Green Tea Extract Pills

Green tea extract pills can help you derive the many benefits of green tea. These pills can help you lose weight, as well as lead a healthy life, as they can provide protection against several health problems. Find out more about these pills and their health benefits with this article.

Green tea has a long history of being used as a beverage in many Asian countries, especially in China and Japan. Green tea is made from the same Camellia sinensis plant like black tea. The only difference lies in the fact that black tea is made from the fermented leaves of the tea plant, while green tea is prepared from the unfermented leaves. So, green tea is the minimally or least processed version of tea, and is considered as one of the healthy beverages throughout the world. Nowadays, it can be found in the form of pills, so that one can derive the numerous benefits of green tea, without taking trouble to prepare tea. Let's find out more interesting facts about green tea extract pills and their health benefits in the following paragraphs of this article.

Green Tea for Healing the Body

Tea has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. But, as much as it’s been relied on for healing, we are really just beginning to understand all the ways that green tea can protect health and prevent disease. Research has been performed on green tea’s effects on many different diseases, and the results have been astounding. According to a report by the UK Council on Tea, here is an overview of the diseases which green tea is believed to prevent or treat.

High cholesterol

Green tea seems to have the ability to lower LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). Plus, it seems to prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Oxidation causes the LDLs to harden and turn into arterial plaque that clogs our arteries.

Grilled Corn on the Cob in the Husk

Grilled corn on the cob in the husk is a great method of cooking, wherein the kernels of the corn ears remain juicy and moist even after grilling. The husk prevents the kernels from being exposed and hardened. This article dwells on how to grill corn on the cob with the husk.

Grilling and corn on the cob are two summer favorites. Grilled corn on the cob in the husk combines these two favorites to form one splendid hobby and meal. It is a popular menu item for clambakes and barbecues. Grilled corn not only pacifies the palate but also never fails to leave a wonderful impression on the guests. One can roast fresh corn on the cob on the barbecue, either by wrapping the ears of corn in aluminum foil or by just grilling it in the husk. Grilling is oft considered cumbersome due to the charred remains left to clean up. However, grilling corn on the cob is the best method of cooking it. Corn grilled in aluminum foil is devoid of charred remains, however, grilling corn in the husk results in mouthwatering, moist, buttery, smoky tasting corn which can be savored with dashes of simple spices. The husk seals the moisture inside the kernels and prevents them from burning and hardening out. The corn on the cob is tender, soft and very juicy! Read more on nutritional value of corn.

Anxiety Attack Remedies

Overlooking episodes of anxiety attack may cause great turbulence in your life. It is important for you to know about the different anxiety attack remedies so as to counter this problem and get your life back on track.

Anxiety is a natural part of life and it is not always a bad experience. In fact, it is one of those responses of the body which help you to take notice and focus on different issues in your life. For instance, your exams are drawing near and you know that you haven't prepared well for them. So, your anxiousness regarding the consequences of poor studies, may actually push and help you to get serious with your work and who knows, you may do better than expected! This is about the normal degree of anxiousness which usually has a temporary effect on your daily life. However, when this same response of your mind starts sticking to you at every point and begin stirring in ill effects in your relationships with people in your family, at work an other activities, then you are said to have laid your foot in the world of anxiety attack disorders. There are several signs and symptoms which you must be aware of in order to make the right use of the anxiety attack remedies. These symptoms have been described below, apart from the treatment methods to counter anxiety disorders. Read more on causes for anxiety disorder.

Grow Hair Back Naturally

There are various ways to grow hair back naturally. The most effective ones are increasing blood flow towards the scalp, taking certain vitamins and minerals in diet and using hair-growth-promoting herbs. This article gives a detailed description of each one of them.

Hair loss is a sad and worrisome experience for everyone. There can be a number of factors that can lead to loss of hair. Fortunately, there are many simple ways, which when practiced on a regular basis and in a proper manner, can get your crown of hair back. Given below is the brief description of the various reasons behind hair loss followed by a few effective ways to grow hair back naturally.

Gripe Water Side Effects

Is gripe water good for babies? Is gripe water safe for babies? Well, if these are the questions nagging you at the moment, than read the following article which deals with gripe water safety and will help you to uncover some of the gripe water side effects that can become a problem.

Ever since gripe water was concocted for the first time back in 1851, by an American pharmacy apprentice, living in England, called William Woodward, millions of mothers have blessed this magic potion every day, and continue to do so even today. Gripe water seems to instantaneously relieve intestinal colic in infants caused majorly due to flatulence and reflux. Gripe water works wonders when it comes to relieving baby teething pain as well. The natural question that comes to mind is why do babies suffer from such acute pain just due to the formation of gas? Well, simply put, a newly born child's gastrointestinal system is still in the stage of formation. For the first thirteen weeks after a baby sees the light of day, digestion facilitating muscles are in the process of developing fully and moreover, the beneficial bacteria found in the intestinal tract to aid gastric digestion, called probiotics, are yet to appear in a baby's digestive system. So, gas is easily formed in the infant's stomach and gets stuck in the intestines. This further restricts the natural flux of gastric juices and as a result of this immense pressure, the stomach tends to dilate and swell up. Obviously, your baby cries to this swelling up of the stomach. Now why does gripe water work in such instances? Simply because of the gripe water ingredients such as aloe, angelica, anise seeds, blackthorn, caraway, cardamom, chamomile, dill, fennel, ginger, lemon balm, peppermint purified water and glycerin, all work in tandem to assuage the body of spasms and cramps, induce slumber, as well as work to facilitate the easy passage of gas. They also help the process of digestion and also alleviates tendencies to vomit, in a baby. But unfortunately, there are some gripe water side effects that every parent should know about, before investing in gripe water for babies.

Gripe Water Side Effects

Is gripe water good for babies? Is gripe water safe for babies? Well, if these are the questions nagging you at the moment, than read the following article which deals with gripe water safety and will help you to uncover some of the gripe water side effects that can become a problem.

Ever since gripe water was concocted for the first time back in 1851, by an American pharmacy apprentice, living in England, called William Woodward, millions of mothers have blessed this magic potion every day, and continue to do so even today. Gripe water seems to instantaneously relieve intestinal colic in infants caused majorly due to flatulence and reflux. Gripe water works wonders when it comes to relieving baby teething pain as well. The natural question that comes to mind is why do babies suffer from such acute pain just due to the formation of gas? Well, simply put, a newly born child's gastrointestinal system is still in the stage of formation. For the first thirteen weeks after a baby sees the light of day, digestion facilitating muscles are in the process of developing fully and moreover, the beneficial bacteria found in the intestinal tract to aid gastric digestion, called probiotics, are yet to appear in a baby's digestive system. So, gas is easily formed in the infant's stomach and gets stuck in the intestines. This further restricts the natural flux of gastric juices and as a result of this immense pressure, the stomach tends to dilate and swell up. Obviously, your baby cries to this swelling up of the stomach. Now why does gripe water work in such instances? Simply because of the gripe water ingredients such as aloe, angelica, anise seeds, blackthorn, caraway, cardamom, chamomile, dill, fennel, ginger, lemon balm, peppermint purified water and glycerin, all work in tandem to assuage the body of spasms and cramps, induce slumber, as well as work to facilitate the easy passage of gas. They also help the process of digestion and also alleviates tendencies to vomit, in a baby. But unfortunately, there are some gripe water side effects that every parent should know about, before investing in gripe water for babies.

