Health and Wellness

woman poses in a Santa hat while feeling sad with the holiday blues
Health and Wellness

Advice for Coping with Holiday Blues

Contributor Monica Drake shares what you can do if the holidays aren’t feeling so joyful right now.

Health and Wellness

‘Alcohol is Not Your Friend:’ BCBSM Medical Director of Behavioral Health Digs into His Passion for Advocating Against Alcohol Abuse

Dr. William T. Beecroft has advocated against alcohol abuse for much of his 40-plus-year health care career. Here, he reflects and shares some candid thoughts.

Health and Wellness

Health Benefits of Wallyball

Looking for fun activities this winter? Stop your search at wallyball. Similar to volleyball, this fast-paced indoor sport has plenty of health benefits to offer.

Health and Wellness

3 Ways to Avoid Overeating During the Holidays

Holidays can mean overeating to the point of stretchy pants and undoing some waistband buttons. But they don’t have to.

5 Ways to Stop Holiday Stress Before It Starts  
Health and Wellness

8 Ways to Stop Holiday Stress Before It Starts

The holidays are as stressful as they are joyous. When it comes to shopping, traveling, decorating and family time, here are ways to mitigate the stress.

Health and Wellness

5 Everyday Ways to Live Healthier with Diabetes

Having diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t make choices for a healthier lifestyle.

Health and Wellness

Foods to Avoid with a UTI

Can the foods you eat make urinary tract infections worse? 

Health and Wellness

Health Benefits of Using a Sauna

Superheated environments like saunas have physical and mental health benefits.

Health and Wellness

Detroit Native Builds ‘Slow AF Run Club’ Community to Bust Stereotypes 

Detroit native Martinus Evans started running at 300 pounds 10 years ago, and has gone on to run eight marathons and founded a 25,000-member online running community called the “Slow AF Run Club.” The community is inclusive, and empowers people to run “in the body they have right now.” 

Health and Wellness

Parents: The Flu Shot Is For You, Too

The more members of your family who receive the flu shot, the greater the effect the vaccine has on your household. Here's how you protecting yourself can actually help protect others.

Health and Wellness

How Change – Even Good Change – Affects My Anxiety

Contributor and mental health advocate Monica Drake writes about one of the biggest triggers for her anxiety -- change -- as she prepared to get married.

Health and Wellness

Best Workouts to Manage Stress

If you’re feeling stressed, you’re not alone. Here is how tweaking your exercise schedule can help you manage those feelings.

Health and Wellness

How Your Gut Health Affects Your Mental Health

How does your brain keep connected to your gut, and what does it mean for your mental health?

Health and Wellness

What I Learned By Shifting to a Different Mirror

integrative health expert, keynote speaker, radio personality, and business owner. She's a NASM Master Trainer, PAngela T. Moore explains the different types of workouts available and how you can decide which one is best for you.

Health and Wellness

Exercises for Joint Health

Want to keep moving well as you age? Remember to exercise your joints.

Health and Wellness

Fighting Breast Cancer With Food

Healthy eating cannot completely prevent every kind of disease and illness. However, a balanced diet featuring these five foods can help fight against breast cancer.

Health and Wellness

What are the Seven Principles of Mindfulness?

Taking time to clear your mind of thoughts, judgments and opinions can help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. This practice is known as mindfulness.

Health and Wellness

The Benefits of Starting Your Child’s Yoga Practice

While it’s often thought of as an adult wellness activity, kids can realize the same health benefits by discovering their inner “yogi.” Why not start them early?

Health and Wellness

What is Intuitive Eating?

When you eat intuitively, you listen to your body. You trust it to let you know when you are full and satisfied. You also reject the new fad diet of the month. Here are the benefits and risks.

Health and Wellness

How Does Alcohol Affect My Sleep?

Booze before bed may seem like an OK way to help you doze off quickly. But the tradeoff is usually fragmented sleep, wakefulness and a very groggy day after.

Health and Wellness

This Suicide Prevention Month, I Remember.

Contributor and mental health advocate Monica Drake writes about what Suicide Prevention Month means to her and why.

Health and Wellness

Preventing Falls at Home: Ways to Reduce the Risk for Seniors

Understanding why seniors are at risk of falling can help individuals, caregivers, friends and families prevent them from happening in the first place.

Health and Wellness

The Flu Shot: Still Your Best Bet

It’s easy to assume that if you didn’t get the flu shot last year and didn’t get sick, there’s no need to get one this year. But that's one of a few common misconceptions surrounding the flu shot. We address those here.

