Welcome to the category of my blog simply called ‘Healthy Tips.’ Many times, when I write articles for various publications, I need to find sources for the story as seen in Yahoo Shine (click here) or PBS (click here) about staying healthy. I was looking for experts and non-experts to chime in and give their favorite ‘tips’ to help kids and adults lead a healthy lifestyle.

The feedback for various stories was amazing. The sources had some fantastic points of view that could not be ignored, and I thought their opinions should be viewed on the Your Health Journal web site.

So, enjoy my new series, with some ‘great’ insight from some ‘great’ people giving exceptional and educational points of view.

My name is Ann A. Rosenstein and I am a certified fitness professional of over 20 years and the author of five fitness/nutrition books published by a publisher that specializes in health and wellness. My latest book Diet Myths Busted; Food Facts Not Nutrition Fiction debunks the hype, misinformation and food fads perpetrated by the media. I also have a website at www.dietfitnessdiva.com that does the same thing.

My newest book devotes an entire chapter to the unhealthy side effects of both regular soda and diet soda. We often think switching to diet soda from regular soda will help us reduce our calorie intake. This is a myth. Diet sodas trick our bodies into releasing insulin in the expectation of incoming sugar even though the sweet taste is artificial. Since our bodies are expecting the calories accompanied by the sweet drink, we unconsciously crave and eat sugar laden foods to satisfy our desire for real sugar and to squelch the influx of insulin. Studies have shown that people who drink diet soda actually gain weight instead of losing weight.

The way to kick the soda/diet soda habit is to make a conscious decision to make a lifestyle change, understanding it will not be easy but that the rewards will be well worth it.