6 Ways to Have Good Gym Hygiene

Posted on December 18, 2012 by admin

If you don’t already wipe down gym equipment before you use it, you might want to start. Turns out, gym rats can have some pretty repulsive habits, according to a survey conducted by Nuffield Health, a health firm in the UK.

To get the dirt on what goes on at health clubs, the firm surveyed 2,000 people. The gym sins they discovered: 74 percent of people polled said they had noticed that their fellow gym-goers committed a gym faux pas, like failing to wipe down sweaty equipment; 49 percent admitted to having used water bottles, towels, and toiletries that weren’t actually theirs; 18 percent had gone to the gym despite being sick and coughing and sneezing; and 16 percent said they didn’t wash their gym clothes between workouts.

Gross, sure, but not necessarily a health risk. There’s no concrete, scientific evidence that finds that gyms will make you sick, according to Elaine Larson, PhD, director at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Antimicrobial Resistance at Columbia University.

That said, having good gym hygiene can somewhat limit your exposure to germs that cause cold, flu, norovirus, athlete’s foot, and staph infection—not to mention make you a better neighbor to your fellow fitness junkies.

The key to a cleaner workout session? Simply be attentive, says Donna Duberg, assistant professor of Clinical Laboratory Science at Saint Louis University. “The real trick is you have to keep your hands and your face protected,” she says. Here, her tips on how to avoid grimy gym germs.

Buy a better bottle
“Plastic water bottles tend to hold bacteria,” Duberg says. “The only ones you can be sure of are metal.” To clean it properly, just wash it in hot, soapy water. Also, keep an eye on your bottle to make sure someone (like nearly half of the people in the survey!) doesn’t sneak a sip while you aren’t paying attention.

Wipe, wash, repeat
Whether you decide to constantly wipe down the equipment, or cleanse your own hands, or a combination of the two, keeping your hands clean can help make sure gym germs don’t do any damage. “Keep your own little area organized and hygienic, and you’re going to be protected,” says Duberg. After using each machine or set of weights, use the hand sanitizer and wipes that should be provided by your gym to keep germs at bay.

Clean your gear
“Dirty, dark, moist gym bags are great for fungi—they’ll grow just fine in the interior,” says Duberg. There are several ways to avoid contaminating your gym bag: “Put your dirt clothes in a plastic bag, take them out, and empty the plastic bag right into the washer,” she says. And don’t forget about your sneakers. Like your dirty clothes, slip them into a plastic bag before throwing them into your gym bag. Then, once you get home, wipe them off with a disinfecting wipe (including the bottoms), let them air dry, and toss them back in the next day, she suggests.

Shower smarter
Although they’re not completely foolproof, flip-flops will “provide a barrier between you and the floors and you and the shower room,” says Duberg. But take note: Once they get wet in the shower, fungal spores can still get on your feet. To minimize the risk, soak your sandals in a 10% bleach solution once in a while, she says. That’ll help keep them—and your feet—as clean and fungus-free as possible.

Take a rest day
“Don’t go to the gym if you have a really bad cold and you’re sneezing and your nose is running,” she says. Also, if you have an open wound, you might want to stay away from the gym that day to avoid infection, or infecting anything you might touch while you’re working out.

Hold off on the hot tubs
If you have an open wound, skin, or other infections, absolutely do not use Jacuzzis or common pools, warns Duberg. If you do, you’ll not only transmit bacteria, but you’ll be more susceptible to bacteria that are already lurking in the water.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More from WH:
The Step-by-Step Guide to Hand Washing
Is Restaurant Silverware Making You Sick?
How to Germ-Proof Your Office
Look Better Naked: Buy the book to learn how to look (and feel!) your very best.

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4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy

Posted on December 5, 2012 by admin

The full moon is famed for everything from spookiness to magic to downright insanity. (Ever wonder where the term “lunatic” came from?) But new French research suggests it may not be all folklore: Fewer E.R. visits for anxiety disorders occur in the last lunar quarter—when only the left side of the moon is visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

Unsurprisingly, researchers don’t have a concrete answer for the connection (besides the fact that a million other factors could be at play). But they’re not the only ones who have made crazy connections between the weather and the world around us. Here are three other strange astrological or meteorological findings that we couldn’t help but share. Just believe them at your own risk.

