Couch potatoes beware: Watching the tube for two to three hours a day or more is linked to higher risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and higher rates of early death from all causes, according to new research published today in theJournal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The culprit is the couch potato lifestyle that frequently accompanies excessive viewing, the researchers report. With the average American logging five hours a day in front of the tube, sitting is replacing exercise.

TV viewing is associated with unhealthy eating, setting the stage for weight gain, the study indicates. Packing on pounds, in turn, boosts risk for diabetes, heart attacks, and a shorter life. Studies also link excessive tube time to sleep deprivation (another heart health hazard) and even nearsightedness in kids. Don’t blame the TV - it can’t shove you onto the couch or serve up a fast food meal. If your main form of physical activity is pushing buttons on the remote, take a look at how these habits can impact your health:

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1. Type 2 Diabetes. About 26 million Americans have diabetes, which quadruples risk for heart attack and stroke. The main risk factors for type 2 diabetes include being overweight, a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet (too many fried foods, too much processed meat and sugar-laden beverages), and family history. The JAMA study, which pooled results from earlier studies of 175,938 people, found that two hours of TV viewing daily ups risk by 20 percent.

Best prevention strategies: If you’re heavy, dropping even a few pounds can make a dramatic difference. In a study of people who already had pre-diabetes, those who shed 5 to 7 percent of their body weight (10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person) and exercised 150 minutes per week trimmed risk of progressing to full-blown diabetes by 58 percent. Exercise and weight loss also improve insulin resistance, the problem that leads to diabetes.  

2. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). This includes heart attacks, high blood pressure, angina (chest pain due to reduced blood supply to the heart), stroke and heart failure. The JAMA study found a 15 percent increased risk for fatal or nonfatal CVD among those who watched TV two hours a day. A recent Australian study found that the more screen exposure kids get, the higher the risk that arteries in their eyes will narrow, which could mean CVD later in life.

Best prevention strategies: Avoid smoking, exercise at least 30 minutes for five or more days a week, have your cholesterol and blood pressure checked, and if they’re high, get them under control via diet, exercise and, if necessary, medication. Maintain a healthy weight and reduce stress (exercise helps with both).

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3. All-Cause Mortality. The JAMA study found that watching two hours of TV daily boosted risk of death from all causes during the study period by 13 percent. Worse: the risks appeared to rise with TV viewing of more than three hours daily, due to the couch potato lifestyle linked to excessive screen time.

Best prevention strategies: The same healthy habits listed for fighting diabetes and CVD. 

4. Sleep Deprivation. We need between seven and eight hours of sleep daily but most adults don’t get that much. According to a National Sleep Foundation study watching the tube in bed or near bedtime is partly to blame. Skimping on slumber lifts risk for obesity, heart attacks, and car accidents. Multiple studies show that light at night, including light from the TV, boosts women’s risk of breast cancer.

Best prevention strategies: Turn off the TV at least one hour before bedtime, since the bright light from the screen stimulates the brain, making it harder to doze off. Develop good sleep hygiene. 

5. Nearsightedness in Kids. Myopia (nearsightedness) affects 1.6 billion people globally. By 2020, the number is expected to hit 2.5 billion. Rates are highest in countries where kids watch the most TV and play computer games instead of playing outdoors. In Tokyo and Hong Kong, 30 to 50 percent of kids are myopic, versus 20 percent in the US. Myopic kids spend an average of 4.3 fewer hours per week outside than kids with normal vision and logged about four more hours of TV time weekly, a 2009 study found.

Best prevention strategies: Spending two hours a day outdoors reduces kids’ risk of nearsightedness by encouraging them to focus on objects in the distance, which helps strengthen their eyesight. Outdoor play also helps kids maintain a healthy weight.

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By Nancy Kalish, 

Kicking nicotine and avoiding excessive sunlight will help, but the secret to healthy-looking skin is the food you eat. "The wrong choices cause inflammation down to the cellular level," says dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, the author of Forever Young, a book about how eating right can keep you looking younger than your years. "And while you can't see it, that inflammation leads directly to wrinkling, sagging, and premature aging." Here is what to eat to prevent that from happening.

1. Wild Salmon

The fruit's red pigment, lycopene, is a potent antioxidant that shields skin from sun damage—like sunscreen, but from the inside out. To best absorb lycopene, eat tomatoes with olive oil.

7. Why Food Is Always Better Than a Pill

"There are so many factors in food that haven't been studied. It's very likely that these unknowns work synergistically for a bigger benefit than what you can find in a supplement." —Nicholas Perricone, dermatologist.

