Do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions, with a 1-minute break in between. Aim for two or three workouts a week, resting a day between sessions. Hip Lift Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, palms facing up. Raise your legs so they are straight up toward the ceiling and perpendicular to your torso. Pull your navel toward your spine and lift your hips a few inches off the floor, keeping your legs pointed straight up....
The research: A team of researchers at Northwestern University analyzed the amounts of each form of vitamin E in the blood of 4,526 adults over a period of 20 years. High levels of gamma-tocopherol were linked to a 10 to 17% reduction in lung function, meaning these adults weren’t able to take in as much air and had more trouble getting air out. The bottom line: If you get the right form of vitamin E, your lungs will thank you for it—getting plenty of alpha-tocopherol works in the reverse direction, taking lung capacity from good to above-average....
As if physical fatigue and a foggy brain weren’t bad enough, restless nights may also harm your heart. A new multi-year study published in the European Heart Journal finds evidence of a substantial link between insomnia and the risk of heart failure. For more than 11 years, a study team from several Scandinavian universities tracked the sleeping habits and heart failure rates of more than 50,000 men and women. The researchers focused on the three major hallmarks of insomnia: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and waking up still feeling fatigued....
Well, guess what: Olive oil is perfectly safe to cook with. “I have found no evidence that high-heat cooking with olive oil is unhealthy,” says Rebecca Blake, RD, director of clinical nutrition at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City. “There’s no proof.” And she’s not alone: Several recent studies have found that olive oil is more resistant to heat than other plant oils like sunflower, corn, and soybean....
Wait—that grass-fed bacon you’ve been pigging out on may not be truly Paelo? That’s right, according to the co-author of the paper, Ken Sayers, PhD, an anthropologist at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University. Here, he shares some revealing tidbits from his work that might make you think twice about jumping (or staying) on the Paleo bandwagon. There is no one Paleo diet.The Paleolithic Era began as early as 2....
Starting today (and just in time for face-numbing winter temps!), Panera is serving its revamped lineup of no-artificial-anything soups, including French Onion and the beloved Broccoli Cheddar. MORE: The 5 Healthiest Soups from Your Favorite Lunch Spots Removing additives from the soups hasn’t been a cakewalk: According to head chef Dan Kish (above), the chain’s culinary team went through 60 revisions of the broccoli cheddar soup recipe before getting the taste just right while removing artificial ingredients....
The study, published in the JAMA Internal Medicine, divided 194 African American women into two groups. One group was given weight loss advice and counseling, while the other group was counseled on maintaining their weight. After 12 months, the weight loss group continued to gain while the maintenance group maintained. After 18 months, same story. Why? “The maintenance principles apply much more widely,” says lead author Gary Bennett, PhD, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience and global health at Duke....
Strong legs also boost aerobic fitness, a measure of your body’s ability to burn fat during exercise. With every step you take, your large lower-body muscles help your veins squeeze blood back to your heart, making it stronger and increasing your aerobic capacity. The result: You can walk longer and faster without fatigue, burning calories more efficiently along the way. These exercises target those beautiful below-the-belt muscles. They’ll help you keep up with your friends while making your legs and butt shapelier for the effort....
Here are some tips to get the most out of your beauty sleep: Grab one now for this super low price, and breathe easy knowing you’ve invested in your well-being.
Here’s how to get started moving your pet—and you—toward a slimmer, healthier future. Make a plan. If you can’t see a distinct waistline below your dog’s or cat’s rib cage, it’s likely that he’s overweight. Aim for a 1 to 2% drop in body weight per week, says Phil Zeltzman, DVM, a board-certified traveling veterinary surgeon in Allentown, PA. Ask your vet if your pet is healthy enough to begin an exercise program....
Every time you toss low calorie foods into the cart, you’re taking responsibility for weight loss—even before you sit down to a meal. There’s a very simple formula for eating low calorie foods: Stock up on low-calorie staples. These are the basic packaged, canned, and frozen ingredients that you’ll reach for to create tasty, healthful, low-calorie foods anytime. The Picture Perfect Anytime List is a menu of the lowest-calorie produce, soups, sauces, condiments, marinades, dressings, dips, candies, desserts, and beverages available....
Luv me not. Luv me. Valentine’s Day is a day I tend to get sentimental and needy. What will he get me? How romantic will our restaurant be? I can go there, but I don’t stay there. I make sure that I take time on V-day to send a little love letter to my friends and family, and say those three words that make us all feel whole. I love you....
And that’s good news, because spousal support is a big predictor of happiness in women, a new, admittedly unsurprising study reveals. Researchers at Kent State University asked 50 couples to fill out a journal every day for a week ranking their moods, as well as how much emotional support they provided and received from their spouse. No shocker here: The women who reported feeling supported were happier than those who didn’t....
TofuWhat it is:Where you’ll find it:Tastes like:Nutritional lowdown:Vegan for LifeConcerns:Best for: Whole soybeans that are soaked, turned into soymilk, curdled and pressed into blocks. Also known as bean curd. In just about every grocery store, sold in 14-ounce blocks. It’s also common on menus at Asian and vegetarian restaurants. Whatever you cook it with. The texture depends on the tofu’s firmness level: Silken tofu is slightly more solid than pudding, whereas extra-firm feels like a dense, waterlogged sponge....
When he returned home from covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Harris was so depressed he could barely get out of bed. He’s said quite publicly that he coped by turning to drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, which he later learned contributed to his televised freakout. After the panic attack, Harris discovered meditation through self-help gurus and brain scientists—and learned ways to finally understand and rein in the voice in his head....
PREVENTION: Where did you get the idea to serve up invasive species?LAI: It really started with the fact that my mom and dad are both nature lovers and my siblings and I spent a lot of time playing in the woods, rivers, and streams of Long Island Sound. What I do for a living today—you know, splashing around the ocean, running around the woods—is no different than what I was doing as a kid....
I’m in what Dr. Christiane Northrup calls the “transitional perimenopause period” which usually lasts five to ten years, though the entire process can sometimes take up to 13 years. She says there is typically a “gradual crescendo in the beginning, a peak as one approaches mid-transition, and a gradual decrescendo towards the end, as the body learns to live in harmony with its new hormonal and emotional milieu.” Frankly, I’m craving the decrescendo phase right now....
Courtesy of Rodale News If you love using honey as a natural sweetener, this news may come as a buzzkill: More than 75 percent of the honey sold in the U.S. isn’t the unadulterated form that most consumers expect, according to testing performed recently by Food Safety News. In fact, most honey sold in the United States is processed through major filtration that removes virtually all of the pollen naturally occurring in the product....
They had 97 study participants taste-test two types of of cookies and two types of chips, then take a survey about their perceptions of gluten-free diets. Although one option in each pair was labeled “gluten-free” (while the other was marked as “conventional”), none of the foods actually contained gluten. Researchers were trying to figure out if people perceived a difference just because of the labels—even though the items were identical....
“What you got there?” my husband, Robb, asked as we passed a ruddy man and his wife in the one-street village of Baisha, in the Himalayan foothills of Yunnan Province. “Oh, this?” said the man, lifting the clear plastic bag. “I’m not sure, but I hope it’s legal.” He pointed to a concrete building about 100 yards away. “It’s from Dr. Ho.” He must have observed our blank faces. “Dr....
