“Diet affected tests of memory and thinking skills. A diet rich in vitamins and fish may protect the brain from ageing while junk food has the opposite effect, research suggests.

“Elderly people with high blood levels of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids had less brain shrinkage and better mental performance, a Neurology study found.

“Trans fats found in fast foods were linked to lower scores in tests and more shrinkage typical of Alzheimer’s.

“They found those who had more vitamin B, C, D and E in their blood performed better in tests of memory and thinking skills. People with high levels of omega 3 fatty acids – found mainly in fish – also had high scores. The poorest scores were found in people who had more trans fats in their blood. Trans fats are common in processed foods, including cakes, biscuits and fried foods.”

The article states, “Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program.” Here’s the brief list of benefits.

(1) Use it or lose it. Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age.
(2) It helps develop strong bones.
(3) Control your weight.
(4) Reduce your risk of injury.
(5) Boost your stamina. As you get stronger, you won’t fatigue as easily.
(6) Manage chronic conditions.
(7) Sharpen your focus.

When I was at office, some people introduced to me shoes like MBT, Ecco, and Clark. I have never cared about brand name shoe like that, as talks like this often remind me of the shoes that a Chinese friend’s daughter once bought. That girl spent over $100 on a pair of sandal when you can get one for less than $10 a pair and she was only a high school student! Even worse, her mother showed me two pairs of that.

But a few days ago when I was flipping through Discover magazine, I noticed the advertisement of Gravity Defyer Ballistic sneaker. The thing that attracts me is its claim, that is, it could “relieve your foot, ankle, knee, hip and lower back pain.”

Talk about all these pains during my morning walk when I have a full taste of them all! As an exception to my usual stinginess, I decided to treat myself well this time with a pair of pain-killer shoe. And they are on sale with free shipping.

The next morning, 10/19, I jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm rang because I was eager to put on my new shoes and run. That truly gave me a good start for the day. It seems I have got what I paid for, at least psychologically, if that counts.

I walked and ran for two miles without seeing a soul. In the evening around 6 pm when I took my daughter to bookstore, the store seemed empty.

After we got back home, I mentioned this to my daughter, “Why were there so few people at Barnes & Noble’s?” She was not sure why. I told her my early morning walk. “There were very few people because it was cold and people stay indoor as much as they can. That’s how winter fat is accumulated.”

Indeed, going outside in winter either for a walk or for bookstore seem to be an uncomfortable challenge to many people. That’s where a strong will power plays a key role.

From my own observations, the main explanation is their low socioeconomic status. There is a heavy overlapping of race and social class in that you find a heavy concentration of blacks in both prisons and among low social class. Very often, a person from poor background postpones seeking medical help when she feels lump in her breast. By the time she shows herself at a doctor’s door, her disease is very often at a late stage and she misses her survival chance.

Another health factor associated with social class is ignorance, that is lack of knowledge of healthy living leading to many avoidable diseases. Once again, the lower the social order, the less likely a person is aware of healthy living.

Alas, how dreadful it is to be poor and sick at the same time! Pick one instead. Better still, be wealthy and healthy!

A woman in her 40s died of lung cancer. Since her youthful years, she drank and smoked, becoming alcoholic with a long smoking history, plus suffering from anorexia.

When young people think they are invincible, they abuse their bodies to the maximum and have to pay a heavy price in later years. This reminds me of a Chinese saying–

Get rid of the bad habit, whatever that is, for those who love you and need you.

However, instead of making complaints, she told me, “Some men seem to get worse as they age, either in temper or in whatever bad habits they might have. One way to look at this problem is, they become sick as they age, either mentally or psychologically.”

I told my friend, “If you can see him as being sick, you will not take his words for real.” After all, who would fight with a sick person? Nowadays people attach great weight to being healthy. They are also aware that feeling good or being in good mood is very crucial to their health. Yet, without a positive, sunny and cheerful environment, it is hard to maintain a high spirit and to feel good and healthy.

Instead of waiting for others to create this environment for us, I told my friend, it is up to us to create and maintain a positive and wholesome environment for ourselves. Call this win-win deal.

People with apple shape tend to have abdominal fat, which may produce substances that contribute to inflammation throughout the body. This is linked to a higher risk of many kinds of disease. And, fat that collects around or near internal organs seems to pose a greater health risk than that which is just beneath the skin.

In general, you’re in risky territory if your waistline measures more than: 40 inches for a man, 35 inches for a woman. You have to figure out a way that work for you to shrink your waistline, if you are at high risk.

Yesterday marked the end of 8-week long weight-to-go class. See my posting on 9/16 and 9/17. By the end of the class, we were asked how many pounds we have lost during these eight weeks. The majority reported between one and four pounds. For all these efforts, that meager weight loss really doesn’t make a dent to that extra layer around the middle. So pathetic.

Don’t we already know that weight, like all bad habits, is easy to obtain but hard to get rid of? Now you get the message — make extra effort to avoid putting yourself in that situation in the first place.

