Blog Posts by Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine

By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

I can't get enough of blueberries, especially the sweet little organic local ones at the market. If you haven't picked up a carton yet, here are some important reasons why you should!

What's to love about blueberries? A lot! (Just be sure you're buying them organically, if you can--conventional blueberries tend to be a high-pesticide crop). Here's what the US Blueberry Council has to boast about their crop:

1. They're an excellent source of vitamin C: One serving contains about 14 mg or almost 25% of daily requirement for Vitamin C.

2. They're a good source of dietary fiber: Most people don't get enough fiber, and blueberries can help!

3. They're an excellent source of manganese: Manganese plays a role in the development of bones and in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrate and fat.

4. They're loaded with antioxidants: According to the USDA database of the antioxidant activity of selected foods (ORAC values), blueberries rank among the highest of all

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By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

Lisa Stern, a nurse practitioner who works with Planned Parenthood says she's seeing a surprising epidemic among young women. She calls it Tight Pants Syndrome. Here's what it may be doing to your bod ...

"It's summer time, and while that mean pleasant things like lemonade and beach weekends to you, in the gyn world, it's time for tight pants syndrome (TPS) to reach epidemic levels," writes Lisa Stern, a nurse practitioner who specializes in women's health and blogs at GynFizz.com.

Related: The Supplement That May Drastically Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk

Put simply, wear tight pants and you my put your vagina at risk. Here's why, she says: gynecological implications of tight pants. "The suffering of sad, tightly-clothed vaginas need to be brought to light. The most common symptoms of TPS are vaginal discharge (usually white, sometimes yellow, generally thick), pelvic pain, vaginal itching, and sometimes perineal or perianal (sorry, had to

Read More »from The New Gyno Health Epidemic: Tight Pants Syndrome--Do You Have It?

By Sarah Jio, Glamour Magazine

A few friends of mine swear they are on the verge of an Elizabeth Gilbert revolution in their lives--as in, fly around the world for a few months and find themselves. I'm curious, does this soul-searching sort of journey appeal to you at this point in your life, too? And, are you excited to watch Julia Roberts in the new "Eat, Pray, Love" movie?

Related: Mental Health Minute: Drew Barrymore's Talking About Her Life "Rebirth"--Need One Too?

I have two kids and a husband, so as far as my Eat-Pray-Love moment, I think I missed the boat. (But a weekend at a spa ... in Tuscany--yes maybe). With the new Julia Roberts Eat Pray Love movie coming out next month, lots of women (a few I know!) are talking about making their own soul-searching journeys, and I have to admit, the idea does sound appealing--if you have the time, money and fearlessness to do it.

Related: Boost Your Happiness by Getting in Touch With This One Word: "No"

Click here to watch the

Read More »from Mental Health Minute: Do You Need an Eat-Pray-Love Experience?

By Sarah Jio, Glamour Magazine

Are you a "slacker" who tends to be more laid back and prone to procrastinating, or more of a perfectionist who tends to be uptight and stressy? (You can probably guess which category Martha falls into!) I'll admit to my "type" and share news about what it means for our health ...

Calling all perfectionists (you too, Martha!), your exacting ways may mean your bed sheets are folded perfectly and there's not a spot of toothpaste on your bathroom mirror, but guess what? You have a 51 percent higher death rate compared to slacker types, say researchers at Trinity Western University.

Related: Got Stress? The #1 Person to Call

Eeks! That's a pretty big health risk. I will admit: I'm a horrible perfectionist. And I'm not just saying that to compliment myself. It's a fault. A terrible fault. I'm a horrible grump when the house is a tiny bit messy, I've literally cried over spilled milk (literally), I stress out about silly things, and often beat myself up

Read More »from Are You More of a Slacker or a Perfectionist? (Guess Which Group Lives Longer)

Want to be a smart cookie all the way into your elderly years? Yes please! While I don't think about my elder years a lot, if I can do things now to ward off dementia and Alzheimer's later in life, I'm all over it. And, here's something that may help ...

Want to stay sharp through the years? Make tea-drinking a part of your life, say researchers. According to the Cardiovascular Health Study presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2010, drinking tea through your life, particularly as you get older, may slow the rate of cognitive decline.

Related: These Two Drinks May Reduce Your Heart Disease Risk

"Regular tea drinkers are essentially experiencing a different rate of cognitive decline than non-tea-drinkers," principal investigator Lenore Arab, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of California-Los Angeles, told reporters attending a press briefing here.

While the researchers aren't sure about why tea has such

Read More »from Drink This Throughout Your Life, Stay Sharp

Brush your teeth with bacon-flavored paste? How about a tube spiked with champagne, or maybe charcoal? Get ready to be wowed ...

Oddee has a list of the world's strangest toothpastes, and for me, these top my list:

Bacon-flavored toothpaste (sorry, this just makes me want to gag, you?):

Toothpaste made from charcoal--apparently its a huge hit in Asia (but wouldn't it just make your teeth look ... black?):



















And, ice cream flavored toothpaste, hmmm:

More from Oddee, champagne and whiskey-spiked toothpastes (and one that might make you lose your lunch, so click at your own risk ...).

Would you dare?

MORE FROM GLAMOUR:

• Foods That Can Fix (Almost) Anything
• 39 of the Sparkliest Engagement Rings Ever
• The Surprising Reason For Your Pounding Headache
• 8 Sex Moves Every Woman Should Try Once

Photo Credit: Oddee

Read More »from The World's Strangest Toothpastes

I'm a firm believer in the fact that no matter how crazy, dysfunctional and stressful your life is, you can take the reigns back and change it. Nope, not always easy, but Drew Barrymore says she's in the process of her own "rebirth," so to speak, and I was inspired by her. Do you need to simplify things in your life?

Drew Barrymore has been working hard since she was a child, and six months ago, she says, she reached a breaking point. "For three years straight, I've been burning the candle at both ends, and as of last December, I just didn't have anything left," Elle's August cover girl, 35, says.

Related: Health Rules for Every Woman

Her solution? She's "ripped the plug out of the wall and put it on the floor for a while. I'm thinking about the same things as when I was 15, about spirituality and who I am, who I want to be. It's cocoon, pupa, larva, and f---, I'm reborn!" she says.

Sounds very Drew, doesn't it? :) But in practical terms, I think this is good stuff. It

Read More »from Mental Health Minute: Drew Barrymore's Talking About Her Life "Rebirth"--Need One Too?

Are you self conscious about your hands or feet? NBC news took a look at an odd topic: Megan Fox's unusual thumbs, which apparently look like big toes. The unusual trait is actually pretty common, and a reminder that beautiful, creative people have odd-looking digits--and that's OK!

She's newly married and landing major film roles, but the latest buzz on Megan Fox is her ... thumbs! NBC News' body/health blog The Body Odd featured a post on Megan's unusual thumbs.

Related: Body Image: Newsflash! You May Have the Body of Gisele, But Not Know It

"Her thumbs look like two big toes," NBC's Melissa Dahl writes. "The scientific name for stump thumb is Brachydactyly type D, but the condition is also called club thumb, stub thumb, fat thumb, potter's thumb and toe thumb. It's also known as 'murderer's thumb,' a moniker once used by gypsy fortune tellers."

It's not so unusual, though. Up to 4 percent of the population is estimated to have stubby thumbs. But Fox is reportedly

Read More »from Have You Heard of Toe-Thumbs? Megan Fox Has Them