Wacky Health Tips

Mehmet Oz gives his top 4 tips

(NEWSER) - Dr. Mehmet Oz is getting a new show starting Sept. 14, inspiring Esquire to ask Oprah’s favorite physician how to watch the tube in the healthiest way possible. His recommendations:

1. Drink water—Take advantage of the opportunity: you won’t mind its blandness when your focus is elsewhere.
2. Munch on nuts—particularly walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds. Their monounsaturated fats are good to clear arteries and raise serotonin levels.

First-ever video game supported by NHS

(NEWSER) - Turn on the boob tube and get fit. That's the message from the British National Health Service, which is endorsing Nintendo's new Wii Fit Plus video game. It's the first time ever the service has endorsed a video game and it's sure to raise criticism from some health experts, reports the Telegraph. Nintendo can use the endorsement in advertising plugging the updated game, which leads viewers through a series of exercises and goes on sale in Britain this week. More»

South Beach Diet guru shares his secrets

(NEWSER) - Arthur Agatston, the cardiologist who cooked up the South Beach Diet, takes no medications and embraces a philosophy of moderation—he's not starving himself or downing dozens of vitamins. He clues Prevention magazine in on his advice for keeping your heart in tip-top shape:

• Eat four times a day: Three meals plus a snack—"a mozzarella stick, fruit, wasabi-coated soy nuts, other nuts, or a high-fiber bar"—but not much starch.

People who live near vegetation suffer fewer diseases

(NEWSER) - People who live close to parks or other “green spaces” are likely to be healthier, a new study suggests. Dutch researchers scoured the health records of 345,000 people, comparing their health status to the amount of green space in the surrounding area, from a half-mile to 2-mile radius. Of 24 health conditions—including cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological diseases—people living in purely urban areas suffered higher instances of 15 of them, notes HealthDay. More»

Psychological benefits of working out not related to actual fitness: study

(NEWSER) - Good news for the semi-motivated couch potato: doing just a little exercise—not actually getting fit—will make you feel better about yourself, a new study says. University of Florida researchers reviewing 57 studies on exercise and body image found that people who exercised got the same body-image boost no matter the duration, intensity, length, or type of exercise. More»