Extended-Release Opioid Analgesics Relieve Osteoarthritis Pain

Inadequate Pain Relief for Osteoarthitis Creates More Problems

According to a report in the 2011 American Journal of Therapeutics, chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis affects the patient by causing:

    decreased quality of life
    reduced or disturbed sleep
    social relationships that suffer
    decreased cognitive function (thinking, memory)
    limitations with regard to daily living activities
    lower productivity
    increased anxiety and depression

Sleep disturbance -- attributable to pain -- is a major issue for osteoarthritis patients. Many osteoarthritis patients have problems with sleep onset, sleep maintenance, or early waking. To cope with all of the aforementioned problems, osteoarthritis pain must be well-managed.

Most osteoarthritis patients receive some form of treatment, but in too many cases, adequate pain relief is not the end result. Study results have shown that of more than 3,100 osteoarthritis patients, 25% reported dissatisfaction with their pain medication. Of the dissatisfied group, 63% reported inadequate pain relief while 17% reported side effects. You can order Tramadol online at very competitive price.

Taking Pills on Schedule May Improve Effectiveness

For chronic pain patients, it's best to take pain medications on a schedule. The goal of a routine pain medication schedule is to take the next dose of pain medication before the previous dose wears off. The problem is, for a variety of reasons, many osteoarthritis patients do not take pain medications on a schedule and they do allow pain to return -- then they chase pain with another dose. It has been suggested that long-acting or extended-release pain medications would work better for patients who find it difficult to stick to a schedule.

The Menu of Analgesics - Which Should You Choose?

Newly-diagnosed osteoarthritis patients usually try acetaminophen -- it's recognized as the first line analgesic for mild to moderate osteoarthritis. NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and COX-2 inhibitors are also used to control osteoarthritis pain, especially if more relief is needed than acetaminophen provides. As pain becomes more severe -- nonscheduled opioid analgesics such as tramadol and scheduled opioid analgesics (controlled substances) are considered.

Diets Work

Diets work! Any diet you go on that causes you to take in less calories than you burn will result in weight loss. Therefore, that diet will work for that reason. The only reason any diet works is because of the calorie content and not because of the carb/fat/protein content. This is where the confusion comes in and the diet book Gods make billions of dollars.

There are diet books out there that tell you to eat the most bizarre things in the most bizarre combinations and then when you lose weight they want you to believe it’s because you followed their plan. Remember the popular one where you only ate fruit until noon, waited two hours and then ate other things. Those authors made millions. My past favorite was The Beverly Hills Diet. Anyone out there old enough to remember that one? Day one you get to eat all the pineapple you want. Guess what happens when you eat copious amounts of pineapple? You get mouth sores from the acid. Your mouth gets so sore that you never want to look at another pineapple again. This almost guarantees a low calorie day. This diet worked because you took in less calories than you burned. All diets that work do so for that reason alone.

My Favorite, Free, New Fitness and Diet App: Lose It!

One key element to achieving successful weight loss is accountability. This means recording your weight (I recommend only once a week on Monday’s), your daily activities including most importantly exercise, and what and how much you eat daily. However, for most of us the task of writing down everything is too time consuming, overwhelming, and tedious.

That’s why I love the new, free iPhone application, www.LoseIt.com, because now all you have to do is download this awesomely easy app onto your iPhone. Lose It! lets you seamlessly and easily set goals and establish a daily calorie budget that enables you to meet them. It helps you stay on track each day by recording your food and exercise to keep within your weight loss and workout goals.

4 Steps to Get Over Your Weight Loss Plateau

Lately, I’ve been loving watching a reality show, RUBY, on the Style Network. It’s a show about Ruby Gettinger a 500-pound blooming Steel Magnolia from Savannah weight loss journey. I’ve become her fan, and am passionately rooting for her success. The first season she managed to lose over 100 pounds. This week on episode 2 of Season 2, she’s hit a weight loss plateau at about 350 pounds. (Emotionally she’s never weighed less than 350 during her entire adult life, and she’s having back and knee pain when exercising on the treadmill.) So what’s the hitch as she is working out diligently, and eating a prescribed, healthy meal plan?

Protect Your Erection: 11 Tips

How to avoid erectile dysfunction and protect your potency.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in older men. But it's not a normal part of aging. How can you avoid ED?

1. Watch what you eat.

A diet that's bad for a man's heart is also bad for his ability to have erections.

Research has shown that the same eating pattern that can cause heart attacks by impeding blood flow in the coronary arteries -- few fruits and vegetables and lots of fatty, fried, and processed foods -- can impede blood flow to and within the penis. That blood flow is needed for the penis to become erect.

Anything that is bad for a man's heart is also bad for his penis, says Andrew McCullough, MD, associate professor of clinical urology and director of the male sexual health program at New York University Langone Medical Center.

Large-chested ladies, how many sports bras do you wear at once?

Why is it that nearly every active woman I know is constantly on the quest for the perfect sports bra? And why is it that many of us end up with a squished uni-boob or jimmy-rigging some kind of support contraption anyway?

I thought about this yesterday when I was getting ready for a quick run -- and prepare yourselves, I am going to over-share in 3...2...1 -- and I wiggled into my new favorite combination of heart-rate monitor sports bra over my regular underwire bra. I don't love layering up, especially for a summer workout, but I am happy to have the support I need without looking like I am carrying a cat in my microfiber tank top.

Erections: Use It or Lose It?

What the research says about whether sex and masturbation help prevent erectile dysfunction.

Men who have trouble getting erections have sex less often than men with normal sexual function, several studies have shown.

But can a long sexual dry spell actually cause erectile dysfunction (ED)? And can men cut their risk for ED by having sex (or masturbating) on a regular basis?

What the Research Says

European scientists caused a stir in 2008 when they published results of a study -- believed to be the only one of its kind -- purporting to show that infrequent sex can lead to erectile dysfunction.

Erectile Dysfunction: When Viagra Doesn't Work

Experts discuss alternative treatments for erectile dysfuntion.

In his early 40s, Ron Hanson was too young to be having trouble getting and sustaining erections. But like many men, he was too embarrassed at first to talk about the problem. Hanson (not his real name) waited seven years to see a urologist. By the time he spoke up, erectile dysfunction had become a household word, thanks to the popularity of the drug Viagra. But the widely touted drug, Hanson soon learned, doesn't work for everyone.

