Encouraging Health

From www.realage.com:

Good Vibrations

Is that glass half empty or half full? Your answer may affect your blood pressure.
Older people who have a sense of self-worth, feel happy and hopeful, and enjoy life have lower blood pressure compared to their more pessimistic peers. Here’s how good feelings can reach all the way into your blood vessels.

Good feelings can help reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that’s related to high blood pressure. So the benefits of good feelings don’t stop at just feeling good. Researchers speculate that the chemical and neural reactions people have to positive thoughts and feelings may help keep all of the body’s various systems in balance. So your heart, your arteries — even your immune system — benefit.

Have you harnessed the power of positive thinking? Here’s how to cope, adapt, and react to life’s trials and tribulations in more positive ways:

Try to look on the bright side during times of change.
Make a list of the possibilities and opportunities that could come out of any obstacles you face.
Surround yourself with happy, positive people. They may rub off on you! And strong social ties help you power through the tough times in life.
Cultivating positive emotions is one good thing you can do for your blood pressure.

positive thinking, health

positive thinking, health

From www.RealAge.com:

For boosting heart health, this nut’s got one up on olive oil.
That’s right. Walnuts are better than olive oil at combating the harmful effects that saturated fats have on arteries, which may make walnuts the mightiest nuts of all. Here’s what makes them special.

When you eat a meal high in saturated fats, it causes your arteries to narrow and stiffen. And although you may have the best intentions of shunning nacho cheese and bacon-wrapped hamburgers, everyone slips a little now and then.
So here are a few things you can do to minimize the impact of the nasty fats on your arteries.

*Eat a handful of walnuts. In a study, arteries stayed more relaxed when walnuts were added to a high-fat meal. They did an even better job than olive oil of helping blood to flow unrestricted. Researchers credit the alpha-linolenic acid in the nuts with helping keep arteries flexible.
*Take a 45-minute walk a couple of hours after you indulge. Physical activity partly offsets the blood vessel dysfunction caused by eating a high-fat meal.
*Top off your meal with a tiny piece of dark chocolate, some hot tea, or a bit of pomegranate juice. These items are rich in compounds that help your arteries relax.

walnuts, alpha-linolenic acid

walnuts, alpha-linolenic acid

From www.realage.com:

What’s your ideal body shape and size? Pull out the family photo album.
Pictures of your parents or you between the ages of 18 and 21 (when your metabolism operated at its prime) can help clue you in to what your size and shape should look like in order to ward off weight-related illness. Have you strayed too far from the family tree? Here’s how to get back to your “factory settings.”

The closer your weight is to when you were 18 (for women) or 21 (for men), the better for your health. That’s assuming you weren’t already struggling with weight issues at that age. If so, check out pictures of your parents or grandparents at that age. Most people gain weight between the ages of 21 and 60, and being overweight or obese significantly ups your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.
But weight gain isn’t the only problem. Has your shape changed since you were younger? Starting as a pencil or a pear and growing into an apple isn’t good. Fat around your middle is associated with health risks, even if you’re at a normal weight.

body image, ancestors, diet, exercise

body image, ancestors, diet, exercise

From www.realge.com:

What do picky eaters and fast eaters have in common?
Both groups of kids may be at risk for suffering body-image issues down the road, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at kids’ food diaries and parent questionnaires at intervals from birth to age 11 and identified factors that increased the likelihood a child would be preoccupied with being thin as a teen. Regularly having tantrums over food and being a fast eater were two behaviors shown to boost that likelihood.

RealAge Projection: Getting into the habit of eating a diverse diet and being physically active will help kids maintain a healthy weight. If they maintain their weight and body mass index at desirable levels as adults, their RealAge could be more like 34 when they’re really 40.

