We are always looking for tips to keep us healthy and live longer. Here are seven ways to do so, which can easily be absorbed into anyone’s lifestyle:
1. Keeping your bedroom cool. Apparently, Dutch, Australian and American researchers have revealed that the ideal room temperature is 19˚C. It is at this slightly chilly temperature that brown adipose tissue (the ‘good’ brown body fat I wrote about a couple of weeks ago) increases in both volume and activity.
This ‘good’ brown body fat burns up calories to maintain your body’s core temperature. It also helps protect against diabetes through its effects on glucose and insulin.
I have since discovered that an experiment carried out a few years ago in the US showed that shivering can burn 500 calories in a few hours. There is even a waistcoat, available commercially, called the Cool Fat Burner, to wear to burn the brown calories. This is being tested for its effectivity.
2. Get moving. A brisk, 20-minute walk each day or cycling for half an hour may be enough to reduce your risk of an early death, according to newly published research.
The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study of more than 334,000 men and women found that twice as many deaths may be related to a lack of physical activity, compared with the number of deaths due to obesity.
This suggests that even small increases in physical activity on a daily basis could have significant health benefits in those who are generally sedentary.
In addition, a small but useful change would be to get into the habit of always rising from a sitting position without pushing yourself up with your arms.
3. Check your toothbrush. According to a review of 10 articles, carried out by two schools of nursing in the US, the average toothbrush harbours millions of microbes, including high proportions of disease causing horrors such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas and herpes simplex virus, which is the cause of cold sores in the mouth.
These pathogens can affect every organ in the body. To kill them, rinse your toothbrush every three days with boiling water. Never share a toothbrush, don’t use toothbrush covers (they serve as effective bacteria incubators) and always store your toothbrush on its own, brush uppermost, in contact with nothing else.
The average toothbrush harbours millions of microbes
4. Introduce yourself to the brassica family. These include sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables. They contain various components that can help protect against cancer. One of them, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), was recently found by researchers at the Ohio State University to not only block cancer cell production but to also annihilate cancer cells that are already there. This component destroys Cdc25A, a molecule essential for cancer and other cell division and proliferation.
“Cd25A is present at abnormally high levels in about half of breast cancer cases and is associated with a poor prognosis,” the lead researcher explained.
He added that Cdc25A is also increased in prostate, liver, oesophageal, endometrial and colon cancers in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Alzheimer’s and in other serious diseases. Based on these findings, the recommendation is at least three portions of broccoli or Brussels sprouts per week.
5. Take time to breathe. Keeping your body supplied with enough oxygen is the key. This simple exercise, basic Qigong breathing, comes from traditional Chinese medicine and supplies your body with ample oxygen. It is said to keep you fit and youthful.
• Keeping your eyes closed, focus on your breath for 30 seconds.
• Take a deep breath in, filling your abdomen, pause to collect qi (energy), then slowly exhale, expelling all the air from your lungs and abdomen.
• Make this a daily, early morning routine, ideally while standing close to an open window.
6. Drink cocoa. This drink is high in beneficial antioxidant compounds called flavonols, which have been shown to positively affect the circulatory system by helping maintain the flexibility of arteries and improving blood flow to the brain.
This suggests that drinking cocoa regularly could be a simple way to help keep your heart healthy and your brain sharp. When 37 healthy volunteers, aged between 50 and 69, were randomly assigned to a high vs low flavonol diet for a three-month period, the high-flavonol group did better on cognitive and memory tests. Those who had started out with the memory of a typical 60-year-old instead demonstrated the memory of a typical 30- to 40-year-old.
7. Taking a siesta. Regularly taking an afternoon nap can significantly reduce your risk of dying from heart disease, according to a study of healthy men and women by the University of Athens Medical School.
Looking at a sample population (23,681 Europeans) from the EPIC study and following them for a mean of six years, those who took a nap at least three times per week with an average duration of at least 30 minutes had a 37 per cent lower rate of heart disease-related death, occasional nappers (those taking fewer naps each week or for less than 30 minutes) had a coronary mortality rate of 12 per cent.
The association, which was especially evident among working men, could be related to the stress-releasing effects of sleep, the researchers said. Meanwhile, the link between stress and heart disease has been well established by numerous studies.
kathryn@maltanet.net