Health and Wellness

How I Stay Healthy in College

School is back and so is the juggling act that comes with life on campus for college students. BCBSM'S 2023 corporate communications interns recently shared their diet, exercise and self-care regimens.

Health and Wellness

Introducing Our New Look on A Healthier Michigan

Welcome to A Healthier Michigan! We’ve got a fresh new look and new design features that are ready to help everyone in Michigan get healthier – from the inside out.

Male and female friends walk together between classes in college.
Health and Wellness

Top 5 Red Flags in Friendships

Recognizing and addressing the red flags in a friendship can be crucial to your mental and physical well-being. Start an open dialogue with your friend if you encounter these five red flags.

People doing skin care routine
Health and Wellness

Are These Social Trends Harming Your Skin?

Can beef tallow really help improve your skin? Does a jade roller really give you a glow? To help separate skincare fact from fiction, we’ll uncover if these trending hacks actually work.

Benefits of Starting a Garden
Health and Wellness

Benefits of Starting a Garden

If you’re discovering gardening for the first time, you might be surprised to find out there are quite a few benefits to getting your hands in the dirt.

Sad mid adult man in the kitchen at home
Health and Wellness

What Are Tiny Traumas? 

Relationship issues, family drama and a tight budget all are things that can add up to tiny traumas.

TikTok Sleep Trends
Health and Wellness

TikTok Sleep Trends – Do They Actually Work?

Did you know 1 in 3 U.S. adults aren't getting enough sleep? so we decided to search social media for sleep hacks and ask a doctor if they're worth trying.

How to Reset Your Health This New Year
Health and Wellness

How to Reset Your Health This New Year

In the New Year, it seems like we’re so focused on diet and exercise. However, there are other aspects of our health we could focus on. Find out more here.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Health and Wellness

Why You Should Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

While it’s healthy for us to establish a comfort zone, getting out of it can be good for us as well. So how can we get comfortable with being uncomfortable?

Creative Ways to Get Your Workout In
Health and Wellness

Creative Ways to Get Your Workout In  

Want to burn calories and pile up steps without going to the gym? Give these couch workouts and walking tips a try.

Why Men Have Shorter Lifespans Than Women
Health and Wellness

Why Men Have Shorter Lifespans Than Women

The average male life expectancy is five years less than females. What factors contribute to this and what can men do to expand their longevity? Find out here.

How to Quiet Your Mind Before Bed
Health and Wellness

How to Quiet Your Mind Before Bed

At some point we've found ourselves unable to fall asleep at night because of racing thoughts. in this episode, we explore what can do quiet our minds.

How Your Living Space Affects Your Well-Being
Health and Wellness

How Your Living Space Affects Your Well-Being

Can our living space really have a direct impact on our well-being? Hear what you can do to make small changes to your space to improve your well-being.

How does stress impact our heart health?
Health and Wellness

How Does Stress Impact Our Heart Health?

Stress is a common part of life. But what happens if we experience elevated levels of stress on a consistent basis? Could it be harmful to our heart health?

Doctor or psychiatrist consulting and diagnostic examining stressful woman patient on obstetric - gynecological female illness, or mental health in medical clinic or hospital healthcare service center
Health and Wellness

Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Cervical Health  

The next time you talk to your doctor, don’t forget to ask questions about cervical health, and factors that might put you at risk for cancer.

How to Maintain Good Immunity This Winter
Health and Wellness

How to Maintain Good Immunity This Winter

Let’s face it – no one enjoys feeling tired, run down or sick. So what can we do to maintain good immunity and protect ourselves this winter season?

How to Be Mindful During the Winter
Health and Wellness

How to Be Mindful During the Holidays

The holidays can be a time of joy and excitement, but they can also very easily become stressful. Listen to how mindfulness can help relieve holiday stress.

Why You Shouldn't Focus Solely on Weight Loss for Good Health
Health and Wellness

Why You Shouldn’t Solely Focus on Weight Loss for Good Health

When looking to get healthy, we may associate weight loss with the gold standard for success when it comes to being healthy, but there's more to it than that.

How to Improve Your Health with Technology
Health and Wellness

How to Improve Your Health with Technology

With constant advancements in technology, our options for self-care have increased tremendously. So how do we take advantage of this tech to improve our health?

What You Need to Know About Colonoscopies
Health and Wellness

What You Need to Know About Colonoscopies

We know once we reach a certain age, it's recommended we get a colonoscopy - but why? here, uncover everything you need to know about colonoscopies.

