Free useful health info for you.

One Day Miracle Diet – as dieticians put it – is a suitable diet program for gourmet buffs. This cholesterol lowering diet plan is quite simple – you diet for a day and eat full the next day and continue this routine until you feel that you have lost enough weight. It is also called the 24 hour Hollywood Miracle Diet.

During the dieting day, refrain from eating any other food than vanilla (every two hours) or chocolate diet wafers and raw fruits. Also, make it a point to drink lots of water (ideally 8 glasses of water or above). It is also advisable to follow a light exercise routine for better results. Walking short distances will serve the purpose.

The biggest advantage with one day cholesterol lowering diet programs is that the person undergoing dieting will not suffer any muscle loss. This is partially because of the high protein and low calorie content of the wafers, and partially due to the fact that the dieting person actually in fact is not completely severed from his/her eating habits. He/she can have any food he/she wants the every next day.

On the other hand, the disadvantage with the cholesterol lowering diet program is that it does not contribute towards improving one’s eating habits. That is, as it does not suggest an improved diet, the chances of the person regaining the weight due to normal eating after stopping the diet program are high. Also, nutritional deficiency can happen sometimes depending on the physical aspects of the person concerned.

To conclude, cholesterol lowering diet programs of this sort can bring about quick results. Further, as the person is not restricted from his normal diet for more than 24 hours, people will be more inclined to try out this diet program. But the con is that perhaps people may resort to eating more after the one-day deprival. Hence one’s control over his/her eating impulse is critical for ensuring complete success.

Tail Piece – some dieticians tout this cholesterol lowering diet program to be more effective than the traditional tuna and egg diet.

What would you consider to be your most precious possession? Your home? Car? Book collection? What about … your body? It is surely your most precious possession because without it, you wouldn’t be here.

How well do you care for your body? Do you exercise every day, eat healthful foods, drink enough water, get adequate sleep? Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn this into a big sermon, because I’ve been just as guilty of not giving my body the care and attention it deserves. A large majority of us are. We live in an age of high stress, fast pace, and abundant convenience foods. For those of us who only need to walk a few paces from our desk to the kitchen, the temptation for snacking is even greater. Who has time to exercise and prepare balanced meals?

However, it’s important to realize that neglecting our physical well-being can profoundly affect us mentally and spiritually. The Mind/Body/Spirit connection is strong. If we neglect one area, the others will suffer also. The goal should be to achieve a nice, even balance between all three. I’m learning that it’s not as hard as it seems. It just takes a little effort.

My biggest mistake over the past several years was believing that proper care of my body would take a massive amount of time. “I’m too busy to exercise. I don’t have time to cook decent meals, I’ll just grab something quick. I have too much to do, so I can’t get a full night’s sleep.” But by shunning my physical well-being, I found myself not able to be as productive and efficient in other areas. I had little energy, I couldn’t concentrate, and generally felt rotten all the time.

Caring for our bodies doesn’t have to take a lot of time. In fact, by focusing more attention on my physical health lately, I would venture to say that I’m gaining time, because my focus and energy level are so much better, and I get a lot more done during the day. I also sleep better at night, another bonus!

You might be wondering just how much time and effort is required? Here are the things I’ve been doing for myself recently:

Exercise – For me, that was the biggest obstacle because I tend to get lazy. Once I sit down at my desk, I’m glued to it all day. If I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, I will keep putting it off. So I started doing my workout immediately after I wake up. I spend about 30-60 minutes on aerobic activity (walking), and some light weight training. I had to push myself at first, but now that I’m getting into the habit I’m feeling stronger and even starting to look forward to my workouts every morning. If you tend to procrastinate about exercise like I did, try making it your first priority when you wake up, and then you have the rest of the day to do whatever else needs to be done.

Food – I have always been a “junk food junky.” It wasn’t that I preferred that type of food, it just seemed more convenient. However, I finally realized that raw vegetables and fruit can be “fast foods” too! I also began eliminating sugar for the most part, and switched to whole grains instead of white, highly processed foods (like pasta, bread and rice). I try to eat more whole foods, because who needs all those chemicals they put in processed foods? Instead of snacking on some potato chips, why not have some nuts, seeds, fruit or vegetables? They don’t take any longer to prepare.

