SMARTHEALTHYOUR GUIDE TO HEALTHY LIVING

GEAR UPFOR HEALTHYCOOKING

WALKYOUR WAYTO HEALTH

10 APPSTO KEEPYOU ACTIVE

8CHEW ON THIS4GUM AND MEMORY

GEAR UPFOR HEALTHYCOOKING

SMARTHEALTH

6FAT ACCEPTANCEHEALTHY AT ANY SIZE

The information in this publication does notconstitute medical advice and is not intendedto be a substitute for proper medical careprovided by a physician. Entire publication© Digital Access 2009. All rights reserved.Any reference to other organizations or com-panies, including their Internet sites, is not anendorsement or warranty of the services,information or products provided by them.

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10 APPSTO KEEP

YOU ACTIVE

WALKYOURWAY TOHEALTH

PINK RIBBONDEODORANTS

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13I SWEAR

ITS HEALTHY

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CHEW ON THISGUM AND MEMORY

Specifically, the study found that students,aged 13 to 16, who chewed sugar-freegum during a 14 week math class, scored3 percent higher in a standardized testthan their non-chewing classmates.Thefindings are similar to, and consistentwith, several research studies conductedin the past decade — and at least onedating back to the 1940s — which havefound that something about chewing gumfocuses attention, improves alertness,increases response time, and can evenimprove memory.

In truth, no one is sure how chomping ona stick of gum helps improve cognition.Among the popular theories: gum chewingreduces stress and relieves tension justlike other exercises; or it increases bloodflow to the brain as well as releasing insulinto parts of the brain relating to learningand memory; or that the repetitive processof chewing while studying helps reinforcethe learning when you are chewing againduring a test.

Needless to say, lots more research isneeded. But some experts suggest thatthe best way to take advantage of thisphenomenon is:

1. to chew sugar-free gum, better for theteeth and there is no proof that sugar isthe reason for the spike in performance

2. give it time to work since the beneficialeffects apparently do not kick in forat least two to five (and some say ten)minutes of chewing

3. use a flavored gum, like cinnamon ormint, because there appears to be someadded advantages when flavors andsmells are at issue

4. chew with rhythm since the regularitymay enhance the effect on the keyportions of the brain.

The Baylor College of Medicine studywas presented at the Annual Meeting ofExperimental Biology 2009 in NewOrleans, and sponsored by the WrigleyScience Institute.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THEBENEFITS OF CHEWING GUM >

Here is a surprise for generations of school teachers who forced their studentsto throw out their chewing gum before coming to class or taking the big test.A new study by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine suggests that the act

of chewing gum can boost academic performance.

FAT ACCEPTANCEHEALTHY AT ANY SIZE

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The roots of fat acceptance are in theprotest movement of the 1960s; theNational Association to Advance FatAcceptance (NAAFA), celebrating its 40thanniversary this year. Among the goalsare to promote the treatment of fat peopleas fellow human beings who deserve dig-nity and respect; to call the media to taskfor insensitivities and stereotypes; andto end discrimination in many areas ofdaily life, from employment to educationto access to public accommodations tomedical care.

In order to break down the negativitysurrounding fat people, movement ac-tivists often go public, staging marches,demonstrations, teach-ins, conferences,conducting campaigns against the media,and demonstrating for anti-discriminatorybusiness policies, regulation and legisla-tion. Fat Acceptance has spawned aburgeoning blog community — dubbedthe Fatosphere — as well a secondadvocacy group, the International SizeAcceptance Association.

Like other social movements, this onegenerates controversy. Members aredivided on the role of militancy, as well asspecific issues such as weight loss surgery.Some fear they are promoting or providingcover for dangerous weight gain. Manydoctors, too, are skeptical of the message,arguing that almost anyone who is over-weight would be healthier losing the excess

poundage. To counter these arguments,NAAFA makes it clear that it does not ad-vocate unhealthy decisions, just freedomfrom prejudice.

In fact, Fat Acceptance is currently takinga distinctly healthy twist. Many membersand friends of the movement are comingtogether under the umbrella of “Health atEvery Size” (HAES), which is also the titleof a book by Dr. Linda Bacon, a nutritionprofessor at City College of San Francisco.Health at Every Size emphasizes fivebasic tenets:

1. Accepting and respecting a diversity ofbody sizes and shapes.2. Recognizing that health and well-beingis multi-dimensional, including physical,social, emotional and spiritual.3. Promoting all aspect of health and well-being for people of all sizes.4. Eating healthfully, balancing nutritionalneeds, hunger, satiety, appetite andpleasure.5. Engaging in enjoyable and life-enhancingexercise, rather than just exercising tolose weight.

Dr. Bacon ran a federally financed, ran-domized trial to compare outcomes for 78obese women who either dieted to loseweight or were schooled in HAES precepts.HAES participants fared better on measuresof health, physical activity and self-esteem.

