Health, Health, and More Health

Reeling in the Benefits of Fish

We all know fish is a healthy alternative to other meats such as red meat and pork. But we get tired of the same old recipes used to prepare fish. Check this blog out for 5 fun recipes that will give you more filling options on how to serve your fish and gain necessary nutrients.

Phys Ed: How Exercising Keeps Your Cells Young

Studies have shown that exercising helps to keep your cells and YOU looking younger while keeping you healthier. Cellular aging is just another reason why exercise is so beneficial to leading a healthy and happy life.

Busy Women Cant Find One Hour to Exercise

Women already have a hard time fitting exercise into their schedules. Those who are in the work field are even less likely to count exercising as a top priority. This blog suggests small ways to help increase activity that any woman can fit in to her busy schedule.

An Hour of Exercise Needed to Lose Weight

How much exercise is enough to lose weight an live a healthier lifestyle? This blog explains that after completing a study, they found an hour a day at least will help to either lose weight, stay in shape, or keep weight off.

Healthy Diet Increases Fertility

Conventional terms such as waiting until ovulation periods have always been used to increase chances of getting pregnant. However, this blog explains that women are forgetting the most important factor in becoming pregnant, a healthy diet. Visit the blog for factors and tips that lead to a healthier pregnancy.

AIDS/HIV

HIV and AIDS are very serious health issues, however most people do not know the facts. Visit this blog to learn the difference in HIV and AIDS as well as the risks and other important information that everyone needs to know and understand.

Health Related Blogs

In The Raw

View this blog for healthy recipes and alternative ingredients for guilty pleasure foods. Learn how to give in to your cravings without indulging in fatty and unhealthy meals, snacks and desserts. Choose from entrees, desserts, drinks and more to learn healthy recipes for a healthy lifestyle.

All Mothers

Use this blog as a guide to information about mothers and child care. Learn about child health and development. This blog is great for mothers with newborns and women who are currently going through a pregnancy.

Catapult Fitness

This blog helps to motivate everyone to jump start a healthy lifestyle through fitness, diet and nutrition. Learn tips and instructions as well as motivation to exercise and transform your life into a healthy and happy one.

Addiction Box

Learn about numerous addictions and their effects on the body. Read about addictions from alcoholism to drugs and the results on your life if you cannot learn to change. Also, learn about unusual addictions.

This Is Vegan

Interested in a vegan lifestyle? Check out this blog for information on favorite recipes and tips to live a meat-free lifestyle. There are numerous healthy recipes that allow you to live a meat-free lifestyle with many options for meals.

Fighting Fatigue

Are you constantly dealing with fatigue throughout your busy lifestyle. Use the blog to learn about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and its effects on the body. Also, learn tips and ways to help with the symptoms in order to live a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Women Health Line

Alright women, this blog is for you! Learn about health specifically relating to women's health needs. Read about fertility, menopause, and other issues women must deal with. Also, learn about cosmetic surgery and procedures.

Are You Ready To Shape Up For Summer?

This blog offers a list of exercise programs that will help you lose weight, trim up, and get back in shape just in time to go to the beach. Lear about which programs actually work and should be used to get your body back in shape.

Stronglifts

Want to learn about strength training? Use this blog as a resource for tips on what types of workouts to use and what types of other lifestyle changes can help create a healthy life. You can also find other blogs through this site to help guide you in strength training.

Bringing Awareness to Your Health

Losing Weight Without Dieting

This is a health blog that posts daily. Learn about losing weight and burning fat by taking in less calories and watching what you eat. Also learn about fat blockers and weight loss supplements and their effects on the body.

Body Weight Cardio Works

View this blog for a list of workouts that are meant to strengthen the core and give a fabulous cardio workout. These workouts are meant for people who do not own any gym equipment and are unable to make it to the gym.

FDA Slams "Fat Dissolving" Spa Treatments

This diet blog brings to attention the FDA warnings against spa treatments for body fat reduction. Read this to learn about the spoofs and claims of the spa treatment that is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Weight Loss Secrets in Vinegar

View this blog to learn about the health benefits in vinegar as well as the benefits of adding vinegar to your daily eating habits for weight loss. These benefits have also been researched and mentioned by the American Diabetes Association.

Meditation and You

Learn how meditation can calm the nerves and create a healthier and happier lifestyle. View this blog for a list of tips to properly perform meditation and watch clips of personal experiences.

Are You Getting Enough Water

This blog brings awareness to your daily water intake. Learn what doctors recommend as the minimum water intake as well as reminders of when to take in extra water to replenish your body.

Sugar Isn't Always So Sweet

Many of us struggle with controlling the amount of sugar in our diet. Diets containing large amounts of sugar can create many health problems such as weight gain and high blood pressure.

Luckily, there are several ways to help control your sugar intake. Why not try using natural sweeteners to help make your favorite foods taste a little sweeter. Honey is a favorite among sweeteners, because it is 25 to 50 percent sweeter than regular sugar. Molasses is another alternative to artificial sweeteners. Not only does it contain amounts of fructose, glucose and sucrose, it also has nutritional value from vitamin B, calcium and iron. Maple syrup can also be used to sweeten any food item. Maple syrup comes from the sap in maple trees and contains glucose and sucrose. However, maple syrup is only 60 percent as sweet as sugar but is a much healthier alternative.

