Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2014 i Prevention

You’ve gota love August. It’s the one month of the year when most of us manage to slow down, relax, and exhale for a while. We’re celebrating that delicious pause, relishing everything from summer’s simple, edible joys (fresh tomatoes and clean-eating dinners with no cooking required) to the pure pleasure of getting outdoors. And we’re marveling in awe and envy at some amazing over-40, not-at-all-runner-type, real people who’ve discovered the joy (yes, joy) in running. I hope that during this slowerpaced season, you, too, are enjoying whatever brings you happiness. Editorial Director P.S. We’re here for you. Please share any ideas or suggestions atmailto:suggestions@prevention.com…

Sip Yourself Asleep File this one under “bizarre but worth a shot”: Tart cherry juice could get you more shut-eye. In a small new study, insomniacs who drank 8 ounces of the stuff twice a day slept an impressive 84 more minutes per night than they did when given a placebo juice. Previous research has pointed to the cherries’ naturally occurring hormone melatonin as the key soporiÀc ingredient. Look for juice made from Montmorency tart cherries, which have the highest concentration of this wonderfully snoozy compound. Source: Experimental Biology 2014 annual meeting…

Would You tell a Friend that…? Prevention readers love to spread worthy bits of health news. But we wondered: Which findings are so juicy they get passed on? So we held an online bake-off: eight recent studies. And the winner is… Each extra minute people spent huffing on a treadmill corresponded to better cognitive abilities a full 25 years later. You’re more likely to have a productive workday if the weather’s gloomy. Fitspiration declines as the week progresses: google searches on health topics dip 30% between monday and saturday. Mo’ money, mo’…flavor? people who paid more for their food enjoyed it more than those who paid less. Sleeping to a specific soundscape (like the sounds of the ocean) might help you wake up happier. Being crazy in love leads to…

Ocular Eats Carrots, take 5: Turns out a slew of other foods might keep eyesight sharp. A new study found that people with higher folate intake had a lower risk of one type of glaucoma, likely because folate helps reduce levels of buildup-causing homocysteine. Stay clear-eyed with these folate-rich foods, all with a doubledigit dose of your daily 400 mcg. Tomato Juiced Green tomatoes are muscling out (and maybe even outmuscling) Popeye’s prized spinach. Scientists have ID’d a compound in them (called tomatidine) that helps build muscle and protect against atrophy. It’s been found to stimulate growth in human muscle cells and boost strength and endurance in mice. No word yet if we get that juice, too, but one green tomato packs 57% of your daily vitamin C and 2…

with MichelleWhat’s the one piece of gear you’re never without? My PEaR sports training system. the free app gives you access to very cool audio-coached workouts, and the heartrate monitor lets you know if you’re training at the right intensity. You don’t need the monitor to do the workouts, but using it lets you know if you should back off or push harder. Plus, it’s just one of those apps: It’s fun! Your New Get-Fit Formula Still true: Interval training is tops at burning belly fat, and wearing a heart-rate monitor is the best way to learn if you’re hiting the sweet spot: 80 to 95% of maximum heart rate with recovery periods at 50 to 65% of MHR. The new math: Mayo Clinic researchers found MHR declines more slowly…

Head First By the time fall rolls around, most of us have more frizz than polish, and the culprit is clear: swimming. And as we age, hair becomes drier and more porous, making it extra vulnerable to damage. Whether you cool off in a pool or the ocean, trichologist (scalp doctor) Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips has advice on how to keep your hair healthy while you dip. BEFORE: Saturate hair with fresh water so it can’t absorb as much salt or chlorine. DURING: Keep hair tied in a braid or bun to minimize the surface area exposed to water. AFTER: Gently comb out tangles and, if you can, rinse again with fresh water. STYLE WITHOUT SIZZLE Take the summer to give your hair a muchneeded vacation. Consider this: Your hair’s cortex…

PROBLEM SOLVED! Close-up vision blurs over the years—and even with 20/20 foresight, there’s nothing you can do to prevent it. Beginning around age 45, nearly all of us start squinting at our reading material. Blame presbyopia, an age-related condition in which the eyes’ lenses gradually become stiffer, making it harder to focus on near objects. Here, from easy to hard, the freshest ways to get back to carefree Kindle-perusing. BUT I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO READ WITHOUT GLASSES! Then you probably have farsightedness, which starts early in life as a result of an abnormal eye or cornea shape. This creates a light-bending error that makes near objects look less sharp. If you’re in this blurry boat, aging eyes make close-up vision even worse (yippee!). Drugstore Reading Glasses You should already…

