Getting a Good Night’s Sleep – Part 2

I blogged the other day about things you don’t want to eat before bedtime if you want a good night’s sleep. Things like chocolate and caffeine may prevent you from getting the sleep you need. But, there are some things you can eat to help. One unlikely snack is cherries. Yes, cherries are one of the few natural foods that contain melatonin, the precious chemical we need to help regulate our sleep. You will also find melatonin in bananas and grapes, but cherries, both fresh and dried, contain more. If you want to plan for a good night’s sleep, eat … Continue reading →

5 Reasons Staying Fit Keeps You Young

One of the best things you can do for your health is to get fit and to stay fit. There are so many benefits of physical activity and exercise. We all know this, but if you needed a few extra reasons to get started, you can know that staying fit also helps keep you young and spry. Here are five reasons why staying fit will keep you young (and healthy). 1. Bone Density Increases Exercise, especially the weight bearing kind, is one sure way to strengthen your bones. Don’t worry, you don’t have to lift 50 pound weights, just talking … Continue reading →

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep – Part 1

When I was younger, I never thought about having a rough’s night sleep. I slept like a baby and didn’t understand why some people complained about not sleeping well. As I edge towards 50, I now understand what it is to lose sleep. So are there some dos and don’ts to getting a good night’s sleep? There certainly is when it comes to food. A lot of times when you can’t sleep, you may think heading for a midnight snack will help make you sleepy. You should avoid preserved and smoked meats. So that means no ham sandwich or leftover … Continue reading →

Twin Study Shows How We Age Ourselves

The choices you make throughout your life can play a big part in whether you look younger or older than your years. That’s the message from a study on twins and aging from Case Western Reserve University. Researchers looked at identical twins to see how choices like tanning, smoking, and more impacted the way a person ages. According to the study, these behaviors or choices can make you look younger: * Taking birth control or hormone replacement therapy. Estrogen can help increase water retention, and the more hydrated your skin is, the smoother it will look. * Using sunscreen. There … Continue reading →

Are You Ready to Live to 100?

A new report from the Danish Aging Research Center says that blowing out 100 candles might become old news for kids in developed countries. Life expectancy has been on the rise for residents of developed countries over the last two hundred years or so. If that trend continues, says researchers from the University of Southern Denmark’s Danish Aging Research Center, then hitting your one hundredth birthday could become old hat. They say that most babies born since 2000 in developed countries like France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., Japan, the U.S., and Canada have a good chance of living to see … Continue reading →

Tips for Reducing Your Stroke Risk

A stroke can strike at any age — it isn’t just a problem for senior citizens. Women between the ages of forty-five and fifty-four are at especially high risk of a stroke. What can you do to protect yourself? Here are some tips from the American Stroke Association. Manage blood pressure. High blood pressure encourages plaque build-up… plaque can form clots that cause stroke. Get your blood pressure levels checked at least every other year. Manage cholesterol. High cholesterol also encourages plaque build-up… plaque can form clots. Get your cholesterol levels checked at least every five years. Quit smoking! Lighting … Continue reading →

Middle-Aged Women and Stroke

According to the American Stroke Association, more than one hundred thousand women in the United States under the age of sixty-five have a stroke each year. Compare that to the approximately 83,000 American women who suffer a heart attack! Most strokes occur when a clot blocks blood flow to the brain. There is another type of stroke that is comparably rare — a blood vessel in the brain bursting. If you’re going to worry about stroke (and you should), focus your worry on those clots. More statistics from the American Stroke Association: Stroke risk is highest in women between the … Continue reading →

Pre-Dementia is on the Rise

A study from the Mayo Clinic looked at a mild type of memory loss that may precede Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers looked at approximately sixteen hundred adults between the ages of seventy and eighty-nine living near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. All of the study participants had normal mental and memory function when they joined the study; within a year, more than five percent had developed some impairment. Men in the study were twice as likely as women to develop memory impairment. However, women often live longer and therefore have more time to develop memory issues. Researchers called this … Continue reading →

The Right Foods to Fight Aging

Are you prepared to grow old gracefully? Or would you rather fight it, kicking and screaming? You don’t need expensive treatments and strict regimens to feel and look younger — the right diet choices can make a huge impact on your health! One of the best things you can do is drink more water. I know, I tell you this all the time… but water is SO good for you! Here are just a few benefits of water: As you age, your sense of thirst can become less acute — so you don’t realize it when you are becoming dehydrated. … Continue reading →

Too Many Baby Boomers are Facing Alzheimer’s

A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association has some bad news about the future of Alzheimer’s disease. Right now, more than five million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — including as many as 250,000 people under the age of sixty-five. By 2010, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be five hundred thousand new cases reported each year. By 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be one million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease annually. The bad news focuses especially on baby boomers. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their … Continue reading →