What do when you’re in a funk? Overeat? Sleep too much or not enough? Snap at your loved ones? Mess up at work? Well, at least you’re not alone with your blues: A whopping 49 percent of people report feeling cranky and glum at least once a week. But did you know down-in-the-dumps feelings stimulate health-threatening inflammation and trigger brain changes that make high-fat, high-sugar foods look extra-tempting?

Great reasons to take bad moods seriously – and to have a rescue plan ready the next time a tough commute, nasty boss or a piece of unwelcome news dampens your day. The goal: Lift your spirits before you skip your lunchtime walk and head to a nasty vending machine instead. Dealing with negative moods in a healthy way can help you sidestep weight gain and increased stress, avoid heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and more. You have control, so take it.

Here are a couple of steps to get you on your way to laying a good foundation for sound emotional health: Cultivate and cherish good friends; make sure you eat a healthy diet (fruit, veggies and good fats like fish and nuts boost your mood); take a 30-minute daily walk – proven to reduce depression; get a good night’s sleep; and practice daily stress relief such as meditation and yoga (any quiet, calming, repetitive activity). Even a vigorous weekly tennis match with a good buddy can help clear your brain and relieve stress. It’s also important to get professional help if you notice signs of depression.

But for a quick pick-you-up, here’s how to put a smile on your face and some bounce in your step.

Turn on the music. Cue up your favorite tunes, then tell yourself, “I’m planning to feel better and this music will help.” Keep that good intention in mind while the tunes play. One new study says that positive intention is an even more powerful mood-lifter than music alone.

Write down your negative thoughts – then rip them up and throw them away. There’s something powerful about the physical act of tossing aside gloomy thoughts. It seems to signal your brain in a dramatic way that you’re getting past the bad stuff. In contrast, putting glum thoughts on paper and keeping them around – such as in a journal – seems to tell your brain that you want to hold on to them and that means you’re more likely to replay them.

Pet a pet. Stroking Fido’s fur or Kitty’s silky coat boosts oxytocin, the cuddle hormone, as well as levels of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin. It also can lower blood pressure by an impressive 10 percent. (Fido’s blood pressure falls, too.) Don’t have a dog or cat? Spend some quality time with your neighbor’s pet.

Gaze at your favorite painting. Monet’s “Water Lilies”? A sensual Georgia O’Keefe flower? Whatever you favor, taking it in for a few minutes could increase blood flow in your brain by an energizing 10 percent – a boost on par with what happens when you look at someone you love. (Real flowers work too.) Try bookmarking your favorite visuals online. Make them your computer’s desktop image or keep postcards of them by your desk.

Bust a yoga move and laugh a little. Plenty of yoga practices slash stress and help you feel calmer, but if the yoga studio in your neighborhood isn’t yet offering laughter yoga, try this trend on your own. Think about something funny, then produce a laugh while you do a simple routine. (You’ll find an easy yoga routine at realage.com.) Just 20 minutes can boost your mood and improve heart rate, a sign of a healthy nervous system.

Unleash your inner rock-and-roll drummer. Beat out a rhythm on your desk, a kitchen pot or those old bongo drums you’ve had in the closet since 1978. Studies show that drumming lifts spirits fast. For even more fun, try it with another person.

There’s a quiet revolution unfolding inside the boxes, bags, cans and bottles on supermarket shelves. Food makers are trimming the blood-pressure-boosting sodium in some of their saltiest and most popular processed foods by as much as 33 percent. That’s great news, but don’t let headlines about this sodium-slashing success story stop you from taking another important step toward better blood pressure: Upping your potassium intake.

Potassium may be the missing mystery mineral in your own better-blood-pressure equation. Just one in 50 Americans gets enough of this good stuff, found in abundance in almost all produce, dairy products and beans. Potassium actively lowers blood pressure, in large part by buffering salt’s efforts to jack it up. Every 600-milligram increase in the amount of potassium you eat every day – that’s less than a cup of cooked spinach – lowers your BP by one point. Wow! And  that’s not all it does: It also helps with nerve functioning and muscle control (athletes may need extra – say, from a glass of fresh orange juice or a banana – after workouts).

But the scary news for the 30 percent of Americans with high blood pressure – and the additional 30 percent with prehypertension – is that most of us get twice as much sodium as potassium. A healthy balance between these two minerals should go the other way, with two to five times more potassium than sodium! Righting the balance is not so hard to do, and it could help you live longer. No wonder the World Health Organization recently called for a global increase in potassium intake. Here are six strategies to help you do that naturally:

Feast on leafy greens more often. Why not every day? Swiss chard and spinach are potassium all-stars, with one cup of cooked greens delivering more than 800 milligrams — one-sixth of the 4,700 milligrams you need daily. Cooked kale, cabbage, beet, mustard and turnip greens are also terrific sources, with about 300 milligrams per cup.

Keep potassium-boosters in the freezer.  Stock up on bags of convenient, no-waste, frozen chopped kale, collards, mustard greens and spinach (plain, without added sauces or sodium). We love them. You’ll never find wilted, slimy, oops-I-forgot-about-these greens languishing in the back of the fridge!

And in your cupboard.  Dried beans are another super source of potassium, with about 600 milligrams per cup when cooked.  No time to cook beans from scratch? Stockpile sodium-free canned beans in your pantry. Toss them into soups and stews, or microwave with a handful of frozen greens for a quick and healthy lunch.

