Let's Do It Healthy

December 31, 2004

How much water should we drink? The recommended water intake is eight 8-ounce glasses per day. Water is needed for almost every bodily function -- it aids digestion, absorption, circulation, distribution of nutrients and excretion. Water helps maintain our body temperature and is necessary for carrying out waste. Try including water with your meals – a great way to avoid some extra calories and hydrate your body at the same time.

You can burn a lot of calories watching sports on TV. Or a movie, or a game show or anything else -- just park a high-quality exercise bike, treadmill or stair climber in front of the tube and exercise away. You'll never even notice how hard you worked, and whatever you spend on the equipment can be more cost-effective than a gym membership you never use.

If you're taking certain medications, your doctor will want to know if you're a grapefruit juice drinker. There's a chemical in grapefruit and grapefruit juice that inhibits the enzyme needed to break down many drugs, including antihistamines, calcium-channel blockers (used to treat high blood pressure), immunosuppressants (taken by organ-transplant patients), sedatives and protease inhibitors (treatment for AIDS). As a result, blood levels of these drugs may stay high, with serious side effects.

It's not sneezing or breathing that transmits most cold germs -- it's hand-to-hand or hand-to-face contact. Washing your hands regularly sends cells that may have been in contact with germs down the drain. Soap also ruins the cell walls of remaining bacteria so they can't multiply. Lathering up, using warm to hot water, and being vigilant about your fingernails is key. Be sure to completely dry your hands.