health

This is a continuation to last months health rant "17 Home Truths Every Health Freak Needs to Hear". Here are 17 more quick tips, opinions and rants on exercise and nutrition.

Every once in a while you just have to vent. I had to get the following off my chest;

I don't think anyone would argue that underage drinking is a huge problem.

Not only does it reap havoc on the health of developing teens, but the impacts on society are devastating as well. As a former teacher, I would often have students who were possibly intoxicated while in class or nursing a hang-over from the night before.

Foxborough School in MA is taking action by breath testing students at dances, extra-curricular activities and even during the school day if alcohol use is suspected.

Just when you thought the advice on protecting your heart from cardiovascular disease couldn't get any more standard, here comes a wild card study out of nowhere:

People with skinny thighs are more likely to develop, and die from, heart disease.

So much for that skinny jeans workout!

As many as 50 million Americans are living sedentary lives, putting them at increased risk of health problems and even early death. This according to researcher Steven Blair, who called Americans' physical inactivity "the biggest public health problem of the 21st century."

Marissa Jaret Winokur, the host of "Dance Your Ass Off," reports she's trying to lose weight. Her newest strategy? She'll be Tweeting what she eats.

Marissa tell us: It's kinda like my own little support group... I had never used Twitter before, but I thought what an easy way to beg for support while standing on line at the deli... I guess strangers are like, 'Come on, we can do this', while my family is more like, 'Oh, Marissa is on a diet again!

Apparently, it's been pretty effective so far, stopping Marissa from ordering a vanilla latte at Starbucks (instead she went for the Americano with just 15 calories), amongst other things.

Taking a small detour from my usual reading material of diet, exercise, and cookbooks, I tackled a book called "The Good Life". A collaborative effort headlined by author and radio personality Jesse Dylan.

The book centers on a meaning of "health" that goes well beyond exercise and nutrition - keying in on the physical, spiritual and mental aspects of health, and the interconnectedness of the three.

Go open your office refrigerator right now. I bet there's a dried out faccia bread sandwich, a wilted chef's salad and a Yoo-Hoo, circa 1979-ish.

Actually, don't look! Because your boss may ask you to clean it out and your health benefits probably don't include hazard pay.

That's why you got to feel for the 28 employees of a San Jose, California office building who were overcome by the fumes from old rotting food.

Recently I commented on a study that suggested calories matter most when it comes to weight loss. That may be true, but another new study has shown that a diet moderately high in protein is superior for fat loss and other health markers. Here are some bullet points from the Journal of Nutrition study.