Health & Wellness

A power nap, a cat nap, an afternoon snooze. Whatever you call it, the concept of a nap is nothing new. But is a quick bit of shut-eye good for you? And when and how often should you take one? For National Napping Day, which we are very happy to celebrate on March 11, we talked to the experts to find out how you can set yourself up for sleepytime success.

Is it healthy to nap?

The answer depends on the person, say experts. Marjorie Ellen Soltis, a neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at Duke Health, does not consider napping every day to always be normal.

She says people who are regularly napping during the day should think about why that might be, adding they may not be getting adequate sleep at night.

Another potential reason for needing to nap all of a sudden: underlying health issues, says Sara C. Mednick, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine.

But, says Mednick, as long as there are not underlying health issues, a nap during the day can actually be beneficial – a way to counteract the weakening of circadian rhythms that often occurs as we age.

Mednick supports a midday nap routine as a “great way to consolidate the sleepiness into one concentrated good snooze, rather than nodding off throughout the day.”

If all this talk of napping is making you want to curl up on the sofa under a warm blanket, here are tips from the experts on how to get the best and healthiest nap.

1. Personalize your nap space

Not all nappers are the same, says Soltis, so first and foremost, you need to listen to your body.

“I think sleep, in general, is the biggest victim of everybody saying here’s exactly what you need to do and how, when realistically, everyone’s a little bit different,” Soltis says.

“Some people, like Winston Churchill, need to take off all their clothes and go back to bed, while others are happy with a head-on-the-desk snooze,” Mednick says.

To read about more tips to take a restful nap and feel refreshed, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

Want to lower your blood pressure? A new study pinpoints exactly what kind of exercise is best for easing blood pressure, and it doesn’t involve running on the treadmill or pumping iron at the gym.

Instead, the study reveals that static isometric exercises like wall sits (also known as wall squats) and planks — which engage muscles without movement — are best for lowering blood pressure.

The new analysis, a systematic review of 270 studies, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM), confirms that many types of exercise — including aerobic activity, weight training and high-intensity interval training – help to lower blood pressure, but it found that isometric exercises offer the biggest benefit.

Of the exercises examined, the wall sit was the most effective, the study found.

It’s long been known that physical activity has blood pressure benefits, but the review is important because doctors often recommend heart-healthy activities like walking, running and cycling as their top choices for patients with hypertension.

But isometric exercises are almost twice as effective at lowering blood pressure compared with just doing cardio, the study shows. Study author Jamie O’Driscoll, a researcher in cardiovascular physiology at Christ Canterbury Church University, says he and his colleagues launched the BJSM review because they have seen the blood pressure benefits of isometric exercise firsthand, and they wanted “to draw together the evidence for the wider audience”

“These findings provide a comprehensive data-driven framework to support the development of new exercise guideline recommendations for the prevention and treatment of arterial hypertension,” he and his coauthors wrote in the review.

To learn more about static isometric exercises, and how they are best for your blood pressure, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

Everyone has stomach issues from time to time, and occasional digestive discomfort is not usually something to worry about. That said, doctors note that there are a few gastrointestinal symptoms you shouldn’t write off, because they could signal something serious.

“I’ve seen many cases where patients have waited way too long before seeking medical attention,” says Christine Lee, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

Here are 10 symptoms you should never ignore and what they may mean.

1. Prolonged diarrhea

Diarrhea can be a symptom of a number of things — from a food allergy to a bacterial infection. It can also be a warning sign of COVID-19, appearing before more well-known symptoms such as cough or fever, says Brennan Spiegel, M.D., director of health services research for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Studies show that as many as half of COVID-19 patients have gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and about 15 to 20 percent have only GI symptoms. Diarrhea is the most frequently reported GI symptom, followed by nausea/vomiting and abdominal pain.

If you have diarrhea, nausea/vomiting or abdominal pain that lasts more than a day, “don’t wait for a cough or shortness of breath to get tested for COVID,” Spiegel says. If your test is positive, you could be eligible for highly effective antiviral treatments that can help keep mild symptoms from progressing to more serious ones. New research shows these treatments may also lower a person’s risk for developing long COVID.

