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Nearly 200 chemicals linked to cancer found in everyday food packaging

<p>A new study has uncovered the alarming amount of potential carcinogens in food packaging and plastic tableware. </p> <p>Researchers from the Food Packaging Forum found that nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer are being used in food packaging, with dozens of these carcinogens able to find their way into the body. </p> <p>“There is strong evidence that 76 known or potential breast carcinogens from food contact materials recently purchased all over the world can be found in people,” study co-author Jane Muncke said.</p> <p>“Getting rid of these known or suspected carcinogens in our food supply is a huge opportunity for cancer prevention.”</p> <p>Muncke is managing director and chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging Forum, a non-profit foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland focusing on science communication and research. </p> <p>The study, published last month in the journal Frontiers In Toxicology, compared a list of potential breast carcinogens to a list of chemicals that have been found in food contact materials to find out which of the potential carcinogens could be getting into people's diets. </p> <p>Of the 189 potential mammary carcinogens in food contact materials, with 143 of these found in plastics and 89 found in paper or cardboard. </p> <p>Of the recently detected chemicals found in food packaging, 40 have already been classified as hazardous by regulatory agencies around the world. </p> <p>Another research scientist, Jenny Kay, from Silent Spring Institute an organisation focused on the link between chemicals, women's health, and breast cancer said: “So many of these chemicals have already been classified as human health hazards, yet they are still allowed to be used in food contact materials thus allowing them to migrate into the food we eat." </p> <p>Early-onset breast cancer rates in women younger than 50 have been increasing, and experts said the trend cannot be explained by genetics alone. </p> <p>“Many of the mammary carcinogens are hormone disruptors, too, and many of the chemicals on our list can also damage DNA," Kay said. </p> <p>“Consumers should not have to keep track of all of the scientific literature on what chemicals to avoid. It should be on regulators to recognise the danger and take action.”</p> <p>The Consumer Brands Association, which represents the consumer products industry, said its members adhered to the US Food and Drug Administration’s evidence-based safety standards.</p> <p>“Packaging exists to protect and keep food safe for consumption,” the association’s senior vice president of product policy and federal affairs Sarah Gallo told <em>CNN</em>. </p> <p>“The FDA reviews and approves food contact substances through their science and risk-based system before they go to market.</p> <p>“The agency’s post-market review also provides continuous safety analysis and regulation of the approved substances.”</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p> <p> </p>

Body

5 ways to reduce everyday bills

<p>It’s not uncommon to get to the end of the month and be surprised by a figure in your bills. But this surprise needn’t be unpleasant. There is wide a range of simple measures you can employ to reduce your monthly bills without too much effort. Follow these five simple tips and save money.</p> <p><strong>1. Food and groceries</strong></p> <p>Food can be a problem area in the average Australian’s budget, either because we’re physically eating too much, eating out too much or spending too much money on groceries. But that doesn’t mean you have to transition to a Spartan diet. Here’s how you can save on your grocery bill:</p> <ul> <li>Reduce the amount of times you’re eating out or getting takeout a week</li> <li>Use a shopping list and coupons, pay for groceries (this means you’re less likely to splurge on items that you don’t need) and buy more non-perishable foods to store and save</li> <li>Consider starting a garden and grow your own fruit and veggies</li> </ul> <p><strong>2. Energy</strong></p> <p>Many people have found their energy bills have been increasingly steady over the past through years, but this doesn’t mean you have to be part of that trend. With a little bit of ingenuity and not a lot of fuss you can make your house energy efficient and enjoy huge power bill savings:</p> <ul> <li>Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs. In many cases these bulbs do cost more than traditional bulbs, but they use much less energy and can last up to 10 times longer</li> <li>Unplug unused electrical devices that are draining electricity</li> <li>Make sure you home is airtight to prevent cold drafts in winter and the loss of cool air in summer. This will also reduce your heating/cooling bills accordingly</li> </ul> <p><strong>3. Cars</strong></p> <p>As fuel, registration and maintenance costs start to pile up, a car can seem less like a convenience and more like a money pit rolling around on four wheels. That being said, there is a range of ways you can enjoy the access vehicle ownerships provides, without having to pay through your nose:</p> <ul> <li>Underinflated tyres reduces the value of your cars fuel economy significantly, so make sure you take a couple of minutes to check the air pressure and reinflate once a month</li> <li>Consider selling a vehicle if you’re not using it often. Without taking the cost of parking and toll roads into account driving vehicles costs thousands of dollars a year</li> <li>Use more public transport and consider setting up car pools with friends/colleagues</li> </ul> <p><strong>4. Grooming and beauty </strong></p> <p>Looking and feeling great is important, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a hugely expensive ordeal. With a little bit of ingenuity, creativity and willingness to not spend $10,000 on that jewel encrusted headdress you can still be the belle/male-belle of the ball without breaking the bank:</p> <ul> <li>Reduce the amount of money you spend on clothing by keeping your eye on sales</li> <li>Consider lower cost alternatives to your favourite beauty products</li> <li>Cut back on the amount of times you have your hair cut and styled</li> </ul> <p><strong>5. Additional entertainment expenses</strong></p> <p>Your deluxe gym membership might give you access to the power lifting body attack class, but are you really getting the full value for it and the other regular entertainment expenses you’ve signed up for? There are still ways to stay entertained without having to break the bank every week.</p> <ul> <li>Consider cancelling club memberships for places you don’t visit often</li> <li>Investigate free events and inexpensive entertainment ideas like cheap movies Tuesdays</li> <li>Magazine and newspaper subscriptions can also become expensive if you’re not actually reading the papers, as well as pay television services that can be easily eliminated</li> </ul> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

These 11 simple everyday things could be ruining your hearing

<p><strong>Protect your ears</strong></p> <p>You know a leaf blower can do a number on your hearing or a loud rock concert can make your ears ring for days. But there are all sorts of surprising everyday items that can have an impact on your hearing, and you don’t want to wait until you’re collecting Social Security to take action – Millennials are losing their hearing, too.</p> <p>From your kitchen to your yard, your medicines to your health conditions, here are things that affect your ears. Take a listen.</p> <p><strong>Blood-related conditions </strong></p> <p>Types 1 and 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol affect almost every cell in the body – including the ears. Vibrations from tiny hair cells in your ears send your brain messages about what you’re hearing, but those cells need proper blood flow. </p> <p>“All those hair cells are fed nutrients by tiny little capillaries,” says audiologist Craig A. Kasper. “If there’s any problem with blood flow, you’re not going to get those hair cells to grow.” People who have diabetes, for instance, are twice as likely to experience hearing loss than the rest of the population, he says.</p> <p><strong>Blow-dryers</strong></p> <p>A hairdryer near your head could be putting out 85 or more decibels of noise. Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dB is when people are at risk of hearing loss, says the US National Institutes of Health. You’d probably have to dry your hair for eight hours straight before it did any damage, but that loud part of your beauty regime could add up over time, says clinical audiologist Kit Frank. </p> <p>“The more you use [blow-dryers] and the longer you use them, the more likely you are to have damage,” she says. “It might not do immediate damage, but over time it will.”</p> <p><strong>Loud music</strong></p> <p>You know what it was like when you came home after a loud concert: The ringing in your ears was a sure sign the music was too loud. But even the tunes coming through your headphones could damage your ears. Earbuds are typically more damaging than over-the-ear headphones because they rest deeper in your ear canal, says Frank. </p> <p>And if you crank up the volume to drown out the noise around you, things get even riskier, says Kasper. “You typically have to compete with the environmental noise to hear the music,” he says. “That’s when it becomes dangerous.” Sticking with volume at or below 60 per cent will keep the sound at a safe level, he says. If you can’t hear at that volume, buy sound-blocking headphones to cut out the outside noise.</p> <p><strong>Skipping your annual check-up</strong></p> <p>Most hearing loss comes from gradual damage to your inner ear, but blockages are totally treatable. During your annual visit to your GP, your doctor should check the inside of your ears for wax build-up. Skip that check-up and you might end up with clogged earwax muffling your hearing, says Frank. </p> <p>But you might also get stuffed-up ears after a specific event, says Kasper. “It could be someone has a history of sinus infections or allergies, or just took multiple plane rides and their ears are clogged,” he says. “It makes us feel like we’re underwater."</p> <p><strong>Prescriptions </strong></p> <p>Hearing loss could be a side effect of your medication. Some diuretics for heart disease, chemotherapy and antibiotics (especially gentamicin, neomycin, and others in the -mycin family) could damage your ears. </p> <p>Getting better is your first priority, but it’s worth talking to your doctor about whether the dose is high enough to do damage. “High doses of any antibiotic can be dangerous,” says Frank. “Usually myacins are used in high doses.”</p> <p><strong>Over-the-counter pain relievers </strong></p> <p>Even pain relievers you get over the counter, like aspirin and ibuprofen, could do damage in high amounts. Any hearing loss or tinnitus from them is usually temporary, but the side effects are sometimes permanent. </p> <p>As long as you stick with baby aspirin or regular doses of a pain medication, though, you won’t risk ruining your hearing, says Kasper.</p> <p><strong>High fever</strong></p> <p>As if a high fever weren’t bad enough, that elevated temperature could also damage the nerves in your inner ear, either because of inflammation or lack of oxygen. </p> <p>“If you don’t get that oxygen to the nerves, they break down and they don’t work like they should,” says Frank.</p> <p><strong>Exercise classes</strong></p> <p>Exercise classes are often very loud. The music blasting at your group workout might power you through your sweat session, but it might be working your ears in a bad way. “If you walk out of spin classes and your ears are buzzing, that’s an indication that you may have done damage to your ears,” says Kasper. </p> <p>Download an app to your smartphone to measure the sound level around you throughout your day, he recommends. Consider using hearing protection if your fitness centre is particularly noisy.</p> <p><strong>Kitchen appliances</strong></p> <p>Noisy appliances like blenders and coffee grinders could do damage to your ears over time. The more often you get those noisy blades going, the more trauma your ears go through. Hard-core chefs should consider ear protection, though the occasional smoothie isn’t anything to worry about. </p> <p>“If you’re in the kitchen and cooking and using a blender all day, that’s a problem,” says Frank. “If you use it for ten seconds once a week, it probably won’t be a problem for you.”</p> <p><strong>Power tools </strong></p> <p>The racket from lawnmowers, jackhammers, leaf blowers, drills and other power tools isn’t just a headache, it also risks hearing damage. You’ll need to protect your ears, but earplugs might not be the best choice. Putting fingers grimy from the tools so close to your ear canal could put you at risk for infection, says Kasper. </p> <p>Instead, pick up a pair of earmuffs from the hardware store. “They go right over the ear, and they’re easy to take on and off,” Kasper says.</p> <p><strong>Your commute</strong></p> <p>Public transport can be noisy, and sitting on a train or bus for half an hour to and from work could add up over time and hurt your ears, says Frank. </p> <p>Plus, the siren of an emergency vehicle passing you on the street could be loud enough to do some damage. “Covering your ears is a good thing – it’s not silly,” says Frank.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/conditions/hearing/listen-up-11-surprising-things-that-could-ruin-your-hearing?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Body