When Viagra (sildenafil) hit the market in 1998, some men thought it was the long-awaited answer to their problems. Many rushed to doctor's offices to give it a try. According to the Grey Clinic in Indianapolis, which specializes in erectile dysfunction, 17% of men between 18 and 55 experience occasional impotence, while 6% have regular erectile difficulties. For men over 55, that number jumps to about one in three. Some common causes of impotence are diabetes, heart disease, and psychological problems. It also frequently occurs after prostate cancer surgery.

The Next Viagra?

Uprima was supposed to be the next hot drug for erectile dysfunction. What happened?

In the two years since it rocketed onto the market -- and became, almost overnight, a household word -- the impotence drug Viagra has helped men with erection problems enjoy satisfying sex. The little blue pill fired the male imagination with the notion of an enduring and youthful virility that could last into the golden years.

But truth is, Viagra is not the sexual cure-all that many men who have problems with erectile dysfunction believed it to be. As many as two in five men who try the drug don't get the desired results. And at least 39 Viagra users have died, mostly men who were also taking other drugs, or who had serious heart disease (see the November-December 1998 issue of Clinical Therapeutics).

Biking and Erectile Dysfunction: A Real Risk?

Some experts say ED may be an unwelcome side effect of bicycle riding.

For men, the health benefits of bicycling may involve a troublesome trade-off. While riding a bicycle burns calories and improves cardiovascular fitness, too many hours on a bicycle saddle can compress the artery and vital nerves leading to the penis.

The result? A risk of numbness, pain, and erectile dysfunction.

A male cyclist can place a significant percentage of his weight on his perineum, an area between the scrotum and the anus where the nerves and arteries to the penis pass. This pressure -- and a narrow saddle seat -- can injure the arteries and nerves.

A Woman's Guide to Erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a man's condition, but there are ways women can help.

Suzanne Andrews, 46, an occupational therapist near Daytona Beach, Fla., realized there was a problem the first time she and her husband, Glenn, 53, tried to make love.

She guessed it was ED, or erectile dysfunction, but didn’t know the cause, or the remedy. As the host of Functional Fitness, which airs on her local PBS station, WDSC TV, Andrews is used to solving challenges at work -- and she was equally determined to find a solution in the bedroom.

Erectile dysfunction, which affects an estimated 15 million to 30 million Americans and is more prevalent in men over 40, is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection adequate for sexual function. It can be precipitated by medication, depression, stress, hormonal abnormalities, and other factors.

Overcoming Ejaculation Problems

Too fast? Too slow? Treating Ejaculation Problems

Are ejaculation problems an issue of mind over matter?

Well, if a man and his partner don't mind how long it takes him to ejaculate, then it really doesn't matter. For example, Ian Kerner, PhD, a sex therapist and author of She Comes First, advises men to bring their partners to the brink of orgasm before having intercourse. Then, if he's prone to premature ejaculation, it doesn't matter since both of them come away satisfied.

Conversely, if a man takes longer than average to ejaculate, but both partners enjoy marathon sex sessions, then delayed ejaculation can be a real plus.

When Sleep Problems Cause Sex Problems

Lack of sleep can wreak havoc on sex, relationships, and your social life.

By the time people with sleep problems come to the Penn Sleep Centers at the University of Pennsylvania, many of them are no longer sleeping with their spouses.

“People who have trouble sleeping often develop elaborate routines over time,” says Phil Gehrman, PhD, CBSM, assistant professor of psychiatry and clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “They become very sensitive to anything they think might threaten their sleep. And one of the things that can disturb sleep is a bed partner.”

Sexual Problems in Men

A sexual problem, or sexual dysfunction, refers to a problem during any phase of the sexual response cycle that prevents the individual or couple from experiencing satisfaction from the sexual activity. The sexual response cycle has four phases: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.

While research suggests that sexual dysfunction is common (43% of women and 31% of men report some degree of difficulty), it is a topic that many people are hesitant to discuss. Fortunately, most cases of sexual dysfunction are treatable, so it is important to share your concerns with your partner and doctor.

Understanding Male Sexual Problems: Diagnosis and Treatment

How Do I Know If I Have Male Sexual Problems?

The most important way for your health care provider to diagnose a sexual problem is to listen carefully to the story you tell, review the list of medications and substances you use, and try to determine whether your difficulties are recent, long-standing, or have been a permanent fixture thus far in your life. It's also important for your health care provider to understand your level of knowledge about your body and about sexuality.

Your health care provider will probably encourage you to talk about your relationship with your partner, your past sexual history, any history of trauma, possible symptoms of depression, and any other stresses or concerns that may be interfering with your ability to respond sexually. Though these topics may seem extraordinarily private, they must be covered to properly evaluate sexual dysfunction and help you have a more satisfying sex life.

Panic attack treatment

The root of panic attacks isn’t completely comprehended but what is understood is that this could affect any person, without any reason, regardless of age which means a happy and healthy person has an equal chance of experiencing an attack as someone who is suffering from depression. A situation of panic attack can occur as you’re at your house, sitting on your couch, watching TV, when driving, shopping or walking, while at your office, etc., and can even occur when you’re sleeping.
In such circumstances, methods of therapy may change from individual to individual, dependent upon their conditions, symptoms, lifestyle, and how often the attacks occurred. Generally though, therapy involves psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or possibly meds though different interventions which might be used are meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and herbal intervention.

Understanding Male Sexual Problems - Prevention

How Can I Prevent Male Sexual Problems?

These suggestions may help you avoid sexual problems:

* Avoid problems with blood flow: Don't smoke; control your blood pressure, cholesterol level, and medical conditions such as diabetes.

* Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs that can lessen sexual desire or impair your performance.

* Discuss side effects of medications with your doctor or pharmacist in case an alternative with fewer sexual effects is available. Never change your medications without your doctor's approval and guidance.

* Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, and get enough sleep.

Today's Meditation - What's at the Core of Your Personality?

“A life consistent with your values makes you secure, confident and strong.”

What do you believe in? What do you stand for? In other words what are your values?

Values lie at the very heart of all you do as a woman, because values create the core of your personality and character. Only when your values are clear and you honor them, can you experience consistent self-confidence and self-esteem.

Think about what’s important to you. Ask yourself, “What do I value?” “To what do I aspire?” and even “What do I despise?” Honest answers to these questions make you secure, confident and strong.

Do you live a life consistent with your values? If not, make changes until you can answer,"Yes!"

Understanding Male Sexual Problems - Symptoms

What Are the Symptoms of Sexual Problems?

The symptoms of male sexual problems include:

* Lack of sexual desire, sexual fantasies, or interest in sexual contact

* Inability to have or maintain any erection at all

* Inability to have or maintain an erection sufficient for sexual functioning

* Inability to reach an orgasm despite adequate sexual stimulation and signs of arousal

* Ability to achieve orgasm only after an unusually lengthy period of stimulation

* Ability to achieve orgasm only during masturbation or during oral sex

* Ability to achieve orgasm only in situations that are considered bizarre or taboo, such as fetishes

Sickle Cell Crisis

Sickle Cell Crisis Overview

Sickle cell disease is the most common of the hereditary blood disorders. It occurs almost exclusively among black Americans and black Africans.

