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GREEN TEAAntioxidants decrease an average of 32% after 6 months on the shelf, according to a 2009 study in the Journal of Food Science. These antioxidants, known as catechins, may decrease your risk of several types of cancer, but they are sensitive to both oxygen and light. Sadly, tea, unlike wine, does not improve with age. Make it last: “Buy tea in airtight packages such as tins, rather than cellophane wraps, which air can penetrate,” advises Rona Tison of ITO EN, the world’s largest supplier of green tea....

You sip through a straw. What you drink and how you drink it can affect how tight and toned your tummy feels. “One thing I counsel patients on is to avoid using a straw,” says Jennifer Inra, MD, a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “It causes you to swallow extra air. Not only are you getting the liquid you’re drinking, but you’re also getting the air that’s trapped in the upper part of the straw....

Itchy skin with red, raised patches More than your sanity could be at risk with an unknown itch. Flat red patches, raised plaques with a scaly surface, or lumps accompanied by severe itching in some cases can signal lymphoma of the skin, says Debra Jaliman, MD, dermatologist and author of Skin Rules. If the cluster of symptoms sounds familiar, start dialing—only a dermatologist can evaluate if this serious illness is the culprit....

While there’s no “incorrect” way to grieve, it’s common to respond by doing things that actually make it harder for you to process the loss and move forward. Here are several reactions you should try to side-step so you can focus on healing. (Want to pick up some healthier habits? Sign up to get healthy living tips, weight loss inspiration, slimming recipes and more delivered straight to your inbox!)...

Today, “girls” are tearing it up on a whole new breed of women-specific bikes built to suit their needs. Women’s bikes have smaller frames to match our smaller statures, shorter brake levers for our smaller hands, flared saddles to accommodate our hips, and proportions designed to fit our torsos, arms, and legs so that we can ride faster, longer, and in comfort. Women can choose from road bikes, mountain bikes, touring bikes, or hybrids of different styles....

By studying women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), researchers from two Israeli universities were able to find out how meal timing and size can manipulate hormone levels. PCOS is a disorder that increases the amount of male sex hormones circulating in a woman’s blood and causes menstrual irregularities that can make it difficult for a woman to become pregnant. Sixty women with PCOS—all otherwise healthy and physically fit—were divided into two groups....

Watch More Fitness Videos Get more abs exercises. [sidebar]

Risky Business Better Than Booze

It’s hard to go wrong with incredible edible eggs, given their impressive protein and nutrient content. That is, unless you eat the same old egg dish every single time (yawn). Snap out of your scrambled rut with these 11 deliciously creative egg recipes. The Perfect Croque Madame PREP TIME: 10 minutes / TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes / SERVINGS: 2 2 tsp olive oil 1 sm onion, thinly sliced ½ bunch lacinato kale, stems and large ribs removed and leaves chopped (about 2 c) Pinch of cayenne Pinch of nutmeg 4 thin slices whole wheat sourdough bread 2 oz Gruyère, finely shredded (about ¾ c) 2 oz lean, low-sodium deli-sliced ham 2 lg eggs...

Despite all of the bad BPA news coming from non-industry-funded researchers, BPA’s still “in play” when it comes to consumer products, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing it to coat the packaging of many of the foods we eat. Used in most canned food and drink liners and some No. 7 plastics, as well as thermal cash-register receipts, BPA is readily absorbed into the delicate blood vessels under the tongue, where it bypasses the gut and goes straight into the bloodstream....

It’s called psychophysiological insomnia, and a new study published in the Journal of Sleep Research finds that feeling pressured to fall asleep (called “high sleep intention”) causes fragmented sleep and worsened sleep quality. Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University stressed the importance of falling asleep to 33 good sleepers, even promising a financial reward for falling asleep the fastest. What they found: upping the ante around how long it takes to fall asleep increased the amount of time participants woke up, shortened total sleep time, and reduced overall sleep quality....

Researchers from the University of Oxford proved the aphorism right when they found that regularly eating apples after the age of 50 can prevent or delay vascular-related death, such as heart attack and stroke. [sidebar]The scientists examined how apples and statins each worked to reduce risk of vascular death by analyzing data from the 17.6 million UK adults eligible to take statins. And while statins pulled slightly ahead of produce in effectiveness, statins may also lead to muscle disease, as well as diabetes....

Wait, mold-free coffee? Unless you’re a java aficionado (or a toxicologist), you probably had no idea that there was ever even a possibility of mold lurking in your morning mud. But Asprey’s right: Coffee beans can harbor a type of toxic mold called ochratoxin A (OTA). It’s no secret that mold loves warm, moist environments, which pretty much sums up the climate of most coffee-growing regions. So when fresh green coffee beans aren’t properly dried—usually due to cheap, low-quality processing where manufacturers neglect to clean their equipment or are careless about storage—the gross fungi could start to grow, says Andrew Hetzel, who leads training courses for the Coffee Quality Institute....