On Health with Houston Methodist
On Health with Houston Methodist is for the health conscious, curious and even skeptics out there. Each week, our hosts are joined by a Houston Methodist expert to explore an everyday wellness trend or significant health topic.
For more than 100 years, Houston Methodist has provided the best — and safest — clinical care, advanced technology and patient experience. We are proud to be a top hospital in Texas and the nation.
For more health advice and tips from Houston Methodist experts, check out our blog at houstonmethodist.org/blog.
Episodes
84 episodes
Exercise: How to (Re)Start the Habit
If you've ever Googled "How to start working out" and quickly abandoned the page, this episode is for you. Starting — or restarting — exercise can be as challenging mentally as it is physically. Our body and fitness levels may be different from...
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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45:20
Food Poisoning: How You Get It & How to Avoid It
We’ve all had that moment of regret — maybe it was the medium rare burger at a backyard barbecue or that salad bar that was just too convenient to pass up. But the unfortunate result — food poisoning — is no walk in the park for the estimated 4...
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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26:29
Blue Light: What Is It & Should You Use Blocking Glasses?
The blue light emitting from your screen as you read this has become a bit of a bogeyman, allegedly responsible for eye strain, headaches, poor sleep and much more. Enter blue light-blocking glasses, also called blue light glasses or blue light...
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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25:07
Body Cleanse: Do Detox Diets Really Work?
Feeling as if your body needs a reset after a stretch of questionable food and drink decisions? A body cleanse might sound like a practical answer, but do detox diets and supplements really help? In this episode, we explore whether your body ne...
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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23:30
Ice vs. Heat Therapy: When to Use Which
The use of ice and heat as medical therapy dates to ancient times, easy-to-apply treatments for the management of everything from inflammation to stiffness. They’re today’s go-to remedies for minor injuries and workout recovery, and a recent su...
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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20:52
Plant-Forward Eating: Why You Don’t Have to Break Up with Meat
A plant-forward diet is your best bet for healthy aging, according to a recent high-profile study, but it doesn’t mean becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Plant-forward diets encompass a wide range of diets that include some meat — including pescat...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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35:31
Coffee: Is the World’s No. 2 Beverage Healthy?
Coffee is the wake-me-up beverage used to start the day around the world. Americans alone drink 400 million cups of coffee each day, more than any other beverage except water. Whether you drink coffee for its unique flavor or you just want that...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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31:53
Muscle Soreness: What Causes It & How to Recover Faster
Whether you love working out or just tolerate it, no one enjoys the soreness that sometimes follows. This explains why there’s no shortage of advice and products promising to help speed recovery — or prevent muscle soreness altogether. In...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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31:22
Artificial Sweeteners & Blood Sugar: Zero Calories, Zero Impact?
Artificial sweeteners are everywhere these days — soft drinks, iced coffees, yogurt, energy drinks, pre-workout powders, protein bars and the list runs on. The prevailing logic is that they’re smart swaps for regular sugar. But could artificial...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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33:16
Ultra-Processed Foods: Are You Eating More Than You Think?
Ultra-processed foods are ever-present in the American diet: they make up about 60% of what adults eat and nearly 70% of what children eat. These foods (and beverages!) are delicious and affordable by design, and they’re everywhere — gas statio...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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38:39
Weight Loss: What to Do When You Hit a Plateau
Losing weight is hard work, and hitting a plateau can feel frustrating, gut-wrenching and demotivating. You’re doing everything right — eating well, exercising, staying committed — but, suddenly, the scale won’t budge. Is it time to switch thin...
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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42:31
Better Sleep: Finding the Right Position for You
Is your preferred sleep position hazardous to your health? You may not realize it, but how you sleep — on your back, your side, your stomach — not only can determine whether you get a good night’s rest, it can make you more likely to snore, exa...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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39:35
Cardiologists: What They Do & When to See One
Nearly half of all people in the U.S. have some type of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association, including coronary heart disease (CAD), heart failure, stroke, and high blood pressure. Heart disease has also been the No. 1 ca...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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29:53
Back Pain: When to Rest & When to See a Doctor
Whether it’s stabbing, burning, aching or throbbing, back pain is one of mankind’s great curses. Afflicting 90% of people at some point in their lives, it’s one of the top medical problems for which people see doctors and the leading cause of j...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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54:57
Immunity: Can You Boost It Naturally?
Plenty of supplements and wellness products claim to help boost immunity. But given that the immune system is one of the body’s most complex processes, is keeping it strong as simple as taking a mix of vitamins and minerals in a pill or powder?...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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34:32
Fitness: How Your Workouts Should Change as You Age
Aging is something we all do if we’re lucky. As we add years in the rearview mirror, we can collect ailments over time, whether due to injuries or chronic conditions. Conventional wisdom says we get wiser as we age, but can we become or stay ac...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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49:58
Magnesium: Is Your Diet Providing Enough?
It’s the new star of the wellness show, a once humble mineral now touted as a natural antidote for insomnia, migraines, constipation, anxiety, heart and blood sugar issues ... you name it, it seems. It’s true that magnesium is involved in more ...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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26:19
Health Data: Numbers to Keep Your Eye On
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Ever heard this old saying? It's true. But too often we take a reactive approach to our health instead of a proactive one. What can we do to better monitor our overall well-being and stay ahead...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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42:25
Mindful Drinking: Cutting Back with Mocktails & NA Drinks
Americans are drinking far less alcohol than they have in the past, despite an uptick in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift in attitudes — almost 9 in 10 U.S. adults say alcohol use is “very” or “somewhat” harmful, according to a rece...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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33:58
Probiotics: What They Are & Who Needs Them
There’s no denying probiotics are big business — and it’s not just the dietary supplement industry, valued at $12 billion. Other sectors are getting into the game too, claiming their skincare, household cleaners and mattresses contain probiotic...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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40:04
Prostate Cancer: Risk Factors, Symptoms, Screening — What Men Need to Know
Prostate cancer has been referred to as both a silent killer and the silent man’s disease. Why? For one, many men don’t like talking or even thinking about it, since the disease affects sexual and urinary function. For another, there are no obv...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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30:29
Home Remedies: Which Work, Which Don’t?
We’ve all come across home remedies at some point in our lives. Whether it was our parents offering ginger ale for an upset stomach or a friend suggesting local honey for allergies, there’s no shortage of at-home treatments people swear by. But...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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24:46
Weightlifting: The Science-Backed Benefits of Getting Stronger
Weightlifting has been around for ages, but it’s never been more popular than now, thanks in part to new research on its health benefits. The classic form of strength training — one of the cornerstones of the CDC’s exercise recommendations — we...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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37:15
Sinus Infection vs. Allergies: How to Tell the Difference
Sinus problems are the bane of many people's existence, all that congestion and discharge, difficulty breathing, post-nasal drip, coughing, pressure. But is the issue an infection or allergies? It can be a tricky question, even for doctors, who...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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32:53
Heart Disease: Can You Prevent a Heart Attack or Stroke?
A diagnosis of coronary artery disease, or CAD, should be taken seriously. But what does this mean exactly? CAD is the most common type of heart disease — 18 million adults in the U.S. live with the condition — roughly the combined populations ...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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39:14