That's Fit

Not to sound like a V.O. guy in a toothpaste commercial, but, do you have plaque? If you're not sure, check the bottom two front teeth in the center of your mouth, as it is there where it is typically most visible. How are you looking?

If the results of you quick self-exam are less than stellar, you're probably not alone -- studies show that one in five people admit to brushing their teeth less than twice a day. In addition to giving your teeth a good brushing more often, you can also try eating raisins. Researchers from the University of Chicago found that these tasty little fruits contain chemicals that prevent black from sticking to your teeth.

Of course, a trip to your friendly neighborhood D.D.S wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Oh, and at the end of your visit, when the hygienist offers you the choice of a complimentary tooth brush of roll of floss, go with the floss ... and unlike 72 percent of the rest of people living in America, do it every day.

Want healthy skin? Then you need to be proactive, say the Mayo Clinic experts.Why? Because skin becomes thinner and more wrinkled as we age, oil-producing glands grow less active, and the number of blood vessels decrease.

Skin becomes more and more fragile with the passage of time. Here's how you can keep it looking youthful.

• Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours -- that's 10 AM to 4 PM -- and wear protective clothing, and use a sunscreen with an SPF greater than 15. Be sure to apply 20 minutes prior to going outdoors.
  
  

• Don't smoke if you want to minimize aging and wrinkling -- smoking accelerates both.
  
  

• Wash skin gently with warm, (not hot) water and minimize your time spent bathing. Avoid harsh soaps -- my dermatologist recommends Dove -- and irritating additives. Pat your skin dry.
  
  

• Moisturize regularly to maintain moisture levels. Moisturizers provide a seal over your skin to keep water from escaping.
  
  
• Shave carefully to avoid skin irritations. For a smooth shave, press a warm cloth on your skin before shaving to soften the hair. Apply shaving cream, lotion, or gel to protect and lubricate skin. Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it. Rinse skin afterward with warm water. If shaving leaves your skin irritated, avoid alcohol-based products.

Trying to save face? No, not in the normal, reputation preservation sense. Rather, are you literally trying to save your face? With the exception of cosmetic surgery and Botox injections, there really aren't any ways to truly stop wrinkles from forming on an aging person's face. That being said, however, there are ways to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Creams and moisturizing lotions help to keep skin from drying, which helps to some extent. This method, of course, is far from a secret. But, a lesser known reason for wrinkles (and, correspondingly, a lesser known method of reducing their appearance) has to do with what you're sleeping on.

Unlike cotton pillowcases, those made of satin will better allow your face to slide more smoothly and do not sap away much moisture from your skin. As a result, your sleep lines will tend to be less dramatic and your face will appear less wrinkled.

Interested in finding out which hospitals rank in the upper echelon of health care facilities? Thankfully we have organizations whose sole purpose it is to do that sort of thing. Enter HealthGrades, who has put out their second annual America's 50 Best Hospitals list just today.

Even though this is the second iteration of the report, hospitals were ranked based on their quality starting back in 2003. Certain elements of health care were assessed to provide a basis. For instance, they looked at the procedures surrounding heart attacks, pneumonia, and strokes.

They also looked at mortality data. So you want to know the best already? They were listed in alphabetical order, so it should be easy to find your local facilities that way. Notables included the Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Joseph's out of Atlanta, and the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Anyone have any experience with our nation's best?

Do you buy it? Do you believe that healthy people really truly cost the government more than unhealthy people do? Bethany broke this news last week when she recapped a Dutch study that found it's not smokers and it's the obese costing the government loads of money. It's the thin, fit, trim, and healthy folks who are bad for the health care system.

How exactly are healthy folks breaking the bank? They're doing it by living longer. Because their lives are longer, it costs more to care for them. Maybe this is true. But I tend to think it's still more costly to smoke and carry a lot of extra weight. It may not cost money, but it costs time spent living. For me, dying sooner than I'd like is quite a price to pay.

Check out these study facts: Healthy folks live about 84 years. Smokers live 77. The obese live 80. Care for the healthy group runs at about $417,000, from age 20 on. The cost of care for obese people was $371,000, and for smokers, about $326,000. Other fun facts: Cancer incidence, except for lung cancer, was the same in all three groups, obese people had the most diabetes, and healthy people had the most strokes.

Reacting to this news, professor of health politics at Johns Hopkins University Patrick Basham says: "This throws a bucket of cold water onto the idea that obesity is going to cost trillions of dollars."