Here’s why you need to go for a walk every single day

<p><strong>The benefits of walking every day </strong></p> <p>Twenty summers ago, Nancy Duguay stood at the side of a soccer pitch in watching her 11-year-old son sprint back and forth, and wished she had a cigarette.</p> <p>Duguay, then 39 and a cardiac-rehab nurse, was trying to quit smoking after having the habit for more than half her life. She’d sneaked her first cigarettes from her parents’ packs as a teen and hadn’t stopped since. With her hands empty as she waited for her son’s practice to end, the urge for a puff gnawed at her.</p> <p>Behind the field, the heavily forested Sugarloaf Mountain stood guard. As a kid, Duguay and her friends regularly hiked the mountain and picnicked on its peak.</p> <p>Then an idea struck her: walking instead of smoking. She told another parent that she would be back in time to pick up her son and then set off for the mountain. “In just my regular sneakers, a pair of shorts and a T-shirt,” she remembers.</p> <p>Duguay’s heart pounded as she climbed, and she stopped often to rest. When she arrived at the top, she took in the view that sweeps over the city and across the river to the rolling hills of the Gaspé Peninsula.</p> <p>“I just felt so good,” says Duguay. “My natural endorphins kicked in, and the craving was gone.”</p> <p>Almost every day since, she has gone for a walk – and the habit has changed her life. Not only did she quit smoking, but her resting heart rate dropped from 80 beats per minute to 60. The ritual has given her a lot more, as well: stress relief, mental-health management, and a sense of community.</p> <p>“There’s a psychological and physical need to do it now,” she says. “I want to keep healthy and keep moving.” Keep reading to discover more incredible health benefits of walking every day.</p> <p><strong>It's good for your body</strong></p> <p>A growing body of research confirms what Duguay discovered: there are enormous benefits in walking every day. According to a report from the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine, walking for 150 minutes a week can reduce the risk of most major chronic diseases by 25 to 50 per cent. In fact, light to moderate exercise has been found to be more effective than medication during rehabilitation after a stroke. For prevention of diabetes and as a secondary treatment of heart disease, walking is equally as effective as taking drugs.</p> <p>In 2019, a Journal of Clinical Oncology study reported that a small amount of physical activity – such as taking a brisk walk for 20 minutes or more a day – is linked to a lower risk of seven types of cancer. Meanwhile, more walking means better sleep, too. In a recent study of middle-aged men and women, the participants who took more steps during the day slept better at night.</p> <p>“We need to start thinking about walking as a healthy activity,” advises Dr Jane Thornton, a family physician in London, Ontario. She advocates for the idea that we consider physical activity as medicine – a philosophy that grew out of personal experience. Thornton was a shy, sedentary 14-year-old when she signed up for a beginner’s rowing class in Fredericton. While her physical fitness improved, a new social circle opened to her and her grades went up. Thornton went on to become a world-champion rower and represented Canada at the 2008 Olympics.</p> <p>A few years after competing in the Olympics and shortly before retiring from sport, she enrolled in medical school. She was surprised by the lack of information provided to physicians-in-training about the benefits of exercise. “For whatever reason, there just wasn’t any content at all on physical activity,” she says.</p> <p>In 2014, Thornton started working on a campaign with the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine to get doctors to prescribe physical activity for patients – including walking. “I don’t think it’s a panacea for everybody, but it is one of the easiest, best solutions we have at our disposal,” she says.</p> <p>One significant reason that walking is so good for us is fairly straightforward: when we move, our hearts work harder to transport blood to the working muscles and organs. That repeated effort strengthens the heart muscle, making it pump more efficiently at all times, sending blood around the body with fewer beats per minute. Exercise also improves the function of blood vessels, with one analysis reporting that aerobic exercise can improve our vascular health.</p> <p>Walking helps build other muscles, too, especially in the lower body, and improves balance and strength. Physiotherapists like to say “Motion is lotion.” When our bodies don’t move enough, they stiffen. Ligaments, tendons and muscles tighten when they’re not used, causing pain in joints. For back pain, especially, movement can help. When we walk, we activate the muscles that run along the spine, strengthening them. “Pain and function improve just by putting those muscles into play,” Thornton says.</p> <p>Hospitals have also begun to embrace the value of walking. At Mount Sinai in Toronto, older patients weren’t always encouraged to get up from bed because of the risk of falling. About ten years ago, that changed. Assisted by doctors, nurses and volunteers, patients are now prompted to walk to the bathroom, explore the hallways and get out of bed to eat their meals.</p> <p>Since that change, fewer patients require catheters and suffer pressure ulcers. On average, they spend less time in the hospital. “Every day that an older person is in bed, they lose five per cent of their physical functioning,” says Dr Samir Sinha, Mount Sinai Hospital’s director of geriatrics. “So getting them up and walking can reduce the chance that grandma might not be able to return home.”</p> <p><strong>It's good for your mental health </strong></p> <p>One of the most important benefits of walking every day is that it’s equally beneficial for our mental health. For Duguay, walking helped her through some of the toughest periods in her life. When her mother died of cancer, Duguay turned to the mountain to walk through her pain. “I would cry all the way up the mountain,” she remembers. In this way, walking became her antidepressant.</p> <p>According to a 2019 study led by researchers at Harvard University, people with a genetic risk for depression are less likely to struggle with the condition if they exercise – even performing light physical activity like walking.</p> <p>Walking also reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2019, the World Health Organization released new guidelines on dementia prevention, and its top recommendation was to get more exercise.</p> <p>“We’ve always known that exercise is good for your heart, but we’re now making a connection between exercise and cognitive improvements,” said Dr Saskia Sivananthan, chief research & knowledge, translation and exchange officer at the Alzheimer Society of Canada.</p> <p>Although that link isn’t yet fully understood, Sivananthan says there are a number of possible explanations: increased blood flow to the brain increases the organ’s cell growth; physical activity stimulates certain hormones that improve well-being and may reduce brain-matter loss linked to cognitive function; and walking might also reduce inflammation in the brain.</p> <p>Meanwhile, one study from McMaster University has shown that aerobic activity that incorporates intervals of higher-intensity exertion improves memory function. According to Dr Jennifer Heisz, who worked on the research, walking promotes production of a protein, BDNF, that spurs growth of new brain cells. These cells help us create high-fidelity memories – “the type we need every day to locate our car in a busy parking lot and recognise a friend in a crowd,” she said.</p> <p><strong>It's good for your social life</strong></p> <p>Jim Button, a 56-year-old entrepreneur, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2014. He underwent successful surgery but, less than two years later, he learned that his cancer was back, had spread and was terminal.</p> <p>Button knew that exercise would help keep him as healthy as possible. He started walking five kilometres a day. Before his diagnosis, he’d meet with business contacts and friends at coffee shops. Now he asks them to join him on a walk. Every day over the last three years that his health has allowed, Button has gone for a walk, all the while expanding the range of his walking partners – he regularly strolls with strangers who reach out to him seeking business advice, or people recently diagnosed with cancer and other illnesses.</p> <p>“I’ve discovered that not a lot of people go for walks,” Button says. “And when they do, it opens up their mind to be a bit more honest about whatever challenge they would like to talk about.” On some walks, he says, conversation never slows. On others, little is said but much is shared, even silently.</p> <p>Inspired by Button’s strolls, Dr Lisa Bélanger – founder of Knight’s Cabin, a Canadian charity for cancer survivors and their supporters – helped found an initiative in Calgary called Walk It Out. The program is like other peer support groups, but participants walk outside while they share their experiences with the disease. “More than in a sit-down, face-to-face meeting, walking seems to allow a conversation to flow naturally,” she says.</p> <p>Bélanger, who is an expert in behavioural medicine, adds that walking has the power to undo negative thought patterns. “If you’re thinking about a problem and you go for a walk, the activity in your brain changes, and you learn and think better,” she says.</p> <p>Like Button, Nancy Duguay has corralled her community around her daily walks. The more she walked, the more people around her saw the benefits and started doing it, too. Her husband, Roger, began to accompany her on hikes on their holidays. And about seven years after Duguay’s first walk up a nearby mountain, her sister decided to try it. Now she, too, takes a walk every day, and they often go together. A small community of walkers has formed around them.</p> <p>“We’ll meet people coming down and say, ‘This was a tough one today. It was really slippery, but boy, you know, it’s worth it.’”</p> <p><strong>Put your best food forwards</strong></p> <p>To experience all the benefits of walking every day, treat it like a workout, says personal-fitness trainer Korey Samuelson:</p> <p>Walk with an upright posture, your head held straight, not looking up or down. Keep your gaze about five metres ahead.</p> <p>To move faster, put more bend in your elbows.</p> <p>Swing your arms forwards and back; moving them across the body isn’t efficient. “Just like sprinting, arm movement is important for strong walking,” says Samuelson.</p> <p>When your lead foot lands on the ground, roll from heel to toe. Your footwear should be pliable enough to allow the natural movement across your foot.</p> <p>To speed up, increase your strides per minute rather than elongating your strides. More steps per minute means you’ll travel further, faster.</p> <p>Use Nordic walking poles to increase your heart rate and burn more calories.</p> <p>Intersperse intervals of brisk walking with periods at a slower pace.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/heres-why-you-need-to-go-for-a-walk-every-single-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Body

“Such intimacy is rare in everyday life”: The benefits of playing music can’t be understated

<p dir="ltr">Whether you’re driving in the car, riding in a lift, or attending a concert, music is everywhere. For many, our involvement in creating music stopped outside of high school music classes and attempts to learn the recorder, keyboard, guitar, or to sing.</p> <p dir="ltr">Or it might have included playing in the school band, taking music lessons as a child, or maybe even continuing to play at university.</p> <p dir="ltr">But playing music is something that often falls to the wayside as we get older, with the demands of work, home and family taking priority.</p> <p dir="ltr">Given that playing music has benefits for our mental health, including easing anxiety and depression, feelings of satisfaction with life and health, and even reduced alexithymia - a dysfunction affecting emotional awareness, social attachment and how we relate to others - it’s an activity that many of us can reap benefits from.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Stephen O’Doherty, the conductor and musical director of Golden Kangaroos Concert Band, music has been an outlet for expressing himself creatively and maintaining his wellbeing - and he has seen similar effects in many of the players he works and plays with.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Having outlets to express myself creatively through musical performance has been absolutely essential in maintaining my wellbeing and having a stable quality of life,” he tells OverSixty.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The (Golden Kangaroos) have many members who have joined later in life. For some it is a chance to take up the same opportunity they gave their children, encouraging them to learn music at school and wishing they could have done the same. </p> <p dir="ltr">“For others it is the idea that playing music will help them to keep their brains active as they enter later life. For others, or perhaps for all of the above, joining a community band is a way of finding their tribe, their people, a safe place where people of a like mind can learn, grow, and contribute together. </p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fabcb08c-7fff-1eb6-5df0-bb5fac8b7edd"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Knowing the many life stories of our members, I can say with absolute alacrity that band contributes to their identity and self-fulfilment in ways that may never be explicitly known but are formative and extremely significant.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/12/gks0.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr">With the benefits of playing music established, taking music into a community environment brings with it additional benefits to our wellbeing. In a study <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1163211.pdf">published</a> in the London Review of Education, Dr Debra Rodgers, whose PhD focused on community music and mental health-related stigma, argued that community music can be beneficial in helping both to distract participants from their personal worries and as a place where they can interact without fear or judgement.</p> <p dir="ltr">O’Doherty agrees, adding that playing in a group is a way for many to truly be themselves.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We know that learning music has beneficial effects intellectually and emotionally. Learning or performing with others adds a social dimension that, I think, is critically important,” he says.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At its best, playing in a well-run musical group helps us to express our emotions in a safe and structured way, and that is good for the soul. We are part of something bigger than ourselves and, when we play for an audience, we are (hopefully) gifting them a great experience. Enriching others also enriches us.</p> <p dir="ltr">“For many, band is the place where they are most fulfilled. Where their contribution matters. Where they will be missed if absent. Where they are safe when expressing their creativity.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To play music alone is good. It is personally satisfying and should not be underrated. But to play with others and achieve a pleasing outcome for an audience is a whole new level. It both fosters and requires a level of interpersonal communication between performers that is beyond words.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e143aaae-7fff-6987-5ac0-405baa4ff163"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Such intimacy is rare in everyday life. It enriches the human experience in a unique and very special way.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/12/gks2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr">For O’Doherty, playing music has had added benefits when it comes to his own mental health, including managing the symptoms of depression.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Depression is a serious and debilitating condition which, untreated, will attack our self-worth and seriously affect our quality of life. I have lived with this condition for my entire life,” he explains.</p> <p dir="ltr">“... if I can’t perform music I am not being fully me. I am somehow less than whole. Music is a way I find wholeness, an acceptance of who I am and of what I can contribute to the world around me. </p> <p dir="ltr">“When a black mood sets in and starts attacking my self-worth, playing music is one of the few things that can restore me, and I find joy and purpose in seeing the beneficial impact on the members of our group.”</p> <p dir="ltr">As for those who may have played music in the past or have always wanted to learn, O’Doherty suggests finding a safe place to give it a go.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Many people go through the stage of leaving their earlier musical learning behind. After school or Uni life gets busy!” he says.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I want to encourage people however to think about this: when you were the best version of yourself, was performing music part of the equation?</p> <p dir="ltr">If the answer is yes (or even maybe) then do you not owe it to yourself and your loved ones to return? And if you’ve not yet tried to learn an instrument but have a yearning desire to express your creative instincts in this way, what do you have to lose? </p> <p dir="ltr">“Find a safe place to explore your interest and give it a go! Creative expression is part of what it is to be truly human. Perhaps music is your pathway to a more fulsome life.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-809fc7b0-7fff-8434-37d7-a78b2cd98287"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Stuart Coster (Supplied)</em></p>

