Issue Date: June 18, 2006
How's your heart rate?
Heart rate training can mean the difference between an effective workout and an exercise in futility.
THE STEP TEST
Three minutes on a step will give you your maximum heart rate -- the info you need to work out effectively.
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"The '220 minus your age' formula [for determining your ideal heart rate] is worthless," says Sally Edwards, author of "The Heart Rate Monitor Guidebook" (Heart Zones Co., $24.95). "People use this inaccurate method, don't get results and get frustrated."
Instead, she says, use a heart rate monitor and figure out your maximum heart rate with a more effective measure: the Sub-Max Step Test.
To perform the test: Step up and down on an 8-inch step for three minutes without pausing. Check your heart rate during the third minute. Then, add to that the "estimate factor" for your fitness level: poor shape=55; average=65; excellent=75. The total is your estimated maximum heart rate.
To burn fat: For most beginners, the maximum fat-burning zone is 70% to 80% of their maximum heart rate. As you get fitter, you'll have to work harder to get to your maximum zone, but it's best not to go over 90%.
For more information on heart rate training, visit heartzones.com.
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Super foods for eyes
Sure, there's some truth to the folk tale that munching carrots improves eyes: Carrots have protective antioxidants. But exciting new research finds you're better off going for the antioxidants in spinach and the oil in tuna or salmon to save your eyes.
The newest ways to Fight ...
Dry eye syndrome. About 20% of Americans have "gritty" eyes, or a burning or itching that can lead to vision loss. But eating lots of the anti-inflammatory omega-3 oil in fish cut dry-eye risk 17% in a Harvard study. Women who ate tuna at least five times a week cut the risk 68%. (Salmon is apt to do the same.) Dry eye syndrome was 2.5 times more common in women who ate the least omega-3 and the most omega-6 (margarines, processed foods).
Sun damage. It can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration and vision loss. In Ohio State University test-tube research, lens cell damage dropped 50% to 60% by adding the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin (found in spinach).
Cataracts. Harvard research finds that women who eat the most fruits and vegetables are 10% to 15% less likely to develop cataracts. Vitamin C may be potent; in Italian research, high blood levels cut cataract odds 46% to 63%. Eating lots of omega-3, as in salmon, lowers risk 12%, a Tufts University study of women says.
Macular degeneration. Sugar, white bread and other high-glycemic foods that spike blood sugar may promote this cause of blindness in older people, Tufts research finds. Women who ate the most of such foods were nearly three times more apt to develop macular degeneration than those who ate the least.
Scientific sources for this article:
Dry eye syndrome
Biljana Miljanovic, Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82:887-93
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Sun damage
Chitchumroonchokchai C, J Nutr. 2004 Dec;134(12):3225-32
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Cataracts
Christen WG, Am J Clin Nutr 2005 Jun;81(6): 1417-22
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Ferrigno L. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2005 Apr; 12(2): 71-80.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Lu M, Am J Epidemiol 2005 May 15; 161(10): 948-59.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Macular degeneration
Chung-Jung Chiu, Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Apr; 83:880-6
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Contact Jean Carper online at stopagingnow.com.
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Father's Day alert: Dads, daughters need you
This Father's Day, take time to boost the dad-daughter bond. A British study of nearly 3,000 kids found that a father's interest in his child's education at age 10 predicted a daughter's -- but, surprisingly, not a son's -- achievement at 26. The more interested Dad was, the likelier his daughter was to be an educated adult.
Sadly, a recent poll of U.S. dads found two out of three think their relationships with their girls make little difference. "Nothing could be further from the truth," says Joe Kelly, president of Dads & Daughters, an advocacy group that co-sponsored the poll. To strengthen the bond, Dad should share his daughter's passions, show interest in her interests (e.g., volunteer at her extracurricular activities) and model a positive attitude toward work.
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Home equity rates are soaring. Want out?
Rising interest rates are bad news for borrowers, particularly those with home equity lines of credit, which are tied to the prime rate, which in turn moves with changes in the Fed funds rate. What to do?
Do a "cash-out refi" on your mortgage. Refinance by borrowing more than the outstanding balance and using the proceeds to pay off the credit line.
Refinance into a fixed-rate home equity loan. At press time, these set rates were less than home equity credit line rates.
Hang tough and pay it way down. But leave a small balance (say, $1,000) to avoid prepayment penalties.
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