Score Big During the New Moon
Need to make a quick buck? Forget a financial advisor—just invest your money toward the end of the month during the new moon! According to research in the Harvard Business Review, your annualized daily returns—how much you made each day extrapolated out to a year—are up to eight times greater when you invest on a new moon instead of a full one. Even freakier: The results have held across stock markets in all but one of the world’s 25 most industrialized countries (Norway)—in some cases up to 100 years. Study authors speculate people become more pessimistic and risk averse around the full moon, leading to a weaker stock market. The better plan: Invest when you’re happy. Harvard research has shown that feeling down can result in raking in 60 percent less than when you’re happy.

Watch Your Back in the Summer
Do criminals enjoy an ice cream cone during the hot summer months? According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, both a city’s crime rates and ice cream consumption peak during warmer periods. But the ice cream shops aren’t harboring thieves—it’s the weather that’s to blame. Assaults more than triple between 0-degree and 80-degree temperatures, researchers say. Summer breeds crime more so than a frigid winter: more people are outside, people often leave their homes unattended, and you’re more likely to bring easily stolen items like bikes outdoors.

Blame Stormy Weather for Your Mood
Russian scientists report that solar storms may be behind your mood swings. The researchers looked at solar activity records dating between 1948 and 1997 and found stormy periods matched up with the number of suicides in a Northern Russian town throughout that period. And researchers in the field will tell you Russians aren’t the only ones suffering: A South African study showed a 34 percent increase in the number of hospital admissions for depression in the second week after large solar storms. So if you’re sick of blaming your bad mood on work, friends, or your husband’s complaining, you could always side with the researchers and blame your pineal gland, which releases melatonin and acts as your body’s internal clock. It’s sensitive to magnetic fields and thrown off by solar storms!

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4 Ways the Weather Makes You Crazy

Posted on December 5, 2012 by admin

Image: Stockbyte/Thinkstock

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4 Ways to Make Your Cell Phone Safer

Posted on December 4, 2012 by admin

Though the thought of it might give you separation anxiety, it’s time for you to put down your cell phone. At least, that’s what one South Florida city urges. Last week, the city of Pembroke Pines passed a resolution warning citizens that radiation from cell phones might cause cancer.

The resolution came after a Pembroke Pines resident, Jimmy Gonzalez, used his own survival story to encourage his city’s commission to take action. Gonzalez had a cancerous tumor removed from above his left ear, and another tumor removed from his left hand, according to SunSentinel.com. He believes both may have been caused by his cell phone. The resolution encourages everyone to practice safer cell phone usage and to keep an eye out for news on cell phone radiation.

While city officials are certainly not health experts, the resolution isn’t completely off base. Cell phones have been getting a bad rap for a while now, although there has been much debate among researchers about the legitimacy of that reputation, according to Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, author of Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution. Some warn that cell phones can be dangerous; others argue that the hype is all overblown. “What we really need is long-term data about biological effects of chronic and cumulative radiation, especially as this new generation of cell phone-addicted children and teens transitions into adulthood,” Gittleman says.

That said, there’s a good amount of research that suggests cell phone radiation has the potential to be hazardous. The World Health Organization declared it as a possible carcinogen, and a 2011 study in the American Journal of Medicine found that 50 minutes of cell phone use causes excessive brain activity in the area nearest to the phone, according to Gittleman.

Cell phones emit radio waves, which can be absorbed by tissue nearest to the phone, according to the National Cancer Institute. (To note: The NCI also says that more research is needed to find a consistent link between cell phone use and cancers.) “Exposure to radiation—even below safety standards—has been shown to damage cellular DNA, which can lead to mutations that can cause cancer,” says Gittleman. “Studies have also found that our body’s defenses are weaker after radiation exposure—even low-level radiofrequency exposures triggers the body to produce heat stress proteins, signaling to the body that your cells are in distress.”

Disconcerting stuff, but again: Inconclusive, at least for now. In the meantime, in lieu of ditching your cell altogether, it certainly can’t hurt to practice safe cell phoning. Here, Gittleman’s four safe (and simple) ways to use your cell phone—and reduce your exposure to radiation.

