Posts

More from Prevention: 10 New Ways To Avoid Getting Sick This Season

More from Rodale News: 7 Things You Need To Know About GMOs

Be a fiber fiend. Look for the words high fiber on the box; that ensures at least 5 g per serving. But don’t stop there. Check the label; in some brands, the benefits of fiber are overshadowed by the addition of refined grains, added sugar, or cholesterol-raising fats. Go “whole” hog. Where that fiber comes from matters, too, so check the ingredient list to find out exactly what those flakes or squares are made from....

Imagine a dream pancake: slightly crispy on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside, topped with fresh fruit and a drizzle of real maple syrup. Now, imagine that pancake made with healthier alternatives to white flour and sugar and naturally imbued with protein, fiber, and a subtle, nutty aftertaste. Drooling yet? Good news: These cleaned-up dream pancakes are 100% real, and you can make them tomorrow morning (or, you know, next weekend if you’re strapped for time)....

There are many possible causes of back pain, which means there are also many non-invasive solutions, according to Todd Sinett, a chiropractor and coauthor of The Truth about Back Pain. “Back pain is rarely one catastrophic event,” he says in the book, “but several situations combining to create pain.” And it turns out that some seemingly insignificant everyday habits can take a big toll on your back over time. Here, the top 14 mistakes that may be causing your aches and how to correct them....

[sidebar]Brightness from incandescent lighting, like the glow from your living room lamp, revs up our emotional responses, concludes the researchers from the University of Toronto and Northwestern University. That is, you’ll experience something more intensely—whether it’s good or bad—in brighter light. To show a link between brightness and emotional intensity, the researchers placed 98 male and female participants in bright- and dim-lit rooms. They reviewed a script about a man who acted aggressively and rated him on how hot-tempered, hostile, powerful, and strong he appeared....

The garlic, ginger and orange juice enliven the green beans, and the sesame seeds add another taste dimension. Make sure to cook the haricot verts to the al dente point to keep their crisp texture. No worries if you can’t find haricot verts in the market. Substitute the freshest, thinnest green beans you can find for the recipe. Haricot Verts with Ginger Garlic Orange Sesame Sauce Serves 4 Ingredients...

Don’t give up gluten At least not before checking the facts first. While famous celebs may have convinced you to give up the wheat, don’t forget that the diet is meant for people with an actual intolerance, which means that if you aren’t intolerant, you’re needlessly cutting out a wide range of vitamins and minerals. Sneaky signs you’re having a heart attack After experiencing, and thankfully surviving, a heart attack, TV personality Rosie O’Donnell took to her blog to give women one piece of advice: “know the symptoms ladies / listen to the voice inside / the one we all so easily ignore....

The labels may sport bubbling springs, mountain glaciers, and tropical oases, but if you’ve ever thought your bottled water tasted suspiciously like the H2O dripping out of your faucet, you may not be far off the mark. New research from Consumer Reports finds that 47 percent of bottled water sold in the U.S. comes from tap water that’s been purified. Then there are the tricky terms like “artesian,” “distilled,” and “spring” that manufacturers use to define their product....

MY STORYI was 43 years old and pregnant with my first child, but what should have been the happiest time of my life was one of the scariest. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I weighed more than 200 pounds and was quickly gaining. I developed gestational diabetes, and if I didn’t get it under control, I could put my baby at risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. I didn’t want her to have to struggle with weight like I did....

We certainly do! A mixture of reduced-fat and fat-free cream cheese creates a melt-in-your-mouth texture without saturated fat overload in this delicious recipe. Our healthy chocolate cheesecake recipe has: 62% fewer calories; 80% less saturated fat; 53% less sugar than a traditional recipe Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Work time: 25 minutes / Total time: 1 1/2 hours + Cooling and Chilling times Servings: 16 1 pkg (9 oz) chocolate wafer cookies 1/4 c 50-50 butter blend spread, melted 7 oz semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/3 c) 2 pkg (8 oz each) fat-free cream cheese, at room temperature 1 pkg (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), at room temperature 3/4 c sugar 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt 3 lg eggs, at room temperature [sidebar]1....

How we made it lighter: CUT FAT Four boneless, skinless chicken breasts have 90% less saturated fat than a cut-up whole bird. DOUBLE FIBER Switch from standard white rice to brown. FAVOR FLAVOR Turmeric costs a lot less than traditional saffron and contains curcumin, a cancer-fighting compound. ADD VEGGIES Stir in peas near the end of cooking so they keep their bright green color and retain nutrients. Healthy Arroz con Pollo WORK TIME: 20 MINUTES / TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR / SERVINGS: 4 1¾ c canned whole tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1½ lb total) ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp black pepper 1 red bell pepper, chopped ½ c chopped onion 2 sm cloves garlic, minced 1 c brown rice 1¾ c chicken stock ¼ tsp ground turmeric or paprika 1 bay leaf 1 c frozen baby peas, thawed ½ c chopped fresh basil PUT tomatoes (with juice) in food processor and process until coarsely chopped....

And even the healthiest eaters among us embrace it—70% of all butter sold in the natural market last year was organic. But is butter bad for you? There is a reason why so many of us long for butter, but opt for alternatives…right? Find out with our newest Health Food Face-Off: Butter vs Vegan Buttery Spread. 

My mom taught me so many wonderful things, but a healthy lifestyle wasn’t one of them. For most of her life, she smoked, loved fattening cooking, and didn’t exercise. Growing up I adopted those habits, too, and by 44 I was overweight and a closet smoker, and my health was deteriorating. Both my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were on the high end of normal. Even though my husband, Gary, worked out, my most physical activity was shopping....

Spending time in cooler temperatures can boost calorie burn by up to 30%, according to research in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. For this, you can thank brown fat: The opposite of unhealthy white fat, brown fat is a good type of fat that actually helps the body burn energy in the form of heat. Over time, spending several hours a day in chilly temps increases the amount of brown fat in the body, causing people to feel more comfortable in the cold and shiver less—but still burn plenty of calories in an attempt to keep warm....

Ashley’s answer: Fruit is both nature’s sweetheart and nature’s cleanup crew. It should make a daily visit to your body to keep things moving, courtesy of its brightly colored skins and plethora of nourishing nutrients. But too much fruit can actually work against our health. Here are some guidelines to follow when it comes to fruit: Become a conscious fruit consumer. If the fruit in question is on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, eating it daily (or more) is too much....