Dietary Essentials

Are you curious to know which pre-run foods you should — and shouldn't -- be eating? Whether you're new to running or are simply looking for ways to fuel your body further, Health Digest has you covered. Here are the best and worst foods to chow down on before going on a run.

Unless you've made the decision to consciously uncouple from the ice cream section at your grocery, you would have noted the appearance of several "skinny" ice cream brands hanging out next to our old favorites, many of which audaciously promise lower fat, lower sugar, and lower calories.

There are so many weight loss programs out there, all of them proposing strategies to help you eat less and feel fuller, so those extra pounds will just melt away. The blue zone diet, however, is not a weight-loss strategy, per se; it's actually about living longer and being happier.

While the taste and texture aren't quite the same, still, turkey bacon beats no bacon at all. If you're choosing to eschew pork bacon in favor of the turkey variety for health-related reasons, though, is it really such a good choice?

Your coffee intake may inspire judgment or concern — sometimes, both — from people who are used to you walking around with a mug in your hand... and clearly haven't discovered for themselves the pleasures of those aromatic dark beans.

The problem with coffee creamers, though, is that they really aren't the healthiest. Despite the word 'cream' being part of the name, a 'creamer' typically isn't dairy at all; partially hydrogenated oils, along with sugars and thickeners compose this highly processed coffee accompaniment.

That Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich is a favorite cheat day meal, for sure, but what can we do on days when we feel we really ought to be exercising a little restraint instead? While you might think that your best bet for a low-calorie Chick-fil-A meal would be a salad, you'd be thinking wrong.

Hot dogs are like the All-American food, an integral part of backyard barbecues and, of course, the one and only food you absolutely have to eat every time you're at a baseball game. How bad can they possibly be?

Is granola, which is made from oats baked with honey — and sometimes with dried fruit, nuts or nut butter, or seeds thrown in — actually healthy?

It's one of those things everybody knows, but only some people are actually able to do: drink eight glasses (or two quarts) of water every single day. But is this particular bit of conventional wisdom actually true, or is it yet another nutritional myth?

Eggs were once demonized as being a main source of high cholesterol — or at least their yolks were given the blame. Luckily, medical science finally established that dietary cholesterol had very little effect on the body's levels of LDL, aka "bad" cholesterol. So how many eggs should eat daily?

People are buzzing about coconut aminos, which is reportedly a lot like soy sauce, only better for you. Is it really better for you, though?