Health Beauty and Disease Information

Unlike over-the-counter diet pills, prescription weight-loss medications are regulated by the FDA and have been tested in clinical trials for safety and efficacy. That said, most health experts agree that these diet pills won’t lead to dramatic weight loss, and they may have unpleasant side effects. The two most popular prescription diet pills are orlistat (Xenical) and sibutramine (Meridia). They are approved for obese patients with a BMI over 30. The problem with both of these diet pills is that they don’t lead to significant weight loss. (more…)

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

There is an interesting dilemma for those who would influence nutrition. In many places in the world, there are governmental agencies concerned with food security, food safety, agriculture, health, and trade that may, from time to time, implement policies that are at least intended to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Most often, when the goals of agriculture and human health clash, it is the will of the agriculture sector that prevails (remember the European Union’s “butter mountain” and “wine lake”?). In the United States, perhaps more than anywhere else, this has left an opening for self-help nutrition books. In a land where individuality and self-reliance are valued above many other virtues and where disease is sometimes seen to be a mark of personal failure, gaining access to the best data on health-related food consumption may be central to maintaining control over one’s health. The quality of such books varies enormously, from the bizarre to the mundane. The feature they share is the promise of better health and control over one’s destiny. Only occasionally do bona fide researchers step into the maelstrom. Enter Walter Willett of Harvard University and Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy.
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Meditation for Optimum Health: How to Use Mindfulness and Breathing to Heal

In this relatively short program, Weil and Kabat-Zinn present a very user-friendly and nondoctrinal introduction to a basic meditation technique. As is usual with Weil’s “Optimum Health” series, the information is offered in a very understandable format, which will appeal to teens and adults. His explanation of what meditation is, the various types, and his personal experiences (how he doesn’t do it perfectly) are very valuable. Kabat-Zinn has practiced meditation for 40 years and currently employs it to help people with various diseases including chronic stress and/or pain. While he offers some background, his chief contribution is to lead one through the basic meditation and some permutations. Like Weil, he is careful to be inclusive rather than rigid. Kabat-Zinn explains his recommendations for certain methods and encourages listeners to do what they can to see meditation as an adventure, a gift to themselves, rather than just “one more thing to do.” Highly recommended. Kathleen A. Sullivan, Phoenix P.L.

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