As Waistlines Widen, Brains Shrink

TUESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- For every excess pound piled on the body, the brain gets a little bit smaller.

That's the message from new research that found that elderly individuals who were obese or overweight had significantly less brain tissue than individuals of normal weight.

Read more HealthDay News

Help to quit smoking!

by Denise Austin
Boosting your fruit and vegetable intake right away may actually help you quit smoking! An interesting study from Duke University found that fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, and non-caffeinated drinks like water and juice made cigarettes taste worse to smokers, while caffeine, alcohol, and meat tended to make them taste better. So eating plenty of fruits and veggies and drinking lots of water may help you in your efforts to quit.

Don't wait for tomorrow to stop smoking. Quit right now - I know you can do it! It will be worth it, I promise!

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Commonly Craved Foods

Potato Chips

Commonly Craved Foods in the United States

• Chicken wings
• Cheeseburger
• Chocolate
• Hamburger
• Ice cream
• Peanut butter
• Pickles
• Pies
• Pizza
• Potato chips
• Pretzels
• Soft drinks

Got a Craving? Forget Moderation!

Got a Craving? Forget Moderation!

Chocolate

Just a tiny taste of a treat and you’ll be able to put the craving out of your head for good, right?

Nope. Leave the ice cream carton in the freezer. Put the bag of mini chocolates down. Don’t even look at them. In a study, just one taste of a treat triggered more indulgences a mere 25 minutes later.

Read more at RealAge.com

Chew More, Weigh Less?

Smoked almonds

Next time you grab a handful of nuts to snack on, count to 40.

A recent study revealed that when people ate a small serving of almonds, 40 chews quelled hunger better than 10 or even 25 crunches of the same amount of nuts.

Read more at RealAge.com

The Sugar That Staves Off Hunger

Grain products: rich sources of complex and simple carbohydrates

Sugar is sugar, right? Maybe not. Turns out that there is one type of sweetener that helps fill you up, while another leaves you craving more.

The two sugars in question: glucose and fructose. Glucose appears to quell hunger, and fructose seems to ramp it up.

The sugars may affect your appetite differently because of the unique ways in which they affect malonyl-CoA, an important appetite-suppressing molecule in the brain.

Most dietary carbohydrates contain glucose. Foods high in carbohydrates include breads, pastas, beans, potatoes, bran, rice and cereals. The primary food sources of fructose are fruits, vegetables, and honey.

Read more at Realage.com

Put Your Thirst First!

by Denise Austin
Who doesn't love sugary drinks? I definitely do! Soft drinks, sweetened coffee drinks, and some fruit juices might not seem like much when you're drinking them, but they can add hundreds of calories to your diet — and your waistline! The diet versions are a little better, but only a little. They're still crammed with sodium and chemicals. Their sweet taste can even trigger cravings for other sweets!
Remember that you can have a can of soda or your favorite latte! Just be sure to consider these drinks as treats and not an everyday part of your eating plan. To quench your thirst, try herbal tea, seltzer flavored with lemon or lime, or the most sensible drink of all — refreshing water!