Exercise & Mobility

Did you get your 10,000 steps today? Many people have adopted this daily walking goal to obtain the recommended amount of physical activity. The 10,000-steps-a-day number comes from the Japanese brand name of a pedometer manufactured in the 1960s, the 10,000 steps meter. In the Fitbit era, counting daily steps remains appealing to many people as a source of motivation.

The number of nerve cells in the brain typically decreases with age, and the levels of the chemical substances involved in sending messages in the brain change. Although researchers arent sure about the exact mechanism, exercise is strongly associated with protection against age-related decline in cognitive function.

Research hasnt clearly shown that eating three meals a day is any better or worse than five or six smaller meals, but we do know you should avoid eating less than three times a day, as that could make it tougher to control your appetite. How often and at what times you should eat, therefore, come down to personal preference and your work or activity schedule. Just remember that the more often you eat, the less you should eat at a time.

Strength training, also known as resistance training, is a form of physical activity that exercises a muscle or muscle group against external resistance. It can be performed using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or stability balls, or using your own body weight to supply the resistance.

Although we typically talk about the energy value of food in terms of calories, once you consume food, these calories are converted into a form your body can use to fuel physical activity and unconscious acts, such as breathing and keeping your heart beating. A number of vitamins and minerals are vital to this energy conversion process.

So-called superfoods are nutrient-rich foods said to be especially good for your health. Advertisers and the media seem to be pushing new superfoods everyday - everything from the high heart-healthy fats found in salmon, flaxseeds, and avocado to foods with potent antioxidants, like acai berries, pomegranate, and dark chocolate.

While both a Mediterranean-style diet and the DASH eating plan are associated with brain benefits, a hybrid dietary pattern that combines the best of both may be even better at protecting memory and thinking. A 2015 study reported that the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet was associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline-equivalent to 7.5 years of younger age. These results were based on data from participants in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, ages 58 to 98, who were initially free of Alzheimers disease.

Achieving and maintaining an optimal body weight can be a challenge. For those of us who carry extra pounds that we want or need to shed, its tempting to turn to crash dieting in hopes of rapid weight loss.

Living in an area with a higher number of gyms and other exercise facilities nearby is associated with smaller waistlines, lower body mass index (BMI) and less body fat, according to a study in Lancet Public Health. Researchers tapped a national database of health information on about 400,000 people, ages 40 to 70, from across the United Kingdom. They correlated these data with information on the number of exercise facilities such as gyms, swimming pools and playing fields within about a half mile.

Tufts scientists were the first to coin a term for the gradual loss of muscle mass, strength and function that can occur with aging: sarcopenia. The decline in skeletal muscle from sarcopenia affects 15% of people older than age 65, and 50% of people older than age 80.