Mind

Warning after child suffers horrific burn from everyday item

<p dir="ltr">When it comes to using hand sanitiser, most of us don’t think twice and squeeze a little on our palms. </p> <p dir="ltr">Almost every place has hand santiser handy, but this has renewed calls to parents to keep an eye out for it around their children. </p> <p dir="ltr">Paramedic and mum-of-two Nikki took to Instagram to show the dangers of children misusing hand-sanitiser. </p> <p dir="ltr">She shared an image of a young boy named James to the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cawa4MAM34G/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tiny Hearts Education</a> page, who suffered a horrific chemical burn in his eye after using a foot pump hand sanitiser dispenser.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It took days for James to be able to open his eyes and several weeks to get the all-clear of no long-term damage,” Nikki wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">Exposure of the chemicals in hand-sanitiser to the eye can cause minor injuries or even “complete blindness”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“These kinda accidents can occur from a whole range of chemicals. It could be acidic agents such as bleach, window cleaner, vinegar and pool chemicals, or alkali agents such as fertilisers, drain cleaners, sparklers, plaster and cement - but the list is endless!”</p> <p dir="ltr">The passionate mother warned parents in similar incidents to irrigate the area first, listing how to do so, before rushing to the emergency department.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Irrigating the eye is so important as we aim to flush out as much of the chemical as possible. It is best done with Normal Saline but when this is not available running water will do the trick.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She suggested wrapping the child “like a burrito to help keep them still”, while assisting older children over the sink.</p> <p dir="ltr">Slightly warm water should be run over the eyes as the child blinks repeatedly to help flush out the chemical. This should be done for at least 15 minutes. </p> <p dir="ltr">Nikki also warned of contacts to be removed before any process. </p> <p dir="ltr">“P.S Also a reminder - PLEASE do not let little ones use foot pump hand sanitiser dispensers!!”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

Everyday items you’ve been using wrong this whole time

<p><span>It’s time to properly learn how to use everything in and around the home. From the right way to tear plastic wrap to having wrinkle-free button-down shirts, we’re here to help you on this journey of discovery.</span></p> <p><strong>Food storage containers</strong></p> <p><span>Glass vs. plastic aside, not all food containers are ideal for the microwave. The corners of rectangular containers usually attract more energy than other areas, leaving the food in those spots overcooked. A round container will allow food to reheat more uniformly.</span></p> <p><strong>Blender</strong></p> <p><span>There’s a reason your blender keeps stalling after every few seconds – the order of your ingredients makes a huge difference. Start with your liquid base or yoghurt, then layer ingredients from smallest to largest, keeping the toughest pieces, such as ice, at the top. The liquids will let the blades run smoothly without catching on the hard ingredients.</span></p> <p><strong>Toaster</strong></p> <p><span>The type of bread you’re toasting affects how hot you should set your toaster. While white and sweet breads heat quickly, heavier ones like rye take more time. Even slices from the same loaf might need a different setting after a few days. Once bread starts to dry out, you might need lower heat for the less fresh slices, which don’t take as long to toast.</span></p> <p><strong>Grill</strong></p> <p><span>Leaving the door of your oven closed when grilling can make heat and steam build up. Venting the steam lets your food develop the crustiness you’re going for, and letting the hot air out ensures the heat stays concentrated on the top instead of effectively baking the entire dish.</span></p> <p><strong>Slow cooker</strong></p> <p><span>Opening the lid of your slow cooker lets heat out and messes up the cooking time, so resist the temptation to take a quick look or give it a stir until there’s less than an hour left of cook time. As long as your pot is between half and three-quarters of the way full, your dish should cook up just fine.</span></p> <p><strong>Dishwasher</strong></p> <p><span>A University of Birmingham study found that the best spot in your dishwasher depends on the type of mess your plate has. The middle of the machine gets the strongest spray of water, which makes it best for carb-based stains like potatoes or tomatoes. On the other hand, the detergent is at its highest concentration at the edges, where it flows back down like a waterfall, making it the most effective spot for protein-based messes like eggs, which need more time to soak.</span></p> <p><strong>Knives</strong></p> <p><span>Big kitchen knives are scary enough without having to focus on how you hold them. Many people just wrap their hand around the handle. However, you’re supposed to hold your thumb and pointer finger on the sides of the blade. This grip will help you get more precise cuts.</span></p> <p><strong>Plastic wrap</strong></p> <p><span>Isn’t it annoying when cling wrap folds on itself and you need to rip out a new sheet? Keeping the tube still will help. Turn that box to the side and you should see a tab that you can press inwards, holding the tube in place. Aluminium foil has the same feature on its box.</span></p> <p><strong>Toothpaste</strong></p> <p><span>That image on the toothpaste package of a smear big enough to cover the bristles isn’t what the doctor recommended. Dentists say the ideal amount is about the size of a pea.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Written by Marissa Laliberte. This article first appeared in </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/home-tips/everyday-items-youve-been-using-wrong-this-whole-time" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reader’s Digest</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here’s our best subscription offer.</span></a></em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> <p><img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" /></p>

Home & Garden

Who’s a tourist? How a culture of travel is changing everyday life

<p>Every year, the global tourism community celebrates <a href="http://wtd.unwto.org/">World Tourism Day</a> in September. The theme for 2021 is about community development and how tourism can contribute to empowering people and improve socio-economic conditions in local communities.</p> <p>But who are the people who might visit “communities” and what does it mean – these days – to be a tourist?</p> <p>There are many tourist stereotypes – an overweight Westerner in shorts with a camera dangling around their neck, or maybe a trekking-shoed backpacker hanging out in the Himalayas. Many people think of “tourism” and “holidays” as distinct times of the year when the family travels to the seaside or the mountains.</p> <p>World Tourism Day is an opportunity to discuss how much more encompassing the phenomenon of tourism is than most people might think.</p> <h2>What is a tourist?</h2> <p>People are more often a “tourist” than they realise. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation broadly defines a tourist as anyone travelling away from home for more than one night and less than one year. So, mobility is at the core of tourism.</p> <p>In Australia, for example, in 2013 <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/documents/NVS_onepager_Dec2013_FINAL_07032014.pdf">75.8 million</a> people travelled domestically for an overnight trip – spending 283 million visitor nights and $51.5 billion.</p> <p>Reasons for travel are manifold and not restricted to holidays, which makes up only 47% of all domestic trips in Australia. Other reasons include participation in sport events, visiting a friend or relative, or business meetings.</p> <p>Some of the most-visited destinations in the world are not related to leisure but to other purposes. For example, pilgramage tourism to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) triples the population from its normal 2 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj">during the Hajj</a> period every year.</p> <h2>Travel, work and leisure: what’s the difference?</h2> <p>Tourists are not what they used to be. One of the most pervasive changes in the structure of modern life is the crumbling divide between the spheres of work and life. This is no more obvious than in relation to travel. Let me test the readers of The Conversation: who is checking their work emails while on holiday?</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/survey-worklife-divide-the-gap-has-all-but-disappeared-thanks-to-email-infographic/">recent survey</a> undertaken in the US showed that 44.8% of respondents check their work email at least once a day outside work hours. Further, 29.8% of respondents use their work email for personal purposes.</p> <p>Post-modern thinkers have long pointed to processes where work becomes leisure and leisure cannot be separated from work anymore. Ever-increasing mobility means the tourist and the non-tourist become more and more alike.</p> <p>The classic work-leisure divide becomes particularly fluid for those who frequently engage in travel, for example to attend business meetings or conferences. Conferences are often held at interesting locations, inviting longer stays and recreational activities not only for participants but also for spouses and family.</p> <p>Further, city business hotels increasingly resemble tourist resorts: both have extensive recreational facilities such as swimming pools and spas, multiple restaurants and often shopping opportunities (e.g. <a href="http://www.marinabaysands.com/index.html">Marina Bay Sands, Singapore</a>). And, of course, they offer internet access – to be connected to both work and private “business”.</p> <p>Understanding how people negotiate this liquidity while travelling provides interesting insights into much broader societal changes in terms of how people organise their lives.</p> <p>For some entrepreneurial destinations these trends have provided an opportunity; namely the designation of so-called <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/buspapers/137/">dead zones</a> – areas where no mobile phone and no internet access are available. Here the tourist can fully immerse in the real locality of their stay.</p> <h2>Fear of missing out</h2> <p>The perceived need to connect virtually to “friends” (e.g. on Facebook) and colleagues has attracted substantial psychological research interest, with new terms being coined such as <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/how-fomo-fear-of-missing-out-is-ruining-my-life/story-fnixwvgh-1226862030711">FOMO (fear of missing out)</a> addiction, or internet addiction disorder.</p> <p>A recent <a href="http://www.tnooz.com/article/facebook-users-cite-travel-most-often-as-their-biggest-life-moments-infographic/">Facebook survey</a> found that this social media outlet owes much of its popularity to travel – 42% of stories shared related to travel. The motivations for engaging in extensive social media use and implications for tourism marketing are an active area of tourism research.</p> <p>Thus, understanding why and what people share while travelling (i.e. away from loved ones, but possibly earning important “social status” points) might provide important insights into wider questions of social networks and identity formation, especially among younger people.</p> <h2>Tourism and emigration</h2> <p>The increasingly global nature of networks has been discussed in detail by sociologist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-urry-14141">John Urry</a> and others. They note the growing interconnectedness between tourism and migration, where families are spread over the globe and (cheap) air travel enables social networks to connect regularly.</p> <p>As a result, for many people local communities have given way to global communities, with important implications for people’s “sense of place” and resilience. The global nature of personal networks extends to business relationships where the degree to which one is globally connected determines one’s “network capital”.</p> <p>Urry also noted that mobility has become a differentiation factor between the “haves” and “have nots”, with a small elite of hypermobile “connectors”. Thus travel and tourism sit at the core of a potentially new structure of leaders and influential decision makers.</p> <h2>The global ‘share economy’</h2> <p>Engaging in this global community of tourists is not restricted to those who travel actively. The so-called <a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeji45emgkh/airbnb-snapgoods-and-12-more-pioneers-of-the-share-economy/">Share Economy</a>, where people rent out their private homes (e.g. AirBnB), share taxi rides or dinners, has brought tourism right into the living rooms of those who wish to engage with people who they may not meet otherwise.</p> <p>Potentially this parallel “tourism industry” provides a unique opportunity for bringing people together and achieving peace through tourism (see <a href="http://www.iipt.org/">International Institute for Peace through Tourism</a>). A whole new area for research travellers, “guests and hosts” and their economic impacts, is emerging.</p> <p>In a nutshell, tourism is much more than the service industry it is usually recognised for, both in practice and as a field of academic enquiry. Tourism and the evolving nature of travellers provide important insights into societal changes, challenges and opportunities. Engaging with tourism and travel also provides us with an excellent opportunity to better understand trends that might foster or impede sustainable development more broadly.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images.</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/whos-a-tourist-how-a-culture-of-travel-is-changing-everyday-life-30896" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Travel Tips

5 everyday items that could be worth a fortune

<h2>Typewriters</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Germer says his nephew calls these “antique mechanical keyboards”. He adds that anything with gears, push buttons, and tubes are especially fascinating to the younger generation who have grown up in a wireless world. “Old typewriters need to be in working condition and will sell for $US20 to $US100; fully restored, in the low hundreds,” says Germer.</span></p> <h2>Auto parts</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You might want to check under the tarps or in the back of your garage – there could be some dusty gems. “Hood ornaments, car vases, and hubcaps are the most collected for themselves because of decorative value. Headlamps and other body parts are often repurposed for the industrial design look,” notes Germer. A hood ornament in decent condition, for example, can draw $US20, but if you discover a rare one, it could collect a tidy sum of up to $US2,500.</span></p> <h2>LEGOs</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe not the one you stepped on in the middle of the night, but specific LEGOs are worth their weight in gold. For example, the 2010 mini-figure Jessie from Toy Story 2 in like-new condition is selling for around $US10 on Bricklink.com. A LEGO Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Hogwarts Castle Set recently sold for $US450. However, some of the most coveted LEGOs are the missing parts from valued sets – like a window, steering wheel, or rare colour brick – and can bring up to hundreds. </span><a href="http://www.handyman.net.au/ultimate-lego-tables-youve-got-see"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out these ultimate LEGO tables you’ve got to see</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h2>Magazines</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Magazines, newspapers, programs and the like are in a category called “ephemera,” Jacquie Denny, cofounder of EBTH says. That’s collector lingo for any printed matter that wasn’t made to last. “The value of items in this category is related to rarity, condition, and the number of issues,” notes Denny. Surprisingly enough, they don’t have to be ancient. A special edition Life magazine from 1969 featuring the Woodstock musical festival sold for $US113 on EBTH. </span><a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/travel/tips/how-to-pay-for-your-holiday"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dreaming about your ultimate holiday? Find out how to pay for it with this great advice.</span></a></p> <h2>Not-so-old cookbooks</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You don’t have to have an out-of-print Julia Child cookbook to earn some extra bread. Betty Crocker cookbooks that were mass-produced and widely used can be worth $US10 to $US500, depending on their condition (ideally, not too many fingerprint stains on the pages). But signed cookbooks by a famous chef can sell like hotcakes. “Cookbooks published by a celebrity chef will generally perform better if signed and sold while their market is current. If they’re sold after the chef has lost popularity, the value will be greatly diminished,” Denny says.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Written by Lisa Marie Conklin. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/money/25-things-your-house-right-now-could-be-worth-money">Reader’s Digest</a>. Find more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="https://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA93V">here’s our best subscription offer</a>.</span></em></p>

