Health

For many people, growing older can be accompanied by the slow deterioration of your ability to swallow. Whether from disease, dementia or some sudden trauma, losing the ability to swallow foods and liquids can threaten your health and even your life. More than 6 million seniors are thought to suffer…

We’re always trying to include healthy additions to our diet, and if they can help control hunger and food cravings? All the better. Turns out walnuts may fall into this category. New research published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism sheds light on why eating walnuts may not only be healthy but…

Speaking of centenarians, the concern for many of us is do we really want to live a very long life if our activity is limited due to disease or illness? In essence, isn’t quality of life as important as quantity of life? Researchers looking at the process of aging are…

Psychologist Susan Pinker’s recent book, The Village Effect, marshals original field research with psychological theories and evidence to arrive at a singular conclusion: Face-to-face social interactions are probably the most determinative factors in whether you live a long life. Pinker, a journalist and developmental psychologist, has explored the reasons that…

As we age, many of us feel the effects of cognitive changes in our brains: we may struggle to remember a name, forget where we put our glasses or perhaps get more rigid in our thinking. All of us could use a little more focus and flexibility, and for some, mindfulness…

If you can satisfy your chocolate craving and improve your cognitive functioning, wouldn’t you like to know that? Well, according to Harvard physician Robert Shmerling, there is some, but not conclusive, evidence that this may be so. Dark chocolate and cocoa contain flavanols, plant-based substances that act as anti-inflammatories and…