Keep it away from your head. “If you hold it two inches away, the signal is about ¼ its original strength,” says Gittleman. “At four inches, it’s about 1/16 as strong.” She also recommends using the speakerphone, a bluetooth headset, or texting when possible.

Place calls strategically. Making calls when the battery is low, the signal is weak, or when you’re traveling at high speeds in a car or train can make your phone work harder to connect to the nearest cell tower, which increases your radiation exposure, according to Gittleman. The easiest way to lower your risk: Simply wait to make your call.

Throw it in your bag. Gittleman recommends carrying your phone in your bag or briefcase, rather than your pants pocket, to lower your risk for exposure. And tell the gents in your life to do the same: “Research has found that men who carried cell phones in their pockets had 25% lower sperm count than those who didn’t,” she says.

Purchase a Pong. This phone accoutrement is proven to reduce your exposure to radiation without messing with your cell signal. “[It] uses an embedded antenna that redistributes and redirects the radiation away from your head (or body),” says Gittleman.

Click here for more intel on the health risks of radiation from your mobile devices.

photo: Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock

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9 Ways to Sleep Better Tonight

Posted on November 29, 2012 by admin

Have trouble dozing off at night? Put away your Sleepytime tea—a new technology might help you catch more ZZZs. A study published online in the journal Brain and Behavior suggests that a special therapy that matches musical tones to brain frequencies may reduce symptoms of insomnia.

Twenty people with signs of insomnia participated in the study. First, researchers established the participants’ Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)—a scale that measures sleep disruption. Then they separated the participants into two groups—a control group, and a group that was given a therapy called high-resolution, relational, resonance-based, electroencephalic mirroring (HIRREM), or, as it’s commercially known, Brainwave Optimization™.

HIRREM involves using sensors to detect electrical frequency bands in the brain. Once scientists identify a specific frequency, they assign it a coordinating musical tone, which is then played back to participants via earbuds within 12 milliseconds of frequency detection. The musical tones reportedly help correct any frequency imbalances between the two hemispheres of the brain. (Those imbalances can be caused by trauma, or extended periods of stress, which create a fight or flight response in the brain, according to Charles Tegeler, M.D., professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist and principal investigator of the study.)

Participants who received the HIRREM therapy showed a significant drop in their ISI. The control group members, who originally reported no sleep improvement without the HIRREM, were also later administered the treatment and saw a significant drop in their ISI scores as well. (Disclaimer: The study was funded by a grant from Brain State Technologies, LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz., the company that owns the technology used in the study.)

While Tegeler says you probably can’t replicate these results at home, there are other ways to get better sleep that don’t involve an EEG. Try these tips the next time you need to get some serious shut-eye:

Don’t Focus on Sleeping
The more you think about the sleep you are missing, the more stressed you will be. And more stress means even less sleep. If you wake up and can’t fall back asleep within 15-20 minutes, get out of bed. Do something relaxing outside of the bedroom, like listening to music or reading. If you lie there stressing out about falling back asleep, you’ll only get more anxious. Understand that sometimes the quality of your slumber is out of your control.

Stick to a Schedule
Regularity is sleep’s best friend. Try and adhere to a strict bedtime and wake time every day, even on the weekends. When your body has a routine, it knows when to start winding down and preparing for sleep.

Check for Sleep Apnea
Snoring is common, and although it’s usually harmless, it could be a symptom of a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. If you have long pauses in your snoring (ask a friend/bedmate to listen), see your doctor. Sleep apnea, while sometimes life threatening, can be treated.

Turn to the Tub
Your mom knew a thing or two about nighttime baths. The body starts to feel sleepy when it’s temperature drops. You can exaggerate that effect by taking a warm bath or shower and then lying down and letting your body heat get low.

Block Out the Light
Even just a little bit of light can disturb your sleep. So make sure to shut off all your night lights and hallway lamps, not to mention TVs, laptops, tablets, and phones, well before you head for bed.

Exercise Earlier
Regular exercise can actually improve your sleep but you need to schedule it for the right time. Working out too close to bedtime may cause your body temperature to stay elevated, which makes it harder to doze off. Try to finish exercising at least three hours before bedtime–preferably in the afternoon.

