Daily Health Tips: Trusted Medical Information, Health Tips and Advices

According to studies, people do eat more during the winter months, and there are a few potential factors that may contribute to this increased hunger. Most people would agree that winter is the season for rich, hearty foods. Heavy, carb-laden dishes, sugary treats and creamy sauces are all staples of the cold weather diet. Many people also report being hungrier in winter, with stronger cravings and an increased urge to snack. Is this winter appetite all in our heads, or is there a reason why we may want to eat more in cold weather and what can we do to avoid overdoing it? The human body functions at an optimum temperature of 98.6 deg. Fahrenheit or 37 deg. Celsius. In winters the surrounding temperature is much lower than that, as a result of which our body, esp our limbs get very cold. The blood in our body has the function of providing nutrients and heat to the body. The body has its own mechanism to warm itself up when it senses that it's getting cold, i.e shiverin...

Organizations like the American Heart Association suggest that all adults get at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week, or about 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. One of the primary ways that many people achieve this goal is through running, which provides a high-calorie burn that can contribute to fat loss. When running you have two different choices, indoor and outdoor. However, the amount of fat you can burn with each running option is based more on intensity level rather than location. Calorie Deficit In order to burn fat, you need to create a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit occurs when you burn more calories than you consume. When this happens, your body is forced to turn to other sources for energy, typically starting with the fat stored in your adipose tissue. In relation to running, how much fat you burn depends on the intensity of your exercise, with more intense exercise be...

If tough economic times have turned zipping up your jeans into Mission Impossible , you're not alone. New data is more revealing than most celebs' Oscar-night outfits: Financial worries prompt 1 in 10 to snack more and have made 48% of women and 39% of men gain weight. Worse, that weight is in the wrong place: the waist. We're not talking 1 or 2 ounces: One-quarter of us packed on more than 10 pounds, and 1 in 16 gained more than 20 pounds. It gives the pain of tightening your belt a whole new meaning.    Sound familiar? If your waistline is enlarging faster than the latest unemployment statistics, do this before you grab the celery sticks: Head for a hot bubble bath . . . or a brisk walk . . . or a cup of coffee with a friend. Truth is, you need a crash course in cortisol reduction more urgently than you need a "diet" right now. The reason? Stressful events cause you to release cortisol, the "high anxiety hormone," and that triggers indus...

  Study Suggests Double Risk of Childhood Obesity for Kids With Fastest Weight Gain by Age 2 Babies who gain weight most quickly are at highest risk of obesity later in childhood, a Harvard study finds. Infants who gain the most weight at age 1-6 months are most likely to be obese at ages 5 and 10 years. The risk goes up with the child's starting weight-for-length percentile obtained from standard growth charts, find Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPH, and colleagues. The researchers analyzed health records for 44,622 kids aged 1 month to 11 years from 1980 through 2008. They collected height and weight measurements made during the children's first 24 months, as well as their height and weight at ages 5 and 10. Pediatricians usually monitor a child's growth by measuring weight and length and comparing it to CDC normal growth charts. The child's weight for length will typically fall within percentile lines: 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90, 95. Especially in t...

Study Suggests a Connection Between a Child's Weight, Sleep Problems, and Learning Ability Children who are overweight and don't get enough sleep may have a harder time learning, and those with learning difficulties may be at higher risk for obesity and sleep problems, new research suggests. The study found that a child's weight, sleep problems, and ability to learn are all connected, with each influencing the other. Although one expert says the study raises some interesting questions about the relationship of obesity, sleep, and intelligence, it's far too soon to even suggest that intelligence levels alone play a role in obesity or sleep problems. It is widely recognized that obesity increases the risk for sleep apnea and related conditions, known collectively as sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Chronic lack of sleep has also been shown to have a negative impact on learning. But the new study is among the first to examine the interaction of obesit...

To keep your waistline trim, you might want to make sure this flavor enhancer doesn't make its way into your mouth: MSG. Too much monosodium glutamate (MSG) -- an additive used in restaurant and processed foods to boost flavor -- may be a fast track to weight gain, a new study shows. Investigating MSG Have you heard of MSG? It's basically a salt that comes from glutamic acid. Restaurants and food manufacturers use it because it gives flavors a little lift. But that pleasure for your mouth may come at the expense of your hips. People who started a study at a healthy weight but were among the highest MSG consumers -- taking in about 5 grams a day -- were 33 percent more likely to be overweight at the end of the study 5 years later. And, surprisingly, it's not because better-tasting food enticed people to eat more. Eating lots of MSG bumped up the risk of extra pounds, regardless of calorie intake. Weighted Speculations The study researchers suspect MSG m...