“Successful aging” has been deÀned, simply, as the absence of disease and disability. You can walk unaided and speak sensibly? Woo-hoo! You’re aging successfully. Valerie L. McCarthy, a registered nurse who got her PhD in nursing education when she was nearly 60, wants you to know something: That’s a bar we set ridiculously low. McCarthy is researching the 21stcentury answer to aging happily, which she and other researchers call transcendence. Though transcendence sounds like something only levitating meditators achieve, it’s actually an attainable state-of-mindslash- way-of-life, once you embrace the practices (see the box below) that help you rise above your challenges—no matter what they may be. These practices have one thing in common: They help you take a broader, big-picture view of life, says McCarthy. “The purpose of my research…

Consider food’s purely sensory pleasures—the cool, sweet slip of silky ice cream on your tongue; the spicy, aromatic complexity of a divine curry; the rich, crackly crunch of buttered popcorn. Along with a meal’s flavor and mouthfeel, though, brain chemicals affect the joy you get from eating—even before you lift your fork, says Alex Korb, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at UCLA. “Your brain releases dopamine in anticipation of eating good food, and that anticipation makes eating even more pleasurable,” he says. What’s more, certain foods, like the ones below, are blessed with compounds that lift your spirits. Walnuts & Flax KEY INGREDIENT: Alphalinolenic acid. In research from the Nurses’ Health Study, women who had the most ALA in their diets were less likely to be depressed. Why It may…

That Changed Everything It’s no secret that starting to run can be entirely unpleasant—your lungs burn, your sides cramp up, and your legs feel like they’re filled with sand. But runners aren’t crazy. Well, at least not completely. There’s a reason the running tribe is growing so quickly (there was a 76% increase in new runners ages 35 to 54 between 2006 and 2012) and why nearly half of runners at last year’s Boston Marathon were 40 or older: It doesn’t suck for long. With each run, the discomfort decreases and the addicting stuff—that kick-ass feeling of accomplishment; a high so joyful it’s become cliché— goes up. Way up. Not only can you lose weight and live a more energized life, but there’s an entire community of welcoming, fun people…

BROWN FAT Rare and fabulous—the unicorn of fat This near-mystical fat acts more like muscle, which means it burns calories even when you’re just siting on your duff. FUN FACT For years, experts assumed that brown fat was found only in babies, but new research suggests that most adults have a bit of the good stuff, too. THIS JUST IN long bouts of aerobic exercise trigger the release of the hormone irisin, which helps convert white fat into brown, per one recent study. not that you’d want to do this, but 10 to 15 minutes of shivering was also found to do the trick. WHITE FAT Makes up the, ah, bulk of the fat in your body Be grateful for the stuff—it’s literally protective padding for when you take a…

How important are vaccinations for adults? Part of good preventive health care is making sure you’ve had recommended vaccines and are keeping them current. Most experts believe that too few adults are being immunized against serious but preventable diseases such as meningococcal meningitis and pneumococcal infections. While there are legitimate questions about how we immunize, like whether we start too early and give too many vaccines at once, I firmly believe the benefits outweigh the risks. I find the anti-immunization arguments weak—serious complications associated with immunization are, thankfully, very rare. And I have spent enough time in third world countries, where the diseases most of these vaccines prevent still occur, to know that the risks posed by the diseases are considerably greater than the risk of immunizing against them. Those…

Tens of thousands of you took our annual buttkicking, diet-cleansing refresh (better known as Prevention’s 28-Day Challenge) and sprinted with it. You linked up weekly for Facebook chats with Àtness expert Chris Freytag, around the clock on your cell phones, and even daily in your neighborhoods: “We have a group of six doing this!” wrote Amanda E. As for the results? Life changing. “I not only rediscovered my love for being active and dropped 23 pounds, but I let good things into my life,” says Brandie H. “Pushing my limits hasb shown me that I’m stronger than I thought.” We’re listening. Reach us now atmailto:suggestions@prevention.commailto:suggestions@prevention.comon twiter @preventionmag, or athttp://facebook.com/preventionmagazine >IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF Three helpers: A PERFECT DAY OF EATING Use this mealplanning playbook to remake your…

Romantic Tip: Watch Your Blood Sugar That special kind of cranky you get when you skip lunch (hanger, for hunger + anger) might put your love life in jeopardy, says a new study of 107 married couples. The lower a person’s blood sugar, the more he or she took it out on a partner, researchers found. (The effect was true regardless of gender.) A handy hanger Áowchart to put marital spats in perspective: Fix it: Reach for something whole grain, with more than 5 g of fiber to keep you satisfied. avoid highsugar foods, which will send blood glucose into free fall later and restart the hanger cycle. Prevent it: Eat every 4 hours;carry a hangerprevention snack in case of emergency. Source: Rob Danoff, DO…