Avoid Heavy Foods and Booze
Consuming heavy foods or alcohol before bed can cause indigestion, not to mention frequent trips to the bathroom. And although drinking alcohol may make you tired and help you fall asleep faster, you will wake up more often and not get the quality of sleep you need to feel rested the next day.

Upgrade Your Pillow
Choose a pillow that is supportive, comfortable, and suited to your sleeping position. A stomach sleeper and a side sleeper may need different pillows. Find the best pillow for your sleep habits.

Knock Boots
Yep, sex before bed can help you fall asleep faster, too. Getting frisky releases feel-good endorphins which can relieve stress, making it easier to fall asleep. Sounds good to us.

Additional reporting from the editors of Women’s Health.

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5 Ways to Treat and Prevent Migraines

Posted on November 16, 2012 by admin

The symptoms of a migraine are bad enough on their own—but scientists say having serious headaches may leave a lasting mark on your gray matter, too.

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, women who have migraines are twice as likely as non-sufferers to show structural brain changes, or lesions, due to insufficient blood flow to particular parts of the brain.

For starters, women are three times as likely as men to experience migraines, which in part is due to females’ fluctuating estrogen levels, says David W. Dodick, M.D., a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic and president-elect of the American Headache Society. “Estrogen can have a profound effect on the brain, especially brain areas that process the symptoms of a migraine attack,” he says. And although men and young women can experience migraine attacks, too, the prevalence is much higher for women between the ages of 18 and 55 due to menstruation, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause—all estrogen-altering cycles, he explains.

The migraine-induced lesions, which look like small white dots on an MRI scan, result in part due to the way the brain receives blood from the body, Dodick explains. “As you go deeper and deeper into the brain, the blood vessels branch off smaller and smaller,” he says. “And if you have a lowering of blood flow—which is the case during a migraine attack—the deepest parts of the brain may not be able to get the blood it needs, which can damage that tissue.” Luckily, while freaky, these lesions don’t seem to effect long-term cognitive function or memory.

Want to alleviate your own migraine-related maladies? The first step is to recognize that the problem is more than just head pain. “Migraines are a brain disorder, not a headache disorder,” Dodick says. “A headache is just one symptom, just as sensitivity to light, difficultly concentrating, dizziness, and nausea are also migraine symptoms” Try these tricks for preventing and alleviating some of your side effects:

Track your Triggers
If you keep a journal, you may be able to pinpoint what causes an attack, and then learn how to avoid those behaviors. Anything that upsets the equilibrium in your body—whether it’s lack of sleep, ingesting certain foods or beverages, or taking specific medications—can trigger a migraine, says Dodick.

Pop a Painkiller
Treat the pain as early as possible and don’t wait for the ache to worsen before you take medicine, Dodick advises. The less frequently you are using painkillers, the higher the dosage you can take, he says. You can safely consume 400mg to 800mg of ibuprofen or Excedrin (acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine), which is two to four tablets, according to Dodick. If the pain doesn’t lessen after four tablets, talk to your doctor.

Try Biofeedback
As a non-drug alternative, practicing relaxation therapy techniques works as a good preventative measure for managing migraines, Dodick says. “Biofeedback is a way for an individual to control the level of excitation and body temperate through meditation and other practices,” he says. By better managing the physiological processes of the body, you can lessen the migraine side effects and reduce the rate of attack.

Add Supplements
Many supplements such as magnesium, riboflavin, coenzyme Q10 and butterbur (a plant extract) have been proven to reduce the frequency of attack, says Dodick. Natural remedies aren’t regulated like prescription medication, though, so check with your doctor before stocking your cabinets with any new over-the-counter options.

Move Your Body
For some patients, excess training can trigger a migraine, says Dodick, but for many, a good workout can keep the ache away. “Regular exercise has been shown as an effective way to prevent migraine,” Dodick says. “And if you can manage other risk factors like anxiety as well as keeping your weight down, you can reduce the duration of your systems and the frequency of your attacks.”

