News and Features Related to Health & Balance

Dark Chocolate Takes Bite Out of Stress

Nov. 13, 2009 -- Those stress-induced chocolate cravings may be justified after all. A new study shows that eating dark chocolate may lower levels of stress hormones in people feeling stressed out. Researchers found that eating the equivalent of one average-sized dark chocolate candy bar (1.4 ounces
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Diet Moodiness: Low-Fat vs. Low-Carb

Nov. 9, 2009 -- If you're looking to lose extra pounds and weighing the options of a low-fat diet vs. a low-carbohydrate diet, you might want to consider the moody findings of a new diet study. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows a short-term improvement in the moods of
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First Impressions Surprisingly Accurate

Nov. 6, 2009 -- How many times did your mother tell you: Don’t judge a book by its cover? All our lives, we’ve been admonished not to jump to conclusions when we meet people. However, a new study shows that those early conclusions are surprisingly accurate. More than 100 undergraduate students at th
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Why We Cry: The Truth About Tearing Up

It starts with a quivering lip. Or maybe blinking faster and faster to keep the wetness from escaping. Before you know it, you're getting teary -- again. You may be one of those people who cry at the drop of a hat -- not to mention weddings, birthday parties, your kids' school plays, and the humane
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Happiness: 6 Myths and Truths

If you'd like to be happier -- who wouldn't? -- the first step may be to challenge your own views about happiness. Maybe you think that to be happier, you need more than you have now -- more freedom, more money, more love ... fill in the blank. Or maybe you've convinced yourself that this is as good
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Believe It or Not -- Computer Games Can Be Healthy

Cynthia Whitehead is a word person. A lawyer who drafts environmental and development legislation, the 60-year-old from Oakland, Calif. regularly taxes her left hemisphere -- the side of the brain responsible in most people for language and analysis. So when her stress level goes up, she turns to Be
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Physical Health: Fun Ways to Get Fit and Trim

No time to work out? No time to plan healthy meals? Lack of time isn't the only excuse offered by sedentary people who need to lose weight. Close on its heels is another complaint: Working out just isn't fun, and neither is shopping and cooking "healthy." Exercise and weight loss experts say they h
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Mixed Signals

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Workplace Bullying Linked to Sleep Problems

Sept. 1, 2009 -- Being bullied at work may make you toss and turn all night. Researchers have found that people who are intimidated, insulted, or otherwise harassed on the job are more likely to have sleep disturbances than are other workers. Their findings appear in the Sept.1 issue of the journal
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Won't Take That Lying Down? Here's Why

Aug. 26, 2009 -- A person's body position may affect how the brain responds to insults, a study shows. Texas A&M University researchers studied the brain activity of 23 male and 23 female university students. They wired them with a stretch cap full of electronic sensors and then subjected them to cr
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