Healthy Aging

Dietary Strategies Against Gout

Gout is so painful that its sufferers say you can't really grasp how bad it is unless you've experienced it. A form of arthritis, gout is marked by attacks of severe joint pain, swelling, warmth and redness. Although medication is often used to help manage gout, dietary changes may help, too.

Sweet Drinks: Bad for Your Brain?

Could a sugary-drink habit - or the diet beverages you may consume instead - harm your brain? One recent study showed that regularly drinking sugary beverages, like soda and fruit drinks, was associated with signs of brain aging and declining memory.

Anti-Aging Nutrition for Eyes

As people age, they're even more afraid of losing their vision than their memory, says a survey by the American Optometric Association. Risk of potentially sight-robbing eye diseases does increase as we get older. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts and glaucoma are three top concerns.

Small Steps to Healthy Habits

It can seem overwhelming to lose weight or get fit, but it doesn't have to be. How you approach behavior changes to help you reach your health and wellness goals can make a big difference. A key is to gradually change your habits.

Improving Fitness Could Prolong Life

Getting more physically fit may help reduce risk of dying prematurely. Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, followed 10,854 men and women (average age, 54) who had completed two doctor-ordered exercise stress tests at least 12 months apart.

Does Excessive Sitting Age You?

Too much sitting and too little exercise may speed biological aging by as much as 8 years, suggests an American Journal of Epidemiology study. A group of 1,481 women (average age, 79) from a nationally-representative sample wore motion sensors for one week.

Fighting Unwanted Weight Loss

Seeing you're down several pounds or finding your clothes are fitting looser may sound like a good thing - but not when you aren't trying to lose weight. Unwanted weight loss is of special concern in aging since it could point to an undiagnosed illness, leave you prone to infections or decrease your independence.

Could Low Iron Affect Your Hearing?

Hearing loss increases with age, affecting 40 to 66% of adults over age 65 and 80% of adults over age 85. Scientists are exploring whether iron deficiency contributes to the problem. Using clinical data from electronic medical records of 305,339 young to elderly adults, scientists examined the relationship between hearing loss and iron deficiency anemia.

Dietary Relief for Aching Joints

Whether your knees ache when you climb stairs or it hurts to bend down to tie your shoes, arthritis can be a real pain. There is no easy fix for osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis and the focus of this article. In this condition, cartilage (the covering on ends of bones) erodes, and the protective joint space between bones decreases. Pain, inflammation and reduced mobility can result. Arthritis is more common with age,…

Health Benefits of Whole Grains

Nutrition experts - including those advising this newsletter - have been preaching for years about the benefits of replacing refined grains in your diet with whole grains. The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans echoed this advice, recommending limiting intake of refined grains and products made with refined grains and starches.