Staying Healthy Archive

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The meditative practice is being used for everything from boosting happiness to treating high blood pressure.

Mindfulness, which trains you to focus your mind on the present moment, is more than a popular meditation technique. It's been shown to help treat depression and anxiety and improve sleep quality. And it's now being studied as a complementary therapy for cancer, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. "We're seeing an exponential increase in doctors embracing mindfulness as a treatment," says Dr. Ronald Siegel, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and faculty editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Positive Psychology.

Quick bursts of exercise and doing tasks will break the cycle of inactivity and keep you healthier.

It's easy to spend long periods sitting in front of a computer, or with a tablet or smartphone, even when you know it's not good for health. But it's not quite as easy to break the cycle of being a "keyboard athlete," and make an effort to get more activity into your day. "I agree, I think people are becoming aware that prolonged sitting has a negative impact on health, but I'm not seeing enough people actually do something about it," says Marsha Pogrebinsky, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

You can still eat healthy foods without making a big meal each night.

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When you live alone, coping without a companion at meal times is more than just lonely; it's also a risk for malnutrition. "People don't make an effort when eating is no longer a social experience. There's no joy left in preparing food, because they don't view it as something valuable to do for themselves," says Melanie Pearsall, a registered dietitian with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Challenges lead to health risks

Loneliness is just part of the nutrition challenge when you live alone. Some people may also experience

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Consider medical intervention and lifestyle changes such as weight loss and exercise.

Getting busy in the bedroom can be a challenge in our older years. Sometimes it's the result of age-related physical changes, such as an enlarged prostate for men; for women, estrogen loss after menopause can reduce libido and vaginal lubrication and cause pain with penetration and difficulty climaxing. In other cases, chronic disease may be to blame, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression, neurological disease, and incontinence. Medications to treat these conditions can also affect sexual function.

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News Briefs

Here's something to think about if you drink a few cups of coffee per day: a Harvard study published online Nov. 16, 2015, by Circulation found that moderate coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk of an early death. Researchers evaluated questionnaires answered by people in three large studies (a total of more than 208,000 men and women), over a period of 30 years. The investigators observed that, compared with people who don't drink coffee, those who drank three to five cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee per day had a lower risk of death from type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease, and suicide. "It could be that certain compounds in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, may help reduce insulin resistance and inflammation, which are associated with many diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Ming Ding, the study's first author and a doctoral student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But the study doesn't prove that coffee was responsible for the lower risk of early death. "If you drink a moderate amount of coffee, it is fine to keep your habit. There is not enough evidence that you should drink more coffee for the sake of longer life expectancy," says Dr. Ding.

News Briefs

Want to lose weight? Don't focus on fat. A Harvard analysis published Oct. 30, 2015, in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggests that low-fat diets don't work any better than higher-fat diets when it comes to long-term weight loss. Researchers analyzed the data from a total of about 68,000 people in 53 studies that looked at low-fat diets compared with other types of diets, such as higher-fat diets with low carbohydrates. After one year or longer, people on all types of diets had lost and kept off an average of 6 pounds. So how can you lose weight? As we reported in the December 2015 Health Letter, it's not dietary fat that makes you fat; it's the combination of excess calories and too little physical activity. Each gram of fat has nine calories, which is more than in a gram of carbohydrates or proteins, so don't eat too many of them. What should you eat to lose weight? Go for vegetables, fruits, lean meats and fish, fiber, healthy fats (almonds, avocados, salmon), and whole grains. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian about how many calories per day you should eat to lose weight.

Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are essential for good health. That's one reason why a plant-based diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables can lower your risk of developing life-threatening diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. And when you pile on the produce, there's less room for the unhealthy foods, too.

Dinner is typically the largest (and latest) meal of the day, and it's a good opportunity to make sure that you meet your daily quota for fruits and vegetables. Here are five easy ways to work more produce into dinner.

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Ask the doctor

Q Everything I read in Harvard Men's Health Watch about nutrition says to minimize the amount of red meat in my diet. Would it be best if I just gave it up completely? Or is there a safe amount to eat?

A Numerous studies have observed that consuming red meat is associated with diseases such as heart disease or colon cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization recently classified processed and red meats as cancer-causing substances. In most studies, it does appear that the lower your consumption of red meat, the better your health.