As much as I like the beginning of a new year, its arrival brings with it the notion of weight loss and taxes. If you are like me, you dread the thought of both. While losing some extra width around the waist is an appropriate idea, losing some width of the wallet is not. I spent two glorious weeks over the holidays in Florida where food is plentiful and state tax is non-existent. The result is evident as I sport more than a Christmas tan. Of course, I have returned to Quebec just in time to be hit with the need to trim the fat in a number of areas. In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush offers incentive for its residents. I suspect that tax incentives for physical-activity programs for an obese society are not included yet. Here at home, however, our government is at the very least putting its (your) money where its mouth is so to speak with a new effort to curb exploding obesity in the population.

A fun lesson in healthy living

ANDOVER - Local families learned about nutrition, exercise and other health issues at West Elementary School's recent Wellness Night.

More than 120 students and parents attended the event, which featured yoga and cooking classes, a runners' clinic and sessions on stress reduction and self-esteem. Participants also got to learn about local hiking trails, Pilates and ways to make healthier food choices.Read this article in full with a
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New Potential Health Benefit Of Olive Oil For Peptic Ulcer Disease

Science Daily — Already fabled for an array of health benefits, extra virgin olive oil — a centerpiece of the Mediterranean Diet — may have a new role in helping to prevent and treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections, which cause millions of cases of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease each year, researchers in Spain report.

Prescription diet drug now more accessible

The US government on Wednesday approved over-the-counter sales of the fat-blocking diet pill orlistat, allowing direct sales for the first time of a version of a diet drug that had been available only by prescription. Currently available as Xenical, the capsules will be sold in a lower, nonprescription dose under the name "alli." The drug is intended for people 18 and older to use along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise. When taken with meals, orlistat blocks the absorption of about one-quarter of any fat consumed. That fat - about 150 to 200 calories worth -is passed out of the body in stools, which can be loose as a result. About half of patients in trials experienced gastrointestinal side effects. The new drug would contain half the dose of Xenical prescription capsules and would cost consumers $12 (about R86) to $25 a week, GlaxoSmithKline has said.

January health news: Carb control gains support

Fans of the Atkins weight-loss regimen can breathe a little easier -- contrary to what some believed, a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet does not increase the risk of heart disease, a recent study suggests.

In 1973, a year after the book Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution was published, the American Medical Association called the diet's emphasis on meat, eggs and cheese "potentially dangerous" and many in the medical community agreed.

The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard University's Schools of Medicine and Public Health and published in the November 9, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, claims otherwise. It found that low-carb, high-protein and high-fat diets do not increase the risk of heart disease in women and that when such diets primarily include vegetable sources of protein and fat, the risk of heart disease decreases by 30 per cent.