Although body dissatisfaction is often blamed on models and superheroes, it can start much closer to home. There’s a strong link between parents’ attitudes about eating and body image and their child’s attitudes about those issues. In fact, this study also found that one of the most significant contributors to a child’s weight concerns was dad’s dissatisfaction with his own body. So be a good role model. Don’t put yourself down. Don’t try to enforce a rigid diet. If you need to control your own weight, do it in a safe, positive manner. Show your child that eating more fruits and vegetables and decreasing fats and sugars is healthier and more effective than the fad-diet-of-the-week.

kids, regular eating habits

kids, regular eating habits

From www.RealAge.com:

Mentally challenging tasks require you to be “on.” When your brain is stuck on “off,” here’s what to do:
Skip the trip to the local java joint. Just get moving instead. Walk, run, skip, skate, jump rope, or dance a jig for 30 minutes. The benefits: You’ll think more quickly and experience less frustration when you return to your work.

Double-shot espressos aside, there’s nothing like a little cha-cha-cha to get your brain going rah-rah-rah! But exercise goes one better by helping you burn calories, too.
Need more reasons to get moving? Check out this head-to-toe list of exercise cheers.

Eureka! Exercise boosts brain function by ramping up blood flow, so oxygen and nutrients get around to all parts of your body better, including your brain.

Love it! Exercise stimulates the release of mood-boosting endorphins and eases anxiety and depression. It can help improve your sleep, too, so you’re less drowsy and irritable.
Phew! Stamina exercises like swimming, hiking, running, and brisk walking strengthen your heart and lungs and make arteries more elastic. Regular exercise helps keep blood pressure in check, too.

Relief! Constipated? Exercise helps get things moving and promotes normal bowel function.
Ahhhh. Exercise builds muscle, promotes flexibility, makes bones stronger, and helps relieve muscle tension.

mental pick-me up, exercise, alert

mental pick-me up, exercise, alert

From www.cnn.com/health:

The nation is on pace to have its worst West Nile virus season in years, federal health officials said Thursday.

So far this year, there have been nearly four times as many cases reported as there were at the same time last year. However, cool weather in August or September — when the bulk of West Nile cases usually occur — could take the sting out of the season, officials added.

“If this trend continues like this, it’s going to be a very high,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nineteen states, most of them west of the Mississippi, have reported 122 human cases of the mosquito-borne disease. That total includes three deaths. Health officials had counted only 33 cases by late July last year but it turned out to be the worst season since the record year 2003.

At least 177 people died from West Nile in 2006 out of 4,269 cases; 264 people died out of nearly 10,000 cases in 2003.

West Nile virus was first reported in the United States in 1999 in New York, then spread across the country. Only about one in five infected people get sick. Severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.

A variety of signs say this could be a bad year. In Georgia, for example, a recent drought helped cause a more than threefold increase in the number of disease-transmitting mosquitoes.

Read the rest about this menace by clicking above.

west nile, mosquitoes

west nile, mosquitoes

From www.realage.com:

You know that ordering the spinach salad for lunch will boost your intake of sight-saving lutein. But there’s a trendy breakfast source: specialty eggs.
Lutein-enriched specialty eggs have two to three times the lutein found in regular eggs, thanks to the marigold extract the chickens are fed. Plus, it’s easier for your body to absorb lutein from specialty eggs than from spinach.

Seems there are all kinds of specialty eggs — from ones with extra omega-3s to ones with pasteurized shells for use in raw foods. And now, eggs with extra lutein. That’s good news for your eyes, because high levels of lutein may help protect against sight-stealing, age-related macular degeneration.

A little fat helps your body absorb carotenoids like lutein, so it’s likely that the cholesterol and fat in egg yolks enable your body to better absorb and use the lutein in the specialty eggs.

Check egg carton labels for information on lutein content. Here are a few of the companies that produce lutein-enriched eggs:
Eggland’s Best
Country Creek Farms
Sparboe Farms

Lutein, spinach, eggs, eye health, macular degeneration

Lutein, spinach, eggs, eye health, macular degeneration

From www.webmd.com:

Study Shows Molecule Released During Stress May Unlock Body’s Fat Cells
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDJuly 2, 2007 — Stress may stimulate obesity by unlocking the body’s fat cells, a new study suggests.

