It is never too late, even if you are 75 or older, to introduce gentle exercise into your life. This exercise regime could help you live longer and healthier and reduce your chances of heart disease and stroke.
Older men and women who begin to walk a mile or so every day, even if they are well into their 70s, halve their risk of heart disease or stroke over the next 10 years. Other activities such as gardening, swimming, biking and hiking also have protective effects.
Although older people are always advised to introduce more exercise into their lives, nobody has measured what those health benefits could be, says Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the Jean Mayer chair and professor of nutrition. A Seattle-based team of researchers recruited 4,207 men and women who had a mean age of 73 (so this included some who were 75 or older) and stayed in touch with them for 10 years, assessing their health and physical activities.
Those who regularly walked at a pace faster than three miles per hour halved their risk of heart disease and stroke, while similarly reduced risks were seen in those who walked an average of a mile every day. However, the most striking aspect of the study was that even those who had never exercised before still enjoyed the same health benefits (Circulation, 2016).
Snacking is important. However, what you snack on is important. Almonds could take the title of super snack. Rich in plant protein, they are a great way to ensure that you get enough essential fatty acids, vitamin E and magnesium in your diet.
The nuts help to boost your overall healthy food intake and also stop you eating empty calories, says researcher Alyssa Burns, who arranged for a group of 29 parents and children to eat them for six weeks. In this trial, the parents ate 43 grams of almonds a day while the children were given14 grams of almond butter, and then they all switched.
What you eat can determines the quality of your sleep
While eating the nuts, their overall healthy eating scores (the HEI, or Healthy Eating Index) increased for total protein foods, plant proteins and fatty acids. They also ate fewer empty calories while eating the nuts and consumed less sodium, while getting more vitamin E and magnesium. (Nutr. Res., 2016).
A note for those who drink energy drinks. Did you know that just one energy drink can increase the risk of raised blood pressure and stress hormones in young, healthy teenagers? After just one 0.45 kilo drink, levels of the fight or flight hormone – norepinephrine, which influences the blood pressure, rose by 70 per cent in one trial.
If you are having problems getting to sleep, this new research will be of interest to you. What you eat can determine the quality of your sleep. Not eating enough fibre, while eating too much saturated fat and sugar can cause light, disturbed sleep that is not restorative, therefore you wake up feeling tired in the morning.
The effect can be immediate; even one day of eating too little fibre and too much saturated fat can disturb a night’s sleep, say researchers at the Columbia University Medical Centre in New York City.
Eating a better diet also means people fall asleep more quickly. On average, those eating a high-fibre diet fell asleep within 17 minutes, whereas those on a high-fat diet took 29 minutes to fall asleep. The researchers tested the two diets on a group of 26 men and women of an average age of 35, who spent five nights in the sleep lab (J. Clin. Sleep. Med., 2016).
‘White coat’ anxiety is when our blood pressure shoots up while we are waiting for a test in a clinic or hospital. It is a phenomenon that can affect a whole range of procedures. A patient’s mood, including nerves and irritability and even feelings of guilt, can change the results of medical exams, such as radiological tests and catheters that check for blocked arteries.
In a study of 230 patients who underwent some medical tests, 22 per cent who were in a bad mood had altered results; in most cases there was an ‘adverse event’ during the procedure, such as a prolonged lack of oxygen, a sudden drop or rise in blood pressure, bleeding or an abnormally slow heart rate. These findings were presented at the Radiological Society of North America 2015 annual meeting.
Finally, a chemical in sweet-flavoured electronic cigarettes can cause a severe respiratory condition known as ‘popcorn lung’. The chemical, diacetyl, is found in around three-quarters of all e-cigarettes (vapour) brands and causes bronchiolitis obliterans, a respiratory disorder also known as popcorn lung. This is because it was first discovered in plant workers who were breathing in the artificial butter flavours used to make microwave popcorn.
The chemical is used to add flavour to sweet snacks like popcorn, cupcakes and candy floss. Health agencies say the chemical is not a health hazard in such products but can become lethal when heated, as happens in e-cigarettes.
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