Omega-3s: The Source Matters

You already know that omega-3 fatty acids are good for you. In the last decade extensive research has verified that omega-3s protect you from heart disease, lower inflammation, and even improve your mood.

New research reported this month in Cardiovascular Research shows that when it comes to getting the most from your omega-3 supplement, the kind of supplement you take matters.

Omega-3 supplements are typically derived from fish oil or from flaxseed oil. Fish oil supplements contain two types of omega-3s (EPA and DHA) that are not found in flaxseed oil supplements.

Researchers took a closer look at the affects of both kinds of omega-3 fatty acids and found that fish oil supplements are far superior to flaxseed oil supplements. The fish oil supplements helped prevent cardiac dysfunction, reduced inflammation, and fought plaque formation in the arteries much better than flaxseed oil supplements did.

If you take an omega-3 supplement, that's great. You're doing a good turn for your heart and your overall health. But make sure you're getting the most benefit by checking to see that your supplement contains DHA and EPA omega-3s.

If you're not taking an omega-3 supplement, you should start today. The benefits to your heart are invaluable.

Stay well,
Heather Robwell

Keep Your Brain Cells Young and Beautiful

Do you want to slow down aging in your brain?

Who doesn't, right? A youthful, sharp mind means a better memory, better problem-solving abilities, and better clarity day-to-day.

New research shows that regular exercise is the best way to keep your brain cells young and healthy.

It works like this. Your brain, when you are young, produces new brain cells and quickly integrates them into your brain's neural network. As you get older, your brain isn't as good at producing new cells and when it does, those cells don't integrate as well.

In animal studies, researchers found that exercise increased new brain cell production two and half times. Not only that, but the new brain cells had better survival rates and were more likely to become an established part of the neural network.

Exercise was more effective when started at an earlier age, but it helps no matter what age you are.

If you want to keep your brain youthful and functioning at its best, you need to establish a regular workout routine. All it takes is a half hour a day of increased activity, so jump on your bike or your treadmill and get moving. If you need motivation, just remember, it's like a fountain of youth for your brain.

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

Curb Holiday Weight

Whether you're a man or a woman, middle-aged or in your seventies, active or sedentary, the holiday season is the time when you are most likely to put on a few extra pounds. Most people go into the holidays with the best intentions about keeping any new weight off, but it only takes overeating at one holiday party to undo your will power for the rest of the season.

Fortunately, you can employ a few simple tactics to keep that from happening and to stay at your current weight.

Practice Good Portion Control: Big portions are one of the big causes of holiday weight gain. Think about the typical Thanksgiving dinner—there's about triple the number of side dishes that go with a usual dinner. And there's dessert.

Even if you take normal sized portions of all the sides, you'll still have a super-sized dinner. So, start out with just a bite or two of everything. And then savor each and every bite. With such small portions, you can go back for seconds of your favorite dishes guilt-free.

A Holiday Party Game Plan: I love holiday parties. The food is yummy, the drinks are good, and the atmosphere is festive. However, with all the bite-sized goodies, it's hard to keep track of how much is enough. So, here's what you do. Scout out the fare first. Some of it will be healthy—fruits and vegetables or whole-wheat crackers and cheese—and some will be rich and indulgent.

Go ahead and indulge in two or three of the best-looking options. Then stick with the healthier choices.

The same goes with all those tasty cocktails. Have one or two of your favorite, and then enjoy soda water with a twist of lemon.

Nip Emotional Eating in the Bud: During the holidays, even men give into emotional eating. You feel a little lonely or nostalgic and next thing you know you just downed twelve homemade chocolate chip cookies. The way to beat emotional eating is to have plan in place. Whenever you find yourself looking for a snack even though you're not really hungry, stop and do something else—a preplanned activity for just these moments. You might do ten jumping jacks or drink a big glass of water or sit down to play a game of solitaire. Just a little something to break your normal response to the eating urge.

Be a Bit More Active: Get out and get moving. It's so easy in the winter to curl up in front of the TV or with a good book, and that's fine. But before you do, go for a walk.

Try to find some fun activities to do on the weekend that will get you moving, too. You could surprise your spouse and go dancing or if the weather's nice you could go for a hike or shoot around of golf.

Nobody plans to put on weight during the holidays, but it happens more often than we care to admit. Use these four tactics to keep the weight off without sacrificing all the good things about the holidays.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn

Think Happy Thoughts

You've heard before that your outlook—especially your levels of stress—have an affect on your heart health. It turns out that how happy you are as you age also affects your cancer risks.

A recent study indicated that as people age, if they tend to be happy and optimistic, they are less likely to develop cancer.

Saying that you need to be happy and figuring out how to be happy are two different things. Hopefully, you already rate yourself as a happy person and this just serves to affirm that happiness is good for your health.

If you wouldn't rate yourself as a happy person, there are steps you can take that can increase your happiness. In many ways, happiness is like a good habit. If you get in the habit of being positive, then you're likely to feel happier more often.

Here are some good happiness habits:
• Start your day off with a good thought. It can be about the sunrise, about something you're excited about that's happening that day or even just about the breakfast you plan to have. When you wake, focus your thoughts on something positive. This will help get your day off on the right foot.
• Be more active. You don't have to do hours of grueling exercise, but physical activity does enhance your mood. If you get in the habit of going on a long walk every day or taking a bike ride, you'll give your mood a lift as well as your fitness levels.
• Be thankful. It's hard to be unhappy when you're feeling grateful for the good things in life. Take a moment each day to consider the things you are grateful for.

