The Mayo Clinic offers suggestions for quick, flexible breakfast options that help you fuel your body in a healthy manner.  Check it out: 

Whether you tend to stick with traditional breakfast options or you prefer the variety offered by nontraditional breakfast fare, you have plenty of ways to get in a healthy breakfast each day.

Here are some specific examples of healthy breakfast options:

• Cooked oatmeal with almonds or dried cranberries
• Cold cereal with a side of fruit
• A whole-wheat pita stuffed with hard-boiled eggs
• Leftover vegetable pizza
• Vegetables, salsa and low-fat shredded cheese wrapped in a tortilla
• A smoothie blended from exotic fruits, some low-fat yogurt and a spoonful of wheat germ
• Whole-wheat crackers with low-fat cheese or peanut butter
• A microwaved potato topped with broccoli and grated Parmesan cheese
• A whole-wheat sandwich with lean meat and low-fat cheese
• Multi-grain pancakes with fruit and yogurt
• A whole-grain waffle with peanut butter

Dr. O’Brien surveyed energy drink and alcohol use among college students at 10 universities in North Carolina. The study, published this month in Academic Emergency Medicine, showed that students who mixed energy drinks with alcohol got drunk twice as often as those who consumed alcohol by itself and were far more likely to be injured or require medical treatment while drinking. Energy drink mixers were more likely to be victims or perpetrators of aggressive sexual behavior. The effect remained even after researchers controlled for the amount of alcohol consumed. read full article…

Discussion Questions: Have you seen this energy drink-risk taking connection in evidence with your friends? If so, what other forms of risk taking are common? If not, why do you think that its not as common?

Maybe that seems like something to worry about in the far-flung future, but new research indicates it may boil down to four simple things you can do that will prolong your life by an average of 14 years and improve your overall health in the meantime. The Mayo Clinic Health Letter reports on this research.

Does the bombardment of information on how to improve your health just leave you feeling confused? Try focusing on this straightforward advice:

1. Have no more than two alcoholic beverages a day.
2. Don’t smoke.
3. Get at least the equivalent of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day.
4. Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

According to a recent study published in the January 2008 edition of Public Library of Science Medicine, people who follow those steps live an average of 14 years longer than those who don’t. Mayo Clinic experts would further recommend that women of all ages — and men over 65 — have no more than one drink a day.

For the study, researchers interviewed and examined over 20,000 reasonably healthy men and women aged 45 to 79, living in Norfolk County, United Kingdom. Their health status was checked again after many years.

Researchers found that regardless of sex, social status — or even body weight — those who followed none of the recommendations listed above had four times the risk of dying over the course of a decade than did those who followed all of the recommendations. Not smoking offered the greatest benefits in terms of survival.

Discussion Question: If you knew you could live longer by doing these four things, would you? Or if you are already doing these things, does it help motivate you to maintain these choices? And what would you do with the extra time?

From Reuters: Health…

A bran muffin and a flavored coffee drink are not unusual choices for a breakfast on the run. But along with fiber and caffeine, you may be getting something you hadn’t bargained for: a day’s worth of added sugar in just one small early morning meal.

We shouldn’t consume more than 40 grams — about 10 teaspoons — of sugar a day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, said Andy Bellatti, a graduate student at New York University’s department of nutrition and food studies who blogs about diet and health at Small Bites. “It’s very easy, though, to go way above that because that’s basically one can of soda,” Bellatti said. “So although 10 teaspoons sounds like a lot, it’s actually not really that much.”

read full article…

Water is essential to good health, yet needs vary by individual. These guidelines can help ensure you drink enough fluids.

How much water should you drink each day? A simple question with no easy answers. Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years, but in truth, your water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live.

Though no single formula fits everyone, knowing more about your body’s need for fluids will help you estimate how much water to drink each day.

Water is your body’s principal chemical component, making up, on average, 60 percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

read full article…

Refusing to have a hand in that suffering is especially timely at Passover, for in commemorating the escape of the Jews from Egyptian bondage, the holiday reminds us of the importance of continuing the battle for freedom. Prayers said on Passover call on us to be kind to those who are now oppressed and to deepen our commitment to liberty today. What better time than Passover to extend our compassion to every living being? And what better way to celebrate the spirit of the holiday than by practicing vegetarianism?

read full article…

Must. Stay. Awake. Yes, it’s the 3 o’clock mantra. And who hasn’t mumbled it while fighting off midday yawns and drooping eyes?

