Many people have expressed concern to me following recent news stories about a government report on the safety of ginkgo biloba extract. I view the stories about this study as misleading.

Here are three widespread beliefs about healthy living that may seem to be based on common sense but that research has revealed to be either partially or entirely wrong.

In a busy and adventurous life, I've never found any activity that so efficiently concentrates most of what human beings need to be healthy and happy. Gardening is indispensable. It elevates.

On its surface, the cause of the Western world's obesity epidemic seems simple: People are eating too many calories and getting too little calorie-burning exercise; the imbalance manifests as excess fat. But this explanation is too simple.

We need to reduce our emphasis on disease management and emphasize health promotion instead. How much more desirable -- and less expensive -- it would be to prevent diabetes and heart disease, rather than to have to treat those diseases and their myriad complications.

The basic premise of intermittent fasting, or IF, is to enjoy better health via repeatedly fasting for longer periods than is typical on a daily breakfast-lunch-dinner schedule.

No one's health is improved by swapping out natural saturated or monounsaturated fats for skim milk, sugars or processed grains. So if you encounter misbegotten products such as fat-free half-and-half, do what I do -- leave them on the shelf.

Gasoline is expensive, money is tight, and obesity in America is at record levels -- three good reasons to make the spring of 2012 the time to get serious about walking.

Hormesis is a little-known term with huge implications. It refers to a fascinating phenomenon: a favorable biological reaction to low doses of chemical toxins, radiation or some other form of stress that is damaging, even fatal, in higher doses.