Options for Back Pain Sufferers

Our bones and joints are designed to give our bodies strength and leverage, but they're not really what holds us up. If you remove the muscle and ligaments, you just have a pile of loose bones with no chance of keeping them stacked properly. It's the marvelously intricate sets of opposing muscles throughout our bodies which keep things in line. This is particularly true of the spine. The long columns of vertebral bones balancing on the pelvic girdle and interlaid with fibrous discs, looks like a recipe for disaster, given the amount of bending, turning and twisting we do each day. Most of the mobility in our spines is in the length from our pelvis to our rib cage and this is where the maximum muscle strength and stabilization need to occur.

4 Ways To Keep Skin From Drying Out In The Winter

By the time winter rolls around, it's often a welcome relief: no more unbearable heat, finding peppermint-flavored things at every retailer and of course, the chance of snow. However, there's one thing we never look forward to, and that is the dry, cracked skin that becomes inevitable from November to February.

This year, make it your resolution to not fall victim to "Elephant Hands" (or feet, or elbows). Here are four ways you can use moisturizers as dry skin remedies for softer skin this winter.

How Do You Handle The Holidays When You're On The Medifast Diet?

I sometimes hear from people who are concerned about sticking to their diet when they have special occasions in their lives. Examples are things like weddings, vacations, and the holidays. The winter holidays (like Thanksgiving, Christmas. Hanukkah, and Kwanza) are particularly challenging because so many of the celebrations revolve around rich and fattening foods. Not participating in these events can make you feel like you are bringing every one else down. But, people who have made some progress on their diet and who are enjoying their results do not want to do anything to put those same results at risk.

A List of 4 Cancer Fighting Foods

One of the best ways to prevent cancer is to control your diet and monitor the things you eat. Not many of us take the time to really look at what we consume on a daily basis. When you really take a minute to figure it out, I bet that you'd be surprised just how bad your diet is.

I sat down a few weeks ago and wrote down all of the foods I eat during the day. Surprisingly, I was a bit frightened by what I saw. I never realized how much of my diet was composed of sugary cereal and fattening snacks. On top of that, I was eating a lot of processed packaged foods.

After doing some research I found several foods that are good for general health. On top of that, they are also good for promoting cancer. It's a win-win! Below you'll find 4 popular foods that are healthy in general and that also fight cancer.

Why Did I Get Cancer, The Facts You Need to Know

One hundred years ago cancer was almost unheard of and today in undeveloped or third world countries it is still a rare diseases. If our mainstream medical system was interested in find the reasons why there is so much cancer now why don't they travel to a country where it doesn't occur and find out why it is not occurring. The simple fact is that cancer has become a profitable business for both our medical care system and pharmaceutical companies.

To overcome cancer you have to know the reason why it first appeared because before you can be free of it you must deal with the factors that first caused it. All cancers are a self-caused disease and they are caused by an immune system that's been weakened and didn't control cancer cells as they appeared within the body and that is because of the way we now live. Supermarkets and the food we are putting in our mouths are one of the main contributing factors.

Foods To Prevent Cancer

Superfoods To Help With Cancer - 3 Types You'll Love

Research has shown that over 50% of all cancers can be prevented by eating the right foods every day. These are called superfoods. For those that have been eating superfoods for quite some time, this is old news. Just the mainstream media is behind on understanding all of this. It's a matter of science catching up to natural methods and approaches. Despite the fact that people have been teaching this information, and implementing it, for decades, science still has to provide empirical data. Medical research is now believing that superfoods are a viable option in regard to cancer treatment and prevention, something that is great progress for the scientific community.

There are enough different kinds of superfoods that you don't have to worry that you'll have to eat the same foods every day. One very common vegetable that can help prevent colon and rectal cancer is cabbage.

What is 'clean eating?' Tips from expert Tosca Reno

(CNN) -- Tosca Reno is defying the odds. At 53, the author and fitness expert refuses to subscribe to the stereotypes that accompany her age.

Instead, she is changing them. And, in the process, she's encouraging others to change their lives.

Reno, the author of 13 clean eating books, says the secret to being healthy and happy is eating clean. Her popular "Eat-Clean Diet" encourages individuals to drink plenty of water and eat six small meals daily, including a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates.

Solve your sleep crisis -- tonight

(Health.com) -- Sleepless nights aren't a modern invention. But experts say modern life is making them increasingly common.

"More and more, we are seeing women who have trouble falling -- and staying -- asleep," says Rebecca Scott, a behavioral sleep medicine expert at the New York Sleep Institute.

Last year, in fact, women received 5.8 million more prescriptions for sleeping pills than they did just five years earlier.

New York health board approves ban on large sodas

New York (CNN) -- New York City's Board of Health voted Thursday to ban the sale of sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces in restaurants and other venues, in a move meant to combat obesity and encourage residents to live healthier lifestyles.

The board voted eight in favor, with one abstention.

"It's time to face the facts: obesity is one of America's most deadly problems, and sugary beverages are a leading cause of it," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement earlier this month. "As the size of sugary drinks has grown, so have our waistlines -- and so have diabetes and heart disease."

Stress, depression may affect cancer survival

(CNN) -- "A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ," John Steinbeck once wrote. Now we are closer to understanding why.

A disease like cancer can be a mortal battle, often fraught with overwhelming stress. Given that stress management can be difficult even under ordinary circumstances, elevated feelings of anxiety and depression in cancer patients are certainly understandable.

Yet, several recent studies underscore how critically important it is for those fighting illness to learn how to combat stress.

5 ways to stay healthy while traveling abroad

(CNN) -- Explorers used to plan their expeditions for years. They stockpiled supplies, mapped their routes and hired experts to ensure a safe journey.

But today, travelers often jump on a plane with barely a thought about their well-being.

"Don't assume it's going to be OK," said Dr. Deborah Mills, author of "Travelling Well" and spokeswoman for the Australian Travel Medicine Alliance. "You plan for your passport, your visas and you save your money, but health should be on your little checklist."

Triathlon isn't easy, but the work is worth it

Editor's note: Carlos Solis is one of seven CNN viewers training for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  In the week leading up to the triathlon, each of the "Lucky 7" is sharing his or her thoughts on the journey.

To be perfectly honest, when I applied to be one of the “Six Pack” last November, I wasn’t too sure what was involved in training for and completing a triathlon. What I was sure of was I desperately needed and wanted to make serious changes in managing my health or else I would be suffering permanent and painful consequences.

Bride's vows: 'In fitness and in health'

Editor's note: Adrienne LaGier is one of seven CNN viewers training for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. In the week leading up to the triathlon, each of the "Lucky 7" is sharing his or her thoughts on the journey.

In my application video, I told CNN that the biggest gift I could give to my husband Chris was to start our married life off in “fitness and in health."  My teammate, Nancy, so kindly captured those words in a handcrafted wedding gift to us that will forever serve as a symbol of this promise.

Making your health a priority, even on the road

Editor's Note: In the Human Factor, we profile survivors who have overcome the odds. Confronting a life obstacle – injury, illness or other hardship – they tapped their inner strength and found resilience they didn't know they possessed.  This week we take a closer look at Glenn Keller, who is one of seven CNN viewers selected from around the country to train for and compete alongside Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.  Here are his thoughts on this journey.