Beth Redding was just 13 when her doctor told her that she had two options: be on dialysis for the rest of her life or get a new kidney. Doctors estimated that this would happen around the time she turned 18. This is heavy news for a teenager. But Beth is a survivor, and she was determined not to let this beat her. She took notes on ways to better care for her kidneys while they were st [...]

We’ve been looking at fun, healthy tips for kid friendly summer activities and surfing seems to be the one that has everybody we know raving. From cardiovascular fitness to shoulder, leg and back strength, this fun activity seems to be a great confidence booster for kids to partake in during the summer. Here are 4 [...]

Yesterday we had our monthly Tweet Chat, which focused on the topic of healthy eating. For those of you who missed it, don't worry! Below are the questions along with the top #FlBlueChat tweets from the event.    [...]

March is National Nutrition Month®,  an annual nutrition education and informational campaign. The focus is to bring awareness to the extreme importance of making sensible food choices and creating better eating and exercising habits. Florida Blue wants to help promote this vital awareness campai [...]

People, including chefs, have their own definition of what they think farm-to-table means. Sometimes called farm-to-fork, the phrase is used to refer to the various processes in the food train from agricultural production to consumption. In layman’s terms, it’s how we get the food we eat, without it being processed or chemically enhanced, to our table. Over the last few years, farm-to-t [...]

A. Most of us don’t get the recommended amount of fiber in our diets each day: 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. Good sources of fiber come from fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, whole grains and nuts and seeds. Here are some ways to add more fiber to each meal: 1. Breakfast – Add 1/2 cup of raspberries, strawberries or blueberries to your cereal [...]

Why do we have heart attacks? Each year, more than 735,000 Americans suffer a heart attack. A heart attack usually happens as a result of underlying heart disease. Heart disease is a chronic condition that is the leading cause of death for both men and women [...]

A bronze tree stands tall in a hospital lobby in North Carolina. Overhead a spotlight beams down to illuminate tiny metal leaves bearing engravings of people’s names. One of those is my dad’s: Mike Roberts He was only 60 years old. On October 16, 2013, he fell in the yard, hitting his head on a nearby rock. The next day my mom, sister, and I were being asked to donate his kidney [...]

Did you know that about 70 million adults in the United States—1 in 3 adults—is currently living with high blood pressure? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with high blood pressure are 4 times more likely to die from a stroke and 3 times more likely to die from heart disease compared with those with normal blood pressure. In fact, almost 1,000 deaths every day [...]

Chances are you have heard about Zika virus in the news in recent weeks. The World Health Organization has declared Zika a public health emergency because of its potential link to serious birth defects in babies. Zika virus is spread most commonly through mosquito bites, and potentially through sexual contact. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red [...]