Woodford Files: Vitality Shifts to a More Reader-Friendly Format

What an incredible year it’s been so far. Seems like Mother Nature threw everything she had at us in recent months, from fierce blizzards to biting Arctic winds. It was a harsh reminder that nature always has the last word. Hopefully she is kinder to us this spring. One thing is for sure – the new season is bringing winds of change.

Here at Vitality magazine, the biggest change on deck is the way we deliver our content to you. We know our readers and advertisers have greatly enjoyed Vitality’s health-related news, stories, and commentaries since we launched back in 1989. And the magazine format has worked beautifully for us during the many years we were publishing in print and then in digital format.

But these days there are better ways to deliver content which are more reader-friendly, simpler to share, and easier to comment on. So what that means is – this Spring issue of Vitality is the last one you will see in a magazine format. These pages are like old friends to us, and we appreciate the loyalty of advertisers and sponsors who have populated the pages with their fantastic services, advice, and health solutions. And we must change with the times.

Going forward, we will funnel our content more directly into Vitality’s monthly newsletter format with health features, food and herb stories, guest posts, events, and updated classic articles from the archives. So subscribers will continue to see us every month, and can expect the same level of radically honest health guidance that we’re known for.

Also, our website is currently being overhauled to make it more user-friendly and easier to view on smartphones, tablets, and laptops. So we look forward to that launching sometime later this year. And if our lovely advertisers choose to follow us over to the newsletter and website, that will be amazing.

In the meantime, we bring you a feature by Zoltan Rona, MD, who argues that cholesterol is not the harmful substance we’ve been led to believe. According to Rona’s research, the human body actually needs cholesterol for everything from manufacturing hormones and vitamin D to coating the nerves with a myelin sheath.

So the practice of forcing cholesterol levels down with statin drugs (as directed by conventional medicine) may do more harm than good. In fact, the article points to research showing that those with high cholesterol can live as long as – or even longer than – those with lower cholesterol.

Also in this issue, we offer a food feature by culinary herbalist Pat Crocker, entitled “Tastes of Spring – Benefits of Bitter Greens from Dandelion to Radicchio”. Since the liver loves bitters and needs them now to cleanse the body of residues from winter excesses, this is a great time to bite down on some mean greens.

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued loyalty as we shift to a newsletter and website format, and we hope you continue to find Vitality of value in guiding your healthcare choices.

As for this final issue of the magazine, I hope you enjoy it, share it, and even print it out as a collector’s item. (Click the ‘download’ button at bottom right corner of page, then print.)

Julia Woodford, Editor