HELP! Last Minute Healthy Gift Ideas

bigstock-Christmas-stress--busy-woman--23861735If you don’t quite have all your holiday shopping done or need a last minute hostess gift, we can help you out. Wrap up a healthful and creative gift with food you have on hand, items available at local stores or be willing to give the gift of time.

Our ideas promote health in a variety of ways, including foods rich in nutrients and cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Some items add flavor and zest to an overall healthful diet. Finally, we include a few non-food items to keep friends and family active.

  1. Trail Mix: Toss together some nuts, dried fruit, dark chocolate and whole grain cereal and put in an attractive jar or cellophane bag and tie with a colorful ribbon.
  2. Three-Ways Hot Cocoa Mix: Our recipe includes instructions for serving this as hot cocoa, chai tea or mocha. Continue reading


4 Habits to Age Well (& prevent cancer): 1 is good, 4 are golden

It’s no secret that a healthy diet, exercising, limiting alcohol and not smoking can lower your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Research also suggests those may also be good for brain health. But how much of a difference does it really make?

Researchers set out to answer that by measuring the effect healthy behaviors had, both individually and combined, on healthy aging. The study was published online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and included 5,100 British men and women at least 60 years old at the end of the study who had been followed for an average of 16 years. All participants were disease free at the beginning of the study.

They found that participants who did just one of the healthy behaviors increased their odds of healthy aging by 33%. But the odds of healthy aging for those who did all four behaviors were 3.3 times greater than those who did none. Continue reading


Want to Age Healthfully? Take a Hike.

What if you could do one simple thing today to boost your energy, your mood and your chances of growing older without chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer or heart disease? You’d do it, right?

In this week’s edition of Cancer Research Update you can read about a study showing that becoming more physically active in middle age can help reduce your risk for getting chronic diseases as you age. And even if you do eventually develop these diseases, being active can delay their onset, buying you extra years of good health.

The researchers found that the most fit folks had the least risk for chronic diseases, including colon cancer. What’s more, the biggest drop in cancer risk occurred among sedentary people who made a modest but crucial change, moving from couch potato to slightly active. That’s right — if you’re currently inactive, just doing a bit more than you’re doing now provides big benefits. In the study, this was true regardless of a subject’s weight.

Get Started Now! Continue reading