Researchers found a molecule the body releases when stressed called NPY (neuropeptide Y). NPY appears to unlock certain receptors in fat cells, causing them to grow in both size and number.

But the good news is that by blocking those Y2 receptors, researchers say they may be able to eventually develop new drugs to combat stress-related obesity.

“We have known for over a decade that there is a connection between chronic stress and obesity,” Herbert Herzog, PhD, of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, says in a news release. “We also know that NPY plays a major role in other chronic stress-induced conditions, such as susceptibility to infection. Now we have identified the exact pathway, or chain of molecular events, that links chronic stress with obesity.”

Click the above link to discover how to Stop Stress From Turning to Fat

stress, fat

stress, fat

From www.WebMd.com:

The Health Benefits of Tea
A cup of tea eases frazzled nerves, helps your heart, and may even help fight cancer.

By Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD FeatureReviewed by Louise Chang, MD
It’s a rite of summer, setting out the sun tea jar. With all the health benefits of black tea, sun tea is even more welcome than ever. There’s compelling evidence that tea reduces the risk of heart disease, and possibly even helps prevent cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Indeed, tea is considered a superfood — whether it’s black, green, white, or oolong tea. All those tea types come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The leaves are simply processed differently. Green tea leaves are not fermented; they are withered and steamed. Black tea and oolong tea leaves undergo crushing and fermenting processes.

All teas from the Camellia plant are rich in polyphenols, antioxidants that detoxify cell-damaging free radicals in the body. Tea has about eight to 10 times the polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables, according to long-time tea researcher John Weisburger, PhD, senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, N.Y.

Studies of humans, animals, and petri-dish experiments show that tea is high beneficial to our health. Research suggests that regular tea drinkers — people who drink two cups or more a day — have less heart disease and stroke, lower total and LDL cholesterol, and recover from heart attacks faster. There’s also evidence that tea may help fight ovarian and breast cancers.

Tea also helps soothe stress and keep us relaxed. One British study found that people who drank black tea were able to de-stress faster than those who drank a fake tea substitute. The tea drinkers had lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Click here for The Secret Ingredient in Tea!

Tea, Healthy ingredient

Tea, Healthy ingredient

From www.WebMD.com:

These 25 foods are loaded with heart-healthy nutrients that help protect your cardiovascular system.
By Jeanie Lerche Davis WebMD FeatureReviewed by Kathleen M. Zelman, LD, RD, MPH

From asparagus to sweet potatoes to a robust cabernet — every bite (or sip) of heart-healthy foods delivers a powerful dose of phytonutrients that prevent and repair damage to cells. That’s the essence of preventing heart disease.

“There really is an abundance of fruits and vegetables in many colors, shapes, sizes that are good for your heart,” says Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, a dietitian with the Preventive Cardiology Center at The Cleveland Clinic. “You can definitely reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease by eating these foods every day.”

Indeed, fresh produce provide the cornerstone for a heart-healthy diet because they help wipe out free radicals in the bloodstream, protecting blood vessels.

It’s what Zumpano calls “the whole-foods diet. You want everything to be in its natural form, as it comes from the ground, the less processed the better,” she says.

Whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, fatty fish, and teas are just as important — offering all sorts of complex heart-protective phytonutrients.

That’s why variety is best in selecting heart-healthy foods, says Suzanne Farrell, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and owner of Cherry Creek Nutrition in Denver.

“Everyone’s looking for that one magic food,” Farrell tells WebMD. “But heart-healthy is not only about oatmeal and omega-3 fats. You need to look for ways to get all the different nutrients. Plus, you’ll stick to a heart-healthy lifestyle longer if you have variety.”

Read the 25 Heart-Healthy foods Here! Don’t miss!

heart-healthy foods, free radicals, phytonutrients

heart-healthy foods, free radicals, phytonutrients