I know that exercise—especially hard exercise, like running or mountain biking—helps me cope with all of the little spilled-milk moments (literally, figuratively) and even with more stressful everyday situations, such as work projects taking unexpected and disappointing turns. It’s as if exercise creates a buffer zone. Now scientists have some evidence that exercise really does buffer us at the neurological level, changing and enabling cells to function better under stress. more

I know that I do. In fact, lately I have been spending hundreds of dollars out of pocket to address persistent back pain. (Rolfing and chiropractic are scarcely covered by my insurance, and the physical therapy that WAS covered didn’t do much to solve the issue.) This NYTimes article today underscores the problem, particularly for those with more serious health issues, such as cancer.

Do you struggle with the cost of (or lack of insurance coverage for) integrative or alternative therapies that you or your family members need?

White or wheat? Not so fast. Head down the baking aisle and you’ll quickly notice flour types abound, catering to nearly every type of diet and your wildest cooking and baking desires. You’ve come across and perhaps baked with (particularly if you’re following a gluten-free diet) amaranth, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, soy, brown rice, cornmeal, nutmeal, sorghum, teff… But according to a recent study in the Journal of Food Sciences, you might want to make whole yellow pea flour your next go to. An ideal ingredient for creating low-GI foods, pulses are cheap and readily available; plus they’re low in fat and rich in fiber, antioxidants, and protein–and according to this new research, yellow pea flour may also help fight diabetes. In the study, banana bread and biscotti (speaking of biscotti, check out these holiday recipes) made with yellow pea flour produced a lower glycemic response than those baked goods containing wheat flour. Subjects also said the products actually tasted and smelled good. Use it as a healthy, gluten-free alternative in cookies, cakes, muffins, and pizza.

For healthy body weight, nonfat and low-fat milk is the obvious choice for kids, right? Not so fast. New evidence suggests that children who drink whole milk actually weigh less and have lower BMIs compared to kids who don’t drink milk or who regularly consume nonfat or low-fat milk. Like other studies, this seems to suggest that some dietary fat may actually have a positive effect on overall health and weight.

In the release from the University of Gothenburg, dietician Susanne Eriksson, author of the thesis notes: “This is an interesting observation, but we don’t know why it is so. It may be the case that children who drink full-fat milk tend also to eat other things that affect their weight.” The scientists also discovered a difference between overweight children who drink full-fat milk every day and those who do not. Children who often drink milk with a fat content of 3% are less overweight. The thesis shows also that the children eat more saturated fat than recommended, but those children who have a high intake of fat have a lower BMI than the children with a lower intake of fat.

Do you know what’s in that can of soup? No, I’m not talking sodium content. I mean do you know what’s in the lining of that can of soup? According to a report in the December 2009 issue of Consumer Reports it probably contains Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the epoxy resin linings of most food and beverage cans that has been linked to infertility, weight gain, behavioral changes, early onset puberty, cardiovascular disease, prostate and breast cancers and diabetes. Of 19 name-brand foods tested, nearly all of them contained measurable amounts of BPA. Worse yet, some of those products were labeled organic and even “BPA-free.” Dr. Urvashi Rangan, director of technical policy at Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, said in a release:

The findings are noteworthy because they indicate the extent of potential exposure. Children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA near levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies. The lack of any safety margin between the levels that cause harm in animals and those that people could potentially ingest from canned foods has been inadequately addressed by the FDA to date. more

Children’s food allergies have been on the rise for quite some time, with no clear explanation as to why. Some experts blame GMOs, others the timing of introducing foods to kids or the frequency with which we consume certain staples—such as wheat, dairy, soy, and corn. Evidence shows that most kids acquire food allergies within their first couple years of life, which may explain why researchers recently found that kids who started multivitamin supplements earlier (in this case, before age 4) showed a 39 percent reduction in food allergy risk, while older children saw little or no change to allergy risk when taking the same multivitamins. Take away? Multivitamins can in fact help reduce allergy risk, but only if they’re started early.

This week the FDA expressed concern about Smart Choices, an industry label claiming that certain foods (including highly processed, sugary foods like Froot Loops, Cocoa Crispies, and Fudgsicles) are “better” choices. According to the FDA, such voluntary nutrition labels could be misleading. In response, Smart Choices officials announced that they will postpone further action. However, products that currently have the label will continue to use it. What does this mean for you? As a consumer, you have to be more aware than ever before of the many labels making numerous health claims (better! healthier! smarter!). Really think about what you’re looking for in your food and what labels really mean–then you can make your own smart choice in the grocery store.

Here’s some truly green living news reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: Your health and happiness could directly relate to whether you live by a green space. The study evaluated 300,000 Dutch children and adults and the results showed that the subjects living near these areas had lower rates of various health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, chronic neck and back pain, asthma, and migraines. However, the greatest connection was between green areas and lower rates of anxiety and depression. Stop rolling your eyes. I know you can’t just break your lease or take over your neighbor’s much more pristine backyard. But in addition to the better air quality, researchers think the relationship has to do with getting more exercise and cooling off from city life. You may not be relocating anytime soon, but you can be conscious of where you spend your free time. Get out to a nearby park to exercise and take a break from daily stressors–it’s not a stretch to think you may see improvements in your mental and physical health.

Chocolate has long topped the list of no-no foods for migraine headache sufferers, but now scientists think that cocoa compounds may actually offer migraine relief. In a recent study, rats fed cocoa showed lower levels of inflammatory markers associated with migraine headaches and increased levels of anti-inflammatory proteins thought to suppress the inflammatory response typical of migraine headaches. Other experts believe that chocolate may not cause migraines but a craving for chocolate may indicate that a migraine is imminent.

Caffeine and other compounds in chocolate have long been blamed for migraines. So if you suffer from migraines, should you avoid or increase your chocolate intake? What do you think? Post a comment below. And check out nutrients such as these that have been proven to help.

What’s the difference between food allergy and food intolerance? I get this question a lot when people find out my son is gluten intolerant; they typically think that means he’s allergic to gluten. But intolerance or sensitivity to a food is not the same as an allergy. With a true gluten allergy, the body’s immune system reacts to something (typically a protein, like gluten) and attacks it as an invader; in this case, the body can never safely handle even a tiny amount of gluten (this is celiac disease). With a sensitivity or intolerance, the reaction is not an immune response; instead, the digestive system reacts to something as an irritant. The reaction is typically more delayed and can build up over time. (That’s what happened with my son; he felt progressively worse over about 18 months before we figured it out.) It’s easy to go a long time feeling discomfort of various sorts without realizing that you might have a food intolerance; there’s no medical tests that can definitively pinpoint an intolerance, only a true allergy. So if you’re feeling sick in some way — it could be fatigue, brain fog, skin rash, joint pain, or any other dis-ease, not just a digestive disturbance — think about what it could be that you’re eating or drinking. An elimination diet is a simple way to find out whether you have a sensitivity to a certain food; some the most common offenders are soy (especially processed), dairy, wheat, nuts, and citrus.