If it’s not COVID-19, prolonged diarrhea could signal another type of infection or an underlying condition like ulcerative colitis or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

2. Blood in your stool

Whether bright red, maroon or black, seeing blood in the toilet can be frightening. Fortunately, it’s usually not a symptom of anything life-threatening, says Nicholas E. Anthony, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. The most common causes are hemorrhoids and anal fissures (tears in the lining of the anus). But blood in your stool can also be one of the first symptoms of colon cancer, especially if accompanied by a change in your bowel habits or the shape of your stool. Since colon cancer is more common among those over age 50, it’s especially important for older adults to see a doctor without delay. Other possible causes of bleeding are colon polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis and diverticulosis.

To read about eight other symptoms of abdominal disease you shouldn’t ignore, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

There’s more to healthy bones than calcium-rich milk, although we all know that both milk and foods rich in vitamin D are good for your bones.

Bone is living tissue that constantly rebuilds and repairs itself. Alas, after age 50, bones start to lose density and strength and become porous, which leads to a bone disease called osteoporosis that increases the risk of broken bones. Chances of developing osteoporosis are greater if you’re a woman; however, men also risk developing it, especially after age 70.

To keep bones strong, we need two nutrients in particular — calcium and vitamin D. Our bodies cannot make calcium, so eating calcium-rich foods is vital. Vitamin D, for its part, helps the body absorb calcium from food and seems to help protect older adults against osteoporosis.

Some people don’t have the taste or tolerance for dairy, but a variety of foods can help boost bone health. Although few foods have the calcium levels of dairy, if you combine several of those listed below, you can get a full day’s worth. And other nutrients — such as potassium and vitamin C — are important to keeping bones strong, as we explain below. Here are eight foods to incorporate into your diet that can help keep your bones healthy.

Dried figs

These chewy delights are a good source of both calcium and potassium, minerals that work together to help prevent osteoporosis. Dried figs contain healthy plant-based nutrients (phytochemicals) as well as chemicals that can help prevent cell damage (antioxidants). An added plus, according to Christopher Gardner, professor of medicine at Stanford University, is that dried figs are delectably sweet and provide a super-easy snack. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for six to 12 months.

Quick tip: Cut the figs into chunks (discard the hard stem) and combine them with other dried fruits and nuts for a customized trail mix.

Serving size: 60 grams (about 2 ounces)

Calcium content: 96 mg

To read about seven other foods that can improve your bone health, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

A doctor explains why the right amount of healthy fats is good for you

If you’re like many of my patients, you’re probably trying to figure out how to eat healthy, manage your weight and ward off diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Good for you! An ounce of prevention and a healthy lifestyle are always the best bet. But I’d like to shed light on a topic that tends to cause some confusion, and that is the question of “healthy fats.”

My patients often want to know: What are “good” fats? What’s the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat? Which foods should I eat or not eat because they’re high in fat? Perhaps the following is the question I’m most often asked:

Does eating fat make you fat?

The answer is no. Fats play an important role in our diet, and our bodies need them to function properly. But we need to consume fats the right way. We gain weight if we consume more calories than we burn, and it doesn’t really matter where those calories come from. Having said that, we need to keep in mind that fat contains more calories per gram than any other macronutrient. That means that if your body needs 2,000 calories per day to remain at the same weight and you consume 2,000 calories of fat — say, by eating nothing but bacon — you won’t gain weight, but that doesn’t mean you’re eating healthy.

It’s important to maintain a balanced diet, especially as we age. Studies show that Americans 65 and older are not eating as well as they used to. One study, as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found that the percentage of older people eating a poor-quality diet rose from 51 percent in 2001 to 61 percent in 2018.

We know that a diet lacking in essential nutrients can lead to chronic disease, disability or even death in older people, and fat is one of these nutrients.

What percentage of your daily diet should come from fat?

To maintain a healthy diet, adults should get 20 percent to 35 percent of their daily caloric intake from fats. Fats are a nutrient that the body needs to absorb vitamins A, D and E, which keep our bones strong and our organs and immune system working properly. But not all fats are created equal.

To learn about the different types of fats, and why we need good fats in our diet, from AARP, CLICK HERE.