Hot Chocolate Can Prevent Dementia

A recent study of a group of individuals over the age of 70 has suggested that drinking two cups of hot chocolate each day may improve your brain's memory skills. The Harvard Medical School study showed that drinking two cups of hot chocolate for thirty days resulted in improved blood flow to the brain. The participants in the study showed an average increase in blood flow of about 8 percent by the end of the study. This translated to a substantial decrease in the time necessary for the individuals to perform certain memory tests from an average of 167 seconds to 116 seconds.

While the researchers and others who have seen the research have cautioned that the results of the study are still preliminary and that further research is necessary involving control groups, it seems to me drinking a couple of cups of hot chocolate a day may well worth doing. Who knows, maybe those cups may help you find those keys or eyeglasses you are misplacing or maybe even help you to  avoid dementia or the mental decline everyone is worried about as they age. Let me know what you think.

The study was performed by Dr. Farzaneh Sorond, an assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School.  For a more complete discussion of this study and comments from the Alzheimer's Association, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2386257/Drinking-hot-chocolate-prevent-ALZHEIMERS-boosting-blood-flow-brain.html

Best and Easiest Way to Lose Weight Without Dieting

I recently wrote about Interval Walking as a way to lose weight. http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/07/interval-walking-to-lose-weight.html My wife and I started the program just about two weeks ago. Since we started the program, we each have already lost about two pounds. Now, that may not sound like a lot, but a pound a week without following any special diet seems pretty good to me.

The program we have been following is to do the interval walking one day, followed by a day in which we try to walk for at least 45 minutes.  Depending on where we are walking (sometimes we walk on the high school track and others, on a "rails to trail"), we usually log about one and half to two miles, sometimes more.

We are obviously going to continue to follow this program and we will keep you posted. In addition, in a future post, I will explore some of the science behind the benefits of interval walking. For now, though, I think it is the best and easiest way to lose weight without dieting.

The Fly Creek Cider MIll and Orchard

The Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard is located just a few miles outside of Cooperstown, New York, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  If you are visiting the Hall of Fame or just enjoy good food, especially anything to do with apples, you will want to stop here if you are in the area.

Fly Creek is a combination of an old-time general store and miniature theme park.

 

 

The store features fine food products from the Cooperstown area. It was built in 1856 and its apple cider is renowned throughout the area.

Each year, it is said that over 100,000 people visit the mill . Inside the store are a variety of products, including, of course, apple cider, apple butter and just about anything made with apples. One surprise is the various types of apple wines that are available. These, like everything else in the store, are available for sampling. And believe me, you will certainly enjoy those!

Another treat available at the store is the New York cheddar cheese. It is smooth, sharp and extremely enjoyable by itself, with a glass of apple wine or on some of the delectable crackers available at the store.

Inside the store, you will also find on the second floor, the actual cider press that is still being used today to make the apple cider. Unlike most cider mills, the cider is not pasteurized but rather it is exposed to the sunlight to kill any bacteria.  It is supposed to make the cider taste better and it sure did to us.

Everything in the store can also be shipped to your house and you can also buy through a catalog.

If interested, the Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard is located at 288 Goose Street,

Fly Creek, NY 13337 and can be reached through its website, www.flycreekcidermill.com.

How to lose weight walking

I have written several times about the many health benefits of High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/04/high-intensity-interval-training.html For the most  part those have dealt with the use of a stationary bicycle and how you can increase your oxygen efficiency and decrease  your blood sugar and blood pressure by alternating periods of intense cycling with periods of rest or at a much slower pace.  What we have decided to do is to see if those same principles apply to interval walking. In addition several studies have shown that following a program of interval walking can result in significant weight loss over time.

We started a program today at our local high school track. We began walking at a fast pace for 440 yards followed by another 440 yards at a relaxed pace.  Most tracks are probably set up with lines on the track so it is fairly easy to measure the distance. The fast pace is about twice the usual walking speed.  We started with a mile and will build up to several miles in the next few weeks.
I have seen recommendations that this program be alternated with days of walking at a normal pace for 30 minutes. Some articles suggest that following this program can result in a weight loss of about a pound a week. We'll let you know if we find any success in this approach. Join Amazon Prime - Watch Over 40,000 Movies

How to Use Interval Training in the Office to Increase Productivity

In a prior post, http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-improve-productivity.html, I wrote about how you can improve your productivity at work.  In an article in yesterday's New York Times,  the author wrote about how he has integrated interval training in his office routine. "How Interval Training Can Make You Incredibly Efficient at Work."  Essentially, the article suggests that the way to accomplish your goal is to establish what he calls priority by ritual.

What he means by that is that each day at the office or at his work desk, he follows the same routine. For example, first thing every morning he addresses the most important things on his agenda for 90 minutes. He will then take a break. After the break, he performs another task for 90 minutes and so on throughout the day. The trick is to be able to follow the same routine day after day.

Sounds kind of boring to you?  It does to me also. But, if you do decide to give it a try, let me know if it works out for you.

How to Stop Time? (Well, almost)

Ever wonder if you could find a way to stop time?  Or at least make it slow down? Remember when you were a kid and the summer days seemed to last forever?  And the summer itself seemed endless.
As we grow older, time just seems to speed up.  Days seem shorter and months, well, just try to slow those down. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be just about a week. Is there a way to slow down time?  This Sunday's New York Times contained an interesting and provocative article that proposes a way to do just that.

In the article entitled, "Fast Time and the Aging Mind," nytimes.com, the author, Richard A. Friedman, suggests that one way to slow time is to become a student again. In other words, he says we should try to learn something new, whether how to play the piano, dance or learning a new language. How does this slow time?  He contends that when we were kids, learning to ride a bike or play a new game, took a while before it became as he says "encode[d] ... in your memory." He suggests that may be why time much slower back then. He thinks there is no reason that same process should not work for adults.

Intriguing, don't you think?  I know I am going to give it a try.  Now if I can just find my old high school French language tapes, I'll be all set.

Can't Break a Bad Habit? Replace It!

Today's Huffington Post has a neat article on how you can break a bad habit such as smoking, overeating, or watching an inordinate amount of television. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/breaking-habits_b_3540148.html?ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul The answer is really quite simple: if you want to break a bad habit, all you need to do is to replace it with a good habit. Sound too easy?  Try it and you might be surprised.

The technique involves using your mind to essentially trick itself and your body by replacing a habit you want to lose with one you want to gain. Say you want to quit smoking. Many smokers automatically light up after finishing a cup of coffee or when they get in the car, saying it relaxes them. What if instead of lighting up that expensive tobacco, the smoker decides to meditate or just count their breaths in a form of mindfulness. Simpler yet, the smoker can chew gum instead of lighting up.  It may take a few days to have the new habit settle in, but it does work.

The other thing to remember is that just because you go back to  your old habit for a day or so, does not mean you have failed. Just get back into the new habit and forget about that failure. There is a famous quote from the 19th century Transcendentalist. Ralph Waldo Emerson, that I keep on my refrigerator and on my iPhone that is particularly relevant.  Let me know what you think:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”