RIP, Rue McClanahan. We’ll miss you, girl.

LeAnn Rimes is talking about her affair.

8 truly wacky beauty treatments.

Those midnight munchies may be worse for you than you think.

5 instant benefits of sex.

Urban Outfitters is doin’ makeup!

Bad news. Bad, bad news.

There are certain things we just know are bad for us.

Smoking? Check.
Too much Jersey Shore? Check.
Tanning beds? Check.
Drunk texting? Again, check.

But salt? Salty, delicious salt?

Brace yourself, ladies; new research is out and it looks like my favorite condiment (slash de-icer) is a whole lot worse for us than I originally thought.

According to most health experts, we’re only supposed to consume one teaspoon of salt per day. That’s it. In an entire day. Guess how much salt the average American consumes per day? Two to three times that amount! And when you go over, you’re really screwing yourself over.  New York knows it – they are urging “food manufacturers and restaurant chains to reduce salt in their products nationwide by 25 percent over the next five years.”

That’s a serious step; can salt really be that bad for us? The answer is apparently a resounding YES. If you’re consuming too much sodium, water retention (read: bloating) is the least of your problems; you are also increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, heart attack and high blood pressure. And it gets worse; new studies even show  that “reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon per day could prevent nearly 92,000 deaths each year.”

Yup, they brought the D-word into it and everything.

Like you, I’m now going through my cabinets ominously. Salt is effing everywhere! Even in my pudding cups! What am I supposed to eat? Carrot sticks and water?! OK, pause. Breathe. Put down that bag of Doritos. And the cheese dip.

Here are a few tips from the Mayo Clinic to help you cut down on your salt intake without cutting down on taste:

1. Eat fresh, not processed. This means buying less pre-prepared stuff, which is chock full of sodium, and eating more veggies and fruits. This also applies to meat; fresh meat has less sodium than lunch meat!

2. Campbell’s is Mm-mm-good with less salt, too. There are low-sodium options of nearly all of your favorite foods and many of them taste just as good. Read your nutrition labels closely and go for the lower-sodium options.

3. Soy sauce is not your friend. Clearly we can’t just get rid of all of our favorite condiments, but try to limit salad dressing, dips, sauces, ketchup, mustard, etc. They all have salt and cutting back on them is the quickest and easiest way to reduce that salt intake.

Salads = phytochemical wonderlands!

We treat our bodies pretty poorly in college. We stay up late, we put our livers to the test (daily), and we eat a whole lot of unhealthy treats. And we feel the effects on Monday morning when we’re trudging to class in pants that barely fit and a foggy, unhappy brain.

What if I told you making one small change could give your body a boost? No, I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking beer – that would be unrealistic – but I am gonna tell you to start indulging in phytochemicals.

Phyto-wha?
I know – when I first saw that word I had to Google it too. Allow me to break it down:

A recent study found that eating food containing phytochemicals at the beginning of a meal prevents oxidative stress, which can cause obesity, heart disease, joint disease, diabetes, and more.

So basically, You + Phytochemicals = Thin, Disease-Free You!

Understandably, I’m a HUGE fan. And I’m ready to hit up the phytochemical aisle at my campus grocery store.

So where can you find phytochemicals? Think healthy, plant-based foods like leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. You don’t need acai berry for this; stick with what you know! In fact, they say that wonder pills and even juices (apple juice, cranberry juice, etc.) aren’t as beneficial for you as fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables. The study specifically mentioned the great phytochemicals in garlic, tomatoes, soy, carrots, red wine, whole grains… Wait, red wine? You know we love any excuse to down a box of red…

In order to get the best health benefits from our food, we are encouraged to “…go back to the whole sources of food, the nonprocessed foods if we can help it.” So even swapping some raw almonds for your typical granola bar on the way to class, or drinking tea instead of coffee will help add more phytochemicals to your diet.