Sickle cell disease in black Americans occurs in 3 of every 1,000 (or about 1 in 375) live births. Estimates indicate that the severe form of sickle cell disease affects more than 50,000 black Americans.

The first account of what was then called sickle cell anemia in the medical literature was in 1910. James B. Herrick, a Chicago physician, described the symptoms of a 20-year-old black male student from the West Indies. The man had reported "shortness of breath, palpitations, and episodes of icterus [yellow eyes]. He had an anemia." Dr. Herrick described the patient's blood smear as showing "thin, sickle-shaped and crescent-shaped red cells."

Sickle Cell Anemia and In Vitro Fertilization: Preimplantation Selection of Non-Carrier Embryos Produces Healthy Twins

A technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has allowed a couple with sickle cell trait to have twins whose healthy genetic status was known before pregnancy, a Cornell team reported in a recent issue of JAMA. The team says that it believes the births are the first from embryos screened for sickle cell trait before implantation following in vitro fertilization.

The twins were born to a 34-year-old woman who had undergone two previous induced abortions because the fetuses were affected with sickle cell anemia.

To avoid another unsuccessful pregnancy, Cornell researchers used in vitro fertilization to produce seven embryos for genetic testing. A single blastomere (cell produced during fertilized-egg cell division) from each embryo was removed and tested for sickle cell trait. The tests showed that four embryos were normal and two were sickle cell carriers. (The team was unable to determine the status of the remaining embryo.) Three healthy embryos were transferred to the woman's uterus, resulting in a twin pregnancy that produced healthy babies.

Erectile Dysfunction: Priapism

Priapism is a persistent, usually painful, erection that lasts for more than four hours and occurs without sexual stimulation. The condition develops when blood in the penis becomes trapped and unable to drain. If the condition is not treated immediately, it can lead to scarring and permanent erectile dysfunction.

It can occur in all age groups, including newborns.

There are two categories of priapism: low-flow and high-flow.

* Low-flow: This type of priapism is the result of blood being trapped in the erection chambers. It often occurs without a known cause in men who are otherwise healthy, but also affects men with sickle-cell disease, leukemia (cancer of the blood), or malaria.

New Cure for 4-Hour Erections?

Orphan Drug Stops Priapism, Reverses Penis Damage in Mice

Men suffering penis pain and damage from erections lasting longer than four hours may benefit from an orphan drug used to treat severe "bubble boy" immune deficiency, mouse studies suggest.

The condition, called priapism, seems funny only to those who have never suffered it. More than 40% of men with sickle-cell anemia suffer priapism. It also strikes some men with diabetes and can be a side effect of erectile dysfunction drugs -- particularly those injected into the penis. It's not a joke -- it's a medical emergency.

Swelling from priapism can be exquisitely painful. But that's not the worst of it. Erections lasting longer than four hours cut off the supply of fresh blood to the penis. The result: Penile fibrosis, the formation of scar tissue in the main body of the penis. This often means permanent erectile dysfunction.

Is this Love? Teen Tips for Romance and Dating

Dating. Going out. Being in a relationship. Whatever term you use, romantic feelings tend to heat up between the ages of 13 and 17, igniting plenty of questions along with them. Is it possible to date someone without losing your head? When is the time right for your first kiss? What makes a relationship good? WebMD talked to several experts -- teens and adults -- to find out.

Dating Tip #1: Take Your Time: The Date Can Wait

There’s no need to rush into dating. “Girls need to feel good about themselves before they start to date,” says Charles Wibbelsman, MD, chief of adolescent medicine at Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco. Some girls feel pressured because their friends are dating, he tells WebMD, and this is a mistake. “Girls should only date if they know themselves and know they want to date.”

RA and Intimacy: Keeping Relationships Strong

How to keep your relationship strong and your sex life exciting.

So how's your sex life? With rheumatoid arthritis, that question may make you sigh instead of smile. Fatigue can kill desire. Fear of hip or knee pain can keep you from trying. Or perhaps emotional pain is holding you back -- you just don't feel as connected to your lover as you used to or you don't feel sexy.

You don't have to suffer through sex -- or without it. Some expert tips can help. And thanks to aggressive treatment with newer advanced medications, some sexual issues that used to be common with RA may be a thing of the past.

Sex Reversal: Genetic Women Become Adult Men

Female-to-Male Sex Reversal Found in 3 U.K. Family Members

Two adult brothers and a paternal uncle in the U.K. all appear to be normal males -- but genetically are women with two X chromosomes.

Both brothers are married to women, and they and their uncle have the sexual anatomy, behavior, growth, and skeletal development of males. All have normal health and intelligence.

However, all three are infertile and unable to produce sperm. When the brothers responded to testosterone replacement with pain, their testes were removed and replaced with cosmetic prostheses.

Genetic tests showed that both they and their uncle lacked a Y chromosome. Instead they had the two X chromosomes characteristic of women (normal men have one X and one Y chromosome).

Steal His Mojo!

Swipe a few moves from your man's sexual arsenal to make your next romp more fun and satisfying—for you both.

Even though I've been with my husband for 15 years, I don't draw attention to my physical flaws moments before having sex. And yet the man I married will do just that. We'll be cuddling in bed, and he'll push his gut out, rub it lovingly and murmur, "You want a piece of this?" I, on the other hand, am still inclined to make a swift exit after doing the deed—stomach sucked in, of course. In addition to his utter lack of body anxiety, Joe, like many men, has a whole repertoire of beneficial sexual attitudes and behaviors: He'll happily put an argument on hold to have a go at it, and he's never rejected my advances because he needed to do the laundry. If it were women versus men in the sexual Olympics, ladies might take the gold in the foreplay, romance and pace categories, but we may not even place when it comes to body confidence, assertiveness and focus. With a little practice, though, you can master what men excel at in the sack and maximize your pleasure.

How to Be Your Truest Self and Love Your Life

Authenticity is key to a happy, healthy, more meaningful existence. Just being yourself sounds so easy, yet it's suprisingly hard to do. Here's how to be your truest self every day. —Marjorie Ingall

* Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body

* How to Break a Bad Habit

* How to Survive Any Setback

A few years ago, I was sitting at a family brunch listening to an elderly relative blithely spout racist and homophobic remarks. The room was so silent, you could have heard a pin drop—a pin I wish I could have poked her with. Was anyone going to challenge her? Apparently not. Should I say something? Because I'd only married into this family, I worried about overstepping. Gently, I offered, "I think you're making some major generalizations…." She glared, and a cousin shot me a silent message: Shut it. I did.

User Post: 5 Things You Should NEVER Say to a Nurse

Nurses hear it all: The good, the bad, and the (very, very!) ugly. From pushy patients to bossy doctors, nurses handle it all with grace. But there are some things that can get under the most tolerant nurse’s skin.

NursingLink staff members talked to health care professionals, one another and (of course!) nurses to find out what phrases or questions were most irritating. Ever felt like strangling someone with your stethoscope? Then you probably heard one of these 10 things.