8. Red Wine and Beer

According to dermatologist Leslie Baumann, red wine contains skin-friendly grape-seed extract and resveratrol, two powerful antioxidants. Hops in beer, it turns out, may also offer antioxidant benefits.

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When talking about natural allergy relief, sometimes you hear more about the foods to avoid than about the ones you should be eating. For instance, about a third of people allergic to pollen deal with an added annoyance called oral allergy syndrome, meaning they experience generally mild symptoms of an itchy, tingly mouth, throat, or lips when they eat certain tree fruits or plants. Someone allergic to tree pollen may experience agitation from oral allergy syndrome when eating apples, cherries, plums, almonds, or walnuts. If ragweed causes you grief each hay fever season, you could also experience sensitivity to melons, bananas, chamomile tea, or echinacea in any form. And you may have heard the suggestion to give up milk and meat during hay fever season because the grass cows eat could stir up your allergies. The good news, though, is that there are lots of foods and herbs out there that can actually help bring you natural allergy relief.

Here are your secret tools for beating allergies, naturally:

1. Broccoli

This precious piece of produce serves two purposes in annihilating your allergy symptoms. It's high in allergy-relieving vitamin C and it's a member of the crucifer family, plants that have been shown to clear out blocked-up sinuses. Researchers have found about 500 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C a day can ease allergy symptoms, and just one cup of raw broccoli packs about 80 mg.

2. Citrus Fruits

To hit that 500-milligram vitamin C level from whole food sources, you can also turn to oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes. A large orange contains nearly 100 mg of C, while half of a large grapefruit contains about 60 mg.

5 Allergy fighters you might not have thought of.

3. Kale

Don't just admire kale as a garnish. Eat it! This superfood packs a one-two punch against allergies; like broccoli, it's a member of the crucifer family, but it's also rich in the carotenoid department, pigments believed to aid in fighting allergy symptoms.

4. Collard Greens

Highjacked by hay fever? Put collard greens on the menu for the same reason as kale. Their phytochemical content, mainly, carotenoids, eases allergy issues. To increase the amount of carotenoids your body absorbs, eat the veggie with some sort of fat source. One idea? Lightly cook it in olive oil.

5. Stinging Nettle

You can't discuss natural allergy remedies without hailing stinging nettle. It helps stifle inflammation that occurs when you're experiencing allergy symptoms. Stinging nettle contains histamine, the chemical your body produces during anallergic reaction, so it helps you acquire tolerance. Look for 500-mg freeze-dried nettle capsules in your natural health store, and take three times a day. That's the best form for allergy relief; it won't sting because it's freeze-dried. Long-term use of the herb is not recommended, since it can deplete your potassium stores.

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6. Butterbur

Leaves and roots of the butterbur shrub contain compounds called petasines, which can block some reactions that spark allergies. Does this plant really work? Science says yes, though its use is not generally recommended for young children, people older than 65, or those with ragweed allergies. A large British meta-analysis of six studies looking at butterbur as an allergy reliever found five studies supported the claim. The roots of the perennial shrub generally contain high levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can damage the liver, so herbalists recommend looking for butterbur products that specify no pyrroli zidines, or ones that use a CO2 extracting process, which limits the amount of pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Swiss and German researchers found that butterbur was just as effective as the prescriptionantihistamine cetirizine (Zyrtec) after two weeks of treatment. It's also been shown to relieve sneezing, itching, runny nose, stuffiness, and watery eyes in just five days.

7. Elderberries

Immune-strengthening elderberries are often hailed as a natural flu treatment, but the berries serve a purpose in natural allergy relief, too. Try elderberry wine, juice, or jam to tap the fruit's beneficial flavonoids that reduce inflammation.

8. Onions and Garlic

Quercetin is another secret weapon that helps fight allergies by acting like an antihistamine. Onions and garlic are packed with quercetin, as are apples. (If you go with eating apples, just make sure they don't stimulate oral allergy syndrome.).

9. Parsley

According to Michael Castleman, author of The New Healing Herbs (Rodale, 2009), parsley inhibits the secretion of allergy-inducing histamine. (Parsley is a diuretic, so talk to your doctor before taking supplements or eating large amounts of it.)

Fight hay fever with these foods.