Retirement Income

11 everyday expressions you didn’t realise were sexist

<p><strong>Words matter</strong><br />As humans, we speak approximately 16,000 words each day. That’s a lot of talking. Unless we’re learning a new language, by the time we’re adults, we do a lot of it without thinking. There are so many factors contributing to why we use the words, phrases and expressions that come out of our mouths on a daily basis, including differences in generation, geographic location, culture and education. Sometimes you may find yourself using a certain word or expression that now, in 2020, may seem archaic or insensitive. And though there is likely no malintent behind your word choice, it might have questionable origins or applications that you’re completely unaware of – like these 12 common expressions that have surprisingly dark origins.</p> <p>Considering that much of western culture and civilisation was built upon the assumption (by men) of male superiority, it makes sense that our language reflects that. For centuries, words and phrases have been used as a way to control women and dictate their behaviour. Here are 12 everyday expressions you didn’t realise were sexist.</p> <p><strong>Hysterical/in hysterics</strong><br />Have you ever described someone as being “in hysterics” or crying “hysterically”? Now, it’s just part of our everyday vocabulary, but its origin story is probably the best example of the multiple ways women have been silenced and dismissed throughout history. It starts with the ancient Greeks, who thought that a woman’s uterus could wander throughout the rest of her body, causing a number of medical and psychological problems, including, but not limited to weakness, shortness of breath, fragility, fainting and general “madness.”</p> <p>Centuries later, Victorian doctors (who were, of course, almost exclusively male) really latched onto the idea that the uterus was the source of essentially any health or psychological problems a woman may face. The diagnosis? Hysteria, based on “hystera,” the Greek word for womb. Female hysteria, as it was known, was a catch-all term for anything men didn’t understand or couldn’t manage relating to women, and was a valid excuse for institutionalising them. There is so much more to this story, but even though “female hysteria” was discredited as a condition – which, by the way, didn’t happen until 1980 – the word and its variations continue to be used to refer to someone who displays extreme and exaggerated excitement or behaviour. “Hysteria” can also mean a period where people are extremely crazed about something, not unlike the coronavirus panic buying earlier this year.</p> <p><strong>Feisty</strong><br />According to Karla Mastracchio, PhD, a rhetorician specialising in gender, politics, and language, the etymology of some words – like feisty – may not include a connection to gender, but the cultural history of the word shows that it has been used almost exclusively along gender lines. “A lot of the words that are particularly gendered have animalistic connotations – feisty being one of them,” she tells Reader’s Digest. “It’s usually used to talk about two things: an unruly animal, or an unruly woman.” But, it’s unlikely to hear an unruly man referred to as being “feisty,” Mastracchio explains, because the word has feline connotations, and it’s typically women who are associated with cats.</p> <p><strong>Career woman</strong><br />A good way to check whether a word or expression is inherently sexist is to ask whether a male equivalent of the word exists. Two of the most prominent examples are “career woman” and “working mother.” Ever heard of a “career man” or “working father”? Of course not. This harkens back to the Victorian ideology of “separate spheres,” meaning that a woman’s domain is the home, while men are in charge of the rest of the world and society, including working. So even 100 years later, when women ventured outside of the home to work, it was considered the exception, not the rule. And of course, if a woman has a career, there was the assumption that she cared about it more than having a family. Remarkably, the expression is still with us today, despite the vast number of women in the workforce.</p> <p><strong>Bubbly</strong><br />In addition to animals, women are also associated with carbonated or otherwise fizzy beverages – usually in reference to their personality. According to Mastracchio, the use of the word “bubbly” to describe women began in the 1920s during the flapper era and Prohibition. Though a popular beverage of the time, champagne – thanks to its bubbles – was seen as frivolous, light and not something that is taken seriously (despite actually having a relatively high alcohol content of 12 percent). As women were making social gains during the era (everything from shorter haircuts and hemlines, to voting rights), referring to them as “bubbly” was a seemingly endearing (though clearly sexist) way of diminishing their intelligence. And as Mastracchio points out, “bubbly” is also used to describe the sound of a woman’s voice, while men’s voices were “booming,” “deep,” or “rich.”</p> <p><strong>Perky</strong><br />As long as we’re on the topic of cute-sounding names that are only applied to women as a method of keeping them in their place, let’s talk about “perky.” Beginning in the 1930s, “perky” was a vulgar term used to describe the physical characteristics of a woman’s breasts, Mastracchio explains. From there, the word evolved to describe someone with a “lighthearted, young, plucky” personality (which, naturally, only applied to women). Interestingly, Mastracchio points out that both “plucky” and “perky” – along with other words like “chirpy,” “perch,” and, of course, “chick” – are examples of using bird imagery to describe women. Although there are both male and female birds in the wild, they are almost exclusively feminised in language and culture.</p> <p><strong>Shrew</strong><br />Most famously used in the Shakespearean play, The Taming of the Shrew, a shrew is a small rodent with a pointy snout which it uses to gnaw things like wood. But men couldn’t resist another opportunity to use an animal to describe women, and the word later came to mean a “peevish, malignant, clamorous, spiteful, vexatious, turbulent woman,” according to a 1755 dictionary written by Samuel Johnson. The reason for this association is thought to be the belief that shrews (the rodent) had a venomous bite, which played a role in various superstitions. A woman considered a “shrew” may also be described using another term reserved for women: shrill.</p> <p><strong>Frigid</strong><br />Yes, “frigid” means “cold,” but there’s a lot more to the story. As Mastracchio points out, this is another example of the Victorian perception of women as being frail and fragile beings, because as a woman, if you got cold, it means you’d be seen as particularly weak. “It’s gendered in the sense that you would never call a male ‘frigid,’ because being cold is not something that is detrimental to one’s masculinity,” she explains. On top of that, “frigidity” was formerly the medical term for a woman who has no interest in being intimate with her husband, or any other type of dysfunction (real or perceived) in that area.</p> <p><strong>Ditzy</strong><br />Though the exact origin of the word “ditzy” remains unknown, it’s another one that is exclusively used to describe a woman’s perceived intelligence (or rather, the lack thereof). “It’s another example of this intrinsic idea that women have their head somewhere else,” Mastracchio says. “You wouldn’t call a man ‘ditzy,’ because men are not categorised in those kinds of boxes. So it’s tapping into the idea that a woman’s physical head is not necessarily always on her shoulders.” Interestingly, the word “ditz” to describe someone who is ditzy, didn’t enter our vocabulary until 1982. Calling someone a “ditz” or “ditzy” immediately frames them as someone who is scatterbrained and not very smart.</p> <p><strong>Hussy</strong><br />Although the word “hussy” has always referred to women, it’s the change in connotation over time that makes it problematic today. Originally, “hussy” was a neutral term used to describe a female head of the household. This makes sense, given that it is a deformed contraction of the Middle English word “husewif,” which, you guessed it, is “housewife.” Traditionally, it was pronounced “huzzy,” but by the 20th century, the pronunciation shifted to match the spelling of the word. And while it started out meaning a housewife, soon “hussy” was used to describe any woman or girl. By 1650, the term was narrowed even further, and used primarily to mean a woman who engages in questionable behaviour.</p> <p><strong>Spinster</strong><br />In yet another example of inequivalent words for men and women in the same position, we have “spinster.” Unmarried adult women are pitiful “spinsters,” while unmarried adult men are eligible “bachelors.” As the name suggests, a “spinster” is a person who spins thread, and originally, it applied to both men and women in that profession. Eventually, it evolved to refer to an unmarried woman who had to occupy her time or financially support herself by spinning thread or yarn. In fact, it became the official legal term for a single woman starting in the 1600s. This remained the case in England and Wales until 2005, when they also retired the word “bachelor” for a single man, according to a 2017 article in Smithsonian Magazine.</p> <p><strong>Governess</strong><br />Hearing the word “governess” may conjure images of the classic 1964 movie, The Sound of Music, and Julie Andrews, who played a nun-turned-governess in the musical. This context – a governess as a woman who takes care of children – is actually pretty sexist when you look back at its origins. Unsurprisingly, it is the female equivalent of a “governor,” or someone who rules or governs over a place or group of people. At least it was in the 15th century. But as time went on, the domain of a governess went from having authority a territory or jurisdiction (in the geographic and political sense) to supervising and caring for children. Yet again, it reinforces the idea that women can be in charge of children and household duties, while men oversee everything else.</p> <p><em>Written by Elizabeth Yuko. This article first appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/true-stories-lifestyle/our-language/11-everyday-expressions-you-didnt-realise-were-sexist?pages=1">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.co.nz/subscribe"><span class="s1">here’s our best subscription offer</span></a>.</em></p>

Books

5 everyday habits of great dog owners

<p>These everyday habits of great dog owners are something to aspire to. How many do you do?</p> <p><strong>1. You pick up more than just poop</strong></p> <p>Picking up your dog’s poop is Good Doggie Care 101 but truly great pet owners will be mindful of any mess their animal makes and clean up after them, says<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://drruthpetvet.com/" target="_blank">Ruth MacPete</a>, veterinarian and author of Lisette the Vet. This means not only cleaning up poop piles from the neighbour’s lawn but wiping up pee, drool or other liquids in public places; picking up the pieces when your dog shreds a toy; and making amends if your pup chews someone’s shoe, pees on a rug or otherwise makes a mess.</p> <p><strong>2. You do a daily "snout-to-tail" check</strong></p> <div id="page4" class="slide-show"> <div id="test" class="slide"> <div class="slide-description"> <p>Great pet owners care deeply about their dog’s wellbeing and spend a few minutes each day giving them a once-over, says<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://sitmeanssit.com/dog-training-mu/fairfield-dog-training/tag/neil-cohen/" target="_blank">Neil Cohen</a>, dog behaviour expert, owner and head trainer at Sit Means Sit. “By touching your dog, from snout to tail (and everywhere in between) you not only teach a dog to accept your touch, should they need it in an emergency, but you also familiarise yourself with their body, enabling you to quickly notice anything that wasn’t there yesterday – like a tick, cut, tumour, etc.,” he explains.</p> <div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/15-everyday-habits-of-great-dog-owners"><strong>3. You are consistent with the rules</strong></div> <div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/15-everyday-habits-of-great-dog-owners"> <p>Great pet owners know that forbidding their dog to eat off the counter one day and then allowing it the next isn’t being kind, it’s just confusing. Dogs thrive with rules, Cohen says. “Maintain regular boundaries, for example, no counter surfing, no nose on the table, no jumping on people,” he says. “Boundaries establish leadership/authority and make your dog more comfortable in your pack.”</p> <p><strong>4. You encourage your dog's natural instincts in a healthy way</strong></p> <p>All dogs are born needing to bite, chew and chase but all too often those instincts get them in trouble in the human world. Great dog owners understand this and give the dog safe ways to express their nature, Benson says. “Give your dogs food puzzles or other games and toys that allow them to practice natural canine behaviours like chewing and ‘hunting’ for their food,” she says.</p> <p><strong>5. You correct your dog with kindness</strong></p> <p>When your dog acts up, you need to bring them back in line. But great dog owners know the difference between correction and punishment, says<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.kristibenson.com/" target="_blank">Kristi Benson</a>, a certified canine therapy trainer and behaviour expert. They use their voice to reassure, comfort and correct their dog – not scare them, she says. “Good owners will not use yelling, swatting, training collars or other physical punishments as they know they are bad for the dog’s welfare,” she explains. “Modern dog training techniques can help you teach your dog to obey without using harsh punishments.”</p> <p><em>Written by Charlotte Hilton Andersen. </em><em>This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/15-everyday-habits-of-great-dog-owners">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRN93V">here’s our best subscription offer</a>.</em></p> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Family & Pets

