20 Ways to Better Health

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"20 Ways to Better Health

Content provided by Food Facts"

 

Here are 20 habits, each requiring only a few

minutes, that will keep you on the road to good

health when you've got more desire than time.

 

 

1. Fight breast cancer with broccoli sprouts.

Sprouts are the richest source of sulforaphane, a

highly potent antioxidant. In a Johns Hopkins

University study, sulforaphane reduced by 60 percent

the number of rats who developed mammary cancer

after being exposed to carcinogens.

 

 

A one-ounce serving, or about a half cup, of raw

broccoli sprouts contains at least 73 milligrams of

sulforaphane-the amount found in 1-1/4 pounds of

cooked mature broccoli.

 

 

2. Cook with soy to save your arteries and heart.

Want to lower your cholesterol by 11 percent in six

weeks? Try adding soy to your diet. You might even

reduce your diastolic blood pressure by six points

in the same six weeks. (Diastolic refers to the

lowest pressure in the arteries just before the next

heart contraction.) Those results came from a study

at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North

Carolina, in which 43 women ages 45 to 60 ate just

two tablespoons of soy powder sprinkled into milk or

orange juice or over cereal daily. Otherwise, all it

takes is a cup of soy milk, a half-cup of tofu, a

scoop of soy protein powder, or a handful of roasted

soybeans to make a difference. The secret ingredient

is plant estrogen, which may also be of benefit to

those fighting arteriolosclerosis or cancer, says

study leader Gregory Burke, M.D., of Wake Forest's

Department of Public Health Sciences.

 

 

3. Take folic acid to drop colon cancer risk by 75

percent.

We've all heard about folic acid and its benefits

against birth defects and even against homocysteine,

a major cause of heart disease. But there's a

surprising and lesser-known plus: In the famed

Harvard Nurses' Health Study, women who consumed

more than 400 micrograms of folic acid daily for 15

years saw their colon cancer risk drop by 75

percent. Women who took the supplement for five to

10 years saw a 20 percent drop, as reported in the

Annals of Internal Medicine. Currently, colon cancer

has a death rate that surpasses breast cancer and is

second only to lung cancer.

 

 

4. Eat blueberries to protect your eyes and

arteries.

Two-thirds of a cup of blueberries yields the

antioxidant capacity of 1,773 IU of vitamin E (60

times the recommended daily allowance) and 1,270 mg

of vitamin C (that's 21 times the recommended daily

allowance). "The antioxidant anthocyanin not only

gives blueberries their color, but also discourages

blood clots from forming, thus warding off heart

attacks," says Mary Ann Lila Smith, Ph.D., professor

of in-vitro technology at University of Illinois.

Her studies indicate blueberries may improve night

vision and slow macular degeneration by

strengthening tiny blood vessels in the back of the

eye. In a trial at Boston's Tufts University, aged

rats fed blueberries for two months were faster,

more coordinated, and better able to run mazes,

according to a recent Journal of Neuroscience.

 

 

5. Cool your appetite with soup.

You might devour fewer calories if you start your

meal with soup, according to a study at Baylor

College of Medicine in Houston. Hot soup helped fill

the stomach so dieters tended to eat less later in

the meal, said John Foreyt, Ph.D., director of the

college's nutrition research program. Soup sippers

lost more (about 1.3 pounds) than the non-soupers

after one year.

 

 

Mental Exercise

6. Put your emotions on paper.

"Take three minutes to write in your journal, craft

a love letter, or drop a note to a friend," says

Pamela Peeke, M.D., assistant clinical professor of

medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore,

and author of Fight Fat After 40 (Viking, 2000).

"Especially when you're in a stressful situation,

writing your emotions out is a catharsis." Indeed,

researchers at State University of New York at Stony

Brook found that 47 of the more than 100 asthma and

rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in a study had a

reduction in frequency and severity of their

symptoms four months after writing about the most

stressful event of their lives. They wrote for at

least 20 minutes each day on three consecutive days.

 

 

None of those who wrote about nonemotional topics

saw significant improvement, reported researchers in

the Journal of the American Medical Association last

year. So dig deep for inspiration-and better health.

 

 

7. Enjoy yourself and live longer.

Take in an art show, watch a movie, or attend a

concert this weekend. You might live longer. A

nine-year study of 12,000 people in Sweden found

that those who attended such cultural events were

about 36 percent more likely to live longer than

those who rarely did so. Why? As reported in a

recent British Medical Journal, such pleasures

arouse the immune system, helping to fend off ills.

