Most people today fall prey to chronic diseases that strike in mid to late life — conditions such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and dementia — and end up nursing disabilities stemming from these illnesses for the remainder of their lives. Centenarians, on the other hand, appear to be remarkably resilient when it comes to shrugging off such ailments; they seem to draw on some reserve that allows them to bounce back from health problems and remain relatively hale until their final days.

Dozens of studies have investigated such individuals, with …

Walter Willett for Newsweek, February 5, 2010
Until last year, the residents of Albert Lea, Minn., were no healthier than any other Americans. Then the city became the first American town to sign on to the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project—the brainchild of writer Dan Buettner, whose 2008 book, The Blue Zones, detailed the health habits of the world’s longest-lived people. His goal was to bring the same benefits to middle America—not by forcing people to diet and exercise, but by changing their everyday environments in ways that encourage a healthier lifestyle.
What …

The Boston Globe, Karen Weintraub, February 1, 2010
Sure, a big deli pickle is salty. So is a strip of bacon or handful of chips. But who knew that a single serving of milk or yogurt has about 5 percent, or around 120 mg, of the recommended daily allowance of sodium? And a slice of bread – one slice, not a sandwich – has nearly 10 percent of the RDA.
Now, led by a New York push to cut salt consumption nationwide, health departments and advocacy groups around the country are …

Ginny Graves, Health.com, January 20, 2010
It’s shocking, but it’s true: Being a woman who’s more than 20 pounds overweight may actually hike your risk of getting poor medical treatment. In fact, weighing too much can have surprising — and devastating — health repercussions beyond the usual diabetes and heart-health concerns you’ve heard about for years.

Recent studies have found, if you are an overweight woman you:
• May have a harder time getting health insurance or have to pay higher premiums
• Are at higher risk of being misdiagnosed or receiving inaccurate …

Tara Parker-Pope, January 25, 2010, The New York Times
Can something as simple as the timing of recess make a difference in a child’s health and behavior?
Some experts think it can, and now some schools are rescheduling recess — sending students out to play before they sit down for lunch. The switch appears to have led to some surprising changes in both cafeteria and classroom.
Schools that have tried it report that when children play before lunch, there is less food waste and higher consumption of milk, fruit and vegetables. And some …

OVER the course of a year, Alex Feintuch, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of South Carolina, spent more than $1,000 on fitness supplements.
Mr. Feintuch wanted to add size and definition to his muscles, and to “see results as quickly as possible.” He did research and tried dozens of products, with mixed results.
“Of the products that I have bought, I’ve found many that work well,” he said. “But some don’t and were a waste of money.”
The fitness supplements industry is primarily aimed at young men like Mr. Feintuch. Bodybuilding-related products — …

In a report that may bolster public policy efforts to get Americans to reduce the amount of salt in their diets, scientists writing in The New England Journal of Medicine conclude that lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks as much as reductions in smoking,obesity and cholesterol levels.
Go to the The New England Journal of Medicine for the full article.
If everyone consumed half a teaspoon less salt per day, there would be between 54,000 and 99,000 fewer heart attacks each year …

Between them, Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey have worked on Wall Street, traveled the world and taught school from East Africa to Ecuador. Now they make lunch for a living.
Friends since they met in business school at the University of California, Berkeley, Ms. Richmond and Ms. Tobey founded Revolution Foods Inc. to ride a political and economic wave: surging support for healthier food in school cafeterias.
Federal nutrition guidelines require subsidized school lunches to meet benchmarks on calories and fat, but they do not require that foods be whole, local, …

A new study from Australia suggests that couch potatoes live shorter lives.
The study followed 8,800 adults ages 25 and older for six and a half years and found that each daily hour of television viewing was associated with an 18 percent increase in deaths from heart disease and an 11 percent increase in overall mortality.
Those who watched television four hours or more a day were 80 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who watched two hours or less, and 46 percent more likely to die …

William, Neuman, The New York Times,  January 10, 2010
First New York City required restaurants to cut out trans fat. Then it made restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menus. Now it wants to protect people from another health scourge: salt.
On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.
The plan, for which the city claims support from health agencies in other cities and states, sets a …