There is no doubt that our thin-obsessed society —and especially media and the popular culture — put skinny

people on a pedestal. This leaves out an estimated two-thirds ofAmericans who are overweight and the roughly one-fifth who arelabeled “obese”. The Fat Acceptance movement has arisen inbacklash, seeking to eliminate bias and promote size equality.

READ MORE ON THIS TOPIC >

GEAR UPFOR HEALTHY COOKING

COOKBOOKSWho has the time or talent tocraft your own recipes on adaily basis? Cookbooks are

the answer and, Lord knows,there are compilations for

every taste, lifestyle, diet andbudget. Don’t be shy and

don’t be cheap: every goodkitchen has at least two

dozen, and they pay back athousand times over in ideas,

savings and inspiration.

CROCKPOT/SLOWCOOKERSpeaking of money andhealth-savers, the one-potmeal is easy and it allow

you to utilize cheaper cuts of meat. Crockpotsare great any time of year. You can make a roast,a stew, soups, beans and legumes, and slowcooking cooks the fat off most meats. And talkabout convenience? Put all the ingredients inwhen you leave for work and come back at theend of the day to a completely cooked meal.

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While fresh foods and ingredients are important building blocks of healthyand low-calorie cooking, don’t underestimate the foundational tools:

kitchen equipment, gadgets and gear that make preparation easier and faster,and food tastier and healthier. Everyone has their time-saving, money-saving,calorie-saving favorite staples; here are seven that you should not be without.

BLENDERThe stand-alone blender isextremely versatile. It workswell to puree soups, makingthem thicker and creamier,eliminating the need for addi-tional butter or cream. It canwhip up a batch of healthysmoothies, not to mention low-cal mayonnaise, low-cal saladdressing and low-cal dips.

OVER 6,000 BLENDER RECIPES >

GRILL PANThis staple allows you to cook meats, chicken, fish, and vegetablesquickly and without added oil. Used on high heat, the grill searsthe juices in and gives food a delicious twist. And who doesn’tlove the beautiful grill marks seared into the flesh, looking like aphoto shoot for Gourmet magazine. Good ones start at $25 dollars,though you can go to $200 if you are so inclined.

KITCHEN SCALEPortion control is a key to executing recipes andlosing weight. Some people can guess well, mostothers simply cannot. A small kitchen scale cantake the guesswork out of portion control and alsocomes in handy for many baking recipes that listounces instead of teaspoon or cup measurements.

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NONSTICK PANSThe technology behind these pans is getting better every day. Andwhen they don’t peel or wear down — as they had a tendency todo in the old days — they are great at reducing or eliminating fatwhen cooking everything from eggs to grilled cheese to fish. Thereare also now nonstick soup pots, saucepans, omelet pans, and more.

STEAMERNo muss, no fuss with the electric rice cooker. Rice andvegetables can all be easily prepared in thirty minutes or so.And the warmer function can keep rice at serving temperaturefor several hours. Many pots now have a steamer feature, allow-ing you to put a small amount of water in the pot, set in the steamerbasket, add your choice of veggies, cover and set to cook.

HEALTHY RECIPES ANDINSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS >

WALK YOUR WAYTO HEALTH

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF WALKING ARE LEGION.Improved cardiovascular function and the reduced risk ofheart attack; weight loss or weight control; blood pressurereduction or control; prevention and treatment of depression;helps to build, maintain and strengthen bones and muscles.

But too many people have lost this healthy habit.

JOIN THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION START! WALKING PROGRAM >

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1. THE BUDDY SYSTEMFind a friend to share the experience. Thiscan help motivate you to walk on dayswhen you don’t feel like it and can helpyou continue walking at a good pace.

2. MEASURE YOUR SUCCESSYou can’t win if you don’t measure. Usinga pedometer helps you keep track of yoursteps and can be an additional motivator.The pedometers helps see how muchyou’re achieving and see when you’resuccessful,” Richardson says.

3. KEEP TO A SCHEDULEExperience suggests that a schedule tokeep you . . . well . . . on schedule. Acalendar, a PDA, whatever works for you.This helps to ensure that you have a settime every day for walking, and that youhave put aside the time and energy tojust do it.

4. START SLOWLY, BUT STARTRome wasn’t built in a day. The key togetting started is not to overdue. Justget up and walk around the block. Bydoing a little bit each day, you won’t getdiscouraged and you’ll gradually buildup to a significant distance.

5. CHECK IT OUTIf you have a chronic medical orphysiological problem, or any reason tobe concerned, why not check with youdoctor to make sure a walking programis safe for you? It just makes sense.

HERE ARE FIVE TIPS FORGETTING YOURSELF STARTED

10 APPSTO KEEP YOU

ACTIVEFor millions of Americans, the Apple’s

iPhone and iPod Touch are their “must-have”

connection to the world. I Increasingly, the

star of the show, are the iPhone Apps and

the App Store, which features thousands of

downloadable programs, free and paid. Among

them: hundreds of apps that can make you

leaner, fitter, more knowledgeable about your

medicines, your body and your overall health.

