Oh, good. Again we’ve found a reason to bring back the “big-boned” excuse. As the London Telegraph reports, “The difference in the number of fat cells between lean and obese people is established in childhood and, although fat people replenish fat cells at the same rate as thin ones, they have around twice as many.”

So it’s not that you constantly drink soda, eat Cheetos for breakfast, down a case of beer in a night and do nothing but watch Maury Povich. Instead, your giant beer gut and cankles are your parents fault. After all, they were the ones who told you what to eat.

Fortunately, this does not have to be just another excuse. As the article reports:

This remarkable glimpse of what gives us beer guts, love handle and muffin tops could also lead to new approaches to fight the flab, by cutting the overall number of fat cells in the body, as well as providing an insight into why fat people find it so hard to lose weight, because the number of fat cells in a person remains the same, even after a successful diet… Read More »

If you’re single, perhaps you can agree with me on this one. Why is it that immediately after a sexual encounter, the entire world resonates with discussion of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?

Without fail, no matter who my last partner was, how perfect I have been about taking my birth control or how sure I am that I used a backup method too, until I get my next period I am quite convinced that I am probably both pregnant and dying of full-blown AIDS. There are no symptoms that prompt my overreaction, it just comes to me in sharp pangs of anxiety. Read More »

Ok, as we’ve shown on this site before, scientists and doctors basically know nothing.

Whether or not something is bad for you changes nearly every day. But on some days, it changes just right, and reaffirms what you’ve hoped believed all along: All the bad sh*t you do to yourself is actually good for you, and just might be the fountain of youth.

Well, today is one of those days.

Links to Alzheimer’s Disease and caffeine or coffee have long been made, but a recent study by the US team for the Journal of Neuroinflammation (obviously) found the connection between the two, showing that caffeine in the roasted brew protects against dementia by shielding the brain from damaging cholesterol. Read More »

We all know the obvious reasons to lace up the Nikes and sweat it out at the gym: calories burned, harder abs, a flatter ass, a better shape, weight loss, etc. Those are all well and good, but there are many rarely-mentioned benefits to working out that are even more important to your body.Daily exercise:

Improves Memory: Working out boosts blood flow to the brain, which improves your mental abilities. So, each trip to the gym is doing double duty: working your quads and your brain! Exercising is a sure-fire preventative measure to keep your brain working and sharp as you age.

Helps You Sleep Better: This seems like such an obvious one — working out makes you tired, so you sleep – but it’s deeper than that. Physical activity for 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week has been proven to help you stay asleep longer and enjoy more of the deep sleep, which is the stuff we benefit most from. But, the workouts have to be in the morning or afternoon, because exercising at night will energize you too much to sleep. Read More »

It wasn’t until a year ago that I started to pay attention to the things I ate. And I took on my new knowledge of what’s nutritious, how to lose weight, and how to really exercise…well…kicking and screaming.

I was always that bitch with the really fast metabolism who didn’t gain weight. I’d come home and go from eating a can of Pringles to an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s–easily. I never was really out of shape, however, I did slowly become more concerned with being healthy. So what if I could eat a bucket of lard for dinner? That didn’t mean it was doing my health any wonders or that I felt GOOD after one of my binges. Read More »

I cannot stand getting sick. About a month ago, I caught a vicious flu bug and completely denied its existence in my system until I woke up one Sunday morning hallucinating and unable to stand.Had I only taken more Airborne….my feverish mind reasoned as my roommate and I raced to the emergency room…I would be completely healthy right now…

Well, it turns out, I could have popped one hundred little Airborne tablets and it probably wouldn’t have made an ounce of difference (it also turns out that if you’re crazy sick and in an emergency room, crawling onto the floor and lying there gets you in to see a doctor way ahead of everyone else).

The makers of the popular take-it-and-you-won’t-get-sick tablet have recently settled a class-action lawsuit for $23.3 million, a lawsuit which claims that despite Airborne’s compelling advertising campaign, “There’s no credible evidence that what’s in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment”. Read More »

Between bra stuffing for girls and crotch stuffing for guys lies the worst tool for false marketing: girdles.

I understand the need to tuck your flab away, people - but when did, uh, eating less and exercising become such an arduous task, or at least one that’s put by the wayside for a girdle?

My point of all this nonsense is this. Scary, huh? Horrifying if you ask me.

A few months ago COED spoke of the anti-wonders of six-pack surgery; with male girdles (”merdles” is you’re trendy) on the rise, important questions now must be asked: are men getting to be as self-conscious about their bodies as women, in the stereotypical sense?

Do certain women really want their men to be equal with their appearance, enough where drastic steps should and will be taken to look “better”?

To be honest, I don’t think I know anybody who rocks a girdle (if there actually is a way to “rock” a girdle). Maybe it is the last bastion for obese people with low self-esteem and no other choice (excepting the old “be healthier” theory). Read More »

When you bring home a one-night stand from the local bar, or even step barefoot into a dorm shower, you may be putting yourself at great physical risk.

So we spoke to doctors from several universities about sexually transmitted infections, sexual dysfunction, steroids, pregnancies and even pubic-hair removal. It wasn’t pleasant.

I. You gave me what?
Most college-student health centers spend lots of time screening patients for sexually transmitted infections, or STIs. Doctors say the number-one reason students schedule appointments is for Pap tests or pelvic exams. Their results might come as a surprise: You’re definitely carrying something, and that something is called HPV. Dr. Davis Smith, medical director of the student health center at Wesleyan University, says: “For college-aged students moderately sexually active - about two to three partners a year - the likelihood of exposure to an HPV (Human Papil-lomavirus) is 100 percent.” Ouch!

Read More »

I’ve went to the gym a total of four times in my entire life, and never plan on going again. I understand the act of great courage that goes into being overweight and exercising at the gym, in the public.

In my case, I can’t get over the fact that I feel like a total idiot next to ripped dudes that can bench my body weight with one arm tied behind their back.

So I stay at home, flabby in the mid-section, and play Guitar Hero III on Hard (not Expert…yet). That’s how I get my feeling of self-satisfaction.

The most recent innovation in exercising is Krankcycling, a form of working out that resembles mixing batter in a bowl. Johnny Goldberg (”Johnny G.” to the hip cats), who previously created Spinning, is the developer of this upper-body workout. It’s sure to do well in California, home of EZ-living gym rats looking for the next big trend in exercising. Read More »

I love it when Newsweek lets its hair down and talks about the benefits of sex.

You dirty, filthy magazine…ahem.

In an age where student/teacher sex scandals pop up as often as the teen boners inspiring them, it’s no surprise that being sexually frustrated is frequently pinned as one of the main reasons kids today get tense, irritable and violent - just like adults not getting any! An orgasm (from sex) a day will keep the anti-social behavior away.

Following up on their previous pro-sex stance (really - who isn’t pro-sex?) Newsweek published an article today about the health benefits of weekly sex. Read More »