your-health

Starting last year, fast food restaurants in New York City were required to list the total calories of every item on the menu. The idea was to provide greater transparency for consumers so that they can make smarter choices. Has it worked? Professors at New York University and Yale have completed a study that shows that the labeling makes consumers think they're being healthier, but in fact they're ordering more total calories than before the law went into effect.  More »

You may have thought you could only get MRSA at hospitals and the beach, but apparently researchers have discovered that it can be transmitted via pets and lead to repeat infections, reports the New York Times. One recent case involved a baby elephant and 20 human caretakers at the San Diego Zoo last year, but at the domestic level it looks like cats (and dogs, but not to the same degree) somehow contribute to cycle of infection at home.  More »

The American Heart Association says we're eating way too much extra sugar, meaning sugar that doesn't naturally occur in our foods. The average American consumes 22 teaspoons a day. By contrast, the average woman should eat no more than 6 teaspoons daily, while the average man, owing most likely to his increased awesomeness, should eat no more than 9 teaspoons a day. [Eats another teaspoon of sugar before resuming typing.]  More »

CVS pharmacies apparently don't need consent to enroll customers in ReadyFill, a program that signs customers up for the maximum allowable number of prescription refills and then robocalls them when their drugs are ready. According to a veteran pharmacist, the automatic enrollments began after CVS' corporate office set specific performance targets that would affect bonuses for managers and pharmacists. Inside, the pharmacist tells us what ReadyFill is, how it works, and how to escape those annoying robocalls...  More »

The debate over health care reform has devolved into scaremongering with death panels and rationed care. What's really going on, and what does it really mean for you and your family? Inside, the New York Times breaks down the competing bills...  More »

Why waste money on Gatorade when you can brew an equally effective sports drink from sugar, lemon juice, salt and orange juice? Hit the jump for the simple, inexpensive recipe.  More »

Are you motivated? Because if you're not, don't bother. Put down your credit card, walk away from the pretty advertisements, you're just going to waste money. Seem overly simplistic? Maybe it is, but it's a reality most of us don't have the courage to face. Paul Michael over at Wise Bread offers up his own story as proof...  More »

John visited his local Rhode Island Subway every weekday for the past two months to enjoy what he thought was a healthy lunch. That all came to end after he overheard a Subway worker say to her colleague: "I don't know how anybody could eat this stuff everyday. It's disgusting and it will make you fat."  More »

Denny's entrees are loaded with dangerous amounts of salt, according to a class action suit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The CDC recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day, but some Denny's entrees contain a whopping 5,500 milligrams.  More »

China is itching to sell their processed chickens directly to the U.S. market, an idea that doesn't exactly thrill our regulators or representatives. Congress banned the import of processed Chinese chickens in 2007, ruffling Beijing's feathers to the point where they're now considering a retaliatory ban on U.S. chickens. Since we're in a recession and Congress doesn't want domestic chicken exporters to lose over a half-billion dollars next year, they may let the Chinese chickens come here to roost.  More »

Three scientists worry that feeding cow parts to farmed fish could expose seafood consumers to mad cow disease. The scientists published their findings in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and called on the government to ban cow meat and bone meal from appearing in fish feed.  More »

The government thinks radioactive industrial waste from China is responsible for a recent sulfur stench that has plagued hundreds of Florida homes. Demand for Chinese drywall spiked during the housing boom, but federal regulators believe the drywall contained phosphogypsum, a banned waste byproduct that features prominently in Chinese construction. When used in drywall, the probable carcinogen can corrode "air conditioners, mirrors, electrical outlets and even jewelry."   More »

An ambulance ride with American Medical Response in Topeka, Kansas will soon cost an extra $543 for folks weighing 350 pounds or more. Though AMR already owns cots that can support up to 500 pounds, they claim that because of rising demand from so-called "bariatric patients," they now need to buy winches and "extra large and reinforced cots."  More »

Do you like overpaying for salt and water? Then "100% All Natural" chicken breasts might be for you! Just look for the labels that boast "enhanced with up to 15% chicken broth," and you can be sure you're overpaying for the saltiest, most water-logged chicken that industrial food processors can design. So how does all that chicken water get into the chickens, you ask? Hit the jump for the delightfully graphic description...   More »

Life insurance polices are backed by state guarantee associations, but the coverage offered varies drastically from state to state. Some products, like variable annuities, can be recovered in full because of the way they're structured, but if you have term life insurance or a universal policy, you should know the limitations of your state's coverage...  More »

We know you love little Fluffy, but according to an article from ABCNews — he could give you methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In case you are not aware — that's bad news.  More »

Britain's Daily Mail warns that consumers of chinese pine nuts may experience a "foul, metallic taste" for up to two weeks "making practically all food and drink unpalatable." The untreatable ailment is known as pine mouth, and it's puzzling both doctors and consumers alike.  More »

A recent Harvard study tells us that health problems cause more than half of America's bankruptcies, and that the vast majority of people seeking bankruptcy protection have health insurance. The study paints a hauntingly familiar picture: people get sick, insurance covers nothing, so they're forced to mortgage their homes to stay alive.   More »