Water – I also began drinking several glasses of water throughout the day, and immediately began to feel better. Did you know that the most common symptoms of dehydration are fatigue, lethargy, muscle weakness, headaches, dizziness and forgetfulness? That sure described me, and it’s no wonder, since I was drinking mostly coffee and soda pop! Upping my water intake made a huge difference in my energy level and mental focus. You don’t have to drink gallons of water, just a few tall glasses a day should be an improvement.

Rest – I’m one of those people who really needs a full eight hours of sleep every night or I get cranky. Some people can get along on less sleep, but most of us are still getting less than our bodies truly need. You may think that getting less sleep will enable you to get more done, but think about it: if you don’t get enough sleep, you will be dragging yourself through the day and have to concentrate harder on your work, because your mind just wants to rest. But if you devote a full eight hours (or however much you personally need) to sleep, you will feel much more energetic and focused during the day, and be able to accomplish just as much, if not more.

There, that doesn’t sound so hard, does it? It’s really just a matter of creating new, healthier habits to replace the old habits. Sure, exercise does take some time, but again, it can make such a huge difference in your energy level. Make time. We need to make an effort to care for our beautiful bodies, because we only get one! They truly are our most precious possession, and if we don’t care for them, who else will?

Wishing you abundant health and wellness!

A “foot-drop” is a medical term which–thankfully–does not mean that the foot abruptly disconnects from the leg. Rather, it means that when the leg is lifted from the ground, the foot droops downward at the ankle. The muscles that are supposed to prop up the foot have become so weakened that they cannot overcome gravity’s downward pull. When people with this problem try to walk, they must either hike the leg higher to clear their drooping toes or else risk tripping over them.

What is to blame for this inconvenient symptom? In truth, there are multiple possible causes, but one of the most frequent culprits is injury to a nerve-bundle in the leg known as the peroneal nerve. To understand how this nerve-bundle can get in trouble, a quick review of the bones of the leg is helpful. There is just one bone, a big one, that connects the hip to the knee, and that is the femur. There are two bones that connect the knee to the ankle. The tibia is the larger one and lies more to the inside, while the fibula is the thinner one and lies more to the outside. That’s the extent of the bony anatomy we need to know.

The nerve-fibers constituting the peroneal nerve travel with the huge sciatic nerve that runs behind the femur from the buttock to the lower thigh. That’s where the “common peroneal nerve” splits out from the pack and runs along the outside of the knee, tucking behind the head of the fibular bone (a knobby protrusion just beyond the knee) and then snaking around the neck of the fibula just below its head. The neck of the fibula forms the floor of the fibular tunnel that the frequent peroneal nerve must pass through. Within this tunnel the frequent peroneal nerve is particularly vulnerable to injury.

Also within this tunnel the frequent peroneal nerve splits into two branches, the “deep peroneal nerve” (farther from the leg’s surface) and the “superficial peroneal nerve” (closer to the leg’s surface). Because the two branches have different connections to muscles and skin, injury to one produces different impairments than are produced by injury to the other.

The deep peroneal nerve is responsible for cocking up the ankle and toes, so injury to this branch produces weakness or paralysis of the muscles responsible for these actions. There is just a tiny patch of skin, located between the big toe and the toe next to it, connected to the deep peroneal nerve, so damage to this branch produces numbness limited to this small area.

The superficial peroneal nerve, by contrast, is responsible for skin sensation on most of the outside of the calf and top of the foot, so these areas can become numb when the superficial peroneal nerve is injured. This branch is responsible for lifting the outside edge of the foot, so this action is gone when the superficial peroneal nerve is not functioning properly.

Impairments due to injury of the frequent peroneal nerve (the parent of the two branches) are the sum of the impairments associated with each of the branches. So this means that the ankle and toes cannot cock upwards, the outside edge of the foot cannot lift, and there is numbness on the outside of the calf and top of the foot.

“Peroneal neuropathy” means impairment of the peroneal nerve. Peroneal neuropathies are the most frequent neuropathies (of the kind that affects just one nerve at a time) in the lower extremities. Investigators at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center recently collected a series of 318 patients with peroneal neuropathy who required surgery, while Italian researchers collected another 69 cases that included those who didn’t need surgery. From these two tabulations of cases a good picture emerges of the more frequent causes of peroneal neuropathy.

Many were due to physical traumas. Some of the traumas were severe enough to break or dislocate bones, while others involved deep cuts in the soft tissues, and still others involved just a stretch or bruise. Another frequent lead to was surgical operations. Some of the surgeries were to the nearby knee, but others were performed on more distant structures, like the hip, the abdomen or even the chest.

