Blog Posts by Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine

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by Lexi Patronis, Glamour

Let's say you eat lunch at noon--how long do you wait to work out? Experts say it's best to exercise about three hours after eating in order to avoid cramping. But the American College of Sports Medicine released research saying that exercising a bit sooner after eating may be good for you, too.

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In the study, people who had in low-intensity workout--walking, light resistance exercise--about two hours after eating a high-fat meal had fewer triglycerides in their blood. (Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood; when they're at a high level, it contributes to high cholesterol.)

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A nice possible benefit, right? And the key is probably that "low-intensity" bit when working out after eating--jumping around too much in high-intensity exercises could lead to stomach cramping and possibly even stuff like diarrhea. Which obviously no one wants.

What's your

CN Digital Studioby Lexi Patronis, Glamour

And here's an excuse to load up on berries today (um, not that you ever need an excuse to load up on berries!): a study in the journal Circulation has found that young and middle-age women whose diets include anthocyanins--the flavonoids in red and blue fruits, like strawberries and blueberries--have a reduced risk for myocardial infarction (otherwise known as: heart attacks).

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In fact, women who ate more than three servings of strawberries or blueberries each week had a 34 percent decrease in heart attack (compared with women who seldom eat the berries), probably because they help keep endothelial function and blood pressure in check.

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You know what's awesome? When you find out that something you liked doing anyway just might have fantastic health benefits.

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by Lexi Patronis, Glamour

If you made New Year's goals to exercise more (lots of us! Me too!) and get healthier in general, then be sure to include a super-important body part in your workout regimen: your brain.

Ha. But seriously--how often do you exercise your brain? The experts behind Lumosity--a brain-training site--say it's important to give your brain regular workouts. Not just because it helps keep your brain healthy and happy, but also because it will help the rest of you get in shape! Take a look at their tips for keeping your brain shipshape (I love these):

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Eat right. You do it for your body--why not your brain? Fruits and vegetables with antioxidants help prevent cell damage, and omega-3 fatty acids are important building blocks in the brain.



Go to the gym. Regular exercise can help keep your brain fit with increased levels of brain chemicals and more efficient blood circulation. Studies have even shown that

Clean Platesby Lexi Patronis, Glamour

"Clean" eating has always intrigued me. Have you ever tried it? Here's what it is: some experts say that the average American's diet includes unwanted servings of pesticides, chemicals, and colorings. In fact, one study (by the Environmental Working Group) found a single bell pepper was contaminated with 15 different pesticides. Ick.

There aren't really any guidelines on how many pesticides are safe to ingest, but research shows that the stuff can be really hard on your body, causing everything from breakouts to weight gain. And the foods that come in boxes and packages aren't always healthy, either--processed foods can have lots of added salts, sugars, and junk.



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So that's where a "clean diet" comes in. According to Jared Koch, nutritionist and founder of Clean Plates, it's easy to clean up your diet. Here are his tips!

1. Eat more veggies. Before cutting back on anything, Koch says, start by adding in vegetables. Err on

by Lexi Patronis, Glamour

According to Erin Palinski, R.D., a dietitian in New Jersey and the author of Belly Fat Diet for Dummies, studies have found that nutrient retention of vitamin C, vitamin B6, calcium, and magnesium was highest in foods like brocoli, cauliflower, potatoes, and frozen corn and peas that were steamed in the microwave. The same foods that were boiled in the microwave, or steamed or boiled on the stovetop had fewer of those nutrients.

So in the interest of saving some time (and maybe boosting the vitamin levels in your foods), take a look at some of the things you might not have known you can microwave.

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by Lexi Petronis, Glamour

With so many (so, so many!) diet options out there, have you ever wondered which actually works? Join the club! About 45 million Americans go on a diet every year, spending $33 billion on weight-loss products.

U.S. News and World Report put together a panel of experts to scrutinize 29 popular diet plans, ranking them by how easy they are to follow, how nutritious, safe, and effective for weight loss they are, and how well they work to decrease the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Here are the top five, as chosen by the experts:

1. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH): The diet is meant to lower blood pressure, emphasizing fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy, and keeping sugary treats, red meat, and salt to a minimum. The lack of salt might be hard to get used to at first, but experts say that the diet is convenient and easy to stick to because it's not too restrictive.

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2. Therapeutic

by Lexi Petronis, Glamour

Most of us spend a good portion of our day sitting--at a desk, in class, you know the drill. And there's lots of research showing that the more time we log sitting on our bums, the worse off we are--like the study that found women who sit for more than six hours a day are 37 percent more likely to die early than women who sit only for three (thanks to increased risk of cardiovascular disease).

And, uh, early death aside (eek!), sitting all day comes with some other problems, like decreased energy levels and the very real possibility of weight gain. Sitting for too long can also just make your body feel so sore.

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Ideally, you want to pick your butt off that chair and move it as often as you can during the course of your day (standing up every 20 minutes can make a big difference--and hey, you can even exercise while still sitting!), but sometimes that's just not possible. So the next time you're at the end of a long day of

by Lexi Petronis, Glamour
Having the flu is just awful. And right now, a lot of us seem to have it--wait, no, not just seem to have it. We do have it! This flu season is turning out to be a bad one. Experts are concerned by how early this flu season started, and by the number of otherwise healthy people who are experiencing especially serious cases of the flu.

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Washing your hands and using sanitizing gels can reduce your risk of getting the flu by 30 percent, so by all means--clean, clean, clean, and the CDC is urging everyone to get vaccinated.

But if you do happen to wind up with the flu, you might want to head to Facebook and install a little app called "Help, I Have the Flu." It'll spin through your friends' profiles, picking up sick-sounding keywords like "sneezing" and "coughing," and scanning check-ins to see who's been at the doctor's office recently. It'll even see who's been staying up late to post, since flu sufferers may have