Exercise + Alcohol = Good for Heart Health

Strength training provides health benefits that aerobic workouts can't

(NEWSER) - Pumping iron has long been known to improve strength and prevent injury, but evidence increasingly points to a wide range of other benefits, writes Judy Foreman in the Boston Globe. The findings—decreased heart disease and neck pain, improved metabolism and balance—are driving groups such as the American Heart Association to bump weight training to the forefront. More»

Exercise 12 hours before eating lessens spike in dangerous fats

(NEWSER) - The best time to walk off a gut-busting Thanksgiving dinner is at least 12 hours before you eat it, researchers say. Studies have found that light exercise, like a half-hour walk, done 12 to 16 hours before a big meal significantly reduces the post-meal spike in a type of fat called triglycerides, the Wall Street Journal reports. Triglycerides penetrate arterial walls easily and elevated levels of them have been linked to a much higher heart attack risk. More»

New study defies conventional wisdom, but experts not convinced

(NEWSER) - In a world with constantly changing nutritional guidelines (eggs are bad for you; no, they're good for you! ), one food has seemed to be consistently maligned: salt. But a new, and highly contested, study finds that low-salt diets do not prevent high blood pressure—and actually increase the risk of death from heart attack or stroke. But CDC officials, in a rare move, criticized the study as flawed: It's too small, used subjects that were too young, and contradicts a body of evidence showing that high sodium consumption is dangerous. Supporters, however, claim that other studies have found adverse effects from low-sodium diets. More»

South Beach Diet guru shares his secrets

(NEWSER) - Arthur Agatston, the cardiologist who cooked up the South Beach Diet, takes no medications and embraces a philosophy of moderation—he's not starving himself or downing dozens of vitamins. He clues Prevention magazine in on his advice for keeping your heart in tip-top shape:

• Eat four times a day: Three meals plus a snack—"a mozzarella stick, fruit, wasabi-coated soy nuts, other nuts, or a high-fiber bar"—but not much starch.

Expert calculates candidate's years in biological time

(NEWSER) - McCain may be 71.8 years old on paper, but his biological age is a youthful 63.7, according to the physician who wrote You: The Owner's Manual. Dr. Michael Roizen made the estimate based on McCain's recently-released medical records (though some details on the candidate's dietary and exercise habits were missing). Only kink? One year in the Oval Office ages its inhabitant 2 biological years. More»