March/April 2026

The Food Issue

Dishing up well-researched nutrition advice, inspiring recipes, and helpful kitchen tips, our annual celebration of food features appetizing options for everyone, including burger-loving beginners and cuisine-centric connoisseurs.

On the Cover

How Food Can Be Medicine

Integrative physician Geeta Maker-Clark, MD, explains how food can become medicine for your body — and your spirit.

By Courtney Helgoe

Cooking & Food Food Culture

Features

9 Ways the Gut Microbiome Influences Health

Your gut microbiome affects much more than digestion: It has an impact on your cognitive function, immune resilience, hormonal health, and more. Here's why.

By Mo Perry

Functional/Integrative Medicine Gut Health

an overhead view of a woman eating a healthy bowl of food

5 Foundational Guidelines for Fitness Nutrition

Feeling overwhelmed by all the nutritional advice out there? We've boiled it down to some key strategies.

By Andrew Heffernan

Fitness Tips Nutrition Tips

5 Surprising Reasons Why Eating With Others Is Good for Your Health

The rewards of eating with family and friends extend far beyond the dinner table. Learn why it’s worth the effort to sit down and dine with others.

By Susan Pagani

Food Culture Happiness/Joy

Real Food

How to Break Free From Hyperpalatable Foods

Grocery stores are full of food products engineered to make us keep eating them. Discover how they hook us — and how to favor more whole foods.

By Catherine Guthrie

Food Addiction Food Culture

4 Recipes to Help Improve Hormonal Balance and Fertility

Whether you’re trying to get pregnant or aiming for better hormonal balance, these foods can support your reproductive health.

By Kate Morgan

Cooking & Food

What You Need to Know About Food Recalls

Foodborne-illness outbreaks might be more common than you think. Learn how you can stay safe.

By Stephanie Soucheray

Cooking & Food Nutrition Tips

SOMETHING SIMPLE: Baked Salad With Brussels Sprouts and Halloumi

This vegetable-forward sheet-pan meal can help ease the late-winter blues.

By Kaelyn Riley

Salads

Real Fitness

The Post-Exhaustion Superset Workout

Level up your strength routine and build muscle faster with the post-exhaustion method.

By Lauren Bedosky

Equipment-Based Workouts Strength Training

Try These 3 Cues to Help You Refine Your Kettlebell Swing

These tips can help you improve your form.

By Maggie Fazeli Fard

Strength Training

5 Questions About Visceral Fat and Aging — Answered

Fat stored deep in the abdomen can wreak havoc on your health. Learn how exercise can help — plus, try our beginner-friendly, high-intensity workout designed for older adults.

By Jessica Migala

Active Aging

a woman takes a walk while listening to music or a podcast

Do Post-Meal Walks Really Help Digestion?

A short stroll after eating really can help stimulate digestion. Here's why.

By Lauren Bedosky

Walking

a woman stops to look at a mounting lake while biking

How to Make New Habits Stick

You’ve built the healthy habits. Now, here are three tips to develop a maintenance mindset and make them last.

By Sarah Tuff

Attitude/Mindset Healthy Habits/Goal Setting

Well Informed

Fatigue: Is It Aging or Anemia?

The answer may surprise you.

By Craig Cox

Healthy Aging

a man sits in a clinical sitting with headphones on receiving ketamine

Can Ketamine Therapy Help Treat Depression and Other Mental Health Disorders?

Ketamine may help treat both acute and chronic depression, as well as other mental health disorders like addiction and PTSD. Learn how it works.

By Alexandra Smith, MA, LPCC

Depression & Anxiety Mental Health

Men Suffer from Osteoporosis Too

Many older women routinely get bone-density testing, but most men are tested only after an osteoporotic fracture occurs.

By Craig Cox

Men's Health

Columns

Easy to Digest

Experience Life’s editor in chief reflects on how the eighth annual Food Issue brings EL’s food and nutrition philosophy to life.

By Jamie Martin

Columns General Health

The Power of Simplification

Life Time CEO and founder Bahram Akradi on cutting through the noise and focusing on what truly matters.

By Bahram Akradi

Columns

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