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We’ve even seen it turn up on the giveaway table here in our New York office. (Where someone found excess zucchini in mid-town Manhattan beats us.) There a pile of the veggies sat recently amid the giveaway chocolate and chips, and yes, sadly, the zucchini was the last to go. Well, diss this vegetable no more. Today (cue the fanfare) is National Zucchini Day. We don’t know who decided this, and it’s not to be confused with National Zucchini Bread Day on April 25, but our trusty research department tells us that August 8 is a big day for zucchini....

The research: University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center researchers conducted the study on nearly 1,800 adult twins to observe how sleep duration affects the heritability of depressive symptoms. Among twins sleeping what researchers deemed the “normal” amount—7 to 9 hours—their total genetic risk for depressive symptoms was 27%, but increased to 53% among twins who reported sleeping 5 hours per night, and 49% for those who slept 10 hours. What it means: “This is just another thing pointing to the importance of getting a normal amount of sleep,” says study author Nathanial F....

Drugs can undoubtedly save lives, but our penchant for prescriptions can sometimes mean treating or masking symptoms—without fixing the root cause of the health issue. “There are natural therapies available that are much safer, often more effective, and cost much less,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, author of the book Real Cause, Real Cure. “Of course, you should never start, change, or stop taking medications without first talking to your doctor....

Researchers studied DNA samples of more than 5,600 people born in 1966. Thirty-one years later, they found that those who’d been unemployed for at least two years were more than twice as likely to have short telomeres. What does that have to do with aging? A lot: telomeres are protective caps located at the ends of chromosomes and shorten throughout your lifetime. As they shrink, they’re linked to a greater risk of age-related illnesses including type 2 diabetes and heart disease....

PART I: Slimming SandBell Circuit What You’ll Need: A 6-, 8-, or 10-pound SandBell. Our testers used a 10-pound Hyperwear SandBell ($22; hyperwear.com). If necessary, start with a 6-pound SandBell and increase the weight as you become stronger. How To Do It:Warm up with a few minutes of light calisthenics, such as shallow squats, knee lifts, and arm circles. Then do the Slimming SandBell Circuit (p. 86) 3 times. Perform as many quality reps of each move as you can during the set time frame....

13 Ways To Lower Blood Pressure Naturally Researchers looked at 29 studies involving adults taking vitamin C supplements (an average of 500 milligrams a day) for a minimum of two weeks. Taking vitamin C was consistently shown to lower both diastolic and systolic blood pressure, especially for those with hypertension—something one third of US adults has. How? Researchers speculate that vitamin C may protect levels of nitric oxide, a natural compound in the body that helps blood vessels maintain normal blood pressure....

Surprising at it sounds, that’s the provocative suggestion of a new study that examines how vocal pitch affects one’s perceived leadership ability. A research team, writing in the journal PLOS ONE, had 70 men and women listen to various recordings of different voices stating the same message: “I urge you to vote for me this November,” and then decide which candidate they’d be inclined to pick in elections for both a school board leader and a PTA member (both chosen because they tend to be associated with women)....

Why does walking work so well? It appears to help reduce deep belly fat (called visceral fat) first, explains Tim Church, MD, MPH, PhD, of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University. “If you exercise enough to lose 10% of your body fat, you may actually reduce visceral fat by 30%,” says Church. All walking burns belly fat, but for best results, crank up your weekly MET (metabolic equivalent) hours–the number of calories you burn....

The Candle Burns Out Staying In, Slimming Down Giving Up Smoking title: “Weight Loss Success Stories Prevention” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-09” author: “Tammy Burke” Finding the Right Path

The research: Led by Len Kravitz, PhD, of the University of New Mexico’s exercise physiology laboratory, ACE recruited 13 women ages 18 to 55, who didn’t exercise. Each subject was assigned to wear either no vest or one weighing 10% or 15% of her body weight. They then each walked at 2.5 mph (a speed deemed comfortable for unfit people) at an incline of 0 to 15% for a total of 16 minutes....

When you think of tomatoes, that classic pop of red in the midst of fresh farmers market veggies probably comes to mind. Blame it on the lycopene, a disease-fighting phytonutrient that gives red tomatoes their signature vibrant hue. But what about their slightly sweeter, less-hyped counterpart? Yellow tomatoes don’t get nearly as much love, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a place in your grocery cart. Both are loaded with nutrients, so what exactly makes them different?...

Absolutely! An easy switch from margarine to a trans-free spread can make these cookies healthier, while staying true to the original taste and texture. Using marshmallow cream instead of a cooked filling containing shortening eliminates fat and slashes calories. In fact, our solution has 34% fewer calories, 33% less sat fat, and 100% less trans fat (0 g) than the original recipe. Work time: 30 minutes / Total time: 45 minutes / Servings: 16 Ingredients: 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup 50/50 butter blend spread (we used Smart Balance) 1 egg white 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup fat-free milk 1 jar (7....

There’s no doubt about it: Sex after 50 rocks! But I wouldn’t expect you to just take my word for it, or my sex advice, so I’ve asked around. Now I can say with certainty, straight from the mouths of sexually-fulfilled people over 50, that sex after 50 rocks and maybe I can inspire you to embrace the sexual advice of these experts. They say 50 is the new 30....

With brand new stories of celebrity and political infidelity hitting the newsstands every week, one can’t help but wonder if happily-ever-after is a big, fat myth. After all, if this is what we’re seeing regularly in our glossy magazines and on TV, what’s happening behind closed doors? Is monogamy just too much to ask? Over at Good in Bed, we’ve been curious to learn how people truly feel about monogamy these days....

After tracking the progress of 1,205 men and women who’d enrolled in an outpatient weight-loss program—which included regular meetings with psychologists, nutritionists and physicians—researchers at the University of Alberta and the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton found that a whopping 43% dropped out before achieving sustainable weight loss. And ladies, listen up: Women were the most likely to quit the program early. “These are women who’ve often struggled with their weight for years,” says Daniel Birch, MD, co-director of the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s “Weight Wise” program and the study’s lead author....

And here’s the scariest part: Many doctors don’t regularly check their patients’ hearing. A study from Virginia Commonwealth University shows that physicians skip nearly half of all regular evaluations at yearly check-ups, and one of the most routinely missed tests is the hearing exam—it gets bypassed nearly 70 percent of the time. “It’s so important to regularly get a hearing test because all too often people don’t know that they have a problem,” says Ellen Finkelstein, AUD, an audiologist in New York City....

A number of women have been making headlines recently with “mirror fasts,” giving up looking at their reflections for a set amount of time. Marisa Gizzio, a 45-year-old stay-at-home-mom, did a two-day mirror fast hoping it would help her stop critiquing her body. Sociology graduate student Kjerstin Gruys’ fast began when she found that shopping for a wedding dress—perhaps the most mirror-centric activity of all—made her feel insecure and brought up old body issues....