🍎 Health Hack ~ Exercise Is a Great Medicine

Know Someone With Diabetes? Exercise May Be a Big Help

For people who have diabetes—or almost any other disease, for that matter—the benefits of exercise can’t be overstated. Exercise helps control weight, lower blood pressure, lower harmful LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, raise healthy HDL cholesterol, strengthen muscles and bones, reduce anxiety, and improve your general well-being. There are added benefits for people with diabetes: exercise lowers blood glucose levels and boosts your body’s sensitivity to insulin, countering insulin resistance.

Harvard HealthBeat

🍎 Health Hack ~Avoid Holiday Stress

Don’t Forget to Check In With Yourself

It’s easy to get caught up with preparing dinner or wrapping gifts until your fingers fall off, but be sure to take a few seconds to ask what’s going on with you.

“Do a daily check-in with yourself each morning to see what you need, just for you, that day,” Patel says. “It could be the simplest thing like your morning coffee alone, a 30-minute walk with your favorite music, or drinking a green juice to fuel your body.”

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🍎 Health Hack ~ Don’t Let Emails Rule You

Urgent” Emails

E-mails cause more stress for women than men because women feel greater pressure to respond immediately. So try turning off your e-mail alerts, and check your inbox when the timing is right for you.

Stress happens—chalk it up to the holidays, work, or gloomy weather persisting. Next time you’re feeling stressed, keep tension in check by exercising, catching up with a friend, or devoting a few minutes to your favorite hobby.

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🍎 Health Hack ~ You Are Your Best Medicine

THINK POSITIVE AND FOCUS ON GRATITUDE

Research shows a healthy positive attitude helps build a healthier immune system and boosts overall health. Your body believes what you think, so focus on the positive.

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🍎 Health Hack ~A Healthy Night Time Snack

Popcorn – But Make it Right

For those that prefer a savory snack late at night, popcorn is a great, satisfying go-to. Combining popcorn with pistachios and semi-sweet chocolate chips makes this a healthy late-night snack that won’t derail your day of mindful eating.

Nuts (pistachios, included) are a great source of healthy unsaturated fats, according to the Mayo Clinic. Unsaturated fat is not only filling but may even benefit your heart health by helping to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Not to mention, eating nuts has been associated with lower levels of inflammation in the body.

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I make my popcorn in a hot air popcorn popper and use Pam butter spray to kick it up a bit.  Be creative without the calories.

🍎 Health Hack ~ Thanksgiving Tips

  • The holiday season is a time for celebration. With busy schedules and so many extra temptations, this is a good time to strive for weight maintenance instead of weight loss.
  • Focus on Family and Friends
  • Thanksgiving is not just about the delicious bounty of food. It’s a time to celebrate relationships with family and friends. The main event should be family and friends socializing, spending quality time together, not just what is on the buffet.

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🍎 Health Hack ~ Take a Nice, Big Yawn – It’s Good for You

Yawning

Yawning isn’t just a not-so-subtle signal to your friend that their story is boring you. This natural bodily inclination actually helps to regulate the temperature of your brain, according to the experts at the Smithsonian Institute.

“When we stretch our jaws, we increase the rate of blood flow to the skull,” they note. “And as we inhale at the same time, the air changes the temperature of that blood flow, bringing cooler blood to the brain.” And given how much work the brain does each and every day, this is a very important—and protective—function.

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🍎 Health Hack ~ Small Choices – Big Differences

The day-to-day choices you make influence whether you maintain vitality as you age or develop life-shortening illnesses and disabling conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. You may understand exactly what you need to do to enjoy a healthier, happier life: carve out time to exercise, perhaps, or find a way to ratchet down stress. There’s just one hitch. You haven’t done it yet.

Often, the biggest hurdle is inertia. It’s true that it isn’t easy to change ingrained habits like driving to nearby locations instead of walking, let’s say, or reaching for a donut instead of an apple. However, gradually working toward change improves your odds of success.

Harvard HealthBeat

🍎 Health Hack ~ 5 of 5 Healthy Heart Tips

Pets Provide Perks

Our pets offer more than good company and unconditional love. They also provide numerous health benefits. Studies reported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggest that owning a pet may help improve your heart and lung function. It may also help lower your chances of dying from heart disease.

Healthline

🍎 Health Hack ~ 4 of 5 Healthy Heart Tips

Lighten Up and LOL

Don’t just LOL in emails or Facebook posts. Laugh out loud in your daily life. Whether you like watching funny movies or cracking jokes with your friends, laughter may be good for your heart. According to the AHA, research suggests laughing can lower stress hormones, decrease inflammation in your arteries, and raise your levels of high-density lipoprotein (HLD), also known as “good cholesterol.”

Healthline

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