That's Fit

But here's the kicker. In order to avoid a multi-vitamin and still get enough nutrition, you need to eat the right foods. For instance, iron should rarely be taken in pill form (especially by men), but iron is an important nutrient for kids and teens. You can make sure they get enough by feeding them foods like fortified breakfast cereals or black beans, but serve them with foods that are high in vitamin C (such as orange juice) to boost absorption.

Prevention has the scoop on other important nutrients, who needs them, and the best way to get them, whether in supplement form or through the foods you eat.

Alternative medicine may not always works as effectively as traditional western medicine, but they can't harm you, right? Not true. Recent studies recently found that one in five Ayruvedic medicines contains poisonous metallics like lead, arsenic and mercury.

Of hundreds of Ayurvedic remedies purchased from 25 different websites in the USA and India, 21% contained detectable levels of at least one of these metals, and of that 21%, half had higher levels than would be considered healthy.

Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient practice that promotes overall health using a balance of medicine, meditation, exercise and diet, and while it can be part of a healthy lifestyle, it's always a good idea to talk to your doctor first before taking any kind of remedy, natural or not.

Nearly every time my son and I go grocery shopping, he begs me to buy children's vitamins. I know parents tend to disagree when it comes to children's vitamins. Personally, while I don't think they're harmful, I don't think they're necessary. My son eats plenty of fruits and vegetables, he gets sufficient calcium from milk, yogurt, and fortified orange juice, and he eats a broad range of other healthy foods as well.

But my kid LOVES his candy. And I'm quite certain that is why he wants those gummy vitamins he sees in the store so badly.

Angie over at ParentDish recently wrote about a study regarding children's vitamins. The study reviewed 14 types of vitamins and found that only five of the reviewed brands had the 12 essential vitamins you would expect. Some brands had as little as four vitamins. The researchers state that the vitamins are little better than candy.

Jessica Simpson says she works out and takes good care of herself. But that doesn't mean the girl doesn't like a cold beer once in a while. Makes sense, then, that the singer, actress, and designer has signed on as spokeswoman for a new beer that apparently contains not only alcohol, but vitamins.

Stampede Light Plus, made by the Dallas's Stampede Brewing Co., is the product Simpson will endorse. Why exactly this beer? Because she is always interested in diversifying her portfolio, she says. And she likes good ideas and good people. Oh, and a little money too -- Simpson will take a 15-percent stake in the brewer.

Want to know more about this vitamin thing? Check out the Stampede Plus website here.

We have a pile of toothbrushes sitting on our bathroom counter. We seem to alternate among them and as they pile up, I realize it's time to toss the whole lot and start fresh. It's healthy to do this every once in a while. But how often? Every three to four months. Why? Because frayed bristles -- we've got plenty of these -- don't clean well and leave teeth ripe for tooth decay.

Got an old toothbrush? Toss it now. Toss these things too.

Vitamins. After two years, give your vitamins the boot. Experts say they can technically sit for three years but since you have no idea how long they sat on store shelves, two years is a good time frame. They won't hurt you if you take them years and years later. They just won't work.

We know that colorful foods are best; color provides a variety of nutrients our body needs. And let's face it -- it's much more fun for our taste buds that plain old potatoes and other white foods.

How about some refreshing summer cooler drinks that will give us a fair amount of nutrition, too? Whole Foods Market has some creative recipes that will enhance your seasonal fun.

Let's start with the green Minted Lime Freeze. If you love mojitos, this is a fabulous, frozen, non-alcoholic version of that fun drink. Fresh-squeezed lime juice provides vitamin C and the mint leaves are your leafy greens.

The perfect food to fuel your body is just a shopping trip away. It's sweet, crisp, and full of important nutrients. Can you guess what it is?

Some of us have trouble coughing up the dough for a gym membership or a session with a personal trainer, but that's not a problem for the rich and famous. Britney Spears reportedly spent an exorbitant amount to get her body back in shape. But, it seems to have worked ...

Ugly Betty's Becki Newton always looks flawless on the red carpet, favoring sleeveless gowns (doesn't everybody?). We've got her favorite trick for getting her arms red carpet-ready right here.

Eva Mendes was the star of a too-hot-for-TV ad for Calvin Klein's latest fragrance, Secret Obsession, and she shows a lot of skin. She made some changes to get her body ready to bare, and they're changes we could all make even if we don't have any plans to get naked.

In an ideal world, we'd all eat perfectly and we'd always get all the vitamins we need. However, that's not always possible, especially for the super-busy Heidi Klum. Still, she makes sure she gets her vitamins. Or, rather, her trainer makes sure she does.

