You can’t find your car in the parking lot. Your wallet’s wandered away again. And where’s that tax-return cheque, anyway? Think you’re losing it? Exhale: Everyday memory lapses may mean your brain’s getting older. But it’s also getting wiser.
No, we haven’t lost our minds. Yes, recall gets tougher with age. That’s partly because our brains are taking in more information than ever before.
But it’s also because we get more easily distracted. Brains of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s get distracted within 200 milliseconds of seeing a set of pictures, according to a recent study.
It happens so fast that people can’t prevent it. The upside? In other new research, seniors absorbed more facts during a memory test than people in their teens and 20s. Plus they were 30 per cent better at using the info later to make decisions. Better decisions! Yes!
Bottom line: You can’t battle distraction with willpower. So don’t merge onto a rush-hour highway while your passengers are singing at the top of their lungs. Don’t toss your car keys any old place. Don’t try to multi-task like a 20-year-old. (If you’re returning a phone call and paying bills, guess which one you’ll screw up?) Instead, do significant tasks one at a time and eliminate distractions. (“Pipe down back there!”) Put important belongings in the same spots (“my passport’s filed under travel”) or write down where they are (“the car’s parked on level 5”). Oh, and when you have an opinion, share it. After all, your brain’s wiser than ever.
NOT SO SWEET: Following the news about whether high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is bad for you or not is a lot like watching professional table tennis: You could get whiplash trying to keep up.
However, many of the favourable studies are from HFCS manufacturers or associations, and we don’t think their data is great. Besides, there’s growing evidence that avoiding this el cheapo sugar replacement could help you avoid heart disease, stroke and diabetes, not to mention wrinkles and impotence.
In a groundbreaking new study, a third of people consuming 200 grams of HFCS a day — what you’d get in seven 600 mL bottles of pop — developed metabolic syndrome in two weeks. Yes, two weeks. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of disorders that sets you up for heart, brain, gonad, skin and kidney trouble.
We’re sure you’d probably never swig that much pop (right?!?), but teens average 73 grams of HFCS a day, and most people take in about 55 grams, mainly from the HFCS in sweet drinks, desserts and candy, which your body absorbs in a flash. The fructose in fruit, by contrast, gets absorbed slowly and safely. Side note: HFCS also might contribute to obesity by interfering with “I’m full” brain signals.
Avoiding HFCS is about as easy as avoiding Desperate Housewives reruns. The stuff is everywhere, from salad dressings and honey mustard sauce to yogurt and muffins. So keep it simple: Check the label. If HFCS is in the first five ingredients, drop it like a hot rock.
Why is it that when I go on a healthy weight-loss plan, I lose barely a pound a week, but after the weekend I’ve gained back more than a pound!
It feels like I can’t go out and have a glass of wine and dessert occasionally because it will take me a month to undo the damage. A: You’re a victim of the “weekend effect”: extra pounds that suddenly appear on Monday morning and take weeks to lose.
But it’s not the glass of wine or occasional dessert that’s creating those love handles you hate.
If you’re like most North Americans, on weekends you’re taking in way more calories than you realize. A 2008 study at Washington University School of Medicine found that dieters consistently gained weight on the weekends while losing weight during the week because they ate more on weekends.
When you’re kicking back, a few more chips and another margarita or a second slice of pizza with the works seems okay since you were “good all week.” You probably also eat out more on weekends, and at many restaurants “single” portions are big enough to feed a family of three (seriously), yet find their way into your body of one.
So here’s our action plan for all weekends, not just one: Don’t drop your guard on Friday night and pick it up again Monday morning.
Walk more. Try to lose a little on most weekends. And keep a food diary: Writing down what you eat, especially on weekends, will help you have that glass of wine with no regrets.
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