Daily Health Tips: Trusted Medical Information, Health Tips and Advices

Something as little as this daily 7-minute ritual might help you get skinny. In a study, dieters who spent about 7 minutes meditating each day experienced far fewer food cravings than their nonmeditating peers. And the meditators were far more likely to resist their cravings. Mind over Matter Here's how it all worked: Over a 7-week period, a group of study participants was taught "mindfulness meditation." With this method, they practiced recognizing, accepting, and experiencing their cravings rather than trying to ignore or suppress them. As a result of this meditative practice, people did a better job of holding those cravings off. Researchers think the mindfulness meditation worked better than relying on sheer willpower because the practice helped minimize the frustration and obsessive preoccupation with food triggered by trying, often unsuccessfully, to suppress food cravings. (Find out how yoga helps you avoid overeating.) Choose Your Method Min

Wouldn't it be nice if, just once, you were able to say no to those office muffins or that second helping of Friday night pizza? Well, guess what? Yoga could give you that willpower. That's right. Aside from making you stronger and more flexible, yoga may help you become smarter about food, too. Mind over Muffins In a study, researchers surveyed more than 300 adults on their exercise and eating habits. Detailed questionnaires revealed that people who regularly practiced yoga had a different eating style than people who did other types of exercise. Yoga practitioners were more tuned in to their appetites and were better able to judge when they were full and actually lay down the fork at the appropriate time. Could this be why the yoga devotees had lower body mass indexes on average, too?   Work Your Will Yoga requires calm and focus. The poses also require people to pay close attention to their bodies. And researchers suspect the increased mind-bo

Could a side salad make you fat? Possibly . . . if you let that side salad lull you into eating too much. You see, side salads can play tricks on your mind -- such as making that slice of pizza next to it seem like no big deal, caloriewise. That's exactly what a recent study revealed when people were asked to estimate the calories in big meals. Fooled by Food In the study, participants were shown pictures of high-calorie main dishes, like hamburgers and meatball-pepperoni cheesesteak sandwiches, and were asked to guess the number of calories in them. Interestingly, when a high-calorie food item was pictured with a healthful side dish next to it, people estimated the meal had about 43 fewer calories than when the high-calorie dish was pictured alone. What's more, even the most health-conscious eaters weren't immune to this illusion. In fact, the people who lowballed calorie counts the most were those who reported being extremely conscious of their diets. 

A sore hip makes everything more difficult -- from sleeping to walking up stairs. But you could keep those hips of yours feeling fine if you're a lover of garlic and onions. About 15 percent of older adults regularly deal with hip pain. But in a recent study of women, those who tended to eat lots of produce -- particularly herbs from the allium family, such as onions and garlic -- showed fewer signs of hip osteoarthritis in x-ray tests. Arthritis-Fighting Allium The study analyzed the diets of a large group of middle-aged adult twins, most of whom did not have symptoms of arthritis when the study started. Eating lots of allium herbs correlated with less arthritis in the hip. And in a separate lab analysis, researchers also found that diallyl disulphide -- a substance found in the allium family -- appeared to help inhibit enzymes that can cause damage to joint-protective cartilage.    Culinary Cartilage Protection Garlic and onions are probably the widest known

Easing arthritis symptoms isn't just about exercise and pills. The foods you eat could help joints with osteoarthritis feel better, too. Food as medicine. It's a wonderful concept because it gives us an empowering and fun way -- eating -- to do something helpful for our bodies, like easing joint pain. And some day, doctors may very well prescribe exercise, medication, and a special diet to help keep people's arthritic joints healthy. But right now, the only way diet likely enters your osteoarthritis conversation with your doctor is when you talk about losing weight. Because although there's no way to cure arthritis through food, if you are overweight, a weight loss diet may be one of the best things you can do for the health of your joints. Still, quite a bit of promising research has shown that certain foods and nutrients may help ease osteoarthritis symptoms. More study is needed to confirm the results, but since most of the foods studied to date are g

