October 2013
Offbeat experiences for a vacation
Exercise at midlife pays off for decades later
When vacations and so-so travel begin to feel pointless, it could be time to take an unusual trip you would really enjoy. You'll be able to tell your friends and family about it for years to come. According to AARP and others, these are a few once-in-a-lifetime experiences to consider.
In their 40s and 50s, people who made a point of staying fit before may get pretty busy. They start wondering if lifting weights, exercising at home or going to the gym is worth the time and effort. There has always been some evidence that people who are fit at midlife are more likely to be healthy in their 60s, 70s and 80s. The best evidence available comes from the Cooper Institute. It has a database of patients who have gone to their preventive medicine clinic since 1970.
Soak up the midnight sun in Iceland. The summer sun almost never sets in Iceland, inspiring both insomnia and giddy awe among visitors. All season long, you can enjoy geothermal baths, pony rides and even glacier tours well into the evening hours.
Their study, published in the September Archives of Internal Medicine, focused on data from 18,000 healthy people whose cardiovascular fitness was measured by treadmill tests in their 40s or 50s. By examining Medicare claims on these subjects, researchers found that those who were most fit were much less likely to develop heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes, kidney disease, colon or lung cancer during the next 20 to 30 years.
Visit the California Missions Trail. It's a nearly 800-mile drive from San Diego to Sonoma and it connects the state's 21 Spanish missionary outposts. Built between 1769 and 1823, every mission has a story to tell about the history of California. Drive from one to another or choose which missions you want to see. It's one of the most interesting California trips you can take.
They also found that subjects who were fittest at midlife were one-third less likely to develop dementia in their 70s and 80s. Cardiovascular fitness helps prevent dementia by reducing the risk of diabetes and hypertension, both of which can contribute to dementia. But even after controlling these factors, the reduced risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease remained.
Explore Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Experience it during a scenic helicopter flight. Take it in during a high-speed catamaran cruise from Port Douglas. It will take you to the Outer Barrier Reef. Or see a kaleidoscope of fish, coral and marine beings from a semi-submersible submarine or from the underwater observatory. See India during Diwali, The Festival of Light. It's a five-day event beginning this year on November 3, demonstrating the warm and considerate nature of an entire culture.
One benefit of being fit in middle age is that it increases the likelihood that you'll continue to exercise, eat well and stop smoking If you're past middle age and didn't exercise much back then, you can still get many of the benefits of midlife fitness if you start to exercise now.
The Golden Temple at Amritsar is a site to behold in itself. It's enhanced to a phenomenal spectacle during Diwali, when you can experience a foreign culture at its best.
It's never too late to start improving your fitness level with exercise and other healthy habits.
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It's never too late to start improving your fitness level with exercise and other healthy habits.
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Health in the news How to help your eyes adapt to night driving There are a number of conditions that can affect your vision. They are especially noticeable when it comes to night driving. Cataracts affect the lens at the front of the eye. They can create glare, fuzziness and a halo effect around lights. Diabetes can cause problems because higher blood sugar can affect the liquid in the middle of the eye. And it's possible that your prescription for eyeglasses should be changed. After ruling these conditions out, one possible cause involves being in bright light for 2 to 3 hours before night driving. It can slow how quickly your eyes adapt to lower light. If you must be in bright light, try wearing sunglasses during part of that time. The easiest suggestion: Allow 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to lower light before hitting the road. Writing in Prevention, Dr. Sanjay Gupta also recommends taking a multivitamin that covers your vitamin A and C and beta-carotene needs, as well as omega-3 capsules.
Fire ant sting can be serious: get treatment Stinging fire ants are common in the southeastern United States. Some experts estimate that up to 16 percent of Americans stung by a fire ant suffer severe allergic reactions. But many who know they are allergic don't adhere to therapy that could prevent a life-threatening reaction, say allergists at Johns Hopkins University. People can build immunity, but the allergy shots are required monthly for three to five years. Avoiding treatment means every sting will have a worse reaction, which could include anything from hives to vomiting and diarrhea, weakness and cardiac arrest. If you are allergic, carry an epinephrine pen with you, wear gloves when doing yard work and don't wear sandals or go barefoot.
Bedtime tops sleep time Researchers at the University College London have found that the consistency of bedtime for children was even more important than the number of hours they sleep. Kids in kindergarten through 8th grade should get 10 hours of sleep. The research considered factors that can influence cognitive development, such as not eating breakfast and having television in the bedroom. They discovered that going to bed early or late didn't affect cognitive development as long as the bedtime was consistent. They now think a regular bedtime, even if slightly later, is advisable.