10. "Helloooooo, Nurse!"

Okay. We get it. We've all seen the cartoons with the buxom nurse who is swooned over by a wolf, or a man, or an Animaniacs character. It wasn't funny or original the first dozen times you heard it, and it certainly hasn't made a positive impact 10 years later.

20 ways to eat healthier right now

Adopt one (or all) of these simple strategies to drop pounds and feel great!

Remember when you were a kid and eating was as simple as "Open, chew, enjoy"? You didn't count the grams of fiber and fat in your PB&J. You munched when you were hungry, stopped when you were full and ran off to play with your Cabbage Patch Kids. But choosing a meal as a health-minded adult can be as complicated and joyless as a calculus final. Enough! Here are 20 commonsense rules that make eating right as easy as pie for you and your inner 8-year-old.

1. Eat like a tourist in Greece.

The sunset over your office park isn't as stunning as the one over an Aegean beach, but a plate of grilled fish and fresh vegetables and a glass of wine is as delicious in Athens, Georgia, as it is in Athens, Greece. Plus, a Mediterranean menu can help lower your risk for heart disease and keep you slim, says Susan Mitchell, Ph.D., coauthor of Fat Is Not Your Fate (Fireside).

Go see Food, Inc. and improve your food and health

The New York Times called it “one of the scariest movies of the year.”

I wouldn’t know, since I generally avoid horror films, but while Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. is indeed deeply disturbing and isn’t the light entertainment typically screened in the heat of summer, it’s an important movie to watch, and it does offer a hopeful note and an action plan. I bet you’ll be moved by this movie, and understand more than ever that there’s plenty we can do to affect our own diet and the food landscape in which we all live.

We buy our food in clean pastoral looking supermarkets. It’s beautifully packaged, and marketed as the bounty of our land and the product of smiling healthy looking farmers.

Soothe stomach aches with these four foods

I woke up this morning with a serious stomach ache (it may or may not be related to yesterday's overenthusiastic post about my love of cheese!). Regardless, I needed to remedy the situation, stat. Now, there are plenty of people who I know would loooooooove to talk about my tummy troubles all morning (thanks, mom!) but there is one person I never thought to turn to for advice - a chef! That is, until I read what Jennifer Iserloh (aka, The Skinny Chef) had to say about stomach issues on her blog today.

Jennifer develops tons of recipes for SELF (check out her Eat Healthy All Week meal plan - it's one of my faves!). Since it's her job to cook (and eat!) all the time, I never took her for the type to have stomach problems. But as it turns out, Jennifer was plagued with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which means that, for her, tons of foods can trigger tummy aches. So, in true Skinny Chef style, she came up with a list of four foods that relieve stomach pain. I've been trying these all day and feel better already. Read her eat-right advice after the jump!

6 Ways to beat mindless munching

One of the best parts about editing Women’s Health is that I get the inside scoop on the latest nutrition research. Most of the time I do my best to take the advice we offer each month, but that doesn’t mean I never slip up. In fact, one of my hard-to-break habits is eating when I’m not even hungry. We’ve all been there. You’re stressed, bored, or just distracted, and before you know it you’ve polished off a bag of pretzels. These tips will help you (and me!) put an end to mindless munching.

•Banish hunger

Don’t skip meals! Eating regular meals of complex carbs—not refined ones like white bread and pasta—with protein and a small amount of healthy fat will keep your blood sugar steady and you feeling satisfied. And go for smart snacks: Choose foods with staying power, like low-fat yogurt with some fresh berries or half a whole-wheat English muffin with natural peanut butter.

Get Twisted!

There's a reason why when people think of yoga students they often call to mind images of bendy people twisting their bodies into pretzel shapes. Yogis believe twisting poses are an important tool for optimal health.

Below are a myriad of reasons why a little twisting goes a long way.

Twists release and return the spine to neutral alignment after deep forward bends and backbends.

Twists affect the internal organs of the torso through what B. K. S. Iyengar calls a "squeeze and soak" action. The theory is that twists cleanse the internal organs in much the same way that a sponge discharges dirty water when squeezed and can then absorb fresh water and expand again. The idea is that, when you twist, you create a similar wringing action, removing stale blood and allowing a freshly oxygenated supply to flow in.

Eat ice cream, lose weight?

To me, nothing says “it’s summer” like ice cream—sundaes, sandwiches, even frozen yogurt. I have fond memories of summer vacation at the beach and riding bikes with my cousins to the nearby ice cream shop in the evenings. Back then I always ordered ice cream in a cone, but as I grew up I became an ice-cream-in-a-cup kind of girl. Why? I don’t know—I probably thought it was less childish and more civilized. But I recently read that licking ice cream is more satisfying than eating with a spoon, so I’m going back to my childhood ways.

“Flavor in ice cream is released when the fat—which carries the flavor—is warmed to at least body temperature,” explains Kay McMath, a food technologist for New Zealand’s Massey University, in an article in the August issue of EatingWell magazine. When you lick ice cream it coats the tongue and fully warms the frozen treat. A spoon, on the other hand, insulates the ice cream. And then there’s the psychological aspect of savoring the treat more slowly: You just cannot lick ice cream as fast as you can spoon it.

Does Exercise Make Sex Better?

What’s the first thing you think about when it comes to the benefits of exercise? Sex of course! Well… maybe it’s not your first thought, but considering how beneficial exercise is when it comes to your libido and sexual aptitude, it’s time to pay it a bit more attention.

Get Your Blood Flowing

"The Skinny's" “Exercise Makes Sex Better,” exposes one of the more enjoyable benefits of exercise: a more satisfying sex life. In fact, sex itself IS exercise as Zen Gray, host of "The Skinny" points out, “Sex is great exercise, actually." But let's put that aside for now. Anything that gets your blood flowing (ahem) is going to help increase stamina and sensation. So, go dancing! Take a hike! Try one of those strip tease classes! Do some squats while you're at your desk. Crunch your abs while you're driving. Breathe deep. Just add some movement to your life. The more the better.” And the better the workout the more (sex that is).

Make Healthy Lunches Part of Back to School Plans

It's back to school season and that means moms, teachers and kids alike are preparing to wrap-up summer and launch another school year. With all the preparing you have to do, we want to make sure you don't forget about lunch.

Behind breakfast, this is the most important meal of the day for your child. It's a mid-day boost that will help them sail through reading, math and even gym class. An unfortunate truth is that the lunches in school cafeterias are extremely lagging in terms of providing healthy, nutritious meals. Even more upsetting is the fact that little can be done, or is being done, to improve these meals. Simply put, it comes down to budgets and money.

Are you a hypochondriac? I used to be!

Have you ever freaked about some health worry that turned out to be nothing? My embarrassing story: Somewhere during the latter half of my first pregnancy, I got this little lump under my tongue. When it didn't go away, I put on my Google M.D. hat and made a diagnosis. I was convinced--absolutely positive, in fact--that I had...tongue cancer.

Which cancer are you most afraid of getting?

