The Best Health and Fitness Articles of the Week #140 – The Acupuncture Myth, 11 Expert Tips On Fighting a Cold, and How Cheap Meat Results In Animal Cruelty

20140112-181534.jpg


Puncturing the Acupuncture Myth

Are there any actual benefits to acupuncture? According to this article there isn’t. Even if acupuncture turns out to be only a placebo, at least it helps people who believe something is really happening. I’m not sold on acupuncture either way, but I’m going to continue using my Himalayan acupressure mat to help me relax before bed.



Wheel of Lunch

The Wheel of Lunch is a neat little tool built on the data from Yelp. You enter your zip code, distance and a search query, such as “breakfast,” “lunch,” or “dinner,” and the wheel will spin and land on a random place to eat. If you have special dietary needs, you can also type in phrases like “vegan,” “paleo,” “grass-fed,” and “gluten free,” and it will come back with restaurants that should have at least one option that fits those dietary needs. It’s most likely based on the words people have used in their reviews so it might not be entirely accurate, but it works pretty good from what I’ve seen.



World’s Leading Experts Reveal 11 Top Tips For Bulletproofing Your Body From Colds And Flus

I love how different all of these tips are. This isn’t the typical generic advice you’d find on WebMD or what you’d get from a family physician. This is expert advice from people who do real research. The recommendations from Dr. David Minkoff made me laugh because of how specific it is.



Go With Your Gut And Try Coconut Milk Kefir (Recipe)

I’ve never tried kefir. I’ve seen a lot of articles that talk about the benefits of kefir, so I really want to try making my own, although the “sour” description doesn’t sound too appetizing and the chunky look of it doesn’t seem so good either, but I’m willing to give it a try.



Animal Cruelty Is the Price We Pay for Cheap Meat

This is a long, but excellent article about how the factory farm industry works. In short, factory farms are disgusting, inhumane and heartless organizations who hire people with the same characteristics. I’m vegan, but I realize that not everyone wants to give up meat, so I always try to push people in the direction of purchasing from local, humane, and sustainable farms who let their animals live naturally.



We ‘Mirin Vol. 49: Quadzillas

Need some inspiration to get your legs in tip-top shape? Check out this post of 20 bodybuilders with amazing quads. I am in awe of ever person I this post.



The Best Kept Secret: Why People HAVE to Squat Differently

I don’t know why, but it bothers me that the author keeps saying “bony” instead of “bone,” but nonetheless, this is an excellent article. Lots of people say that we all have to squat a certain way, but as the pictures in this post clearly point out, not everyone has the bone anatomy to be able to do certain types of squats. If you’re not able to squat a certain way, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your hip anatomy though, it could also be mobility issues, or both.