We all know that some people have better metabolisms than others do. We all have the friend that can eat anything at any time of the day and not gain an ounce, while others simply look at the food and put on a pound or two. Here are some of the best ways to either speed up your metabolism or prevent it from slowing down: Choose foods that are filling.  A quarter of a cup of raisins have 100 calories in them, while for the same amount of calories, you can eat almost 2 cups worth of grapes. Eating the grapes will do a better job of filling you up rather than leaving you wanting more to eat. As …

Rumor has it that this fall is going to be a tough one for allergy sufferers. Here are some tips to help with your fall allergies. When you are mowing the lawn or raking the leaves this fall put on a face mask. These outdoor activities are brutal because they kick up all the allergens into the air for you to inhale.  Likewise, once you are done outdoors, make sure that you throw your clothes into the washer and shower. This will get all of the allergens off of you and also keep you from spreading them throughout the house. Change your air filter in your furnace. Make sure that these air …

In gearing up for the hurricane, I grabbed a Men’s Health magazine and started flipping through it. One article in particular caught my eye: “Live (Almost) Forever”. The article laid out the secrets of the men in different parts of the world who have the longest life spans. I thought what if we meshed all of these characteristics together into one man, what would be the keys to living the longest? So, according to this article and my best questimation, these are all the keys of living long thrown together into one person: One staple of this man’s life would be that he drinks red wine from …

When you look at a person, all you see is dead skin cells. The outer 15-350 layers of everyone’s skin are comprised of dead cells that are strengthened by keratin, a fibrous protein. So no wonder why skin is so hard to take care of in some cases. Here are a few tips to get you moving towards clear skin. The first is to wash (especially your face) no more than twice a day as over-washing can cause skin irritation. Along the same lines, scrubbing your face is not good either as it too can cause irritation. Your goal is to decrease the oils and acne-causing bacteria that are on your body while …

Moderate to severe hypertension can strike anyone and if you don't look out for the warning signs, then a stroke, heart attack or aneurysm could be in your future. Warning signs can includ headaches, nosebleeds, buzzing sounds in the ears, heartbeat sensations, pale skin or redness of the face, or crushing chest pain. The best way to reduce your blood pressure is to be as preventative about it as you can. When you start to feel your blood pressure rise, take a step back, take slow, long, deep breaths in through your nose and exhale the air out of your mouth. This will rid the body of toxins …

With the marijuana debate gaining steam with the recent push coming from three Bergen legislators who have recently expressed their support of decimalizing small amounts of marijuana, let’s take a look at some misconceptions and truths. Setting aside a fear of authority, what are the main differences between alcohol and marijuana? Why is one legal and one not legal? An interesting fact found on the CDC’s website is that the number of alcohol-induced deaths (excluding accidents and homicides) is 23,199; while there are no reports of any deaths associated with marijuana). There are two studies …

As the summer rolls along and the temperatures break the 90 degree mark, I have found some ways to help cool you down. The first way brings us back to grammar school science class. Evaporation is a cooling process, in other words, it takes energy for water to turn to a gas. If you have a spray bottle and give yourself a little squirt, that water will evaporate. Where does the energy come from you may ask? The energy needed for that water to turn into a gas comes from your body heat. This is also why when you put on a damp shirt you feel cooler. Using a little bit of water in your daily lives …

I stumbled upon a website that ranks counties in each state from the healthiest to the least healthy,www.countyhealthrankings.org. I am happy to announce that Bergen County was ranked 4th in New Jersey, only to be outdone by Hunterdon, Morris and Somerset counties. Bergen County loses 4,215 individuals per every 100,000 residents before the age of 75, which is about 1,300 below the national average and almost 2,000 individuals shy of the state average. Bergen County is 3% under the state average for poor or fair health, coming in at 12%. Bergen County residents smoke less than the state …

I took a loop around my yard the other day to take inventory of which plants were coming back, which ones I lost over this snow full winter, and which plants were under attack. I have two main culprits in my area, deer and rabbits. I noticed that some of my flowering plants were under attack and the flowers were gone. I went to the internet to find a list of things that rabbits and deer do not like, aside from my big black lab which doesn’t seem to do the trick as he chases everything out of my yard only to find them back in the yard the next day (partly due to the overpopulation of these …

I took a ride yesterday to Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff and bought some farm fresh chicken for dinner. My main goal in doing this was to see if free range chicken was vastly different from store bought chicken. The reason behind the stop is that I recently watched a good amount of the movie Food Inc. which talked about a handful of companies that have revolutionized the way that our food is raised. Chickens today are raised to be twice as large in half of the amount of time. Images from the houses where these chickens are raised showed that these chickens are so large that they can …

