Presidential Motivation
Sometimes I feel like I don’t have time to exercise. Then I look at our leaders.
President-elect Barack Obama, 47, says he exercises at least 45 minutes, 6 days a week, alternating between strength training, cardio, and pick-up basketball. It’s an escape and a necessity, he says. With millions of people depending on him for a million different (extremely important) issues, Obama knows he is far more productive when he exercises regularly, even if it takes a little time away from his duties to do so.
Michelle Obama, 44-year-old mother of two, hits the gym at least three times a week for 90-minute workouts, often at 4:30am.
Substitutions Make Holiday Fare Healthier
| November 22, 2008
SATURDAY, Nov. 22 (HealthDay News) -- You can eat healthier this holiday season by altering recipes and making good food choices, say experts with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
Holiday cooks can reduce the sugar, fat or salt content of almost any holiday recipe without a noticeable difference in taste, nutrition specialist Mary Bielamowicz said in a news release.
"If a recipe calls for a cup of sugar, use two-thirds of a cup," she said. "If it calls for a half-cup of oil, shortening or other fat, use one-third cup. And if a recipe says to use one-half teaspoon of salt, use one-quarter teaspoon or omit the salt entirely."
Another way to make holiday recipes more healthful is to substitute whole-grain or bran flours for recipes calling for all-purpose flour, Bielamowicz said.
Exercise Keeps the Brain Young
By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter | November 21, 2008
FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- In experiments in mice, exercise appears to reverse the decline in the production of brain stem cells usually seen with aging, Taiwanese researchers report.
This remarkable restoration of the brain's ability to stave off aging appears to be due to exercise's ability to restore a neurochemical that is essential for the production of new brain cells.
"As we age, the ability of producing new neurons is decreasing. However, moderate running can improve the production, survival and maturation of new neurons in the brain," said lead researcher Yu-Min Kuo, an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the National Cheng Kung University Medical College in Tainan.
Aquarobics May Help Ease Labor
| November 21, 2008
FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Doing aquarobics during pregnancy reduces the amount of pain-killing medication requested by women during labor, according to a Brazilian study that included 71 expectant mothers.
Half the women were assigned to attend three 50-minute sessions a week of aquarobics during their pregnancy, while the other half acted as a control group.
"We found no statistically significant differences in the duration of labor or they type of delivery between the two groups," study author Rosa Pereira, of the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo, said in a news release. "However, only 27 percent of women in the aquarobics group requested analgesia, compared to 65 percent in the control group.