Why you should keep your everyday bank account to the bare minimum

<p><span>When you sign up with a bank, you are likely to receive two accounts – one for everyday transactions and one for savings. </span></p> <p><span>A transaction account usually comes with a card so that you can withdraw cash at the ATM and pay day-to-day expenses. On the other hand, a savings account does not usually have a linked card – but it offers higher interest rates compared to the transaction account, allowing you to grow your balance. </span></p> <p><span>Many people put a large sum of their money on their transaction accounts for practical purposes – who knows when you need to make a major purchase? – but experts say this move may not be so wise in the bigger picture.</span></p> <p><span>“I … realised that money sitting in a debit account just, well, sits there,” Laura Munoz of <a href="https://thefinancialdiet.com/5-life-changing-financial-habits-i-took-way-too-long-to-adopt/"><em>The Financial Diet</em></a> wrote. “It doesn’t earn interest and it’s not working for you, so there’s no real reason to keep more than a healthy buffer there in case you need to take out cash in a pinch.”</span></p> <p><span>While it is important to maintain a healthy balance to pay bills and everyday needs in your transaction account, Munoz said savings should be prioritised before spending. By working out how much you roughly spend every month, you can plan ahead and keep only the bare minimum amount in the transaction account to cover everyday expenses while transferring the rest to the savings account immediately.</span></p> <p><span>As <a href="https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/banking/transaction-accounts"><em>MoneySmart</em></a> advises, “Only keep the money you need to cover your everyday costs in your transaction account. Put the rest of your money in a savings account and watch your savings grow with the extra interest.”</span></p> <p><span>This can also help you curb your shopping habits, as the limited amount will make you more aware of the dollars you fork out.</span></p> <p><span>Munoz said she is now putting most of her cash in two places –a high-yield, risk-free savings account and another savings account that is invested in the stock market. This does not have to be the case for you if you are more risk-averse – find a savings account where your earnings can comfortably grow, and make money work for you.</span></p>

Retirement Income

Who’s a tourist? How a culture of travel is changing everyday life

<p>Every year, on September 27, the global tourism community celebrates <a href="http://wtd.unwto.org/">World Tourism Day</a>. This year’s theme is about community development and how tourism can contribute to empowering people and improve socio-economic conditions in local communities.</p> <p>But who are the people who might visit “communities” and what does it mean – these days – to be a tourist?</p> <p>There are many tourist stereotypes – an overweight Westerner in shorts with a camera dangling around their neck, or maybe a trekking-shoed backpacker hanging out in the Himalayas. Many people think of “tourism” and “holidays” as distinct times of the year when the family travels to the seaside or the mountains.</p> <p>World Tourism Day is an opportunity to discuss how much more encompassing the phenomenon of tourism is than most people might think.</p> <p><strong>What is a tourist?</strong></p> <p>People are more often a “tourist” than they realise. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation broadly defines a tourist as anyone travelling away from home for more than one night and less than one year. So, mobility is at the core of tourism.</p> <p>In Australia, for example, in 2013 <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/documents/NVS_onepager_Dec2013_FINAL_07032014.pdf">75.8 million</a> people travelled domestically for an overnight trip – spending 283 million visitor nights and $51.5 billion.</p> <p>Reasons for travel are manifold and not restricted to holidays, which makes up only 47% of all domestic trips in Australia. Other reasons include participation in sport events, visiting a friend or relative, or business meetings.</p> <p>Some of the most-visited destinations in the world are not related to leisure but to other purposes. For example, pilgramage tourism to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) triples the population from its normal 2 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj">during the Hajj</a> period every year.</p> <p>Travel, work and leisure: what’s the difference?</p> <p>Tourists are not what they used to be. One of the most pervasive changes in the structure of modern life is the crumbling divide between the spheres of work and life. This is no more obvious than in relation to travel. Let me test the readers of The Conversation: who is checking their work emails while on holiday?</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.gfi.com/blog/survey-worklife-divide-the-gap-has-all-but-disappeared-thanks-to-email-infographic/">recent survey</a> undertaken in the US showed that 44.8% of respondents check their work email at least once a day outside work hours. Further, 29.8% of respondents use their work email for personal purposes.</p> <p>Post-modern thinkers have long pointed to processes where work becomes leisure and leisure cannot be separated from work anymore. Ever-increasing mobility means the tourist and the non-tourist become more and more alike.</p> <p>The classic work-leisure divide becomes particularly fluid for those who frequently engage in travel, for example to attend business meetings or conferences. Conferences are often held at interesting locations, inviting longer stays and recreational activities not only for participants but also for spouses and family.</p> <p>Further, city business hotels increasingly resemble tourist resorts: both have extensive recreational facilities such as swimming pools and spas, multiple restaurants and often shopping opportunities (e.g. <a href="http://www.marinabaysands.com/index.html">Marina Bay Sands, Singapore</a>). And, of course, they offer internet access – to be connected to both work and private “business”.</p> <p>Understanding how people negotiate this liquidity while travelling provides interesting insights into much broader societal changes in terms of how people organise their lives.</p> <p>For some entrepreneurial destinations these trends have provided an opportunity; namely the designation of so-called <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/buspapers/137/">dead zones</a> – areas where no mobile phone and no internet access are available. Here the tourist can fully immerse in the real locality of their stay.</p> <p><strong>Fear of missing out</strong></p> <p>The perceived need to connect virtually to “friends” (e.g. on Facebook) and colleagues has attracted substantial psychological research interest, with new terms being coined such as <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/how-fomo-fear-of-missing-out-is-ruining-my-life/story-fnixwvgh-1226862030711">FOMO (fear of missing out)</a> addiction, or internet addiction disorder.</p> <p>A recent <a href="http://www.tnooz.com/article/facebook-users-cite-travel-most-often-as-their-biggest-life-moments-infographic/">Facebook survey</a> found that this social media outlet owes much of its popularity to travel – 42% of stories shared related to travel. The motivations for engaging in extensive social media use and implications for tourism marketing are an active area of tourism research.</p> <p>Thus, understanding why and what people share while travelling (i.e. away from loved ones, but possibly earning important “social status” points) might provide important insights into wider questions of social networks and identity formation, especially among younger people.</p> <p>Tourism and emigration</p> <p>The increasingly global nature of networks has been discussed in detail by sociologist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-urry-14141">John Urry</a> and others. They note the growing interconnectedness between tourism and migration, where families are spread over the globe and (cheap) air travel enables social networks to connect regularly.</p> <p>As a result, for many people local communities have given way to global communities, with important implications for people’s “sense of place” and resilience. The global nature of personal networks extends to business relationships where the degree to which one is globally connected determines one’s “network capital”.</p> <p>Urry also noted that mobility has become a differentiation factor between the “haves” and “have nots”, with a small elite of hypermobile “connectors”. Thus travel and tourism sit at the core of a potentially new structure of leaders and influential decision makers.</p> <p><strong>The global ‘share economy’</strong></p> <p>Engaging in this global community of tourists is not restricted to those who travel actively. The so-called <a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeji45emgkh/airbnb-snapgoods-and-12-more-pioneers-of-the-share-economy/">Share Economy</a>, where people rent out their private homes (e.g. AirBnB), share taxi rides or dinners, has brought tourism right into the living rooms of those who wish to engage with people who they may not meet otherwise.</p> <p>Potentially this parallel “tourism industry” provides a unique opportunity for bringing people together and achieving peace through tourism (see <a href="http://www.iipt.org/">International Institute for Peace through Tourism</a>). A whole new area for research travellers, “guests and hosts” and their economic impacts, is emerging.</p> <p>In a nutshell, tourism is much more than the service industry it is usually recognised for, both in practice and as a field of academic enquiry. Tourism and the evolving nature of travellers provide important insights into societal changes, challenges and opportunities. Engaging with tourism and travel also provides us with an excellent opportunity to better understand trends that might foster or impede sustainable development more broadly.</p> <p><em>Written by Susanne Becken. Republished with permission of </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-a-tourist-how-a-culture-of-travel-is-changing-everyday-life-30896"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>.</em></p>

Travel Tips

Are you a good person? Psychologists outline the traits of "everyday saints"

<p><span>We have long been intrigued by the darker side of human psyche – look no further than our culture’s unwavering interest in serial killers, true crime and the morbid. </span></p> <p><span>In early 2000s, psychologists identified the trio of traits known as the “dark triad”: psychopathy (callousness and cynicism), narcissism (entitled self-importance) and Machiavellianism (tendency to exploit and manipulate). Since then, these antisocial traits have continued to become the focus of both academic research and public attention.</span></p> <p><span>However, Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at Columbia University decided to look in another direction.</span></p> <p><span>“The dark triad and the dark side of our nature is an area that people keep on talking about over and over again,” he told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-05-16/psychopaths-narcissm-the-dark-triad-fascinate-us-the-light-triad/11093104"><em>ABC</em></a>. “I wanted to see if there was anything interesting about people who are not arseholes.”</span></p> <p><span>After testing <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00467/full?utm_source=S-TWT&utm_medium=SNET&utm_campaign=ECO_FPSYG_XXXXXXXX_auto-dlvrit">more than 1,500 people</a> of varying ages, genders, races and ethnicities, Kaufman and his colleagues proposed “light triad”, the three characteristics that best demonstrate the lighter side of the human nature.</span></p> <p><span>These three good personality traits are Kantianism (treating people as ends unto themselves rather than mere means), humanism (valuing the dignity and worth of each individual person), and faith in humanity (belief in the fundamental goodness of people).</span></p> <p><span>They are not necessarily the inverse of the dark triad – instead, there is a little bit of both light and dark in every one of us, the researchers said. “The absence of darkness does not necessarily indicate the presence of light,” the authors write in their paper. </span></p> <p><span>“There appears to be some degree of independence between the Light and Dark Triad, leaving room for people to have a mix of both light and dark traits.”</span></p> <p><span>Kaufman said it is important to examine what makes a “good” person in today’s world.</span></p> <p><span>“Yes, everyday psychopaths exist,” Kaufman wrote on <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-light-triad-vs-dark-triad-of-personality/?redirect=1"><em>Scientific American</em></a><em>.</em> “But so do everyday saints, and they are just as worthy of research attention and cultivation in a society that sometimes forgets that not only is there goodness in the world, but there is also goodness in each of us as well.”</span></p> <p><span>Even if you are tilted towards the dark side, it can still change, said Nick Haslam, a personality researcher at University of Melbourne. He said personality is not fixed throughout our lifetime. “Personality is not some mysterious thing lurking deep within the soul, it's just is the way you tend to behave. There is lots and lots of evidence that these things can change.”</span></p> <p><span>Want to know where your personality lies on the spectrum? Take the Light Triad Scale test <a href="https://scottbarrykaufman.com/lighttriadscale/">here</a>.</span></p>

Mind

8 revealing everyday documents you never knew you should shred

<p><strong>1. Boarding passes</strong></p> <p>Shred them after you land: Your boarding pass has your name, your travel plans, and a bar code that free websites can decipher.</p> <p>This code often reveals your frequent flier number, which crooks can use to log in to airline accounts to view upcoming travel plans, check in to flights, and even cancel trips.</p> <p><strong>2. Prescription labels</strong></p> <p>Whether stapled to the bag or on the bottle, these labels may list your name, the date of initial dispensing, the name and strength of the drug, and the dispensing pharmacist’s name.</p> <p>Thieves may use this info to refill prescriptions or steal your identity.</p> <p><strong>3. Receipts</strong></p> <p>Shred all receipts you don’t save. Those from credit card purchases reveal the last digits of your card number and possibly your signature.</p> <p>Crooks can also use receipts for fraudulent returns and benefit from your store credit.</p> <p>If you really want to play it safe, switch to paperless receipts wherever you can – you'll be helping the environment, too!</p> <p><strong>4. Pet medical papers</strong></p> <p>Keep records of major events, and shred the rest. Papers from a vet visit show a pet’s name – which a Google Apps survey of 2,000 people found is the most common password choice.</p> <p><strong>5. Return labels</strong></p> <p>Shred free return labels you receive in the mail, along with any envelopes with your name and address.</p> <p>Thieves often pair this with what you post on social media (family member names, work history) to piece together your identity.</p> <p>When writing your return address on an envelope, omit your name.</p> <p><strong>6. Resumes</strong></p> <p>Don’t toss resume copies or drafts without shredding. Resumes hand crooks your name, phone number, address, email address, employment past and education history in one convenient piece of paper.</p> <p><strong>7. Extra birth announcements</strong></p> <p>Children are 51 percent more likely to be victims of identity theft than adults. Shred birth announcements you don’t save, which typically have the child’s name, birth date, weight, eye colour and other personal identifiers.</p> <p><strong>8. Extra funeral pamphlets</strong></p> <p>Thieves use the identities of millions of deceased people every year to apply for loans, open credit card accounts or file tax returns, collecting billions of dollars in refunds. Shred extra funeral pamphlets or obituaries you don’t save. If a loved one passes, list age in the obituary but not the birth date or mother’s maiden name – these personal identifiers are handy for ID thieves.</p> <p>Did you know you should shred these documents? Let us know in the comments below.</p>