Klum works out with David Kirsch, who also trains celebs like Naomi Campbell and Anne Hathaway, and he ships her cases of his Super Juice packets, which, when added to water, add just 30 calories but provide your daily vitamins. He also provides his clients with Thermo Bubbles, which is supposed to boost energy and metabolism.

How about you? Do you rely on supplements to get what your body needs, or do you get it all through your food?

A study in the peer-reviewed journal Internal Medicine states that regularly consuming the RDA of vitamins can help you live seven percent longer. Add that to the discovery that good nutrition can help reduce your likelihood of catching a cold by 20 percent, and that bottle of Centrum probably doesn't seem so overpriced anymore, does it?

But if choking down horse pills really isn't your thing, there are still plenty of vitamins and minerals to be had from -- get this -- actual food (surely no!! It can't be!!).

Among the best sources for your daily dose of health are leafy green vegetables, the kind that could be growing right now in your outdoor garden. Kale and spinach are great options, but so are more of the less thought of choices, such as parsley and mint. The former serves up 70 percent of your RDA of vitamin C, 50 percent of vitamin A, and 10 percent of your iron in a single handful. And the latter also has a great deal of vitamin A, in addition to pepping-up the taste of bland foods.

Mom knew what she was talking about all those years ago. But are you eating enough vegetables now? Most adults aren't.

We've all experienced "brain failure," that embarrassing moment when you can't remember something totally mundane and regular -- like how to spell a simple word or where you parked your car. Having a better memory is something pretty much everybody would enjoy, especially when it comes to doing your best at work. Giving your noodle a boost is something you can do in as little as 30 seconds, so there's really no reason you can't fit an exercise or two into your daily routine. Try one of these exercises from Natural Health to get started:

I'm not a big fan of "superfoods." I think there are a lot of foods that are super, and I think that most of them are easily accessible to the vast majority of people. Focusing on one funny-sounding food as a nutritional miracle does a disservice to the more common fruits and veggies we eat every day.

So I'm thrilled that the NYT Well Blog made a list of 11 healthy (but not uncommon) foods that we aren't eating, and that, for the most part, everyone will recognize the foods on the list.

Not only will you recognize them, but you'll probably even be able to get them at your local grocer. The idea behind lists like this is that we all should be eating a wide variety of foods, to ensure that we're getting the proper vitamins and minerals. So every time you add a new food to your palate, you're also adding a new source of good nutrition.

So here's the list:

• beets
• cabbage
• Swiss chard
• cinnamon
• pomegranate juice
• prunes
• pumpkin seeds
• sardines
• turmeric
• frozen blueberries
• canned pumpkin
  
  

What about you? Is there a healthy food you aren't eating? Check out the gallery below for 25 you ought to embrace.

That carton of milk in your fridge is stamped with an expiration date, but what about your pillow? Prescription medications, mattresses, vitamins, contact lens solution, and other items all need to be replaced after some time. It's important to replace these items to preserve your health -- in time allergens can build up or the efficacy of the product can wear off. But how do you know what needs to be replaced... and when?

• Smoke alarms. Change detectors after 10 years.
• Pillows. Replace bedroom pillows once a year.
• Mattresses. Replace after 5-10 years.
• Vitamins. Replace after two years.
• Fire extinguishers. Replace after 10 years.
  

Knowing when to replace items as they wear out can help keep your family safe and healthy.

I've never been a craaaaazy drinker, but I definitely had my fair share of times when I threw back one ... er, make that four or five too many. And, I've been to enough ragers to know that I'm not the only one. But it's usually around four o'clock in the morning -- when you're stumbling around, looking for someone to hook up with ... only to realize that your ride has left you and the only people left are you and a few stoners who fell asleep on a coffee table -- that you know you're in for it the next day.

Fortunately, as we get older we tend to make smarter decisions. This is especially helpful since we also fare much worse with hangovers as the years pass. One thing that doesn't change, however, is the ravenous appetite a long night of drinking can leave you with the following day. Even as your head pounds, the earth spins, and your throat burns like the Mojave desert, many times you're still in the mood for some chow (save for the times when your stomach doesn't exactly find that plan to be copacetic).

This is largely due to dehydration and low blood sugar levels. Hunger is your body's way of calling you an idiot and telling you that it needs to be replenished with fluids and nutrients. Do give into this craving; take sips of water throughout the day and eat foods high in protein and vitamins and minerals. That should at least curb your appetite. As for your hangover, well, I can't help you there.