Health Tips 15

Secondhand Smoke Myths, Busted

Which is the more unfriendly place for your lungs -- the smoking section inside a cafe or the one outside on the patio?

The answer may surprise you. Tests recently revealed that the air quality is often equally poor in both locations. So steer clear of that smoking section whenever you can. Now, which of these is worse for your lungs?

Cars or Bars?
Would your lungs be worse off if you spent a few hours in a car, windows cracked, with someone who’s smoking or if you whiled away an evening in a smoky bar? Again, the answer may seem counterintuitive. Seems the air in a car, after a few cigarettes, can be even worse than the air in a smoky bar -- even with the windows open a bit. So now you know what to say the next time your pal wants to light up on a road trip.

Love Your Lungs
Try these other tips for battling bad air:

• Eat some fish. Here’s what it will do for your lungs.
• Buy a spider plant for your bedroom. Here’s how it will help freshen the air.
• Clean your air filter more often, and don’t overdo it with vitamins. Here’s why.

Chia Pet: The Gift of Health

Did some goofball friend give you one of those Chia Pets for Christmas? Perhaps she was thinking about your health.

The truth is, chia seeds are actually good for you -- we’re talking really good for you! In fact, they just may be one of the healthiest things around. Here’s why:

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chock-Full of Nutrition
Nutty-tasting whole-grain chia seeds are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, and they have among the highest antioxidant activity of any whole food -- even more than fresh blueberries. And they do good stuff for the body, like keeping blood pressure and blood sugar under control. (Check your blood sugar status with this diabetes risk questionnaire.)

Get the Good Stuff
The chia seeds you get in a Chia Pet have not been approved as food by the FDA, so get yours from a health-food store, or order some online. RealAge recommends two daily doses of about 20 grams each (a total of 1.5 ounces). Here’s another kind of seed that’s good for your ticker.

Red, Delicious, and Nutritious

They’re shiny, they’re red, they’re crunchy, and they’re sweet. And they know how to make cholesterol mind its manners.

We’re talking about oh-so-nutritious Red Delicious apples. Not only will they make you a teacher’s pet, but also they’ll help keep cholesterol from acting up and blocking your arteries.

"P" Is for Phenolics
Red Delicious apples are particularly rich in phenolics that do something magical to your bad cholesterol. They make the blood fats more stable, so they’re less likely to oxidize, stick to the walls of your arteries, and cause a dangerous blockage. Try these tasty apple recipes when you need to clean out the crisper drawer in your fridge.

Another Novel Cholesterol Controller
A healthy diet (one with little saturated fat or trans fat) and regular exercise are key to controlling cholesterol. But here’s something else that matters: supplements. Early research shows that adding a calcium supplement to your diet could boost your blood levels of good cholesterol. (Learn how to get more out of your foods with these nutrition-booster tips.)

A "Live Longer" Supernutrient

Be it sweater or swimsuit season, a daily dose of the "sunshine vitamin" may significantly shrink your risk of disease and death.

And although the stuff naturally occurs in your skin when exposed to the sun, you should faithfully pop a vitamin D supplement as well, because you need more D than Mother Nature -- or your diet -- can probably provide.

A Vital Vitamin
Vitamin D may be particularly helpful in thwarting cancer and arterial diseases. (Get more disease-deterring advice by simply filling out this questionnaire.) Why? It’s not entirely clear yet. But these conditions rely on cell proliferation to do their damage, and vitamin D may help slow down that process. (Try these top 10 tips for beating Major Agers.)

Making D Work for You
So how can you tap into the sunshine vitamin’s benefits? A bit of safe sun and some D-rich foods will boost your blood levels -- but only so much. (Look up food sources with this tool.) To gain the life-extending effects researchers recently identified, you’ll need a daily supplement, too. Either form you find at your drugstore, vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) or vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), will do the trick.

Are you getting enough vitamin D, calcium, and other antiaging nutrients? Take this assessment and find out.

Coffee or Tea: Which Is Tops?

A hot cup of something steamy always sounds good first thing in the morning. But which -- coffee or tea?

Both coffee and tea are chock-full of antioxidants, so feel fine about sipping either. But this might sway your decision: Tea also contains something that seems to fight nasty infections. What is it?

Bacteria Basher
It’s L-theanine, an amino acid that boosts immune responses to bacteria, including the ones that cause gut-churning food poisoning. Coffee, which lacks L-theanine,
shows no such antibacterial activity in studies. (Find out the food-safe way to make salads, prepare party foods, and dispose of your trash.)

More Reasons to Sip a Cuppa
Black, green, or oolong tea all provide a nice dose of the bacteria-thwarting compound. And these fragrant brews give you a host of other health benefits, too, from helping your heart (read how tea does it) to cutting cancer risk (especially this one, which affects women). And although it’s lower in caffeine than coffee, tea still provides about as much of the pick-me-up stuff as a soda. So pour yourself a cuppa!

Did You Know?
Adding this to your tea makes it even more of an antioxidant powerhouse.