So, I made my appointment--with shaking hands--and went in to see a specialist. I remember looking around the waiting room feeling sorry for myself. Cancer? Me? At 29 (which was how old I was then)?

Yeah, I felt pretty silly when the doctor looked at my "cancerous tongue" and proclaimed that I had a clogged salivary gland (or something like that--I can't remember her exact verbiage), which is common in pregnancy and usually resolves on its own.

28 Diet Tips in 28 Days

As we move from summer to fall, into the new school season and new year, I am wondering if you would like to join with me as I recommit to my health, to better living! What better time than now!

28 days: 28 diet tips to living a fully baked life!

1. Fruit and Veggies Rule: They are 'real food' (as in not processed or filled with white sugar or white flour ... duh!), they are loaded with fiber; they are ohhhh so satisfying. Add two servings to every meal and consider them for your snacks. The dietary guidelines say 5 to 9.

Half Baked: 5 servings or less

Fully Baked: 9 servings or more

2. Small Plates are Adorable: And you will be too, if you stop with the super-sizing nonsense. Go on a shopping spree (in person; not on-line - burns more calories!) and buy yourself some fabulous small plates. Statistics show that we are just as satisfied, as long as the plate is full!

Stress Less with Yoga

Meet Mark: When something stressful happens, he feels energized. His heart races, his senses heighten—he even feels as though his thoughts speed up. Mark prides himself on his ability to face problems head-on, but he admits that it's becoming difficult to turn this intensity off. Lately he's been feeling more on edge than on top of his game. He's developed headaches and insomnia, and he's beginning to wonder if they're related to stress. He'd like to feel better, but he can't imagine himself changing his full-throttle approach to life. Without stress, how would he ever get anything done?

Mark's wife, Sue, doesn't feel energized by stress—it exhausts her. She feels so depleted by stress that she's begun to cut back on the things that generate the most stress, such as planning big family gatherings. To maintain her composure, she tries to walk away when conflicts arise. She's even considering leaving her challenging job to find something less intense. Sue proudly sees in herself the ability to "just let things go," which she's been cultivating through her yoga practice.

Doing Everything Right, But No Weight Loss

You step up on the scale, hold your breath and the moment of truth seems like a big fat lie: you have not lost one ounce. In fact, you gained a pound! You step up again, more lightly this time, to counteract the force of gravity, but the numbers are the same. What’s going on? Perhaps, you need to go in the opposite direction to find the solution. Are you a light weight when it comes to personal empowerment?

Did you ever consider that your plateau might be telling you something? This is a healthy weight for you. However, unrealistic images fueling the obsessive quest for physical attractiveness makes you yearn to be thinner – turning you into a person with little inner substance. The fact that a number on the scale dictates your mood and fuels stress triggering an all out war with food should alert you to the real problem – your identity has reached a plateau.

Freshmen 15 Weight Gain Is Not Just for Freshmen

Twenty-five percent of students gain quite a bit of weight by their first college semester according to a new study from research authors, Heidi J. Wengreen and Cara Moncur, in Nutrition Journal. What is driving this rapid weight gain? The study provides clear evidence that the transition to college life is a risk factor. It also explains that college freshmen need to learn obesity prevention strategies. Interesting to note: the stats are the same for both men and women.

The way I see it is that we are all freshmen during different times in our lives: Any new beginning whether a job, relationship, parenthood, buying an apt or car, experiencing a loss, getting divorced - any first time can be stressful. We become “freshmen” all over again. This experience of transforming into a newbie presents us with a challenge to our egos: We might be bad at what we do. However, it’s good to be bad at what we do because we are trying out new things, learning, growing and becoming better after messing up. For example, few people are naturals when it comes to learning how to drive or dance. It takes plenty of practice. So instead of beating our heads against a wall of frustration, let’s go with the flow of being fresh. We just might learn a thing or two along the way.

Don't Lose Weight, Gain Substance!

The problem with weight loss is the word, loss. It has too many negative connotations even though the show, The Biggest Loser is successful. And if you ask me at this very moment, “How do you want to be remembered?” I would not reply regarding how thin I was. Instead I want to be remembered for my substance. Sticking with a healthy meal plan is all about dropping unnecessary weight, feeling lighter and floating on air like when you fall in love and everything and everyone is just grand. To be lighter is to see the light instead of the dark. Consequently, let’s alter traditional perception a bit. Let’s focus on what is gained: health, empowerment – a sense of control.

Sleep techniques and improving the quality of sleep

A few days back , Yumi asked about sleep techniques and methods to improve Quality of sleep. I think it is a great topic to discuss as many of us suffer from disturbed or light sleep. My sleep used to be very light for last many years. I remember, as a kid I used to fall asleep within five minutes of lying down on my bed at night. I could clearly recall what used to happen in those five minutes. I used to feel that I am in a cradle and the cradle is swinging gently until there is darkness and I am sort of floating and I would be gone in five minutes. The next thing I recall after that used to be waking up fresh as ever, every morning. This continued for sometime till I was a teen or shortly before that. Then the five minute threshold started shooting up. It all started with my mind planning for the next day before sleeping. The planning used to be for studies or other activities at the school mostly. In the following years other things got added up, like a high school crush or something. The five minute period extended to almost fifteen or twenty minutes. Still, it was good, because it was like dreaming. Then the work pressure increased and some stresses of day to day life started building up during higher studies at college. The period shifted to half an hour to one hour. Daily routine also changed as sometimes I would wake up very early or sometimes study late. In recent years, my sleep cycle got totally disturbed, as I would normally be awake till midnight and then I used to have hard time sleeping until three in the morning. I would wake up only by nine or so in the morning and be a late worker as my schedule allowed so. Surprisingly, no matter how much you sleep after five in the morning, it does not make you feel better. It only adds to the pre-existing lethargy. Procrastination, cold weather, stress, bad phases and eating pattern all added up to this sleep cycle. I used to snack around one or two in the morning. My body weight started shooting up for no apparent reason. I tried warm milk, hot water bath, reading a boring book, not watching TV, eating dinner before seven at night, going to bed by nine or so. Nothing seemed to work. I usually would come back to the same old pattern after a day or two of a revolutionary routine. I had learnt yoga, meditation and breathing techniques from different wonderful courses that "The Art of Living" provides. They teach a specific breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya that helps you release negative emotions, stress and tensions etc. They have Art of Living Part I course which is offered throughout the world ( www.artofliving.org). Anyone can take this basic course followed by other advanced courses. Home practice exercises are given to do everyday. Every place has a center that does follow ups once every week in a group. I learnt all that but was not regular in my home practices. Although, these helped me in stress management and helped at many other emotional and spiritual levels. My health became very good and there were many good effects that could be called as byproducts of spiritual growth. Since I wasn't regular in my home practices, I took advanced course last year where one follows some of the meditations and pranayama (breathing techniques) observing total silence for five to seven days. During this time you eat less and eat vegetarian Sattvic food. After I took this course, during the first day I slept like a baby again. I woke up very fresh after fifteen years of not so good or very light and recent two years of totally disturbed sleep. I was feeling so relaxed and the only two time points I could remember were sleeping and waking up. There was a total blank sleep period. I resolved to do the following and it has helped me immensely in sleeping very well. I am almost a five year old in that sense now and I hope reading and following it might be able to solve your sleep problems:

Paying Attention to Yourself and Your Environment Can Help Your Sleep!