Bow down to the noble cruciferous side dishes: the bok choy, brussels sprout, kale, cabbage, and cauli-ower kings of the vegetable world. If you eat them, you owe them for lowering your in-ammation levels, found a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Women who reported eating more cruciferous vegetables had up to 25% lower levels of markers of in-ammation than those who didn’t partake. Eating more veggies, period, also cut in-ammation, but no category had a greater impact than the cruciferous kind. Bravo, brassicas.…

Just Hit Blend With fewer calories than a sports drink, more potassium than bananas, and zero artiÀcial anything, coconut water is happy hydration the way nature intended. Our new favorite way to use it: Pour into ice cube trays, freeze, and boom. You’ve got DIY recovery cubes that can be tossed into any smoothie for an icy electrolyte hit with tropical Áavor. “After a sweaty half-hour workout in the heat, you need to replace, on average, 600 to 750 mg of potassium and about 250 mg of sodium—roughly the amount in ten 1-ounce cubes,” says Christine Gerbstadt, a registered dietitian. Opt for an unsweetened variety and, at only 5 calories a cube, it’s a smart smoothie add-on that won’t undo your hard work. Cheers!…

GET CULTURED With every naturalfoods devotee singing the praises of fermented foods for a healthy gut and body, it was only a matter of time before the trend jumped from the pickle jar into your night cream. And that’s not just a fad gone wild—according to a study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, the active compounds in fermented red ginseng may Àght wrinkles better than those in unfermented red ginseng, giving you smoother skin with minimal irritation. The beneÀts are linked to antioxidants and Lactobacillus brevis, a live bacteria found in some fermented foods. Before you start washing up with kombucha, though, check out the next page for our fermented beauty picks. one-word answer kinda! Do Facial Exercises Really Work? So-called facial Àtness has been touted as a…

Stop us if this sounds familiar: You’re in the drugstore vitamin aisle, staring at the vast and confounding array of collagen supplements, all touting miracles for skin and joint health. Bewildered, you wonder: Where did they come from? And do they really work? While collagen supplements have long existed in specialty vitamin stores, in the past year they’ve expanded to drug and grocery stores and are proliferating rapidly. The promise of all these pills, powders, and drinks is enough to get anyone’s attention and sounds too futuristic to be real: You can swallow a pill and turn back the clock, not just by plumping Àne lines for a few hours or days, but by causing your own body to rebuild its collagen from within. Is this just the latest version…

All Jennifer Inaldo agreed to do was atend a SoulCycle class with a friend. Who knew that would shif everything? As the lights dimmed and the instructor got things going, she reminded us that we’d made a choice to get up that morning and put our own health and needs Àrst. “And how often do you do that outside of class?” she asked. My immediate answer: Hardly ever. For the next 40 minutes, as the sweat rolled and the energy of the class built, I thought about that. About how I had usually put my happiness—myself—last. Normally, at 9 am on a Saturday, I’d still be in my pj’s, but I’d agreed to join my friend for an indoor cycling class at SoulCycle. I was nervous that I’d make a…

Can reading make you happier? a new British economic analysis estimates that being a bookworm can boost your well-being as much as a $2,286 raise. If you enjoy reading, it will improve your mood to make time for it. We’ve found that just 15 or 20 minutes of reading can positively impact your emotions,” says Raymond Mar, of York university in toronto. though the mood lif from reading is temporary, the happiest people describe their days as a series of small, happy moments, says positive-psych researcher acacia Parks, of hiram university in Ohio. Visit for our happy-reading research, reading list, and cool ways to connect and share your smileworthy books.…

J ust as IRL (in real life), happiness on social media spreads like wildÀre. “Emotional contagion is a fundamental aspect of our biology. We’re hardwired to respond to others’ emotions, and we do it online just like we’ve done it ofÁine,” says Nicholas Christakis, a physician and sociologist at Yale University. That means the posts that pop up on your feeds (and the stuff you share) affect your mood and the moods of those around you. Pick Positive Nine percent: That’s how much your odds of feeling chipper increase, one study found, for each happy friend you have in life. Online, we suggest marking positive pals as “close friends” on Facebook so you’ll catch their uplifting updates more often. And unfollow Debbie Downers (don’t worry, they won’t know if you…

