Health Tips for February 2007

Monthly Health Tips
There are multiple sources for health tips. We review health and fitness newsletters and post a "summary" of the best for the month. Look for this summary post on or near the first of each month. Also, feel free to post your own tips in the comment section.

Campbell's Soup Wellness & Nutrition Site
Yes, even Campbell's Soup is on board with wellness tips and nutrition advice. Their site comes complete with recipes and articles. Also, I think they finally figured out we don't want a ton of salt in a cup of soup. Mmm, mmm good!

Apple Juice - Mother Nature Knows Best
Unclarified (or cloudy) apple juice is said to contain more disease-fighting antioxidants then some of the clear apple juices. A research study concluded that unclarified apple juice contains up to four times the polyphenols, which are a class of antioxidants believed to help fight heart disease and cancer.

Research published by Jan Oszmianski and colleagues, Agricultural University of Wroclaw, Poland (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture). They think the clarification process may be the culprit given the process required to make clear juice removes solids and compounds likely rich in antioxidants. Another reason to eat apples. A brief article about the results can be found at WebMD here.

Think Positive
No doubt, there is a connection between being healthy and having a positive outlook on life. Be an optimist, smile, sing in the shower, and live a longer and happier life - why not? Multiple sources promote this concept (too many to list - search the web and you'll find tons of sites).

Fight Obesity in Children
According to the CDC (Centers of Disease Control), at least 17 percent of children ages 2 to 19 were overweight in 2003 and 2004 - the numbers are in the millions and continue to grow (no pun intended). The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services blames the epidemic on sedentary lifestyles.

The department found a lack of physical activity - hours spent watching TV, playing video games, etc. - combined with terrible eating habits are the cause for overweight kids and obesity. Children often follow in their parents footsteps, which isn't that hard given the size of today's children. ACE, the American Council on Exercise, tells you what to do about it in this article.