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In a study, poeple who took multivitamins with antioxidants for three weeks were able to pedal at the same pace with less effort than those who look placebo. , says Angela Mastaloudis, Ph.D., an antioxidants specialist. You can get your daily dose from just two cups of fruit and two and half cups of veggies.
Dreal the ‘mill? Hop on the elliptical instead. Subjects in a recent study burned
the same amount of calories on both machines – about 160 in a 15-minute
workout (that’s 640 an hour). The elliptical may feel easier, but that’s because
most people lean on the handrails, which takes the load off your legs so you
don’t have to work as hard, explains study coauthor Gregory Brown, Ph. D. of the
University of Nebraska at Kearney. Ditch the rails (or use them only for balance)
and pump your arms as if you were running. Grab a pair of 3-lb. dumbbells for
an added challenge.
The red-wine compound that’s famous for protecting the heart may also shrink
your waist. An animal study found that taking a daily supplement led to a 13
percent decrease in calorie consumption and a 29 percent increase in resting
metabolic rate.
Carrying extra weight in your belly increases your risk of heart disease and
cancer, but packing it on your hips may be a different kind of health trap. A
study of nearly 9,000 overweight women found that those who were pear-
shaped performed worse on memory tests than their apple-shaped counterparts.
“Subcutaneous fat, the type that accumulates in the hips, produces high levels
of hormones that may affect the brain,” says lead study author Diana Kerwin,
M.D. of Northwestern University. Body shape is genetic, but keeping the pounds
at bay can help. The study found no relationship between waist size and
brainpower among healthy-weight women.
