Mark Haub, a researcher at Kansas State University, tried out a restricted-calorie junk foot diet for 10 weeks to see what would happen. That meant lots of Doritos, Hostess cakes, and Twinkies in place of his normal meals, plus a daily protein shake and a few vegetables. He did, however, only consume 1,800 calories a day, compared to 2,600 of healthy foods like he usually did. The result? Mark Read more

DrSugar is in the house! And she's answering your health-related questions. Dear DrSugar, I just had lab work done as part of my routine physical. My HDL cholesterol level is really low — 30. I am really scared. What can I do to improve the number? Is it possible to make it go up? —Freaked out about HDL This is a great question since cholesterol problems are quite common in Americans. High Read more

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar! By Amy Ahlberg, Prevention You already know that a too-strict eating plan can backfire, resulting in a blowout binge or, worse, throwing you off the wagon altogether. But when it comes to allowing yourself a little leeway, moderation is key. But what does "moderation" even mean? For gourmands, a cheeseburger a week Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy! Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible — even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges. Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found Read more

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site. Tea — does it really fight cancer? Lower cholesterol? We filter the research to find out which health claims actually hold water. By Kate Lowenstein The way scientific studies and health gurus alike have touted the perks of tea over the past few years, you'd think the stuff was some kind of all-powerful Read more

Not all fats are bad for you; in fact, incorporating healthy fats into your diet can actually be good for you! The general rule of thumb is that good fats are liquid at room temperature and bad fats are solid at room temperature. Therefore, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats fall into the good fats category, while saturated and trans fats fall into the bad fats category. Unlike saturated Read more

Eating 75 grams of dried apples each day may reduce your cholesterol levels. A recent study at Florida State University examined 160 women who were randomly assigned to two groups: those who ate dried apples for a year, and those who received dried prunes for the same time frame. The participants who were put in the apple group experienced a drop in their total cholesterol by 14 percent and Read more