Ghrelin and Leptin

Sounds suspiciously like two characters from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, doesn't it? Actually, not. These two are hormones that apparently work in consort to wreck havoc on your body. Leptin purports to signal your brain that you are...

Some guys have all the luck

I suspect when Rod Stewart crooned this tune he wasn't thinking about little furry rodents. Clearly some University of Bonn scientists were. These enterprising scientists made the discovery that if they fed viagra to mice (who had raised their little...

Want a election day diversion?

Are you a label reader? Do you carefully, thoughtfully and compulsively need to know every ingredient in your food? Too much salt, not enough vitamin B,D,C, too high in sugar? GMO's are the next piece of info to be considered....

Seasonal Trauma

It's that time of the year again, isn't it? I'm not talking about desperately trying to locate last years unbelievably outstanding, to die for, turkey stuffing recipe; recalculating how many pounds of butternut squash it takes to make a really...

Runner's High

I have great admiration for the journalist Nicholas Kristof. He doubted WMD in Iraq. He focused his attention on genocide in Dafur. His columns dissect the issues of poverty, gender and health. He is also a self proclaimed pathological runner....

Vanity, thy name is woman

Actually, the correct Shakespearean quip is "frailty, thy name is woman." Frailty, however, was no longer a useful descriptor of woman what with the advent of hormone replacement therapy coupled with the biphosphonates. Sally Fields became the patron saint of...

Had it, want it, lost it.

Did you, as I did, do a double take? It's not that Patti is looking a tad tired. Nor is it the jowls. Or the shadows under her eyes. It's the sublime capturing of what 'if looks could kill', looks...

Slight, Demi and Bold

Sounds suspiciously like new coffees from Starbucks, doesn't it? It's not. 6 or so months ago, Levi's introduced Curve ID, a line that offers three new styles, depending on how rounded a woman's backside might be. How rounded her backside...

Color me Purple

Or red, green, maybe yellow. Then again, maybe not. Experts are being summoned by the F.D.A. to "review the evidence and advise on including warning labels on food as it relates to artificial food coloring." A link, it seems, has...

I like me

I love me. I'm a good person. Am I thinner yet? Self-compassion. That's the trick. Psychologists are researching how kindly one views oneself by administering tests to pin point just how you feel about yourself. Do you like yourself? Or...

Benefits of Menopause

You read that correctly. Somewhere out there, there is a group of scientists who are actually touting the benefits of menopause. Clearly, they must be hanging with a younger crowd. Nonetheless, they contend hot flashes might actually be a good...

Avon lady, don't call

Scientists have discovered that cell phone usage causes an increase in brain glucose (or sugar) metabolism. My first reaction was a huge wow. An increase in my metabolism?! Terrific, with the amount of time I spend on my phone I'll...

Are You A Gym Rat?

Any budding zoologists out there? If so, you'll know that my weight lifting, furry friend is neither rat nor mouse. If you want to be able to positively identify what it is, retain the information, and be able to recall...

If a calorie is a calorie is a calorie....

Would you rather eat 1 bag of M&M's (236 calories) or 1 broiled skinless boneless 5 oz chicken breast (230 calories)? Given a choice, I'd rather have a 6 oz. glasses of wine (200 calories) but hey, that's me. Nonetheless,...

I couldn't resist

This time of the year poses challenges for most of us. Okay, not most, some. Maybe just me. Summer is over. I read somewhere about the biological imperative to store fat during the winter, a hold over from our prehistoric...

Moobs and Muffins

A new offering from Starbucks, perhaps? Not exactly.Muffins, in this case, refer to those singularly unattractive doughy things that somehow seem to overspill the tops of trousers, "menopaunches." "Moobs" is a conflagation of man and boobs. (Thank you Howard Jacobson...

Return of the Native

Dotting the overhead landscape, colorfully flapping in the proverbial breeze, the "what we wore today" is on display. See any tighty whities? Rarely. Perhaps some items are simply relegated to an inside area to dry. I ask you, do the...

More from the scary files

Do you worry? I'm not talking about the big stuff. Nothing that would show up in a Thomas Friedman column. It's the really really, personally important, how did I actually exist without this, get through my day, information stuff. Makeup...

Funding for Giggles

You have heard, I imagine, the imperative 'publish or perish'? The nemesis of the academic community. What shall we research next? What hasn't been explored, studied, analyzed and examined in minute detail? Will we get funding? Will we be lauded...

Casual Fridays

Do you know why men's casual Fridays dress down, wear a polo or tee shirt, never really took off? A conspiracy by Brooks Brothers? Not enough variety from J. Crew? Sorbet colors aren't flattering? Nope. It's because they figured out...

A Good Place For Fat?

Can you imagine? In an article I read, they euphemistically called it 'White Matter'. Which, for me, has a decidedly better ring than 'fat', don't you agree? Think about it, "I've added some white matter to my hips," Perhaps that...

"Alas poor Yorick"...

"...a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy..." and a strong jawline, too boot, staving off a little nip/tuck for him. Really. Well, maybe not. Having no idea, actually, how old Yorick was when he met his maker...but, according...

Thinking healthy?

Think again. Throw that veggie burger on the grill. Add some relish, ketchup, pickles, onions and perhaps a slice or two of cheddar and you can happily indulge in your summertime barbeque, without sacrificing a cow. You also are pretty...

Beta-CM-7 protein

Catchy header? It would be an important collection of letters and a number to know if you are a phlegm producing machine. Which, we all know, is a singularly undesirable, unattractive and not a good way to make friends, way...

