Put trans fat on your naughty list

Trans fat – Your taste buds may love it, but your heart and blood vessels don’t. So what are trans fats? Trans fats form when ordinary vegetable oil is hardened by treatment with hydrogen at high temperatures and pressures. They give foods a desirable taste and texture, and oils with trans fats can be used many times in a commercial fryer. As a result, trans fats are often used because they are cheap and last a long time.

Does eating breakfast really help control your weight?

It may seem like skipping a meal would help you lose weight, but it turns out the opposite is true. Eating breakfast actually helps with weight loss and long-term weight management. Eating breakfast is a daily habit for members of the National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years. 78 percent of them ate breakfast every day, and almost 90 percent said they ate it at least five days a week, showing that starting your day with breakfast may be an important part of losing weight and keeping it off.

What does your acid reflux have to do with diabetes?

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, more than 60 million American adults experience heartburn at least once a month, and more than 15 million adults suffer with it daily. But for something so common, it is also something that many people don’t really understand that well. And the terms “heartburn” and “acid reflux” are used almost interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. In fact, while they are closely related, each is, in fact, different from the other.

Ch-ch-ch-chia! Reap the benefits of superfood chia seeds

Although it seems like a new health-food craze, chia is actually one of the oldest. Chia is a traditional food in Central and South America, famously a staple of the Aztec warriors. This Salvia hispanica is in the mint family and makes white or purple flowers. The edible seed is renowned for its high content of omega fatty acids, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals. Chia seeds are gluten-free, too. So what can chia do for you?

Meet silica, your health’s new BFF

When you say “silica,” most people either think of glass, sand on the beach, “Silicon Valley” or pottery. But did you know that silica, which is present in your body in greater quantities than other minerals such as iron, also plays an important role in keeping you healthy? It’s also been dubbed the “beauty mineral” for its benefits to your hair, skin and nails. Read on to find out why silica may be one of the unsung heroes of your body’s nutritional arsenal.

Thinking about a juice cleanse? Read this first

Juice bars are popping up on every corner, especially here in Southern California. For many people, it has become perfectly normal to drink seven dollars' worth kale and ginger for breakfast. These days, it seems everyone is trying a juice cleanse.

Don’t reach for those readers yet!

It’s a fact of life. As you age, many people start to notice that their vision isn’t quite what it used to be. Things start getting fuzzier and routine tasks like reading a menu or a newspaper become a challenge. When this happens, your first thought probably would be to get your eyes checked and either get glasses for the first time or get stronger ones if you already have them. You also may decide join the millions who have had corrective eye surgery to get their 20/20 back.

Would you like water with that?

Some people like drinking water while they eat, while others only drink it before or after but never with a meal. Personal preferences aside, the Internet is rife with recommendations and theories as to which best helps digestion, which hurts it and whether when you drink water even really matters.

Lowering your blood pressure without pills

Many people believe that even a little variation in blood pressure from the ideal of 120/80 for adults is worrisome. That includes doctors! And recent studies suggest that many people with mild hypertension are treated with drugs, even though such drugs have not been shown to reduce their health risks. But the truth is that there are many things that can cause your blood pressure to briefly run higher, and going straight to medications to bring it down isn’t always warranted.

Coffee: Raise a cup (or mug) to your health!

The majority of Americans start the day with their morning cup of coffee and many enjoy it throughout the day. And this is not just an American phenomenon – worldwide, people drink more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee a day and over 7 million tons of coffee beans are harvested each year to satisfy their demand.

Got calcium?

It was one of the most successful food-marketing campaigns ever. Who could forget the beautiful celebrities and their milk mustaches in the “Got Milk?” ads? But it’s 2014, and many people are lactose intolerant and science is showing that the focus on calcium may have just been staggeringly wrong.

Pass the salt: Are you seasoning your way to optimal health or hazard?

Many people get sodium from table salt (which is 40 percent sodium) and packaged foods. The typical American consumes about 3,000-5,000 mg of sodium each day, and salt lovers may be consuming twice this much. But the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting your sodium intake to 2,300 mg or less. If you are older than 50, African American or at risk for high blood pressure, the recommended intake is 1,500 mg a day or less.

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