Quitting smoking is not easy, but you can do it. The most difficult part to quitting smoking is to resisting the urges.

The best way to approach quitting is to attack each urge one at a time, like its your last stand, the big battle. Look at it as a battle of willpower that you MUST win.  As you put a number of battles behind, the urges will subside and you will be long on your road to a healthier and happier, smoke free life. 

Often, people leave their doctor's office with more questions than answers, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine who are looking at how patients can get more of what they need from the health-care system. They have found that patients (or their advocates) who talk to physicians about their beliefs, values, lifestyle and concerns can get better results from their health-care experience.

Preliminary studies by researchers at the University of Connecticut's show that green tea may ward off weight gain.  The results seen by researchers included:

• Less weight and fat gain. Among mice with an obesity gene, those that ate chow laced with green tea extract gained less weight and less fat.
• Less fat in the liver. There was less sign of "fatty liver" disease in the mice with the obesity gene that ate chow laced with green tea extract.
• Lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Among mice with the obesity gene that ate the chow laced with green tea extract, compared to other mice with the same obesity gene, they had lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

As for that green tea extract, the study used it in doses equal to what a person would get from drinking at least seven cups of green tea a day. Therefore more studies need to be done to determine the beneficial effect of lower consumption in humans.

SOURCES: Bruno, R. The Journal of Nutrition, February 2008; vol 138: pp 323-333. News release, American Society for Nutrition.

Many people underestimate the importance of water to the body. There is a huge gap in knowledge regarding the understanding as to why proper hydration is important for health. Many people with ailments might find that they can be improved or even cured with proper water hydration.