Take a look at nature, eat chocolate and try aqua -aerobic -plus 8 more health tips to have a great week

Hello, Yahoo Life reader! My name is Rachel Grumman Bender. I fill out for Kaitlin Reilly and am here to make sure you don't miss the best tips for health and wellness this week.

Thanks to summer time, we jumped every hour forward last week. The good news: It is no longer a pitch black at 4:30 p.m. the bad news: it is so dark in the morning that it can feel like you wake up in the middle of the night. If, like me, you still have to deal with the time change, there are some steps that you can take to get up in the morning and leave your cozy bed a little less painful.

Sure, if you stay with a defined sleep schedule, it helps (something that I still work as an night school). However, maximize the light load in the morning whether it is a sunrise of the sunrise (which simulates a natural sunrise by gradually increasing the light) or switching on a table lamp. Look at your brain that it is time to get up. Or if a light light feels too hard, try to wake up your smartphone with one of your favorite songs (mine would be “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” by Hall and Oates). Studies show that people with melodic alarms feel more vigilant than those who start their day with a beepalarm.

Are you ready to start your week on the right track? Take a look at your local weather forecast and steal a look at your horoscope. Then read about the small steps you can take to increase your well -being this week.

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🍀 Green green

The day of St. Patrick is March 17th, and while you drink Guinness and get some corned beef and kohl in mind, how about some healthier ways to honor the vacation? Since green is the color of Saint Patrick's Day, use it as an excuse to increase your use of healthy green products, which is usually packed with vitamins and minerals. Cut an avocado and throw it into a hearty green salad, stir some Bok choy, roast spinach or fry some Brussels sprouts with a balsamic glaze.

🌲 Reduce pain by looking at nature

Speaking of green, if you take some time to see natural scenes, can help relieve pain. This is the snack from a new study published in Nature Communications, in which researchers use a functional MRI to examine the brain activity of the study participants when they received a number of small electrical shocks. Participants who looked at natural videos while zaping compared to those who stared at office or city views reported less pain. Scans showed that areas of the brain that actually changed actually changed, which means that it was not just a placebo effect. Although concentration on nature is half as effective as taking actual pain relievers, the authors of the study say that natural landscapes really buffer against pain symptoms.

🏊‍♀️ Try aqua aerobics

If you think of water aerobics, the probability of grandmothers in reasonable swimming suits and excessive enthusiastic fitness instructors on cruise ships are in mind. However, this could make it look at the exercise in a new light: A new study in the magazine BMJ Open showed that people who have been recorded with Aqua -Aerobic for more than 10 weeks reduced their body weight significantly by more than 6 pounds. And waist size by almost 3 cm. Aqua -Aerobic, which was carried out two to three times a week for about an hour, was particularly effective with overweight and obese women and over 45.

🪵 Chew on wooden

While you probably didn't gnaw on wood on your to-do list, you may want to rethink. Learn me: A new study showed that chewing a hard material such as wood (in this case a wooden tongue depressor that you would find in a doctor's office) increases a decisive antioxidant in the brain called glutathione that can help improve memory while chewing on the rubber was not enough. If it is not your thing to chew on wood (and who could really accuse you?), You can still choose chewing gum instead. Studies indicate that it contributes to increasing blood flow into your brain by up to 40% and drawing it aware. In addition, you don't have to worry about splinters.

☕ Swallowing coffee

As if they needed another reason to wrap their hands around a hot cup of Joe: coffee is good for their belly health. Researchers found that coffee stimulates the growth of good bacteria (Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticusif you really want to become technical). But coffee that is rich in antioxidants offers a number of other advantages, including reducing the risk of heart diseases, stroke, type -2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. But you can have too much good things, which is why the Food and Drug Administration does not recommend more than 400 mg caffeine per day. In order to put this in the right light, an 8 -unzen cup of coffee has about 96 mg of caffeine.

💊 Superior

In her ASK A Doctor column for Washington Post, the gastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasicha that over-the-counter probiotics have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, thanks to the people who are not worth more attention to the health of belly. Pasicha says that the proof of whether these nutritional supplements actually work is mixed (although they can restore good bacteria when taking antibiotics). The national center for complementary and integrative health reflects this mood and finds that it is still unclear which probiotics are helpful and which are not. Like many nutritional supplements, the FDA does not regulate them. What should you do instead? Pasicha recommends how many doctors, more fiber such as oatmeal, beans and whole grain products, which your digestive system runs smoothly and is good for your general health. It is another clever move, fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi and Greek yogurt, which are naturally rich in probiotics. Or do you just try to drink a good -friendly coffee instead?

🍫 Snack on chocolate

There is a whole week that is only dedicated to chocolate (16 to 22 March is American Chocolate Week) – for good reason. We clearly love it and Americans consume around 1.28 billion kilograms of chocolate confection every year (that's £ 2.6 billion if they don't want to calculate). While milk chocolate is more popular because it is sweet, dark chocolate that is bitter, the healthier is more outstanding. Dark chocolate can help reduce inflammation, support heart health and reduce the risk of type -2 diabetes. It also contains the feel -good hormone serotonin and magnesium, which can help reduce fear. Just make sure that the dark chocolate bar that you reach consists of at least 70% cocoa to use the advantages.

📺 Cut the time on TV to protect your heart

The limitation of the time that sitting and television spend no more than an hour a day can counteract the increased risk of heart disease for people with high probability, to develop type -2 diabetes, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The researchers found that sitting, e.g. B. two or more hours of television daily, play a role in the development of heart and blood vessel diseases. Those who provide information to spend an hour or less on television had a lower risk of developing an atherosclerotic heart cycle -in the next 10 years. Another reason here is to shorten: According to a 2022 study, 11% of cases of heart diseases with heart disease could spend less than an hour a day in front of the television. Even it helps to break the sitting time before the television. Try to take some squats or pushups during commercial breaks. Your heart will thank you.

🥹 Get nostalgic

Do you feel sentimental? According to a new study, this is a good thing in the magic and emotion magazine. The researchers examined nostalgia – which they describe as an “emotion that often reminds us of important relationships” – and found that they play a key role in friendships. The study showed that people who feel and appreciate nostalgia, have close friends and hold on to close friends and have the extra -meals when maintaining these friendships compared to people who are less sentimental. Close relationships with others have several health benefits, including the risk of depression and anxiety and increasing well -being, and it can even help them live longer. Here you can find out how FaceTime can help with your friends to get your bond.

😋 Eat some artichokes

If vegetables could brag, artichokes – yes, artichokes – would get a lot more attention. The funky -looking products have the highest antioxidants of all vegetables. They have vitamins and minerals of copper, magnesium and iron to vitamin C and potassium. Artichokes also help to lower cholesterol levels, to contain more fiber than a cup of plums and, in my personal opinion, are almost delicious. In view of the fact that March 16 is the national artichoke day, try one of these three simple ways to cook them.

🍽️ Watch your waist

A new study published in the Jama Network Open showed that the nutrition of a healthy diet and a lower ratio of waist to hip (which measures the relationship of its waist circumference to their hip circumference) was associated with better health of the brain at the entire lifetime. On the other hand, a higher ratio of waist to hip in the middle of life was associated with poorer work memory and executive function. While the researchers say that at the age of 48 to 70 years old is an important time to improve their diet and the accumulation of fat to control their middle part to protect the health of the brain in old age, everyone can benefit from eating healthier now. If you are not sure where to start, try to follow the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet that is popular with both doctors and nutritionists, or take a look at these 18-nutritional healthy snacks.