Breakfast at Your Desk: The A.M. Beverage That May Help Your Guy Get Healthier

Do you pause for a moment and have breakfast or coffee with your boyfriend or husband before each of you run out the door? I wish I had time for that, but mornings are *chaos* in my house. But I heard about a some new research linking one beverage with slimmer waistlines for men, and I'm tempted to make my husband a cup (after all, we all know that belly fat is an indicator of heart disease issues, right?) ...

The supposed fat-fighting beverage for men? Tea! Or so say researchers. According to a new study, men who drink two or more cups of tea a day have slimmer waistlines than those who drink coffee or nothing at all.

Boomer Poll Shows High Alzheimer's Anxiety

A new survey of baby boomers shows anxiety over the specter of Alzheimer's and frustration over slow cures.

In releasing the data, patient advocacy group Alliance for Aging Research called for recognition of the brain disease as an urgent national health crisis and urged stepped-up timelines for new therapies.

These survey findings underscore the fact that when baby boomers are asked to address the potential of Alzheimer's in their future, they are clearly not ready emotionally, psychologically or financially, said Daniel Perry, AAR's executive director. Many boomers are currently more focused on health issues like heart disease or arthritis and mistakenly consider AD a problem of their elders. But when asked to consider themselves at age 70 with Alzheimer's disease, there was a visceral reaction and an awakening to the reality of what could await them, he said.

Big Breakfasts Don't Help You Lose Weight

How many times have you heard or read that the key to losing weight lies in eating a solid breakfast?  That you’ll consume fewer calories as the day goes on?

Well, you can toss that advice out the window because a recent study found just the opposite.   Researchers in from the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Center of Nutritional Medicine at the Technical University in Munich, Germany found that people who ate a breakfast with 400 calories more than a small breakfast tended to eat 400 more calories per day.

Hmph.  So, eating a big breakfast is just that: eating a big breakfast!

Their findings suggest that the whole “eating a large breakfast thing” may have actually come about from misinterpretation of research that was saying given a fixed number of calories per day, those people who consumed more of them at breakfast tended to eat less the rest of the day.

Menveo

Menveo

Generic Name: meningococcal conjugate vaccine (me NIN je KOK al KON je gate vax EEN)

Brand Names: Menactra, Menveo

What is Menveo?

Menveo is used to prevent infection caused by meningococcal bacteria. The vaccine contains four of the most common types of meningococcal bacteria.

Menveo works by exposing you to a small dose of the bacteria or a protein from the bacteria, which causes your body to develop immunity to the disease. Menveo will not treat an active infection that has already developed in the body.

Menveo is for use in children and adults between the ages of 2 and 55 years old.

Like any vaccine, Menveo may not provide protection from disease in every person.

Choosing a Toothpaste: More Than Just Mint

When it comes to plaque removal, it's your toothbrush that does most of the heavy lifting, but toothpaste contributes by removing stains and leaving your mouth fresher. Typically, commercial toothpastes are a concoction of abrasives, foaming agents, water, and binders, with flavor, color, and sweeteners added. They also may contain therapeutic agents such as fluoride or ingredients designed to combat tooth sensitivity. The main difference between gels and pastes is that gels contain more thickeners.

Be Aware of Abrasiveness

An important consideration when choosing toothpaste is its level of abrasiveness. Materials such as chalk, bicarbonate, and silicon or aluminum oxides remove external tooth stains. Polishers are included to restore the luster that abrasive materials dull. Although you want a toothpaste with enough abrasiveness to remove stains, high abrasive content and an incorrect brushing technique can lead to permanent tooth damage, particularly around the gum line. Abrasion also can wear away the fragile gum tissue, causing the gums to recede faster.

Breakfast at Your Desk: My Favorite New Frozen Waffles

Frozen waffles make such a yummy and easy breakfast (or snack!), but a lot of the whole-grain varieties have a cardboardy taste (sorry, at least in my opinion!). But, I finally found a brand that tastes great!

I recently discovered De Wafelbakkers frozen waffles. The "made from scratch" waffles are made with oat bran and spelt, high in fiber and rich in B-vitamins (love that!).

Best part: They taste amazing, especially when topped with sliced bananas and drizzled with a little maple syrup. I found them at Whole Foods, but you can buy them elsewhere too.

Are you a frozen waffle kind of gal? What's your fave variety?

Using Dentists As Dope Dealers

(As Reported By CNN) Kenny Morrison soaked in life from his beachfront home. A top chef at a trendy L.A. restaurant, he served dinner to the Hollywood stars, including A-listers. Kenny Morrison got hooked on painkillers after getting dental work in 2003. "I lost everything," he says.

But within a couple years, he lost it all. He got hooked on pain medication after some dental work. His fix was codeine, Vicodin and OxyContin -- all prescription medications -- to help him get through the day. At one point, he even had a tooth removed unnecessarily so he could get a prescription for pain medicines.