“Sweetness is the most important ingredient for life,” reads a Splenda packet.

However, the debate continues on whether artificial sweeteners or natural sugar is best to ingest.

Sugar, or sucrose, is a natural product separated from beet or cane plants. This product is 99.95% pure sucrose, says the Sugar Association.

The September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine says the average man weighed 10 pounds less if he lived in older, more walkable neighborhoods while women weighed about six pounds less.

Modern neighborhoods, on the other hand, generally consist of large areas with nothing but housing, an arrangement that hinders walking and forces people to drive more to get around.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25890997/

How much walking do you do in your neighborhood? Is it newer? Older? Does what researchers say mirror your experiences?

I would like to know why weight gain targets some people all over (the apple shape) or some people in their lower regions (the pear shape) and other people in the upper region (I have no fruit-comparison for that one!)?

What is it with our own bodies that causes weight to target one person all over,or another only their top or bottom half? Is this a genetic pre-disposition?

Who doesn't have a story about working hard to lose weight? Skipping desserts, exercising like a dog, whatever -- only to have that weight sneak back up on you six months later?

Well, the good news is that a chemical called leptin, "a hormone secreted by fat cells may be behind the gain."

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/health/24818...

SUNDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- Even though it's summertime, children shouldn't be allowed to take a vacation from healthy eating habits, advises Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a pediatrician at Duke University Medical Center.

"Routines go haywire, and with nothing to do after a few days in the pool, kids head straight for the refrigerator or snack bar, because they think they're hungry, when they're actually just bored," Armstrong said in a university news release.

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- Infants cared for by caregivers other than their parents tend to gain more weight than children cared for by their parents, a new study says.

And children receiving regular care from people other than their parents are also less likely to be breast-fed and more likely to be introduced to solid foods early, the researchers found.

I was just told today by a very close friend of mine to take my temperature in the morning before I get out of bed.
She said it would help me detect a thyroid disorder.
Has anyone ever heard of this?
Did did it work for you?

Thanks so much,

Michelle

MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Schools that serve healthier foods, offer nutrition education and reward students for nutritious eating habits can make a major difference in preventing childhood obesity, according to a Temple University study.

What are the chances? Apparently our family is a bit of an anomoly. It all started when I rushed my 19 year old daughter to emergency one morning. I was on my way to work when I got a call on my cell phone. My daughter was very distressed, in a huge amount of pain and had rectal bleeding - could I take her to the hospital? I turned my car around - raced home and was shocked to see the pain she was in.

According to Kathleen Connelly, MSN Health & Fitness, weight gain during menopause may be attributed to aging, rather than a decline in hormones. As our body ages, we burn fewer calories. Fewer calories burned results in less lean muscle mass. Women who increased their physical activity and maintained a low fat, high carbohydrates regimen lost weight, compared to women who were not on the diet and exercise plan, as reported in research conducted by Barbara Sternfeld, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California.