Legal

51 everyday habits that reduce your risk of dementia

<p>Think ahead for your head.</p> <div id="section"></div> <div class="view view-article-slider view-id-article_slider view-display-id-article_slider_block view-dom-id-511aedb2ee514c7c96010496b05e6267"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>1. More and more research shows that lifestyle matters</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>A major report released by the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/dementia2017" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Lancet International Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care</a> in 2017 concluded that up to 35 percent of dementia cases can be delayed or even avoided altogether.</p> <p>“The main message is that there are modifiable risk factors that can reduce your risk,” says Maria C. Carrillo, PhD, the chief science officer for the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.alz.org/help-support/brain_health" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Alzheimer’s Association</a>.</p> <p>While you can’t change the genes you inherited, there are many probable risk factors that you do have some say over.</p> <p>Living with or supporting someone with dementia is not easy. Laughter and love will get you through.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>2. Keep learning throughout your life</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Researchers say that when they look at brains during autopsies, they often see signs of damage (either plaque associated with Alzheimer’s disease or trouble with blood supply) even when the patient did not suffer from dementia.</p> <p>Because of that, they theorize that these people have “cognitive reserve”—meaning their brains have enough extra capacity to stay sharp despite physical damage.</p> <p>The Lancet Commission report emphasizes the association between lack of formal schooling and dementia, which suggests that what happens to us early in life can build this reserve: People with higher socioeconomic status during early childhood are less likely to develop dementia, and people who go to school at least through the secondary level are also better off.</p> <p>“This points to the fact that brain health and, really, overall health is a lifelong commitment—it’s even something we should be thinking about with prenatal care,” Carrillo says.</p> <p>But, she adds, that doesn’t mean you can’t continue protecting your cognitive health once you’ve grown up.</p> <p>“There’s not anything you can do about your childhood education, but there is something you can do about making sure that you’re staying mentally active, that you challenge your brain, that you find ways to stay socially active.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>3. Treat hearing loss</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Although there isn’t proof that hearing loss <em>causes</em> cognitive decline, studies show that those who suffer from it (and there are lots of us—it’s a problem in more than 30 percent of people over age 55) will have higher rates of dementia eventually, according to the Lancet Commission report.</p> <p>“We know that it’s important for people who are experiencing hearing loss to get that checked out and corrected whenever possible because it can contribute to cognitive decline as you age,” Carrillo says.</p> <p>Plus, as baby boomers hit retirement age, hearing aids are improving rapidly—they’re smaller and work better than your grandfather’s did, according to a recent <em><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hearing-aids-are-finally-entering-the-21st-century/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Scientific American</a></em> article.</p> <p>Do visitors casually mention that your TV is blaring? Do you keep asking people to repeat themselves?<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/hearing/improve-your-hearing" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">You’re not alone</a>.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>4. Don’t skimp on sleep</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Sleeping less than five hours a night—or more than ten—seems to raise your risk of dementia and an early death, according to a 2018 <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180606082309.htm" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">report</a> in the <em>Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.</em></p> <p>If you snore a lot or don’t feel rested after a full night’s sleep, you should get tested for sleep apnea, an airway condition in which you stop breathing briefly throughout the night.</p> <p>Treatment can make a big difference in the quality of your sleep.</p> <p>If you suffer from insomnia that lasts longer than a few days or weeks at a time, a sleep specialist might be able to help you figure out how to overcome it. If you just don’t get to bed early enough for a full night’s sleep before your early-morning workout, rethink your priorities for the sake of your brain health. </p> <p>Few things are as coveted as good sleep: studies show that it adds years to your life and, over time,<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/sleep/how-sleep-better-every-night" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">increases happiness as much as winning the lottery</a>. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>5. Keep your blood pressure in check</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>It’s old news that cardiovascular health is really important for brain health, but preliminary results of a study announced in the summer of 2018 give extra weight to the importance of managing hypertension.</p> <p>Subjects whose blood pressure was kept low—below the systolic (top) number of 120 mmHG—were 15 percent less likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which is defined as difficulty with problems solving and memory.</p> <p>“It’s the most definitive study seen to date that maintaining blood pressure at less than 120 for systolic is a positive thing, not only for your heart but also for brain health,” Carrillo says.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>6. Maintain a healthy weight</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>A 2017 <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171130133812.htm" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">study</a> published in the journal <em>Alzheimer’s & Dementia</em> analyzed medical records of more than one million adults and determined that those with a larger body mass index in middle age were more likely to develop dementia decades later. Maintaining a healthy weight—especially starting in midlife—will help protect the brain. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>7. Quit smoking</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Obviously, smoking is incredibly unhealthy, but did you know that it also raises your risk of dementia?</p> <p>Several <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4357455/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">studies</a> over the past three decades have linked cigarette use and mental decline.</p> <p>But there’s good news: When you quit smoking, your risk of dementia from all causes drops to the same level of people who never smoked.</p> <p>“The association with cognitive impairment may be due to the link between smoking and cardiovascular pathology,” the Lancet Commission report states.</p> <p>“But cigarette smoke also contains neurotoxins which heighten the risk.”</p> <p>When you quit smoking and no longer inhale the 4,800 toxic substances found in cigarettes, you experience enormous positive changes in your<span> </span>health, fitness, and risks of heart disease and cancer.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>8. Treat depression</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>The relationship between depression and dementia is a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/does-depression-contribute-to-dementia/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">tricky one</a> - depression can be a symptom of dementia, as well.</p> <p>But studies suggest that there’s a link between the number of episodes of depression a person suffers and his or her dementia risk, the Lancet Commission finds, so you should always seek treatment no matter how old you are.</p> <p>Even if depression only appears after a person is showing signs of dementia, the mood disorder should still be treated, according to the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/stages-behaviors/depression" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Alzheimer’s Association</a>; it will improve the patient’s quality of life. </p> <p>Evidence is growing that essential oils can help fight a variety of ailments -<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/tips/scents-to-boost-your-immune-system" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">including depression</a>.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>9. Keep moving</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Carrillo goes to the gym every day at 5 a.m.</p> <p>“We don’t know what the heck is in store for us,” she says.</p> <p>“The healthier your body and brain can be, the more you may be able to withstand or delay the symptoms of cognitive decline that could lead to mild cognitive impairment, and that could lead to a type of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.”</p> <p>The Lancet Commission reports that high levels of exercise appear to be more protective than lower levels, but any amount is helpful.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>10. Socialise</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Carrillo’s early-morning gym friends call themselves the “breakfast club.”</p> <p>Aside from motivating one another to exercise, they’re also boosting their brain health by simply being together.</p> <p>Isolation, like depression, often becomes a problem as older adults begin feeling the effects of cognitive decline; however, loneliness also appears to be a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/02/friends-with-benefits-being-highly-social-cuts-dementia-risk-by-70/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">precursor to dementia</a>.</p> <p>The Lancet Commission findings suggest that social isolation is a risk factor for high blood pressure, depression, and coronary heart disease as well, and all are bad for your brain.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>11. Control your blood sugar</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Diabetes can damage your blood vessels, according to the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/in-depth/diabetes-and-alzheimers/art-20046987" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Mayo Clinic</a>, increasing your risk for vascular dementia, triggered by reduced blood flow to the brain.</p> <p>Researchers think there may be more to the connection between diabetes and dementia—the Lancet Commission report indicates that insulin resistance interferes with the brain’s ability to clear amyloid proteins, which clump together to form the plaques that can lead to dementia.</p> <p>It’s important to keep eating healthy food and exercising to avoid getting diabetes in midlife.</p> <p>If you’ve already been diagnosed with diabetes, work closely with your doctors to control your blood sugar and manage the disease.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>12. Eat a Mediterranean-style diet</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>If the goal is to control your weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease to protect your mind, then the Mediterranean diet is one of the best eating plans you can follow. It’s shown in studies to be one of the easiest healthy-eating diets for subjects to follow, according to the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">Mayo Clinic</a>.</p> <p>It includes lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, olive oil, fish, and even wine.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>13. Wear a helmet</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Here’s the good news: Your brain can recover from common types of trauma like a concussion, according to the Lancet Commission report.</p> <p>However, repeated mild injuries (such as those experienced by some athletes and soldiers) can lead to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">chronic traumatic encephalopathy</a>—a degenerative brain disease.</p> <p>The benefits of <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-latest-bike-helmet-injury-20180628-story.html" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">head protection</a> are huge when you’re riding a motorcycle, biking, skateboarding, or skiing; the only downside is a flattened hairstyle.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>14. Try new things every day</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>While you’re eating lots of vegetables and keeping an eye on your blood pressure, don’t forget that an important part of protecting your cognitive health is enjoying life and taxing your brain in pleasurable ways.</p> <p>Mixing up routines, taking on new challenges, and stepping outside your comfort zone provide stimulation that might help your brain maintain its resilience and build your cognitive reserves. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>15. Know your risk factors</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Did you know that eating grilled meat could increase your risk of being struck down by dementia?</p> <p>Or that getting on the treadmill can help keep your brain sharp?</p> <p>The dozens of choices you make over the course of an average day—ordering the curry vs. the samosas, reading the newspaper vs. watching the news—really can determine whether you’ll develop dementia years from now, as well as how quickly the disease will progress.</p> <p>There are no drugs or procedures that can cure or even effectively treat dementia.</p> <p>But you have the power to combat some of its major risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, social isolation, and sleeplessness, according to Bowman.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>16. Enjoy coffee in the morning</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Caffeine consumed too late in the day may disturb your sleep and ultimately harm your brain.</p> <p>But coffee consumed in the morning and perhaps the early afternoon, depending on your personal caffeine sensitivity, may reduce risk.</p> <p>Coffee contains a chemical called eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamide (EHT), which, in studies done on rats, has been shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease.</p> <p>The caffeine itself may also be protective: Mice developed fewer <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.brightfocus.org/alzheimers/infographic/amyloid-plaques-and-neurofibrillary-tangles" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">tau tangles</a> in their brains when their drinking water was infused with caffeine.</p> <p>In humans, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that 200 milligrams of caffeine—the amount in one strong cup of coffee—can help us consolidate memories and more easily memorize new information.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>17. Play for a cause</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Foldit is a multiplayer game designed by computer scientists at the University of Washington, and it enables nonscientists to work with others to solve challenging prediction problems concerning protein folding.</p> <p>One day this game may help us understand how tau proteins misfold in the brain. Another game, Nanocrafter, allows you to build everything from computer circuits to nanoscale machines using pieces of DNA.</p> <p>Other interactive games—ranging from bridge to Chinese checkers to Pictionary to charades—cause us to exercise social smarts along with intellectual ones.</p> <p>In addition to using our brains to strategize and, at times, to do math, such games force us to contemplate what other players are likely to do and likely to think.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>18. Talk to strangers</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>When we’re seated next to a stranger on a bus, plane, or train, most of us clam up and keep to ourselves.</p> <p>Yet research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has found that many of us overestimate the difficulty of connecting with strangers and underestimate the rewards of doing so.</p> <p>Before engaging in the study, participants predicted that engaging with strangers would reduce their well-being.</p> <p>But when they went ahead and struck up a conversation with the person seated next to them, the opposite happened.</p> <p>They felt better than when they sat in solitude.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>19. Form a dog-walking group</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Our pets really are part of our social network.</p> <p>They sleep in our beds, are pictured in our family portraits, and often earn a great deal of space in our holiday letters.</p> <p>They also, in many cases, listen attentively to our problems.</p> <p>Some surveys show that our pets are better listeners than our spouses.</p> <p>Walk your pets together with your neighbors and you will feel less lonely, which helps ward off Alzheimer’s.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>20. Choose the brightest of the bunch</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>The pigments that lend bright colours to many fruits and vegetables are especially powerful sources of antioxidants.</p> <p>Higher vegetable consumption was associated with slower rate of cognitive decline in 3,718 people ages 65 years and older who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project.</p> <p>All of the study participants scored lower on cognitive tests at the end of the study than they did at the beginning, but those who consumed more than four daily servings of vegetables experienced a 40 percent slower decline in their abilities than people who consumed less than one daily serving.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>21. Get a massage</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>One research review out of the University of Miami and Duke University concluded that massage helped to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting levels of brain chemicals thought to be associated with positive emotions.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>22. Soak potatoes before cooking</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Potatoes contain an amino acid called asparagine, which, when exposed to high heat, changes into acrylamide, a neurotoxin.</p> <p>Acrylamide binds to the ends of our axons, making it tougher for brain cells to communicate with one another.</p> <p>Water protects asparagine, so soaking potatoes for 15 to 30 minutes before cooking them can stop it from transforming into acrylamide.</p> <p>Drain the potatoes and blot them dry before cooking. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>23. Check out a “laughter club”</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>It’s no joke. Laughter clubs exist. They’re run by “certified laughter leaders”—often psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists—who are trained in the healing benefits of laughter.</p> <p>These workshops can help you connect with others as you get in a good laugh.</p> <p>Look at <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worldlaughtertour.com/" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">World Laughter Tour</a> to find out if there’s a club near you.</p> <p>A good belly laugh produces a chemical reaction that elevates your mood; reduces pain, stress, and blood pressure; and boosts immunity.</p> <p>Humour therapy may be as effective as some prescription drugs at reducing agitation in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.</p> <p>Nursing home patients who were entertained by clowns for two hours once a week were significantly less aggressive and agitated.</p> <p>Even two weeks after the nursing home stopped bringing in the clowns, the patients remained less agitated.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>24. Nap strategically</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Researchers at the Laboratory of Human Chronobiology at Weill Cornell Medical College in White Plains, New York, studied how 22 men and women reacted to varying napping regimens, finding that naps of all lengths enhanced cognitive performance during the day. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>25. Brew yourself some tea</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Black and green tea are rich sources of antioxidants called catechins that may fend off oxidative damage throughout the body, including the brain.</p> <p>Green tea is also a rich source of epigallocatechin-3-gallate, which has been shown to reduce beta-amyloid plaque and tau tangles in mice.