While there’s no substitute for consistent, healthy habits, your physician may suggest a nutritional supplement to enhance your heart-healthy lifestyle. • Soluble fiber: Psyllium (seed grain) is available as a laxative and fiber supplement. Oats and barley contain beta glucan, another soluble fiber that lowers LDL cholesterol. • Red yeast rice (RYR) extract: A product… Read more »
A heart-healthy diet contains plenty of vegetables, fruit and whole grains. While no single nutrient prevents heart disease, some foods lower cholesterol naturally with soluble fiber, which prevents binds cholesterol in the digestive tract and helps block it from entering circulation, or with polyunsaturated fats, which lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Here are three foods… Read more »
Snow isn’t dangerous only for driving conditions. Shoveling the stuff causes tens of thousands of injuries or medical emergencies every year, according to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine—and that’s just counting people who wind up in an emergency department. The stress of removing snow most frequently hurts the lower back, causing muscle strain and serious back… Read more »
Heart health can be easier to achieve than you might think. It is not about grueling workouts and living on bland food, but lifestyle choices that help you feel alive and vital and make your heart sing. It’s empowering to know that 80 to 90 percent of heart disease is preventable. Here’s how to stay… Read more »
Now that 2013 isn’t such a new year, are your resolutions fading? Don’t give up. Instead, follow these tips for success: Plan Ahead January 1 is just a date. If you’re committed, you can start over anytime. Consider how strong your commitment is, and use that insight to create a plan. Make Goals Attainable The… Read more »
In Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical Little House book series, her sister Mary became ill with fever and severe headache. “Far worst of all, (scarlet) fever had settled in Mary’s eyes, and Mary was blind,” the author wrote. Yet it was viral meningoencephalitis (a viral brain infection) that caused Mary’s illness and subsequent blindness—not scarlet fever, according… Read more »
While Americans debate the east-versus-west coast battle on Sunday and more than 100 Super Bowl players push their bodies to the max, most of us will be practicing hand-to-mouth drills — even though more than 60 percent of our country is already overweight. During the Super Bowl, our best efforts at healthy eating can take… Read more »
Medical advances make heart attack, heart failure, and stroke less dangerous than they were 100, 50 or 30 years ago. Yet the best ways to maintain cardiovascular health stay the same and don’t require a doctor: a healthy lifestyle that emphasizes plant-based food choices, regular exercise, stress management and no tobacco. A good-for-you diet lowers… Read more »
Recent reports of evaluating former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) do not indicate that he is on the verge of awakening from a coma after his severe stroke seven years ago. For 20 years, fMRI has been a useful and often fascinating tool for neuroscientists to investigate… Read more »
Lance Armstrong’s disgrace sits among the leading and unprecedented doping scandals in US sports history. Such doping may have gone unnoticed by many in years past, but we are now witnessing the evolution of an international commitment to fair play and ethical values in elite sports. Established in 1999, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is… Read more »
