SATURDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- Your diet isn't all that healthy, and you haven't been to the gym since who knows when. You can't shed those pesky 20 extra pounds, but what's the use, you may ask -- after all, you're well into middle age.

To all that whining, Dr. Dana King would say: "It's not too late. If you make [healthy] changes now, it has a tremendous impact." Particularly on your heart. Even in middle age.

THURSDAY, July 3 (HealthDay News) -- A key compound in red wine known as resveratrol appears to protect against many of the health ravages associated with growing old, new animal research reveals.

"It's very hard to extrapolate from this finding to comment on the benefits of red wine directly, because red wine has many other compounds besides resveratrol, including ethanol, which have very active biological effects," noted study author Rafael de Cabo, unit chief of the laboratory of experimental gerontology at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore.

For the past few mornings, I've been working in a 45-minute walk before I head into work. I've dubbed this time "Big Dog Hour" because all my neighbors with dogs 100 pounds or more seem to be out and about.

You’ve had a killer workout and a hot shower, right on the heels of a good night’s sleep.

You want to take on the day, but you can’t; your breakfast is bringing you down.

It’s the same old thing, day after day. Your breakfast is utilitarian and functional.

It’s like putting on white cotton underpants; it does the job, but it’s just not a lot fun.

So, we've all heard of the superfoods -- foods packed with so much nutrition, you'd be foolish to reach past them and grab a handful of Doritos. And while most of us seem to have incorporated some element of the superfoods into our diet, now comes the best foods that we should be eating but aren't.

And I'm on board with cinnamon, pomegranate, plums, pumpkin seeds, turmeric, blueberries and pumpkin, but the rest of these foods are what my turtle eats, cabbage, Swiss chard, what on earth?

Here's the list -- in order ....
1. Beets
2. Cabbage
3. Swiss chard
4. Cinnamon

MONDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- A punishing run in the summer sun deserves an ice cold beer, right?

And the just reward for a strenuous afternoon whipping your garden into postcard perfection -- how about a slightly chilled chardonnay?

Well, before you pop that top or twist off that cork you might want to consult a new report, called Alcohol Facts, that has the lowdown on the amount of calories and carbohydrates -- and alcohol -- in America's top-selling brands.

Well we are into week 2 on this Wednesday of the challenge. The day of registration we had 17 sign up with 12 who entered the challenge. The 2nd week we had 3 new who enter the challenge, so everyone here in Alaska Rocks at the Challenge!

How exciting the first day was. Everyone was so shy at first but they came out and great questions were asked.

Week 1 was on Protein, and great recipes. This week it's on water the importance of.

Please everyone, Thank you for making this the best turn out we have had. Keep the questions coming in. Deb

In a perfect world, we'd all eat fresh fruit and veggies, low fat, high protein foods and fast foods would be non-existent.

But since we all live in the real world, fast food is a reality for nearly all of us.
Simply stated - Americans love fast food.

To answer the question of how much is too much, many nutritionists would say any amount is too much. Fast food is an overly processed collection of salty, saturated fats that offer little in terms of nutrition. And for the most part, the nutritionists are right.

MONDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Are 3 or 4 grams of trans fats in a serving of baked or fried food bad for you, or can you stop worrying?

Answer: It's always unhealthy, since no amount of the artery-clogging artificial fat is good for you.

However, a new study suggests that the Nutrition Facts panel found on the side of grocery store products does a poor job of getting that message across to consumers.

"It's very misleading to just throw a number out there," contends study author Elizabeth Howlett, a professor of marketing at the University of Arkansas, in Little Rock.

We all know walking is great exercise. It helps the heart and lungs, it builds strong muscle and it's good for our bones!

It's also a good social activity. We can walk with friends, catch up with our lives and if you are like me, walking can lead in just the opposite direction. It can be a time to be alone, with no-one talking, no little fingers tugging at me and no-one asking me what's for dinner! I can smell the air, listen to the geese and feel the breeze. Just me and me.

I can also feel my waist line getter smaller and my legs becoming leaner. And who doesn't want that benefit?