Health Advice
/Health
Taking the pressure off -- your blood pressure
Everyone is tense these days. Polls show the majority of us are nervous about staying safe and secure. No wonder high blood pressure (HBP) affects almost half of U.S. adults -- and, according to a commentary published in The American Journal of Medicine, only about 20% of folks with HBP are controlling it effectively. The health consequences are...Read more
How to hold on to the health benefits of your summer vacation
As summer winds down and memories of days spent at the beach or in a national park begin to fade, you want to hold on to the important physical and mental health benefits you got from your vacation.
Inspiration and creativity come from relaxation. Lin-Manuel Miranda says the idea for "Hamilton" came to him while on holiday: "It's no accident ...Read more
Happy feet, happy you!
If a moderately active person takes 7,500 steps a day up to age 80, they'll have put their feet down more than 216 million times! No wonder almost 90% of folks report foot pain at one time or another.
There's a lot that can get sore in a foot, since it contains 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 120 muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves. Over ...Read more
Is your cookware making you sick?
Flu season is around the corner, but right now there's a lot of talk about Teflon Flu -- a set of symptoms including headache, fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea, sweating and a bad taste in your mouth, that is caused by exposure to toxic fumes from nonstick cookware. It seems that Teflon and some replacement nonstick coatings that claim to be ...Read more
Drink in this new news
Almost 80% of folks ages 50 to 80 drink alcohol occasionally and approximately 20% of adults ages 60 to 64 and around 10% over the age of 65 report binge drinking. One poll even found that more than a quarter of adults over 50 and 10 % over age 65 report having six or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past year.
That's risky business ...Read more
You can tame your sweet tooth
You know you're eating more added sugar than you should (which in an ideal world is none!). And you're not alone. The average American takes in 17 teaspoons of added sugars from foods like sweetened beverages and desserts daily! That adds up to 270 calories a day or just under 100,000 extra calories a year. Yikes! No wonder sweet snacking ...Read more
Walk away from your health risks
It's true, we're walking-obsessed, and for good reasons. But you may think the benefits are limited to improving balance, leg strength and respiration, along with dispelling stress and managing your blood sugar. Not quite.
Research shows that walking has far-reaching powers to counter even genetic predispositions to poor health! When Harvard ...Read more
Three ways to stop age-related muscle loss
Many people find that they're hitting their stride around age 35. But the body has other ideas. That's when the gradual loss of muscle mass begins. Folks typically experience a 1% to 2% loss of muscle annually up to age 60, then it accelerates to around 3%. This creates a condition called sarcopenia. And while muscle is lost, folks often ...Read more
Spilling the beans ... on beans
You may not give a hill of beans about the health benefits of beans -- but they stack up to a mountain of good news. Research shows that they improve your heart health by reducing lousy LDL cholesterol levels. For example, one study recently found that folks who eat the most beans reduce their risk of coronary heart disease by 10% compared to ...Read more
How a vegan diet affects aging
Only around 1% of Americans are vegan -- avoiding any food product related to animals. So, when researchers came up with the idea of checking out the benefits of avoiding meat and more by looking at 22 sets of twins -- one put on a healthy vegan diet, one on a healthy omnivore diet -- that offered a pretty good way of assessing the impact.
The ...Read more
To be happy tomorrow, eat fruit today
Polling indicates that 6 million older Americans are struggling with the physical and emotional challenges of depression. That can lead to inactivity, poor nutrition and lack of social interaction, all fueling chronic health problems.
To protect yourself from that future, we've long recommended having a posse and a purpose, getting plenty of ...Read more
Protect your kids (and yourself) from colorectal cancer and IBD
A 2024 study reveals that in the U.S., over the last 20 years, the rates of colorectal cancers in kids ages 10 to 14 increased by a horrifying 500% and went up by 333% among 15- to 19-year-olds, and 185% among young adults ages 20 to 24. IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) has also skyrocketed: There was a 46% increase in prevalence from 2006 to ...Read more
Let your smile put you in good health
When you were a kid, losing a tooth was cause for celebration -- not only would the tooth fairy bring you a reward, but it meant you were getting "grown-up teeth." As an adult, it's just the opposite. Tooth loss is a dire warning of potential health problems -- and it's all too common. The American College of Prosthodontists says over 36 million...Read more
Can you toe the line?
Putting your best foot forward is a good goal when it comes to excelling at work and, it turns out when you're taking steps to achieve healthy aging. That's because feet that are strong and agile improve your balance and flexibility, and make it easier to walk, exercise -- and dance. We're only kidding a little. Dancing is important because it ...Read more
A spice that eases joint pain just as well as an NSAID
We're a nation in pain. More than 70 million prescriptions for pain-relieving NSAIDs are written annually in the U.S. When you add purchases of over-the-counter meds like ibuprofen and naproxen sodium, it's estimated that more than 30 billion doses of NSAIDs are consumed every year. And while they may provide sweet relief in the short term, more...Read more