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5 Ways to Boost Your Endurance

Posted on November 14, 2012 by admin

Another reason to lace up your sneakers: Women who can last longer running on a treadmill are less likely to develop depression, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Researchers assessed the cardiorespiratory fitness and medical history questionnaires of 1261 women and 7936 men between the ages of 20 and 85. During four clinic visits separated by 2 to 3 years, subjects took a maximal graded treadmill exercise test, a treadmill test in which incline and speed are increased until the runner is exhausted. Researchers then assessed the subjects’ medical history questionnaires, which asked patients to indicate whether they’ve had or are currently experiencing depression. After adjusting the results for body mass index, age, and various medical conditions and behaviors, researchers found that for every one-minute decrease in treadmill endurance, the risk of developing depression increased by 5.4 percent for women and by 1.3 percent for men.

Increasing your cardiorespiratory endurance and being more active in general not only reduce your risk of developing depression, but also decrease stress and anxiety; increase happiness, self confidence, and creativity; and improve memory and mental clarity, says Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., former physical therapist, current clinical psychologist, and author of A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness.

Hundreds of studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of exercise in treating clinical depression. A review of 191 of them was published in the journal Sports Medicine in 2002, and found considerable support for the value of exercise in reducing depressive symptoms in healthy people and those diagnosed with depression. For mood-boosting benefits, work out at least 30 minutes daily, or more days than not, and look for ways to be more active, even when you’re not working out, says Lombardo. Easier said than done? These tips from Lombardo and Jason Karp, Ph.D., running coach and author of Running for Women, will help:

1. Wake up 10 minutes earlier. Then take 10 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes after work, and you’ll easily rake up time for the 30 minutes of daily exercise. Fill the time with a quick workout DVD in the morning, stair climbing in your office building during lunch, and an after-work walk around the parking lot or to a train or bus station past where you typically hop on.

2. Take the magazine test. If you can read a magazine perched on your treadmill screen, you’re not working hard enough, says Karp. Strolling on the treadmill is better than sitting home eating chips, but high intensity interval training can deliver the benefits of exercise more efficiently, adds Lombardo. If you’re not working hard enough, increase your running or swimming speed, add an incline on the treadmill, or increase resistance on the elliptical or bike.

3. Use weights on the Stairmaster. Combining exercises will maximize your results and help you build cardiorespiratory endurance, says Lombardo. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand and either pump your arms to mimic a natural stair-climbing stride or raise the weights above your head and bring them back down as you climb.

4. Jump on the bed. Any activity is better than no activity for improving your mood with a release of endorphins. Plus, jumping on the bed can create a sense of nostalgia and reduce stress.

5. Alternate long and hard workouts. Monotonous workouts cause endurance and weight loss to plateau, so increase your cardiorespiratory endurance by alternating between activities that are longer and harder than your regular fitness routine. Begin by incorporating one of these into your fitness routine each week, then progress to two per week when you feel comfortable:

Long: Jog outside, run on a treadmill, elliptical, cycle, kickbox, row, or swim for at least 60 minutes at a rate where you could simultaneously talk in full sentences.

Hard a: Perform a 10-minute warm-up; 15 minutes at a comfortably-hard aerobic intensity (you shouldn’t be able to talk more than a word or two without taking a breath); 10-minute cool-down.

Hard b: Perform a 10-minute warm-up; 4 to 5 sets of 3 minutes of hard, then 3 minutes active recovery; 10-minute cool-down.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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6 Ways to Boost Your Body Confidence

Posted on November 13, 2012 by admin

As the saying goes, perception is reality. And when it comes to battling body demons, new research published online in Sex Roles suggests that
women’s perception of their friends’ body image concerns influences how they feel about their own bodies.

Researchers asked 75 pairs of college-aged female friends how often they talked to each other about four weight-related topics: nutrition, weight loss, appearance, and exercise. They also assessed the women’s body image and the pressure they felt to be thin. Conversations on these topics were related to feeling dissatisfied with their bodies—but, surprisingly, less so when they talked about exercise.

Bad news for the less confident: It turns out that the women who were hung up on their bodies assumed that their friends were, too, and their body image concerns mirrored what they perceived their friend’s concerns to be. The more they thought that their friend was dissatisfied, the more dissatisfied they became, says Louise Wasylkiw, Ph.D., study author and psychology professor at Mount Allison University in Canada. “For example, I think my friend feels bad, therefore, appearance is really important and I should feel bad, too,” Wasylkiw says.