Order matters, as well.  Eating the healthy foods BEFORE the unhealthy foods is better. This is news to me, as I usually eat vegetables or fruit after the unhealthy stuff. Usually because eating that plate of cheese fries makes me feel fat, so I follow it up with a nice, hearty celery stick. But the key is to eat the celery before the cheese fries so I will fill up on more-nutrient dense/lower calorie foods first and take in fewer calories later.

Basically, to help you stay thin and disease-free:

* The more colorful your plate is, the better. (Natural colors from fruits & vegetables, not Skittles.)
* Swap any processed foods (even relatively healthy granola bars) for unprocessed fruits, vegetables, etc. whenever possible.
* Eat the healthy stuff before the unhealthy stuff. You’ll end up eating less calories and fat.

We’re in college so we all know we won’t be giving up on the cheese fries and pizza anytime soon, but if we just balance it out with more nutritious options when we can, we’ll feel it in our bodies. And in our jeans. When we sit down. And there’s no muffin top.

"Whew! Thank God I took those 5 shots last night."

In the words of Betsy from ABC Family’s Greek, “I don’t go to the gym five days a week for my health!” Could it be the drinking, Betsy?

According to a recently published study in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, those who are more likely to drink are also more likely to drag themselves to the gym (hungover or otherwise). Lead author Michael French, Ph. D says that “Alcohol users not only exercised more than abstainers, but the differential actually increased with more drinking.”

I knew drinking was good for my health! Take that, mom!

And it only gets better. The study showed that the more that women drank, the more time they spent exercising each week, on average. Light drinkers apparently exercised for 5.7 more minutes per week, moderate drinkers 10.1 minutes, and heavy drinkers (college students?) 19.9 minutes more per week. Yup, the study showed that women who drink were 10.1% more likely to engage in vigorous exercise (both in and out of the bedroom. Heyoooo).

But the study’s author was quick to say loud and clear that the heath risks associated with heavy drinking outweigh the benefits of more exercise. Boo(ze)!

As college women it makes a little more sense that we would have the time and motivation to exercise hard and party hard. But the study still begs the WTF about why the relationship between heavy drinking and regular exercise exists for women. Are we compensating for extra calories? Doing it out of guilt? Or are girls who choose to socialize in situations with alcohol more likely to enjoy exercise or the gym due to the social aspect of it? Do girls who like to stay in shape respond more to social pressures telling them to have a tight body and to drink heavily? Does this mean that non-drinkers are that much less likely to exercise? And who is healthier in the long-run, the active drunks or the sober slugs?

Either way, I’m not giving up my Friday runs: that 3-miler in the morning, or the one of the vodka variety later that night.

Journal reference:

1. French MT, Popovici I, Maclean JC. Do alcohol consumers exercise more? Findings from a national survey. American Journal of Health Promotion, 24(1), 2009

"I think I'm just gonna take a little snoozer right here for a minute...."

You know those days when, no matter how much you know you should workout, you just can’t bring yourself to put on a sports bra and sweat for an hour or two? You’re too tired. The futon is too comfortable. And those Project Runway re-runs need to be watched again so you can analyze the way Heidi Klum says “Yooah in, oar yooah owit”…

Well, don’t be too hard on yourself – you only have so much willpower. Literally.

According to a recent study at McMaster University, you have a limited amount of willpower. Whether you’re avoiding the cookies your roommate baked, or forcing yourself to concentrate on finishing that essay that’s due in a few hours, you use up your willpower throughout the day. You can burn up your stores of willpower mentally or physically. And as the test subjects demonstrated, loss of willpower causes you to work out at a lower intensity, work out less often, and makes your workout less effective.

So looking back, you might think that you were justified by not working out. “Oh well. That’s all of the willpower I had for today!” Well, woman, that is not the case.

