Blog Posts by Tips on Healthy Living

Here's why you should think twice before changing your polish several times a week. From Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., authors of YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens: A Guide to a Healthy Body and Happy Life.

Nail polish is likely the most toxic cosmetic there is. Polish includes poisonous substances such as formaldehyde, phthalates, acetone, toluene, and benzophenones. Phthalates, solvents for colors, are toxic to the nervous system; acetone and toluene, which keep the color in liquid form, evaporate quickly and fill the air with noxious fumes, putting your respiratory system at risk. The other substance we fingered, benzophenones, may cause cancer.

If you apply polish in adequately ventilated rooms, it's probably okay, but surely you shouldn't be changing your polish several times a week, as some teens are known to do.

Also, don't use nail polish remover more than twice a month. Instead touch up the polish. When you do need a remover, avoid those containing

More and more families are choosing to become vegetarian, and a balanced, meat-free diet can be very healthy. However, it is important to replace the nutrients meat provides - particularly protein, iron, zinc, and possibly some B vitamins, says Annabel Karmel, author of SuperFoods for Babies and Children.

Adults' and children's diets do not always follow the same guidelines and whereas a fairly bulky high-fiber vegetarian diet might suit adults, it is not suitable for young children who are growing, as it can replace more energy-dense foods such as fats and carbohydrates. Also a lot of fiber in the diet can inhibit the absorption of minerals such as zinc, iron, and calcium and is very bulky and filling and can even cause a toddler diarrhea.

Bringing up a baby on a vegetarian diet with a good volume of either breast milk or infant formula can provide all the nutrients she needs.

The importance of protein
Protein supplies your child with amino acids, essential chemicals

By Amy Hatvany
Author of Best Kept Secret

I didn't exactly set out to become an alcoholic. I was never a party girl, nor a person who hung out in bars. I was, in fact, a relatively normal, educated woman who, after a painful divorce, became a single mother to two toddlers and developed a pretty serious case of insomnia.

One night after the kids had gone to bed, I was so desperate for rest that I picked up a glass of wine, thinking it just might help me relax enough to fall asleep. It did the trick, and over the course of a year, one glass slowly and insidiously morphed in to a bottle a night - sometimes two. I didn't understand how easily I'd build up a physical tolerance to alcohol, or how quickly I'd become mentally dependent on the ritual of drinking. I hid behind the cultural acceptance of alcohol, joking with my girlfriends about "Mommy's Little Helper" and the "Wine with Dinner Hour" with the kids.

Eventually, drinking caused enough wreckage in my life that I sought

It seems like teens these days have more pressures than ever: Studying harder to get into the school of their dreams, sweating more to make it on the high school team, texting incessantly to keep up with the lives of their friends. Some of these kids do a marvelous job handling it all, some of them hit some roadblocks, and still others aren't quite sure how to best cope with everything going on in their lives.

According to Drs. Mehmet Oz, Michael F. Roizen, and Ellen Rome, authors of YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens: A Guide to a Healthy Body and Happy Life, one of the ways that some teens try to cope with not only these pressures but also the pressures they may feel to have the perfect body is through how they treat their bodies-namely in the form of eating disorders, the point when a major part of their lives is being controlled by thoughts and actions involving food, weight, and/or body.

There are many ways you can tell if the teen in your life is showing signs of an

Getting rid of a tattoo is a lot harder than getting one in the first place, while piercings can leave scars, so think carefully about who you want to see that fang-bearing dragon or ear gauge, and when. (Can you hide tell-tale signs for that job interview?) From YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens: A Guide to a Healthy Body and Happy Life, by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.

Tattoos can have great stories behind them, for sure, but singer Jimmy Buffett perhaps described tattoos most accurately: "a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling."

If you're going to get one, you need to think carefully about where you have it put, and who you want to see it at what ages and stages in life. Remember, you may have bare arms, thighs, back, shoulders, whatever, at some time. Ideal sites for tattoos to be shared with only a privileged few include around your waist, hips, or upper cheeks - those on your backside, not on your face. That means you can hide them for that college

According to celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman, the perfect pizza is simpler than you think. From Italian, My Way: More Than 150 Simple and Inspired Recipes That Breathe New Life Into Italian Classics.

San Francisco had some damn good pizza when I was growing up. I played in a lot of pizza joints as a trombone-playing rock 'n' roller, and Tommaso's in North Beach was way ahead of the curve. The restaurant has been offering wood-oven pizza since 1935, and hungry customers still line up around the clock to eat at this landmark.

I've eaten pizzas all over Italy, and one standout was in the old Milano train station many years ago. I noticed three things: a roaring wood fire, a reluctance to hurry the pie, and dough that was both tender and sticky. The image of that perfect pie has stayed with me, and over the years I have worked hard to replicate the dough. Flour is critical. I've tried bread flour, organic pizza flour and Italian hard wheat flour, and I have settled on one that is

By Amy E. Goodman
Author of Wear This, Toss That!

This time of year, nothing feels better than a pair of flip-flops. But unless you're a lifeguard, rarely do these summer staples translate to the work place. Here's a list of my go-to casual alternatives, from cute flats to trendy platforms.

Wedges: If there's a celebratory shoe this season, the wedge is it. Designers have embraced a medium to low heel, refreshing news for those of us who teeter on stilettos, as platforms offer greater stability plus height.
-Look for streamlined classic styles in neutral hues like Seychelles' Eye to Eye ($110, www.piperlime.com).
-Messeca, Cecilia ($119, www.piperlime.com)
-If your workplace is more creative and has a dress code to match, it's impossible to resist the grommets, buckle and delicious caramel hue of the Ash wedge, Lucy ($200, www.piperlime.com).

Thongs: Can you wear thong sandals to work? This shoe parallels the flip-flop with its breezy, barely-there look, but can

Learn how to protect your teens from an accidental pregnancy with straight talk from YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens: A Guide to a Healthy Body and Happy Life, by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.

Some sperm just outside the vagina may still swim their way to an egg. Better to aim away when it's time to shoot.

And what about withdrawal? That is when you pull out before ejaculation. The problem with this method is that some of the ejaculate can sneak out, carrying sperm, before ejaculation has occurred. And those swimmers have as good a chance as any to find that egg.

Ideally, condoms should always be used for vaginal, oral, and, of course, anal sex.

Did you know you could get pregnant without having sex?

Related Links:

• Buy the book YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens
• Find the right form of contraception for your body