106 | August• 2017
WORDS TO LIVE BY
Surf.Those who carried out a
series of web searches showed
increased activity in regions of the
brain that control reading, language,
memory and visual ability, a small
study of people aged 55 to 76 revealed.
Regular web surfers showed a
significant boost in the areas that deal
with decision making and complex
reasoning.
Read.Researchers in Britain asked
participants who were feeling stressed
to engage in various activities,
including reading, listening to music,
having a cup of tea and taking a walk.
Reading reduced stress levels and
heart rates by 68 per cent, the highest
score of any item on the list. The least
effective was playing video games.
Adapt.One lesson fromHamlet:
learn to weather “the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune” if you want to
live to a ripe old age. A Harvard study
came to the same conclusion: fewer
than two per cent of men who were ob-
served exhibiting ‘psychological hardi-
ness’ – mental resilience in the face of
stress, anxiety and depression – died
before they were 53. In the less resilient
group, 37 per cent died by that age.
Socialise.Lonely people have a
14 per cent greater risk of dying than
the average person, and twice the
death risk associated with obesity. A
University of North Carolina study
specifically found that social isolation
increases hypertension even more
than diabetes does. Related research
links loneliness to a weakened im-
mune system and higher risk of heart
attack, stroke and depression.Onions.Older women who ate
onions every day had five per cent
greater bone density than those who
ate them once a month or less,
according to researchers at the
Medical University of South Carolina.
They also decreased their risk of a hip
fracture by more than 20 per cent.Belt.It may sound illogical, but if
you have a less-than-flat tummy, your
best tactic is to have a belt cut across
it – not too high (looks old), not too
low (sloppy), but smack through the
middle. “It creates a shorter torso and
a longer leg line,” explains Stacy Lon-
don, who co-hosted US make-over
showWhatNottoWear, “which
makes you look taller and leaner.”Memories. Recalling good
memories for just 20 minutes a day can
make people feel more cheerful than
they did the week before, according to
researchers at Loyola University Chi-
cago, whose study was reported inPsy-
chology Today. “There’s a magic and
mystery in positive events,” psychology
professor Sonja Lyubomirsky reported.Meditate.Expertsfromthe
University of California, Los Angeles,
Brain Mapping Center found in a HAND LETTERING BY JOEL HOLLAND