6 Easy Ways to Extend Your Life in One Minute or Less.

[TampaYankee]

6 Easy Ways to Extend Your Life in One Minute or Less.

by Oprah.com , on Tue Sep 6, 2011

By Dr .Mehmet Oz

If your reason for not adopting healthier habits is that you don't have enough time, consider your problem solved: I've put together a list of practices that could literally add years to your life, and each one can be done in 60 seconds or less.

Get Up Every Hour

A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology discovered that people who sat for four or more hours a day outside work had

a 50 percent greater risk of dying from any cause than those who sat less than two hours a day. I recommend taking a minute-long walk at least once an hour. Every step counts toward the 10,000 you should be taking every day.

Eat an Egg

This nutritional powerhouse does a body good: One egg provides 13 percent of your daily protein requirement and only 4 percent of the average recommended daily calorie count. Plus, it contains a hefty dose of lutein, an antioxidant that protects your eyes from macular degeneration and UV damage. An egg a day may even help prevent Alzheimer's: The yolk is a significant source of choline, a nutrient that reduces inflammation in the brain.

Take Chromium

Research shows that the trace mineral helps maintain proper blood sugar levels by increasing cells' sensitivity to insulin, steeling your body against type II diabetes. Swallow 200 micrograms a day of chromium polynicotinate.

Don't Forget to Floss

When left to their own devices, the bacteria hiding between your teeth will infect your gums and enter your bloodstream, where they can cause inflammation in your arteries and contribute to plaque buildup on blood vessel walls. Recent studies have linked gum disease to other problems, too, ranging from respiratory infections to neurodegeneration.

Check Your Pulse

Before you get out of bed in the morning, press your index and middle fingers against the inside of your wrist below your thumb and count the beats for 30 seconds. Then double that number. A 2010 study found that compared with a normal resting rate of 60 beats per minute, a rate of 90 or above triples a woman's risk of dying from heart disease. If your heart rate is high, consider adding more omega-3 fatty acids to your diet.

Do Self-Massage

Stress damages every organ in your body. For quick relief, press your thumbs against the sides of your nose just below your browbone; then walk your index and middle fingers across your brows and finish by lightly rubbing your temples. Massage prompts a drop in cortisol and adrenaline and a surge in feel-good endorphins.

See original article for other related links:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/6-easy-ways-to-extend-your-life-in-one-minute-or-less-2543283/

[MsGuy]

Get Up Every Hour

I recommend taking a minute-long walk at least once an hour.

I don't see the point of this one. My back often wakes me up every hour or so all night long but damned if I feel any better the next day.

Do Self-Massage

Stress damages every organ in your body. For quick relief, press your thumbs against the sides of your nose just below your browbone; then walk your index and middle fingers across your brows and finish by lightly rubbing your temples. Massage prompts a drop in cortisol and adrenaline and a surge in feel-good endorphins.

Now this is one I can endorse. I've been massaging my organ regularly since I was 12 and I can testify that it generates all kinds of feel-good endorphins. I didn't know about that nose-brow-temples move though. I'll add it to my routine and report back.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Hmm I would suggest giving the face massage first then move onto the next one.

I don't see the point of this one. My back often wakes me up every hour or so all night long but damned if I feel any better the next day.

Now this is one I can endorse. I've been massaging my organ regularly since I was 12 and I can testify that it generates all kinds of feel-good endorphins. I didn't know about that nose-brow-temples move though. I'll add it to my routine and report back.

[TampaYankee]

I don't see the point of this one. My back often wakes me up every hour or so all night long but damned if I feel any better the next day.

I suspect it has to do primarily with blood circulation in the lower extremities and secondarily to overall circulation. THe potential for blood clots increases with extended periods of inactivity. Between gravity and the distance from the heart blood easily pools in the legs.

Overall circulation is enhanced too for the same reasons as running accomplishes. The benefit is smaller and there is little cardio/wind benefit but I guess they claim that much smaller exercise investment has real benefit.

[MsGuy]

I suspect it has to do primarily with blood circulation in the lower extremities and secondarily to overall circulation. THe potential for blood clots increases with extended periods of inactivity. Between gravity and the distance from the heart blood easily pools in the legs.

Overall circulation is enhanced too for the same reasons as running accomplishes. The benefit is smaller and there is little cardio/wind benefit but I guess they claim that much smaller exercise investment has real benefit.

Yada yada yada...All I know is that when my back gets me up 6 or 8 times a night, I'm gonna feel like shit the next day. How does your theory explain that?

[TampaYankee]

Yada yada yada...All I know is that when my back gets me up 6 or 8 times a night, I'm gonna feel like shit the next day. How does your theory explain that?

No more so than why an electric prod up your ass would cause you distress too. Apples and oranges. The article was about extending life, not quality of life.

[MsGuy]

Apples and oranges. The article was about extending life, not quality of life.

Oh!

Boy do I feel dumb...

[Lucky]

"Check Your Pulse

Before you get out of bed in the morning, press your index and middle fingers against the inside of your wrist below your thumb and count the beats for 30 seconds."

Haha. If I get up in the morning, I know I have a pulse.

[TampaYankee]

An added tip, one of my own. My doc says take a baby aspirin every day. It is a fact that most heart attacks occur in the morning related to blood platelets 'thickening up' over night, so I have read many times in many articles. I take the aspirin at bedtime in the hopes I won't wake up dead.