Barb's Daily Dose

Weight Loss Surgery for Teens

Imagine being in high school and weighing more than 3 of your classmates combined?  The teen years are a minefield of emotional challenges, with body image being one that 99.9% of teens focus on at some point. If you're slightly overweight, sweatshirts can loose clothes can conceal embarrassment, but if you weigh over 300 pounds, then hiding is no longer an option.

Fish is Brain Food

New research has found that elderly people with higher levels of several vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood had better performance on mental acuity tests and less of the brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer’s disease.

Diets with a greater amount of junk food, meanwhile, produced the opposite results, according to the study.

Pass on the Salt

A Bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries sounds perfect for lunch or does it?

Should I skip the fries and have a salad instead?  Really, I should skip all of it and have a salad, unless I want to overload on salt and fat.  Since I don't want to chain myself to the elliptical machine at the Y, I've been watching my portions and now am more conscious of another hidden risk, Salt!

Top 5 Health Apps

As the amount of individuals with smart phones and tablets increases rapidly, technology companies have created applications for our smart devices to help organize and simplify our daily lives. Health care applications make it easy to increase our knowledge of health care practices, check our health status and effectively keep our health goals on track.

Eat Fish to Keep Your Heart Healthy

When I was growing up, my mother told me that fish was good for your brain. I don't know where she heard that, but it stuck with me.  Until we moved to Alaska, where we ate the salmon, halibut and Dolly Varden trout that we caught, my fish diet was limited to Fish Sticks on Friday and my favorite choice at McDonalds, the Filet-o-Fish sandwich.

Obesity Rates Lowering in Schools

Is it possible that obesity rates are really coming down like numbers on the scale? Well, at least in one study in New York City. The Centers for Disease control found that the rate of obesity for kids in elementary and middle school dropped by 5.5%. From 21.9% to 20.7%.  That's still 1 in 5 kids, but awareness increases and parents, educators and corporations take notice, I know that we can reduce it further.  

On Edge Lately - Maybe It's the French Fries

Our Featured Guest Writer Today is Megan Kempston, Staff Writer at Caring.com

Research Links Trans Fat to Aggression

If you've been fighting the allure (and aroma) of fast food french fries, here's another weapon in your mental arsenal: In addition to being unhealthy, fried foods may make you irritable and aggressive.

Get Your Game On - A Healthy Game Day Menu

Some Healthy Tips for Super Bowl Sunday from Health.com

Get your game on - A Healthy Game Day Menu - Health.com.

Get Healthy and Lose Weight

If you’re thinking about losing weight and getting healthy, this recent episode on CBS can help you get started.

I’ve worked on my own weight loss over the last year. I've heard from quite a few people who read my blog and have also had success following this weight loss advice.  I’ve limited my portions and decreased carbs.

Don’t wait another day, start taking the steps you need to get healthy in 2012.

Keep a Food Diary to Lose Weight

One of the best ways to lose weight is to become more conscious of what you’re eating and why you’re eating it. Take the first step and keep a food diary. This has been prov-en in countless research studies to help people lose weight.  Once you start to see in black and white how much you’re actually consuming, it triggers some hesitation and thought before mindlessly shoveling in the food.