This will either be really great news, or a nasty shock.  Recent studies are pointing to the idea of our personal diet and fitness routines (as well as our physiques, and our perception of what’s “okay”) are hugely influenced by the people we spend the most time with on an intimate level.

 It’s no surprise that getting into shape with a friend is way more likely to be effective than doing it on your own, but the concept of your day-to-day maintenance being influenced by your gang could shed some light on body changes and habits as your social circle grows, shrinks, and fluctuates in various ways.

[Read more →]

Vitamin E belongs to a family of related compounds which are known as tocotrienols and tocopherols.  It is believed to help prevent heart disease and cancer.  This vitamin helps to boost the immune system, protect the red blood cells and plays an important part in reproduction. 

[Read more →]

February has been the month of Go Red for Women, and given this extra day this year I’d like to take the opportunity to ask you to remember the women in your lives.  Let’s make sure they consider their health.  We can make a difference in heart disease and the risk of stroke.

Go Red has a goal to reduce coronary heart disease and the risk of stroke by 25% in the next two years.  Heart disease does not discriminate; it is a disease that affects both men and women, young and old.  Heart disease is also a disease that is preventable.

[Read more →]

One of the main reasons we are covering the different vitamins and minerals is because as dieter’s we sometimes do not get enough of these in our food sources.  It is important to make sure that we have a good supplement in order to receive the things that our bodies need in order to be healthy.   

One of the vitamins that we are sure to fall short on during a diet is vitamin D.  The food sources of this vitamin are usually found in the very foods we are trying to avoid as we lose weight.  These foods are: 

[Read more →]

Do you need a diet coach?  Someone who will take all of your information down and make recommendations for you?  Would you want your diet coach to move in with you?  A company called Intuitive Automata Inc. would like to make that happen. 

Autom, their robotic weight loss coach, has a touch screen to take all your diet and weight loss information down to assist you.  Number 5 may have been cute and funny in Short Circuit, but can you say HAL 9000? 

[Read more →]

Grandma knew what she was talking about when she told you to take your Vitamin C supplements.  In fact, Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is one of the most popular dietary supplements in the world.  Linus Pauling, a biochemist and two time Nobel Prize winner, believed that a deficiency in this vitamin was the main cause of cardiovascular disease.  He also strongly believed that it could cure a whole host of ailments including the common cold. 

[Read more →]

Why on earth would any company go through all the trouble of making a product they tout as healthy and use fructose corn syrup?

While I’m not going to get into a debate on whether all their health claims are true, I will take issue with using fructose corn syrup and still making health claims.  All the advice we get from nutritionists includes a list of things to avoid and fructose corn syrup is one of them.

[Read more →]

As a society, I’ve noticed that we love finding, and then taking, Easy Street. If there is an easy way out of a potentially difficult or time-consuming task, sign us up–hence the existence of “get rich fast” schemes, mail-order brides and, yes, diet pills. While the first two subjects would be fun to write about, I feel, for relevance sake, I should just stick with the third.Here’s the skinny–no pun intended. Diet pills are BAD news. There are no two ways about it. The elements which restrict your appetite and increase your metabolism do nothing but wear and tear on you body–especially essential organs like the heart, liver and so on. The appetite decrease is so extreme, in the case of some pills, that it is not possible to sustain that diet for any period of time without experiencing severe side-effects–dehydration, vomiting, extreme fatigue, etc. Not to mention, once your body cracks and you’re forced to stop taking them, you’ll notice that your natural metabolism is altered–for the worse. These pills contain components that horribly and permanently mess with your normal body functions and cause irreparable damage. While they may seem like an easy route to your skinny jeans, I assure you that it is not worth it, and the weight loss you experience is ephemeral–the minute you begin to eat normally, you can expect each and every one of those lost pounds to return. Fortunately,diet pills are not nearly as potent and harmful as they used to be, but that also means they’re that much more less effective. All you need to do is increase your water intake, move around and pump up your heart rate a few times a week and lay off those blatantly pound-producing foods. I guarantee, after a very short time, you will see results–and they will not be accompanied by increased heart rate, shakiness and organ damage.    

[Read more →]

I will be honest…I love the B vitamins!  They do so much for our bodies and help us to function better and become healthier.  I remember that while growing up that I used to hate it when my mom would tell me to take a B-complex vitamin.  This was usually after I had demonstrated an adolescent snit.  However, I have grown up a bit and I now recognize that my mom was right!  The B vitamins are fabulous and help us in so many ways.  A good B-complex vitamin contains 8 different B vitamins and does the work of a small army in helping us to be healthy.  So what are some of the different B’s that we need? 

[Read more →]

I’ve been thinking about fiber lately.  My dilemma has been to supplement or not, pretty much what is the best way to get fiber in my diet?  I think about this especially in winter as I long for the greater variety of fruits and vegetables of summer. 

So, do we get enough fiber in our diets and what sources are we turning to?  Well, while juicing is great and has its merits I want to talk about FOOD!  You know the crunchy, chewy edible stuff.  Can I get enough fiber in my food or do I need a supplement? 

[Read more →]