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Food, Fitness and Health

 

A healthy diet can help fight winter sniffles

People try many different methods to avoid catching a cold or flu during the winter months. One thing to remember is that simple diet choices can boost our immune system...more

 

Altering recipes can be easy and healthy

People often wonder about recipes that are appropriate for health conditions like heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes. Sometimes a little alteration of a recipe you already have is enough to make it suitable for someone with a special diet...more

 

Avoid foods that cause problems

It is estimated that one of every four households in the U.S. make adjustments in food habits due to food sensitivities...more

 

Whole grains for heart health

It has been known for a while that whole grains help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Soluble fiber in whole grains also helps decrease blood cholesterol...more

 

Stay Strong, Eat Well, Include Potassium-Rich Foods

Staying strong requires remaining physically active and eating well to sustain and build muscle tissue...more

 

Feeding Your Guts Good Bacteria

A variety of products have popped up on the market boldly claiming them as a “probiotic” food. Probiotics are “friendly” bacteria that are actually found in many fermented foods and they may have many potential health benefits...more

 

Food labeled as “natural” isn’t necessarily healthy

The three terms that many people are confused about are “natural”, “healthy” and “organic”. Many people think they all mean about the same thing but there are different specific meanings for all of these terms...more

 

Good Nutrition and Learning Go Hand-in-Hand

Research shows children who are nutritionally fit are more likely to have the energy, stamina and self-esteem that enhance their ability to learn...more

 

Are School Lunches Making the Grade?

School lunches are important because they provide brain power for afternoon classes and energy for after-school activities...more

 

Water: How much do we really need?

We're told to drink 8 glasses of water a day but truth of the matter is that there is nothing found in the research to back that belief...more

 

Drenching the Water Myths

Water is an essential nutrient, yet there may be some misconceptions about it. Water is needed to control body temperature, to lubricate and cushion joints, to transport nutrients, and to remove waste...more

 

Protect yourself from salmonella infection from tomatoes

People in 17 states have been diagnosed with foodborne illness contaminated with Salmonella since mid-April. The food source of this illness is raw tomatoes. It is important to know which tomatoes are considered to be dangerous...more

 

Some nutrients are especially important for senior citizens

As we age, our bodies just don’t function like they used to. One thing that many people may not be aware of is, as we age, we don’t absorb nutrients as readily as we did when we were younger...more

 

Knowing the warning signs of a stroke can reduce death and disability

Stroke is the number 3 cause of death behind heart disease and cancer and is also a leading cause of disability. Immediate treatment can help decrease the chance for death and disability...more

 

Decreasing sodium can decrease blood pressure

Sodium is abundant in many of the foods we eat and can contribute to high blood pressure...more

 

Reduce the risk of Cancer with Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity

A report produced by the World Cancer Research Fund along with the American Institute for Cancer Research has been published to help citizens of all societies reduce the risk of cancer...more

 

Elderly are at Risk for Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

Up to 30% of the population over 50 years of age is at risk for developing a vitamin B-12 deficiency because of changes that occur in the digestive tract...more

 

What are Sugar Alcohols?

Sugar alcohols are neither a sugar nor an alcohol, but get their name because their chemical structure is similar to sugar and alcohol. It’s easy to assume sugar alcohols are just another sugar substitute, but that is not the case....more

 

Ways to boost your brain power and prevent dementia

Every seven seconds someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with dementia, a statistic that strikes fear in all of us as we age. No one wants to lose their ability to reason, think, and remember people and places...more

 

Keeping Your Memory Sharp

Research has been growing in the areas of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the last 10 to 15 years. Here are some steps to keep your brain sharp...more

 

Dietary Fat Impacts Gallstones

For those who have experienced the pain of a “gallbladder attack” there is interest in knowing just what caused it and what they can do. Gallstones are often the reason for the pain caused by the “attack." People more at risk for developing gallstones are those with a family history of gallstones, people who have diabetes, metabolic syndrome or obesity...more

 

High Blood Pressure

According to estimates, nearly 1 in 3 Americans have high blood pressure, with nearly one-third of them not even knowing they have it. High blood pressure has no known symptoms, which is why blood pressure needs to be checked regularly...more

 

What are Triglycerides?