What is your reaction?

In last week's post I talked about ways to pamper yourself or someone you love on Valentine's Day. In one of the paragraphs I discussed gifts for men, including a short bit on grooming gifts. This week I thought I would elaborate on it because, to me, Valentine's Day often seems to be more about gifts for women. I know this may come too late for today -- or not, depending on how organized you are -- but here are a few of my favorite companies that do great grooming products for men.

Aveda is easily my favorite place to buy any kind of beauty product. I don't get to shop there often as I find it a bit pricey, but it is still great for a treat. They have a good range of items for men including hair care, skin care, body and shaving products. If your guy is mane-obsessed, you can try the pomade, grooming clay or cream, or if he's looking for face care, Aveda offers the All-Sensitive Cleanser, All-Sensitive Toner and All-Sensitive Moisturizer.

Perfectionists seem to always find something to fix about themselves. According to this article, a new aspect of perfection is being targeted more and more: pores on their skin! There is even a term for it called "porexia," the desire to get really tiny pores.

What's amazing is that these individuals probably have blemish-free skin anyway. But I can see where they are coming from. Pore size ranges from person to person based on genetics. They can be naturally tight, or alternately larger by comparison. Even though we're still talking about tiny pores here, dirt and oil can get inside and make it appear black.

This is why some people pursue flawless skin, right down the smallest element. But some treatments are far from cheap. For example, when the Lazr Deep Pore Therapy machine becomes more mainstream, it will cost about $500 for one session! Other less expensive treatment options include prescription creams which claim to tighten the skin and reduce pore size. Of course, doctors are quick to note that pores are a necessity and cannot be eliminated completely.

Some readers may recall the case last year of Edith Rodriguez who was virtually ignored while dying on the floor of an emergency room in LA. It brought to light the distress some people may be overwhelmed with while visiting hospitals in seek of help. Thankfully not all medical establishments operate this way, but what are you supposed to avoid doing if faced with such a situation?

This CNN article enumerates five things not to do in the ER. For starters, don't forget to call your regular doctor in transit. If you or someone you know is in need of medical help, reach out to someone familiar. They can spur a quicker response at the emergency room. Don't call for an ambulance unless it's totally necessary. That means if you can walk, you probably don't need it. Why? Because they may ask you to wait with the other sick people when you get there -- an ambulance doesn't fast track anyone through the emergency room.

Don't sit there quietly. Be heard if nobody is helping you. Ask to talk with someone in charge if a nurse isn't providing adequate acknowledgment. This leads to another important point: Don't lie. Overly exaggerating symptoms can leave a person in worse shape than when they got there. And if all else fails, pick up a phone located in the ER and dial zero. Connect with a hospital administrator and get the ball rolling!

I am officially addicted to brushing my teeth! A few weeks ago I got hold of the new Triumph with SmartGuide toothbrush by Oral-B and have been doing that weird licking the front of my teeth thing since. I've always used plain old no-frills toothbrushes, but just recently got to thinking that it wasn't doing the job. Kind of like cleaning your dinner table with a napkin. It removes the big crumbs on the surface, but doesn't really get all the dinner goo that truly needs to be removed. The Triumph is the equivalent of using a scrubby sponge with soap on that table. It does the job a toothbrush is really supposed to do.

Not only do my teeth feel like I've just visited a dental hygienist every day, but brushing has become a strangely enjoyable challenge. The Triumph comes with a neat SmartGuide wireless monitor (a personal trainer for your teeth). The SmartGuide gives me the goal of brushing for two minutes, and encourages me to spend 30 seconds on each quadrant of my mouth. I'm totally in to this. And when I hit the two minute mark.....the monitor gives me a happy face! Woo-hoo! If I keep going, the monitor will wink at me. Who couldn't use a little wink to start your day, right?

During the summer months plenty of lecturing goes on about looking after your skin by wearing an SPF lotion and drinking lots of water to stay hydrated. The result, for most of us, is that we look pretty darn good all summer. Later on when the plummeting temperatures and harsh winds of winter settle in, many of us aren't so well prepared and spend months suffering with chapped lips and dry skin. I know that by February my legs start to take on the appearance of a scaly fish, and are also often itchy and sore.

There is no reason, however, why your skin can't look as good in the winter as it does in the summer -- as long as you're prepared to look after it, that is. This piece recommends concentrating on what you put in your body, as what you eat will be reflected by how you look on the outside. According to the article, a diet full of fish, beans, nuts, whole grains, leafy green veggies and flax seed oil (which is full of Omega-3 fatty acids), will help ensure your face -- and the rest of your body -- continues to look fresh during weeks of nasty weather.

