Posts

You wake up in the middle of the night, relieved it’s only 3 a.m. and that you still have a few hours of solid shut-eye before you have to get up. Only, you can’t fall back to sleep. So what’s your solution? Here are seven strategies you can use to drift back into dreamland—fast. Turn on as few lights as possible. Don’t flick every switch on your way to the bathroom....

[sidebar]The research: Researchers from the University College London tracked reported flu cases among 5,448 people from 2006 to 2011. They also contacted the study participants weekly during cold and flu seasons to ask about any symptoms, and collected blood samples and nasal swabs to check for influenza infections that may have gone unnoticed. Here’s what they found: Flu infection rates were roughly 22-times higher than the government had estimated, and 3 out of 4 infected people didn’t report any symptoms....

But thankfully, you don’t have to cave. Use these simple sugar swaps in everything from coffee to oatmeal to tomato sauce, and keep your taste buds—and the rest of your body—happy. Add ground cinnamon. By itself, cinnamon doesn’t actually taste sweet. But since most of us associate it with sugary things like cookies and pies, adding it to stuff—think oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, or roasted fruit—creates the illusion of sweetness. Or vanilla....

She thought it would go away with time and a little help from an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever. It didn’t. It was the first of many headaches she would endure that day and every day that followed. At age 48, Riley had become a migraineur, a term used to describe migraine sufferers. She’s in good company. An estimated 28 million Americans—nearly 10% of the population, and most of them women—suffer from migraines....

MORE: 7 Classic Breakfasts Turned Into Smoothies Mistake: Under-blending The Fix: Let’s not understate this: Take. Your. Time. Smoothies are quick, but that doesn’t mean blending for 3 seconds is going to cut it. You want to blend everything really well so that your smoothie is lump-free. Aim for 1 to 2 minutes with a regular blender, or 1 minute if you’re using a Vitamix. Mistake: Not adding a thickenerFix: Smoothies should have some body to them, so use something that will thicken the mix and make it creamy....

In the research, subjects were shown a mix of neutral words like “table” and negative words like “terrorism” and were then asked to report what color ink the word was printed in. Subjects who saw negative words only once named the colors of the following neutral words more slowly. Why? Scientists believe that when you see threatening words, you use up mental resources to control your emotional response, leaving less attention for the task at hand....

Bummed out about blemishes? Hey, join the club: More adult women are suffering from problem complexions than ever before, with one recent study suggesting that an estimated 26% of those aged 31 to 40 are now afflicted with acne. And while there’s no cure, a comprehensive new review of earlier research suggests that diet might have more of an impact than experts previously suspected. Investigators reporting in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics surveyed the history of research into diet and acne, dating back more than 100 years, says study co-author Jennifer Burris, MS, RD, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University....

Many of us experiencing emotional eating when what we really need is nurturing. When Erin joined my online support group, she found what she’d been missing, and she lost 70 lb. (Are you addicted to food? Learn 4 ways to break the habit.) To find out if you are an emotional eater, ask yourself these questions: 1. Do you eat when you’re feeling sad, lonely, or bored? 2. Do you celebrate or reward yourself with food?...

Yikes, right? Researchers made this discovery after measuring the drinks’ phosphorus content in a lab, then comparing their numbers with the drinks’ phosphorus content in a food database used by health professionals. In some cases, phosphorus content among the same brand varied by as much as 260 mg per cup. [block:bean=sub-offer-flatbelly-flexblock] The bigger problem: Many packaged foods, not just drinks, contain phosphorous additives, yet the FDA doesn’t require companies to list how much on the label....

When it comes to preventing heart attacks, conventional wisdom has been that an aspirin a day keeps the doctor away. However, any benefits that people who have never had a heart attack or stroke reap from taking aspirin are largely offset by the drug’s dangerous side effect of internal bleeding, according to a new study published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Aspirin helps protect against heart disease or stroke by slashing the risk of blood clots....

In a recent breakthrough study, U.S. scientists discovered that gut microorganisms not only influence immune cell function, but actually support the production of immune cells that form the first line of defense against infection. Your gut is your immune system—two-thirds of your immune system, to be exact. In fact, the gut is so complex and regulates so many bodily functions it’s often called the body’s “second brain.” About 80% of the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract—not the brain....

DAILY ROUTINES Follow this plan for the next 4 weeks. *Routine is the same as month 2 Get the Defy Your Age: Month 1 Fitness Plan. Get the Defy Your Age: Month 2 Fitness Plan. See the entireDefy Your Age Challenge. [pagebreak] THIS MONTH’S YOGA POSES Repeat this series for 25 minutes (about 5 times through). Finish by holding Child’s Pose for 10 breaths. Then move into the Legs Up the Wall pose from months 1 and 2....

Wild Mushroom-Lentil Burgers PREP TIME: 20 MINTOTAL TIME: 35 MINSERVINGS: 4 6 oz shiitake mushrooms 1 can (15.5 oz) lentils, rinsed and drained ¾ c fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (from 1 slice) 1 lg egg ¼ c chopped celery 1½ Tbsp fresh thyme 2 tsp Dijon mustard 1 c chopped onion 4 oz mild goat cheese 6 Tbsp fine yellow cornmeal 3 tsp olive oil 4 whole wheat buns, toasted ¼ c chopped roasted red bell peppers ¼ c watercress...

Chest press A. Lie face up on a bench. Hold a dumbbell in each hand so they are end to end. Extend your arms over your chest without locking your elbows. Lift your legs and bend them so your calves are almost parallel to the floor. If this is uncomfortable, put your feet on the bench. Don’t…push the weights back over your head or arch your back. B. Bend your elbows out to the sides and slowly lower your arms toward your chest until your upper arms are parallel to the floor....

There aren’t many compliments to pay processed food, but even we’ll admit: The stuff sure can be colorful. Give the food industry a dull block of ice, and voila! They’ll give you back an azure popsicle. Unfortunately, a blockbuster new study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology finds that blue dye used in edible products might be doing more to our bodies than we thought. The research team, out of the Slovak University of Technology, studied two blue dyes, Patent Blue and Brilliant Blue....