Heirloom Tomato Pizza PReP TIMe: 15 minutes ToTaL TIMe: 30 minutes Serves 6 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp olive oil 12 oz fresh or frozen whole wheat pizza dough, thawed 1.2 lb low-fat ricota 2 tsp fresh lemon zest 11.2 lb heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives 1 Tbsp fresh basil, torn 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan 1. Heat oven to 475°F. Drizzle large sheet pan with 1 tbsp of the oil. Roll dough in oil until completely coated and stretch into large thin oval. Bake until crust is golden, about 8 minutes. 2. Whisk ricotta, zest, remaining 2 tsp oil, 1.2 tsp kosher salt, and 1.4 tsp black pepper. spread over crust and top with tomatoes. Bake until cheese begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. garnish with…

Too hot to cook? Soaring temps shouldn’t mean lownutrient takeout. Whip up these clean meals—all prepped in less time than it takes to pick up pizza. Hummus, Pickled Pepper, and Avocado Wraps PREP TIME: 15 minutes TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes Serves 4 1 c hummus 3 Tbsp harissa 4 lg (10") multigrain tortillas (we like La Tortilla Factory) 2 c sprouts (about 2 1/2 oz) 1 avocado, sliced into wedges 1/2 sm red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 cucumber, sliced into matchsticks 1/3 c thinly sliced pickled Peppadew peppers (found near olives or in salad bar in store) 1/4 c sliced radishes stir together hummus and harissa in small bowl. Divide among tortillas and spread in even layer. Top with sprouts, avocado, onion, cucumber, peppers, and radishes. Roll up tortillas and…

Laugh until your face hurts and call me in the morning. That’s the kind of health advice Lee Berk, 71, can get behind. As one of the country’s leading laughter researchers, he’s measured grins, put high-tech headbands on study participants, and found that a good guffaw can measurably cut stress-hormone levels, boost immunity, and produce the same feel-good gamma brain waves as intense meditation. (The last finding involved an episode of I Love Lucy, naturally.) His hope: to inspire more humor-based treatments for illness and encourage us all to lighten up. “We’re hardwired to have fun,” says Berk. “So start seeking out those things that make you smile a little wider.” For more on Berk’s research, visit prevention.com/lee-berk.…

The third time isn’t always the charm. sometimes it’s the 28th or even the 100th atempt before your goal transforms from a mere dream to reality. Chris Wookey (pictured) had made the same New Year’s resolution to lose weight for the past 25 years. she’d stick with a diet or a walking program for a while and then, inevitably, slide right back into old habits. But when she hit 40, something changed. She changed. and finally, everything clicked. she put one foot in front of the other so ofen, and felt such joy in her effort, that in time she transformed her body and her life (see “the Miles that Changed Everything,” p. 86). Remember: this start, that do-over, could be the one that sticks.…

Hold the Fries Adiet high in certain fats could up your risk of two types of breast cancer, according to a new decade-long study of more than 337,000 European women. This is the Àrst study to pinpoint a speciÀc association between diet and the cancers linked to estrogen levels gone haywire, which represent up to 60% of breast cancer cases. The researchers advise keeping your saturated fat to a minimum by replacing it with monounsaturated fats (found in foods like olive oil and avocados). For more on fat, turn to p. 104. Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute That’s how much lower the risk of heart failure is among optimistic older adults, compared with the most pessimistic party poopers, according to a new study. For more about cultivating a…

If you’re wondering what a day on the world’s best diet—one full of “minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants,” according to a new Yale review—boils down to, here’s your hourly guide. 1 pm lunch can be great without extra weight. adding half an avocado at lunch decreased people’s appetites by as much as 40% for up to 5 hours. 3 pm fight the slump with a light yet satisfying snack, says dietitian Jennifer mcdaniel.(for a sweeter take, try greek-style yogurt with blueberries and a drizzle of honey.) 7 am skip refined carbs—they zap energy and may even impair cognition later that day, finds a new review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2 pm sip water or herbal tea between meals. dehydrated cwomen report more headaches and…

A New Reason Not to Avoid Hills Not only is walking uphill a stellar thigh and but sculptor, but it turns out that it can burn fat as much as working out with ketlebells, one of the most challenging training methods of all time. People who walked briskly for 30 minutes at a 4% incline burned up to 350 calories, the same number as those who alternated between two basic moves with the burly ’bells (twohanded swings and sumo dead lifs), according to a recent Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study. The one difference? The walk felt easier. De-ick Your Summer Workout Issue:Wet Gear solutIon: ReI Vitality Gym Bag use the separate vented compartment to store damp swimsuits, towels, and gear without getting the rest of your loot soaking…