Many cases were due to excessive external pressure being applied to the nerve. This occurred in different ways. For example, in prolonged leg-crossing the knee of the bottom leg pushes steadily against the peroneal nerve of the crossing leg. Peroneal neuropathies seen in bedridden patients were presumably due to lying on the fibular tunnel for too long without a shift in position. Other patients had entrapment or pinching of the nerve within the fibular tunnel unrelated to external pressure.

A surprisingly large group of patients had peroneal neuropathy due to weight loss, known as “slimmer’s paralysis.” More than one factor might have been at play in these cases,  such as lack of nutrients, pressure on the nerve, or both.

Researchers and clinicians find that in many people an apparently isolated peroneal neuropathy is actually the leading edge of a more widespread polyneuropathy. “Polyneuropathy” means that peripheral nerves are impaired in a more diffuse pattern–not just single nerves in single places. So in many cases of apparent peroneal neuropathy further investigations turn up polyneuropathy due to other causes, for example, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption or genetic factors.

How are cases evaluated? The physician’s evaluation starts with the time-honored methods of history-taking and physical examination. As part of the physical examination the doctor inventories which muscles are weak (and which are not) and maps out areas of numbness affecting the skin. Additional testing with electromyography and nerve conduction studies, which check on electrical functions of the muscles and nerves, often provides valuable information,  such as whether additional nerves are affected and how bad the impairments are.

How about treatment? Treatment varies according to what caused the peroneal neuropathy in the first place, but let’s consider a typical case unrelated to severe trauma. Nonsurgical approaches are usually tried first,  such as avoidance of further pressure on the peroneal nerve, improved nutrition and supplementation of the diet with vitamins. A simple brace applied to the ankle improves walking. In many cases the nerve recovers without anything more drastic being done. But if these conservative treatments fail (and the peroneal neuropathy is not part of a more widespread polyneuropathy) then surgical exploration of the fibular tunnel is often indicated. If the nerve is pinched, then the surgeon frees up the nerve from whatever was pinching it.

One of the most important parts of the human body is the back. When your back starts to give out on you – either through various ailments or through sheer old age – it’s time to get some serious help because once your back goes dead, you’re only a little bit better than a doorknob.  

One particular back-related problem is Scoliosis, a condition that involves complex lateral and rotational curvature and deformity of the spine.  It occurs relatively frequently in the general population, the gravity depending on the magnitude of the curve of their spine.  It is typically classified as being congenital (since birth) or idiopathic (developed through an unknown cause), or as having been developed secondary to another condition.

Scoliosis due to bone abnormalities present at birth involving either failure of formation of a vertebra or separation of adjacent vertebrae.  It is the abnormal development of the spine resulting in a missing portion, partial formation, or lack of separation of the vertebra that originated since birth.  It is detectable only if an x-ray was taken of the child upon birth or his body is evidently crooked.  The most common birth defect that causes congenital scoliosis is called hemivertebra, where half of one side of a vertebra forms while the other side doesn’t. Another defect is called the unilateral bar, a condition where you will find three to four vertebrae stuck or fused together on one side. Up to this time, the origin of these defects.

Scoliosis may be brought about as a secondary effect to current or previous illness.  Conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP), spina bifida, muscular dystrophy may cause the spine to bend out of the norm.  Cerebral refers to the affected area of the brain, the cerebrum; and palsy refers to disorder of movement. CP is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the young developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth or after birth up to about age three.  Spina bifida, which literally translate as split spine in Latin, is a developmental birth defect involving the neural tube: incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube results in an incompletely formed spinal cord. In addition, the bones of the spine (vertebrae) overlying the open portion of the spinal cord do not fully form and remain unfused and open.  Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of genetic, hereditary muscle diseases that cause progressive muscle weakness, it is characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness which may lead to scoliosis.

By far the most common form of scoliosis is the idiopathic scoliosis. This most often develops in adolescents and typically progresses during the adolescent growth spurt.  Because it most often occurs during adolescence, this condition is sometimes called adolescent scoliosis.  It occurs to some degree in approximately half a million adolescents in the US. There is no known cause of idiopathic scoliosis although it does tend to occur in families. It is categorized to 3 groups: from birth to three years old – called infantile scoliosis; from three to nine years old – called juvenile scoliosis; from ten to eighteen years old – called adolescent scoliosis.  80% of idiopathic scoliosis cases belong to the 10 to 18 years old category.