We are completely capable of replenishing and strengthening our willpower, which is good news for your cardio sesh and your health. Here are some great, simple tips to help boost your willpower and get you on that treadmill no matter how much will-power you spent that day:

1. Listen to positive, upbeat music. I suggest “Blow Away” by A Fine Frenzy. It makes me smile every time!

2. Drink some juice for a quick sugar boost.

3. Set a specific date and time for exercise. Grab that cute planner you bought from Barnes & Noble and pencil in a date with the free weights. Better yet, Sharpie that. Your body will get used to this schedule and you’ll be ready to go when the clock strikes “workout.”

4. Challenge yourself to strengthen your willpower. Won’t…eat another…chocolate chip cookie!

5. Plan exercise beforehand. Will Wednesday be focused on abs or quads? Running or biking? Pilates or yoga? Decide and stick to your guns, woman.

6. Get yourself in a good mood. Now I actually have a good reason for watching the “Can I Have Your Number?” MadTV skit again!

7. If you’re really worried, drag that butt out of bed before class and work out in the morning. Not only will you have plenty of willpower that early in the day, but you’ll feel fantastic all day long.

You may not be into smoking marijuana.
You may be known to light up a joint or two with friends on the weekend.
Hell, you may do it every day, as much as you possibly can.

We’re not ones to judge.

No matter what your relationship with pot is, we think you’ll find the results of a recent study done by researchers at University of California San Diego pretty interesting.

It turns out that marijuana may actually be good for us binge-drinking party animals, AKA: college students. The study showed that smoking the pot helped protect our brains from all that harmful boozing (ice luge, anyone?) we do on a weekly basis.

The study was done on a test group of teens aged 16-19 who fell into three categories: binge drinkers (“We’ll turn studying into a drinking game!”), those who drank and smoked (“I always chase my beer with a bong hit!”), and those who rarely did either (wait..those people exist?). The results of the brain scans of these three groups came as a shock (and maybe a little bit of excitement) to us: when testing seven areas of the brain the teens who sucked on the reefer were in better shape than those who chose binge drinking alone.

So marijuana doesn’t kill brain cells? In fact, it makes our brains stronger?

Looks like I’ve been doing things totally wrong all these years. I need to start working some bong hits into my evening festivities; it might do me (and my GPA) some good.

Don't trust 'em. These things are dangerous.

They come in all different colors, styles, and sizes. They’re a part of our daily uniform during the summertime (Editor’s Note: And if you’re me, they stay in rotation until the snow begins to fall); we wear them to the beach, to work, or when we’re just hangin’ out in the house. Some people may hate on flip flops, but they are truly god’s gift to mankind (after Channing Tatum and Coldstone Creamery, of course).

A gift that can kill us all, according to a new study by TODAY.
Seriously, after reading this you might wanna think twice before flippy flopping around town.

After testing some footwear, health scientists discovered that there were more than – are you ready for this – 18,000 bacteria on just one pair of flip-flops. Did you just look at your feet in disgust? Yeah, me too. But what is even more disturbing than the number of bacteria on your favorite footwear is the type of bacteria that consumes them. We’re talkin’ bacteria from fecal matter (that’s poo, ladies!), skin and respiratory germs, even bacteria that causes yeast infections and diaper rash. Oh, and the scariest? The potentially lethal germ, Staphylocaccus aurerus (AKA staph infection).

Dr. Philip M Tierno, director or NYU’s Langone Medical Center, said that these bacteria “can give you a serious infection like a boil, or more serious, it could possess toxins.  They can make you very sick or kill you.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa; slow down there, Dr. Tierno. Does this mean I should fear my Havaianas more than I fear those creepy flasher guys that hide in parks when I go running?

Well yes and no.  The dirty grounds that we walk on (think about it: city streets, public bathrooms, etc.) contain a whole lotta nasty-I-don’t-even-wanna-knows on them, and since our feet are completely exposed when wearing flip flops, our skin is obviously coming in contact with ‘em. And sometimes those germs are lethal. So, what do we do about this?

