Quick Links

Here is a collection of recent health news you can use.  We’re focusing on whole-body health. Click on the links to read more about each topic.

Keep on doing it: Women who were active for an average of an hour a day didn’t gain weight over a 15-year period. That’s a good reason to make movement a daily habit: Schedule an exercise class, take the stairs instead of the elevator, ride your bike to the store, or exit the bus early and walk to your destination. Another reason to spend more time on your feet: Women who walk reduce their risk of stroke.

Pilates keeps a pro in the game: How does a 37-year-old man stay competitive in professional basketball? Six-foot, four-inch Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd credits his long career to yoga and Pilates. The Mayo Clinic agrees: To prevent injury, Mayo researchers recommend a balanced fitness program that includes yoga and Pilates, especially for middle-aged Boomers.

Connect for your health: Yes, you can work out alone. But joining others—in a group exercise setting, for example—can boost your health in many ways. In this study, feeling lonely raised the blood pressure in those 50 and older. Connection with others is a key component of wellness.

What’s on your plate does matter: You know you’re supposed to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Now a study of half a million Europeans shows that high intake of fruits and vegetables reduced incidence of cancer cases by just 4 percent a year, not as much as experts expected. But there are so many other reasons to eat more plants: In another study, a Mediterranean diet (based on vegetables, fish, and healthy fats such as olive oil) cut risk of Alzheimer’s by nearly 40 percent in a group of New Yorkers. And don’t forget your heart: Research shows that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduces risk of heart disease by 19 percent.

Your breakfast choice determines your day:  A new study shows that if you include fat in the first meal of your day, you set your metabolism to burn fat the rest of your waking hours. The sugary breakfast turned on carbohydrate metabolism. What’s the difference? You have unlimited fats stores in your body, but your supply of carbohydrates is scant. Just make sure your breakfast fats are healthy: Pass by the bacon, and reach for nuts, eggs, and fish. Another reason to quit the simple carbs: High glycemic index foods may raise risk of heart disease in women (Good-bye, plain bagel! So long, cornflakes!).

Here is a collection of recent health news you can use.  We’re focusing on whole-body health. Click on the links to read more about each topic.

Keep Your Cells Young: If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need long telomeres—they’re the tails that protect the ends of DNA strands. “Scientists believe the length of your telomeres determines your biological age,” says APOGEE’s integrative health advisor Woodson Merrell, M.D. “The longer they are the younger you are.” Short telomeres put your cells at risk for cancer and other diseases. In one recent study, prostate cancer patients who made lifestyle changes, including moderate exercise, stress reduction, improved nutrition and social support, boosted their levels of the enzyme that maintains telomeres by more than 29 percent.

De-Tox, Step One: Is one of your goals to “detox” your body this spring? Before you begin a juice fast or other regimen, reduce the number and amount of toxins you’re exposed to. One way: Get ride of the pesticides in your garage. In a recent study, researchers discovered that one common weed killer disrupted the sex hormones in frogs. Find a household hazardous waste disposal day in your community and start your spring cleaning.

A Healthy Gut Means Normal Weight: Scientists wondered why some people can eat and not gain weight, while others pack on the pounds following the same diet. In one study, the culprit (in mice at least) was “bad” bacteria in their gut. All of the fat mice had the same abnormal intestinal bacteria; none of the normal-weight mice did.

How Yoga Protects Against Weight Gain: If you mindlessly overeat when you’re stressed or emotional, consider a regular yoga practice. Researchers wondered why yoga practitioners were less likely to gain weight as they aged. In the study, they determined that people with a yoga habit are aware of what they eat and stop when they’re full. “Yoga leads to less weight gain over time,” said the main researcher.

Learn Now, Better Memory Later: To keep your brain fit, keep learning. A new study shows that learning stimulates production of BDNF, a substance that’s needed to form new memories. Researchers think that’s why learning keeps your brain healthy and protects against the memory and cognitive declines associated with aging.  They said that learning anything helped boost production of BDNF—we’d recommend learning a new yoga asana, a sequence on Pilates apparatus, or a Zumba dance routine!