Did you know?

Did you know that aerobic exercise can raise your HDL ("good") cholesterol, but weight training will not? Researchers at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale found overweight subjects who worked out aerobically for ten weeks had a 29 - 34% increase in HDL cholesterol.  Ten weeks of weight training had no effect.  In addition to aerobic exercise, you can raise your HDL cholesterol (and lower your heart disease risk as a result) by quitting smoking, eating monounsaturated fats, and losing weight.

Did you know that eating at night does not make you gain weight? Despite what you have heard for years, researchers have shown that night eating does not cause any more weight gain than eating most of your food during the day.  But, weight gain will happen if you eat more calories than you burn in a day, no matter when you eat them.  Many people come home from work and snack before dinner, then eat dinner, and then snack in front of the television before going to bed.  Avoiding mindless eating in the evening, by eating throughout the day when you are hungry, is the key to keeping the weight off. 

Did you know that women often experience different symptoms of a heart attack than men? Until recently, most heart disease research has been conducted on men.  Because of this, many emergency room doctors do not immediately recognize when a woman is having a heart attack.  Women may feel out of breath, very tired, nauseated, or they may even be vomiting.  Pain in the chest may feel like squeezing, as opposed to crushing for men.  Pain will sometimes radiate down the right arm and women are more likely to have neck and jaw pain with a heart attack.  For more information, check out http://familydoctor.org/287.xml.