Today is your day Boomer! "83 per cent of Canadians don't get enough physical activity, 30 per cent have high blood pressure and 31 per cent are obese."(CBC.ca) Do these numbers shock you? They should. They reflect a recent study of over 30,000 Canadians aged 45 or older, and they point to increased risk of dementia. Yikes! But what can we do as a generation of Boomers to reduce this risk? Here are 12 "controllable" strategies according to the medical experts: Physical inactivity
Hearing loss, Obesity, Hypertension, Mid-life traumatic brain injury, Depression, Less education early in life, Sleep disturbances, Diabetes, Smoking, Excessive alcohol consumption, and Social isolation. Now, some of these are less-controllable than others....but number one, by far, is exercise! And they mean at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week! Are you doing this? About 700,000 Canadians have dementia and that number is expected to double in the next 25 years. Whew...let's get to it Boomers. Cheers!
Today is your day Boomer! And today is another day for wining......and I don't mean complaining. I mean drinking some pressed grapes and enjoying the health benefits. That's right, drinking alcohol is good for you. First, let's state the obvious....only in moderate amounts: two glasses per day for men and one for women. Research shows the following positive health effects: (1) reduces risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease (2) is an anti-flammatory(white wine is better for this) (3) decreases risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol(red wine is a better choice) (4) good for mental health, may increase age longevity, may promote healthy gut bacteria. All of this sounds good and much of it boils down to the antioxidants which are higher in red wine. It seems reds--like Merlot, Cab Sav, and Shiraz--have been studied more.....which means more research is needed on whites. Boomers, maybe we could volunteer for a new study! Cheers!

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