Putting attention on ourselves and our environment can help to resolve some of our personal challenges, especially sleep issues. Here are some tips and questions for you to place your attention on so you can get a good night sleep!

1. Are you waking up periodically during the night to adjust your pillow?

If so, you may want to try one of those ergonomic pillows, or you may just need a new pillow or mattress.

2. Are you waking up periodically during the night to use the restroom?

A quick fix for many of my clients - cut off liquids by 7:00PM, (caffeine by 4 and limit it to 2 cups per day). However, there could be a more serious medical issue going on. If you don’t think you are experiencing the need for elimination in the middle of the night due to liquids, you may need to seek the help of your health practitioner.

14 Sleep Tips: Overcoming Insomnia

Do you stay awake all night and sleep all day? Do you lie around all the time but never get rested? Do you have trouble getting to sleep? Are you able to get to sleep, but wake up frequently throughout the night? Do you believe you are sleeping long enough, but you still wake up tired?

We are continually stressed and running short on time and it would seem logical that after running around all day we would have no trouble getting to sleep at night. But that is not the case. Many of us are finding it increasingly difficult to get to sleep at night. To further complicate matters, we tend to depend upon caffeine, cigarettes and sugar as a substitute for what only a good night's sleep can provide. Sleep patterns, thinking processes and mood are intimately related. Sleep deprivation makes us irritable, unable to think clearly and depressed. Many of us become so desperate to get a good night's sleep that we resort to medications, but are they really necessary? Perhaps the best medicine of all is to start really listening to your body instead of working against it.

Setting a New Sleep Routine

Question:

On the Ellen DeGeneres show you said that you get up at 4:00 am to meditate. I would like to become an early riser also, because the early morning is the only quiet time for meditation where I live, but also because I would like to get more done during the day. I never sleep through the night, and this has been a life-long pattern. I go to bed around 11:00 pm and usually wake up around 3:00-4:00 am for a couple of hours, then fall asleep again, waking at 8:00 or 9:00 am. If I have to get up earlier than this I feel a lot of anxiety and end up sleeping very little or not at all. I have tried many things to improve this (including doctors, meditation, hypnosis and counseling, EFT, yoga, spending time in nature, working on personal goals) but nothing has helped much. I have also tried getting up and meditating at 4:00 am, but I end up getting tired again and I have to return to bed. Our ancestors used to sleep for a few hours, then get up and return to bed, and I suspect that this ancient habit is partly related to my interrupted sleep. When I wake up, I feel groggy for a couple of hours and don't really get going until about noon. I drink a few cups of coffee in the morning.

How to create multiple orgasms in women

1. If you are a woman, decide that no matter how inept you feel in every other area of life, you are capable of responding similarly to women who are multi-orgasmic if you or your partner know what to do.

2. Talk to your gynecologist. What does he or she know that will help make your sex life more pleasurable.

3. Buy books that will teach you more about the full extent of female sexual potential. Read them.

4. If you are married with kids, take two hours on a Sunday morning and send the youngsters to a friends house or the zoo or give them some money and send them to an arcade. You want them so absorbed they forget all about you. Now you have to let yourself get so absorbed that you forget all about them too.

Ayurvedic Recommendations to Improve Rest at Night

General Suggestions:

Meditate twice daily. Sleep research studies have shown that meditation reduces the time of sleep onset to normal in patients with insomnia.

Maintain a regular daily routine: rise, meditate, eat, work, exercise, play, and sleep at the same time every day. Go to bed by 10pm, which is the end of the Kapha period when the mind and body are naturally drowsier. If you are not currently accustomed to being regular about your routine, you may want to start by first writing down a schedule to follow for the first few weeks.

Eat Vata-pacifying Foods: If the mind is very active at bedtime follow a Vata-pacifying diet or light Vata diet. Have an early, light supper, such as soup or hot cereal, toast, warm milk at least three hours before bedtime.

How Can We Get a Good Night's Sleep?

A good nights sleep can sometimes be hard find! We toss and turn and wake up wanting MORE sleep.

How can we get a good nights sleep?

One: Turn Off and Tune Down

Turn off the television unless you want to watch shows that are peaceful and calm. Stimulation before sleep can be one of the biggest causes of insomnia. Tune down the music you listen to. Favor peaceful sounds over energetic dance music.

Two: Beam up into spiritual realms

Evening is a wonderful time to repeat your favorite spiritual mantra or think about the spiritual experiences you have been having. Let your everyday conscious mind relax and get ready to enter another part of your consciousness where you will sleep and dream. Nighttime is not the time to offer your logical mind a wide screen to create plans on. This is the time to clear your mind and imagine the blue sky, the waves of the ocean, or streams of your favorite colors.

Ask the doctor: What are your most pressing health questions?

It has happened more times than I can count: I've been sitting anxiously on the exam table, barebacked in one of those awful and faded hospital gowns, with a list of questions for my doctor rolling over and over through my mind. Then the doctor comes in, asks all the routine questions, kindly covers any concerns, and examines me. Before I know it, the appointment is over, I'm alone in the room and getting dressed again. All those questions? Never asked, never answered.

Sometimes, the questions have been big -- is it time for me to have a mammogram and should I be concerned about this mole? And sometimes, they have been small but nagging -- what's this little thing right here and what is a normal blood pressure? Occasionally, I've called back and left a message or spoken to the nurse practitioner on staff. But more often, these questions just keep rolling around until the next time I wiggle into the gown and up on to the table.

Sixteen Tips for Getting Good Sleep

There’s a lot of advice out there about getting good sleep -- and it's very important. We quickly adjust to being sleep-deprived, and don't notice that we aren't functioning at a normal level, but lack of sleep really affects us. If you're feeling blue or listless, try going to sleep thirty minutes earlier for a week. It can really help.

Here are tips that have helped me get good sleep:

Good habits for good sleep:

1. Exercise most days, even if it’s just to take a walk.

2. No caffeine after 6:00 p.m.

3. An hour before bedtime, avoid doing any kind of work that takes alert thinking. Addressing envelopes—okay. Analyzing an article—nope.

Sleep Your Pounds Away

These days most people confide that high on their wish list is weight loss. The reasons range from fitting into skinny jeans to trying to remove some pressure off the knees to improving heart health. Some of my friends are looking for a genie in a bottle. However, there is something almost as good: Sleeping your weight away!

When you sleep through the night, your fat cells secrete a hormonal appetite suppressant called Leptin which also triggers the metabolism to burn more calories. Exactly how and why Leptin works is still not clearly understood by scientists.

