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Greg Clarke
Cardiovascular Activity
The ideal: Do 30 minutes most days of the
week. The surgeon general advises this
near-daily regimen will help lower LDL (bad)
cholesterol, raise HDL (good) cholesterol,
and improve cardio health, reducing the risk
for diabetes and heart disease.
The next best thing: Take three 10-minute
walks each day. Short bursts have real
health benefits, says Cris Slentz, Ph.D., a
senior research scientist at Duke University
Medical Center, in Durham, North Carolina.
Assuming the intensity is identical to that of
a 30-minute workout, you’ll burn the same
number of calories and get the heart-health
benefits. A few ideas:
Devote 10 minutes of your lunch hour to a brisk walk.
Climb a few flights of stairs several times a day instead of using the elevator.
Offer to take a friend’s (energetic) dog for a walk.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The ideal: Have five to nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. Eat such a bounty and
you’ll get a full array of nutrients, as well as plenty of fiber, says Claudia Gonzalez, a registered
dietitian in Miami.
8 Health Shortcuts That WorkDoing exactly the right thing can seem impossible. These quick methods comeclose.
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Greg Clarke
The next best thing: They may not be
farmers’ market–worthy, but sneak in
servings this way:
Try vitamin-rich dried fruits and single-
serving packs of applesauce (applesauce
has less fiber than fresh apples but still
contains some vitamin C).
Using frozen berries, whip up a fruit
smoothie, which can hold up to three
servings of fruit.
Try canned. Vegetable and bean soups
are good sources of fiber and can be as
nutritionally rich as fresh produce, says
Gonzalez.
Go ahead and take a multivitamin if
you’re still falling short. It may cover key
nutrients.
Sleep
The ideal: Get at least seven hours each
night. Skimping on sleep can have a major
impact on your health. A 2007 study at the
University of Warwick, in England, found that
women who slept fewer than five hours a
night were twice as likely to suffer from
hypertension as women who got seven hours
of sleep. Previous studies have linked lack of
sleep to weight gain and a weakened
immune system.
The next best thing: If you’ve been short
on sleep, take a nap. A recent study found
that people who took a short daily nap had a
lower rate of dying from heart disease than
did those who never snoozed during the day.
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Greg ClarkeTwo suggestions:
Lie down for a 20-minute siesta in the afternoon to revive yourself.
Take a quick catnap when you get home from work to counteract the effects of
lost sleep.
Greg Clarke
Fish
The ideal: Eat it twice a week. Fatty fish,
like salmon, trout, and sardines, are packed
with DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids,
which have been found in many studies to
reduce the risk of heart disease and boost
the immune system.
The next best thing: Add flaxseed or fish
oil to your diet. Here are two easy ways:
Sprinkle one to two tablespoons of
flaxseed on salads or oatmeal, says Tracy
Gaudet, M.D., a women’s-health expert
and the director of Duke Integrative
Medicine, in Durham, North Carolina. For
optimum absorption of nutrients, the
seeds need to be broken, so if you have only whole flaxseed, run it through a
coffee grinder for a few seconds.
Talk to your doctor about fish-oil supplements. The American Heart Association
suggests 1,000 milligrams of omega-3s a day for certain people at risk for heart
disease.
Hygiene
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Greg Clarke
The ideal: Wash your hands with soap and
water every time you touch a germy
surface. But while germs are
everywhere―grocery carts, ATMs,
doorknobs―sinks aren’t. And as soon as you
touch your face, you can transfer germs into
your eyes, nose, or mouth and can
consequently contract a cold, the flu, or a
gastrointestinal illness, says Georges C.
Benjamin, executive director of the
American Public Health Association, in
Washington, D.C.
The next best thing: Use hand sanitizer or
wipes.
Carry with you a small bottle of gel that
has at least 60 percent alcohol, says Benjamin. “It’s not as thorough as a good
washing under your nails and between your fingers with soap, but it is effective,”
he says.
All varieties of wipes (baby, regular, “sanitizing”) are good for larger jobs, but
baby wipes are usually alcohol-free.
Breakfast
The ideal: Have a healthy, well-rounded breakfast every day. The best morning meal includes at
least three food groups, says Gonzalez. Example: a glass of skim milk, a serving of fruit, and two
pieces of whole-wheat bread or an egg. You’ll have energy to start the day and make it to lunch,
and you may be less likely to become obese or diabetic, according to the American Heart
Association.
The next best thing: Grab a healthy on-the-go breakfast.
Cereal bars are a good option, but read the label before you buy. A bar should
have around five grams of fiber and protein and less than 200 calories, says
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Greg Clarke
Gonzalez. For example, a 170-calorie
Kashi Go Lean bar fits the bill.
Tack a quick breakfast onto your morning
coffee purchase. You can get at least two
food groups by having a drinkable fruit
yogurt and half a whole-grain bagel.
Greg Clarke
Teeth
The ideal: Brush after every meal, and
floss at least once a day. In a perfect world,
you would brush and floss away all those
little meal remnants before they had a
chance to cause decay and damage.
The next best thing: Do something to
loosen up the bacteria in your mouth.
Chew sugarless gum after you eat.
“Chewing gum increases saliva, which can
wash away food particles and neutralize
some of the acids produced by food
bacteria,” says Kimberly Harms, a
consumer adviser for the American Dental
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Association and a dentist in Farmington,
Minnesota.
Use a toothpick to get between teeth. Bacteria can linger between teeth and
under the gum line, where a toothbrush can’t reach, and the only way to get
them out is to remove them physically. While floss is best for tight spaces, a
toothpick is a decent stopgap.
Greg Clarke
Weight Training
The ideal: Lift weights at least twice a
week. A wealth of research shows that
working with weights strengthens bone
mass, helps burn calories more efficiently,
and reduces body fat, which in turn
decreases the risk for coronary disease and
diabetes, says Vonda Wright, an orthopedic
surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center. (And, no, moderate weight
lifting won’t bulk you up.)
The next best thing: Do exercises that use
the weight of your own body as resistance to
strengthen muscles.
Do push-ups and lunges at home.
If you prefer yoga or Pilates, ask your instructor to increase the number of
poses, such as downward dog, that rely on your body weight as resistance.
Also try other activities that help guard against bone loss, like running, dancing,
and jumping rope.
Adv ertisement