Health
Health Questions and Answers
- 1. Sure, you guzzled gallons of milk during your diaper days—you had a baby body to grow! But if you’re a teen, you only need milk . . . to maintain strong bones and healthy teeth. Think milk is just for babies? Think again! If you don’t load up on the calcium you need every day, your body will take it anyway—from your bones, leaving them vulnerable to injury.
- 2. You want to build some serious muscle before hitting the beach this summer. Those growing abs and pecs need protein, so you’ve doubled your helpings of steak and chicken. This diet choice guarantees . . . the need for additional exercise to keep all that protein from turning into fat. Extra protein does not equal extra muscle. Without a specific weight-training program, that protein will quickly turn to fat.
- 3. You’ve decided to nix meat from your daily menu. When you go vegetarian, you should be sure to . . . load up on vitamin-rich foods like broccoli, oranges, and carrots. You don’t necessarily need to eat more when your diet’s meat-free. But you should eat foods that contain the vitamins and amino acids found in animal products—or you could end up weak and susceptible to illness.
- 4. Your doc has prescribed retinoic acid (vitamin A) cream to clear up your acne. Since the cream is good on the surface, downing a few vitamin A tablets daily could . . . kill you if you take too many at once. Vitamin A cream is absorbed through your skin. Vitamin A tablets, on the other hand, have to be absorbed by your body. Absorb too much, and the overdose can be toxic or fatal.
- 5. Prom is five days away—and there’s 5 pounds more of you than will fit into your formal wear. If you swear off food and drink only water until the big night, you’ll probably . . . all of the above. Starvation is never smart. Your body will zap your fat and muscle reserves, putting a major strain on your heart—a pretty important muscle! Plus, you’re likely to gain back every pound once you start eating again.
- 6. You’ve been trying to change your high-fat eating habits. When you order at McD’s, you should ask for . . . a Grilled Chicken Deluxe—hold the mayo. Feasting on fast food? It helps to ditch the fries—or anything fried in grease, like the Filet-o-Fish or McNuggets. And the words
- 7. Your best friend was seriously overweight, but she’s been steadily losing poundage on a new, healthier diet. You’re planning her birthday bash—and you know she doesn’t want to blow her efforts. A good cake choice would be . . . angel food cake with fruit topping. Carrot cake may seem like a nutritious choice (after all, it’s got carrots in it!), but it’s still loaded with heavy ingredients like sugar and flour. Angel food cake is much lighter on calories—and served with fresh fruit, it’s heavenly.
- 8. Ahhh . . . there’s nothing like a drink of ice-cold water after a tough workout. Besides quenching your thirst, what else is that H2O doing? All of the above. Your body is more than 70 percent water—and your brain is almost 90 percent H2O! One of the best (and easiest!) things you can do to stay healthy is to drink at least six 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
- 9. Fighter pilots downed in combat can survive indefinitely on a diet of rainwater and insects until they’re rescued. Which kind of bug is the best recipe for survival? Grasshopper. Entomology experts at Iowa State University report that a grasshopper has the highest amount of protein, followed by the water beetle, the termite, and the caterpillar. Yum. . . .
- 10. Game, set, match! You walk off the tennis court after a long game. You’re starving—and your next match starts in a few minutes. The only food around is a snack machine. To give yourself the most energy, you should choose . . . cranberry juice. Since you only have a few minutes before your match, you need to go for quick carbohydrates and hydration. Juice will give you both of these. Instead of blood rushing to your gut to digest a Snickers bar, it can rush to your muscles to help you win your match.
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