The latest issue of Time magazine, featuring a provocative cover photo of a mother breastfeeding her nearly four-year-old son, has sparked a media craze with everyone from U.S. congresswomen to Saturday Night Live weighing in.

What’s all the fuss all about? The photo, and the accompanying article about the attachment parenting philosophy championed by pediatrician William Sears, is generating controversy about everything from the sexualization of breastfeeding to the more fundamental question of what it means to be a good parent.

What makes you feel amazing? What can snap you out of a bad mood in seconds?

One of the key things we learn at Integrative Nutrition is how to feel our whole selves with what we call “Primary Food” – the relationships, activities, work, exercise, and spiritual practices that fulfill our lives and fill us up in ways that food cannot.

Our community is great at feeding themselves with healthy doses of Vitamin L (love) and primary food. We asked our community what makes them feel their best, and here’s what they told us:

The first day of the week can be a daunting prospect with so much undone ahead of you. Look at it from another point of view, though, and Monday is a perfect day for starting new habits and striving towards new goals.

If you ask around the office here at Integrative Nutrition, our goals include many small intentions, like exercising more often, accomplishing creative projects, learning a new skill or language, and keeping our apartments cleaner.

These goals can fall through the cracks, though, because they seem too ambitious or maybe we just forget to work on them. They would be much more manageable if broken up into small chunks. So why not resolve to work towards these goals a little bit everyday?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there! Hopefully you have an extra special day planned for your mom, enjoying her company over brunch, or showering her with gifts!

More importantly, we hope you take the time today to tell your mother how much she means to you and why you appreciate her. We asked some Integrative Nutrition staffers to share what they love about their moms and what makes them so special. Read below to see their responses – this is a very loving bunch!

“I've never met anyone more caring, compassionate, beautiful, loving and kind than my mom. She goes out of her way to make sure that everyone around her is taken care of before she takes care of herself. I hope to one day be like her.” –Carly, Events/Student Services

“My mom, no matter what the situation, keeps a smile on her face that warms up the entire room. I love her warmth, her compassion, and her selflessness!” –Julia, Referrals

Photo Credit: Marina de la Torre, Class of 2011

It's a big weekend for two major world religions - a time for celebration, family, and most of all, spirituality.

At Integrative Nutrition, our curriculum teaches that spirituality is a vital part of a person's primary food that sustains his or her soul. Even if you don't practice in the Christian or Judaic faith, this weekend might be a good time to reconnect, or maybe get in touch for the first time, with your own spirituality.

Spirituality doesn't have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as a hike in the woods or a park, appreciating the beauty of nature. Perhaps quiet meditation or yoga can bring light into your soul. Most of the time, our minds are running at a mile a minute, and for some, a serene setting and a little focus is all they need to connect to their spirituality.

What happens when one’s religious beliefs clash with making healthy lifestyle choices?

If there’s one thing that most religions around the world agree upon, it’s the importance of respecting one’s body. Ranging from the Christian tenet that the body is a temple created in the image of God to the Buddhist belief that a healthy body enables us to live longer in order to benefit others, most religious practices emphasize that caring for your health can in fact be a spiritual act.

As an essential source of primary food, spirituality not only offers a sense of community and comfort, but it also often explicitly rejects unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, excessive drinking, and overeating. Many studies show that religious people enjoy greater emotional and physical health than those who are nonreligious.

Yet clashes between religion and healthy behaviors can and do arise. A recent MSNBC article highlighted the conflict that some devout Christians feel towards yoga. Despite the exercise’s well-known physical, mental, and emotional benefits, there are concerns that yoga poses, interpreted as offerings to Hindu gods, are incompatible with Christianity.

Today is Leap Day - it’s like a 24-hour bonus to your busy schedule. An extra day that only shows up once every four years.

You could stick to your usual schedule: get up, go to work, take care of the kids, do some chores, work out, eat dinner, and go to sleep. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

Or, you could take the extra day to do something for yourself. Why not feed your body the primary food that it is hungry for by spending time with your family? Or take the day to pamper yourself with a massage or pedicure? Here are a few Leap Day activity ideas that you could do to celebrate this extra day!

Show Yourself Some Love

Schedule an appointment for a massage, a pedicure, a facial – anything that will bring you the relaxation that you have trouble finding time for during the other 365 days of the year!

iloveme jeWELLry by Be Well with Arielle

This month we have celebrated love through a series of posts dedicated to the most important nutrient for your health and wellbeing, Vitamin L. We've covered romantic love, family, friendship, and even the love for your pets, and now we turn to the most fundamental source of love in your life: yourself. 

Oscar Wilde said, "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance," and we couldn't agree more! Loving yourself promotes confidence and fulfillment, and enables you to have deep, meaningful connections with others.

For many in the health and wellness sphere, self-love is tied to how we perceive our bodies. Criticism of our own figure can drown out positivity and leave us feeling undeserving. This perspective can make it hard to reach our goals, in life and in love.

Blog Team Mascot: Lola

They are cute and cuddly, greet you with a happy face and wagging tail when you arrive home from a long day; all they ask in return is a good scratch behind the ears, pat on the head, and regular feeding. Who is more devoted to you than your fur-ever friend?

For pet owners, there’s no doubt that having a furry friend is a wonderful addition to their life, but are pets actually good for you? Studies show that yes, in fact, there are multiple health benefits to pet ownership. Pets are proven to be incredibly effective stress relievers, reducing the incidence of stress-related diseases ranging from heart disease to hypertension to ulcers. 

A new study shows that among people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high cholesterol, those who owned pets enjoyed better cardiovascular health and more adaptable heart rates than those who didn’t.

This study only reinforces a solid body of evidence that proves the healthy benefits of pet ownership. A 2008 study showed that cat owners have a far lower risk of dying from a heart attack than people who’ve never owned a cat. And pets have long been proven to encourage a more active lifestyle – people who own dogs are more likely to walk more and walk faster than people who don’t.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today’s devoted to one of life’s most important primary foods: romantic love. Whether you plan to dine in with your special someone or go out with your spouse, a happy romantic relationship is something to cherish all year long.

Having a partner to love is good for the soul – not just for the moments of passion, but also for the ordinary comforts of sharing how your day went over dinner and watching Modern Family together.

Study after study shows that love is good for your physical health, too. For centuries, scientists have observed the “marriage advantage” phenomeon; people in happy romantic partnerships tend to be healthier and live longer.