Want to live to 100?

Want to live to 100? Well, then get 10 hours of sleep a night, suggests a new study.

Sleep is a major factor in rejuvenating the body and activating the immune system.

In the study, boffins found that people who reach 100 are three times more likely to spend at least 10 hours a night in bed.

The study involved analysis of data from a 2005 Chinese survey. The sample was composed of 15,638 adults aged 65 and older, including 3,927 who were between 90 and 99 and 2,794 who were 100 or older, reports The Daily Express.

Dr Danan Gu, of Portland State University in Oregon, said: "About 65 per cent of the sample overall reported that their sleep quality was good or very good, and the weighted average daily sleep time was about seven-and- a-half hours including naps.

"Surprisingly, the oldest adults aged 100 and above were 70 per cent more likely to report good sleep quality than younger participants aged 65 to 79.

"Participants who were 100 years of age and older were less likely to sleep for five or fewer hours a day but they were almost three times more likely to sleep for 10 hours or more.

"Men were 23 per cent more likely than women to report sleeping well."

When humans sleep, their cells regenerate and they also remove toxins and activate immune system cells.

The research has been published in the May issue of the journal Sleep. (ANI)

10 tips to beat stress

Diet tips to beat stress

What kind of nutritional support is needed to reduce the effect of stress and negative thinking? Stress, fear, anxiety, guilt, anger, and jealousy are emotions that have a definite impact on our health. A cleansing nutritional programme helps negate these effects.

Limit coffee intake as caffeine contributes to panic attacks and nervousness. Increase intake of raw vegetables and fresh fruits as they are rich in flavonoids, which help neutralise dangerous free radicals.

Physical inactivity is a form of stress to the body. Exercising can help keep stress under control.

Avoid carbonated drinks, fried foods, refined foods made from white flour, sugar, foods containing colour or additives and processed foods as they produce chemicals in the body that add to toxin overload. Chamomile tea (a type of herb tea made from chamomile flowers) has a calming effect on the nerves and is also soothing to the digestive tract.

Taking one or two cups of this tea at bed-time helps to sleep better. Kava Kava tea also helps to relax the body and has a calming effect on the mind.

Ashwagandha, an ayurvedic herb, helps offset the effects of stress and act as a nerve tonic. Above all, try to create a loving relationship with close family and friends as that affects your health to a great degree.

What is the impact of negative thinking on your health? Negative emotions have a definite impact on our health. During any stressful situation, there is an increase in the levels of stress hormones in the blood, which lead to faster heartbeats, rise in blood pressure, quickening of breath and sharpening of senses.

If stress is experienced for a short span of time and in right levels, then it can actually work to your advantage by improving your energy levels, keeping you on your toes before that big presentation or exam and even improving your concentration. However, if stress is experienced over a prolonged time span, it can actually have a negative impact on your health.

It can precipitate high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, constipation, diarrhoea, ulcers, immune disorders, insomnia, chronic fatigue and a host of other disease conditions. Stress is omnipresent.

It's the way you handle a stressful situation that makes all the difference to your health. If things are not going your way, you may react by getting angry and revengeful, others may react by withdrawing and getting depressed, some of you may remain very cool and collected in the same situation and so on.

World Health Organisation tips to protect against cancer, heart diseases and diabetes.

"Eating vegetables doesn't stop cancer" was reported by many newspapers but did the results actually say?

The results, from a study titled European Prospective Investigation into Cancer Nutrition (EPIC), which was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that eating five servings of fruits and vegetables in a day, has a much more modest effect on cancer protection, than was previously reported.

The study went against the current understanding and it worried health experts. This is because eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily - as recommended by the World Health Organisation - can protect against several other diseases including heart diseases and diabetes.

A reputed medical journal, 'The Lancet', contained an editorial last week which emphasised that the five-fruits-and-vegetable-servings-a-day campaign is still an incredibly important public health initiative.

It has been found that people who ate more than five servings in a day had a 26 percent lower risk of heart stroke when compared with those who ate less than three servings.

Eating fruits and vegetables can help maintain a healthy bodyweight, which can reduce the risk of cancer since obesity is second only to smoking as a preventable cause, according to the editorial. Fruits and vegetables are a good source of fibre and eating a high fibre diet can help prevent bowel cancer.