As little as eight weeks of yoga can stem anxiety. (Oct. 28, 2008)
Don't worry, be happy and healthy
October 28, 2008
It keeps your arteries younger than Beaujolais nouveau. Anxiety is so hard on your heart that highly anxious people with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or die than their more mellow-minded peers. Give your body anxiety and it snaps into "Uh-oh, is that python going to be my dinner or do I need to start running now?" thinking. This fight-or-flight response comes complete with a racing heart, shallow breathing, dilated pupils and increased blood flow to your extremities. Handy when facing the python, not so much when facing the CEO. Over time, this high-alert state causes needless aging of your blood vessels.
Your memory stays more agile than a 10-year-old gymnast. Obsessive worriers more than double their risk of cognitive decline compared with more carefree peers, a problem linked to artery wear and tear.
Use this hat-trick of choices to keep yourself younger:
1. Write your concerns down (with potential solutions).
2. Talk them out with people you love. Work on decisive action plans.
3. Settle your mind with activities like walking or lifting weights. Recent research suggests that as little as eight weeks of yoga can drop your anxiety level.
Bonus: Kicking worries to the curb drives up your motivation and concentration, too.
SKINNY FOLKS HAVE FAT: Being at your ideal weight doesn't always mean you're in ideal health. Where you carry the little fat you have can make a big difference. If you have omental fat – fat between your abdominal organs – you're at risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome (hypertension, diabetes and a cluster of other conditions) even if your weight's ideal.
To figure out whether you're at risk, check your waist. When measured at your belly button while you suck in, it should be half your height (or less) in inches. The more fat you have bunched around your middle, the more proinflammatory cytokines you have racing around in your blood. These signal inflammation, and the more inflammation the greater your health risks. Once the inflammation ball gets rolling, the danger of obesity, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome go up.
DODGE THE OFFICE COLD: That cold going around faster than the latest celeb gossip? Help yourself steer clear of it:
Lather up. Hand wipes are convenient, but plain old soap and water may keep you healthier. Research has found that handwashing kills significantly more bacteria than antimicrobial hand wipes. That said, if there's no water around, hand wipes are better than nothing and alcohol-based wipes best of all. When washing, be thorough (suds up for 15 seconds) and frequent, because germs can survive on your hands and other places for three hours or more.
Know where the germs hide. Big hangouts for germs: the phone and the TV remote control. In fact, phones and remotes tend to have even more amylase than baby-changing mats! And where there's amylase (an enzyme that comes from contamination from saliva or other bodily fluids), there may be cold and flu viruses. Once you touch a contaminated surface, it's maddeningly likely the virus will be transferred to your nose or mouth and bingo, the bug's in your body.
Eat and sleep well. Don't go too long without food: one small study found that after having a meal, people produce more gamma interferon, an immune-system compound that can help your body fight viruses, including ones that cause colds. Another ally: sleep. It induces the release of growth hormone, which in turn stimulates the immune system.
THE BEST MUFFIN TOP... As long as they're the type on your plate and not the stuff hanging over the waistband of your jeans. Oat-bran muffins may reduce the risk of gallstones, painful pebbles that plague some people's gallbladders. That's because they're high in magnesium, a mineral that reduces the risk of those stones. One muffin serves up anywhere from 50 to 90 mg; you can make it healthier by using Chia and walnuts as the fat.
You can also imbibe magnesium from these other good choices: a cup of spinach packs 156 mg; the same amount of oatmeal holds 60 mg. Halibut has 91 mg in 3 ounces. Whole grains are filled with it (brown rice, for instance, has 63 mg per 3/4 cup), as are nuts (walnuts have 44 mg per ounce).
PLASTIC IS HEALTHY? Think "plastic" and maybe you conjure up Tupperware, Barbie dolls, credit cards and smooth-skinned celebrities? But when it comes to your brain, plastic is a very good thing.
Brain plasticity is how us docs describe your brain's ability to reorganize and regrow itself as a result of new experiences. A plastic brain will learn – and retain and use – information better. So what's the price of plastic? About the cost of a pair of walking shoes.
Get in step and you'll boost circulation in all parts of your body, including your brain. That's probably why the folks in one study who walked regularly were able to focus better on what they were doing compared with the people who did only stretching and toning exercises. Walking is so good for your brain that it may lower your risk of dementia as you get older.
The You Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of the bestselling YOU: On a Diet. Send questions to the good doctors at realage.com