Not everyone can or wants to go 100 percent vegetarian.  But giving up meat for one or more days a week is an easy way to reduce the saturated fat in your diet.  In fact, reducing your meat consumption one day a week can reduce saturated fat intake by 15 percent, and it might lead you to make even more meals meat-free.

Not only is being a part-time vegetarian good for your body, it also promotes a healthier environment.  According to the Environmental Defense Fund:

If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains, for example, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. And speaking of cars, it takes fuel to transport food, so buying from local farmers and ranchers cuts emissions even if you don’t cut out any meat.

Going veg isn’t hard, but if you’re used to eating a meat and potatoes kind of meal, visit Meatless Mondays for tips and recipes.

It’s called the Army of Women, an enormous database of women — both with and without breast cancer — that researchers can turn to when they need volunteers for research studies about breast cancer and about breast cancer prevention. On the Army of Women website, Dr. Susan Love is quoted as saying:

“Over and over I’ve heard scientists lament how difficult it is for them to find the volunteers they need for research studies. I’ve long believed that helping scientists overcome this obstacle would accelerate our understanding of what causes breast cancer and how to end it. By responding to this need, the Army of Women will change the face of breast cancer research.”

Joining the Army of Women is simple.  Once you register — and anyone can register — you’ll be given a link to current research studies that are looking for volunteers.  If you find that you match the criteria for one, you can request more information.  Some studies require commitment, while others involve simply filling out an online survey.

I signed up, will you?

When most people think of whole grains, they think of things like whole wheat or oatmeal.  But there are a lot of delicious and less common grains out there out there to add to your favorite recipes.  Bulger is one of them.

What’s so great about bulger?  Here’s a few facts from Well blog:

Bulgur, which is made from precooked wheat berries, takes only about 20 minutes to reconstitute by soaking or by simmering. It’s also a great substitute for rice because it has more fiber and nutrients and is also a low glycemic index food. Low glycemic index foods are better for you because they produce only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels compared with high glycemic index foods like rice and potatoes.

Bulger is also filled with fiber, great for a healthy digestive tract and for filling you up without filling you out.  It’s precooked which means, unlike some other whole grains, it doesn’t take long to prepare.  Here’s a tasty recipe for bulgar salad with edamame and tomatoes, or check out Well blog for some other interesting recipes.

Can find bulgar at your local supermarket?  Try a local health food store.

Photo: dichohecho, Flickr

So for a short time, you really do feel better.  And then the sugar lows hit.

Scientists recently discovered what they think is a cause-and-effect relationship between a junk food diet and depression.  People who ate a regular diet of processed foods were more likely to be depressed than those who ate whole foods.  Can you see the cycle?  You eat junk food because you’re feeling bad, and the junk food actually makes you feel worse, so you go back for more.

You can reverse the pattern, though.  Visit MSNBC for tips on how to include more whole foods in your diet and reduce your consumption of processed foods.  Just a note:  When sugar lovers give up sweets, anxious feelings and fatigue can actually get worse for a few days.  Tough it out, and you’ll be feeling great in no time!

“Collectively, when these health factors and healthy behaviors are found in aggregate in one person, the effect on markers of health and healthy outcome are remarkable,” said Dr. Clyde W. Yancy, president of the AHA told HealthDay. “Your chance for meaningful longevity with good quality of life is substantially increased.”

HealthDay reports the seven factors are:

• Never smoked or quit more than a year ago.
• Body mass index, a measure based on weight and height, less than 25.
• Physical exercise — at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity each week.
• At least four key components of a healthy diet, such as fewer calories, more fruits and vegetables, and oily fish, such as salmon, four times a week.
• Total cholesterol lower than 200.
• Blood pressure below 120/80.
• Fasting blood sugar below 100.

Even if your “numbers” such as total cholesterol and blood pressure are high, changing your lifestyle to match those at the top of the list may bring them into a healthy range on their own.  And though changing your lifestyle requires determination, dedication, and hard work, it’s pretty basic:  Eat less, eat more fruits and vegetables, and exercise daily.

For tips on getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet, visit 5aday.gov.

Haiti has never needed our help more than they do now.   Food, water, medical care, search and rescue teams — these are critical needs that the country is going to need for the foreseeable future. When disaster strikes, as it did in Haiti last week, people are often more than willing to open up their wallets and give.  In fact, Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation raised $5 million in a texting campaign, just days after the earthquake hit.