 

 

8. Turn on the stereo to crank up your antibodies.

Listening to a half-hour of soft jazz music caused

levels of immunoglobulin A-our body's first defense

against respiratory and other infections-to rise 14

percent in a study involving 66 students at Wilkes

University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The study

was published in the Journal of Perceptual and Motor

Skills. Although the antibody (referred to as IgA)

rose, the frequency of colds was not measured.

Nonetheless, "music calms, and just being in a

relaxed state helps you heal," theorizes Michael G.

McGuire, professor and director of Music Therapy at

Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.

 

 

9. Do puzzles to thwart Alzheimer's disease.

Exercising your brain may slow the development of

Alzheimer's disease. A recent study of 193

Alzheimer's patients and 358 healthy people, mostly

in their early 70s, showed that those who were

mentally active from ages 40 to 60 were three times

less likely to have Alzheimer's disease. The study

was done by researchers at Case Western Reserve

University in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

 

"It makes sense," says James Mortimer, Ph.D.,

director of University of South Florida's Institute

on Aging. "If you go to the gym and lift weights,

your muscles grow bigger and you're able to lift

more. We'd be surprised if you weren't in fact

nourishing the brain by exercising it

intellectually."

 

 

The theory is that, much like trees branching out,

brain cells grow branches as new connections are

made through riddles, puzzles, board games, and

other intellectual challenges. "Lack of use causes

our mental trees to drop branches," Mortimer says.

 

 

10. Sharpen your mind with a power nap.

Just leaning back, closing your eyes, and relaxing

for a few minutes will help you make clearer

decisions and attend to details. If you're really

dragging, nap. "Anything you do to reduce stress

makes a difference," says James B. Maas, Ph.D., a

Cornell University psychology professor in Ithaca,

New York, and author of Power Sleep (HarperCollins,

1999). "Even better: Take a 15-minute power nap.

People say they don't have enough time, but they'll

take a coffee break. Rather than ruin your sleep

with caffeinated beverages, why not pay back the

debt in your sleep bank and recharge your batteries?

It's amazing how you'll be revived for the rest of

the day-and you'll be in a better mood."

 

 

Body Basics

11. Take a roll to reduce strain.

If you're suffering from a tense neck or back, take

a tennis ball and place it in a tube sock. Then

stand with your back against a wall, place the ball

between it and you, and move your back to lower the

ball over the areas that hurt but are otherwise

difficult to reach. "It can work as a self-massage,"

says Dr. John Cianca, an assistant professor of

physical medicine and rehabilitation at Houston's

Baylor College of Medicine.

 

 

12. Be a sphinx (or a cobra) to relieve back pain.

Just three minutes of assuming a yoga posture known

as the Cobra, or Sphinx, can relieve some lower-back

problems. Lay on your stomach on the floor, holding

in your tummy. Keeping your hips on the floor, raise

your upper body with your arms until you're on your

elbows. "If back pain is muscular in origin this

will be a helpful exercise," says Baylor College of

Medicine's Dr. Cianca. "But if you've got a

herniated disk or arthritis, it won't help. If it

hurts, you should stop."

 

 

13. Sunglasses help counter cataracts.

Wearing sunglasses will reduce your risk of

cataracts by two-thirds, as demonstrated in more

than a decade of studies of 3,000 Chesapeake Bay

fishermen. This study was reported in the Journal of

the American Medical Association two years ago. "The

eye's lens is a living thing, and ultraviolet rays

age them just as they age your skin. That leads to

cataracts, macular degeneration, and other eyesight

problems," says Anne Sumers, M.D., a Ridgewood, New

Jersey, ophthalmologist and spokesperson for the

American Academy of Ophthalmology.

 

 

14. Take a walk to lose weight.

Just a few minutes walking at a brisk pace burns

calories-lots more than if you sit around watching

TV. Walking as few as 10 minutes daily lets the

average 130-pound woman burn off almost five pounds

a year if her diet doesn't change.

 

 

15. Squeeze in more exercise.

You can get a quick overall workout by doing only

three exercises: crunches, push-ups, and squats.

 

 

If floor push-ups are too difficult, do them against

a wall instead-you'll still tone your shoulders,

chest, and upper back. Stand about a foot away from

the wall, and place your hands palms down and

shoulder width apart on the wall. Lean in and then

push your body out without allowing your elbows to

splay to the sides.

