FitSugar

Kombucha Tea: Fact or Fiction

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:30:00 PDT

More than a few people have asked me if the benefits of Kombucha Tea are fact or fiction. I truly wish I had a definitive answer, but there really haven't been too many studies on kombucha for me to give you all a simple "fact" or "fiction" answer.

For those of you that have never heard of the stuff, kombucha tea (pronounced "com-boo-cha") is a health drink that supposedly boosts the body's ability to fight sickness and disease as well as bring a healthy balance back to your metabolism and organs. Often referred to as a mushroom, kombucha is actually a symbiosis of bacteria and yeast. When sugar and black or green tea are added to kombucha, a fermentation process results in the "tea." The final product of this process is a liquid containing vinegar, B vitamins and a number of other chemical compounds. Popular with models and health foodies, I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence mostly in the positive about drinking kombucha. Some folks think it just tastes awful, but most claim the drink gives them a calm energy and that they feel like it helps cleanse them of toxins.

On the other hand, even though it has been consumed by the Chinese since 221 B.C., there hasn't been a single human trial that has been reported in the peer-reviewed literature on the benefits of kombucha. A study of this sort would give the drink some serious cred with scientists. While that doesn't necessarily mean there are no benefits to the tea, it does make all the claims seem a bit suspect to me. Many people brew their own tea at home, which poses health risks since a home-brewing process can lead to contamination.

I am curious if any of you have tried kombucha tea, where you found it, how it tasted and if you felt the benefits? With all those questions, you can tell I am really curious. Tell me about your kombucha experience in the comments section below.

Source

Savvy Links: Why Drinking Coffee Is Good For Your Health

Emily Co — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:08:23 PDT

Why drinking coffee is good for your health - Tecca
How to decide between using debit or credit - Credit Karma
Woman claims she was fired for being 'too hot' - HuffPost Women
6 excuses to skimp on retirement - Bankrate
Expenses you won't have in retirement - Free Money Finance
Say less in job applications to score more interviews - LearnVest
7 incredible sacrifices people have made for their careers - The Grindstone
What can you buy with $20 billion? - College Candy
Sock it to me: 15 uses for old socks - Wise Bread
What the worst employee in the world did to her boss - The Jane Dough

Source: Flickr User visualpanic

One Woman's Quest for the Best: The Fastest, Farthest Female Inline Skate

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:23:05 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Over the next few months, families will travel across the U.S. via plane, train or car during summer road trips. Kacie Fischer will be covering the same distance (nearly 4,000 miles, on her route), but on inline skates. . . and in just 74 days. If she reaches her goal, Fischer will also be breaking five Guinness World Records in the process.

We caught up with Fischer, a Promax DOer, after a long day of skating to get the backstory about her fit trip which has been two years in the making.

How did you get started with inline skating?

I started skating when I was 7, but didn’t start skating longer distances until I was cross training as a college runner. I found that I could travel a lot farther and see a lot more, plus it was a lot more exhilarating-try flying down a hill at 40+ miles per hour! Inline skating is like running on steroids.

More of Kacie's interview after the break.

Did You Give Up All Your Vices When You Got Pregnant?

Lisa Horten — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:05:52 PDT

We all have our guilty pleasures, but when a new life comes into play, it's time to give them up . . . or so we thought. A recently released study from the Center For Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality was intended to evaluate the breakdown of substance use during pregnancy by race. But the outcome that shocks us most is that one in five women smoke while they're pregnant! Of those, Caucasian women are most likely to smoke, followed by black women, and then Hispanics.

When it comes to consuming alcohol, Caucasian and black women are about equally likely (12 percent) to imbibe during pregnancy, while Hispanic women are least likely.

Back in 2009, expectant mom Rebecca Gayheart caused a stir when she was spotted smoking, and in a more recent (and perhaps less extreme) example of pregnant celebs behaving badly, Kourtney Kardashian was seen with highlighted tresses. Now we're wondering . . . did you give up your bad habits when you were pregnant?

How Not to Destroy Your Marriage

The Good Men Project — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:30:42 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Today, Mark Tyrrell offers eight relationship tools to make your marriage work.

"All marriages are happy. It's the living together afterward that causes all the trouble." - Raymond Hull

So how do you make your marriage work? Or do you just blindly hope it'll take care of itself?