There are generally two kinds of treatment for scoliosis: surgical and non-surgical.  Non-surgical treatment may require a period of observation to catch small, low-risk curves.  For spinal curves of about 25 to 40 degrees and are still growing, doctors recommend wearing back braces to keep the curve of the spine from getting worse as the sufferer grows.  Alternative treatments, such as electrical muscle stimulation, exercise programs, nutritional supplements, physical therapy techniques, and manipulation, have not proven to be effective treatment options for scoliosis. Even if exercise and proper diet can improve the overall health of the patient, no evidence exists to prove that the above mentioned alternative options stop or correct curve progression.  Surgery is an option used primarily for severe cases of scoliosis (curves greater than 45 degrees) or for curves that do not respond to bracing. There are two primary goals for surgery: to stop a curve from progressing during adult life and to diminish spinal deformity.  The most frequently done spinal surgery is the posterior spinal fusion which aims to strengthen and limit motion of the spinal column; and bone grafting, wherein bone harvested from one location in a person is placed in another’s, or in a different location in the same individual.

Scoliosis is not something that’s easy to live with.  Sometimes, you’re born with it or its hereditary; or you may get it from taking your back for granted.  Be glad you’re able to stand straight, people with scoliosis would like to be able to.  Don’t forget to maintain a balanced diet, exercise, and always watch your back.

The following article covers a topic – herbal remedies for stress and anxiety- that has lately moved to center stage–at least it seems that way. If you’ve been thinking you need to know more about it, here’s your opportunity.

Rhodiola Rosea is the latest natural remedy to join the arsenal of natural anxiety and stress reducers.

Rhodiola Rosea, known as Golden Root, is a native plant of arctic Siberia. For centuries it has been used by eastern European and Asian cultures for physical endurance, work productivity, longevity, resistance to high altitude sickness, and to treat fatigue, depression, anemia, impotence, gastrointestinal ailments, infections, and nervous system disorders.

The first recorded medicinal applications of rodia riza (renamed Rhodiola Rosea) was made by the Greek physician, Dioscorides, in 77 C.E. in ‘De Materia Medica’. Rhodiola Rosea has been included in official Russian medicine since 1969.

Despite its long history, the Western world has only lately become aware of the health benefits of Rhodiola Rosea. It has come to the attention of many natural health practitioners because of studies which tested its affects on combating anxiety and stress.

Rhodiola Rosea is considered an adaptogen. This means it has an general stabilizing effect on the body without disrupting other functions. Its ability to normalize hormones might be effective for treating depression and anxiety.

Studies of Rhodiola Rosea show that it stimulates neurotransmitters and enhances their effects on the brain. This includes the ability for the brain to process serotonin which helps the body to adapt to stress.  

How able to you put a limit on learning more? The next section might contain that one less bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Since adaptogens improve the body’s general ability to handle stress, it has been studied to known it’s effects on biological, chemical and physical stress.

A study was performed to test the effects of Rhodiola Rosea when stress is caused by intense mental work (such as final exams). Such tests concluded that using Rhodiola Rosea improved the amount and quality of work, increasing mental clarity and reducing the effects of fatigue.

UV air purifiers utilize a type of technology that is most effectively used in combination with different types of air purification systems. Ultra violet air purifiers are not air cleaning filters, in that they do not harvest harmful particulates from the air, alike the HEPA or electronic systems. UV air purifiers are, however, an extremely useful addition to a more comprehensive air cleaning system.

UV air purifiers use definite types of ultra violet light to neutralize and destroy microorganisms that live in our environment, e.g. bacteria and viruses, which able to potentially be very harmful, particularly to young children or older people, or family members who have already been compromised by another illness. UV air purifiers are also effective in dealing with mold, and the tiny toxins that mold spores release.

Ultra violet air purifiers work by altering the DNA of these microorganisms, which results in their death. Don’t worry though – UV air purifiers won’t harm your DNA or that of your children in any way. These purifiers are completely risk less for use in your home environment.

While the technology used in UV air purifiers is highly effective in killing bacteria and viruses, it cannot act as an air cleaning filter, and so by using this technology alone, dust and particles will remain present in the atmosphere in your home. For complete air purification, numerous manufacturers have combined ultra violet air purifiers with several different type of filter technology, e.g. HEPA, to ensure that the air you breathe is as risk less and clean as possible.

