The holiday season brings parties, presents and an endless array of festive foods. Some people adopt a holiday eating or exercise strategy to offset all the snacking and sipping, while others willingly overindulge, planning to start the new year with a clean slate and new diet plan — the popular but usually ineffective “I’ll start … Continue reading “Re-thinking your New Year’s resolutions”
Shared meals are a highlight of the holidays. And while it’s easy to overindulge when there are so many delicious dishes on the table, desserts can be especially easy to overeat. A 2013 study examining how sugar and fat affect regions of the brain related to overeating showed that when it comes to food cravings, … Continue reading “Develop a “sugar strategy” for healthy holiday eating”
1. If you don’t drink, there’s no need to start. For some people—especially pregnant women, people recovering from alcohol addiction, people with a family history of alcoholism, people with liver disease, and people taking one or more medications that interact with alcohol—drinking can be dangerous and harmful to health. There are other ways to boost … Continue reading “5 Quick tips: Staying healthy with alcohol”
Coverage from Swiss Re, featuring HSPH’s Frank Hu
Coverage from Harvard Gazette, featuring Dariush Mozaffarian
Coverage from Baltimore Sun, featuring Eric Rimm
Coverage from foodconsumer.org, featuring Frank Hu
For an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or anyone just starting out on a fitness plan, physical activity does increase the risk of injury. (37) Don’t let that stop you from becoming more active, though. The health benefits of being active far outweigh any risks.
For general good health, the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults get a minimum of 2-1/2 hours per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity. (37) Yet many people may need more than 2-1/2 hours of moderate intensity activity a week to stay at a stable weight. (37)
1. Skip “quick fixes.” Fad diets may cause rapid weight loss, but they’re highly likely to fail in the long run. Avoid short-term diets and instead set realistic goals that include choosing healthy foods in smaller portions.