Eat walnuts to look younger

Just a handful of walnuts per day can help keep you looking and feeling younger. Though not the prettiest nut in the pantheon of squirrel bait, walnuts are an antioxidant powerhouse, providing a rich source of melatonin, ellagic acid and carotenoids, which help defend your skin against free-radical damage.

A study conducted by Temple University in Philadelphia found that grey hairs could be caused by a diet lacking in copper and magnesium. Walnuts are a potent source of both, providing 22% RDA of copper and 11% RDA of magnesium. They also score highly as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which promote the production of elastin and collagen in the skin and whose anti-inflammatory properties work a treat on eczema and psoriasis.

Oh and walnuts are also good for your sperm as they are rich in zinc, leaving you looking good inside and out. Just think of their wrinkles as the portrait in the attic…

140g The amount of walnuts you should eat a week to lower LDL cholesterol

Photography: Studio 33

Eat to beat... brittle bones: Make your frame less fragile with these foods

On Monday

Eat broccoli

Vitamin K plays a role in moving the calcium we ingest from the arteries to the bones. This ensures all the calcium we take in goes straight to helping bone strength.

Make a quick broccoli soup by boiling florets for a few minutes until tender in salted water, then drain, saving the liquid. Blend the broccoli, adding a splash of the cooking water at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Garnish with toasted flaked almonds and a drizzle of olive oil.


On Tuesday

Eat rhubarb

This delicious, sharp fruit is very high in calcium, and essential for strong bones and teeth.

Make a rhubarb smoothie: poach rhubarb in water until soft, then combine it with yogurt, milk and some honey in a blender. Blitz until smooth.


On Wednesday

Eat mackerel

Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium and oily fish has it in spades.

Griddle fillets of mackerel and serve with a beetroot, shallot, caper and low-fat crème fraiche salad. If you can find some, eat it in the sunshine for extra Vitamin D!


On Thursday

Eat pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids which are associated with higher bone density, particularly in the vertebrae.

Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Allow to cool and serve as a snack with drinks. Alternatively, toss them over a salad or add them to muesli.


On Friday

Eat apples

Apples are rich in boron, which reduces the excretion of calcium in urine.

Prepare Julienne apples, parsnips and carrots, and mix them with some low-fat mayo, mustard and lemon juice. Serve with a grilled pork fillet for a simple, light supper.



Words by William Leigh

4 ways to get lean: Your express pass to searing away your gut while maintaining your muscle

The art of combination

“All exercise burns calories,” says Dr Jeff Volek an exercise and nutrition scientist at the University of Connecticut. “But it’s the combination of different types of exercise that will optimise your leanness.” In one of Volek’s studies he put people on a reduced calorie plan, and divided them into three groups. One group didn’t exercise, another did aerobic exercise three days a week and a third did aerobic and weight training three days a week (like this programme). The results: those who combined lifting with aerobic exercise, the way you will in this plan, shed nearly 3kg more fat.

How you'll do better

So a blend of weights and cardio is the best way to lose fat, but it is possible to go not one, but two better. First, the cardio plans that follow are short enough to be done after your weights session. This is the perfect time because doing cardio after weights burns 27% more calories than cardio by itself, according to research from the University of Tokyo. Secondly, you won’t be running, cycling or rowing at the same old steady state pace, you’ll do interval training – alternating between periods of hard work and recovery. Research at Laval University, Canada found this kind of training can burn up to three times more fat than exercising at the same pace. So you’ll be doing weights followed by optimum length cardio sessions. The result: more muscle, less fat and a body that’ll make those old T-shirts at the back of your cupboard fit like a torso-shaped glove.

Your action plan

After your weights workout choose one of the following interval training regimes and aim to wrap up both your weights and cardio in an hour at most. Mix it up as much as possible and never repeat the same interval workout twice in a week. You don’t have to do it in the gym either. After you’ve finished the weights hop on your bike or go outside for a run. Just follow the work-to-rest guidelines in the cardio workouts section. If you want to go for a long run at the weekend, do it in the morning. When you wake up, your core body temperature is at its lowest, allowing for improved endurance. “In a recent study, people riding bikes could push themselves 5.3 minutes longer at 6:45am than at 6:45pm, because a cooler body delays overheating,” says study author Dr Ruth Hobson. Stick to the routine for four weeks and you’ll have more muscle, more leisure time and the very best results in the shortest time possible.

