It’s not a news flash to say that garlic is healthy. It’s been touted as a beneficial addition to your meals for a long time. While previous studies on garlic’s health effects have produced mixed results, there’s now solid research to reassert the positive claims.

Garlic may make vampires uptight, but it relaxes the blood vessels in we mere mortals. A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows that red blood cells process compounds from digested garlic and turn them into the cell messenger hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow.

That means that eating garlic could increase your supply of H2S and play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease. Garlic is one of the few plants that contains the building blocks of hydrogen sulfide, and researchers say it’s the only one commonly used in our diet.

Are you looking for an excuse to not do your housework? Well, a new study says that it may be hazardous to your health.

According to the study, cleaning as little as once a week with common cleaning sprays and air fresheners could raise the risk of asthma in adults. Other studies have linked these products with increased asthma rates among cleaning professionals, but now it’s implied that it can put others at risk.

Weekly exposure to such cleaning materials could account for as many as one in seven adult asthma cases, the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“Frequent use of household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma,” says Jan-Paul Zock, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, who led the study.

The most unfortunate part of the study was a lack of an alternative. Here’s the depressing catch-22: You keep a clean house, you may become asthmatic. You don’t clean enough, then the dust will get you.

If you’re shopping for new running shoes, more expensive doesn’t always equal more value. That’s good news for you and your checkbook, but don’t think you can go get a knockoff brand for $25 either. A team of Scottish scientists found no difference between $150 shoes and the relatively cheaper $80 versions. Not cheap, but comforting news nonetheless.

Lead researcher Rami Abboud, director of the Institute of Motion Analysis and Research at the University of Dundee, has some simple advice for you: Make sure the shoes fit!

“My advice to runners is to make sure that, first, the footwear fits your feet, and that if you are paying more, that doesn’t mean that you’re getting something better,” says Abboud.

The glycemic index is an effective way of evaluating your eating habits. The GI refers to how a particular food’s carbohydrate affects your blood sugar level. This will not only have a say in your weight, but your energy levels and, proponents will say, your susceptibility to certain diseases.

A new study reaffirms the disease risk.

The study, conducted by Dr. David S. Ludwig and his colleagues from Children’s Hospital Boston, asserts that people who eat lots of high GI foods not only risk weight gain, they also run the risk of developing a condition that can lead to liver failure and death. The condition is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

If you are new to the GI way of thinking, high-GI foods include white bread, white rice and potatoes. Low-GI foods include most fruits, lentils, soybeans, yogurt and many high-fiber grains.

According to new research, a Mediterranean diet may help Alzheimer’s patients live longer. For those of us on the younger side, it’s also great for your heart health.

So what’s all the fuss about the food eaten in this beautiful region of the world?

The Mediterranean diet is loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil, and more fish than red meat. That’s not totally alien to what the rest of us think of as a healthy diet.

But wait!

Another staple to the diet is moderate consumption of red wine, which is probably largely responsible for its trendiness.

Regardless of what your motivation may be, here is a rundown as to why it can be such a healthy diet choice:

The core to the healthfulness of the diet is how low it is in saturated fats. There is plenty of fat, but usually in the form of olive oil, nuts and fish, which has the much-touted omega-3 fatty acids.

Now to the wine… having a glass with your dinner has been shown to have health benefits. Red wine contains antioxidants, which can help fight heart disease. A glass (or up to two for men) can also lower cholesterol. New information is coming out that it may even be good for reducing your risk for diabetes.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to eat your way to great health. But if the idea of olive oil, moderate amounts of bread and pasta, with a little wine and lots of fruits and veggies sounds tantalizing to you, then you should explore your options further.