Fatigue and flagging energy seem to be epidemics, especially among women who burn the candle at both ends (and who doesn’t?). Instead of moping, pump up your mojo with these 10 strategies from experts in sleep, fitness, nutrition, psychology, and alternative medicine.

1. See the light

Get the right light, and you’ll have lots more energy. But that can be a challenge, given the poorly lit offices we sit in and the scant doses of daily sunlight (which contains brain-activating short-wavelength blue light) we get. “Our circadian rhythms are more sensitive to blue light than any other kind,” says Mariana Figueiro, assistant professor at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

read full article…

From Her Active Life…

Trying to eat healthy – whole grains, fresh veggies, flax oil – is one important element of an energetic, athletic, robust lifestyle. Filling your body with natural, whole foods is the best way, without a doubt, to fuel yourself and prevent illness. Much as nutrition ought to be a top priority for women, regardless of their athletic goals or lifestyle choices, new light has been shed on a dangerous obsession that medical experts are calling a major problem for many: orthorexia.

Although research on the condition is still preliminary, orthorexia has been classified as an eating disorder much like anorexia and bulimia nervosa, with its own set of characteristics, warning signs, and health risks. Put plainly, orthorexia is the obsessive focus on nutritious eating. For example, a woman might eat nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, refusing to chow down on other important parts of a healthy diet, like fatty foods or proteins. The reasoning? Most who suffer with orthorexia have an irrational fear of weight gain or changes in body composition – the idea that fat in your food becomes fat on your body.

read full article…

Understanding what you’re reading, who is behind what you’re reading and why they might have an interest in you is a very important aspect of becoming an educated consumer. I recently experienced the marketing techniques of nutrition professionals, and how their choice of URL’s could play a role in America’s education about nutrition.

Ever sit at the table in the morning and completely study the back of the cereal box resting in front of you? If you’re anything like me, you have done this before. This morning, I was reading the side panel of my Cheerios box and saw information regarding a nutritional website.  Their marketing technique worked perfectly on me (kind-of). I was interested on what the site might have to offer me that General Mills wanted me to see. Immediately after finishing my bowl of goodness, I walked over to my computer and checked out the site.

I thought I remembered the box saying “Eat Right America.com.” So, I went to the URL. It turns out, Eat Right America is a collection of knowledge by Joel Fuhrman, MD and his nutritional medicine colleagues. I immediately recognized Dr. Fuhrman’s name – one, as an influential blogger in the nutritional community – he frequently blogs on DiseaseProof.com—and two, as the author of the best-selling book Eat To Live: The Revolutionary Plan for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss (2003). Eat to Live is a highly influential diet on the market today, complete with a published book and website.

However, I couldn’t (for the life of me) figure out how Dr. Fuhrman’s small site was able to afford to market on the side panel of a Cheerios box.  This is because Cheerios is owned by General Mills, a fervent supporter of the American Heart Association (the front of the cheerios box usually features a heart-shaped bowl and has a ribbon across it, featuring something about AHA and how Cheerios are good for lowering cholesterol).  So I double-checked the URL on the side of the box, which reads, “Eat Better America.com.” Ah, this makes sense now.

read full article…

A recent study from Pennsylvania State University of children (2 and older) with colds found that a teaspoon of honey at bedtime worked better than a cough suppressant (artificially honey-flavored) or no treatment. Never give honey to infants less than a year old, however, since it may contain botulism spores, which can be fatal to babies. Some researchers theorize that any sweet liquid preparation may help reduce coughing.

And if you drink tea, the Wellness Letter also reports that adding lemon helps preserve tea’s antioxidants, according to a study from Purdue University. Tea – particularly green tea – is rich in catechins, antioxidants linked to reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. When researchers looked at the effects of milk, citrus juices and other added ingredients on catechin levels in tea during simulated digestion, they found that lemon juice preserved nearly 80% of the catechins. Normally, these substances are fairly unstable and most break down before the body can absorb them.