Boost your health in almost no time

What if you could cut your risk of heart disease, get fitter, and slow aging - not to mention protect your smile? Better health does take time, but not as much as you may think. Yes, you should exercise 30 minutes a day and sleep seven to eight hours a night. But top experts in nutrition, cardiovascular health, and cancer prevention know the super-simple, amazingly fast steps you can take to dramatically improve your well being. So take a minute or so ... and boost your health in almost no time flat.



Fight cancer

Eat the peel. The bulk of an apple's benefit lies in its skin. In a recent lab experiment, more than a dozen chemicals in the peels of red apples inhibited the growth of breast, liver, and colon cancer cells.

Take the right supplements. Getting enough vitamin D and calcium brings a remarkable reduction in cancer risk, found a recent four year study at Creighton University: Women who took the combo reduced their overall risk by up to 77 percent. "Vitamin D enhances your body's immune response - which is the first line of defence against cancer," says lead researcher Joan Lappe, PhD, RN, a professor of nursing and medicine.



Slow aging

Sniff some lavender or rosemary. The scent of lavender can bring you a restful night's sleep - but the plant can do you a world of good in daylight, too. In a recent study, volunteers sniffed the essential oils of lavender or rosemary for five minutes. Result: Levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva dropped as much as 24 percent. That's good, because the hormone increases blood pressure and suppresses the immune system. What's more, people who smelled low concentrations of lavender or high concentrations of rosemary were better at getting rid of free radicals, the pesky molecules believed to speed aging and disease.



Cut cholesterol

Sprinkle pistachios on your salad. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University recently gave volunteers a pleasant task of eatingone a half ounces (about a handful) of pistachios every day. At the end of four weeks, those who munched the nuts reduced their total cholesterol by an average of almost seven percent. That reduction has a major payoff: Cutting your total cholesterol by about seven percent reduces your heart disease risk by 14 percent. "Pistachios are one of the best sources of plant sterols, compounds we know reduce absorption of cholesterol," says researcher Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, who led the study.