What many people forget, though, is what happens after the headlines fade.  Haiti may be lifted out of crisis in the coming weeks, but rebuilding their lives and their country will take months, if not years.  If you’ve been wondering how to help Haiti, the Washington Post has an excellent list of reputable organizations that are helping Haitians.  And if you’ve already given, consider giving again — now, or in the weeks and months ahead.

Experts have long said that kids need a full hour of moderate physical activity a day.  While toddling may count as moderate physical activity for a one-year-old, older kids really need to get out and move to get their heart rate up.  Unfortunately, a lot of our kids just aren’t getting that much movement every day.

A study out of Britain measured the daily activity of 1,892 schoolchildren and found that up to 39 percent of girls and 18 percent of boys aren’t getting a full hour of exercise every day.  Interestingly, however, 80 percent of parents reported that their kids were plenty active.

While you can count physical education as exercise, you can’t depend on those 30 minutes (often just once a week) to keep your kids fit.  Recess counts, too, as long as kids are outside playing.  But most children are going to need active play after school to reach that one hour mark.  Here are some ideas:

Get outside:  Kids spend long days inside studying.  Let them take advantage of that natural outdoor light, soak up a little vitamin D, and get some necessary exercise by scheduling a regular outdoor playtime after school every day.   With the right gear, even kids in the most northern states will enjoy their time out in the snow.

Have a plan B:  Snow, rain, frigid temperatures — sometimes outdoor play isn’t an option.   Inside, you can get kids moving with active games like Hyperdash, indoor tag (if you’ve got the room), or, for younger kids, CDs that encourage movement.  We love Greg and Steve at our house.

Be a good role model:  Kids need time to play and explore on their own, but active family time not only gives you time to bond, it teaches kids that fitness is a life long habit.  Try family walks after dinner, bike rides on the weekends, or an afternoon spent sledding together on a Saturday.

Do you think your kids get enough exercise?  What are your tips for keeping them moving?

Now Taco Bell is following suit after hearing from a customer who lost 54 pounds after trading her regular Taco Bell meals for food from their “Fresco menu” five to eight times a week.

Christine Dougherty, 27, loves Taco Bell, but she didn’t love being overweight.  So she tweaked her fast food habit just a little bit:

“I lost about two pounds a month over a period of two years by reducing my daily calories and replacing my typical fast-food lunch or dinner with something from the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet,” Dougherty says in a commercial for Taco Bell. “I just chose smarter options.”

Taco Bell’s “Drive Thru Diet” campaign is misleading, I think.  Encouraging people to eat fast food when they’re trying to lose weight is counterproductive.  But despite the frequency of her fast food habit — five to eight times a week is pretty excessive — Dougherty had the right idea.  Replacing an old, unhealthy habit with something that’s lighter and more nutritious is a great way to get yourself on the road to weight loss.

If nothing else, it’s nice to see fast food restaurants offering healthier fare.  What do you think about Taco Bell’s new ad campaign?

The study, out of Brown University, found that darker liquors have more chemical by-products in them known as congeners.  It’s congeners that make you feel like the walking dead after a night of over-indulging.

People who drank dark-colored burboun — which has 37 times the number of congeners as vodka — reported worse hangovers than those who drank vodka.  However, though vodka drinkers may have felt better, both groups perfomed equally poorly on cognition tests the following day.

So if you’re going to drink tonight, it might do you well to choose a vodka-based drink.  But as always, keep in mind that any alcoholic beverage will affect your ability to drive.

Here’s to a safe New Year’s Eve and a healthy 2010!  Happy New Year!

But a new study suggests that weekends are also a danger zone.  In fact, participants packed on as many as 400 extra calories in a weekend.  It makes sense — I know I do it, too.  Maybe you make a big Sunday breakfast or go out to dinner Saturday night.  The rules just feel different on the weekends.

But since there are more weekends than holidays, it’s important not to just blow off those extra calories each week.  Instead, for weight loss, researcher say to monitor your calories per week, rather than per day.

That’s because most people will balance their calories in a day.  A big lunch, for instance, will make for a light dinner.  But those extra weekend calories are never really “budgeted,” and they add up over time.

If you’re trying to lose weight, one of the best things you can do for yourself right now is start a food journal — even if you don’t actually track calories.  Keeping track of meals and snack can be a real eye-opener, helping you keep track of mindless eating.