Health Tips That Work and Don’t Work

I received a newsletter from Consumers Report on Health and came across a study done to see which health tips that work and which ones don’t work.

Here they are in no particular order:

Works: Speed up weight loss by sniffing. Research shows that smell may influence your sense of fullness more than the amount of food you eat. To accelerate your weight loss: smell your food. Chew it slowly to appreciate the flavor and texture. Eat hot foods while they are hot to maximize the aroma vapors.

Doesn’t Work: Cutting calories at breakfast to lose weight. People who skip breakfast to save calories actually increased the risk of weight gain. Studies have found that people who habitually missed the morning meal were four times more likely to be obese.

Works: To reduce the risk of cancer is to eat apricots, tomatoes and watermelon.

Doesn’t Work: Don’t waste your money on shark cartilage. This fishy remedy doesn’t work for treating cancer, and it costs $1000 a year.

Works: Lift depression with St. John’s Wort. A recent study found that helps relieve depression and some people just as Well as prescription Paxil.

Works: Tame blood pressure with meditation. Studies show that meditating regularly can lower blood pressure and reduce the need for medication.

Doesn’t Work: Ignore nutritional supplements of fiber and garlic they don’t lower blood pressure.

Works: Relieve lower back pain with good posture. Stand with your back against the wall. Feet should be shoulder width apart, 3 to 6 inches from the wall. Arms should be by your side. Press your head, shoulders, and back against the wall. Draw in your lower abdomen, pushing your belly button toward your spine to take the arch out of your back. Keeping your back as straight as possible, use your elbows to push away from the wall.

Works: Ease arthritis pain with Glucosamine Sulfate pills some studies have shown that this dietary supplement may be able to reduce pain and stiffness as effectively as commonly used over-the-counter and prescription pain relievers.

Works: aspirin works to reduce your risk of heart attack.

Works: Ease bladder infections, diarrhea and other stomach problems with yogurt containing friendly intestinal bacteria called probiotics.

Works: The food you eat can have an astonishing effect on your memory. One example: a diet high in fruits and vegetables but low on high-fat dairy products and red meat appears to offer remarkable benefits. In a four-year study, people who follow this diet were less likely to develop the signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Works: Walking. Regular physical activity is probably the best-documented way to shield your brain against aging. You don’t have to go crazy because even modest amounts can yield dramatic benefits. In one 6-year study, people who walked merely three times a week with 30% less likely to develop dementia.

Works: Reducing stress. Research shows that stress, bad news, family arguments, or unexpected work demands can increase memory lapses. But, you can protect yourself! In a Harvard study, people who did relaxation exercise for 20 minutes a day show their attention and responsiveness improves significantly in just five weeks.

Doesn’t work: Supplements. Despite marketers claims, there is no clear evidence that any supplement, including ginkgo biloba, or beta-carotene can preserve or boost mental powers.

Works: keep your heart healthy with nuts and seeds that are high in phytosterols a substance that lowers your cholesterol naturally.

Top five seeds and nuts to lower cholesterol:

1. Sunflower seeds

2. Pistachios

3. Pumpkin seeds

4. Pine nuts

5. Flax seeds, whole

I hope you found this as informative as I did. I will post other articles I find of interest in the near future.