</p> <p>Tea has also been shown to drop blood pressure and cholesterol levels.</p> <p>But commercially available bottled teas have been shown to contain few, if any, of these protective substances.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>26. Train in short bursts of vigorous activity</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Rather than exercise in one long 30-minute session, consider breaking up your exercise into shorter seven- to ten-minute bursts, repeated several times a day.</p> <p>This kind of training may be ideal for people who have diabetes, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, especially if you do these bursts about a half hour before each meal.</p> <p>Study participants with insulin resistance (a precursor to diabetes) were instructed to do six minutes of vigorous exercise (such as walking uphill on a treadmill or vigorous calisthenics) interspersed with six minutes of recovery exercise (such as slow walking) about a half hour before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.</p> <p>Other study participants just walked for 30 minutes before dinner.</p> <p>Those who did the six-minute vigorous intervals experienced better post-meal blood sugar levels than study participants who did the once-daily, moderate session.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>27. Become a regular</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>That way you’ll get to know the teller at the bank, the checkout person at the grocery store, and the clerk at the post office.</p> <p>Whenever possible, actually walk into such establishments and conduct business in person instead of using the drive-through.</p> <p>In addition to providing you with a moment of face-to-face interaction, this gives you a short burst of movement, which is also good for your brain.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>28. Air-pop your popcorn</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Microwave popcorn contains many different potential health hazards.</p> <p>For one, most bags of microwave popcorn are lined with perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical thought to raise risk for cancer (though the jury is still out). Many microwave varieties with a “buttery taste” contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or trans fat.</p> <p>Research has linked a high consumption of trans fats to Alzheimer’s and heart disease, and the evidence is so strong that the FDA is considering banning the fat. In some brands of popcorn, the buttery flavoring also comes from diacetyl, a chemical that has been linked to lung disease.</p> <p>Instead, make your own popcorn. Place popcorn kernels inside a plain brown paper lunch bag.</p> <p>Fold the top down a few times. Then microwave for two to three minutes, until the popping starts to abate. Voilà. Microwave popcorn without the trans fats and chemicals. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>29. Dance the night away</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>If brain-fitness awards were given to types of fitness pursuits, dance would earn the first-place trophy year after year after year.</p> <p>That’s because it combines several brain-health prescriptions into one.</p> <p>If you dance with a group or a partner, you are exercising social smarts.</p> <p>If you are learning new steps, you’re also boosting your intellectual fitness.</p> <p>Dance, by nature, is fun, which helps to reduce stress.</p> <p>Ballroom dancers have performed higher on tests of cognition than did nondancers, and competitive ballroom dancers have scored higher on many different measures of cognitive performance, including reaction time.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>30. Take up a craft</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>In a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1363" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title="">study</a> of 256 octogenarians by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, crafting activities—such as woodworking, pottery, ceramics, and quilting—reduced the likelihood of mild cognitive impairment by 55 percent.</p> <p>In a smaller study done in Germany, 60- and 70-year-olds who took art classes improved their scores on tests of psychological resilience over 14 weeks, indicating that their ability to cope with stress had grown.</p> <p>Also, fMRI (functional MRI) scans revealed that their brains had sprouted new connections in areas that tend to lose connections with increasing age. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>31. Sprinkle on cinnamon</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Just a quarter teaspoon of the spice twice a day has been shown to reduce fasting blood sugar up to 29 percent in people with type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>This is important because type 2 diabetes can raise your risk of dementia. The spice has also been found to reduce blood cholesterol and inflammation, both of which can further reduce your risk.</p> <p>Cinnamon can help you add some sweetness to foods without using sugar.</p> <p>Sprinkle it on oatmeal, fruit, pancakes, and coffee, and experiment by adding it to other main-course dishes like chili.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>32. Imagine waterfalls</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Research tells us that counting sheep doesn’t help us nod off any more quickly than lying in bed and letting our minds wander, but here’s a tactic that does seem to help: visualizing a relaxing scene, such as a waterfall.</p> <p>When Allison Harvey and Suzanna Payne of England’s Oxford University asked 50 insomniacs to try different distraction techniques on different nights, it was the waterfall visualizations that came out on top.</p> <p>Study participants who pictured waterfalls nodded off 20 minutes faster than others who counted sheep or did nothing in particular.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>33. Go bowling</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>In one study, nursing home patients with dementia participated in daily, two-hour-long therapy sessions that included bowling or croquet, as well as gardening, brain games, and crafts.</p> <p>Patients who participated in these sessions were still able to perform the tasks of daily living, such as eating or using the bathroom, unassisted, after 12 months.</p> <p>Residents who did not participate in the sessions lost ground in their ability to perform these tasks without help.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>34. Grow a garden</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>The physical act of pulling weeds and raking leaves raises the heart rate and strengthens muscles in your hands, arms, shoulders, back, and legs.</p> <p>Being outdoors and surrounded by beautiful flowers can relax the mind.</p> <p>Finally, gardening requires intellectual smarts to plant the right seeds in the right places at the right time of year, to prune plants when they need it, and to combat pests and other obstacles. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>35. Sign up your dog or cat for agility training</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>If you own a dog or cat, agility training offers an intellectually stimulating form of exercise for both of you.</p> <p>It involves leading your pet through a series of obstacles, ranging from catwalks to hurdles to tunnels.</p> <p>It provides exercise for both of you and causes you to think quickly as you shout commands and use your body language to communicate with your pet.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>36. Snack on kiwifruit</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>One study found an improvement in sleep when study participants consumed two kiwis an hour before bed.</p> <p>Though it’s unclear why this fruit might help, one theory holds that it is high in serotonin.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>37. Stand every half hour</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>When researchers asked overweight and obese office workers to use a standing workstation for 30 minutes out of every hour, the workers’ post-meal blood sugar response improved, thus reducing their risk for developing Alzheimer’s.</p> <p>Set a timer to buzz every half hour. Get up and stretch, do some light calisthenics, or go for a short walk for a minute or two before sitting back down.</p> <p>Stand when talking on the phone, while waiting for the bus or a plane, and while chatting at get-togethers.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>38. Throw dinner parties</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Deciding whom to invite, what to serve, and who is sitting next to whom forces your brain to contemplate complex social decisions.</p> <p>Is Sally likely to get along with George? Do any of your guests have food allergies?</p> <p>Cooking the dishes and ensuring that they’re all ready around the same time the guests arrive requires a great deal of strategic planning, which is a high-level intellectual skill.</p> <p>With each recipe, you follow step-by-step instructions.</p> <p>If you are doubling portions, then there’s also some math involved, and there’s plenty of measuring and estimating, too. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>39. Learn to meditate</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Researchers from National University of Singapore found that people who performed Vajrayana meditation - a Tibetan style that involves connecting with and visualising enlightened beings - experienced improved attention and performed better on cognitive tasks just after their meditation sessions, possibly because the meditation boosted blood flow to their brains.</p> <p>Try it now. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed. Focus on your breath. Notice how it feels as it comes in your nose and goes back out again. Don’t try to control it or change it. Just allow it to come in and out naturally.</p> <p>If you notice other sensations, such as an ache in your back or an urgent thought about something on your to-do list, just keep returning to the breath.</p> <p>Allow distractions to pass through your mind like clouds pass through a sky. Every time you notice yourself following your thinking, just redirect your mind where you want it to go.</p> <p>Every time you return to the breath, you are training your concentration and bringing yourself to the present moment.</p> <p>In addition to following the breath, you can try bringing your awareness to a word (such as one or peace) or a location in your body (such as your heart).</p> <p>You can also concentrate on an idea or belief, such as a feeling of gratitude, compassion, or love.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>40. Eat fruit for dessert</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Fruit is naturally sweet. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of berries for a simple, low-calorie brain booster.</p> <p>Or puree berries, watermelon, and other fruits, and freeze them. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>41. Relax with yoga nidra</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Sometimes called “yogic sleep,” yoga nidra is a guided visualization that deeply relaxes the body.</p> <p>In one study, college students who practiced yoga nidra for eight weeks experienced less stress, worry, and depression.</p> <p>Other research shows that yoga nidra may also help to keep blood sugar in check.</p> <p>This is an important finding because diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.</p> <p>Find a class, or listen to a number of free sessions on the Internet. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>42. Try alternate nostril breathing</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>It helps you to take deeper breaths and doubles as a breathing meditation.</p> <p>Use your thumb or index finger to close off the right nostril. Inhale long and slowly through the left.</p> <p>Then switch so that your finger closes the left nostril and breathe out through the right.</p> <p>Then inhale through the right and continue to switch back and forth.</p> <p>Not only will this and other deep-breathing exercises reduce your stress and tension, but they also offer a side benefit of strengthening your attention.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>43. Hold someone’s hand</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>By stimulating the vagus nerve, a warm touch can calm tension and trigger a release in oxytocin.</p> <p>In one study, University of Wisconsin psychologist Richard Davidson, PhD, and Jim Coan, PhD, of the University of Virginia, told 16 married women that they were about to be shocked with electricity.</p> <p>In some situations, as the women anticipated the shock, they were holding the hand of their partners or of a stranger. In other situations, the women were alone.</p> <p>All the while the researchers studied what was happening in the women’s brains, using fMRI scanners.</p> <p>The fMRIs showed that, when the women held their partner’s hand, they remained more relaxed than when they held the hand of a stranger.</p> <p>When they anticipated the shock while alone, their stress response was highest.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>44. Shower at night</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Our body temperature fluctuates throughout the day and the night, varying from one or two degrees below 98.6˚F to one or two degrees above.</p> <p>It generally starts to fall during the evening, reaching its lowest point during sleep, and this fall in temperature is one of the mechanisms that cause us to feel sleepy.</p> <p>You can enhance the sleepiness induced by the body-cooling effect by taking a warm shower or bath in the evening.</p> <p>The shower warms you by a degree or two. But then the warming effect wears off. As your body cools back down, sleepiness sets in.</p> <p>In one small study, women who took a long, warm bath in the midafternoon to early evening felt sleepier at bedtime and slept more deeply, too.</p> <p>Shower or bathe at least 90 minutes before bed to experience the best of the cooling effect.</p> <p>In addition to helping induce grogginess, this can be a great way to unwind and relax away stress. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>45. Pray</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Prayer and a variety of other religious rituals may allow you to let go of worries that may be preying on your mind, and gathering with a community of like-minded people helps you to feel less alone.</p> <p>In a study by Israeli and American researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health, Islamic women who prayed daily had a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment compared with women who did not pray.</p> <p>A different study by researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Utah found that people who considered themselves to be deeply religious or spiritual, prayed regularly, and attended religious services had lower cortisol responses and lower blood pressure than people who were less religious.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>46. Grow rosemary</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>This herb contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that may protect brain health.</p> <p>In one small study, 28 seniors who drank a tomato drink spiked with 750 milligrams of dried rosemary - somewhat more of the spice than you might typically ingest through normal culinary flavoring - performed better on a memory test given six hours later than seniors who did not ingest the spice.</p> <p>Although such small studies are never definitive, they do point the way toward larger studies.</p> <p>Even just smelling the herb may offer some benefit. Study participants who sat inside a cubicle that was infused with the scent of rosemary were able to solve a series of math problems more quickly than when they weren’t surrounded by the scent.</p> <p>It’s thought that rosemary may boost brain function by preventing the breakdown of a key neurotransmitter in the brain.</p> <p>Keep a potted rosemary plant in your kitchen, and use the herb to flavor everything from soups to roasted vegetables.</p> <p>Puree some with olive oil to create a pesto.</p> <p>You can also use the rosemary branch to skewer shrimp for grilling. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>47. Single-task</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Though many of us may believe we’re quite good at multitasking, we’re probably only fooling ourselves.</p> <p>Switching back and forth between tasks - such as checking email repeatedly as you complete a work project - actually wastes time and makes you less efficient and productive.</p> <p>Every time you take a break from what you are doing, you have to start the task at hand over mentally.</p> <p>This mental restart can take anywhere from a few seconds to many minutes.</p> <p>More than just ruining our efficiency, multitasking can cause us undue stress.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>48. Volunteer</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>People who spent time helping others—by driving them to doctor’s appointments, running errands for them, providing child care and other tasks - were able to navigate and survive highly stressful life events over five years better than people who didn’t.</p> <p>Other research has found that people who volunteer their time have a greater sense of purpose and improved well-being.</p> <p>They also tend to have less trouble sleeping, less anxiety, and less loneliness. It may be that, by helping others, we get a boost in oxytocin or other brain chemicals, which seem to protect us from stress-induced health problems.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>49. Learn to play an instrument</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Learning and playing an instrument forces you to sharpen many different cognitive processes, including attention, memory, motor skills, auditory skills, and visual skills.</p> <p>It’s no wonder studies have found that playing a musical instrument delays the onset of cognitive decline.</p> <p>When researchers from Emory University tested the cognitive health of 70 older adults, they found that study participants with at least ten years of musical experience performed better on tests of nonverbal memory, naming, and many other cognitive processes than older adults with less training or no training at all.</p> <p>In addition to helping keep your brain sharp, music lessons may also allow you to maintain fine motor skills, especially if you learn an instrument that requires complex finger motions.</p> <p>When researchers offered piano lessons to older adults, the study participants were able to improve cognitive abilities - including attention, concentration, and planning - over just six months, compared with study participants who didn’t take lessons.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>50. Trade in farmed salmon for wild</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>In a study of 815 people, people who consumed salmon and other fish at least once a week reduced their Alzheimer’s disease risk by 60 percent compared with people who rarely or never ate fish, but farmed salmon has tested eight times higher for PCBs—an industrial pollutant, carcinogen, and neurotoxin—than wild salmon. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-field-slides"> <div class="field-content"> <div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"> <div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-slides clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>51. Breathe lavender while you sleep</strong></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-content field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Research shows that the scent of lavender serves as a mild sedative that can slow heart rate, drop blood pressure, and relax the body.</p> <p>In one study, people who sniffed lavender before bed slept more deeply and felt more refreshed in the morning.</p> <p>Sprinkle a few drops of pure lavender essential oil on a tissue to tuck under your pillow.</p> <p><span>Find more simple tips by grabbing a copy of </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621453480/?tag=reader0b-20" target="_blank" title="" data-original-title=""><em>Outsmarting Alzheimer’s: What You Can Do to Reduce Your Risk</em></a><span> by Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, and Alisa Bowman.</span></p> <p><em>Written by Krista Carothers. This article first appeared in </em><span><em><a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/drama/51-everyday-habits-reduce-your-risk-dementia">Reader’s Digest</a></em></span><em>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, </em><span><em><a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRN87V">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></em></span></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p><img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" /></p>