As of last week the well known and recognized USDA Food Pyramid will be retired for a new sleek look, a circle. As part of the White House Child Obesity Task Force, the food pyramid will be revamped to look like a dinner plate. In this dinner plate will be consisted of the following parts: Half of the circle is filled with fruits and vegetables, with another portion featuring rice, cereal and other grains, and the rest would consist of proteins (chicken and nuts). To the side of this plate, looking like a glass, is going to be a glass of milk to represent the amount of milk products such as …

Bananas are arguably the best fruit that you can eat, with a good balance of carbohydrates, sugar and vitamin B6, they can provide you with an energy boost that can last for 90 minutes. The composition of a banana is ideal in the banana being one of the best-rounded fruits.   Vitamin B6 helps with difficulty with sleeping and calms your nerves. The potassium in the banana helps to regulate blood pressure, reduce your risk for hypertension, helps to avoid muscle cramps by helping the muscles contract smoothly, and lastly will help decrease fluid retention in the body. The high potassium and …

Here is a list of cravings and which fast food joint has the best option when thinking about your health. Cravings Chicken Nuggets Wendy’s A Wendy’s 5 piece chicken has 230 calories, 15 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, no trans fat, 12 carbs and 520 mg of sodium. Wendy’s has the lowest totals in each of these categories. Chicken Sandwich KFC While the KFC Honey BBQ Snacker has 10 more calories than White Castle (200), it wins in every other category with 3 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, no trans fat, 32 carbs and 530 mg of sodium. French Fries Sonic Sonic wins across the …

Based on their nutritional charts, here are the best choices (relatively speaking within the choices given at a particular fast food restaurant)for lunch and dinner. Lunch and Dinner Burger King Whopper Junior Being that the Whopper Jr. is flame-broiled with a sesame seed bun, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, pickles, and onions, it contains 290 calories. Hold the mayo, which is an additional 80 calories. Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich The Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich has only 290 calories. Make sure that you hold the mayo as it is packed on with 160 calories. Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad …

So you are trying to eat healthy, are in a bind and need to stop at a fast food chain. Based on their nutritional charts, here are the best choices (relatively speaking within the choices given at a particular fast food restaurant) in a three part series: breakfast, lunch/dinner and when you have that craving that won’t go away. Breakfast Burger King Ham Omelet Sandwich which has 290 calories, 13 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 85 mg cholesterol, 870 mg sodium, and 1 g fiber. 3 French Toast Sticks which have 240 calories, 13 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 4 g protein, no cholesterol, 260 mg sodium, …

Women are not the same as men, even when it comes to heart attacks. In one study, it was found that nearly 300,000 women a year die from a heart attack because they ignored the warning signs. Most women feel that their family is more important and will put their family’s health concerns above their own, only to find no time to take care of themselves by going to the doctor. Those women who die of a heart attack do not call 911 until it is already too late. While it is a widely used misnomer, women do not have significantly fewer heart attacks than men, but rather account for almost half of …

We have all heard the advice for men not to hold laptops on their laps because it is not good for them. Somewhere down the road, this may cause some problems when you try to start a family as it has been suggested that your sperm count may decrease due to the use of the laptop, as its name should suggest, sitting on your lap. I was always under the impression that this was most likely due to the radiation, Bluetooth, infrared and all the other components of the laptop, similar to the supposed link between cell phone use and different types of cancers. What always made me question this was why…

Common side effects of lack of sleep include muscle fatigue, blurred vision, color blindness, headaches, hyperactivity, weight loss or weight gain, irritability, decreased alertness and a lack of ability to focus. It has also been shown, according to the National Institute for Health that chronic sleep problems are more likely to suffer infertility. With all of these side effects of loss of sleep, let’s take a look at what really goes on when you don’t get proper rest. I read an article on how lack of sleep effects our daily functions called “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain and …

On the surface, whole grain and multigrain is the same thing; both contain several different types of grains and both are therefore just as good for you. Some could even argue that multigrain might even be better for you because, by what its name implies, it is using a multitude of grains. Dietary guidelines set forth that we should eat at least three servings of whole grains a day to help with the prevention of things like heart disease, cancers and even type 2 diabetes. What if we have been eating multigrain instead of the suggested whole grain? If this is the case, then we have been …

As the winter is winding down and we are stuck inside these last few days, the stress inside ourselves has reached a new yearly high. We have exhausted all of our indoor activities and are itching for the nice weather so we can get outside. To help you make it few these last few cold days and transition into the nice weather right around the bend, here are some of the best stress relieving tips that I could find. Playing with your pet. Whether it is a dog, cat or a quick ride to the Bergen Town Center to look at the fish tank, all of these will help take your mind off of the stress and onto …