A sight for strong eyes: Use these eye exercises from Karen Sparrow, education advisor for the Association of Optometrists, to maximise your vision

Ease fatigue

This 'near-far' focus and 'break, blink, breathe' technique will help reduce eye fatigue.
1 Every 20 minutes, focus for 15 seconds on a distant object – something on the other side of the room.
2 Then gaze at an object up close for 10-15 seconds. Look back at the distant object and focus again.
3 Blink quickly a few times, close your eyes, breathe deeply and relax. Repeat the process five times.

Reduce tension

The ‘squeeze-stretch’ reduces tension, and can easily be integrated into your daily routine.
1 Close your eyes as tightly as possible. Then squeeze them hard, so that the muscles contract.
2 Hold this position for approximately three seconds and then let go quickly and let the muscles relax.
3 Now stretch your eyes by opening them wide, hold for three seconds and rest. Blink a few times. Repeat five times.

Increase range

This exercise will help flex your extraocular muscles, which control eye movement.
1 Moving clockwise first, roll your eyes to follow the extremes of your vision. Take care not to push too hard.
2 Once you have completed a clockwise circle, reverse the movement. Repeat twice in each direction.
3 When you have finished, blink quickly a few times, close your eyes and relax.

Source: Men's Health

Anatomy of a worry: Use these worry-busting techniques to maintain a Zen-like calm

The trigger

What happens: There you are, happily eating your breakfast, when you spy a headline about mass redundancies. Quicker than you can say “P45”, this sparks a negative mental image. “We call this the ‘trigger’,” says Professor Adrian Wells, clinical psychologist at Manchester University. “You may automatically think, ‘What if I lose my job?’ or ‘what if my life changed like that, without warning?’
Exit here: Instead of pacing round the office like a demented Groucho Marx, nip your worry in the bud immediately by letting it ‘go cold’. “Don’t try to problem-solve, just let go of the thought,” says Wells. The best way to ‘freeze’ an entry-level worry is to actively place your attention elsewhere – focus on a demanding task or person instead.

SWP

What happens: No, not Manchester City’s diminutive winger. “Some people find it hard to resist pulling the trigger,” says Wells. “They then become entangled in a ‘sustained worry process’ or SWP.” This involves a stream of negative ‘what if?’ questions, as the brain tries to generate coping strategies. That pesky thought is still as hot as a Jolie/Johansson sandwich. Time for Plan B…
Exit here: Write down your initial thought, then specifically set aside 15 minutes that afternoon to think about, and solve, it. “This is far better than trying to suppress your thought altogether, which is notoriously difficult,” says Wells.

Acute stress response

What happens: Still fretting? Your frontal lobes – specialist problem analysers – now send information to your amygdala and temporal lobes, which control your reactions to threat. Your body starts upgrading into fight-or-flight mode – designed to ward off predators. “Sustained worry triggers your acute stress response, which pumps adrenaline into your bloodstream,” says Dr Adrian Lord, consultant psychiatrist at Cygnet Hospital, Harrow.
Exit here: Given the distinct lack of sabre-tooth tigers in, say, Croydon, modern man must find other forms of physical activity. “Exercise burns off adrenaline and sublimates your fight-or-flight response,” says Dr Lord. “And sex is another great stress-reliever, because your body releases oxytocin and dopamine after orgasm, making you feel euphoric and relaxed.” Barbells or bedroom? We know which we’d choose.

Meta worry

What happens: The next level, ‘meta worry,’ is even worse. “By this stage, you’re effectively worrying about worry,” says Wells. “It’s incredibly toxic: you start to think your anxiety is uncontrollable, and eventually that you’re losing grip.” Suddenly the plummeting FTSE 100 seems less important than managing your marbles.
Exit here: To stave off a panic attack, repeatedly remind yourself that worry and anxiety are harmless. “It’s not anxiety itself that’s the problem, it’s how you view it,” says Wells. “If you channel it, anxiety can actually make you sharper.” For example, if you’re scared about a speech, visualise yourself looking calm, confident and in control and you’ll feel excited, not anxious. Now go and earn your applause.

Chronic worry

What happens: After Meta worry comes ‘chronic worrying’: lasting weeks or months, this can actually harm your grey matter. “The latest research shows that chronic worrying negatively affect brain structure and function,” says Dr Lord. The stress hormone cortisol damages nerve cells in the brain, because it causes neurons to fire too frequently and ‘excites’ them to death. This makes you more prone to mental and cardiovascular illness.
Exit here: Eating high glycemic index carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice will enhance the clearance of cortisol from your body, helping you to step back from chronic worry. At all costs, avoid the false embrace of alcohol: “Alcohol provides symptomatic relief from worry, but it affects the chemistry of the brain, making you more prone to anxiety and depression in the long term,” warns Dr Lord. So stay sober – and worry less.

Source: Men's Health