Are You More Buzzed Than You Think?

Laura Allahverdi thought nothing of getting into the driver’s seat one evening in October 2004 after having two vodka cranberries. “I didn’t feel intoxicated at all,” says the 29-year-old life coach, who waited two hours after drinking before leaving the bar. Heading home in Suffolk County, New York, she was surprised when a police officer pulled her over….

To Avoid Middle-Age Weight Gain, Drop the Chips and Hot Dogs

Everyone knows the basic prescription for staving off excess weight gain in middle age: Eat less and exercise more. But a new study of long-term weight patterns among more than 120,000 adults suggests that some foods and behaviors—such as potato chips and TV watching—have a disproportionate impact on our waistlines.

The men and women in the study,…

Smoking Linked to More Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Men with prostate cancer who are cigarette smokers at the time of their diagnosis are much more likely to die of the disease or experience a recurrence than nonsmokers, including former smokers who kicked the habit at least 10 years before diagnosis.

That’s the conclusion of a new government-funded study published this week in the Journal of…

Hammocks Make for Better Sleep

Babies aren’t the only ones who benefit from gentle rocking. A new study suggests that when you lie down for some shut-eye, swaying in a hammock will help you fall asleep faster, and make you sleep more deeply, than napping on a stationary bed or couch.

Swiss researchers monitored the brain activity of 12 men during…

Can the Sunshine Vitamin Ease Fibromyalgia Pain?

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because when sunlight hits skin, the body produces this vitamin, essential for strong, healthy bones. (That’s the reason your mother told you to slurp down your vitamin D-fortified milk.)

However, a mountain of new evidence suggests that the vitamin may have a more versatile role than previously thought,…

Most High School Students Don’t Exercise Enough

High school students aren’t doing much running—and when they do run, there’s a good chance it’s to a vending machine.

Roughly one-third of high school students in the U.S. drink two or more sodas, sports drinks, or other sugary beverages per day, but only 15% get the one hour of daily aerobic exercise that health officials recommend,…

The New Beverly Hills Diet

The first Beverly Hills diet, published in 1981, is considered one of the first fad diets. Its successor, the New Beverly Hills diet, is less extreme and claims to be more balanced. The diet is based on the theory of “conscious food combining,” meaning that when you combine foods in the wrong way it causes you to…

The Naturally Thin Diet

“You are naturally thin. You may not know it yet. But you just need to make some basic changes in your life so your natural thinness can shine through, no matter your body type.” So begins the book Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel, known to television audiences as a participant on the Martha Stewart Apprentice and…

Life Expectancy in U.S. Trails Top Nations

Life expectancy in most U.S. counties lags behind that of the world’s healthiest nations, in some cases by 50 years or more, according to a new analysis of government data.

For instance, in Holmes County, Miss., which has the lowest life expectancy in the country, a woman can expect to live 73.5 years, the average life span that women…

Tossing and Turning May Fuel Marital Discord

The snooze button on your alarm clock may not be the only casualty of a sleepless night.

A new study of married couples suggests that when wives have trouble falling asleep, the quality of their relationship with their husband suffers. The longer it took women to drift off, the study found, the more likely both partners were to…

Living With Pets May Protect Infants From Allergies

Children who live with dogs and cats are less likely to develop allergies to those animals later in life, but only if the pet is under the same roof while the child is still an infant, a new study suggests.

Compared to babies born into cat-free homes, those who grew up with cats were roughly…