How to Get Organized and Feel Better About Your Space
Health and Wellness

How to Get Organized and Feel Better About Your Space

For some, staying organized is an ongoing battle and it fills us with stress and anxiety. But maybe we just haven't found an organizing style that works for us.

Health Benefits of Laughter
Health and Wellness

Laughter – What is It Doing for Our Health?

We've all heard that laughter is the best medicine, but what it doing for our health? find out how benefits us both mentally and physically.

Is Blue Light Bad for Your Eyes?
Health and Wellness

Is Blue Light Bad for Our Eyes?

On average, we spend three hours and 43 minutes on our phone per day. It's clear screen time has increased, but what is it doing to our eyes? find out here.

How Housing Instability Affects Our Health
Health and Wellness

How Housing Instability Affects Our Health

Each night, more than 8,300 Michiganders face the possibility of not having a place to go home. Find out how this can cause a cascading effect on one's health.

The Importance of Self-Reflection
Health and Wellness

The Importance of Making Time for Self-Reflection

Aristotle said, "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Looking within is part of personal growth. Discover how to make the most of self-reflection.

How Vaping Affects Your Health
Health and Wellness

How Vaping Affects Your Health

In recent years, vaping has exploded in popularity. It's been touted as a safer form of smoking. but without much evidence, is it really than cigarettes?

Health and Wellness

How Daylight Savings Affects Our Sleep

The time change is something we experience every year, but it doesn't change the fact that it can disrupt our sleep cycle. here's how to adjust shift.

How to Build Resilience
Health and Wellness

How to Build Resilience

Life brings new challenges at every turn. No matter the obstacle, building resilience in the face of adversity can be powerful for our emotional well-being.

Myths and Misconceptions About Immunization
Health and Wellness

Myths and Misconceptions About Immunization

Understanding immunization can be information overload - both good and bad - causing us to wonder if we should or shouldn't get vaccinated. we unpack that here.

Cindy Bjorkquist, Chuck Gaidica and Elizabeth Lewis
Health and Wellness

Well-Being for Moms

Motherhood can be a demanding experience. Here are some tips on how busy moms can improve and maintain their well-being.

Financial Well-Being - Chuck Gaidica and Matt Wozny
Health and Wellness

Ways to Improve Financial Well-Being

Take control of your finances with these simple money management tips.

Finding Balance in Life
Health and Wellness

Finding Balance in Life

Stress is something we carry with us whether it's coming home or going to work. on this episode, we discuss how can find balance in life through resilience.

Health and Wellness

Wellness Tips for the Workplace

Workplace well-being can positively impact productivity and reduce health care costs when implemented correctly. Listen to our wellness tips for the workplace.

Importance of Social Interaction
Health and Wellness

Importance and Health Benefits of Social Interaction

Hanging with friends can equal more than just a good time. Discover the many health benefits of social interaction on A Healthier Michigan Podcast.

Health Benefits of Journaling
Health and Wellness

Benefits of Journaling and The Positive Impact on Your Health

Rewiring our brain to be positive can help us clear our emotions of negativity. On this episode, we discuss gratitude and the health benefits of journaling.

What Does Physical Well-being Mean?
Health and Wellness

What Does Physical Well-being Mean?

The key to physical well-being is physical activity, good nutrition and practicing mindfulness. Listen for more tips on how to achieve physical well-being.

Dimensions of Wellness and What is Well-being
Health and Wellness

The Dimensions of Wellness, and What is Well-being?

Emotional, psychological and social well-being play important roles in our overall health. We explore the dimensions of wellness and explain well-being.

Health and Wellness

Fact vs. fiction: The truth about immunization safety

The New Year brings with it many things. For parents, that may include thinking about all the doctor’s appointments you may need to make for your kids this year.

A Healthier Michigan is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
No Personal Healthcare Advice or Other Advice
This Web site provides general educational information on health-related issues and provides access to health-related resources for the convenience of our users. This site and its health-related information and resources are not a substitute for professional medical advice or for the care that patients receive from their physicians or other health care providers.
This site and its health-related information resources are not meant to be the practice of medicine, the practice of nursing, or to carry out any professional health care advice or service in the state where you live. Nothing in this Web site is to be used for medical or nursing diagnosis or professional treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other licensed health care provider. Always consult your health care provider before beginning any new treatment, or if you have any questions regarding a health condition. You should not disregard medical advice, or delay seeking medical advice, because of something you read in this site.