Happiness is something you can learn if you're willing… and learning to be happy can benefit your health in many ways, and that includes reducing your risk of heart disease and lowering your risk of cancer.

Stay well,
Heather Robwell

How's Your Mineral Intake?

Vitamins… antioxidants… micronutrients… fiber...

These are all things that are important to a healthy diet, but don't forget about the minerals. Your body needs minerals to support normal, healthy function. From bone-building to immune system function to cellular metabolism, minerals play an important role in all those systems and more.

Minerals even help to regulate your blood pressure.

When it comes to minerals and blood pressure, most of the focus is on sodium. It's true that excess sodium can increase blood pressure, but sodium isn't the only mineral that affects blood pressure.

Getting too little potassium can actually be just as damaging as getting too much sodium… it may be even worse.

In one study presented last weekend at the American Society of Nephrology, researchers found that low potassium intake had a stronger correlation with high blood pressure than did high sodium intake.

If you have high blood pressure you can make a big difference by reducing your sodium intake and increasing your potassium intake.

To reduce your sodium start by reducing the amount of processed foods that you eat. Most processed or prepackaged foods are loaded with sodium. Even canned vegetables have high sodium. If you eat canned vegetables, rinse them thoroughly before heating them up. This will help lower the sodium per serving. Also, resist the urge to add salt to your food at the table. Adding a small amount during cooking is fine—it gets stretched across the entire dish. When you add it to the serving on your plate, though, it adds up fast.

To increase your potassium intake, eat more fruits like bananas and oranges and eat more vegetables. When you eat potatoes, eat the skins, too. Also, make sure your multivitamin contains essential minerals like potassium. That way you'll fill in any gaps.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn

An Easy Cure for Alzheimer's?

Some researchers believe they may have come up with a safe and natural way to alleviate or even eliminate the memory problems caused by Alzheimer's disease.

It's uncertain yet if a recent study performed on mice will have similar benefits for humans, but researchers are excited. In the study, researchers gave mega-doses of vitamin B3 to mice with Alzheimer's disease.

During the course of the study, the vitamin appeared to cure the mice of memory problems. According to the scientists, the mice functioned like they have never developed the disease.

The dosages of vitamin B3 given to the mice based on body weight is about equal to 2 or 3 grams for a human. That's quite a lot more than the recommended daily allowance or 35 milligrams. You shouldn't begin taking big doses of this vitamin unless you talk to your doctor first. Big doses can cause your skin to flush temporarily. For some people, it also makes their skin dry and itchy. Too much vitamin B3 can also cause serious side effects like liver damage.

If you're at risk for Alzheimer's disease or are showing early signs of the condition, it is a good idea to make sure you're getting enough of this vitamin each day. You can boost your intake by eating more poultry, fish, nuts, and seeds.

Also, make sure your multi-vitamin contains 15 to 20 milligrams of vitamin B3.

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

November is Diabetes Month

Diabetes is an epidemic in our society. It's a difficult condition to live with. It upsets the chemical balance in your blood and can lead to nerve damage, eye damage, and heart disease.

The CDC estimates that 24 million Americans are living with diabetes. Of those, nearly a quarter don't know about their condition. That's not good. By knowing if you have diabetes or are at risk for diabetes, you can begin taking steps to prevent or control the condition.

That can mean a longer life lived in better health.

If you're over fifty, in honor of American Diabetes month, make sure that your doctor tests for diabetes at your next appointment. If it's been more than a year since your last doctor's visit, make your appointment today. In fact, do it right now, so that you don't forget… then come back for some great tips on controlling diabetes.


If you do have diabetes, it's not the end of the world. If you make the right choices concerning the foods you eat and your diet, you can live a long healthy life free of diabetic complications. So here's what you do:
• Eat more fruits and vegetables.
• Begin testing your blood sugar regularly.
• Avoid empty carbohydrates like white flour and white sugar. Instead choose nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
• Eat more lean protein.
• Choose healthy fats like olive oil, nut oils, and flaxseed oil (a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids)
• Get more active. I've found the best way to do this is to join a class that you like.
• Start doing some resistance training… working your muscles can help balance your blood sugar and insulin levels.
• Reduce your stress.
• Visit your eye doctor annually.

That may sound like a lot, but really it comes to making smart choices about the foods you eat and the activities you do. Even if you don't have diabetes, making these changes now can prevent the disease in the future and make you healthier and more energetic almost immediately.

So start making smart choices today!

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

What You Eat Affects Your Eyes

Your vision is precious. Just take a moment to imagine what your life would be like without it. It would be difficult to get from place to place. The simple process of preparing a meal would become a huge challenge. Not to mention that you'd never see the sunset or the waves crash on a beach or the faces of your grandchildren again.

It's important to take good care of your eyes. You might already know some ways to do this. You might visit your eye doctor on a regular basis and wear UV protective sunglasses on bright days. But did you know that your overall diet affects your eyes?

I don't just mean the micronutrients that support good vision. Things like beta carotene are important, it's true. But your overall approach to eating makes a difference, as well.

Research shows that a diet high in simple carbohydrates might hurt your eyes in the long run. Simple carbohydrates are those with a high glycemic index. A recent study appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating a lot of these foods can trigger the early development of age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.

People who got their carbohydrates from complex sources like fruits, vegetables, and oatmeal had better eye health for longer.

This is just one more reason to base your diet around lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This same diet will also help prevent heart disease, it will give you more energy, and it can even help protect against some cancers.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn