A deficiency in this critical nutrient makes you are twice as likely to die as other people, according to a study published in the journal "Critical Care."

It also accounts for a long list of symptoms and diseases -- which are easily helped and often cured by adding this nutrient.

In fact, in my practice, this nutrient is one of my secret weapons against illness.

Yet up to half of Americans are deficient in this nutrient and don't know it.

What is it?

I'm talking about magnesium. 

It is an antidote to stress and the most powerful relaxation mineral.

You can lose weight without changing what you eat or doing one minute of exercise!

It's a bold claim.

And don't get me wrong: Nutrition and exercise are important!

But there's another key to weight loss -- and most people don't even know about it.

It's sleep.

That's right. Besides eating whole foods and moving your body, getting enough sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health.

On the flip side, sleep deprivation makes you fat -- AND leads to depression, pain, heart disease, diabetes, and much more.

Take sleep apnea.

In this condition, your sleep is interrupted all night because your airway closes and your body startles you awake so you don't suffocate. 

This is a very common and extremely under-diagnosed problem.  It affects 18 million Americans and most are NOT treated for it.

Let me tell you about one of my patients who was in that same predicament.

In last week's blog, I reviewed UltraWellness Key #6 how important energy is for life and for UltraWellness.

You learned why we lose it and how to make it.

But in this final week of our journey, I'd like to talk about an equally important factor in health - UltraWellness Key #7.

It's one that causes or worsens some 95 percent of all illnesses.

And it's something that, once you get it under control, is more important than cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and any other risk factor in determining whether you will live a long and healthy life.

What is this crucial factor?

It is your attitude, social network, community, and spiritual beliefs.

In fact, one of the biggest predictors of longevity is psychological resiliency -- being able to roll with the punches life throws at you.

Dr. Hyman is on vacation, so today's blog is a guest editorial prepared especially for The UltraMetabolism Blog subscribers by the health editors of www.SixWise.com...

There's no doubt about it. Christmas, Hanukah, New Year's Eve and the other holidays that occur during this season are a time for family bonding, reflection, and fun.

But when you're committed to health and fitness, this can also be a frustrating time of the year.

That's because you can find yourself surrounded by bad food choices.

And the temptation to eat these foods -- and lots of them -- feels like it's everywhere, from office holiday parties to gatherings with family and friends.

If you've ever overindulged during the holidays, you're probably all too familiar with the results.

Most of us slightly overestimate how much we gain during this season.

  "The mind has great influence over the body, and maladies
  often have their origin there." -- Moliere

  What were Dean Ornish, Mehmet Oz, Dan Brown, the Dalai Lama,
  and I all doing in Woodstock, New York, last week?

  We -- along with an assortment of Tibetan monks and doctors,
  Buddhist scholars, meditation researchers, and prize-winning
  biomedical scientists in the field of aging, the immune
  system, stem cells, genetics, brain aging, stress
  physiology, and more from MIT, Yale, Harvard, Columbia,
  Duke, and UCSF -- were all part of a special conference at
  the Menla Center.

  The subject of this conference: Longevity and Tibetan
  medicine.

  If that seems intriguing, it was!

  The goal of the conference might sound complex -- but it was
  quite simple.