Five Reasons You Need To Eat More Fiber

Fiber is an essential nutrient which prevents many diseases and helps to lose weight. If you still have doubts about its benefits, check 5 reasons why you should eat it.

1. Healthy heart
Fiber helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol level. According to latest studies made by American researchers, in adults whose diet was rich with fiber the risks for cardiovascular disease development was significantly reduced.

2. Slim figure
Experts claim that people who ate 14g of fiber daily during 4 months lost 2kg of weight.

3. Low risks for diabetes type 2
Fiber found in wholegrain products reduces risks for diabetes development by 35%. Soluble fiber slows down digestion and thus normalizes glucose level in blood.

4. Regular intestinal habits
Fiber softens intestinal habits and reduces the risks for retention of feces. Experts say fiber reduces the risks for diverticulitis development.

5. Longevity
Researchers say that daily norm of 26g of fiber for women and 29g of fiber for men do reduce the risks for early death by 35%. The only condition here is that human body should get this fiber from wholegrain products.

3 Hours of Exercises Weekly Prolong Life

How to save heart and blood vessels from serious problems? It's all in your hands, say American researchers. Only three hours of physical activity each week may significantly reduce risks of cardio-vascular diseases development.

Latest study of Harvard School of Public Health shows that three hours of intense exercises daily help to reduce risks of heart attacks development by 22%.

Researchers found that in 38% cases the reduction of disease development was the result of healthy influence of physical activity on rate of “good” cholesterol in the blood or high-density lipoprotein.

In the study participated 1239 males who presented information about intensity of their weekly physical activity. The researchers analyzed cholesterol level in their blood and insulin sensitivity rate.

As expected, in males who had heart attack in past, the rate of “bad” cholesterol was higher than of “good” cholesterol. Moreover, those males more frequently suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. Specialists say that physical activity helps to lower greatly heart attacks risks and other serious cardio-vascular diseases.

Longer Life Products

Normally everyone has in his life many desires and ambitions, and we all want to achieve something. However, all that would be realized in case we are confident in tomorrow and know we have enough time for that. That is why many scientists for centuries wrestle with a question about life prolongation. Their answer is that prolongation of life depends on what we eat.

The problem of regular foods was raised many times and there do exist lots of opinions on it. How many talks were about unhealthy cholesterol which blocks vessels and shortens life! And what we've got in the end? It turned out that we cannot do without a particular amount of cholesterol.

A recent study of food products, conducted by European and USA scientists, helped to make a list of products which are safe for human body and also prolong life. It is based on discoveries about aging mechanisms of body cells. It turned out that all products that prolong human life contain particular biologically active substances.

First of all, these are products containing antioxidants such as tea, coffee, black chocolate. Antioxidants repair affected cells and neutralize free radicals which cause various degenerative diseases.

Besides this, most healthful are vegetative foods. Here in the list are included all fruits (especially apples) such as oranges, pomegranates, red grapes, strawberries, peaches, plums, etc.

Also it is considered that next products prolong life: branny bread, broccoli, tomatoes and red onions. Meat, fish, grains are not very healthful but they do appease hunger and fill body with calories necessary for vital activity. However, vegetative food is healthful because it lengthens life span of cells and at some degree prolongs human life.

Certainly, it is up to you to choose what food to consume, how and when. However, if you want to feel yourself healthy and live a long life, you should keep a healthy regimen. It is not a diet, no restrictions or rules – it is a real benefit for your body. Your longevity is in your hands!

Quality Of Life Is Most Important Than Its Length

Most severely ill people confess that they would agree to improve quality of remaining life instead of prolonging it.

A number of European survey respondents confessed that most horrible aspects of severe untreatable disease are pains and the necessity to be a burden on family. Also most preferable is relief from bodily sufferings than release of family from troubles connected with them.

In survey participated almost nine hundred people from England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. Two thirds of them had relatives with serious diseases such as cancer. Half of them said that they had an occasion to sit at person's bed-side past months and one in ten said they suffered themselves from diseases.

They were asked what would they do if they had only one year left to live. 71% said they would like to live happily their last months and only 4% said they would like to prolong their life. The rest 25% said that both quality of life and its length are important. In England 47% confessed that their main desire is to release from pain. 25% would like to keep their courage. Only 8% said they were anxious about following through their beginnings.

Unhealthy Lifestyle Shortens Life

Unhealthy lifestyle shortens life by 12 years. Experts from Bupa, a British health care organization, have discovered that middle-aged English women do belong to category of most unhealthy citizens of the country. It is related to the fact that no one wants to follow healthy lifestyle: women consume too much food and do not contribute much time for sports. Other population groups also do actively shorten their lives by consuming alcohol and smoking.

However, researchers found that permanent relationship or marriage may help couples to live four years longer. “It is never too late to change your life for the better”, says medical director of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, Annabel Bentley. - “Doesn't matter your age – whether you are over twenty or over seventy – you may add some years to your life but you should change lifestyle for that. We all know negative effects of smoking and alcohol on our health but this research helps to make some calculations, so finally they know how many years they lose.”

Bupa created on their official site special medical calculator to count approximate length of human life. In order to perform these accounts you should enter your age, height and other data (amount of alcohol you consume, number of exercises you make).

