Live Younger Now!

“Feeling down?  Go outside.  Researchers analyzed 10 studies involving 1,252 people and learned that five minutes of light exercise outdoors can boost self-esteem and brighten mood.  The effects were even greater if the time was spent over water.  All participants–but especially kids and the mentally ill–benefited from walking, gardening, biking, or other outdoor activities.” Source, Environmental Science & Technology, published online March 25, 2010

“To maintain a healthy weight, women need to exercise more than current recommendations suggest, say researchers who studied more than 34,000 middle-aged women for 13 years.  Normal-weight women who gained less than 5 pounds during the study did moderate-intensity exercise, such as running, for an hour a day, seven days a week. Even as little as 5 pounds of weight gain, the researchers say, is enough to worsen health.  Still, if you can’t commit to stepping up your workout schedule, the researchers noted that the recommended 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week, is enough to reduce the risk of many chronic illnesses.”  -Source: JAMA, March 24/31, 2010

“Men who skimp on sleep may be sabotaging their fitness goals.  Researchers who studied the eating and sleeping habits of 15 men learned that after a couple of nights getting only four hours of sleep, the men were less physically active–and worked out at a lower intensity–than when they logged eight hours.  But contrary to the researchers” hypothesis, the sleep-deprived men didn’t eat more.” Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 1009

Certain activities have been proven to strengthen bone.  These include: basketball, dancing, hiking, walking, skating, jogging, running, soccer, softball and  resistance activities such as weight training and and using resistance bands.  While swimming and biking are good for your health, they are not the best activities to build strong bones.  Why not?  The water or bike bear your weight, so the bones aren’t benefiting from the impact of the activity. -source: St Luke’s Hospital news letter, April 2010

“Getting active may be good for your brain.  In a study of o9ver 1,300 adults, researchers learned that those who exercised moderately in midlife were 39 percent less likely than other to have mild cognitive impairment, a state between dementia and the normal mental decline that happens with age.  And in participants who did moderate exercise later in life, the odds of having the condition dropped by 32 percent.  Another study found that high-intensity aerobic exercise helped adults with mild cognitive impairment improve their condition more than a stretching program did.”  Source: Archives of Neurology, Jan 2010

“Midlife fitness pays.  Researchers who studied date on more than 13,500 women le3arned that of those who survived to age 70 and beyond, the ones who exercised more when they were middle-aged were less likely to have one of 10 major chronic diseases, heart surgery, physical limitations, or cognitive impairment.  Even just walking made a difference in long-term health outcomes.  What’s more, the benefits showed up in both lean and overweight women.” Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan 25, 2010

“Men who skimp on sleep may be sabotaging their fitness goals.  Researchers who studies the eating and sleeping habits of 15 men learned that after a couple of nights getting only four hours of sleep, the men were less physically active–and worked out at a lower intensity–than when they logged eight hours.  But contrary to the researchers’ hypothesis, the sleep deprived men didn’t eat more.”  Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 1009

“Getting active may be good for your brain.  In a study of over 1,300 adults, researchers learned that those who exercised moderately in midlife were 39 percent less likely than others to have mild impairment, a state between dementia and the normal mental decline that happens with age.  And participants who did moderate exercise later in life, the odds of having the condition dropped by 32 percent.  Another study found that high-intensity exercise helped adults with mild cognitive impairment improve their condition more than a stretching program did.”  (Archives of Neurology, January 2010

“Walk it off!  You can blunt the effect of a post-meal blood glucose spike by talking an after-dinner walk.  In a small study, researchers at Old Dominion University in Virginia found that participant’spost-meal blood clucose reading was lower when they took a 20-minute storll after dinner than when they walked before eating.” -Diabetes Forecast, Nov. 09-

“Healthy Habits can keep chronic illness at bay, according to a study of more than 23,000 Germans.  Researchers looked at the lifestyles and health records of adults ages 35 to 65,  After about eight years of follow-up, they found that that ththose who had maintained a healthy weight, exercised for at least 31/2 hours a week, never smoked, and eaten plenty of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains were 78% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer than those who didn’t practice prevention.  Participants with all four positive habits had a 93% reduction in risk of developing diabetes.”  -Diabetes Forcast Nov. 09-