Strong shoulders

If that evokes a visual of Vic Tanny (am I really dating myself that much..??) okay David Barton, you'd be wrong. Strong shoulders is the 21st c euphemism for shoulder pads. You remember shoulder pads, don't you? The 80's power...

Quelle surprise

Can manufacturers of beauty products survive the constant onslaught of criticism? Apparently the answer is yes. Create a product and they will come. Advertise with the celeb du jour and they will come in droves. Promise it will take years...

No regrets?

Thumbing through a magazine I picked up at the doctor's office, I got to thinking about the life choices I make. I think the magazine was called something along the lines of " Your Most Extreme Outdoor Life Ever." I...

Rigid?

No, I am not talking about your inflexibility. Nor am I talking about your being adamant about holding on to your point of view. Nope, I am back to the latest use of Botox. Apparently, Botox is more much versatile...

What do we really feel

About aging? Beats the alternative...pops into my head, bada boom. How so ever, this very serious question has been posed and answered by two psychotherapists in their newly published book "Face It: What Women Really Feel as Their Looks Change."...

Set Point

Game, Match? No. The purported number that your body thinks you should, might, have, soon to return to, once upon a time weighed. If our collective memories are somewhat challenged, why is that particular area of the brain so razor...

You are what you eat.

That's not a particularly comforting ditty, is it? Unless of course you are sensible. And eat only grain laden, fruits and vegetables, no sugar. Perhaps emulating a chimpanzee. Surely, you've never seen a chubbette, unhealthy, weight watching, Atkins following one...

Comfort Food

My comfort food is, alas, food. If reduced to describe something that has some childhood feel good attached to it, I offer up farfalle (bow tie) noodles, mixed with a humongous dollop of butter and cottage cheese, then salted. Probably...

Product Promises??

Johnson & Johnson, what have you done? I trusted my baby's bottom to you. Your lotions and potions soothed them. Can I ever believe in you again? Ever? Upliv? Upliv!!! A stress relief product? Aromatherapy for the soul? And it...

There's good news and more good news

That would be for those who are babyboomers. Or are the children of babyboomers. Or simply like alliteration. These Boomers, you see, are playing video games, having sex and doing drugs. Not necessarily all at the same time. But all...

Language of the body

"Here's something really special, really important, I think you ought to know" she said. "Tell me" he replied, as he leaned far back into his chair, and folded his arms across his chest. Right you are. She changed her mind....

Stand Up

I am an unfortunate devotee to all the various and assorted articles I read that promise me a happier, healthier, better life if I follow their sage advice. I don't of course. Sir Clement Freud, a British humorist, restaurateur, gambler...

Heads up

Around 3 weeks of age, give or take, we hear the collective delighted sweet murmuring and cooing sounds of parents, grandparents and the like, "look, he/she is holding up their perfectly shaped head." Clearly a genius. We are aware, aren't...

The Bath

The bath. Cleansing, soothing, relaxing, metaphoric. Metaphoric? Sure, why not. Renewal, Birth, the Confessional...hmm, okay, maybe not. But somewhere in there is a cliche I haven't thought of. Anyway, what I am clear about is that Hollywood hasn't run out...

Meet my Avatar

Thinking about a new you? Not talking about a visit to Dr. Makeyoulookyounger or some deep and intense therapy that you can accomplish in 3 minutes (surely you can get to the root of all your neuroses in that time...

You're better than you think

I don't know anyone who believes that. Nary a soul. But, yet again, it appears that those that really know about these things are convincing us that we are just fine. Certainly, anyone who has gained 5 lbs in the...

The Proof is In the Neurons

I love these studies. But you knew that. The latest article that was passed along to me tells me that Exercise Makes You Less Anxious. Yeah, yeah, okay, we all knew that. If you are really needing to know 'how...

No stimulus package for you

And Colin, you can, according to the scientists at King's College London, put your GPS away. These scientists contend that the G-spot is a myth. The consummate treasure hunt has come to an end. Pun intended. Alrighty then, let's consider...

To do list

I've never been able to master the concept of a to-do list. I scribble notes on various and assorted pieces of paper, quite clear that this is not an efficient way to organize what needs to get done. Alternatively, if...

Not me

Ben Shott laid out a pretty comprehensive chart of data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project in the New York Times. So get your stuff in order if you are a woman nearing 80 or a guy...

Focus, focus, focus

I snapped to attention when reading Michelle Slatalla's article in the Times The endless first chapter. I feared that I was the only one who knew, let alone would admit, that I can't seem to get past the first five...

So predictable

I am. I know it. I read the Times article A FIrm Body, With No Workout Required and, of course, immediately had to write something. That something is, you have got to be kidding! So, the concept is that the...

Want to relocate?

Feel compelled to move your own body fat around? Here's a pretty easy manuever. Put on a skirt, pants, girdle, or panty hose that is at least one size too small. Voila! Fats been relocated to your midriff. Not the...

Stretching

Let's see. Stretch your mind, stretch your budget. Check. Stretch your imagination, stretch the truth. Check. Stretch your hams, run faster. Uncheck. Now, weren't you surprised? I was. I stopped running years ago. Bending over to tie my sneakers, I...

Sweet Murmuring Noises

A lovely concept. Cooing softly into the ear of a loved one. A good time is right before you both nod off for the night. Let your partner know how happy, contented and serene you are feeling. Often, and over...

Risk Taker?

Do you live on the edge? Stare death in the face? ? Stare at anyone, for that matter? Me either. What's the fascination? Adrenaline rush, I suppose. My heart races when I have remembered two consecutive thoughts. But I do,...