Instead of ruining a cute summer dress with a not-so-cute pair of sneakers, just be wary and protect yourself:

- Avoid touching your flip-flops and your unwashed feet
- Wash your hands often
- Remove your shoes when you are in your home.
- Limit your use of flip-flops if you can.  I know it’s devastating, but try and save them for the beach and the pool, and wear more protective sandals for your daily wear.
- Toss those flips after a year. Yes, even those Rainbows.

Considering that flip-flops aren’t the best for walking anyway (they give you zero support and can injure your feet and calves) this new bacteria news might not be something to ignore.  Hey, if nothing else, it’s a good excuse to go shoe shopping, right?

Despite all the diet mumbo jumbo that overwhelms women on a daily basis, weight loss is a rather simple formula: burn more calories than you eat. The end.

How do you burn those calories? Duh, you workout. You run, you swim, you blade, you work so hard your shirt is soaked with sweat and you smell like one of the guys asking you for money on your way to class. It’s brutal and it’s annoying, but you gotta do it if you don’t want all those late night pizza runs to stick to your booty.

But a new study from LSU has proven that exercise may not help us lose weight after all. In fact, what it does do is make us all hungrier so we end up consuming all those calories we just worked so hard to burn…and end up with the same results we would have had if we had simply stayed home and watched Real World Cancun on the couch.

According to an article in Time Magazine, which cited the exercise study, “Whether because exercise made them hungry or because they wanted to reward themselves (or both), most of the women who exercised ate more than they did before they started the experiment. Or they compensated in another way, by moving around a lot less than usual after they got home.”

Well, that’s interesting. Everything we’ve been taught from nutritionists/doctors/The Biggest Loser has been wrong? I don’t need to smush myself into a sports bra 5 days a week and run in place for 45 minutes in a basement gym?

Part of me wants to jump for joy at this news (“NO MORE 6am WORKOUTS?! WOOOO!”), but I can’t shake the little guy in the back of my head that’s telling me about all the other health benefits of working out.

But, thinking about how much my legs hurt from my Spin class yesterday, that little guy is easily silenced and the urge to jump for joy (which I can’t do, due to said intense pain) returns once more.

What do you think of these findings? Do you see some truth? Would you stop working out?

Apparently, I’m not alone in the meal-obsessed department.  According to a new study, women spend about 44 minutes a day thinking about food (almost 10 minutes more than men, on average).  That’s TWO YEARS of your life!  And yet, I still think that’s an underestimation. (Seriously – I think about food all. the. time.)

Now that I see the (scary and embarrassing) facts laid out in front of me, I can’t help but wonder what I could do with my life if I wasn’t always thinking about food.  Maybe I could have graduated in three years at the top of my class and gotten an awesome job straight out of college.  Maybe I could have a couple novels published by now.  Maybe I could weigh 15lbs less than I do now.  The possibilities are endless!

It’s all too much to think about, especially since dinner is coming up in a couple hours.  Mmm, beef and broccoli or a grilled cheese sandwich?  I’ll have to think about it…

But now, more and more evidence shows that while taking care of your body is important, there’s something else that contributes to a longer life: strong friendships.  A series of studies published in an article by the New York Times reveal the healthy impacts friendships have.  For example, in a ten-year-long study in Australia, researchers found that older people who had lots of friends were less likely to die during the course of the study than those with fewer friends.  Also, a Harvard study showed that strong social ties contributed to increased brain activity in older age.  Furthermore, it’s been found that people with strong friendships get fewer colds.

Since friends prolong our lives, does that mean I don’t have to work out anymore?  I can just take a walk with my friends (to the bar) to get my exercise instead.  And maybe eating healthy doesn’t matter so much and a chocolate-fudge sundae is instantly good for me as long as I’m sharing it with my girls. And maybe, just maybe, if I’m passing that cigarette to a friend, it won’t have the same effect on my lungs!

Ok, so I know I can’t throw all health concerns out the window, but in the long run, having close friendships is a lot more fullfilling than spending hours on the elliptical, and it has healthy benefits.  Maybe it’s time we all rethink our priorities.