health ne

THE INFORMATION YOU

NEED TO STAY WELL

by SARA ALTSHUL

H eart eats

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five your heart a break at thedinner

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glucose levels. Л diet <

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glucose-spiking eats, known as

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woman’s risk for heart disease,

according toa recent study by Italian

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numbers on theglycemic index (those

under

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and avoiding high

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especially important if you’re diabetic

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make simple

switches, like rye c>r pumpcmiekel

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for white bread

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for corn Hakes

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.

PAY

IT

FORWARD

Perform ing a goo d deed for som eone makes him o r her

m ore likely to d o som ething nice for som eone else, say

researchers at Harvard and the University o f California,

San Diego. Their study provides strong evidence that

cooperative behavior spreads from person to person to

person— like a benevolent virus. In the study, volunteers

simulated giving m oney away to others. Th e researchers

observed a dom ino effect, in w hich one person’s

kindness spread first to three people, then to nine

people, and then to even m ore people. W hat’s more,

after giving yo u becom e a m ore generous person w ho’ll

give to others m ore frequently. Happily, no one’s im m une

to the kindness flu. “W e found that the effect w orks on

Scrooge and Santa personalities alike,” says study

c o a u th o r Jam es H. Fowler, Ph.D„ a professor at U C San

Diego and expert on social networks.

Lonely I Iearts C lub

Reason No. 872 to call your sister, volunteer, or play

wit

\

your cic )g: Lack of connection is unhealthy.

University’ ofC licago research results show that

yersistcnfly feeling lonely raises blocxl pressure,

ncreasing risk of stroke or heart attack.

o

!

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B rin g o n th e b aco n an d eggs! A new

stu d y sh ow s that eating a little fat first

th in g an d keeping fat and ca lo ries low in

th e even ing m ight w ard o ff m etabo lic

sy n d ro m e — a clu ste r o f sym p to m s,

in clu d in g ab d o m in al fat, high triglycerid e

levels, an d insulin re sistan ce — that

in cre ases risk o f ca rd io va scu la r disease

an d diabetes. Y o u r first m eal se e m s to

p ro g ram m e tab o lism fo r the rest o f the

day, says M olly Bray, Ph.D., p ro fe sso r o f

e p id e m io lo g y at the U niversity o f

A labam a. A relatively fat-rich breakfast

helps yo u m etabo lize fats and

carb o h yd rate s d u rin g the day, w hile a

c a rb -ric h breakfast se e m s to p ro m o te

o n ly ca rb m etabo lism . In ad d itio n , eggs

red u ce hunger, so y o u eat less at lunch

an d all d ay long. In a n ew U n iversity o f

C o n n e c tic u t study, breakfast egg-eaters

ate ii2 few er ca lo rie s at an a ll-yo u -can

eat buffet lun ch th ree h o u rs later than

bagel-eating co u n te rp arts. T h e y also

co n su m e d ab o u t 4 0 0 few er ca lo rie s in

the 24 h o u rs follow in g breakfast than

did th e ir bagel buddies.

- ’ 2010 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

P H O T O S : (D O M IN O S ) P H O T O G R A P H E R : C H A D B A K ER . C O L L E C T IO N : D IG IT A L V IS IO N . G E T T Y IM A G E S : (E G G C A R T O N ) V E E R