For abdominal-flattening crunches, lie faceup on the

floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the

floor. Fold your hands across your chest and curl

your shoulders toward your knees. You'll be less

likely to pull with your neck if you imagine you're

cradling an egg between your chest and chin. Exhale

through the mouth on the effort, or as your body

rises, and inhale through your nose as you lower

yourself.

Do squats to whittle your rear and thighs. Stand

with feet shoulder-width apart and feet facing

forward. Lower your body with your weight in your

heels. "You'll look as if you're about to sit in a

chair, not like you're searching for a contact

lens," says Susan Magee, personal trainer and

operations manager at Memorial Athletic Club in

Houston. Take care that you don't bend much at the

waist, and watch that your knees do not extend

forward of your toes.

 

 

Perform each exercise two to three times weekly,

building up from 10 to 20 repetitions. Eventually,

add sets, taking a 15-second rest or stretch in

between.

 

 

Preventive Maintenance

16. Brush and floss to extend your life.

Make yourself feel more than six years younger

simply by brushing and flossing every day, says

Michael Roizen, M.D., an anesthesiologist and

internist at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Roizen, author of Real Age: Are You as Young as You

Can Be? (Cliff Street Books, 1999), says that the

latest research shows a link between the bacteria

pervasive in tooth decay and the bacteria found in

artery clogging. "Flossing your teeth every day can

make your arteries younger," says Roizen. "Men under

50 with advanced periodontal disease are 2.6 times

more likely to die prematurely and three times more

likely to die of heart disease than those with

healthy teeth and gums."

 

 

17. Fight flu by getting your kids to wash their

hands.

Kids who wash their hands thoroughly with soap at

least four times daily missed 75 percent fewer

school days, had 25 percent fewer colds, and

suffered 50 percent fewer stomach flus over a

seven-week period than children who washed less.

That was found in a study of 305 elementary school

children in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, as

published in the Journal of Family Practice.

 

 

18. Spice up the battle against food-borne bacteria.

Pasteurizing apple juice kills bacteria. Also, just

one teaspoon of cinnamon mixed into a 64-ounce

bottle of unpasteurized apple juice kills 99 percent

of the E. coli bacteria that may be present, found

microbiology researchers at Kansas State University

in Manhattan, Kansas. They also discovered that

adding 3 teaspoons of cloves to every quarter pound

of hamburger had the same effect. That's much more

clove than most of us want, but adding cinnamon,

garlic, and oregano helps too. Left unchecked,

E.coli can lead to severe food poisoning, damaged

kidneys, and even death. "You still have to heat the

meat, but spices provide an added safety valve,"

says Erdogan Ceylan, a research assistant in

microbiology.

 

 

19. Fess up to your druggist.

Take the time to tell your pharmacist about all the

over-the-counter-and herbal-remedies you're taking.

That's the advice from David Witmer, Pharm. D.,

director of the Professional Practice and Scientific

Affairs Division at the American Society of

Health-System Pharmacists in Bethesda, Maryland.

"For some reason, people never think to include cold

medicine, antihistamines, or birth control

pills-and, most important, herbal products and

dietary supplements-all of which can react

significantly with prescriptions," says Witmer. The

interactions of the foods, drugs, and supplements we

take can prove to be deadly, killing more than 7,000

people each year and leading to almost 7 percent of

all hospital admissions, according to the Journal of

the Geriatric Society.

 

 

20. Get a routine blood test to check for silent

liver disease.

You may be in danger of having serious liver disease

that sometimes shows no apparent symptoms if you use

cholesterol medications or blood-pressure-lowering

drugs, combine alcohol with painkillers, or have

multiple sexual partners or tattoos. When healthy,

the liver-our body's largest single internal

organ-filters waste, manufactures nutrients from

food, and regulates our blood. A panel of liver

tests costing about $200 can reveal if your liver is

damaged from an excess of iron, inflammation, or

such diseases as hepatitis C, which caused singers

Naomi Judd and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to put their

careers on hold.

 

 

You should be tested-and then rechecked

periodically, if your doctor advises-if you have a

family history of liver disease or face a high risk

for viral hepatitis. Also at risk are patients who

take the medications or participate in any of the

activities previously mentioned. "It's a simple

blood test, and you need to know," says David

Brandhagen, M.D., hepatologist at Mayo Clinic. "If

you're having a drug reaction, you can stop the

drug, and your liver usually gets better on its own.

And if you have viral hepatitis, you need to know

because it can cause progressive liver damage and

treatment may be necessary."

 

 

 

 

 

 

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