Calculator defines your “health age” (which may greatly differ from biological one) and provides some recommendations to improve your health. For example, you should change your diet, reduce alcohol consumption and make regular exercises. Bupa claims that an average inhabitant of Great Britain could be 12 years younger his biological age if they kept healthy lifestyle.

Stay Healthy In Your 50s

Antioxidants

At this age our common health becomes weaker and with this the risks of various diseases (from skin diseases to cardio-vascular ones) are increased. To enhance your natural immunity, scientists from California University recommend to include in your regimen products with antioxidants as much as possible.

According to an American research, perfect products for immunity are cocozelle, broccoli, green head cabbage which contain anticancer components. Also many berries, fruits, coffee, green tea are rich with antioxidants

Find your goal

According to a research of University of Carolina (Los Angeles), people who have far-reaching plans on their life live longer than those who think just about today. Moreover, experiments showed that when a person dreams about major purchase or travel and waits for a long time the accomplishment of his desires, his immunity works much better than usually.

However, scientists cannot say exactly how these things are connected but they suppose that existence of a distant dream and striving for it help a person fight stress. So go ahead with your dreams and your chances to live a longer life will surely grow!

Do not forget about... love!

Many mistakenly think that after 50 there is no sex anymore. But scientists claim that, vise versa, your children are adult, your career is OK, so you have enough time for your personal life. You should know that sexual intercourse once or twice a week increases by 30% production of specific anti-bodies protecting us from various catarrhal viruses.

Calcium Increases Longevity

Swedish researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm came to the conclusion that daily consumption of products rich in calcium may lengthen life. Research authors emphasize that the talk here is not about supplements, but about products rich with calcium. These conclusions were obtained during long term research and its results were published in American Journal of Epidemiology.

In the experiment participated 23000 men aged from 45 to 79. Major source of calcium in the diet of experiment participants were diary and cereal products. Those who took daily products with high amount of calcium, mortality risk from different diseases during following 10 years was 12% lower than in those whose diet contained less calcium. Also was noticed mortality risk reduction from cardio-vascular diseases by 23%. However, significant calcium action at mortality rate from cancer was not detected.

Obtained data proves the results of most earlier studies during which was established connection between calcium consumption and longevity increase not only in men but also in women. In the eyes of scientists, this helps to make conclusion that daily calcium consumption above the established mark (1000mg for men from 19 to 50 years, and 1200mg for men over 50) lowers mortality risk from any disease.

Half a Glass of Wine a Day Increases Longevity By 5 Years

According to data published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, drinking up to half a glass of wine daily increases increases longevity by 5 years, at least, in men.

The results are based on the research in which participated 1400 of circumstantially selected men, heart-vascular health and longevity of which were examined many times from 1960 till 2000.

Scientists were interested only in amount of alcohol taken by men, in sort of alcohol and during what period of time this alcohol was taken.

After that scientists determined if it was connected with risk of death from heart-vascular and cerebrovascular diseases and general factors. Besides that, scientists were interested in their weight and diet, and if those men were smoking or not and period of smoking, if they had or not serious diseases.

Light alcohol consumption of all sorts lengthens life approximately by 2 years in comparison with men who did not taken alcohol at all. Men who drunk only wine less than a half glass a day had a life expectancy about 5 years longer.

Four Golden Rules Of Longevity

Medical magazine American Journal of Medicine says that if you want be healthy and to live a long life you should form just four habits:
1. you should quit smoking
2. you should eat daily vegetable and fruits
3. you should look after your weight
4. you should make some physical exercises

“Healthy lifestyle is kept on these four columns”, says magazine.

Scientists investigated 15 708 of Americans aged from 45 to 64. Only 8% of them follow those four golden rules of longevity.

Also American scientists named and other most vicious habits that early destroy body - immunization disregard, unbalanced diet, sleeplessness and stress. Besides that, doctors recommend to refuse from habit of watching TV, because they consider it one of the most dangerous of habits. In the USA an average American stays in front of TV 2.5 hours a workday and more than three hours in weekends. Doctors consider that this aimless occupation puts off from useful things and destroys body that helps to live a long life.

Scientists revealed how to become a long-living person

As you known, healthy lifestyle, eating “right” food, refusal from smoking and alcohol – all those things increase longevity. But, probably, few know that these ways of cares about health can help not only lengthen life with a probability of 65-70%, and also to become a real long-living person.

A research, in which participated more than 1500 of persons over 70 years from 11 European countries, showed that in people, preferring Mediterranean food (maximum of fruits, vegetables and fish, minimum of meat and diary products - that is exactly what dietologists recommend), keeping from smoking, drinking maximum one glass of red wine per week, keeping their physical form with everyday sports minimum half an hour, the probability of death under the age of 90 goes down to 65% in comparison with average people.

It turned out that the most important factor ensuring longevity is physical activity (it lowered the probability of death on 37%), followed by refusal of smoking (35%), healthy food (23%), moderation in taking alcohol (22%). Most effectively healthy lifestyle acts upon probability of death from heart diseases, going down to 64%, blood vessel diseases (61%) and cancer (60%).

“Modern people spend great money to treat diseases that are considered age-related - ischemic heart disease, attacks, hypertension, some kinds of cancers”, said doctor Mayer Stampfler, the leader of the research, in an interview for BBC. - And why do people forget that a disease is easier to prevent than to treat? In our research participated people which just followed doctor's standard recommendations, that can do everyone. And the result is quite significant.”