A study of 5,000 Danish men aged between 40 and 59 found that those who were fit and active were better able to cope with working long hours compared to their couch potato counterparts.

Men who worked between 41 and 45 hours were almost 60 per cent more likely to die of heart disease than those working fewer hours. And unfit men were twice as likely to die as men working less than 40 hours.

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No exercise and working long hours doubles men’s risk of heart problems

A variety of factors were used to determine the rankings including local unemployment rates, personal financial data, environmental factors, health risks, crime rates and living standards. These data points were collected from government agencies and private firms as part of Portfolio.com’s analysis.

“It’s no secret that living in a big city can add some serious stress to your life. But that doesn’t you have to be truly stressed out just by being in one of the nation’s population hubs. This study shows that a healthy and relatively low stress life can be achieved in at least a few urban areas,” said J. Jennings Moss, editor of Portfolio.com.

Rounding out the top five, in descending (stress-wise) order: Detroit (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Cleveland (#3), Riverside, CA (#4), and St. Louis (#5).

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AAAAAAHHHHHH! Summer is Over, Let the Stress Begin! Portfolio.com Unveils America’s Most Stressful Cities

The most comprehensive and detailed study of its kind, the researchers analyzed berries from 13 conventional farms and 13 organic farms in California, the state that produces 90 percent of the nation’s strawberries. “There is no paper in the literature that comprehensively and quantitatively compares so many indices of both food and soil quality at multiple sampling times on so many commercial farms,” said John Reganold, professor of soil science and lead author of the paper.

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Science Sides With Organics

Researchers at the University of Maryland and Rutgers University in New Jersey had rats drink green tea-laced water for one to three weeks, then injected them with a bacteria designed to cause arthritis. A control group of rats drank plain water before receiving the bacteria. The findings? The rats who drank the green tea had significantly lower levels of rheumatoid arthritis than the plain-water drinkers. These findings are in line with those of two other studies done on humans that point to green tea’s role in curbing inflammation. In one study, cells from people with rheumatoid arthritis were extracted and treated with a green-tea component. When they were later subjected to an inflammatory chemical that causes joint damage, the cells were able to fight off the destruction. Cells that hadn’t been pre-treated with the green-tea component could not do that. In a second study, the salivary glands of water drinkers were compared with those of green-tea drinkers. The tea drinkers’ salivary glands had fewer white blood cells-which are infection fighters-than the others. Over time, the salivary glands of the tea drinkers also showed less damage.

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Green Tea May Protect Against Rheumatoid Arthritis

Animal-based proteins and fats are associated with increased mortality rates, including increased cardiovascular mortality and increased cancer mortality, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes. But low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets composed mostly of plant-based proteins and fats were associated with lower mortality rates overall and lower cardiovascular mortality rates.

The study followed more than 85,000 women and 44,500 men for a period of 20 to 26 years. All the study participants were without heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. To reach their conclusion, the study authors accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, exercise, multivitamin use, and alcohol intake. The study participants were all health professionals who filled out regular questionnaires about their food intake over the long follow-up period. The study authors acknowledged that while the large sample of participants was a strength of the study, its participant pool of all health care professionals was a limitation because it was not representative of the larger population.

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Animal-based protein diets increase mortality rate

Properly refrigerated eggs should last at least 3-5 weeks after the sell-by date, according to Professor Joe Regenstein, a food scientist at Cornell University. Note: Use of either a sell-by or expiration (EXP) date is not federally required, but may be state required, as defined by the egg laws in the state where the eggs are marketed.

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Food expiration dates: What do they really mean?

Such as Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana):

Skip this posture if you’re not familiar or comfortable with it. Or use a wall for support. Otherwise, lie down on the mat on the floor, inhale and while using the momentum of a roll-up, push your body up in the air so that your shoulders rest on the floor and your legs are in the air. Support your hips with your hands. At first, only do a half shoulderstand. To do this, create a “jack-knife” with your body. Place your body at a 45-degree angle, and your legs at the opposite 45-degree angle. Keep your back and legs as straight as possible. Don’t forget to breathe.

Feel your shoulders and back unwind and stay there as long as possible. Pay close attention to your breath. This is a more difficult pose than it seems, so stay focused.

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Yoga poses and breathing for insomnia

The recipe below doesn’t call for cream, but I tried adding some to part of it after and it was really good. If you do add cream, do so at the end and just heat the soup (ie, don’t cook it heavily after adding the cream).

Ingredients:

• 1 pound zucchini, sliced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large colander, sprinkle salt over zucchini slices. Let stand 30 minutes to drain then pat dry.
2. In a deep pot, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat. Saute zucchini, onion and garlic in the hot oil for about 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Stir in the chicken broth and tomato; simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the broth using a slotted spoon and puree them in a blender or food processor.
3. Return the pureed vegetables to the stockpot and stir in the lemon juice, sugar, oregano, basil, parsley and nutmeg. Season with Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 100g unsalted cashew nuts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• ½ small leek, chopped
• 100g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 100g cooked brown rice (50g uncooked)
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 40g gruyere cheese, grated
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 egg yolk
• flour, for dusting
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil, for frying

Directions:

1. In a preheated 350 degree oven, roast the cashew nuts on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Watch them closely, for they brown fast.

2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and saute the onion, leek, mushroom, garlic and thyme until the vegetables are soft and the liquid has evaporated. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute.

3. Pulse the cashews in a food processor a few times until they are coarsely chopped. Add to the vegetable/rice mixture with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Form into patties and refrigerate for at least an hour.

5. Dredge the patties with a small amount of flour and saute in the sunflower oil in a non-stick pan, about 3 minutes to a side.

6. Enjoy!

In the study, women who had practiced yoga regularly for at least two years were found to have lower levels of inflammation in their bodies than did women who only recently took up the activity.

Inflammation is an immune response and can be beneficial when your body is fighting off infection, but chronically high levels of inflammation are known to play a role in certain conditions, including asthma, cardiovascular disease and depression.

Inflammation is known to be boosted by stressful situations. But when yoga experts were exposed to stress (such as dipping their feet in ice water), they experienced less of an increase in their inflammatory response than yoga novices did.

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Yoga Shows Potential to Ward Off Certain Diseases