The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, of course! 

Put on your party hats! The new 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is here!! Now I’m sure you’re probably not quite as excited for the eighth edition of these national nutrition guidelines as I am, but there are some interesting changes to take note. 

Blood pressure is the intensity with which blood pushes against the walls of the arteries. It is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) while the heart is beating (systolic pressure) and when the heart is resting (diastolic pressure). A blood pressure reading is written like a fraction and shows the systolic pressure over the diastolic pressure.

A healthy person has a blood pressure level lower than 120/80 mmHg. A person with high blood pressure or hypertension has a blood pressure level at or above 140/90 mmHg.

In an ideal world, we’d all love our bodies exactly as they are. We’d love our little muffin tops for the reminder of all the ice cream sundaes we’ve shared with a best friend, our marshmallow tummies for the children we carried, and our pancake boobs for making bras (practically) pointless.

But we don’t live in an ideal world, and the way we perceive our bodies affects how we feel about having sex. We probably all have personal experience with this, and research backs it up.

Of all the changes happening during perimenopause and menopause, difficulty sleeping is one of the most common. Women may notice a difference as early as their late 30s.What feels like insomnia may actually be hormone changes disrupting sleep.

At any stage in life, lack of sleep slows metabolism, lowers sex drive and increases forgetfulness–of all the changes during menopause, controlling sleep could mend other symptoms disrupting your life like mental fogginess or mood changes.

Has your doctor ever told you that you have high cholesterol or that you should consider a low cholesterol diet? Then, did you think: What does that mean? Cholesterol is important for good health. It makes cell walls, tissues, hormones, Vitamin D and bile acid—which helps food digestion. But too much cholesterol increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

Have you ever looked at the cold and flu section at your local pharmacy? It may be only one or two aisles, but the variety of preparations, liquids, pills and mists is enough to make anyone's head spin. Taking a walk down the cold and flu aisle seems like a game; you take your chances that you've chosen a product that may (or may not) give you the relief you're looking for. To make your decision a little easier, think about what symptoms are bothering you and aim to find a medication to help alleviate them. Here are some tips based on common cold and flu symptoms:

One in 20 people will experience anxiety at some point in their lives. Most likely, each person will have different causes for their set of symptoms, whether it’s fear, sleeping issues, trembling, poor concentration or other symptoms of anxiety.

A variety of aliments can generate anxious feelings, such as your:

• mind-body connection or body chemistry (perhaps, anxiety is genetic),
• past experiences (trauma or how your parents dealt with stress, influence how you handle stressful situations), and