HEALTH NOW
BODY AND MIND
Mental wellbeing and physical activity are closely linked, and Finnish researchers say that the type of exercise you choose can confer unique benefits. Researchers gathered data from 303 adults – when they were 42 and again when they were 50 – as part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, and found that walking was related to emotional wellbeing, going for a ramble in nature benefitted social wellbeing and endurance training boosted how participants rated their own health. Plus, researchers also found that those adults with higher mental wellbeing when they were 42 were more likely to be active at age 50, compared to those who had lower scores in mental wellbeing.
RHAPSODY IN BLUE
Blueberries may be good for the heart. A six-month study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, recruited 115 overweight and obese adults, who had a high risk of cardiovascular disease. The double-blind trial had one-third of the group consume one cup of freeze-dried blueberries a day, the other third a half-cup, and the rest had a placebo. All in all, researchers found that a cup of blueberries a day reduced the risk of a cardiovascular event by 13 percent and lowered the risk of coronary heart disease by up to 14.5 percent.
BLOOMING LOVELY
A beautiful bouquet may benefit our wellbeing. The American Society for Horticultural Science split 90 patients, who were recovering from an appendectomy, into rooms that
