Blog Posts by Oprah.com

By Dr. Mehmet Oz

Photo: Thinkstock

Smoking

The minute you quit, your body starts working to repair the damage caused by tobacco. Within 48 hours, your senses of smell and taste begin to recover. The next month, you may notice that your cough and shortness of breath are improving. And once you reach the ten-year mark, your risk of death from lung cancer will almost equal the risk of a lifelong nonsmoker.

How to atone: Because ex-smokers will have an increased risk of heart disease for 15 years, I recommend spending 20 to 30 minutes in a sauna once or twice a week. (Most fitness clubs have one.) Several studies have documented the effectiveness of sauna therapy for reducing blood pressure, and breathing the hot air can improve lung function.

RELATED: Break Your Bad Habits for Good

Photo: Thinkstock

Baking in the Sun

One blistering burn during your childhood or adolescence more than doubles your risk of melanoma. But if caught early, skin cancer is usually treatable.

Photo: ThinkstockBy Lynn Andriani

Coffee: Ditch the Caribbean for the South Pacific

Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona are some of the most well-known and high-priced coffees. Their fame helps them command a hefty sum (as much as $42 per pound for the former), but Jason Dominy, former chair of the Barista Guild of America, says beans from Papua New Guinea are often just as good--and much cheaper (about $12 a pound). In fact, many Papua New Guinea coffees are from plants that grew from the seedlings of Jamaican Blue Mountain.

Switch and save: $30 per pound

Photo: ThinkstockDried Mushrooms: Choose a Different Variety That's Just as Useful

Dried mushrooms are a cook's secret weapon. They keep for months in your cupboard; when you need them, just plump them up in hot water, strain and cook (and the savory soaking liquid is as valuable as the mushrooms themselves, especially for risotto). The most popular are porcini and morel, but while porcini cost $8

Photo: Mauricio AlejoBy Christie Aschwanden

When I heard about my friend's book deal, I wanted to be happy for her--really, I did. Sharon (name has been changed) had spent months laboring over a heartfelt essay about her traumatic childhood, and the piece was published to wide acclaim. Now she had landed a contract to turn the story into a memoir for a sum so enormous it could buy my house twice. I should have been celebrating her success. Instead, I was busy hunting for reasons she didn't deserve it.

Envy can be an ugly emotion. A study published in the journal Science showed that it actually activates a region of the brain involved in processing physical pain. No wonder people go to such lengths to ignore or deny the emotion. Yet it's nearly impossible to dodge, because envy is an inevitable consequence of the comparisons we seem programmed to make.

RELATED: Jealousy -- The Monster

Researchers have found that when you put a group of strangers in a room, they start to assess each other almost

The truth-filled books to turn to when your mind is full of confused, not-so-helpful thoughts.

Photo: Courtesy of DuttonThe Situation: "He lied, he's cheated, and it's over. Now what do I do?"

The Book: Split: A Memoir of Divorce
By Suzanne Finnamore
272 pages; Dutton

Everybody who gets divorced ought to write a memoir about it, as Suzanne Finnamore has done in Split (Dutton), as a service to the rest of us struggling to unravel the mysteries of marriage.

Finnamore's story opens with a bang: her husband downing two martinis and announcing that he's leaving her and their toddler and their stylish house in wealthy Marin County, California.

He swears there is no other woman, though, naturally, there is.

RELATED: 9 Mysteries Every Thinking Woman Should Read

He's a liar and a smoothy--we all know the type--and he never deepens into a full-blown personality in Finnamore's story. Split is not a thoughtful autopsy of a marriage; it's impassioned and immediate, concerned only with its narrator's swinging moods

Photo: Courtesy of Zumba Fitness, LLCAqua Zumba

Try it if you like:
The Latin-dance-inspired fitness craze known as Zumba.

Health perks:
Water provides 12 to 14 times the resistance of exercising on land, so even simple moves (like high kicks or tossing a beach ball while treading in the deep end) are more challenging.

RELATED: 5 Ways to Remix Your Same Old Workout

Goofiness factor:
I love to dance...after two or three cocktails. But while I'm far too self-conscious to shake my groove thing in Zumba, I was drawn to Aqua Zumba because the grooving happens underwater, where no one can see. My first class made me feel as if I were 7 years old again. Imagine a pool party complete with foam noodles, splashing, even hooting and hollering--set to reggae and calypso. We probably seemed silly to the lifeguard, but kids don't worry about seeming silly, and by the time we were riding noodles across the pool, neither did I. (zumba.com)

Fun scale: 8/10

-Catherine DiBenedetto, articles editor

By: Kate RockwoodPhoto: Courtesy of Potting Shed Creations

From the brittle orchid on my desk to the wilted blooms in my last backyard, I've never met a plant I couldn't kill. (True story: I once watered a little potted shrub for nearly two weeks before realizing it was fake.)

RELATED: 10 Tips for New Gardeners

But on a recent grocery trip, I looked into my cart to admire my bounty of summer herbs and saw...a lot of plastic. It seemed each sprig of mint and leaf of basil was wrapped in its own little slip of bad-for-the-planet packaging.

RELATED: 10 Tips for Green Gardening

That grocery store moment was a gentle reminder that growing your own herbs can save both money and the eco-impact of shipping and shelving all that basil, mint, and chives. The hydroponic herb planters from Potting Shed Creations seem particularly forgiving. Made from recycled wine bottles, the planters come pre-filled and are slim enough to soak up sun on a windowsill.

RELATED: 25 Ingredients and Recipes to Keep You Moving

When the organic herbs are

Photo: Gregor Halenda6 stellar lotions (and one streak-preventing balm) give you perfectly glowy, sun-kissed skin.

Counter-clockwise from top:
Glycolic and lactic acids in Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Glow Pad for Body ($45 for eight pads; dgskincare.com) exfoliate to create smooth, soft skin so the DHA (the chemical in self-tanners that darkens skin) colors evenly. One deeply saturated pad is enough for your entire body.

RELATED: 13 Beauty Treats That Will Keep You Cool All Summer Long

Start using Sephora Moisturizing Bronzing Body Lotion ($16; sephora.com) a few days before a summer wedding or poolside barbecue. The nongreasy cream moisturizes with glycerin while slowly building a beautiful bronze tone.

One allover sweep of Kate Somerville Somerville 360° Face Self Tanning Pads ($48 for 12 pads; katesomerville.com) is enough to provide your complexion with an immediate glow (courtesy of mica particles) and, in two to four hours, a hint of tint.

RELATED: Are You Taking the Right Nutritional

Photo: Oprah.comBy Jenny Bailly

The only thing that's extravagant about these skincare treatments is their rejuvenating qualities.

Boots Botanics Intensive Wrinkle Reduction Serum

Vitamin A derivatives--like the retinol in this serum--are the superstars of skincare. Piles of research prove that these ingredients smooth roughness, fade discoloration and build new collagen to soften lines and improve laxity (in other words, reverse all of the damage done before your religious sunscreen use). Apply a thin layer of this silky serum before bed (sunlight can deactivate retinol); layer a moisturizer on top if you have dry skin.

$15, Target.com

RELATED: The 2012 Spring Makeup O-wards: The Best New Beauty Products

Avon Anew Clinical Advanced Retexturizing Peel

Glycolic acid peels are mainstay treatments in dermatologists' offices because they improve the look of your skin in minutes by increasing cell turnover to reveal a brighter, more even-toned complexion. These pads contain a