What about artificial sweeteners? How safe are they? There are a few artificial sweeteners that have been approved by the Federal Drug Administration and are greatly used in cooking and for topping meals. Saccharine, commonly known from its use in the product Sweet and Low, is used mainly for baking. However, it is several hundred times sweeter than sugar. It is recommended to be used in a fraction of the sugar substitute amount in a recipe. Aspartame is another artificial sweetener commonly used in ingredients. However, this substitute cannot be used in baking. There have been numerous studies on whether aspartame causes cancer. Current studies show that a correlation between cancer and aspartame has not been found, but the FDA still recommends using it in small doses.

Here are a few tips that can help control your sugar intake:

1. Choose fruits for snacks as well as desserts instead of processed foods

2. Try not to add extra sugar to your food or beverages

3. Try to stay away from soft drinks, but if you cannot fight the urge, try low-sugar or sugar-free alternatives

4. Add protein to your diet to help with high blood sugar

5. Read labels and choose wisely

Chocolate Good For Your Health!

We all love chocolate. We love a healthy heart even more. So why not combine the two to create a healthy lifestyle? Sounds tempting enough. Studies have shown that eating one small piece of chocolate a day can help lower risks of a heart attack. This is wonderful news for those of you who are health conscience but are constantly fighting back the relentless sweet tooth.

So which type of chocolate seems to be the best choice? Dark chocolate seems to be the most beneficial form of chocolate to help lower the risks of a stroke or a heart attack. Milk chocolate has a significantly less amount of beneficial effects, whereas white chocolate has ultimately zero beneficial ingredients to help lower risks. Dark chocolate contains the least amount of a protein that leads to inflammation followed closely by a heart attack.

So, you have heard the good news, but this mean that you are only limited to bars of chocolate? No. Check out a few recipes that use dark chocolate that can also be very beneficial to your heart’s health.

Chocolate Martini Recipe: use dark chocolate in a fun and simple beverage

Chocolate Fondue: drizzle dark chocolate over any of your favorite pieces of fruit to have a tasty and nutritional snack or dessert

Chocolate Nut Bark: combine dark chocolate with your favorite nuts to add protein

Dark Chocolate Soufflé Cake

How Well Do You Know Your Heart?

Doctors tell us to watch out for our health, especially our hearts. The human heart is the most vital organ in our body, pumping oxygen-enriched blood into our systems through steady contractions allowing us to partake in everyday activity.

Heart attacks are very common and are often sudden and untraceable. However, there are numerous signs that can be detected early and vary from person to person. Your body is unique, and so are the ways it will respond to heart problems. So how can you check for early warning signs of a heart attack? Here is a list that can give alert to an ultimately life changing and life-threatening event:

1. Chest Discomfort: these pains can range from slightly mild discomfort to extreme discomfort

2. Discomfort in other Body Parts: these pains can range from tingling in the hands, down the arms, to your chest, neck and back

3. Gastrointestinal Problems: symptoms include nausea and stomach pains

4. Flulike Symptoms

5. Shortness of Breath: this may or may not be combined with chest pains or pains in other parts of the body

If you are feeling any of these symptoms, please contact your doctor immediately. Why let this absolutely necessary and precious organ go unchecked? Learn the signs of an unhealthy heart so you can help prevent heart attacks and continue to live a long and healthy life!

Bringing Awareness to Your Health

Can We All Get Along?

This blog explains how studies have shown that adults have a preference to exercise with others their own age instead of with someone younger. It explores the idea that classes filled with 20 to 30-year-olds do not appeal to the older generations, which plays a big role in the smaller number of older adults exercising.

The Petite Chef

People are always looking for new recipes, especially ones with healthier options and ingredients. This blog compiles recipes that taste good and are healthier than other alternatives, such as fried foods. Check out this blog for some great recipes!

Top 10 Health Tips for 2010

Looking for some healthy tips to make your life a little more enjoyable and relaxing? Check out this blog for 10 tips that will help change your life and kickstart a healthier and happier form of living.

A Black-Box Warning for Plavix, Confusion May Follow

Many of us either struggle with heart disease or have a family member or close friend that is effected by this disease. Plavix, a pill prescribed by doctors to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke, has been one of the most widely used drugs to treat this disease. But how can you be sure that this drug is safe when the FDA is issuing its strongest form of warning stating that the drug may be less effective?

Angie Ruhlen, UGA Dietician

“I love crazy questions and debunking food myths, so I encourage them all,” said Angie Ruhlen, a registered dietician at the University of Georgia Health Center. “I encourage students who come to the classes to ask me any question regarding nutrition, so there is not a nutrition topic we don’t talk about!” She was describing her cooking class, The Nutrition Kitchen, which she uses to instruct and encourage students to live a healthy lifestyle by using recipes that are fast, easy and cheap. The classes are taught two to three times a month at the health center. Ruhlen has been teaching this class since Aug. 2009 when she started working at the health center.

