Zoomer Report

Here’s some good news about holidays foods – foods we should think about adding to our diets all year round. According to the famed Cleveland Clinic, they pack a big nutritional punch with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that may help prevent disease.

Research out of the University of California suggests that whether we’re talking about a person or a company, we place such a high premium on keeping a promise that exceeding it confers little or no additional benefit.

German researchers say they may be bad for your heart. From 2007 to 2011, the number of emergency room visits related to energy drinks, nearly doubled in the United States. Most of the cases involved young adults aged 18 to 25

But a study from Carnegie Mellon University is the first to show that brief mindfulness meditation practice can also alleviate psychological stress. The study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, – found that 25 minutes for three consecutive days – can boost people's ability to be resilient under stress.

A new U.S. study suggests when older Americans regularly spend time online, they are about a third less likely to suffer from depression compared with peers who don't use the internet.

Stop wasting your money on vitamins and other dietary supplements. That is the very clear message from doctors in an editorial published in Annals of Internal Medicine. It comes in response to three large studies that showed most multivitamin supplements are not effective at reducing the risk of disease or death, and may even cause harm.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins university found caffeine can sharpen memories for up to 24 hours after it's consumed. They tested more than a hundred participants who normally did not drink coffee, tea, or Cola.

The subjects were asked to look at every day images on a computer screen and, five minutes later, half were given 200 milligrams of caffeine, about the amount in a strong cup of coffee. The other half received a placebo. When they came back the next day, they were asked to label the pictures as old, new, or similar to the original images.

A study of more than 140,000 adults finds about half of people with high blood pressure -- or hypertension – have no idea they have the condition. That's worrisome, according to the study's authors, because uncontrolled high blood pressure can increase risk for heart disease, strokes and early death.

A study out of the University of Guelph finds that the majority of herbal products on the market contain ingredients not listed on the label, with most companies substituting cheaper alternatives and using fillers.

The theory is that it’s younger women who are obsessed with the way they look, and highly self-critical. But a study in The Journal of Women & Aging found the majority of women aged 50 and older are still not happy with their shape and size.

What’s interesting is that this research is focused on the positive. It concentrates on the mere 12% who are happy with their bodies - in an attempt to discover the secrets of this satisfaction.`

The researchers looked at more than 1700 women who participated in a larger Gender and Body Image study. Most who reported being happy with their body size were in the normal weight range and had a lower body mass index than did those who weren’t.

Those in the happier group were also more likely to have been slender for most of their lives and less likely to have eating disorder symptoms. Only 10 percent reported frequent dieting, compared with 39 percent among the dissatisfied women.

The satisfied women also worked harder to stay slim, too, weighing themselves at least a couple of times a week, and they exercised about five hours a week, nearly twice as much as the women who disliked their figures.

Women between the ages of 35 and 44 were most dissatisfied with their bodies, but the researchers found self-image seemed to improve after that, with Zoomers over 75 having the most positive body image. So, the good news is, it’s never too late.