Exercise traps or excuse:
(1) Would rather watch TV or surf the Internet
(2) Blame the weather, too hot or too cold
(3) “Don’t feel like it today”
(4) It is so boring…
(5) I am tired after a day’s work
(6) Prefer to sleep in instead of getting up early
(7) I got something better to do than this
(8) No time (number one excuse)
And many others… People can cheat themselves with numerous excuses and suffer from the consequence of these excuses.

Avoid the following types:
(1) Meal skipper
(2) Nighttime nibbler
(3) Convenient diner
(4) Fruitless feaster
(5) Steady snacker
(6) Hearty portioner
(7) Swing eater

Eating traps:
There are many circumstances that may lead people to eat more or make poor eating choices. Watch for these moments.
(1) Finishing leftovers, don’t want to waste
(2) Watching TV while eating
(3) Special cravings
(4) Forget to bring lunch
(5) Skipped breakfast
(6) In a hurry or too busy for a healthy cooking
(7) The junk food is just over there
(8) Eating buffets
(9) Work through a meal
(10) Holiday season
(11) It is a party
(12) Need to reward myself with some comfort food
(13) Have not planned meals
(14) Eating while cooking
(15) Eating with a friend

Against the advice given by the article, I believe the best strategy is to retire as early as possible, without having to stress out and burn away your life for that meager 30%.

Here’s a simple math: on the one side of equation is stay on till full retirement age + a high probability of poor health with a huge medical bills + 30% retirement benefit; on the other side is early retirement + time to take care of your body with a small medical bill – 30% retirement benefit. See how little that 30% counts?

When you have more time to take care of your dear body, you can have a better chance of living up to 100 and going strong from there. Plus, you can use a small percent of your early retirement benefit to invest and make more money. If your return is greater than 30%, hey, you beat Uncle Sam more than once, while having a good time!

All this is made possible by your total savings. If you are short on savings, too bad you have no choice but to toil till you drop. How dreadful to be poor!

The first crucial issue is the time of retirement. The article advices people to stay on their positions till full retirement age, 67 or 70, whichever the government defines, instead of the earliest possible age, that is 62. The argument goes like this. If you start getting social security benefit at the earliest possible age, you only receive 70% of what you would get monthly if you were to stay till full retirement age. You will suffer a “permanent reduction” of your monthly social security benefit for the so-called early retirement.

The argument makes sense if you could live long enough to enjoy the full benefit. This is the key, which, sadly to say, no one can guarantee. When I look at our chemotherapy infusion room, with people in their 60s and 70s and their quality of life, I have no doubt that they would rather retire early and be able to enjoy what little life has left for them, however reduced is their benefit.
To be continued…

In all kinds of competitions, physical or mental, all other things being equal, victory belongs to he/she who possess extraordinary physical strength. Call it excellent physical condition, prowess, the stamina to go the farthest, the endurance to endure whatever comes, the energy to last the longest.

Hence, keep fit, no matter how busy you are at your work. After all, nothing comes from nothing. Everything comes from a good health, to say the least.

On the evening of 8/15, the day before I read this article, I talked to my son over the phone. Now that he is an MIT alumnus, he should start donating to MIT. He doesn’t have to be a big donor at first. A dollar per day and keep the ball rolling. Just like this 15-minute-per-day exercise, the benefit of this good deed will be immense and immeasurable in the long run.

(1) Reduces the risk of glioma
(2) Preserve even restore working memory, reduce cognitive decline among senior population
(3) Prevent pain feeling
(4) Boost mood

Hence, sip some coffee occasionally, even if it is bitter and not as good as your favorite tea.

A research carried out at the University of Pittsburgh found the correlation of walking speed in people 65 or older with expected longevity.

The faster an older person can walk, the longer they can expect to live and, according to the researchers, walking with some pep in your step appears to be a better predictor of who survives than simply looking at someone’s age and sex. Scientists consider how quickly a person walks, when correlated with age and sex, a reflection of their underlying health.

“In fact, speed of movement seems to be linear, with each increase correlating with an increased prediction for years of life,” said the lead researcher Dr. Stephanie Studenski.

On the way to Costco yesterday morning, I asked my daughter, “Do you think the boy was ignorant of the danger of working under excessive heat? That is, did he die of ignorance?”

She has a different view, which I think makes sense. She said, most probably the boy knew it, but he must think heat only hit senior population. He was young and invincible. What a dangerous thought!

I thought of one of my daughter’s classmates. That girl lost both of her parents when she was 5 years old, one died of cancer, the other of heart attack, both gone young, leaving their children to the grandparents.

When he was home in the summer of 2009, he wrote a healthy menu for himself. It has been hanging on the refrigerator door since then. The menu lists like this.

Breakfast: wheat bread/oats
Lunch: chicken and salad
Supper: no bread, no rice (what else ?)
Evening snack: almond/nuts/fruits/vegetable

Now that he has taken this relatively long-term job and enjoyed his carefree bachelor life, far away from home, I wish he can follow his healthy menu at least three times per week.
Good luck on all his efforts.