health

Here's a list from DivineCaroline.com of four signs you're in relatively GOOD health.

1. When You Empty Your Bladder, It's Fairly Clear. It should be a pale yellow color, and you should be using the bathroom a few times a day.  It's a sign that you're properly hydrated, and your kidneys are healthy.

If it's cloudy, dark, or bright yellow, it's a sign you're dehydrated.  And if it's clear, it means you're too hydrated, which isn't a big deal.  But when you are, your body doesn't absorb enough salts and electrolytes.

2. Your Cuts Heal Fairly Quickly. It means your blood is clotting normally, your white blood cells are carrying away bacteria like they should, and your blood vessels are healthy.

If you bruise easily or it takes weeks for a cut to heal, it could be a sign of liver disease, a bone marrow disorder, or hemophilia . . . which is when your blood doesn't clot right.

But don't freak out.  Bruising easily can also be caused by medication, or just the fact that you're getting older.

Because as you age, the smallest type of blood vessels in your body . . . your capillaries . . . become more prone to rupture.  And your skin also gets thinner, which doesn't help.

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Last week, McDonald's announced that starting in September, they're making Happy Meals healthier by adding apples and serving half as many French fries.

According to the website TheDailyMeal.com, the healthiest option is to nix the fries completely and go with chicken nuggets, apples and apple juice, which have a total of 380 calories.

If you get a cheeseburger instead and ask for just fries and NO apples, it's 700 calories.  Now, here's their list of the best and worst options for kids at nine other popular fast food restaurants.

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I love to eat junk food but lately I have been noticing that my junk food habits are sticking with me a little. It makes me wonder how many chocolate chip cookies I can eat before I gain a few.

There's a new study from the  Washington Post on weight gain in the "New England Journal of Medicine" that breaks down exactly how much different food and lifestyle choices affect your weight over a four-year period.

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I have had many discussions with various people about the living conditions for inmates. Some argue that the living conditions are terrible and a lot of people say that the living conditions are WAY to good. This story makes me think that life in prison is the way to go if you don't have health care.

According to the New York Time last Thursday, 59-year-old James Verone of Gastonia, North Carolina went into a branch of RBC Bank to rob it.  He handed the teller a note that read, quote, "This is a bank robbery.  Please only give me $1."

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If you've been holding your cell phone a foot from your ear ever since you heard that it's a "possible carcinogen," relax.  It just means cell phones MIGHT cause cancer.  Here are four things from  Healthline.com that people use every day that are even riskier.

#1.)  Coffee.  This makes me really sad, because I LOVE my coffee. Apparently, it's been shown to PREVENT some types of cancer:  A study last month said men who have six or more cups a day are 60% LESS likely to develop fatal prostate cancer.  But coffee's still classified as a PROBABLE carcinogen.

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I had no idea that there was actually a fruit and vegetable month. Does this mean that we only have to eat our fruits and vegetables for the month of June?

On that note here is some veggie information for you. The more you know, right?

Spinach and broccoli are good for you, here's a list of four other vegetables that are healthier than you might think.

#1.)  Potatoes. People think they're fattening, which is true if you eat way too many.  But one medium-sized baked potato only has 161 calories, plus 4 grams of fiber.

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I could eat cereal for every meal and a decade ago every single person in the country ate cereal for breakfast?  Yeah, that's a distant memory now.

Americans just aren't that into cereal anymore.  And it's not a low-carb thing . . . come on.  We love carbs more than ever.  It's just that for breakfast, we now prefer things like bagels, Egg McMuffins, pastries . . . stuff we can grab and eat on the run.

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In a survey by the YMCA, 89% of parents with kids aged five to ten thought they were either "good" or "excellent" at making sure their kids lived a healthy lifestyle.  But one-third of U.S. kids are overweight or obese.

 Which means a lot of parents are clueless when it comes to their kids' health.  Here's a list from "Time" magazine of the three main ways you might be sabotaging your children's health.  And yeah . . . it's the ones you're thinking of.

 #1.)  Letting Them Watch Too Much TV.  Almost half of the parents surveyed said they let their kids watch more than two hours of TV a day, and 74% of parents said they spent family time doing sedentary things . . . like watching more TV.

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You drive to work on roads filled with distracted idiots.  You walk in past the smokers and inhale their second-hand smoke.  You eat a high-fat breakfast.  You look at the ceiling tiles and realize they're still packed with asbestos.

And after all that . . . you still haven't encountered the most life-threatening part of your day.  No, that happens when you SIT DOWN.

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According to the Senior Public Health Correspondent for AOL News, the budget cuts being proposed by Republicans in the House AND the Obama administration both put America's health at risk.

Here's a list of five federally funded organizations that are likely to get cut, and what it might mean for your health.

#1.)  The Consumer Product Safety Commission. This week, they're launching a long-awaited public database of products.  For the first time you'll be able to easily find any safety hazards associated with things you buy and things you already own.

The database is supposedly huge, but the proposed budget cuts would slash their funding, and they wouldn't be able to keep the database current.

The budget cuts would also end a policy that requires manufacturers to have every product tested for safety by an outside company.

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You've probably seen articles on why drinking too much coffee is bad for you.  But if you drink it in moderation . . . and you don't load it up with cream and sugar . . . coffee is actually GOOD for your health.

In fact, it has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries do, and it's the top source of antioxidants in the average American's diet.

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Parents have to worry about a lot these days, so here's a list to help bring your stress level down:  It's four major things parents worry about  . . . but they don't actually need to.

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