While diet soda is technically “better” for you than regular (by “better” I mean less calories) recent studies have found that it’s almost just as bad. MSN outlines the ugly reality of diet soda. Here’s a snippet, but for the full article click here.

Hard truth No. 1 Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn’t mean it can’t lead to weight gain.
Hard truth No. 2 Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need.
Hard truth No. 3 Aspartame is still a very questionable ingredient. It’s 180 times sweeter than sugar, and some animal research has linked the sweetner to brain tumors and lymphoma in rodents.

Need more reason to put down that cola and grab for H20?

Although chain vitamin stores carry products for a wide array of customers, the tendency to focus on bulking-up powders and “turbo” energy boosters has always made them seem masculine. But not any more: This spring, GNC launched WELLbeING, a line created especially to address the needs of active women. Comprised of over 25 products, the range includes vitamins, shakes, powders and protein bars to support everything from nutrition and workouts to detox, beauty and weight management. On the non-ingestible front, there are also three therapeutic bath soaks to soothe sore muscles.

Among our favorites are the be-Nourished snack bars—high in protein and fiber, low in fat and available in yummy flavors like Strawberry Peanut Crunch—as well as the be-Fulfilled shakes, which offer twice the weight loss and four times the cholesterol reduction of dieting alone.

–Sandra Ramani

House Bill 173 in Ohio hopes to discourage teens from tanning salons by requiring that they have a doctor’s prescription. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of opposition to this.

“At 17 an Ohio teen can serve and die for his or her country by joining the military. At 16 an Ohio teen is entrusted with the ability to operate a motor vehicle entirely unsupervised by a doctor or parent. 16- and 17-year-olds in the state can even get married as long as a parent consents.”–Indoor Tanning Association

Is this going to far? If a teenager has parental consent to go tanning (that’s the current state of things in Ohio), why isn’t that enough?

Who doesn’t want to see their studly beau show up to the beach donning a terry cloth toga? It will look perfect with his tube socks and foliage headdress, right?

All kidding aside, The Wearable Towel is a novel idea, and a brilliant way to piggyback off the success of its cousin the Snuggie.

$19.95 available at WearableTowel.com

You recognize that the smell of lavender makes you relax, but what do you really know about aromatherapy and its healing powers? Is it an ancient myth, or can plant’s aroma-producing oils really be used to treat mental and physical conditions?

Each month we address popular spa- and health-related fads so that consumers know exactly what they’re signing up for. If you’d like to read up on aromatherapy check out our ABC’s of Spa, where one of our experts outlines what this healing property does.