What do I mean, you ask? Well, I’m talking about vitamins. Specifically, Vitamin D.

Did you know that this D-elightful vitamin increases calcium absorption and thereby helps encourage healthy bone growth? It has shown promise in helping to prevent certain cancers, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, and osteoarthritis.

The Institute of Medicine currently recommends an Adequate Intake (AI) of Vitamin D of 200 International Units (IU) for adults under age 50 (that means you!). As new studies continue to showcase vitamin D’s potential benefits, more scientists are calling for increased recommendations, some suggesting as much as 1,000 IU!

That number seems high at first, but considering that a fair-skinned person can manufacture 15,000 IU or more of vitamin D in as little as 30 minutes of sun exposure, it’s not that hard to get. In case you don’t like the outdoors, though (or it’s just too cold during winter), here are some easy ways to make sure you get enough D in your life:

1) Food

Seafood (usually around 300 IU every 3 ounces, but 1 TB of cod liver oil gives you 1,360 IU!) is one of the few natural food sources for Vitamin D, but fortified foods such as milk (100 IU per cup), yogurt, cheese, breakfast cereals, and juices help solve that problem. Other common foods included eggs (20 IU) and beef liver (15 IU).

2) Sunlight

Since it’s hard to reach the AI from only food (unless you particularly like drinking a spoonful of cod liver oil every day), be happy that your body can make its own Vitamin D with the help of sunlight. Don’t worry – you don’t need to bake in the sun to feel the effects; it only takes 5-10 minutes of sun exposure, 2-3 times a week! That’s a short walk to class, or a little stroll to the closest Starbucks.

3) Supplements

Yes, taking actual vitamins CAN help you get your Vitamin D (shocking, I know). The key is picking the right one. Most multivitamins contain 400 IU already, so don’t go over the recommended maximum supplement amount of 2,000 IU. Also, make sure it’s in the D3 form (it may be listed as cholecalciferol), since it’s the most readily absorbed form.

I hope this gives you some motivation to go outside and soak up some D! If nothing else, it’s the perfect excuse to ask your professor to have class on the quad today.

Ok, so we all know that big booties drive men crazy. I mean, look at the effects of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, J. Lo, and Beyonce have on any warm-blooded male. But as it turns out, having an apple bottom can also help prevent certain diseases.Studies at Harvard Medical School showed that having a bottom-heavy body shape can help prevent Type 2 Diabetes. (Editor’s Note: Looks like I’m safe from that… forever.) Fats stored in or around your fine a$$ help make better use of insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar.

Researchers say it’s not so much where the fat is stored, however, but the kind of fat stored in the booty, which proves that not all fat is bad for your health.

Well amen for that! My brother’s been teasing me about my rather large badonkadonk for as long as I can remember. I used to hate it since he insisted it needed its own area code, but I like to consider it one of my better assets these days. And the one thing keeping me healthy.

Looks like having a fat ass isn’t all that bad. I think Sir Mix-a-Lot said it best when he said “Shake it, shake it, shake that healthy butt.”

That just so happens to be a beer.

The students are hoping to create a genetically modified strain of yeast that will ferment the beer while also producing resveratol, a substance in grapes that has been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease and cancer.

The brew will be known as BioBeer, and if all goes well, we will all soon be drinking/chugging/bonging/beer ponging/keg standing to our health.

Literally.

Great work, students of Rice University. Great work indeed.

[Photo courtesy of www.united-nations-of-beer.com]

University of California scientists have gone a step further with the whole “pomegranate juice is totally healthy” theory. According to a study that tested “53 men with impotence problems”, the antioxidants in pomegranate juice (which “increase blood supply to the genitals”) helped nearly half of the study participants perform better in the bedroom.

Besides possibly helping dudes everywhere satisfy their mate in the bedroom, pomegranate juice has also “been associated with reducing the risk of heart disease and preventing prostate cancer.”

With all this great research behind it, why not buy some pomegranate juice for all the men in your life this year? (just block out whole better-than-Viagra part when it comes to your dad) It’s tasty, healthy, and has a festive red color, making it perfect for holiday stocking stuffers!

Need an extra incentive to start loving pom juice? Try out this double chocolate brownie recipe that’s bursting with pomegranate goodness!

Yes, iced coffee is not like it’s counterpart the hot coffee. Dark and strong without any imposing calories or sugar or carbs or fat or who the hell cares. But iced coffee can be a different story.

Often times we hear, “Eat your calories, don’t drink them.” I would have to agree with this. It’s smart. Eating an apple for example…much better for you than drinking apple juice. Much more satisfying too, if you ask me.

But back to the coffee conundrum. If you were to purchase a grande ice coffee from Starbucks, sans cream or sugar, mind you, you would be ingesting an extra 20 grams of sugar. Not needed, my friend.

Foods and beverages packed with sugar contribute to abdominal obesity and heart disease (one of the leading killers of women). Are 20 grams of sugar worth that?

I suppose if you don’t mind the added sugar, sip away. If you do, opt for iced tea or hot coffee and stay in the air conditioned vicinities of your world.