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PROBLEM: You have less energy You may need more: vitamin B12. Found only in foods that are derived from animals, this nutrient helps regulate your metabolism and energy production and is key to maintaining a healthy brain and nervous system. “Fatigue is a classic sign of B12 deficiency, which usually occurs in people who don’t eat very much animal protein,” says Danine Fruge, MD, associate medical director of the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Miami....

Ashley’s answer: Patients have asked me questions like this for years! I find that there are typically two reasons for this type of question. #1: Someone is overconsuming a certain food, knows it, and is looking for someone to validate that their behavior is “wrong” so they are forced to change it. Or #2: Someone is actually not overeating the food but regularly judges themselves based on their food choices....

If you’re putting in long hours at the office—or in the case of Leah (see below), at the office and on the farm—then juggling work issues over your phone and computer (or in the field) in the evening while you’re trying to run a household, it’s not surprising that you would look for shortcuts wherever you can. As I’ve seen time and time again, this often results in stress-filled, cluttered homes, unhealthy food choices, and scales that keep creeping up, putting your health at risk....

But wait I must. And that’s practically a lost art in a culture addicted to instant gratification. I’ve seen people nearly go ballistic when the line at my bank is longer than two people. A caricature of our culture might portray us with a Starbucks on every corner and a computer in every house that links us to instant everything—from e-mails to movie tickets. This may seem convenient and harmless, but instant gratification has a serious psychological dark side....

What should you look for? The best multivitamin for women “has about 100% of the Daily Value [DV] of most of the essential vitamins and minerals,” advises Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, professor of nutrition at Tufts University. But don’t expect it to have 100% of the DV of calcium, because that amount is too large to fit into a multi. And be sure to note the amount of vitamin A. “Taking more than 100% of the DV may cause bone fractures in postmenopausal women and is linked to birth defects,” says Helen Delichatsios, MD, instructor of nutrition at Harvard Medical School....

[sidebar] To help manage life’s minor tragedies and prevent them from wreaking havoc on your world, we asked psychology and etiquette experts to share their own stories of everyday woe—and how they recovered. You get the brush-off from a waitress Judith Orloff, MD, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA “I was at a hot new restaurant—the kind of place where all the waitresses want to be actresses—and my young and beautiful server gave me a look of pure disdain and sighed when I asked her a question about the menu....

Watch More Fitness Videos Also Read: Mistakes You’re Making on the Pilates Mat

I adore my yoga classes and go at least 3 times a week. The physical release of lying in Savasana, or Corpse Pose—the final position, meant to help you experience nothingness—is nice enough, but I can’t empty my mind as I’m supposed to. Visions of grocery lists dance in my head, or I worry about bills or car repairs or…or…whatever. I tried a class in Reiki, a system of energy healing facilitated by the laying on of hands....

The problem was that I’d started waking up at night wondering if I was on the right path. I was tired of spending my days alone with a microscope and an office full of journal articles. But it took almost two years of deliberation before I was able to take the risky plunge into a new field called behavioral medicine. As it turned out, it was a smart move. My new career satisfied my soul’s desire to be with people instead of petri dishes and was the external manifestation of my heart’s clearest vision to be a healer....

Add these five moves to your cardio and sensible eating plan 2 to 3 times a week on nonconsecutive days—aim to do each set 2 to 3 times, with 10 to 15 repetitions each—for toned thighs in no time. Standing Gate Openers Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes pointing forward, arms by your sides. Engage your abs to stabilize your spine. Shift your weight to your left leg and lift your right knee up toward your chest....

Hotel chains such as Loews, W, and Westin offer special amenities to welcome pets, while others simply offer a great room. To make the trip easier, there’s a growing number of products ranging from the practical (car restraints) to the plush (a 3-square-foot piece of sod you can unroll anywhere to replicate, well, a lawn). In fact, it’s so much fun to travel with Fido that 62% of US pet owners surveyed by the American Animal Hospital Association do so annually....

Media Platforms Design Team 1. CUT a Y shape into one end of a piece of kinesio tape ($20 for 20 strips, kttape.com) that’s roughly two-thirds the length of your thigh. Place the straight end of the tape toward the top of your thigh, holding the Y end above the knee. 2. BEND your knee to 90 degrees. Carefully wrap the two pieces of the tape’s Y end around both sides of the top of your kneecap, pressing firmly to make sure that the tape is secured to your skin....

Researchers from the University of Exeter in the UK tracked the blood pressure and health outcomes of 230 people for 10 years. A difference in systolic BP of 10mmHg between arms was shown to indicate a diminished blood flow to the legs and feet. Raise the difference to 15mmHg, and you’re looking at a sign that the blood flow to your brain may be insufficient—a condition that can cause dementia and heart problems....

To reach this conclusion, researchers at the University of Leeds analyzed eight long-term studies from the US, Japan, Europe, and Australia. Among people who don’t get enough fiber (the recommended daily amount is 25 grams for women and 38 for men), researchers concluded that eating just seven more grams of fiber a day would lower their stroke risk by almost 10%. Why? Fiber helps prevent many of the health issues that, when combined, can make stroke more likely, says Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD, author of The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear—With Fiber....

Ashley’s answer: The great thing about nutrition is that we typically know the answers to our own questions. Like yours, for example, about eating something that “freaks you out” because of how processed it looks (and tastes, I imagine.) You made my job pretty easy when you proposed to “eat full fat and eat less of it”—but there’s another answer that you may also want to consider. Skip it! If you’re concerned that adding full-fat mayo to your meals, even less of it, is just adding calories and extra fat grams, perhaps you want to choose options like mustard or lemon juice or parsley pesto instead....

The glycemic index (GI)is a measurement of the carbohydrate action of foods. Foods that have a gram-for-gram equivalent quantity of carbohydrates may impact blood glucose levels differently. Foods that have a low glycemic index (low GI foods), such as beans, raise blood glucose at a slower and steadier level than those with a high GI (such as potatoes and pasta), which can cause a dramatic spike in blood glucose levels....

Smart Dumbbells Best Balls A Newfangled Step Super Mat A Safer Surface Prescription for Power The Right Jump Rope

I was 33 years old and slim, a new mom who’d been diagnosed with gestational diabetes while pregnant. All the hard work I’d been doing for the last year to control my blood sugar levels—fitness boot camp, a diabetic diet with drastically reduced carb intake—wasn’t working anymore, so I’d booked an appointment with Jessica Castle, MD, an endocrinologist at the Harold Schnitzer Diabetes Health Center of Oregon Health and Science University....