10. Anti-Allergy Soup!

There's nothing like a warm bowl of soup when you're feeling sick, and while this usually pertains to chicken soup for the flu, an expert on herbs developed this soup to naturally battle allergies. In The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods: Proven Natural Remedies to Treat and Prevent More Than 80 Common Health Concerns (Rodale, 2008), herb expert James Duke, PhD, recommends this allergy-fighting soup recipe:

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Chances are that you can use a bit of a tune up when it comes to your diet and nutrition. None of us are perfect eaters 100% of the time, but it’s always a good idea to strive towards being as healthy as we can be when it comes to food.

Many of us have lost sight of the fact that food is here to be fuel for our body. It’s not a comfort device and it’s not meant to be a source of pleasure per se, such as that pleasure that we feel when we indulge in that double fudge cake or a tub of ice cream. It’s time for most of us to re-establish a healthy relationship with our food to improve our health and to help trim our tummies.

Watch what you Drink

Most of the beverages out there are absolutely unnecessary for us to consume. Apart from water and low fat milk or soy milk, we really don’t need to be drinking anything else. Alcoholic beverages are loaded with sugars, coffees and teas are loaded in caffeine, and soda has both tons of sugar and caffeine which are not good for our health.

Even fruit juices are so full of sugar that they can be more of a detriment to our health than a benefit. Drink water and drink it regularly to not only keep your body hydrated, but to also flush out the toxins that may be causing weight gain and bloating, and to keep yourself feeling full for longer so that you don’t reach for those unhealthy snack foods.

Fruits and Vegetables are Important

Most of us just aren’t eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables these days. While a daily multivitamin will help ensure that we are obtaining the correct amount of nutrients we need, nothing tops eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

If you have found yourself struggling to include these in your diet before, make a point to have 1 or 2 servings of fruits and/or vegetables with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Try to add them into a smoothie or into any pasta dishes that you may be making, and make an effort to have one snack a day have fruits or vegetables be the sole focus. The goal is to get 5 to 10 servings each and every day for optimal health. The best thing about fruits and vegetables is that they are great for weight loss. They keep us feeling full for longer, and the sugars in the fruits and vegetables will help allay any cravings for “bad” foods.

Make Wholegrain Substitutions

One of the easiest things you can do to improve your health is to look at all of the “white” foods that you eat and make them “brown”. This means that the white tortilla shells, the white rice, and the white pasta you enjoy should all be tossed out and replaced with whole grain alternatives. There seems to virtually be a whole grain substitute for any “grain” or “bread” product out there these days, including dinner rolls and French loafs, so always go for the “brown” product over the “white”.

The best way to a healthy body is to include plenty of fruits in your diet. Everyday consumption of these tasty fruits can prove to be beneficial for our body in many ways. If you want to eat a healthy diet which can help you lose weight, or gain more energy, then it is advisable to start your day with high intake of fruits, whole grains and vegetables. Eating fruits regularly will make you realize how fresh and energetic you feel.

Fruits, just like vegetables, are a superb source of vitamins, enzymes and minerals. They can easily be digested and have a cleaning effect on the digestive tract and blood. They consist of less percentage of fats and proteins, higher percentage of water and beneficial alkaline properties.

Drinking lots of water is a general knowledge that everybody should have. However, it is not always possible for a person to drink six to eight glasses of water daily. But, most people are unaware of the fact that fruits contain 80 percent of water. Therefore, to increase the water intake you should add lots of fruits to your regular diet.

By eating plenty of fruits, digestive problems like diarrhea, constipation and abdominal cramps, can be cured. Bowel movements can be regularized by eating fruits that contain natural fiber while some fruits also prove to be effective when it comes to reducing cholesterol levels. Heart diseases and stroke can also be prevented by consuming fruits every day.

It is said that a person who eats fruits everyday has a sharp memory as compared to those who do not take much interest in eating fruits. Various researches conducted in the field have proven that fruits can actually sharpen your memory.

Along with fresh fruits, dry fruits like prunes, figs and raisins also prove to be extremely beneficial. The best form of eating fruits is when they are in their raw or ripe state. We should avoid cooking fruits, as they tend to lose their carbohydrate, salt and nutrient contents.

We should never forget the fact that on this planet fruits are the most natural foods. In case of illness, a person should consume fruits in the form of juices. Eating fruits should be mandatory for people who are sick or on medication.

Hence, regular intake of fruits will help you maintain your health and fitness. Fruits help you in prevention of diseases, improve your memory and at the same time provide your body with the necessary amount of water. So, start eating fruits by making it a part of your daily diet. You will look fresh and feel healthy.