Naturally though, there are a number of ways to take care of you skin that have nothing to do with what you're eating. Some of the tips on winter skincare listed here include:

Now here are some kids who aren't messing around. They are mad. They want us to know about it. And here's what they have to say:

We're tired of being the fattest, most unfit generation ever. "Big industries" spend $12 billion a year advertising junk to us. Why? We influence tens of billions in spending. Health care costs will exceed $4 trillion just when we'll be raising our families, we're freaking out. We've got digital, communication, and tech-expertise no other generation's ever had. Join us sharing energy, creativity and social action that'll change the world. To junk food & big marketing -- "Get outta my face!"

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found food is the number one product advertised to kids, and this motivated bunch wants it to stop. Visit their blog here. Then check out this PBS Commentary. And this Washington Post story too.

Now tell us: What do you think?

Think about it for a minute...what job or job fields do you think are the most depressing? The answer is one I think will either surprise you or it won't, depending on your personal experiences.

Halitosis, the technical term for bad breath (aka oral malodour, apparently), can be an embarrassing and touchy subject. Let's face it, nobody wants to repel people with their breath. There are a range of potential causes for bad breath, some of which are medical and may be helped by a simple visit to the doctor. Others though, have more to do with what you eat and various habits.

If you know you suffer from halitosis and want to try to remedy the situation, it might be worthwhile to take some (or all) of the advice suggested here. Avoiding food like garlic and onions might help, but apparently not eating at all may cause bad breath, so make sure eat a regular, healthy diet. Other tips include staying hydrated as dry mouth can cause foul breath, giving up cigarettes and looking after your mouth and teeth by brushing, flossing and gargling with mouthwash.

As mentioned, if none of these things seem to work, it's probably a good idea to make an appointment to discuss the situation with your doctor.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi there. I'm a 32 year old male and recently my girlfriend has (repeatedly) suggested that I start moisturizing my skin. I've always considered the whole moisturizing market to be a bit of a scam, right up there with "anti-wrinkle" creams. So come on, level with me, is there really any (proven or otherwise) benefit to moisturizing? Thanks and Regards,Dan

A. Hey Dan. Your letter made me giggle, cause my husband gives me the same response when I encourage him to address skin care. I frankly don't even think the man even washes his face every night. Weird to me, but fine for him he says. In fact, when I first began dating him...he had these tremendous calluses on his palms from weight-lifting. I'd beg him to wear weightlifting gloves and moisturize, but he refused because the calluses "reminded him of his Dad. "

Rob adores his father who's been a builder all of his life and has apparently always had rough 'man hands'. That was enough for Rob to think scratchy skin was cool. UNTIL! Last year Poppi (Rob's dad) came for a visit and started bragging about this lotion he was using to make his hands amazingly soft. He was ecstatic! He even suggested that the other girls in the family and I should use it on our faces. I wasn't sure whether I should take that as an insult, or a thoughtful suggestion. Either way...he loved the dramatic results of his , and my honey's hands are now smooth enough to for touching me.

Look Dan. There are a lot of things very different about men and women. One of the things we do have in common though, is the fact that we all have skin. Many products on the market legitimately do what they advertise. Even the anti-wrinkle creams. Check out this article on skin care, and decide what your skin care needs are. At minimum, it would be nice for you to apply a lotion with sun protection each day.

Sounds like your girlfriend cares a lot about you, and is just trying to share some of the knowledge she's come to appreciate. You're going to wear that skin of yours for a very long time, so you might as well take care of it! Fitz

Q. Hi Fitz. The school my daughter attends will be hosting a parent education seminar, and one of the topics is about providing healthy foods. My concern is that this presentation is being made by another mother who has absolutely no official health or fitness education. I think she's an accountant or something. Should I even bother going? How can I trust her? Rebbecca

When that neighborhood nursing home or assisted living center is bought out by a private company (usually as an investment) a survey shows that the quality of care often deteriorates soon afterward.

Why is this? Do cost-cutting measures and other measures not meant to provide the best care for patients (customers) thrown out the window in the name of profits? That's just a guess, but the term "for profit" generally describes the purchasers of such locations. Profit is the motive -- but what else is?

In the survey, expenses and staff were cut at about 60 percent when it came to nursing homes bought by private equity. There is your answer, folks.