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Rosemary Lowers the Blues, Aids Sleep and Memory In a double-blind, randomized study at Iran’s Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 68 university students took either 500 milligrams of rosemary or a placebo each day for one month. Those taking the rosemary saw their levels of anxiety and depression significantly reduced and their memory scores boosted by 14 percent; students reporting nights of good sleep rose from 47 percent to 62 percent.
Five Healthy Habits Add Years of Life Analyzing why Americans have a lower life expectancy when compared to most other developed countries, Harvard researchers used 34 years of data on more than 120,000 health professionals to focus on five lifestyle factors that promote longevity. They found that women and men lived on average 14 years and 12 years longer, respectively, if they had a healthy body weight (between 18.5 and 24.9 BMI), never smoked, exercised at moderate-to-vigorous levels at least 30 minutes a day, ate a healthy diet and drank only moderately (one five-ounce glass of wine for women, two for men). The effect was cumulative; the combination of all five produced the greatest life extension. Those that maintained the healthiest lifestyles were 82 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 65 percent less likely to die from cancer, compared with those with the least healthy lifestyles.
Dark Chocolate Proven Healthier than Ever Dark chocolate with at least 70 percent cacao can have positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity, according to two new studies from Loma Linda University, in California. Ten participants ate a 48-gram bar of dark chocolate at the beginning of each study and then ate a piece of dark chocolate every two hours when they were awake for several days. Blood tests revealed the chocolate heightened sense perception and nervous system responsiveness and increased both anti-inflammatory agents and infection-fighting cells. Gamma waves recorded by an electroencephalogram (EEG) suggested the treat could positively impact cognitive function and creativity even two hours after eating it.
Too Much Sitting Thins the Brain Sitting too much thins the medial temporal lobe (MTL), the part of the brain known for forming new memories, reports a study from the University of California, Los Angeles. Researchers questioned 35 people of ages 45 to 75 about how much time they spent sitting and exercising, then gave each participant a high-resolution MRI scan. Sedentary behavior was significantly linked to thinning of the MTL. Even increased levels of physical activity did not offset the harmful effects of sitting for extended periods, according to the research.
December 2018
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