Binge drinking is a growing concern pervading all sectors of society, from stressed out, high income earners to the unemployed. And hardly a day goes by without newspaper reports detailing the alcohol-fueled antics of drunken teenagers, rampaging through city centers. But what sort of toll is binge drinking taking on their health?

It's not the best news for soda drinkers. But results from research carried out by the University of Miami, appear to suggest that drinking soda could put people at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as a heart attack or stroke.

Although diet sodas may help preserve the waistline, those drinking them were no less likely to succumb to vascular conditions.

Coffee, consumed daily by millions worldwide, often carries worrying health warnings. It’s well known that coffee contains caffeine and that drinking too much can make us jittery, anxious and less likely to sleep. At the same time, withdrawing from it altogether can leave us suffering from headaches.

However, drinking coffee in moderation can offer protection against a whole host of diseases. And with so much of what we enjoy eating or drinking being deemed bad for us, it makes a welcome change to learn that a beverage as popular as coffee, can actually do us some good.

It's not always easy reducing the fat in the diet, but learning how to cook the low fat way is a good place to start. Many people cook using methods they were taught when growing up, which for some, could mean deep frying everything in unhealthy oil.

However, by making a few changes to the cooking methods used, it's possible to considerably reduce fat levels while making a far healthier and tasty meal.

Grains are enjoyed in many forms and are eaten as the staple part of the diet around the world. However, people eating a diet high in refined grains such as white rice or white bread, tend to have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes than those eating plenty of whole grains.

Since whole grains are an important source of dietary fiber and carbohydrates, they should form the foundation of a healthy, well-balanced diet. But which grains are the healthiest and what are their benefits?

Ground beef is the most widely eaten type of meat in the United States. It's easy to see why as ground beef forms the basis of many popular dishes, most notably hamburgers, meatloaf and chili. As well as its versatility, it's an inexpensive and convenient form of meat to buy. Unfortunately, the majority of red meat is high in fat when compared to poultry, for instance. And high consumption of ground beef is responsible for much of the fat content found in the American diet.

Men regularly ignore the signs their body gives, warning them that something is wrong. But putting off visiting the doctor is never a good idea particularly because an early diagnosis of many illnesses gives them a much better chance of recovery. This article discusses the top 10 health threats for men, some of which may be surprising. Read more >>

Baby rice, the perfect weaning food

Starting a baby on solid foods is one of the most important milestones in your baby’s life.

After months of having all their nutritional needs met by their milk, now it’s time for them to explore some of the exciting tastes and textures to be found in real food. But since their digestive systems are still immature, introducing solid foods needs to be done as a gradual process.

Numerous health benefits have been attributed to omega 3. Several studies indicate it can help boost heart, brain, eye and joint health as well as preventing certain cancers. And more recently it has been suggested it could protect the body against premature aging.

If you’re trying to include more omega 3 in your diet, eating fish is a great place to start. Apart from the benefits of omega 3, fish is an excellent source of protein and it contains essential vitamins and minerals.

However, not all fish contains high levels of omega 3 and if you’re looking towards fish as your main source of omega 3 fatty acids, it’s important you choose the right type of fish.

After weeks of dieting, many people reach the dreaded weight loss plateau, where the scales refuse to budge. There are several possibilities for this but one common reason is eating too many calories.Once you start losing weight you need to periodically readjust your calorie intake, usually downwards unless you've taken up a highly energetic sport!

Finding out how many calories you need to lose weight is quite straightforward. First, you figure out how many calories you use up in a day, then subtract the amount of calories you want to lose. Don't worry, it's not difficult but it will provide a helpful guide for shifting those stubborn pounds.

It’s no secret that cleaning our teeth is one of the most important factors for preventing tooth decay and gum disease.  And since it’s generally recommended that this task should be undertaken at least twice a day, it’s essential your toothbrush is both functional and comfortable to use. However, with the plethora of electric and battery operated toothbrushes available it can be difficult knowing which to choose for the best results.

If you’ve spent months dieting to achieve a slim silhouette for your wedding day, it seems you’re unlikely to stay that way after you’ve tied the knot. Several studies are citing the same common reasons for weight gain after marriage. Whether it’s down to marital bliss, changes in lifestyle habits or simply not caring how you look, being married means you’re more than twice as likely to be overweight, especially around your belly.

Wondering whether your shampoo has gone bad probably doesn’t feature high on your list of health concerns. As shampoo is frequently used on a daily basis, a bottle isn’t usually left open or unused long enough for this to be of any concern. But what if you find an old bottle of shampoo buried away in an old suitcase for instance? Will it still be safe to use? For this reason shampoo does have a shelf life, albeit a long one and some shampoos also have an expiry date.

Ask any women which part of their body they most dislike, and you can almost guarantee their thighs will be listed in the top three. Thunder thighs, saddlebags and other derogatory terms are often used to describe them, but unfortunately women are often stuck with flabby thighs simply because that's the way nature designed them. Women are genetically predisposed to gaining fat on their hip and thigh area, which is most noticeable on those who are classically pear shaped. All is not lost though. If you're not prepared to put up with flabby thighs any longer, there are effective hip and outer thigh exercises you can do to greatly improve their tone and shape.

Braces

Dental problems in children can begin as soon as their first baby tooth emerges. Some problems such as tooth decay are preventable while others are unavoidable and only become apparent as they grow older.

Fortunately, with modern dental care, the majority of common dental problems found in children can be successfully treated either by their dentist or an orthodontist.

Choosing the right footwear for your feet is crucial for avoiding foot problems in the future. Our feet can spend twelve hours or more each day squashed into ill-fitting shoes, so it's no surprise many of us end up with blisters, corns and bunions. Feet tend to be one of the most neglected areas of the body with priority given to style or price rather than comfort or fit when buying shoes. However, choosing the right footwear doesn't have to mean sacrificing your sense of fashion if you want to look after your feet. This article helps explain how to choose footwear that won't hurt your feet.

While the human shape ranges from short to tall, thin to fat and anything in between, all of us belong to one of just three types of physique: the endomorph, the ectomorph and the mesomorph. Those people who are at the extreme end of these body types can be quite clearly defined simply by the way they look. However most of us fall somewhere in between any of these types. The physical characteristics of the mesomorph are often the most sought after and may be considered to have greater health benefits. However, this doesn't mean that those with the mesomorph type body aren't without any health concerns.

Cute Puppy, by epSos.de, Flickr.com

The nutritional requirements of a puppy are greater than almost any other time in their life. And in around 12-24 months your small puppy will become fully grown. To help make sure they get the best start in life, puppies need the right nutrition to meet their physical needs and help them grow into a healthy and happy dog.

Anyone who has suffered the pain of passing a kidney stone will want to do all they can to ensure new stones don’t form. Kidney stones are extremely common, with some 500,000 people requiring emergency treatment each year. Though the actual cause of kidney stones is unknown, there are certain diet-related risk factors that might make someone more likely to suffer from them. By reducing some of these foods from the diet it may be able to reduce or prevent the chances of new stones from forming.