1) It's Easy Being Green Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, carnivore or pescetarian, vegetables should be a central part of your diet. Often referred to as a "protective food," dark green foods provide essential vitamins and nutrients to your body that protect you from many of life's worst diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends three to five servings a day for pristine health. This is not as hard to accomplish as it sounds. Examples of one serving include: two broccoli spears, three tablespoons of green beans or three sticks of celery.

2) Get on Your Feet

If you're a biker or a swimmer, you may need to add an additional element to your workout regime. Dr. Warren Levy, Ph. D., of Unigene Laboratories reminds people that, "when it comes to the risk of thinning bones, it's the weight bearing nature of exercise that signals bones to create more mass. Without such stress, bones do not get stronger, and become more prone to injury."

There is ... Read more »

As the healthcare reform debate continues, legislators and businesspeople alike might be surprised to learn that Americans are looking not only to government but also to business to improve our nation's health, even beyond employee wellness efforts. People are more likely to purchase from, recommend, and invest in companies that act on health issues-creating a compelling case for businesses to step up their efforts.

The Edelman Health Engagement Pulse-a new survey of 1,000 American adults-reveals a stark gap between how Americans want businesses to engage in health and what they believe is actually being done. Eight in 10 respondents believe it is important for business to share knowledge and innovations that improve health, and seven in 10 believe business should invest in creating healthy communities, yet only about one in 10 say business is doing an excellent or very good job of meeting these expectations. The study also showed that seven in 10 people believe it is importan ... Read more »

Although growing numbers of people check their symptoms with "Dr. Google" or seek other medical advice online, many still lack the access and skills to take advantage of the Web's wealth of health information.

But a community-based coalition in Washington, D.C., is working to close that information gap through outreach and education programs, with some success, according to a report in the journal Health Promotion Practice.

In hands-on workshops provided by the Health Information Partners coalition, researchers measured a 26 percent improvement in the workshop participants' ability to use the Internet, evaluate the content on health Web sites, and find credible health information online.

Since slightly less than half of the 91 participants had used the Internet before the workshops, the gains were encouraging, according to Karyn Pomerantz, lead study author and instructor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and ... Read more »

After the Senate approved a House-passed spending package worth almost $450 billion on Sunday, the legislation, which "includes annual foreign aid packages," will go to President Barack Obama, Agence France-Presse reports. Obama is expected to sign the legislation.

"The measure passed 57 to 35, largely along party lines, although three Democrats - Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Russ Feingold (Wis.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) - voted with Republicans against the bill," according to Roll Call.

The Washington Post's "Capitol Briefing" blog writes: "The measure also carries thousands of earmarks and double-digit spending increases for many programs, prompting Republicans to attack Democrats' priorities. 'If you really want to reduce wasteful spending, vote against this bill,' Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said just before the vote Sunday, complaining that the package had been thrown together with precious little scrutiny or transparency. But Democrats said Republicans were largel ... Read more »

On behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, Mr. Greg Kerr, Member of Parliament for West Nova, announced today an important investment that will help Francophone students at the Université Sainte-Anne pursue opportunities in the health care field. This initiative is expected to increase the number of health care professionals who can serve French-speaking communities.

"The Université Sainte-Anne is the only French-speaking post-secondary institution in the province," said Mr. Kerr. "It also plays an important role in the socioeconomic development of the Acadian society in Nova Scotia. With this announcement of nearly $2 million in funding, the Government of Canada is demonstrating its commitment to improving access to health care for our official language minority communities."

The Université Sainte-Anne, one of the members of the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS) will work with the CNFS to recruit and tra ... Read more »