UV air purifiers are highly effective at what they do, but are unable to perform the same functions as different air cleaning systems. So for the best of both worlds, choose a system for your home that offers both – an air cleaning filter and a uv air purifier.

UV air purifiers, a useful addition to your air purification arsenal.

Back Massage is one of the best ways through which you can relive yourself from back pain. You can use various back massage techniques for benefits, such as relaxation, increased body awareness, better blood circulation and improved lymphatic drainage for release of toxins. Selecting a right back massage technique is important for receiving maximum benefits. Typically, during the back massage, a masseur uses massage oil to decrease friction created on the skin and to prevent the pulling of skin hair. The less the quantity of oil applied, the greater is the friction and deeper will be the pressure. Use light stroking movements throughout your massage to move from one area to another, to soothe an area of localized deep tissue or to make a transition to another stroke.

Step By Step Guide for Back Massage

Mentioned below are few steps, which detail a back massage technique for relieving one from back pain.
    
The person receiving the massage should lie down on his/her belly on a firm, comfortable surface, such as a floor mat or firm bed. Make sure that you the whole back of the massage receiver is comfortably within reach. Stand by the side of the person and place one hand on the lower back and teh other between the shoulder blades, over the heart.     
     
Warm up the back by applying thumb pressure along both sides of the spine simultaneously: Start from the lower back and knead gently with your thumbs up to the neck area. This will also promote relaxation.     
     
Use a smooth, delicate stroke, called “effleurage”, to apply massage oil. In one long stroke, slide your palms down either side of the spine to the pelvis; scoop out around the hips and back up the sides to the shoulders. Maintain contact with the back. Move your hands over the back to start a new area. Continue up both sides of the neck to the base of the head.     
     
Starting at the spine, slide your palms in opposite directions outward to the sides of the back, starting with the lower back area, and moving up to the shoulders.     
     
Knead the fleshy muscular areas at the top of the shoulders, the mid-back area and the buttocks to loosen any tight muscles and fascia, which is a connective tissue.

Men who enroll in the military service are now at risk for developing different mental health disorders, according to the Institute of Medicine. According to them, military service in a war zone increases a service members’ chance of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders, and depression. Serving in a war also increases the chances of alcohol abuse, accidental death, and suicide within the first few years after leaving the war zone.  War veterans are also prone to marital and family conflict, including domestic violence due to their psychological and emotional distress. These trouble signs have prompted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the scientific and medical evidence concerning associations between deployment-related stress and long term adverse effects on health.

Issues with drug abuse, incarceration, unexplained illnesses, chronic fatigue syndrome, gastrointestinal symptoms, skin diseases, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain may also be associated with the stress of being in a war, but the evidence to support these links is weaker. For other health problems and adverse effects that the committee reviewed, the information lacks or is contradictory; the committee could not determine whether links between these ailments and deployment-related stress exist.

Although the report cannot give definite answers regarding the connection between these health problems and the stress of war, it is clear that veterans who were deployed to war zones self-report more medical conditions and poorer health than veterans who were not deployed. The committee found out that those who were deployed and have post-traumatic stress disorder in particular tend to report more symptoms and poorer health. Post-traumatic stress disorder often occurs together with other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse.  Its prevalence and severity is associated with an increased exposure to combat.

A continuous obstacle in obtaining better evidence that would yield clear answers is lack of pre- and post-deployment screenings of physical, mental, and emotional status. Conducting comprehensive, standardized evaluations of service member’s medical conditions, psychiatric symptoms and diagnosis, and psychosocial status and trauma history before and after deployment to war zones is necessary, according to the US Department of Defense. Such screenings would provide baseline information for comparisons and data to determine long term consequences of deployment-related stress. In addition, they would help identify at-risk personnel who might benefit from targeted intervention programs during deployment, such as marital counseling or therapy for psychiatric or other disorders, and help the necessary organizations choose in which intervention programs to implement for veterans adjusting to post-deployment life.

It is a long battle between countries, and the only thing that could make these people at war happy would be the memories of their family and friends. Such psychological illnesses or disorders can happen almost anytime, since these people are vulnerable to their environment. War is such a negative concept to look at, and these people experience war each time they wake up. Such negativity is bound to take its toll to the person, whether they may have good relations back at home. By simply looking back at those happy moments, these people at war would really appreciate life compared to what they see now.

