I’m a big fan of those alcohol-based gel hand sanitizers. I’m already a bit of a hypochondriac so I didn’t feel as weird this year when everyone started to use them during the H1N1 pandemic. After all, everyone knows they kill 99.9% of germs. Right? Well, um, sort of. The Wall Street Journal has a …

I’m still in a new year’s “top 10 list” mood, so I’ve made a list of my top 10 favorite posts from 2009. These are the ones I feel can have the most impact on expat’s lives, and are not necessarily the most popular. My faves revolve around preventive measures and are not so much …

Yesterday, I posted a slightly discouraging article on how gingko doesn’t seem to stem off age-related memory loss, or the more severe Alzheimers disease. Today, I bring you some slightly positive news: you can augment your memory simply by training your brain a bit. Consider it a mental workout.

Here’s some good news for everyone: being healthy can lower your risk of coronary heart disease! Yes, this seems obvious that exercising, not smoking, and staying thin will help, but did you know it will reduce your risk 59-77%? Pretty impressive, no? Read on… Coronary heart disease basically means disease leading to heart attacks. This …

Sure, everyone instinctively knows that watching hours of TV most likely isn’t too healthy for you.  But exactly how bad is it? Well, there’s some interesting research, for both kids and adults, that may stir up some interesting family discussions — hopefully not over a TV dinner. Read on…

We all know that exercise is crucial for long-term health, and most of us realize that we feel mentally healthier and more relaxed as well. But is there evidence that exercise helps your mental health and relaxes you? Yes, there is! The New York Times has yet another good article on health, this one discussing Why …

Weekends are for relaxing and “checking in” not only with yourself with with your loved ones. Here’s a nice tale my cousin emailed me: A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and …

I must now confess to everyone that I am addicted. Yes, people, my body craves for my daily fix. And when I take it, my body feels healthier. What is my burden? Vinegar! This is definitely one of the stranger habits I’ve picked up in China, but somewhere along these three years I started to …

I have a more casual section on this website focused on weekend activities and ways to recover from your stressful weeks and reconnect both with yourself and your loved ones. Now that winter is (quickly) here, I wanted to share with people a little-known local hot springs that my wife and I heartily recommend. It’s …

Today is Thanksgiving in the US. It’s my favorite holiday, as all my relatives will gather in my mother’s house and feast for hours. It truly is a nice way to think about the previous 12 months and realize what indeed you are thankful for. Here in Beijing, I’m thankful that I found the wonderful …

Cancer is one of the last great scourges of humanity, and modern medicine has designed many tests that can screen for cancers. The most popular are mammograms for women, and prostate checks for men. The whole point of a screening test is to do as little harm as possible, to detect something that can be …

Ready for the secret? OK, here goes: Lose weight, eat well and exercise! Oh, sorry, you already knew that? And it seems pretty obvious as well? And yet, if everyone knows this, then why is diabetes the epidemic that it is? 怎么办？ Ah, human nature. If everyone did what doctors told them to, then I’d …