You can't go anywhere without being confronted by calories. Restaurants now print calorie counts on menus. You go to the supermarket and there they are, stamped on every box and bottle. You hop on the treadmill and watch your "calories burned" click upward. But just what are calories? The more calories we take in, the more flab we add—and if we cut back on them, then flab starts to recede too, right? After all, at face value, calories seem to be the factor by which all foods should be judged. But if that were true, 500 calories of parsnips would equal 500 calories of Double Stuf Oreos. Not quite. There's nothing simple about calories. Learn the distinctions and lose the lard. Want Health tips from our Expert Click Here  Myth #1: Calories Fuel Our Bodies   Actually, they don't A calorie is simply a unit of measurement for heat; in the early 19th century, it was used to explain the theory of heat conservation and steam engines. The term entere...

Could a side salad make you fat? Possibly . . . if you let that side salad lull you into eating too much. You see, side salads can play tricks on your mind -- such as making that slice of pizza next to it seem like no big deal, caloriewise. That's exactly what a recent study revealed when people were asked to estimate the calories in big meals. Fooled by Food In the study, participants were shown pictures of high-calorie main dishes, like hamburgers and meatball-pepperoni cheesesteak sandwiches, and were asked to guess the number of calories in them. Interestingly, when a high-calorie food item was pictured with a healthful side dish next to it, people estimated the meal had about 43 fewer calories than when the high-calorie dish was pictured alone. What's more, even the most health-conscious eaters weren't immune to this illusion. In fact, the people who lowballed calorie counts the most were those who reported being extremely conscious of their diets.  ...

High Waist Circumference in Kids Increases Risk of Heart-Related Disorders Children with higher levels of belly fat have higher pulse pressures, which puts them at risk for heart-related disorders, a new study finds. Gangadarshni Chandramohan, MD, of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, says doctors should measure children's waist circumference to judge their level of obesity , rather than the commonly used body mass index, which is a ratio of weight to height. Chandramohan and colleagues studied data on 4,667 children between 6 and 17, all part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is done by the CDC in Atlanta. Body Mass Index Doesn't Correlate to Higher Pulse Pressures "We found the children's body mass didn't correlate to higher pulse pressures," Chandramohan says in a news release. "This study suggests pediatricians add waist measurements to their routine screeni...

When you are overweight, not only does it cause obvious health implications, but also depression, weakness, fatigue and tiredness often comes with it. Reading this may not exactly cheer you up, since you think you have tried a good many points of attack in the years past - you have tried various diets and given them up again since they made you feel hungry, dizzy and not quite present in your life, or since they simply were time consuming and tedious, making you think of nothing but your meals. The end result was that you gained even more weight. Your depressed state of mind took you to the doctor’s office, where you got some medication prescribed, and you feel perhaps a little better, but the medication has made you even hungrier, and on top of that you don't sleep very well any longer (SSRI preparates frequently have that side effect). Not sleeping makes you even more tired, and being more tired makes your body crave easy energy in the form of food - and not very...

Study Shows 37% of Obese Boys and 51% of Obese Girls Become Severely Obese Adults Obese teens are at risk of becoming severely obese as adults, according to a new study. "What's unique about this study is, we are following them over 13 years," says researcher Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She expected to see an increased risk of severe obesity during young adulthood in those teens who were obese, but the percentages were higher than she anticipated, she tells WebMD. "Half of the obese female teens developed severe obesity by their 30s, and 37% of the obese male teens developed severe obesity," she says. Severe obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater. "When we are talking about severe obesity, we are talking about 80 to 100 pounds over normal body weight," Gordon-Larsen says. The excess weight carries with it an increased ris...

Despite pledges made by some of the leading fast food chains, many seem to still be promoting largely unhealthy meals and choices to children, according to a new report by researchers from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity in New Haven, Conn. The new report examined the marketing of 12 top fast food chains, and then looked at the amount of fat calories, fat, sugar, and sodium in 3,039 kids' meals and 2,781 menu items. The findings are slated to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Denver. Unhealthy Food Choices Are the Default Of the 3,000-plus kids meals, just 12 met the nutritional criteria for preschoolers, and just 15 met the nutrition criteria set for older children, the study showed. In fact, one single meal from most fast food restaurants contains at least half of young people's daily recommended sodium. Fast food marketing to kids also leaves much to be desired, the researchers rep...