Sight is the sense that human minds get the most information about their environment out of. While we may not entirely retain all of that rich information, it nonetheless stands that visual information forms the core of how we recall details and perceive reality. So when visual information is constricted, cut off, or downright unintelligible, things happen. Due to the reliance of the typical human psyche on visual information, as well as a number of things in modern life, over stimulation of the eyes can be a problem that might end in visual migraines.
Visual migraines are basically a migraine that was induced by some sort of visual stimuli, and is generally relived by your usual array of migraine relief medications. However, the causes of visual migraines can vary more than the average migraine, as this variant of migraine tends to be caused more by how the brain burns itself out interpreting visual signals than more typical factors.
Visual stimuli nowadays can go from one extreme to another, particularly in what some circles address as “non-traditional” art mediums. The use of exceedingly bright colors and flashy visual effects in movies, video games, and even website layouts can sometimes lead to visual migraines, particularly if the exposure has been for a prolonged period. There are a number of ways for visual stimuli to cause visual migraines, though most reports tend to focus on bright lights and flashy CGI effects founds in movies and video games.
One particular incident incorrectly attributed to visual migraines involved the Japanese version of the popular children’s cartoon “Pokemon.” Initial reports specifically stated that some of the show’s effects caused seizures, though some have referred to the effects as migraines. Similarly, unofficial statistics in Japan have cited a number of shows on Japanese TV, particularly some of the more male-oriented and action-themed anime, as having migraine-inducing special effects. Of course, due to the nature of these statistics, most pharmaceutical companies have not taken much notice of this in their migraine relief advertising campaigns.
In general, visual stimuli that causes people to seek migraine relief has a tendency to come in the form of unconventional patterns or certain abstract data. While a Picasso might not cause the need for migraine relief, to a degree, some of the more extreme examples of modern art have been held responsible. Other examples of visual stimuli that has people reaching for migraine relief after a few minutes of exposure include the occasional deliberate attempt to induce one. This is typically done by placing an already visually complex picture, such as an abstract painting, and superimposing an unconventional figure into the painting itself. The result usually, but not always, results in a migraine.
Interestingly, migraine relief for this sort of problem is often purchased by people in the accounting field. This is often attributed to the nature of the visual stimuli involved in their work. Spreadsheets are notorious for causing a number of vision-related problems, with migraines being one of them
Hence, migraine relief medications, as already stated, do help in getting rid of visual migraines. These drugs are readily available at most drug stores and are effective regardless of what the nature of the migraine is.

There’s a workout that you do every day, even if you don’t know it. Of all the ways to stay fit, walking is the easiest, safest and cheapest. If you’ve been walking most of your life, you may be an expert at it already. It’s a natural movement-no fighting the way your body was designed to move-and there’s almost no risk of injury. You can start with little more than a good pair of walking shoes. Best of all, it’s an activity you can enjoy either by yourself or together with friends and family.

Walk expert Leslie Sansone has been putting a bounce in people’s steps for the past 25 years. With her energy and enthusiasm, Leslie teaches people of all ages and shapes how to get fit, stay fit and feel better about life, simply by walking. Her In-Home Walking workout is a system of walking that can be done in the comfort of your own home. It’s all in the newest DVD in her “Walk At Home With Leslie Sansone” series, “Advanced 5-Mile Walk.”

A one-mile brisk walk burns almost as many calories as a one-mile run. Even a moderately paced stroll has health benefits. In fact, according to a recent Harvard University study, walking as little as an hour a week, at any pace, reduces the risk of coronary artery disease. Longer and more vigorous walking produced a greater risk reduction. Here are some tips to get the most out of your walks:

Walk whenever you can. Park a little further away than usual, or if you use public transportation, consider getting off a stop earlier or later than you normally would. If you’re only traveling a short distance, consider walking the entire way. Where possible, use the stairs rather than the elevator or escalator.

Make topography your friend. Walking uphill burns more calories than flat ground and helps build strength and stamina. Surprisingly, walking downhill can be harder on your body than going up, so slow down and keep your knees bent.

Hand weights, up to 10 percent of your total weight, can help you reach your exercise goal.

Try a walking workout in your own home. You don’t need a treadmill-any space in your home where you can take just a few steps can be as good as a track. Simply find walking programs that are easy to follow, can be performed in a small space and do not require expensive equipment, and you’re off.