On a cold winter night nothing is more enticing than the thought of curling up on the couch with a piping cup of hot chocolate and crunchy biscotti. But the reality is, this seemingly inoffensive treat can sabotage a full days worth of healthy eating. Would you believe that this one ounce serving of biscotti contains 250 calories! Besides, who eats just one? Continued over the course of a year, this could result in an extra 20 pounds of weight gain.

Besides the frustration of not fitting into your jeans, there are also serious health risks associated with weight gain such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. Studies have shown that weight gain of as little as two pounds a year can increase your chances of those health risks by 5 percent.

Now the news isn't all bad, and anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that cutting out occasional treats entirely leads to a diet disaster.

Pair my Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti recipe with a sugar-free or diet hot cocoa for a treat that is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth without jeopardizing your waistline.

Seven to eight hours of sleep. That's what researchers say is best, and that's what we all shoot for. Does it always happen? In this fast-paced world, constantly connected world, it happens less and less. Just the same, efforts are still made to get in a solid night of shuteye.

But what about the opposite end of the sleep spectrum? You know, when seven or eight hours turns into nine or more hours. Are there any health implications associated with sleeping too much?

It's quite possible, say researchers from the University of Warwick Medical School in England. The British researchers found that people who increased the number of hours they slept per night from seven or eight hours to more than that were twice as likely to die from non-cardiovascular disease within 11-17 years as those who kept sleeping for seven or eight.

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Looking for the perfect man? Chances are he doesn't exist. Want to find the perfect man for you? Ah, now that is a much more attainable and realistic goal. Now for the guys out there reading -- do you want to BE the perfect man? Needless to say, perfection is an extremely subjective classification, so don't kill yourself trying to be all things to all people. However, an article in the recent issue of Men's Health (British Edition, mate) shows that it is possible to at least determine how you measure up against most other blokes.

In your quest for perfection (or at least as close to it as possible), take note of these "perfect" statistics:

9am & 3pm - The perfect times to do 30 minutes of exercise four or five days a week to raise your metabolic rate

50.5 -- The perfect age at which to write your novel (based on an analysis of The Times bestseller list since 1955)

31 years, 9 months - The perfect age to get married (source: University College of London)

30 minutes - The perfect amount of time for a power nap to improve motor skills and cognition (according to the National Institutes of Health)

0.75 grams - The perfect amount of protein to consumer per pound of bodyweight while following a regular resistance training routine (source: University of Western Ontario)

Singer and actor Barbra Streisand has donated five million dollars to an LA hospital for a a women's heart center. Her donation creates permanent funding for the Barbra Streisand Women's Cardiovascular Research and Education center at Cedars-Sinai. The hospital plans to expand its research efforts.

In a written statement Streisand said: "Women need to be educated about female cardiovascular disease and the medical community must be propelled toward change." She continued: "Just like with breast cancer the impetus must come from women themselves striving to become empowered to reduce their risks for heart disease."

Learn more about heart disease at AOL Body.

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For guys out there who may be putting on less-than-stellar performances in the bedroom lately, there may be more at risk than your pride.

As men grow older, there is a natural decline in testosterone production that begins to occur at or around the age of thirty, dropping precipitously as decades pass. This can be partly to blame for erectile dysfunction in some cases, but in others it may be a sign that you are at risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Of course, many other factors can cause a man to have problems getting and maintaining an erection, such as bad diet, smoking, lack of exercise, and being forced to watch a "Golden Girls" marathon. Still, if you're having trouble, it's worth checking in with your doctor.

Your medical history, that is. If you (or your spouse) has a strong family history of cardiovascular disease, you (or your spouse), too, could be at risk, and you could be passing that risk on to your kids. Therefore, it's important to make your internist and your pediatrician aware of any incidence of heart disease in primary relatives -- parents, siblings, and grandparents.

Your family doctor probably has taken a detailed medical history, but your child's doctor might not have. So don't hesitate to bring up the subject with your pediatrician at the earliest possible opportunity.

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Trying to decide what to wear this week? Here's a tip: This Friday, February 1st is National Wear Red Day 2008. The day was created to inspire women to consider their own heart health and to take action to reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. National Wear Red Day is part of The Heart Truth, a program that hopes to open women's eyes to the major health issue of heart disease in women.

So wear red on Friday and spread the word to the women in your life. And if you're interested in doing more, there are several events being held by The Heart Truth campaign in February, including an appearance at New York's Fashion Week on Friday, and the First Ladies Red Dress Collection at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California.

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Men and women both can get high blood pressure, but how they each end up getting it is seldom the same. For men, the road to high blood pressure is usually shorter and much more rapid than it is with women -- something that doctors from the Medical College of Georgia Vascular Biology Center are studying with interest.

Men develop hypertension earlier than women and they generally tend to demonstrate an increase in blood pressure more rapidly, that is until women reach menopause. But, the researchers question whether these more "protected" years for women has so much to do with hormones. To find out, when testicles were removed (ahem...we're talking about in lab rats), blood pressure tends to drop a small amount. When ovaries are removed, blood pressure remains unchanged.

