Don't avoid the factoid

Men's Health and Women's Health are two of the best health magazines out there. Period. Although both are geared more toward people who are already following healthy lifestyles, they still offer advice, tutelage and interesting health facts that just about anyone -- regardless of whether or not you've ever exercised or dieted a day in your life -- could benefit from knowing.

The information on cardiovascular health, strength and endurance conditioning, diet, disease and prevention -- all of it is backed by credible research and presented succinctly and in an interesting way. Thumbing through a back issue I noticed a running sidebar sort of thing the magazine does called Facts of Life. Every four or five pages, you'll see a small, yellow box situated somewhere on the page, showing a specific number. A quick read into it (and by quick, I mean a sentence) reveals that this number is representative of a health factoid.

Some of the few I thought were worth reiterating from this particular issue ...

27 = Percentage more likely you are to suffer a stroke or heart attack on your birthday than any other day.

41 = Percentage of lard that's actually oleic acid, the same heart-healthy fat that's in olive oil.

17 = Average number of pounds people gain in just 8 months of working in a sedentary office job.

45 = Percentage boost in cycling performance at altitude after taking Viagra, which improves blood flow to the lungs.

Like I said, these Facts of Life are short and to the point. You'll find that most of the health information listed in these magazines are presented in a similar fashion, making them much easier to read than an academic journal, yet still getting the point across.