Instead of peanuts, try almonds, walnuts & pecans; instead of peanut butter, try ABC spread; instead of chocolate bars, try raw organic chocolate; instead of margarine, try butter, omega 3 spreads, olive oil, avocado, humus; instead of vegetable oil, try extra virgin olive oil & flaxseed oil; instead of rice bubbles & corn flakes, try puffed amaranth; instead of rice & cous cous, try quinoa; instead of soft drink mixes for alcohol, try organic/fresh juices; instead of salt, try Dulse or seaweed flakes; instead of cordial, try pure lemon concentrate or fresh lemons/limes/mint leaves in water jug; instead of juice, try coconut water; instead of salad seeds, try chia seeds; instead of milk, try almond milk; instead of soy sauce, try tamari; instead of white bread, try ancient grain bread; instead of sugar, try rapadura, agave syrup or stevia. All of these are available form your local health food store - ask & experiment!

Lincoln University has introduced a unique way of tackling obesity. In 2006, the Pennsylvania university introduced its Fitness for Life program with the aim of encouraging students to lose weight. The premise was that if a student had a body mass index (BMI) of above 30, which indicates obesity, then they should take some college-sanctioned steps to show they had lost weight or at least tried -- or they cannot graduate. This year around 30 students are unlikely to graduate because they have not taken steps to reduce their BMI. BBC News November 27, 2009 CNN November 30, 2009

Elevated levels of two plastic-softening chemicals in pregnant women's urine are linked to less-masculine play behavior by their sons several years later, according to a study published in the International Journal of Andrology. Phthalates, which are used in everything from vinyl floors to plastic tubing and soaps and lotions, are pervasive in the environment and have increasingly become associated with changes in development of the male brain as well as with genital defects, metabolic abnormalities and reduced testosterone in babies and adults. Obviously pregnant women as well as all of us, need to become more health conscious and avoid the use of plastics and chemicals. To read more, International Journal of Andrology November 16, 2009 [Epub Ahead of Print]

For the health and safe development of their babies, mothers avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy, according to the World Health Organisation guidelines of NO alocohol in pregnancy due to its teratogenic effects. However, many women want to drink again during the baby's first year of life when they are breastfeeding. Obviously not drinking alcohol during breastfeeding is the safest. Knowing the facts about how alcohol affects breastfeeding will help in deciding how best to combine breastfeeding with drinking some alcohol. As a general rule, it takes 2 hours for an average woman to get rid of the alcohol from 1 standard drink, 4 hours for 2 drinks, 6 hours for 3 drinks etc. It is best to avoid all alcohol in the 1st month after the birth. What & how much you have eaten, your weight, how quickly you are drinking, the strength & amount of alcohol in your drink all affects this. Expressing breastmilk will NOT reduce the amount of alcohol in your breastmilk, only time does but this is a way of relieving the breast engorgement until you can breatfeed again (& obviously throwing this breastmilk away). Breastmilk with a small amount of alcohol is still better than formula for your baby. Express milk ahead of time & freeze it. Your milk flow will reduce while drinking alcohol but this will rectify once your body has cleared the alcohol. Both you & your baby may not sleep as well as usual, falling asleep faster but waking up sooner. Arrange for someone who is not affected by alcohol to look after your baby and never sleep with your baby in your bed if you have drunk alcohol. Contrary to popular belief, stout or Guiness does not improve breastmilk supply but stops the milk flowing freely so the milk stays in the breast, giving the false impression that breasts are making more milk. To read more, www.breastfeeding.asn.au

A recent stuy in the Journal of Gastroenterology found that those with regular vitamin C supplementation had half the gallstone prevalence than those who did not supplement with vitamin C. To read more, Walcher T, et al. Vitamin C supplement use may protect against gallstones, BMC Gastrolenterol 2009 Oct 8:9(1):74

UVB (ultraviolet B) radiation increases serum vitamin D. Previously it was thought that dark skinned people produced very little vitamin D in their skin from the sun as the melanin acts as a blockout. However, a study in the Joural of Dermatology Oct 8, 2009 found no differences in vitamin D increase after UVB exposure for both fair and dark skinned participants. They did find, however, that the higher the cholesterol of participants, the greater the increase in vitamin D.

New Zealand researchers found that children who watch television is a better predictor of obesity than what they eat or how much they exercise. The study found that 41% of the children who were overweight by age 26 were those who had watched the most TV.

A newly released study begun in 1987 measured height, weight, thigh, hip, waist circumference & body composition of subjects. After 13 years it was found people with thighs <45cm>60cm these benefits were lost. Bigger thighs, but not overweight, carry more muscle so are less likely to become insulin resistant and devleop diabetes.

When you exercise, happiness hormones are released by the body, giveing you a natural high. However, research at the University of Oxford shows that your pain tolerance is higher if you exercise with a friend or in a group, producing greater production of feel-good endorphins!

A surgeon has discovered that almost 100% of people with MS have a narrowing, twisting or outright blockage of the veins that are supposed to flush blood from the brain, allowing excess iron to accumulate in the brain. Zamboni called the vein disorder he discovered CCSVI, or Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency. Of all the patients upon whom they have performed endovascular surgery, there was a decrease in the number of new MS attacks, a big reduction in the number of brain lesions that define MS, and improved quality of life. Because the surgery freed the blood flow, the team have called the procedure "The Liberation Treatment." To read more, http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091120/W5_liberation_091121/20091121?s_name=W5