Blog Posts by The Editors at Sharecare

Is diet soda a smart way to save calories?By Deborah Wilburn

It's the perennial question: How bad is that concoction of chemicals and coloring in your favorite diet soft drink? Is it a harmless alternative when you're trying to control calories?

The jury is still out, but a new long-term study of heart health suggests diet beverage consumption, along with overall diet, may contribute to your risk of developing metabolic syndrome. The list of health problems metabolic syndrome can cause is long and scary. It doubles a your risk of heart attack and stroke, and contributes to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and even some forms of cancer.

Diet soda pros and cons

The latest research, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed the dietary patterns of 4,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 30. The study began in the mid-1980s, and over a 20-year period, 827 participants developed metabolic syndrome. The researchers discovered that those who drank diet soda were more likely than those

When should you start getting mammograms?By Deborah Wilburn

How frequently and at what age should women begin to get mammograms? Guidelines vary, from the American Cancer Society, which recommends annual mammograms for all women starting at 40, to the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF), which recommends mammograms every two years starting at age 50.

Now, a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) adds fuel to the debate by stating that routine mammograms may lead to significant overdiagnosis of the breast cancer, causing undue anxiety, additional costly testing, and unnecessary treatment.

Check your risk of breast cancer -- take this assessment.

The researchers analyzed data from a study of almost 40,000 Norwegian women with invasive breast cancer, 7,793 of whom were diagnosed during a 10-year rollout of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening starting in 1996. The remaining women were diagnosed in the 10 years prior. Researchers expected to see a decrease in late-stage breast cancer

Sitting all day is bad for your health.By Deborah Wilburn

If you spend most of your time sitting -- say, at the office all day, then on the sofa in the evening -- can exercise make up for it? Not really, according new Australian research.

Turn household chores into mini-workouts.

A recent study followed more than 200,000 adults age 45 and older for three years. Those who sat 11 or more hours per day were 40% likelier to die than people who sat fewer than four hours a day.

Here's the worst part: Even if they exercised after 11 hours of sitting, the risks were the same.

"In people who do a similar amount of physical activity, those who sit less will have a lower risk of dying compared to those who sit more," says Hidde Van Der Ploeg, PhD, senior research fellow at the University of Sydney School of Public Health. Physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week, as recommended by the World Health Organization, remains the gold standard. That works out to approximately 21 minutes per day -- the

Soy beans, and Soy milk.By Deborah Wilburn

High blood pressure can happen at any age. Standard, non-drug fixes include exercising for 30 minutes every day (walking will do the trick), getting enough sleep (7-8 hours), and managing stress. But diet plays a role, too, and eating fruits, veggies, and 100% whole grains are the ticket to keep blood pressure and a host of other conditions in check.

But now there are new studies that pinpoint specific foods that can help lower your lower blood pressure. Isoflavones -- a compound found in foods such as soy milk, green tea, tofu, and peanuts -- may help lower blood pressure in young adults. That's especially true for African-Americans, who have a higher incidence of high blood pressure starting at a younger earlier age.

What causes high blood pressure?

In a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers investigated data from more than 5,000 people. The results? People who gobble more than 2.5 milligrams (mg) of isoflavones a day

Want to lose weight? Don't trash talk with Fat Talk.By Deborah Wilburn

"I know I shouldn't eat this brownie." "My ass is huge." "How does she stay so thin?" "I'm so fat." "No you're not, I'm the one who's fat."

Sound familiar? If so, you're engaging in Fat Talk, and it's doing nothing to help you reach a healthy weight. Those who regularly engage in these negative weight conversations are more likely to have a poor body image, higher levels of depression, and a perceived cultural pressure to be thin, according to a new study in the Journal of Applied Communication Research.

2 quick ways to like your body better.

Researchers recruited undergraduate students at the University of Arizona -- both women and men -- to answer two series of online questionnaires reporting their use of fat talk, body satisfaction, pressure to be skinny, self-esteem, and depression.

The researchers uncovered a link between body image and depression in both men and women, so it's not just the ladies who worry about flabby arms or belly fat.

By Deborah Wilburn

Menopause symptoms don't have to get in the way of your job performance.You feel crazy, depressed. You're hot, you're cold. Your sex drive just drove away. You can't remember anything, including what you just read. Your mood swings could frighten a platoon of Marines. You're in menopause.

Menopause symptoms are well known, and researchers are only now looking at how they affect women in the workplace. A recent Dutch study, reported in the journal Menopause, took a closer look at how menopause affects "work ability." That's a person's ability to carry out job demands while attempting to predict future job performance, including how often a person will call in sick. The researchers enlisted 200 working women, ages 40 through 60, to complete a questionnaire about their work ability. Women who reported having menopausal symptoms were more likely to rate themselves lower on the work ability index, including reporting more missed days of work.

What is menopause?

This isn't a news flash, but understanding the challenges of

Is your iPad a pain in the neck?By Deborah Wilburn

You love your iPad, don't you? With a screen larger than a smartphone yet smaller than a laptop, it's the perfect companion for relaxing on the couch watching movies and reading or dropping into Starbucks while checking email and updating your Facebook status.

But the convenience of iPads and other tablet computers may come at a cost: Researchers at Harvard's School for Public Health have found that these go-anywhere digital gadgets may also contribute to neck and shoulder pain.

Take this assessment to find out what's causing your pain.

The problem comes when you position the tablet flat on a table or on your lap so it forces your head and neck to be "flexed at various low angles for long periods of time," reports a recent study in Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation.

"Compared to typical desktop computing scenarios … there may be more of a concern of neck and shoulder discomfort," says lead investigator Jack

Whole wheat helps you melt body fat.By Deborah Wilburn

If you could make a simple change in your diet to drop more pounds and body fat, would you? A new study finds switching from refined-wheat foods (like white bread or pasta) to whole-grain versions can boost your weight loss by 35% and help you melt nearly 50% more body fat.

Follow the new rules of weight loss.

In a recent study reported in the Journal of Nutrition, 79 overweight or obese postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to eat a diet containing refined or whole-grain wheat products. After 12 weeks, both groups lost weight -- 7.9 pounds for the whole wheat group vs.5.9 for the refined. The whole-wheat group also shed 3% body fat compared with 2.1% for the refined-wheat eaters.

But there was an even more dramatic result for heart health: The refined wheat eaters saw a whopping 5% increase in their total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, while no changes were found in the whole-grain group.

Healthy eating: Everything you wanted to