Health Tips Line

Want a fast fact to bust out at your next party? Forty percent of women will get a urinary tract infection (UTI) at some point in their lives. Fun , right? OK, nothing involving urine and tracts will ever be a particularly fun point of conversation, but it’s worth knowing the ins and outs of this incredibly common ailment. Especially since 20 percent of women who get a UTI will get another one. Most of the time, UTIs require a treatment of antibiotics to get the bugs out of your system. This is a perfectly effective treatment, and it usually takes care of the infection in a few days. But, if you’d rather not use antibiotics, since there’s some concern about creating antibiotic-resistant strains of the infection, what options do you have? I spoke to some experts to find out if there are any natural cures for a UTI and if all that talk about cranberry juice really lives up to the hype. What exactly is a UTI? Unsurprisingly, a UTI is an infection of the urinary tract. Bacteria ha...

Before changing the way you eat and altering your diet in any significant way, please speak with a health professional to make sure it's the best decision for you. Although intermittent fasting (IF) has its benefits, going without food or drink for hours on end is serious business. It’s natural for anyone in the middle of a fast to wonder if coffee is “allowed” or if it will undo all their hard work. What about green tea or just a tiny snack? Here’s the truth about what will and won’t break the fast. Is it OK to drink coffee while fasting? Short answer: Yes! Good news, right? But it gets a little more complicated. First, let’s define coffee. It’s not a double mocha cappuccino with whipped cream and sprinkles. It’s not even a latte with eight ounces of milk. While fasting, coffee is coffee with nothing in it. So, yes, drinking black coffee during most types of intermittent fasting is totally OK. The popular 16/8 Leangains protocol (fasting 16 hours and eating during the eigh...

Working out can be pretty disgusting—stashing a drenched top in your work bag, wrangling stringy, sweaty hair into some kind of updo, freakin' butt acne … the list goes on. But what's even more alarming than the less than glamorous side of your workouts? The cesspool of potential infections lurking at your gym. At the risk of sounding alarmist, from the lockers and pool deck to benches and treadmills, going to the studio could expose you to all sorts of germs, fungi, icky bacteria, and viruses that are unpleasant at best. In one study , researchers found 25 different types of bacteria in fitness centers on everything from toilet handles to leg press machines to ellipticals. Gross. But besides whipping out the hazmat suit, what can you do to stay clean? We asked six experts—people who have to deal with icky skin infections and issues on a daily basis—to give us the low-down on what's hanging around the gym, plus their tried-and-true methods for treating and avoiding inf...

We all know the common (delicious) culprits that stain our pearly whites. Coffee, tea, red wine: We see you. But are there any foods or drinks that can actually do the opposite? Believe it or not, the answer is yes. Not only can the right foods and drinks help scrub away stains and make your teeth look brighter, but some can also actually strengthen your chompers from the inside—and make them whiter on the outside. So if you're curious about how to whiten teeth naturally, here are eight dentist-approved picks to add to your menu. Plain Yogurt It’s a double-whammy, dental-wise. Yogurt is rich in calcium, which is essential for keeping your teeth looking healthy and bright. “Calcium-rich foods help strengthen the enamel, the outer layer of teeth that give them their whiteness,” says Timothy Chase, DMD, a cosmetic dentist at SmilesNY in Manhattan. It’s also a good source of phosphorus, a mineral that works like a wingman to make calcium’s effects more potent. “While phosphorus...