Think Thin, Eat When You're Sick, And Skip The Splenda

Feeling fat? It could be as bad for you as actually being overweight. Researchers from Columbia University found that stressing about your size may increase levels of brain chemicals linked to diabetes and high blood pressure--the same conditions obese people are more likely to face. Conclusion: Instead of obsessing about weight loss, try eating right instead. Too sick to eat? You may not feel like eating when you're ill, but your body needs food to get well. Research from the University of South Florida found that cutting food intake by 30 percent made the immune systems of mice less effective at battling germs. Conclusion: Eat a hearty soup if nothing else sounds good. Indulge a little! A study in the journal Neuron reveals that foods with fake sugar don't quell craving the way those with real sugar do. When mice that couldn't taste sweetness drank water with sugar, brain levels of the pleasure chemical dopamine rose. Those that drank artificially sweetened water had no spike. Conclusion: You're only fooling yourself. A tiny bite of an indulgent treat will satisfy unlike the artificial where you'll just keep coming back for more! Source: Self, September 2008