Think of a hot, successful date with someone you’re attracted to. You have fun, great conversation and more sexual chemistry than a warehouse full of pheromones. You don’t have to “work at” the date because it’s self sustaining. It runs as smoothly as the gliding hand of a classical guitar maestro and you can’t wait for another rendition.

Teenage Dating in a Twilight-Hunger Games World

But marriage, or any long term relationship; well that’s a whole other caboodle.

If we’re not careful, marriage can deteriorate into little more than a torturous assault course; littered with routine boredoms, frustrations and resentments. Couple all that with external pressures and sometimes marriage feels not worth the effort. But there are major benefits to being hitched or committed, other than just a beneficial tax regime.

Healthy marriage; healthy people.

Being happily married bestows heaps of health benefits. You might be forgiven for thinking that if you’re married you don’t live longer it just seems like it but, no, a good marriage really can help you clock up more years (1) and married people are happier (2) even though they don’t always look it from the outside.

But when marriage doesn’t work it can feel being manacled to a maniac, marooned with a misogynist or nailed to a nag. And I don’t care what the studies say, that’s not healthy. You may hear couples say stuff like: “We are making our marriage work!” but how do we do this?

Making it work.

We pay lip service to “working on the marriage” but what is the work we need to do? Marriage vows such as “to love and to cherish” and “forsaking all others, for better or for worse” don’t really tell us how to make it work, although they give us a clue.

Fortunately a ton of research has been done on what to do and not do to make your marriage, or any intimate relationship work. Follow the guidelines here to become “good at marriage."

Tip one: Be romantic but keep it real.

We are all (force?) fed romance in movies and novels. The handsome man gets the beautiful woman. But what I wonder is what happens after our romantic couple ride off into the sunset together? What do they do exactly? Bicker? Moan at one another? Start to ignore each other?

After all that romance, our beautiful couple is bound to have massive expectations of their life together. But when rose tinted expectations clash with day to reality, watch out!

Romance is vital in any relationship. Always seeing the best in your partner helps to keep things intimate and love should be expressed. But if you have been raised on Mills and Boon Romance novels or feel-good movies, then your own romantic expectations can work against the sustainability of your long term relationship.

When day to day life fails to live up to the giddy, heady lust-filled days of the pre-settled down romance people can become angry, even blame one another: “This wasn’t what I signed up for." They find it hard to take the rough with the smooth because they never really figured there would be any rough.

Expectations not diluted with at least a dash of realism can be a royal road to relationship ruin. Your partner may be an angel, but they have feet of clay. You must learn to love those feet or at least accept them a bit!

Get the rest after the jump!

3 Tips For Germ-Free Travel

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:17:50 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Whether you're going by boat, plane, train, or automobile, travel bugs are bound to greet you. Here, some cringe-worthy stats on germs and traveling - and tips on how you can take a trip unscathed.

Stay Hydrated

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the air inside planes has anywhere from 10 to 20 percent humidity, which can dry out mucous membranes and make people more susceptible to germs. Staying hydrated throughout the trip can prevent nasal passages from being irritated, so load up on water and skip the carbonated beverages and booze. "Alcoholic and caffeinated drinks should be followed with water or fruit juice to rehydrate because they are diuretics and can cause water loss," advise Ray Fillmore Garman, MD, MPH, and Susan Spengler, MD, both associate professors with the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Kentucky. Sipping on water assists with immune function - and in some cases even helps with jet lag. For longer, international trips pack electrolyte-friendly snacks like GU Energy Chomps, a banana, nuts, or a small bag of fortified cereal to keep drowsiness at bay.

Keep reading for two more healthy travel tips after the break.

It's Alcohol Awareness Month - the Good and Bad of Drinking

Heather Dale — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:21:14 PDT

As we dive into our exciting new Spring fitness routines and gear up for the highly anticipated royal wedding, April marks another important time - national Alcohol Awareness Month - a time to raise awareness about the dangers of alcohol abuse, underage drinking, and other alcohol-related issues.

If you drink in moderation, then cheers to you. According to the National Center of Health Statistics, six out of 10 adults drink alcohol, while nearly 25 percent are lifetime abstainers. For women especially, it's important that we monitor how much alcohol is consumed because women absorb more alcohol when they drink. Meaning that it takes the body longer to break the alcohol down compared to if a man had the same amount of alcohol.

