Nutrition Corner

Food Trends Worth Chewing Over: Before you put your money into restaurants -- their stocks, not their menus -- you'll want to listen to this.

The Best Things to Eat and Drink When You're Sick and Feel Like Trash: Having a cold or the flu can be draining and zap your appetite, but loading up on these nutrient-rich foods can help you feel better.

Recipe for The Day

Grandma's Orange Ginger Carrots Recipe Is What to Make For Thanksgiving: Don't wait until Thanksgiving to enjoy these carrots! They are a wonderful side dish any day of the week with chicken, lamb, beef, pork or even seafood.

Lifestyle & Fitness Focus

4 Best Brain Exercises To Stay Mentally Sharp as You Age

• Stimulate your sense of smell: Your sense of smell is directly integrated into the emotional centers and the memory centers of your brain. So, by stimulating your sense of smell—with novel odors or a mixture thereof—you are not only evoking emotion, but are also stoking the neurologic pathways that build memories and reducing neuroinflammation, the underpinning of neurodegenerative diseases.

• Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth: An excellent way to challenge your contralateral brain (the right side for most individuals) is to brush your teeth using your non-dominant hand! This will promote the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that facilitates synapse formation (neuron-to-neuron connectivity) not only locally, but throughout the brain.

• Balance on one foot for 30 seconds: Put your balance to the test by standing on one foot for just 30 seconds. Do this exercise on each leg for 30 seconds a day.

• Perform strength training: Lifting weights 'lights up' large motor pathways in the brain and spinal cord. It also promotes the synthesis of BDNF and lowers cortisol (our primary stress hormone), thereby facilitating sleep.

Working Out in the Morning: 5 Benefits

• Wave goodbye to cravings: Exercise at any time of day decreases your level of the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin. But morning workouts do something even more magical. One study of the brain activity of 35 women suggested morning exercise made participants less emotionally responsive to photos of food.

• Stay more active all day: Morning classes jump-start your activity for the whole day. In the same study of women looking at food photos, researchers found that participants were more likely to stay active all day if they exercised in the morning.

• Keep blood sugar under control: If you have type 1 diabetes (T1D), you know managing blood sugar is a big deal. And since exercise messes with your sugar levels, scheduling healthy workouts can be a challenge. A 2015 study concluded that morning workouts are the safest bet for people with T1D. Researchers think it’s because your level of the hormone cortisol, which helps regulate blood sugar, is higher in the morning.

• Be happier: Yep, exercise gets those endorphins flowing. It’s just science. Imagine starting your day with good vibes instead of clutching your latte like a life preserver until 10 a.m. It’s worth a shot.

• Build muscles faster: You might not be in iron-pumping mode the minute you roll out of bed in the morning, but the National Institute of Fitness and Sport reports that’s actually when your testosterone levels are at their highest. And testosterone means your body is primed for building muscle. Take advantage of that morning time slot if you’re trying to get stronger.

4 Health Benefits Of Watermelon

• Strengthening of bones: The calcium in watermelon seeds helps in strengthening the bones. The mineral also promotes healthy muscles and aids the growth of nerves.

• Strengthening of immunity: Zinc is a key requirement for the body’s strong immune response. This micro-nutrient is present in generous quantities in watermelon seeds. Zinc also aids the production and stimulation of cells that fight infections.

• Improvement in digestion: The fibre and unsaturated fat in watermelon seeds improve the health of the digestive system. The watermelon fruit and its seeds also make the process of digestion smoother.

• Lowering of cholesterol: Healthy fats such as mono-saturated fatty acid and poly-saturated fatty acid are present in watermelon seeds. They lower the cholesterol levels in the blood, thereby reducing the chances of heart attacks and stroke.

4 best ab exercises for sculpting and strengthening your oblique muscles

• Palloff Press: This anti-rotational movement is all about not twisting. Yet it’s still one of the best core exercises to strengthen your obliques. It also recruits your body as a unit, meaning the muscle groups must work together to keep you stable.

• Dumbbell Windshield Wipers: Cross the oblique activation of the Russian twist, with the isometric hold of a leg lift, and you’ve got yourself a core-crushing windshield wiper.

• Dumbbell Overhead Suitcase Carry: Develop shoulder strength and stability and build stronger obliques with this suitcase carry variation. The unilateral exercise helps develop coordination, balance and strength.

• Copenhagen Plank: We had to throw an isometric exercise into the mix, right? Not all ab exercises require movement. Some can be executed by resisting gravity and staying as still as possible while contracting various muscle groups, big and small.

Get In The Inbox of 100K+ American Health Readers

Advertise with American Health to get your brand in front of thousands of Americans who are always looking for their next interesting product.

Why American Health? American Health is your go-to source for all things related to health and wellness. Our newsletter is dedicated to keeping you informed about the latest developments in healthcare, fitness, nutrition, and overall well-being. Whether you're looking for tips on leading a healthier lifestyle, staying up-to-date with healthcare policy changes, or exploring the latest trends in wellness, we've got you covered.

Help Share American Health

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if more people read fact-focused, health news? Take a minute to share this digest with your friends–they’ll thank you for it!

Send us your feedback at [email protected]. We’re ready to listen.