Blog Posts by Samara Mackereth

Katie's Take

Taking a seat in the dentist chair goes far beyond maintaining a healthy smile. Our mouths are the gateways to our bodies and can tell us more about our health than we may think. A dentist can detect nearly 120 medical conditions in their early stages. Dr. Jonathan Levine, an oral health expert and aesthetic dentist practicing in New York City, talked to Katie Couric about how good oral health can affect our overall health.

Not caring for our teeth can lead to periodontal (gum) disease which has become all too common in our country, with one in every two Americans suffering from some form of gum disease. The inflammation caused by gum disease can be linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pancreatic cancer and preterm birth. Research also suggests that oral bacteria may be linked to heart disease, arterial blockages and stroke.

Unfortunately, 31 million Americans do not have access to dental health care. This is what Dr. Levine calls ‘the unspoken epidemic’ but

Katie's Take

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and Katie Couric wants you to get screened! After losing her husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998, Couric co-founded The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. The clinic focuses on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and support for people suffering from gastrointestinal cancers.

Katie met with the Director of the Jay Monahan Center, Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, to talk about the importance of getting screened, and about the center’s “Make That Call” campaign - which urges people 50 and older to get screened.

Of cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In 2013, 143,000 people will be diagnosed and 50,000 will not survive the disease. The statistics are startling, especially considering that the disease is preventable. The key is early

Katie's Take

If you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, you are not alone. But there may be time slipping through your fingers that you can get back each day. All you need is a little organization.

On average, people waste around 40% of their workday due to poor organization. To help you reclaim some of your precious time, Katie Couric spoke with productivity expert Julie Morgenstern who shared her own life preparation kit filled with the tricks of the organization trade. Julie has been dubbed the "queen of putting people's lives in order" by USA Today and is a New York Times bestselling author of five books including Time Management from the Inside Out.

According to Morgenstern, the key to time management is planning. For each hour of planning, you can save up to four hours. But in order to successfully utilize your time, you need to know your energy cycles. Knowing when you are most productive, how you energize yourself and where your concentration threshold falls are

Katie's Take

“Sit up straight!” A meme that is easier said than done! But the benefits of straightening up can have a lasting effect on our bodies and minds.

Katie Couric sat down with Tara Stiles, named “Yoga Rebel” by the New York Times and owner of Strala Yoga, to talk about how simple stretches can help our bodies, minds and make us feel and look taller.

Yoga, an exercise that allows increased blood flow through stretching and deep breathing, has been practiced for over 5000 years and practiced by 11 million Americans. Yoga isn’t just for the contortionists; according to Stiles all it requires is deep breathing.

By taking in large breaths, tension in our muscles is released which Stiles says helps aids in overall health from in the inside out. She calls yoga a ‘massage for our organs’ that encourages us to live a healthier and happier lifestyle while increasing our flexibility and strengthening our muscles.

And the great thing is, you don’t have to seek out a yoga studio to take

Katie's Take

It’s a delicate time – if not every parent’s worst nightmare - when a child enters puberty.

Not only are their bodies changing physically, but hormones are raging and bad moods are in full swing. Katie Couric spoke with Dr. Barbara Greenberg, parenting expert and clinical psychologist, all about how parents can talk with their teens, and finally get some answers. Every parent wants to know what is going on inside their teenager’s head, and while the normal instinct is to give them the third degree about their day, Dr. Greenberg strongly encourages us not to interrogate temperamental teens.

Avoid direct, general questions like, “How was your day?” or “How was the date?” Teens will respond more positively to indirect questions like “How was the movie?” because they aren’t ready to give you a whole bunch of information at once. Listening is an important part of any conversation, and interrupting your child may not get you much response.

Most adolescents are discovering who

Politically Foul

Politics is not a game exactly, but there are rules, and when you break them, you are running Politically Foul!

If you need help with your eye black, look no further than Newt Gingrich. He knows his game day prep. During an event at a Raleigh high school, Gingrich reached into his cosmetic bag of metaphors while explaining his stance on health care to his teen audience.

"Think about it, if you're going to go out on Friday and you're going to put on make-up, each of you has a different skin tone and you have different hair color and you may want to create a different effect. If you're going to church you probably wear one level of makeup, if you're going out on a date, you may wear a different level of make-up. If you were going to be in a play up here, you may wear a different level of makeup and it would be literally unique to each one of you."

Flag! Illegal shades on the face. It may have been a good metaphor but who wants Newt Gingrich weighing in on their mascara?