Living Well

Picture your favorite restaurant...

You go to this special place every month or so because the wine is good, the wait staff is friendly, and you love the food. But think about it... How much of the food do you actually love?

If you only take away one thing from my newsletter, let it be this: You can't trust the government to take care of you.

Plenty of folks are nervous about coming changes. Uncertainty about health care reforms and fears that Republicans in Congress will cut programs like Social Security and Medicare are enough to keep anyone on edge.

I'd never heard my friend Jim sound that scared before...

Jim is a former pro athlete. I first met him 40 years ago while visiting my brother in Wisconsin. We've stayed in touch for years...

Summer is a great time to entertain friends outside...

As the weather gets warmer, backyard barbecues and poolside parties surge in popularity. And you get all the health benefits of socializing and sunshine.

This weekend, millions of American will lather themselves with toxic chemicals...

Memorial Day weekend is the official start to the summer here in the U.S... with pools and beaches opening for summer across the country.

You could hear it all the way down the hallway...

My research assistant said it sounded like metal or plastic grinding against a chalkboard. And it was loud.

The average American household spends more than $800 a month on health insurance.

That number doesn't include additional expenses like copays and deductibles. One study from the Commonwealth Fund found that the average family spends 10% of its wealth on health insurance. That's up from 6.5% 10 years ago.

"Live in the know."

That's the slogan for popular DNA test-kit service 23andMe. You've likely seen the company's ads about how easy it is to use its mail-service kit to send away a sample of your DNA to learn more about yourself. 23andMe claims to reveal everything from where your ancestors lived to your predisposition of various diseases.

Roughly 50 million Americans dread "allergy season" each year... And I'm one of them.

I start to experience seasonal allergic rhinitis – or "hay fever" – in spring. I then spend about three weeks coughing, sneezing, and rubbing my itchy eyes. And it's no wonder... Spring is the worst season for most allergy suffers.

Are you a quitter?

Each New Year's Day, millions of hopeful Americans set resolutions to improve their lives – whether it's losing weight or saving money. But statistics show by the middle of February, 80% of folks have quit on themselves.