We’ll explore many of these in upcoming issues

of HealthSmart, but right now here are a dozen

that focus on keeping you active and exercised.

iFitnessA comprehensive database that provides clear pic-tures, videos and instructions; there are more than twohundred exercises sorted by body region.

Health & Fitness MobileFree video workouts from top experts in fitness and theability to log your progress while you workout.

Yoga StretchEven if you missed your yoga class, the instructor herewill talk you through each pose of a yoga session withVinyasa flow.

iPumpA series of exercise images and videos across all areasof training such as strength, cardio, flexibility, sports,yoga and pilates.

CityRUNNRTracks your runs and records your progress with a par-ticularly easy interface, and attractive and appealinggraphics.

iMapMyUse GPS technology to track and log data from yourrun or ride as well as view maps and share them withother athletes in your group.

iTrailMapDownload high res trail maps of your favorite ski andsnowboard resorts for viewing in portrait or landscapemode.

TrailguruFor walkers and hikers, trail guru helps you find and nav-igate the right trails for you in the great outdoors.

Nike Training ClubFirst create an avatar, then personalized your trainingprogram, learn some new drills, challenge others, andthen just do it.

GymFuLots of basic fitness workouts, like push ups, sit upsand squats, for which you can track your workout orbattle others across the internet.

iTreadmilllAmong the most popular pedometers, this devices doesa great job of emulating a treadmill whether you arewalking or running, indoors or out.

DOWNLOAD THESE APPS >

I SWEAR Its HealthyWe’re not recommending or endorsing swearing, mind you, but it may be that this practicehas some positive health benefits. Long thought to help express frustration and reduce stressin difficult or anxiety producing circumstances — ask any women who has gone throughchildbirth or a construction worker who has hit his finger with a hammer — it now turns outthat swearing may actually reduce the pain or at least increase tolerance to it.

In a new study published recently in NeuroReport. researchers at Keele University's Schoolof Psychology in England had 64 undergraduates submerge their hands in buckets of icywater twice. The first time, participants repeated a curse word over and over. The next time,they repeated a neutral word.

When they repeated the curse word, participants were able towithstand the water longer and reported a lesser pain levelthan when they repeated the common, everyday word.Researchers had thought that swearing would lowerthe tolerance to pain since it emphasizes thesensation. In fact, the exact opposite was true;swearing helped reduce the perception of pain.

“Swearing has been around for centuriesand is an almost universal human lin-guistic phenomenon,” Richard Stephens, oneof the study's authors, commented. “It tapsinto emotional brain centers and appears to arise in theright brain, whereas most language production occursin the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain.”This, he says, suggest that swearing is adeeply primitive act related to survival andconcludes that “our research shows one po-tential reason why swearing developed andwhy it persists.”

Stephens is not, by the way, providing any justifi-cation for casual or constant swearing. He told theBBC in an interview that the pain-lessening effectonly works in extreme situations. "Swearing is emotionallanguage, but if you overuse it, it loses its emotionalattachment," he said.

READ MORE ABOUTSWEARING AND YOUR HEALTH >

PINK RIBBONDEODORANTS

“Natural” deodorants have become popular lately, with three ormore brands available in many large drugstores and supermarkets.At first glance this simply seems part of the trend toward organic andenvironmentally responsible products, but these deodorants aren’tjust green, they’re also pink. The labels of Crystal, Naturally Freshand Herbal Clear deodorants display the pink ribbon of breast cancerawareness and say “Paraben-Free” and “No Aluminum Chlorohydrate.”

Is there a special connection betweenbreast cancer and deodorant?

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Most people use conventional deodorantsand antiperspirants, of course, and theU.S. Food and Drug Administration rec-ognizes them as “safe and effective.”Aluminum compounds are the only sub-stances that reduce perspiration andparabens are effective preservatives andfragrance ingredients, so they make for adesirable product. But enough scientistssuspect a link between aluminum,parabens and breast cancer to worrysome breast-cancer survivors and otherhigh-risk women.

Scientists know that aluminum can causeDNA mutations, and since cancer is adisease of mutated cells, some suspecta cause-and-effect. Parabens are similarto estrogen, and since most breast cancersthrive on estrogens, some scientists aretrying to find out whether or not there isa connection.

Parabens aren’t only in deodorants; they’reused in most makeup, soaps, sunscreens

and moisturizers. But deodorant causesmore concern because of where it’sapplied. Most women shave or wax theirunderarms, so any cosmetics applied tothose areas are readily absorbed into thebody. Since the underarms are next to thebreasts and sit over a cluster of lymphnodes—the lymph nodes where breastcancer is most likely to spread—the fear isthat aluminum and parabens from deodor-ants will directly cause or feed breast cancer.

Most women will still prefer regulardeodorants because they are effectiveand they stop perspiration, and becausenatural deodorants have a reputation ofbeing ineffective. Natural deodorantshave come a long way from their “crunchygranola” roots, though. They cannot stopperspiration but they will do the job ofmaintaining freshness. If you have reasonto fear breast cancer, it may be worth thetrouble to wear dress shields or re-applydeodorant on a hot day, just to get somepeace of mind.