Do Facial Exercises Really Work? So-called facial Àtness has been touted as a way to wrinkle-free skin, but there’s never been much research to back it up. A new study shows that it actually does help—but only in the upper lip area. GIVE IT A TRY 1 Place both thumbs under upper lip. 2 Push lip forward with thumbs while also trying to push thumbs back against gum with lip. Hold 6 seconds. do 10 times in a row daily for 7 weeks. SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHONIATRICS, SPEECH THERAPY AND COMMUNICATION PATHOLOGY 48% Reduction in psoriasis severity among overweight or obese people afer a 20- week dietary intervention Why it worked: The diet led to weight loss, which the researchers believe can help regulate pro-inflammatory compounds in the body…

Honey Hoopla Sometimes that golden goo doesn’t come straight from the bees. Honey is one of the most adulterated foods on earth—many companies mix it with cheaper sweeteners like sugar and corn syrup to cut costs but still call it honey on the label. The FDA recently got wise to these antics and announced guidelines that call for full disclosure when honey’s cut with anything else. If you want the real thing, look for pure “honey” on the ingredient label—and reshelve anything that lists “honey blend” as an ingredient. Flat Skewers Well-intentioned is she who sets out to grill veggies, but let’s face it: The slippery suckers can fall through cracks easier than a hunk of meat does. These stainless steel skewers from Steven Raichlen, grill master and host of…

Happy on Purpose How can we make ourselves happier? The question came to me the other day when I saw what looked like the very picture of joy. A little girl, probably 5 or so, was ambling toward me down the sidewalk, holding a yellow balloon and chatting to her mother in Spanish. As they approached, the girl gesticulated wildly and lost hold of her balloon, which, of course, Áoated skyward. Everyone on the sidewalk paused. She didn’t cry, as I would have at her age. She looked saucer-eyed at her mother, up at the balloon, then back at her mother again. And then? She whooped and spun, threw up her little hands, and, as we all watched the bobbing yellow orb sail away, gave a full-throated cheer: “¡Adios, globo!”…

Sitting in a tent in the Peruvian Andes, my 9-year-old son looked like an elf, mostly because his little face was exuding fairykingdom joy. “I’m so happy,” he said, clutching his knees to his chest. “I don’t know why, but I’m just so happy.” His pronouncement made me realize how happy I was, too. Like perfect-moment happy. We had walked 3 days on the Inca Trail and would, the next morning, arrive at Machu Picchu. At the time, it seemed as if our happiness stemmed from earnest reasons like relief and achievement. But looking back now, I think that after spending so much time in the tropical highlands and forests, we were both just plain—there’s no other way to put it—giddy. I know: Giddy is not a word that brings…

Within 20 minutes of working out, feel-good neurochemicals hit your brain. (You knew that.) And active people are 85% more likely to be happy. (You knew that, too.) The trick, of course, is actually exercising. (You really knew that.) So we created a tool. Try it. At least you’ll know what might stick. Cure Sadness Instantly yes, it sounds like an infomercial, but Emotional Freedom technique tapping—a sort of self-acupressure—has real blues-beating power. tap each of these points gently with your fingertips as you whisper what’s making you sad. tap 5 to 7 times or until you feel happier. Smell Really, Really Great “Citrus oils like orange are nature’s antidepressants,” says hope gillerman, an essential oil expert and the founder of h. gillerman Organics. “the essential oil molecules travel through…

Christofer Bäcklin had gained 5 pounds, and it was all because of the muffins. Swallowing one last bite of crumbly cake, the 31-year-old resident of Uppsala, Sweden, closed his eyes and exhaled with relief. It was his 49th day and his 160th baked good (total tally: 40 chocolate, 40 vanilla, 40 lemon, 18 strawberry, 16 apple, 5 cinnamon, and 1 very unfortunate tropical flavor), and it marked the end of a bizarre, vaguely masochistic experiment. “Let’s just say I won’t be interested in muffins again for a while,” says the medical PhD student, who had been forcing them down after every meal, every day for 7 weeks. One of his peers had quit the study, unable to stomach one more crumb, but Bäcklin never considered dropping out. “The world needs…

When Steve Goodrich’s 3-year-old dog, Boone, sees him get out the backpack, the black Lab leaps for joy. “He goes crazy,” says Goodrich, 46, a sales consultant and the author of Best Hikes with Dogs—Georgia. “He loves the trail.” But then, Boone has never experienced the outdoor mishaps that befell Goodrich’s hiking buddy’s dog on the Appalachian Trail. Several years ago, the pooch got sprayed by three skunks and spiked by two porcupines. “Imagine being in the middle of nowhere with a stinking dog or one who’s got a bunch of quills in his face,” Goodrich says. Fortunately, he and his friend had packed pliers, along with antiseptic wipes and the antihistamine Benadryl, which helped. The stink, however, they had to endure. Taking your dog hiking lets you experience his…