FitSugar reader Dara8182 shared this filling yet light recipe for veggie quinoa pilaf in our Healthy Recipe group . Do you ever just feel like you need to detox? Easter weekend was very indulgent for me, so I needed to make something seriously healthy and colorful to help get me back on track. The result is this amazing, filling, and flavorful pilaf that has only 170 calories per serving. I’m going to be eating it for lunch and dinner for the next few days! Read on for the recipe.

A runner doesn’t need to follow a strict or special diet to be in tip-top shape, but there are a few foods every runner needs to fuel her workouts, improve performance, and speed up recovery time. Keep reading to find out which foods do a runner’s body good. Source: Thinkstock , Flickr User Veganbaking.net , and Flickr User janineomg View Slideshow ›

The Israeli government late Monday passed a law banning overly thin models from appearing in ads, the Associated Press reports . The country is striking back at the fashion industry over a practice that some blame for encouraging eating disorders. The Council of Fashion Designers of America is trying to tackle the issue — among others related to models’ health and well-being — with its CFDA Health Initiative, as WSJ’s Heard on the Runway blog reported last month . So why are super-thin models so prevalent in the fashion world, and will they always be so skinny? Watch WSJ fashion columnist Christina Binkley explain in this WSJ Fashion Confidential video .

Frail elderly patients who have advance directives through a program to communicate treatment preferences have fewer unwanted hospitalizations, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society . The program uses a form known as POLST — Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment — which allows patients to document their preferences about certain treatments. Signed by both patient and doctor, the form spells out choices including whether a patient wants to be on a breathing machine or feeding tube. The program launched in Oregon almost 20 years ago, but remains controversial to some groups that feel life-sustaining treatment should always be administered. Efforts to expand use of the forms, currently in use in about 14 states, with about 20 programs in development, were the subject of an Informed Patient column earlier this year . The new study was designed to assess whether treatments  provided were consistent with what was documented on the POLST form. A review of the forms for 870 living and deceased patients found that orders about resuscitation were honored 98% of the time, and orders to limit medical interventions were honored 91.1% of the time. When patients identify treatments they don’t want, the forms direct clinicians to focus on enhancing comfort if needed. Near the end of life, 24% of POLST orders were rewritten to reflect a change of preferences, primarily for comfort-focused care. Susan Tolle, director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at Oregon Health & Science University, and one of the study’s authors, tells the Health Blog that the study found that in cases where wishes were not respected, “there was a good reason most of the time.” For example, patients were sent to the hospital if they fell and broke a hip because surgical procedures were required to control pain. “We of course would set a fracture or sew up a wound,” Tolle says. “The wonderful news is that there isn’t a sense of patients refusing care and so they are neglected,” she adds. “Instead they are getting appropriate comfort measures when that is what is indicated.” Tolle says the next step is changing the culture of health care, where end-of-life decision making is still a fraught issue and interventions may be standard procedure even in the frail and elderly. “It’s one thing to change the law to make it possible to use POLST effectively and another to have it offered to every patient in a nursing home or hospice care,” she says. The POLST study adds to the growing debate over end of life care. Another recent study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine found that health-care transitions — such as a move from one nursing home to another — in the last months of life can be burdensome and potentially of limited benefit for patients with advanced cognitive and functional impairment. The study of 474,829 nursing home residents identified close to 20% had at least one such transition, including multiple hospitalizations in the last 90 days of life. Blacks, Hispanics and those without advance directives were at increased risk.

It’s a common dilemma: your schedule is packed and you have to meet a friend after yoga class. The problem is you won’t have time to change. Instead of feeling dowdy in your faded capris and beat-up tank, plan for the occasion by wearing a yoga outfit that looks just at home in the studio as it does during weekend brunch. Keep reading for some outfit inspiration that will take you from the studio to the street without having to change a thing! View Slideshow ›

Want to avoid getting sick this season? Just look to the habits of the super healthy as your guide! Before the office cold catches up with you, here are four tips that will have you staying healthy, well, and free from the flu all year long. Regular Exercise One of the many benefits of having a steady fitness routine is that you’re less likely to become sick. Numerous studies have shown that exercise protects against colds and seasonal flus by boosting the immunity system . Studies have also shown that people who exercise regularly get sick less often, and when they do, their illnesses are less severe compared to those who don’t exercise. The key is moderation – going overboard on exercise or participating in grueling endurance events can temporarily weaken the body’s immune system, which can make individuals more susceptible to illness. To prevent colds and flu, fit in at least three 30-minute sessions of physical activity each week. Good Hygiene Germs are everywhere and washing your hands is one of the easiest ways to protect yourself from them. If you’re in a place where germs are rampant (like public transportation, the gym, or airport) make sure to lather up after coming into contact with any surfaces. Keep in mind that killing germs on your body’s surface has more to do with friction and less to do about the kind of soap you use. When washing up, put a good 20-30 seconds into the process. Other ways to protect yourself from catching a cold or flu is to avoid touching your face throughout the day, especially your eyes, nose, and mouth. See what other healthy habits will protect you from a cold when you read more.

A year ago some policy folks raised the alarm that the budget for the federal high-risk insurance pools would be sufficient to cover only about 200,000 of the several million folks who might be eligible to participate. Medicare’s actuary predicted funding for the pools would run out by this year or 2012. But as it turned out, many fewer people than expected signed up for the program, which was created by the health-care overhaul law and designed to insure people who couldn’t get affordable coverage on the individual market because of pre-existing conditions. Only about 18,000 people have enrolled. As Kaiser Health News and NPR reported last month , experts blamed high premiums and low consumer awareness for the tepid response. So now, as the WSJ’s Washington Wire blog reports , HHS says it’s lowering premiums in 18 of the 23 states (plus D.C.) where the feds run the pools. (Other states run their own pools — here’s a map showing the breakdown .) Lower rates apply to people currently participating in the plans as well as to new enrollees. HHS will also change eligibility requirements so that applicants don’t have to prove that they’ve been denied affordable insurance. Instead they’ll just have to provide a letter from a doctor or nurse saying that they’ve had an illness, medical condition or disability in the past year. Applicants still must be uninsured to qualify. Here’s where to get information on reduced premiums in individual states. The pools are only temporary; the health-care overhaul law says that starting in 2014, insurers will have to accept people with health problems and will be able to set premiums only on the basis of age, geographical area and family size. Health Blog readers, what else could be done to fix the high-risk pools — or is the idea flawed to begin with? Photo: Bloomberg News

J&J is pulling at least 395 injection pens in the U.S. and Germany that are pre-loaded with Simponi, a rheumatoid-arthritis drug