Ruhlen received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish combined with a minor in biology at the University of Georgia in 2001. She then followed with a master’s degree in dietetics from the college of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia in 2004. Her dietetics internship through the university placed her in numerous facilities, mainly located in the Atlanta area.

Although, she received a master’s in dietetics, Ruhlen had not always planned on working in that field of study. She was pre-med during her earlier years of undergraduate study and began looking at medical schools her junior year. “I began touring med schools to figure out which ones I wanted to apply to. At this point, I started to question if I really wanted the life of a doctor,” said Ruhlen. She was unsure of what career she wanted to pursue. However one thing was certain, she wanted to help people and work in the medical field.

Ruhlen struggled with creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle and picked up several bad eating habits in college. When she met with the nutritionist, she found the profession very appealing. Ruhlen specifically enjoyed the hours and flexible schedules of a dietician. That was when she realized that this could be the career for her. “I’ve always been interested in nutrition, because my mom and dad raised me on organic, home-grown vegetables,” explained Ruhlen.

After she received her master’s degree in dietetics, she got a job at the Gwinnett Medical Center as a clinical dietitian. She had previously interned there for four weeks while still in school. After she graduated, she was able to get the job and work there for three years. “I worked in the main hospital most of the time, but also got great experience working with eating disorders and mental illnesses at their psychiatric facility, Summit Ridge,” said Ruhlen.

Ruhlen then got a job at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens as a clinical dietician. She worked there for two years before getting her current job at the University of Georgia Health Center. Ruhlen spends a majority of her time working on medical nutrition therapy with students one-on-one. “This entails nutrition counseling on a variety of issues, like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight management, celiac disease,” she explained.

Ruhlen also works with students on topics such as eating disorders. She has been to several health fairs around campus and has spoken in many classes in the nutrition and health promotion departments to help spread the awareness and importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Fight Obesity

Obesity has become one of the most prevalent and serious problems in the United States. Studies show that one in every three Americans is obese. But, the most disconcerting problem is that obesity is so common with children. 20-25 percent of children in the United States are obese or overweight. I believe it is time for the parents to tell their kids to put down the video games, get off the couch, and go outside for an activity.

There are numerous factors that contribute to the development of obesity. Although genetics plays a role in the development, other factors such as taking in more calories than your ability to burn, inactivity in sports or other physical activities and medications are a big part of weight gain. The good news is they can be preventable. Why should you care about your weight? Obesity is correlated with many health risks including the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attack.

Healthy eating is one of the most important ways for your body to not only decrease the risk of obesity development but to promote a healthy lifestyle. There are several foods that can actually decrease the amount of fat you are taking in as well as curb your cravings for unhealthy foods. Eggs are very low in calories but also contain beneficial nutrients and proteins. Chocoholics, you will be very excited to hear that dark chocolate can help with digestion and lessen your cravings for the unhealthy foods that will assist in weight gain. Skim milk, oranges, and pine nuts will also help with your fight against obesity. There are numerous weight plans and foods to choose from that will help control your cravings and keep you full and satisfied. So ladies and gentlemen, isn’t it time that you started taking care of your body?

Alcohol and Weight Loss

Most women have the common perception that alcohol causes gain weight. Well that perception may soon change. Recent studies have shown that women who drink in small doses can actually lessen weight gain over the years. Sorry men, this seems to be true only for women.

So, it sounds easy enough right? But what types of alcohol are they considering in this study? Mainly wine. According to an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, after a 13-year study stated that the women who drank moderately compared to nondrinkers were less likely to gain weight or develop obesity by 30 percent. This is good news for those of you who enjoy a glass or two of wine after work, during a romantic dinner or a night out with the girls.

Before you being this new alcohol regimen, lets do a cost-benefit analysis. Traditionally we have learned that the downsides of alcohol include liver damage, fetal damage and potential connection to cancer. Even in small or moderate amounts, alcohol can be detrimental to your health. So you must ask yourself does the benefit of weight loss truly outweigh the costs of other health risks that are more severe and life threatening?

Blood Type Diet

You have heard of the low-fat diets, the carb-cutting diets, and diets that require you to count your calories, but have you heard of a diet that determines what type of food you eat and suggests what type of exercise best suits you according to your blood type?

The Blood Type Diet offers different food items and exercise techniques that match with your genetics. This diet follows the theory that each blood type is different, naturally making each body type different. According to Dr. Peter D’Adamo, Type A does best with an organic and minimal meat diet. Type B benefits from a diet that does not include chicken but is replaced by game meats such as venison and rabbit. Type O responds best to a fish diet, particularly salt water. Finally, Type AB benefits from a seafood diet and some dairy products.

Because this diet is so individualized, it sounds like a feasible replacement to the diet crazes, right? Well, the majority of people decide to diet hoping to lose a couple of pounds in a short amount of time. After reading articles and comments of others who have attempted this type of diet, it seems that it may not be the best choice for them. This diet seems to be more of a lifestyle change than a quick tune-up for the body.

Book written by Dr. Peter D'Adamo on the blood type diet