When was the last time you clipped that pedometer onto your waistband? Here's a great reason to get it back there. Boosting your daily steps to 10,000 a day could save you from a future with diabetes -- especially if you're not hoofing it that much right now. The Magic Number of Steps In a recent study, researchers in Australia used pedometers to calculate participants' average number of daily steps over the course of 5 years. And people whose pedometers showed an increase in steps over time had better insulin sensitivity at the end of the study -- a good sign for anyone who hopes to avoid diabetes, because insulin helps your body use blood sugar. Just how much do you need to ramp up to improve insulin sensitivity? Researchers estimated that based on the study results, a mostly sedentary person could improve his or her insulin sensitivity nearly threefold by working up from 3,000 steps every 5 days, to 10,000 steps every day.    Stepping Away from Diab

Finding a diet that helps steady your blood sugar may sound complicated, but it needn't be. There's actually an easy-to-follow nutritional formula that can help do the trick -- and keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and body weight in check at the same time. And if you have diabetes, this same eating plan can help you manage your condition. So, what is that formula? There are three parts: Divide Add Subtract By dividing up the portions on your plate in a better way, adding certain healthy foods, and subtracting blood-sugar-unfriendly choices, you'll be well on your way to enjoying better blood sugar. Divide Up Your Plate Many people give over half of their dinner plate to a meat-based main course. But you'll want to readjust that thinking. Half of your plate should be produce; the other half can be divided between protein (like lean chicken) and high-fiber starches (like whole-wheat pasta or potatoes with the skins on). Add This Good Stuff

You could lower your blood pressure significantly in 30 seconds if you just do this: breathe deeply. In a study, that simple act helped lower the study participants' systolic blood pressure. In fact, the study participants only had to do it six times to see their systolic pressure dip as much as 10 mm Hg! Not too shabby for a few slow in-and-out breaths. Blowing Off Steam The study involved nearly 20,000 Japanese adults with either normal blood pressure or high blood pressure. Some of the study participants sat alone quietly doing a breathing exercise that involved taking six deep breaths over the course of 30 seconds. The rest just sat quietly doing nothing for the same amount of time. Both activities were good for the study participants' vitals. But afterward, the systolic blood pressure readings in the deep breathers had dropped much more dramatically than the people who merely sat quietly.  Deep-Breathing Benefits The overall blood pressure and pulse rates

Here are two quick weight loss tricks that are so simple, they're almost too good to be true: Just read and walk. Research shows that middle-aged adults who read food labels and also stick with a regular exercise program -- like walking -- are much more likely to succeed at weight loss than folks who practice just one of these little habits. Portion Patrol Most people are notoriously bad at estimating portion sizes, but being a label reader can help curb that. Knowing how to read and interpret food labels can help you judge portion sizes correctly, so you're less likely to overeat. In fact, in one study, patrons of a popular coffee chain consumed 6 percent fewer calories per transaction when the calorie counts for items on the menu were clearly displayed. Label reading . . . what could be easier? Exercise Extras Combine label reading with regular exercise and you've got a powerful one-two weight loss punch. And you don't have to knock yourself out with marath

You won't lose weight on a diet of celery sticks and dry toast. Your body will just think it's starving and hang onto those extra pounds! Rather, to lose weight effectively and permanently, you need to eat . And eat smart. Happily, there are a host of delicious edibles designed by nature to turn up your fat-burning furnace, flatten your belly, and take a big bite out of your appetite. Here are 11 of the get-slim food gems we're talking about: Yogurt Mmmm . This creamy, tangy snack is loaded with calcium -- and studies show that calcium may curtail weight gain by hindering the absorption of fat in the small intestine. Eggs   Turn breakfast into a fat-burning morning boost by skipping the stack of pancakes and feasting on a couple of eggs instead. According to a study, huevos beat out carbs when it came to helping folks feel full longer and helping them beat back snack attacks later in the day. Pistachios Nuts may be high in fat, but it's t