While drinking in moderation has its benefits, always keep things in check. Excessive drinking can increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Research has also shown that alcohol mixed with energy drinks could be a deadly combo, so be careful if this is your drink of choice.

Now for the good news about drinking.

Binge Drinking May Be Tied to Memory Loss, Study Says

Heather Dale — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:04:46 PDT

More often than not, I read about alcohol having detrimental effects on your health, rather than positive effects, so it wasn't shocking to learn that a recent study found a correlation between binge drinking and sharpness of memory.

The study administered memory tests to college students - 62 who were binge drinkers and 60 who were not - and found that the binge drinkers experienced a lowered ability to remember lists of words. But, on a separate test, the binge drinkers did fine, so it's not clear whether alcohol is to blame for the previous results or not. Researchers have noted that there is a link between binge drinking and memory, they just aren't clear if alcohol reduces memory skills, or if there are any long-term effects of binge drinking.

When we polled you on how much you drink, a majority of you said you have about a drink a week - so you're well within the "healthy" range of alcohol consumption. The recommendation for women who are not pregnant is up to one alcoholic beverage per day.

And while researchers weren't able to draw any direct conclusions from this study, it does encourage us to think about the effects binge drinking may have on memory. Do you think there is a connection between the two?

Give Your Desk a Healthy Makeover With These Tips

Leta Shy — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:44:46 PDT

Since you spend so much time at your desk, it's important that you make it a healthy environment - especially since there are so many ways your job can make you fat. Here's how to make over your desk to stay healthy while you work.

Stash snacks: Vending machines and office candy jars can be too much temptation, especially when your grumbling stomach is egging you on. Instead, stock your desk drawer with a few filling snacks, like almonds, trail mix, all-natural homemade fruit and nut bars, and green tea bags to satisfy tummy and taste buds before you give up and reach for the leftover break room doughnuts.

Use a reusable water bottle: Nothing reminds you to drink more water than a filled water bottle living on your desk. Drinking enough water throughout the day is crucial for both your health and your mood, since dehydration can lead to fatigue and irritability, so fight that afternoon slump (or the urge to snap at your fellow co-workers) by drinking up. Find out how much water you should be drinking here.

Deal with germs: Many times, lunch at your desk is just inevitable. Those days dining in front of your monitor can make things a little messy at your desk. Keep your area germ-free with desk wipes and all-natural hand sanitizer (find out how to make your own hand sanitizer here).

Adjust that chair: You're sitting there for most of the day, so make sure you keep your chair and computer comfortably aligned with the position of your body to prevent back, wrist, and neck pain. Not sure if your monitor is too low or if you are sitting correctly? Read our tips for creating an ergonomic desk here.

13 Health Gimmicks You Can Stop Wasting Money On

Business Insider — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:15:21 PDT

Consumers have a tendency of falling for the next big health gimmick. Save your money on health duds with these Business Insider tips.

No matter how many times we're told otherwise, Americans' obsession with get-healthy-quick schemes will likely never die. Too bad most of these fads aren't worth their weight in salt - or your hard-earned dollars. We've put together a list of some of the worst budget-sucking health trends that still persist today.

Coconut Water

Coconut water may be nature's version of Gatorade but some brands have already caught fire for over-hyping its nutrient content. Vita Coco agreed to settle a $10 million class action lawsuit over an independent study that showed the drinks didn't pack near as many electrolytes as advertisements implied. Some coconut waters are also loaded with added sugar, which will do nothing to help your waistline.

Alternative: Pick up your own young green coconuts on the cheap from an Asian produce market. Just crack them open with a cleaver and pop in a straw.

"All-Natural" Foods

30 percent of Americans bought more natural foods in 2011, according to a Rodale study. But what are we really paying more for? There's no clear cut regulation on what makes food "natural," which means just about any company can slap that label on its packages, add a fancy green theme and jack up the price.

Says Andrew Schrage of MoneyCrashers: "Before buying any food that is touted as being 'all natural,' take a look at the ingredient list before you check out. Keep in mind that butter and salt are indeed natural ingredients. So stocking up on natural foods may not achieve anything other than increasing your grocery bill."

Read on for more.