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The caregiver's touch You may already know about the power of touch to communicate with those who are losing verbal skills and possibly other senses. But did you know that your sincerity counts? Experts at Carning.com say it seems that our bodies read emotions through touch with amazing specificity. A DePauw University psychologist asked blindfolded subjects to guess which of eight emotions a stranger was trying to convey simply through the use of touch: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, disgust, love, gratitude, or sympathy. The subjects understood correctly which emotion was being communicated between 50 to 78 percent of the time. (Pure chance would put the correct-guess rate at 11 percent.) So hug like you mean it.
Thanks for all of your Referrals! I succeed when people like you refer to me your friends, neighbors and colleagues. It's the best kind of compliment I can receive. Recycle this Newsletter by forwarding it to a friend!
Little pumpkins for fun...and taste great
Spooky Sudoku
Everyone knows Halloween ends the month of October, a celebration in which millions of pumpkins are grown specifically for jack-o'lanterns.
To solve a sudoku, you only need logic and patience. No math is required. Simply make sure that each 3x3 square region has a number 1 through 9 with only one occurrence of each number. Each column and row of the large grid must have only one instance of the numbers 1 through 9.
But pumpkins make great pies, muffins, cakes, bars, cheesecakes and more. Baby ones can be as containers How to solve hollowed out, baked, and used for custard or stuffed with many kinds of fillings. Buy baby pumpkins (3-6 inches) in October and store them in a dry and cool area for Thanksgiving use.
Stuffed Baby Pumpkins 6 baby pumpkins (4-6 oz.) 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 1 shallot, minced 2 cups fresh lump crab meat Pinch of nutmeg and ground mustard Salt and pepper to taste. 4 cups chopped fresh spinach 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated ¼ cup brandy 1 lemon wedge
The difficulty rating on this puzzle is easy.
Roast baby pumpkins in a 350 degree oven until tender (40 minutes to 1 hour). Cool. Cut off the tops with stems intact; scoop out seeds. If roasted in advance, reheat 5-10 minutes before using. Sauté the crab meat (or chopped colossal shrimp or lobster), mushrooms and shallot with a little olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the mustard and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper to taste.
When mushrooms are soft; deglaze pan with cognac, slowly add cream and spinach. Stir until cream has reduced and spinach softens. Stir in cheese and squeeze in the lemon.
Put pumpkins on individual plates or a platter, spoon filling inside and place pumpkin lid on top. Serves 6. Double or triple recipe for a party. Page 3
Minimalists have moved to sleek wood cabinets White-painted cabinets have dominated kitchens for years. In homes built in 2012, 67 percent had white cabinets, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. This year, many consumers, builders and kitchen remodelers are moving to a warmer feel. Upscale companies (like Corian) that are known for austere systems are delivering minimalist but still mellow kitchens in oak, walnut, larch and the like. Minimalist cabinets have plain unframed fronts with recessed pulls and no trim of any kind. They are often paired with wraparound countertops. Cabinetry above the countertop often extends to the ceiling with one or two cabinets. The wood, though protected by lacquer, has a soft, raw look. Customizers offer many finishes. One interior designer lists cerused oak, bleached walnut and sandblasted fir. New York designer Russell Groves says there's more to creating a warm kitchen than cupboards. Flooring, lighting, countertops and even knobs play a vital role. Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, he likes hardware for drawers in special finishes like painted bronze and blackened steel, which punctuates cabinets beautifully. Some people want timber to come from locally grown trees so they can feel more connected to the outside. Â
New building in China is the largest in the world Chengdu's New Century Global Center is the world's largest freestanding building. It opened earlier this year. CNN reports that the building has 18.9 million square feet of floor space. The building will be capable of housing 20 Sydney Opera houses. It's almost three times the size of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The Global Center has an ocean theme and will house a huge artificial beach with a seafront promenade and an artificial sun. It will also be home to offices, theaters, hotels, shopping malls and even a fake Mediterranean village. "This is an ocean city built by man," says guide Liu Xun. There are 1,000 rooms in the hotel and all have seaside views. The artificial sun shines 24 hours a day. The system uses specialized lighting technology that heats the building as well as illuminates it.
Kris Spears, ND ACN This 10 min could change your life! Listen: 866-920-3359 Watch: DrScience.info Call me:361.438.7947
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