Wasylkiw says the finding that perceptions matter wasn’t entirely surprising, but she was excited to discover that talking about exercise had a positive effect. “Our initial thought was that talking about exercise orients women to thinking about what their bodies can do rather than focusing on what their bodies look like,” she says. “If friends shared their physical activities with their friends, it may very well have a positive impact on both the friendship as well as on each woman.”

So the next time your friend tells you that she went to the gym, ask her how her workout went—you might be doing both of you a favor.

In the meantime, here are 6 other ways to combat negative body image.

1. Acknowledge (and Stop) Fat Talk
“Women are notorious for passing the baton when it comes to body image,” says Robyn Silverman, Ph.D., body image expert and author of Good Girls Don’t Get Fat: How Weight Obsession Is Messing Up Our Girls. Silverman calls it fat talk.

“If a woman says ‘I’m so fat,’ the other woman might feel like she has to say ‘no, I’m the fat one. Have you seen my thighs?’” Silverman says. “Then there’s this back and forth over whose body is worse to elevate the other person.” The problem: Even women who don’t feel negatively about their bodies will engage in this behavior and eventually, it can make them feel worse.

If you and your friends are prone to fat-talking, Silverman suggests that you jokingly say something like, “Isn’t it amazing that when women get together, ‘fat’ comes out of our mouths?’ We are successful, smart, amazing women and this is what we have to talk about?” Then change the subject. You could even establish that your friendship is a fat talk-free zone.

If a friend can’t stop, discuss it with her. “The discussion you should have is ‘I really love having you as a friend. Every time we’re together I feel like this is a conversation that we wind up having and I think it makes us both feel bad. What do you think about that?’”

2. Put Action Before Appearance
Shift your focus from what your body looks like to what it can do, Silverman says. “Instead of saying ‘I hate my thighs,’ ask yourself: What do your thighs allow you to do?” she says. “Maybe it becomes ‘my legs allow me to take zumba class, which makes me feel awesome.’’

“When you can talk positively about yourself in terms of what your body can do, you start to view your body in a very different way,” she says.

3. Identify Body Parts You Love
Make sure you’re also focusing on the things that you love about yourself, Silverman suggests. “Some people look at themselves in the mirror and say horrible things. If they’re saying it out loud, then they’re hearing that—they’re underscoring the problem.” Pick a body part that you love—your breasts, your shoulders, your butt—and talk out loud about it. “In the same way, if you’re saying ‘My butt looks great in these jeans,’ then you’re hearing that, too.”

4. Bust Out the Post-Its
Changing how you talk to yourself is a habit that you have to both break and create, so expect it to take a month before positive self-talk feels like second nature. “If you’re struggling with it and you think ‘I feel like I’m lying to myself,’ ask your friends for help.” The next time a friend or family member pays you a compliment, ask them to write it down, then tape it to your mirror. (Or, if you’re too embarrassed to ask, just do it yourself in secret later). “Then you’re getting the statements of positive people in your life who make you feel really good to combat the negative things that you think about yourself,” she says.

5. Name Your Body Bully
Negative self-talk can feel like it’s your voice, but it often isn’t, Silverman says. She suggests that you try to figure out who or where it came from. For instance, a boy named Joe who made fun of your nose in the 8^th grade. “If you have a negative thought, you can say ‘Joe, you’re not welcome here.’ You then take it off yourself and put it on an object,” Silverman says. “It’s not your voice, it’s not the truth, and it makes it so you can heal and move forward.”

6. Hold Yourself to A Higher Standard
Why not be as nice to yourself as you are to the people you love? “Think to yourself, ‘would I say this to my best friend, or my sister, or my mother?’” Silverman says. “If you cannot imagine another human being who you love saying this to themselves or someone else talking to them that way, then how are you talking to yourself in that manner?”

“Nobody wants you to do this to yourself. And you can’t want that for yourself either.”

photo: Goodshot/Thinkstock

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6 Ways to Stay Healthy This Winter

Posted on November 13, 2012 by admin

In bleak breaking news: No matter what climate you live in, you’re more likely to die in the winter, according to new research presented at the 2012 American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions.

