• Have less heart disease
• Have lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides
• Be leaner
• Suffer fewer gallstones

1. Caffeine can act as a stimulant and a depressant.   How much caffeine it takes to perk up the brain and how much depresses it varies considerably from person to person.
2. The caffeine effect can be addictive.  As with any drug, the body habituates to caffeine, meaning it takes higher and higher doses to achieve the desired effect.  This is why it’s important to take “caffeine holidays.”
3. Caffeine can be hard on the heart.  There is conflicting research on whether caffeine is heart-healthy or heart-harmful.  My advice is to follow the science of common sense: Caffeine increases the blood level of the stress hormone adrenaline, which speeds up not only brain activity but also heart rate and can raise blood pressure.  Any drug that increases the circulating levels of stress hormones can’t be good for the brain or the body.  So go easy.
4. Caffeine can bother the bones and upset the tummy.  For some people, excess caffeine can cause excessive excretion of calcium in the urine.  Also, because caffeine can increase stomach acid secretion, prime-timers who already suffer from reflux or heartburn should limit caffeine or at least sip their coffee or tea slowly and not on an empty stomach.

Also, hopping out of bed in the morning is a common cause of backs “going out.”  During prolonged sleep, your lumbar disks swell, making them prone to injury from sudden torques.  Avoid sudden twisting.  Instead, roll over on your side, use your hands to push your upper body up into a sitting position, place your feet on the floor, and then stand.  Slinging your feet over the side of the bed torques the back – ouch!  Follow a similar back-friendly procedure when getting into and out of a car.  When getting into a car, ease yourself into the seat backside first.  When exiting a car, open the door, turn your whole body to plant your feet on the ground, then hold on to the door for support as you slowly stand up.  Don’t twist as you enter or exit a vehicle.

•  Bend your knees slightly instead of locking them, which transfers some of the weight to your thigh muscles from the knee and back joints.

• Tilt hips and pelvis slightly forward, tucking in your buttocks.  This often requires tightening the buttock and abdominal muscles. This is in contrast to arching your back and letting your abdomen protrude when you stand.

To lessen the strain on your back, stand with your hips flexed by placing one foot on a stool or step. This will keep your lower back from sliding forward when you have to stand for any length of time.

Both.  Walking and other movements associated with golf help keep you lean, which decreases the wear and tear on all the weight-bearing joints.  Yet, if you do play golf you need to be particularly diligent in following this whole knee-health program as outlined in my book Prime-Time Health.  Walking downhill is hard on the knees.  The sudden torque or twisting toward the end of a golf swing can do a number on the knees, particularly the left knee for a right-handed golfer.  That’s how Tiger Woods injured his left knee; he needed a surgical repair and missed six months on tour.  The cleats on golf shoes can contribute to meniscus injuries by anchoring the lower leg and preventing it from moving with the knees, causing a twisting tear.

If you are an avid golfer, especially if you already have knee issues, consult a golf pro.  Have a video analysis of your swing done and learn how to modify your technique to take some of the final torque off your forward knee.

A recent finding showing that women with depression tended to have lower bone densities called attention to the stress/bone loss relationship. Depression decreases bone-strengthening hormones. Anxiety increases the stress hormone cortisol, which increases calcium loss in the urine.  Factor in the general poor nutrition and inactivity that often accompanies prolonged depression, and you have a recipe for weaker bones.  Relaxation and meditation lower stress hormones and increase the growth hormone DHEA-S, dubbed the “youth hormone.”

• The American woman’s obsession with thinness often leads to an inadequate, bone-robbing diet.  Losing too much weight too fast and having insufficient body fat can cause bone loss.
• Nutritional surveys have shown that compared to those of men, the diets of older women are more likely to be lower in calcium.  For example, one survey found that one-half of American women over fifty consume less than 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day, the recommended daily allowance of calcium in women that age.
• Strong muscles build strong bones to support them.  The fact that most women spend less time than men do on strength-building exercises may account for their weaker bones.

One of the best food sources for improving bone health is Wild sockeye salmon. Wild sockeye salmon contains nearly 1,200 units of vitamin D per six-ounce serving, as well as being the richest source of bone-building omega-3 fats.  Other kinds of seafood contain less, but seafood is still your best dietary source of vitamin D.  Seafood also contains calcium and many other bone-building vitamins and minerals.  Nori, a dried seafood vegetable used to wrap sushi, is also rich in bone-building nutrients, such as vitamin K.  Dr. Sears’ top choice for delicious and nutritious seafood: www.vitalchoice.com

The sticky stuff that collects along the gum line can trigger sticky stuff, inflammation, in your blood vessels.  The pockets of bacteria that get trapped beneath the gums work their way into the bloodstream and settle in other tissues, setting up inflammation.  A fascinating study of how those gum bugs can harm the heart prompted me to step up my flossing.  Researchers studied plaque from patients who had undergone vascular surgery to scrape out their clogged arteries and found that it contained the same bacteria that were scraped out of their gum pockets.