Let your sweet tooth rejoice — dark chocolate is healthy! (In moderation, of course.) Research has shown that dark chocolate — not milk or white — has heart-healthy properties. In fact, eating one ounce of dark chocolate a day has been associated with lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and higher HDL (good) cholesterol. Aim for dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cacao. Who knew your chocolate habit could help you look, feel and stay young?
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Eat This
In addition to cutting down on inflammatory foods, you can reduce inflammation by eating whole, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant-rich foods.
Eat plenty of these anti-inflammatory foods:
Brightly colored vegetables like dark green, red, orange and yellow
Fruits, especially berries, tart cherries and grapes
Avocados, olives, olive oil and avocado oil
Whole grains and high-fiber carbohydrates
Omega-3 fatty fish like salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel
Nuts and seeds
Beans and legumes
Dark chocolate (85 percent cacao is best)
Green and white tea (black also has some antioxidants)
Red wine (in moderation)
Spices like ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper and cinnamon
In addition to a healthy diet, be active, get enough sleep, drink plenty of water and find ways to lower your stress levels. The good news is that the things you can do to reduce inflammation also improve your overall health, so it’s a win-win! Source
Diet and exercise are good, but hey, you’ve got to live a little. Centenarians seem to have found a balance between taking care of their health and learning when to indulge a bit. Whether it’s a glass of wine, a bowl of your favorite ice cream, a strong cup of coffee or Dr. Pepper, it’s all about striking a balance between giving yourself all that you need and a taste of what you want. Just don’t go overboard.
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These four best foods . . . simplify the Blue Zones diet. Favor beans, greens, root vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. People in four of the five “Blue Zones” consume meat, but they do so sparingly, using it as a celebratory food, a small side, or a way to flavor dishes.
In an effort to ward off the loneliness that followed his wife’s death, a 94-year-old man in Minnesota decided to install a swimming pool in his back yard for the neighborhood children. His back yard is now a hub of activity in the summer, filled with laughter, splashing children, and their parents and grandparents. And he’s no longer alone. While not everyone would be willing to go to such extreme lengths to make social connections, contact with other people should still be a top priority. Chronic loneliness does more than just make you bored; it can actually harm your health. “The experience of being lonely appears to be bad for one’s health,” says Dr. Nancy J. Donovan, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an associate psychiatrist at the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Loneliness is associated with depression, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, declines in mobility and daily function, and increased risk of early death.
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According to Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, founder of Nutrition Starring You and author of The Protein Packed Breakfast Club, the menus – which are constantly touched by food-covered hands – are usually never washed. Talk about unappetizing. “I always use hand sanitizer after relinquishing my menu to the server,” she mentions. Another option? Look for restaurants with single-use menus.
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Drinking water is so imperative for staying healthy, energized, and even losing weight. There are so many reasons to stay hydrated—hunger is often disguised as thirst, it boosts your metabolism, and water is the best energy drink available, he says. To find out exactly how much water you should be drinking, divide your body weight (in pounds) by two and aim to drink that many ounces of water every day (1 ounce = 23.8 grams for metric readers)
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We know that making healthy choices can help us feel better and live longer. Maybe you’ve already tried to eat better, get more exercise or sleep, quit smoking, or reduce stress. It’s not easy. But research shows how you can boost your ability to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle.
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A traditional Japanese diet today consists of some 11-15 servings of vegetables? Meanwhile, our USDA food pyramid recommends a paltry 3-5. Knowing that there’s a multitude of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients available in these rainbow colored foods should be all we need to hear to get us on the veggie bandwagon. These colorful plant foods also contain antioxidants, which scavenge free radicals (causing cell damage and aging), aid longevity and youthfulness, and fight cancer. They cleanse the blood, offer hydration and healthy sugars, support the liver, regulate cholesterol levels, and promote healthy elimination. It doesn’t hurt that they taste delicious either! Make it a goal to put a rainbow on your plate.
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Asking ‘Is red meat good or bad?’ is useless,” said Meir Stampfer, professor of epidemiology and nutrition and senior author of the study. “It has to be ‘Compared to what?’ If you replace burgers with cookies or fries, you don’t get healthier. But if you replace red meat with healthy plant protein sources, like nuts and beans, you get a health benefit.”
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