Double your weight loss just by eating breakfast!
Tired of worrying about what your health might be like five, 10 or 20 years from now? Great news! Recent studies show that the rates of major health woes— including cancer, heart disease, dementia and obesity—are rapidly going down! Even better? You can l
1Cut your stroke risk 12% with omelets!
Over the past 10 years, the death rate from stroke has fallen about 35%, thanks to greater awareness of the signs of stroke and the importance of keeping blood pressure (a key risk factor) in check. Still, it’s a leading cause of long-term disability, so it’s smart to adopt a simple step that will lower your risk 12%: Eat one egg a day! ✤ It works! Researchers writing in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition aren’t sure why eggs protect you from stroke, but they suspect the mix of lutein, zeaxanthin, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, choline, vitamins and minerals in eggs help keep blood vessels healthy and blood pressure in check!
And take a multivitamin!
A daily multi with up to 400 mcg. of folic acid and vitamin B-6 (1.3 mg. for ages 19 to 50; 1.5 mg. for 51 and over) can slash stroke risk 12%, a review of 17 studies shows. These vitamins reduce harmful blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine linked to stroke.
2Double with a big breakfast!
For the first time in years, fewer of us are gaining weight and more of us are losing it! Now the journal Obesity reveals how to double your weight loss: Make breakfast your biggest meal and dinner your smallest! Women who did shed nearly 18 pounds and 3" from their waists in 12 weeks, while women who did the opposite shed just 7.3 pounds and 1.4" from their waists, even though they consumed the same calories! ✤ It works! Large breakfasts keep the hunger hormone ghrelin in check (blunting your appetite) and rein in insulin spikes (so you burn fat rather than store it). Plus, your metabolism is faster in the a.m, so you torch more calories from your morning meal than from lunch or dinner! And weigh in seven days a week!
In one study, dieters who stepped on a scale daily lost nearly 13.5 pounds more in six months than dieters who weighed themselves just five days per week. Daily weigh-ins help pinpoint factors that affect your weight, and they up motivation, leading you to take more slimming steps.
3Guard your heart with tea!
Deaths from heart disease have plunged 35.5% since 2004 now that top treatments are widely available. Better yet, drinking one cup of black tea daily can slash your chances of ever having heart trouble 29%, reports the American Journal of Medicine. ✤ It works! Tea drinkers have fewer of the calcium deposits linked to dangerous heart blockages, thanks to the beverage’s rich supply of flavonoids, scientists explain.
And try yoga!
Hate exercise? Turn to yoga! Its gentle, relaxing poses provide about the same heart-protecting benefits as moderate workouts—lower blood pressure and “bad” cholesterol and higher “good” cholesterol— without any strain or stress, reports the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. What’s more, it keeps your body moving, and because it’s easy and enjoyable, it triggers beneficial changes in your hormones and blood vessel function! The percentage of older adults with dementia has fallen nearly 25% since 2000. And lowering your chances of ever developing it 90%—even if you have a gene that raises your risk—is as easy as eating more foods with healthy unsaturated fatty acids (such as fish, walnuts and corn oil) and fewer foods with saturated fats (such as red meat and full-fat dairy) and simple carbs (such as sugar). ✤ It works! The antioxidants and healthy fats in those good-for-you foods ease inflammation and counter the cellular damage thought to be linked to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias!
Drink coffee, too!
Three to five cups of caffeinated coffee daily cuts your risk of Alzheimer’s disease 27%, reports the journal Nutrition. Credit goes to caffeine, polyphenols and other compounds in coffee that protect brain cells from aging!
5Lower your cancer risk 15% with oatmeal!
Cancer rates have dropped 25% in the last 20 years, thanks to earlier detection and better health habits, including a plunge in cigarette smoking. Now an analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition reveals that you can reduce your risk of all cancers 15% by eating more oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat and other cereal grains! ✤ It works! The fiber in cereal grains counters the inflammation linked to the growth of cancer cells, and it supplies lots of antioxidants, folate and other cancer-thwarting compounds!
Eat an apple a day and You’ll cut your risk of digestive cancer 41%, esophageal cancer 34%, colorectal cancer 28%, lung cancer 12% and breast cancer 11%, studies show. Apple’s antioxidants help shield DNA from damage, block tumor cell growth and keep your immune system humming!