extent. Like any other medication, hormonal contraceptives (pills, patches, rings, IUDs, implants, and injections) interfere with the normal functioning of the body. Naturally, there can be some unintended residual effects. Therefore, some out-of-range biomarkers may be attributed to your contraceptive use, while others ...

This month, we decided to take a look at some of our most popular recommendations. One that stuck out? Increasing your intake of nuts – it’s right up there with eating oatmeal. According to information from the nutrition questionnaire each of our users complete, we've gathered that nuts may be your ticket to improvements in many biomarkers. As you may know, we link each of our recommendations to the scientific literature that supports it. But, we’ve gone one step farther—we can now see how our ...