Research also shows that adequate sleep (generally about 8 hours) helps you deal with daytime stress. Daily stress reaches its crescendo at night when you replay the scenarios – would have, or should have? Also, be aware that daytime stress could replay in nightmares which interfere with quality sleep – hence the benediction, “sweet dreams.”

How to Overcome the Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau

You go on a balanced diet, exercise for an hour daily and lose weight every week, but then you plateau, even worse you have gained a couple of pounds. Frustrated and puzzled, you feel bad about your body image - a recipe for disaster. Sliding down the slippery slope of self-esteem with stress levels rising, you are considering self-sabotage. Stop! Here are some tips to jumpstart your weight loss.

* Don’t Stress. Stressing about not losing weight can potentially trigger weight gain according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology by Dr. Jason Block. Also, cortisol, a stress hormone, has been implicated in depositing fat around the middle. So, if you stew about seeing yourself as fat and unattractive - guess what? You will actualize your negative self-perception. Instead fortify your identity by participating in creative and meaningful hobbies. Get at the root of what you do well and what you love to do. When you feel happier, you are lighter.

Grazing: A Better Way to Eat?

It seems like every time I look at a magazine, there’s some new research on the best way to eat to lose weight, be healthier, and look my best. I guess three squares just don’t cut it anymore; today, the trend is more toward eating small meals throughout the day or grazing, eating only when you’re hungry, without restricting yourself to mealtimes. Forget the days when dieting meant you could hardly eat at all—now the approach is to be eating almost constantly, in hopes that it will fuel metabolism and stave off hunger cravings. Is this really a healthy way to eat, or just Hollywood hype?

Eat to Your Health

Negative Calories: Diet Holy Grail or Urban Food Legend?

What if I told you there are certain foods that can make you lose weight through the sheer act of eating them? That’s right—sit in front of the TV, eat these foods, get thinner. There are things we can eat that make us consume fewer calories than not eating at all does? Sign me up.

Being the extreme Web searcher that I am, I decided to do some research on the term “negative-calorie food” while looking for recipes online. Some Web sites (mostly disreputable blogs and weight-loss sites) claim that certain foods, because they’re tricky for our bodies to digest, actually burn more calories than they’re worth and therefore help us lose weight. This diet folklore surrounds low-cal foods like citrus, melon, and celery.

10 Steps to Beat the Post-Holiday Bulge

Do you have a spare tire, love handles, or a belly bulge left over from the holidays? Or maybe it’s been accumulating for more than a few holiday seasons? Did you have your cake, drinks, cookies and turkey dinner – and eat them too? Don’t fret. Here are a few simple tricks from my best-selling book: The Life Force Diet (Wiley, 2006) that can help you start the New Year on the right—and maybe lighter—foot:

1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to beat dehydration. Alcohol consumption, fatty foods, and insufficient water are some of the main reasons people feel “hung over” and heavy from the holidays. Every cell in your body needs adequate water to function properly so try to drink at least 2 Litres a day to flush fat and toxins out.

Healthiest and unhealthiest options at a restaurant

Weekends are, by far, my 'splurge' time. I really look forward to eating out at our favorite restaurants; enjoying time with friends and family, while indulging in some epicurean delights. That said, eating out at restaurants more often than not can do damage to a healthy diet. This isn't only true for those trying to lose weight, but also for those trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fact is, even those dishes that 'appear' healthy on the menu, often come with hidden ingredients like butter and oils that can take a seemingly healthy dish and turn it into a calorie and fat intensive meal.

'Kick' your fitness routine up a notch with kickboxing

Not many people know this about me, but I’m a black belt. Yep, you can be a little impressed; it was a lot of hard work. With the exception of breaking a guy’s arm (another story for another day), I have been lucky enough that I haven’t had to use my skills to fend off an attacker. However, there are certain moves that ALL OF YOU should know. Try and incorporate them into your fitness routine. All it takes is a few extra minutes on the punching bag.

According to an article in Fitness Magazine, kickboxing burns an average of 500 calories an hour (some estimates reach 810). The exercises effectively target your arms, shoulders, abs, thighs and butt all in one workout (talk about killing a few birds with one stone!) In addition, kickboxing serves as a fantastic form of stress release (how often do you get to pretend you’re beating up your archenemy - or at some times, your significant other?!? hehe!). I know I always feel better after getting out some of my built up stress and aggression. Who needs yoga when you've got a punching bag and an active imagination?!

Get More From Your Usual Stroll: Tips for Walking With Weights

Want to get more out of your work out? Add weights! Even light weights (2-5 lbs) can increase the rate at which you burn both fat and calories, all in the same amount of time as your usual routine. In addition to losing weight, you will also increase your muscle tone and improve your cardiovascular health.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your weighted workout!

Using Ankle Weights:

1. Don’t Use Heavy Weights. Your goal is to improve your cardio rate, not add strength.

2. Ankle Weights should be tight. Don’t let them be loose around your foot as this will affect your natural stride.

Do You Have Metabolic Syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome, also called insulin resistance syndrome, is a dangerous thing to have. It is a combination of symptoms including:

* Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen).

* Blood fat disorders like high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol that foster plaque buildups in artery walls.

* Elevated blood pressure.

* Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar).

* Prothrombotic state (high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood).

* Proinflammatory state (elevated C-reactive protein in the blood).

How to Decrease Body Fat

Lose Fat, Not Weight

Believe it or not, a thin person can still have a high body fat percentage. The more lean muscle mass you carry, the less body fat you have. If you're trying to prevent the wiggle under your arm when you wave or lose that last layer of fat from your abdominal muscles, increase muscle first. After you've built up your lean muscle mass, you can lose the body fat through diet and exercise.

How Big is Your Spare Tire?

You can go out and buy one of those expensive scales that measure your body fat percentage, but the easiest way to do this is simply by going into into your gym or local city recreation center. Ask a trainer there to measure you with calipers. Women, don't fret. Females have a higher body fat percentage than men. A healthy woman ranges from 14 to 24 percent while healthy men range from eight to 20 percent.

Why College Freshmen Are More Stressed Out Than Ever

Think back to your freshman year of college (or if you are a freshman, think back to--this morning!). What were your anxieties? This year's crop of college freshmen are apparently more stressed out than ever, thanks in part to this interesting factor...

The economy. According to research from UCLA, the pressures to pay for a college education and also choose studies that will lead to good jobs have stressed out this year's college freshmen at "unprecedented levels" (their emotional health levels are apparently the lowest in the 25 years this survey has taken place).

But they're also feeling huge pressure to succeed, reports the New York Times: "'Students know their generation is likely to be less successful than their parents’, so they feel more pressure to succeed than in the past,' said Jason Ebbeling, director of residential education at Southern Oregon University. 'These days, students worry that even with a college degree they won’t find a job that pays more than minimum wage, so even at 15 or 16 they’re thinking they’ll need to get into an M.B.A. program or Ph.D. program.'"

Something else I find intriguing about the survey results? Women's emotional health has consistently declined every year since the survey began. What's that about?