Triglycerides are not spoken about as much as cholesterol but it is still important to know your numbers and take the correct steps in getting your triglycerides to within normal range if they are high...more

 

High Blood Pressure: You Could Have it and Not Know

According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as one of every three American adults have high blood pressure but only half of those are being treated for it. This is because there are often no warning signs or symptoms of high blood pressure. Because there are often no warning signs, it is important to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis because high blood pressure can be doing damage to your body before you know you have it...more

 

Healthy Habits Impact Blood Pressure

There is a 90% chance that middle aged Americans will develop high blood pressure during their lives. The first line of defense for high blood pressure, both before and after it is diagnosed, is making lifestyle changes. The lifestyle changes that can have a positive impact on your blood pressure are not smoking, limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing sodium in the diet, adopting the DASH eating plan, and being physically active...more

 

Practice Healthy Habits for Your Heart

While cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans, you can decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease by making some healthful lifestyle changes...more

 

Avoid Heat-Related Illness

When the temperature is in the upper 90s with the heat index in the 100s for several days in a row, the risk for heat-related illness increases. The three forms of heat-related illness include: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke...more

 

Summer Heat Increases Your Need for Fluids  

When the weather heats up you probably notice you are sweating a lot more than you did all winter. Sweating is the body’s way of naturally cooling itself. Keep in mind that your body is actually losing fluids as you sweat so it is important to replace the fluid lost...more

 

Take Small Steps for Big Changes

There are small changes you can make that will help keep you on track towards adopting a healthier lifestyle...more

 

Food Labels to List Trans Fats and Allergens

As of January 1, 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has new requirements for food labels. Consumers will now be able to look at a food label and know how much trans fat a product contains. In addition, proteins from eight foods that cause allergens must also be included on the food label. These two new requirements will allow consumers to make important decisions about the purchases they make at the grocery store...more

 

Do You Have Type 2 Diabetes?

The American Diabetes Association estimates that 20.8 million people in the United States have diabetes. Only 14.6 million people have actually been diagnosed with the disease. This translates to an estimated 6.2 million people in the United States that have diabetes and don’t know it. It is estimated that 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes...more

 

The Scoop on Sugar and Carbohydrates

A frequent question is how to adapt a recipe so it’s “sugar-free” or suggestions for refreshments for a guest with diabetes. While at one time sugar was the forbidden food, times have changed...more

 

Diabetes: An Emerging Epidemic

It is estimated that 15 to 16 million Americans have diabetes, and of these, approximately half, or 8 million, aren't even aware they have it. Diabetes moved up from 7th to being the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, and is the leading cause of new cases of blindness...more

 

Boning up on osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition of gradually weakening, brittle bones. As bones lose calcium, they become more fragile and porous. Osteoporosis progresses slowly and silently. Most people don’t even realize they have it until they fracture a bone...more

 

May is National Arthritis Awareness Month

Arthritis is an umbrella name for a group of diseases that affect the joints. There are more than 100 individual diseases that the term arthritis refers to, with three of the most common being osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia...more

 

What Does a Boil Order Mean?

Nearly every day one can listen to the radio and hear of a community or section of a county that has been placed under a boil order. What does this mean...more

 

Celiac Disease

Celiac Sprue is a disease in which a person does not tolerate gluten, the protein in wheat, barley, rye and, to a lesser extent, oats. Celiac Sprue is not a food allergy but a disease that damages the small intestine and prevents absorption of nutrients...more

 

Take Charge of Your Health, Dodge Dementia with Diet

One of the most feared aspects of aging is dementia, losing our memory and reasoning abilities. Research is underway to unlock the mystery of senility so that the condition can be treated and possibly even prevented...more

 

Follow heart-healthy tips to help prevent a heart attack

February is American Heart Month - which means it’s a great time to make sure you’re keeping your heart healthy. Your blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels are two ways to see if you are at risk of heart disease, heart attack or stroke...more

 

Be Aware of Food-Drug Interactions

We eat food to help our bodies function normally. We take medicine to cure an illness or to be able to enjoy optimal health. It’s hard to imagine but food can actually affect the ingredients in some medicines preventing them from working the way they should...more


What's Wrong With Caffeine?

Do you find yourself hitting the vending machines in the middle of day? Do you need your favorite caffeinated beverage just to get you "through" your afternoon, or to "get you going" in the morning? If so, you are caffeine dependent...more


Nutrition and Fitness: What does it have to do with aging?

The fragility we see in the elderly is in large part the result of muscle loss known as sarcopenia. Although, many of us work at preventing chronic diseases associated with aging such as heart disease and diabetes, sarcopenia is a disease that is often overlooked. ...more

 

Eating Well and Heart Healthy Eating

The health-promotion, non-diet approach to eating encourages eating to promote good health without the use of diets or restrictive eating. A heart-healthy diet achieves the same effect. Sometimes, nutrition professionals get a little over zealous and make heart healthy eating sounds restrictive and joyless...more

 

Breast Cancer Prevention Strategies

There are no guarantees that diet will prevent breast cancer. But, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research...there is a great deal that women can do on a daily basis to reduce their risk of breast cancer. In fact, the AICR estimates that adjustments in diet and other lifestyle habits could reduce the incidence of breast cancer by one-third to one-half...more

 

Help for Hypertension-A Dietary Guide

High Blood Pressure makes the heart work too hard, it can make the walls of arteries harden, and it is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. High Blood Pressure has many complications such as heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness...more

 


 
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Last update: Wednesday, August 18, 2010