Researchers at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles reviewed four years’ worth of death certificates from seven locations with varying climates throughout the United States. They then compared seasonal death rates, and found that an average of 26 to 36 percent more circulatory deaths (i.e., heart attack, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke) and deaths overall occurred in the winter months than in the summer months. Interestingly, the seasonal death rate patterns were very similar even in locations with different climates, such as Arizona and Massachusetts.

“Previous studies suggested that the winter increase in death rates was related to colder temperatures,” says Bryan Schwartz, M.D., lead study author and clinical cardiovascular fellow at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. “Climate is likely still a factor, but the relationship is much more complicated than simply, ‘as temperature goes down death rates increase’.” Because people acclimate to their climate, mild winter weather may be just as daunting as severe winter weather, depending on what you’re used to. For instance, a Wisconsinite might scoff at a winter low of 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but it could feel very cold to someone living in Los Angeles who isn’t used to that temperature.

Schwartz says the number of circulatory deaths may peak in the winter because the body has to work harder to circulate blood in colder weather, which puts strain on the cardiovascular system. Plus, you’re more likely to suffer a respiratory infection in cold weather. This could increase one’s risk of blood clots and lead to a heart attack or stroke, and push a person who already has advanced cardiovascular disease over the edge.

Increased depressive symptoms and getting too little vitamin D could also explain why deaths rates peak in winter months. But unless you’re elderly or already suffering from cardiovascular disease, Schwartz says there’s no reason for you to worry about whether you’ll survive to see next spring. Still, it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the winter months, when most people tend to slip, so follow Schwartz’s tips to keep your health intact through the dead of winter:

1. Get a flu shot. This year’s vaccine promises a 70 to 80 percent rate of effectiveness in fighting two new strains of flu virus, so get the shot or nasal spray before you subject your body to the virus that zaps your energy and puts you at heightened risk of pneumonia, a dangerous lung infection that can be deadly if left untreated.

2. Get a pneumonia vaccine, if you qualify. The U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend vaccination for those under age 2 and over age 65, plus smokers, asthmatics, and anyone with heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, kidney failure, organ transplants, or one of these special conditions.

3. Heat up some soup. It’s easy to fall prey to poor eating habits when you’re cooped up inside. But some cold-weather comfort foods such as tomato soup can banish winter blues and boost your immunity: In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 10 subjects ate a tomato-rich diet for 3 weeks, their infection-fighting white blood cells sustained 38 percent less damage from free radicals—atoms in the body that damage and destabilize cells —than when they ate no tomato products. Antioxidants such as lycopene in tomatoes can helping white blood cells resist the damaging effects of free radicals. Here are more foods to boost your immune system.

4. Find an exercise buddy. Inactivity causes one in ten of the world’s premature deaths related to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and colon cancer, according to a paper published this year in the journal Lancet. The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of movement a day, five times a week. But don’t let cold feet keep you from a sweat session. Instead, commit to regular walks or gym workouts with a friend for accountability. Aim to work out for at least half an hour every day.

5. Eat fish. Salmon, swordfish, and tuna fish are loaded with vitamin D, an essential vitamin our bodies can naturally produce with sun exposure. However, levels can dip when cold winter weather keeps you undercover and indoors. Not good, considering that low levels of this vitamin have been associated with a 64 percent higher risk of heart attack, a 57 percent higher risk of early death, and an 81 percent higher risk of death from heart disease, according to a 2012 Danish study. So chip away at the recommended 1000 mg a day with 3 oz of fish (154-566 mcg). Not a fan of seafood? Try a cup of milk (115 mcg) or yogurt (80 mcg) or ask your doctor about taking a supplement.

6. Invest in white light. Swap dull bulbs for super-bright white fluorescent lighting to keep your energy up and fend off depression-fueled carb cravings that lead to winter weight gain, which ups your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening conditions. White bulbs fill in for natural light absent from shorter winter days to normalize your circadian rhythm, elevate levels of mood-boosting serotonin, and ward off seasonal effective disorder, a depressive condition that women are especially susceptible to.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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6 Ways to Manage Stress

Posted on November 8, 2012 by admin

Stress is a normal part of life. But how you handle that stress has major implications for your long-term health. Turns out dwelling on daily stressors can double your risk of chronic health problems, according to a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Researchers interviewed 435 people, asking them about the daily stresses they experienced, their mood, and the physical health symptoms they had. The interviews were conducted between 1995 and 1996 and then again 10 years later. The authors also analyzed participants’ levels of the stress hormone cortisol from saliva samples. They found that participants who dwelled on the small stressors, rather than letting the problems roll off their backs, were twice as likely to report an increase in chronic health problems 10 years later. The most common conditions reported: Pain (like arthritis and fibromyalgia), cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal problems.