Mind

The incredibly common disease making everyday life painful

<p>I have vivid memories of my gorgeous grandma sitting in her favourite chair in our living room at the end of the day, watching the chaos and bustle of family life unfolding around her.</p> <p>In my mind, she is always rubbing her knees, and when it came time for her to go to bed, helping her up was always accompanied by groans and utterances (she was far too polite to swear) as her joints had seized up and moving was agony.</p> <p>I know now that she had osteoarthritis (OA), and probably quite severely. But back then it was just "grandma's knees" and something that was to be expected for all older people.</p> <p>Sadly for many older people, and some younger ones too, this is true – this type of joint disease is incredibly common, and more so as we age. Figures show that half of us will get OA in our knees during our lives, and 1 in 4 of us will have it in our hips by the time we reach 85 years old. Other joints commonly involved include hands, neck and lower back.</p> <p>OA is really a process of "wear and tear". The overuse of our primary weight bearing joints (ie knees and hips) as well as joints we are constantly moving (such as the small joints in our hands) eventually leads to destruction of the cartilage, whose role is to provide a cushion between the bones ends.</p> <p>Once this cartilage starts to erode, fluid and inflammation build up in the joint, the bone ends become ragged and can even start to chip off, and eventually all that is left is bone rubbing against bone.</p> <p>The symptoms caused by this process vary depending on which joints are affected, but classically include:</p> <p>- Pain on movement, especially when getting out of bed in the morning, or, as in my grandma's case, after sitting or resting for a long time</p> <p>- Pain in the affected joints at rest</p> <p>- Swelling in and around the joints – this may be particularly evident in joints such as knees and hands</p> <p>- Weakness of the muscles around the joints</p> <p>- Creaking or crackling in the joints with movement</p> <p>- Restricted movement in the affected joints</p> <p>- Permanent deformity of the joints, especially evident if the fingers are affected.</p> <p>Sadly, there is no magic cure for avoiding OA, but knowing if you are at risk is important, as there are steps you can take to try and look after your joints.</p> <p>Although most of us will develop some degree of OA as we get older, there are definitely groups of people who are likely to be affected at a much younger age – these include those with a strong family history of OA, athletes who have "overused" their joints or had repeated injuries (the classic being rugby players who often need joint replacements in their 40s and 50s), people with high impact occupations such as farmers, and those who are obese as the extra weight puts more strain on ageing joints.</p> <p>If you think you fall into a high risk group, it's important to try and minimise the impact on your joints as much as you can – you can do this by altering what kind of exercise you do (for example water based activities are far less likely to cause a problem than running on a hard surface); ensuring you wear good, cushioned footwear at all times; reducing your weight if that is an issue; following a good "Mediterranean" diet high in olive oil, fruit, vegetables, fish and nuts; and avoiding injury where possible. Easier said than done I know.</p> <p>The other key piece of advice for anyone suffering from OA is to talk to a health professional early. The pain and immobility OA causes can have a huge impact on your life, and eventually may start to affect your mental well-being as well as your ability to function as you would like. You don't need to suffer to that extent and managing your symptoms early will lead to a much better quality of life.</p> <p>There are great options now for pain relief, most of which work best if they are used regularly, as well as good exercise regimes that will help ensure your joints stay mobile and functional for as long as possible. Alternative therapies such as acupuncture can help some people reduce the swelling and pain, and good physio or hydrotherapy can vastly improve functioning.</p> <p>If the "first line" treatments haven't worked, I would suggest you ask your doctor what else can be done – more invasive management includes steroid injections into the affected joints, surgery to "clean up" the wear and tear in a joint, or joint replacement where the affected joint is removed and replaced with an artificial one. The good news is that OA is an area where much research is happening, so the future will hopefully bring different treatment options that avoid the need for major surgery.</p> <p>If you or a loved one suffer from OA, or any other type of joint problem, I would highly recommend you get in touch with Arthritis New Zealand (<em><a href="http://www.arthritis.org.nz/" target="_blank">www.arthritis.org.nz</a></em>) – they are there to help, support, connect and advise and have a wealth of really useful resources.</p> <p><em>Written by Dr Cathy Stephenson. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/106397044/dr-cathy-stephenson-the-incredibly-common-disease-making-everyday-life-painful" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.</em></p>

Body

Everyday things set to disappear in just years

<p>The world of tomorrow is going to be a very different place according to award-winning speaker, business strategist and trend forecaster Michael McQueen, who <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>told News.com.au</strong></em></span></a> many elements of everyday life will disappear in just years.</p> <p>“In 10 years’ time, the world will be so incredibly different,” Mr McQueen said.</p> <p>“The downside to all these changes is that... 47 per cent of current professions could potentially disappear within the next 15 years or be significantly eroded by technology and automation.</p> <p>“That’s nothing new — in the past, we’ve seen it happen with production lines — but now, to futureproof your career, you need to focus on things technology can’t do well, things that are uniquely human like empathy, creativity and instinct.</p> <p>“Professions where the majority of things you do are ‘human’ are the safest. Repetitive, transactional stuff will disappear, but while you can train a machine to be a caregiver, you can’t actually make it care because it has no soul.”</p> <p>To see his rundown of everyday things set to disappear, scroll through the gallery above.</p>

Technology

The pantry staple experts say you should eat every day

<p><span>A new study has found that three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) a day can prevent chronic disease and cancer.</span></p> <p><span>Brown University associate professor of medicine Dr Mary Flynn also found that three serves of EVOO with a plant-based diet can also help with weight loss.</span></p> <p><span>Dr Flynn, a specialist in breast and prostate cancer, studied the impact of a plant-based EVOO diet on prostate cancer and found that it was “extremely effective” at improving biomarkers for cancer and cardiovascular disease.</span></p> <p><span>The diet includes three tablespoons of EVOO a day to account for four to five servings of health fats that include nuts, olive and avocado.</span></p> <p><span>It also includes six to seven serves of wholegrain starch, minimum of four servings of vegetables, up to three servings of fruit, up to two optional servings of dairy and eggs, and 350g maximum of meat, poultry or seafood per week.</span></p> <p><span>The diet recommends for the red meat to be entirely eliminated, but if not, recommends no more than 170g a month.</span></p> <p><span>The diet removes cured meats, vegetable oils and margarine and mayonnaise with vegetable seed oils – saying they have an increased cancer risk.</span></p> <p><span>Dr Flynn compared the EVOO plant-based diet with the diet recommended by the Prostate Cancer Foundation.</span></p> <p><span>The Prostate Cancer Foundation diet recommends decreasing carbohydrates, sugar, high fat food, charred meats, while allowing vegetable oil, margarine and salad dressings but no EVOO.</span></p> <p><span>Men followed the two diets for eights weeks and then picked the one they wanted to follow for six months.</span></p> <p><span>Dr Flynn’s results showed that people with diets, including daily EVOO consumption, had lower rates of most chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancers, arthritis and type 2 diabetes.</span></p> <p><span>“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for prostate cancer patients,” Dr Flynn said.</span></p> <p><span>“A plant-based EVOO diet improves insulin function and lowers fasting insulin and glucose levels, protects against weight gain and reduces the risk of various cancers.</span></p> <p><span>“EVOO has been shown to decrease a number of risk factors for chronic diseases including inflammation, blood pressure, body weight, blood levels of insulin and glucose, oxidation and blood coagulation,” Dr Flynn said.</span></p> <p><span>“The diet isn’t just for cancer patients or prevention, it’s for everyone wanting to live a healthy life and prevent the risk of disease,” Dr Flynn said.</span></p>

Caring

Oprah reveals chores she doesn't know how to do

<p>Yes, she might be one of the world’s wealthiest women and can pay people to do the most tedious tasks for her, but does that excuse Oprah Winfrey for not knowing how to do even the most basic chores?</p> <p>Whilst promoting her upcoming moving <em>A Wrinkle in Time</em>, Oprah sat down with <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/916466/watch-oprah-winfrey-hilariously-reveal-that-she-doesn-t-pump-her-own-gas-i-wouldn-t-know-what-to-do">E! News</a>, along with her co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, and confessed some of the everyday chores the star doesn’t know how to do.</p> <p>When the actresses were asked if they still fill up their own cars at the petrol station, Oprah confessed, “I don’t. I gotta just say, I wouldn’t know what to do.”</p> <p>As Reese and Mindy giggled, Oprah shared another insight into her life, showing how out of touch she is with the average person.</p> <p>“I actually took someone to the airport recently and I said, ‘Make sure you have your ticket,’ and they were like, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘They don’t have tickets anymore?’”</p> <p>The former talk show queen’s petrol station revelation comes just days after she made an appearance on <em>Jimmy Kimmel Live!</em> and admitted she doesn’t answer her own phone at home either.</p> <p>“I actually have security,” Oprah told Jimmy.</p> <p>“Somebody does answer the phone and they’ll say, ‘Mr Kimmel is on line two.’”</p> <p><img width="499" height="380" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7815781/oprah-embed-image_499x380.jpg" alt="Oprah Embed Image"/></p> <p>And then there’s Oprah’s first bank visit since 1988! During a chat with friend Ellen DeGeneres on her TV show last year, Oprah revealed that she’d only recently been to the bank in the first time in almost 20 years.</p> <p>“What did you go to the bank for?” Ellen asked.</p> <p>“To deposit a million dollars,” Oprah admitted.</p> <p>“I just wanted to go there just to do it. I stood in line, just to do it. It felt fantastic,” she added, laughing, before remembering, “Actually, it was $2 million!”</p> <p>With Forbes estimating Oprah’s worth at $3.5 billion, $2 million sounds like it would have been small change for the star!</p> <p>What do you think about Oprah’s candid confessions about regular chores she doesn’t know how to do? Tell us in the comments below.</p>

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