Hmmm.....

If it's not related to gender, why does it appear to be so related to gender?! The researchers are also examining nitric oxide levels in men and women, as well as a myriad of other possible reasons behind the disparity. Whatever the reason turns out to be, it seems that at/or around the age of 70, the playing field is completely leveled, as men and women share a similar risk for cardiovascular disease and hypertension by that point.

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"Eating competence?" What does that even mean? Well it's a term a nutritionist coined in a study over at Penn State to explain people who know how to eat healthy for their particular bodies and lifestyles. It's about understanding and finding the balance between hunger, appetite, eating enjoyment, and metabolism to maintain a stable weight. Apparently the people who understand this and are "eating competent" have much lower risks of developing heart disease.

Apparently the researchers already developed a tool for measuring how "eating competent" a person is, and they're in the process of creating a specialized curriculum to train people who need help.

I'm sure it will benefit some, but it seems a little gimmicky to me.


Via Cranky Fitness

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Apparently oral health and heart health are more related than it might at first appear. A new study has linked the two -- finding that young adults who have cavities and gum disease, or lose their teeth, are more at risk of dying from heart disease later in life.

This adds to mounting concern that poor oral health has a negative impact on heart health over time. A number of studies have shown that they're related -- but how much does one contribute to the other?

Some think that the same bacteria that, in the mouth, causes gum disease, gets into the bloodstream where it eventually damages the lining in your blood vessels. However, others feel that many of the same factors that cause poor oral health are also responsible for poor heart health -- so it only follows that the two would occur simultaneously.

So the question remains: will improving your oral health reduce your risk of heart disease? It's an interesting idea, but more studies are needed before we'll know for sure.

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It's been a busy day for heart health matters, but in a new report from Sweden, heart health was found to be possibly affected by that constant media item, global warming.

That's right -- in addition to melting glaciers and changing the composition of the world's oceans, global warming may have the capability to drastically affect global cardiovascular health in the next 50 years.

It's interesting to note that the report referenced the European heat wave four years ago when tens of thousands died due to extreme heat. The death rate was much higher than medical officials estimated -- so what caused all those extra deaths?

An interesting verbal comparison was made by a Johns Hopkins physician, who said "The hardening of the heart's arteries is like rust developing on a car ... rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures and so does atherosclerosis."

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I love to exercise (most of the time) but it's not always easy to squeeze it into my busy schedule. Of course there's always time for work, and I've been jealous in the past of people who have jobs they love that keep them moving -- like fitness instructors at the gym and professional athletes. How great would it be to have physical exercise be a part of your everyday life without any real scheduling efforts on your part? I mean, I know regular exercise is a lifestyle choice for all of us (or should be) but it would be so much easier if it just came, whether you liked it or not, as part of how you make your living.

That's just my "I wish" spoiled side coming out, and in truth after reading this article I'm not so sure all the physical jobs out there are so great after all. Because although exercise and physical fitness have long been attributed with helping reduce the risk of cardiovascular and heart disease, it seems that if that exercise comes related to work the benefits might not be there. And not only do physically demanding jobs not necessarily reduce heart disease risk, but in many cases they actually make it worse!

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Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death and disability in the United States, however there are a number of things you can do to keep your heart healthy and reduce your risk of heart disease. In fact, you can substantially reduce many of your risk factors for heart disease and stroke with a just few simple lifestyle changes.

Need some ideas? These 10 tips can help get you started on a one-way track to a healthy heart.

• A good night's sleep is more important than you think. A short or restless night in bed can raise your blood pressure and increase inflammation in your blood vessels; a warning sign for cardio-vascular disease.
• The American Heart Association recommends resistance training to prevent and treat heart disease. Studies show regular resistance exercise can result in a marginal yet significant reduction in blood pressure to normal levels.
  

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Overweight children have been found to have something in common besides extra padding around the middle: they all seem to share high levels of a certain protein (apoB48) found in intestinal cholesterol. ApoB48 has been proven as a risk factor for adults for developing cardiovascular disease, and although the children aren't currently considered at risk for CVD they will become so as they age unless their apoB48 levels drop.

Whether it's due to diet, genetics, or a combination of both, why certain people have higher levels of this protein isn't yet understood. But how much fat and what kind a person has does seem to have a major impact.

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According to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 17 percent of American teenagers are overweight. You can blame it on busy parents, video games, or fast food -- but whatever the reason the results are the same. Too many kids aren't eating well and/or exercising enough and it's led to a culture of obesity. The long-term effects of early obesity are still being studied, but growing evidence supports the (relatively logical and dare I say, obvious) conclusion that obese children are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

Children who have high cholesterol are likely to continue to have high cholesterol well into adulthood. It's important to start treating the issue and promoting a healthier lifestyle early. New information garnered from NHANES data are meant to improve upon the current guidelines which don't account as fully for age. Currently, cholesterol screening is recommended for adolescents who have risk factors such as a parent with high cholesterol, a family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, or tobacco use. In April 2008, The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is expected to release new medical guidelines for cholesterol screening for children and teens.

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