How Stress Impacts the Body
It’s not news that stress can negatively impact your health. In the short term, people who experience stress are more likely to report headaches, stomach problems, anxiety, and decreased productivity. Stress can also affect memory and cognitive performance: You’re more likely to forget things and perform worse on cognitive tasks, as if you had the brain of someone about 6 years older, says study author David Almeida, Ph.D., professor of human development and family studies at Penn State University.

Almeida’s study is one of the first to look at the long-term effects of stress, however. As for why stress can leave lasting damage over a decade, Almeida has two theories. The first: “When we get upset in the face of stressors, we have increases in cortisol, or disruptions to our daily physiology. Over time, this could place the body at risk [for health problems].” For example, spikes in cortisol cause heart rate to increase, which make your cardiovascular system work harder.

His other theory is purely behavioral: When people are experiencing stress, they’re less likely to engage in the types of things that improve health, like exercising and eating well.

How to Manage Stress in a Healthy Way
Almeida maintains that stress in and of itself isn’t bad. “In the end, it’s healthy to have stressors in our lives—that means we have challenge in our lives,” Almeida says. “But we have to be aware of how we respond to these challenges.”

“If you’re carrying it with you when you go to sleep or if it disrupts your going to sleep then you’re certainly dwelling.”

Try these tips for managing frustration and improving your mood:

1. Break a Sweat
If at all possible, find an outlet for physical activity and exercise, Almeida says. It’s only natural. “We’ve evolved to mobilize energy in the face of a stressor,” he says. Heart rate goes up and glucose is sent to all parts of our bodies, but “our modern-day response to that is to sit and work out the challenge mentally when our bodies are saying ‘go out and do something.’”

If you know in advance that a certain day is going to be stressful, schedule a workout for that morning. If, instead, you’ve been blindsided by tension, make a point to hit the gym in the evening or work out at home. (Chill out with this relaxing yoga routine.)

2. Be Solution-Oriented
“Try to focus on solving the problem if it’s solvable, rather than focusing on your emotions about the problem,” Almeida says. Make a list of all the steps you need to take to get something accomplished and then cross them off as you complete them. When you see that you’re making progress on smaller, more manageable tasks, the job as a whole will feel less overwhelming, Dan Ariely, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and economics at Duke University who studies irrational behavior.

3. Laugh It Off
The people who do best at not dwelling are those who have some sort of positive outlook on life, Almeida says. “In the face of challenge they can maintain joy, happiness, or humor—that seems to help a lot in limiting the duration of the stress response,” he says.

Research shows that smiling and laughing increase feel-good endorphins. Cracking up also causes levels of the stress hormones to plummet. Your laughter Rx? Hit up Buzzfeed.com and belly-laugh at animal photos or watch a YouTube clip from your favorite comedian.

4. Count Your Blessings
Being grateful can help calm you down. In a study published in Applied Physiology, people who focused on feeling grateful at bedtime were less worried and anxious and their overall sleep quality was better compared to previous nights. To improve your mood and outlook, make a list of five things for which you’re grateful every night, no matter how small.

5. Massage It Out
A rub doesn’t just make your muscles feel good—it can also do wonders for your anxiety. When the nerves in your skin sense firm pressure, your brain activates your parasympathetic nervous system. As a result, your adrenal glands cut back the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and vasopressin and your brain boosts production of the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin. (Here’s how to give yourself an amazing DIY massage right now.)

6. Eat Your Veggies
New research shows that happiness is highest among people who eat seven servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The more good-for-you foods people ate, the more likely they were to report satisfaction and happiness and the less likely they were to experience nervousness and “feeling low.” The positive effects topped out at seven servings, which might seem like a lot but it’s doable. Try these tricks for squeezing more fruits and veggies into your diet.

Additional Reporting By:
Women’s Health Editors

photo: Comstock/Thinkstock

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