Dive into spinach or romaine salad. While cooked spinach (steamed or boiled), added to soup or sauteed with olive oil and garlic, delivers a blood-pressure-pleasing percentage of your daily potassium requirement, going raw delivers an even bigger dose. Cooking can reduce levels of this mineral significantly; just blanching three-and-a-half ounces of spinach for a few minutes drops potassium levels 56 percent. So, opt for a salad made with spinach or potassium-rich romaine lettuce. Top those raw greens with potassium-rich tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, celery and bell pepper. And keep your potassium-sodium ratio in balance by dressing your salad with oil and vinegar rather than a salty bottled dressing.

Enjoy an old-fashioned baked potato. A medium-size baked white potato – if you eat the skin – nourishes you with 751 grams of potassium. Keep calories and fat in line: skip butter and sour cream, and try topping your tater with a dollop of Greek yogurt, or use a splash of flavorful balsamic vinegar on your potato. Add a generous sprinkle of black pepper, and dive in. (If you’re at a restaurant, order a baked spud instead of fries or mashed.)

Sneak in these seasonings and natural sweets. Spice things up with ginger and turmeric – both contain pressure-pampering potassium. How about a fruit salad made with potassium-rich strawberries, bananas and dried apricots topped with yogurt and a sprinkle of freshly grated ginger? You’ll say “yum” as your blood pressure hums.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2013 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

A new report says sky-high levels of a nasty blood fat called Lp(a) – short for lipoprotein (a) – double your risk for severe heart-valve damage, boosting odds that you’ll need a replacement valve sometime between ages 60 and 90. Lp(a) stiffens and clogs the walls of valves and arteries and the threat – and consequent need for surgery to repair it or install a new valve – is not rare.

Baby boomers and their older friends and relatives are dealing with the problem. (A quarter of adults 70-plus already have signs of heart-valve thickening; more than half of the more than 5,000 open-heart procedures at Cleveland Clinic now involve valve repair or replacement.) Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do NOW to safeguard your valves.

Valve 101: The four valves in your heart control the flow of blood to your lungs and to arteries that feed every cell in your body. A stenotic valve – it doesn’t open wide enough or close properly – reduces blood flow, causing fatigue, shortness of breath and even heart failure. It also boosts your risk for clots that cause heart attacks and strokes.

Risk factors include some things you can’t do much about: age, genetics – that’s the cause for 10 percent of folks with the condition – and having had rheumatic fever – a common complication of strep throat before antibiotics became the go-to treatment in the 1950s. But there are other triggers – such as high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and a double-wide waistline – that you can do something about.

Valve protection: Cleveland Clinic, where Dr. Mike works, routinely measures Lp(a) levels and recommends statins when those levels are high. In one study at the hospital’s Preventive Cardiology Clinic, people with high Lp(a) levels who took statins erased excess risk for heart-related deaths.

Now we think statins can help slash risk for valve problems. Studies have shown that in people with early signs of valve thickening, statins can cut the risk for serious valve harm by 36 percent. The trick? Start early, before your valves suffer damage.

One way to discover if you’re beginning to get valve damage is to get an echocardiogram. But even if your valves seem OK, if your Lp(a) levels are high, ask your doctor about taking a statin. A bonus: They’ll provide protection against other heart-health risks and may cut your risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Here are other ways you can protect your heart and heart valves from damage:

Keep a lid on your blood pressure. High blood pressure heats up your risk for damaged valves by as much as 74 percent. Eat less sodium – less processed and fast food – and get your fill of more blood-pressure-calming calcium, potassium and magnesium, found in low-fat or fat-free dairy, fruit, vegetables, beans and 100 percent whole grains. Watch your weight and fit in a half-hour walk every day; your cholesterol levels will benefit, too.

Kick that habit. Smoking more than doubles your risk for severe valve damage. Make a quit plan – check out our proven strategies at RealAge.com. Talk with your doc about crave-controlling medications and counseling support. Then, make it happen.

Cool off inflammation. Inflammatory compounds in your bloodstream have been linked to greater risk for stiff, calcium-speckled valves. So whittle your waistline, exercise regularly and decorate your plate with healthy foods such as fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, beans and 100 percent whole grains. And do not forget the added benefit of the odd omegas: DHA omega-3 (900 mg a day from fish or supplements), ALA omega-3 (from walnuts, flax, chia or avocados) and purified omega-7.

Already have stiff or damaged valves? Follow your doctor’s advice for avoiding infections, which pose an extra threat now. Get your vaccinations and you may need antibiotics before dental work or before some invasive medical tests. And ask your doc about adding a low-dose statin medication to any current regimen, even if your cholesterol levels are normal. Stay smart for your heart.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2013 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Some crazy diet tricks – like “calorie erasing” sprinkles and “fat melting” shorts – should be banished to the Weight Loss Hall of Shame. If you’re struggling with your New Year’s resolution to slim down, don’t be tempted by these or any other pounds-off scams that sound too good to be true. They always are. Instead, give this new, science-proven strategy a try: Better timing.

Eating by the clock (we’ll show you how) is a no-extra-willpower-required way to help you lose more pounds, boost satisfaction and stick with your weight-loss plan for the long haul. Just by working with your body’s natural rhythms and needs, you can boost diet success. The latest proof: A new Spanish report says eating your main meal earlier in the day could help you lose 29 percent more weight.

The researchers tracked the eating habits and body weight of 420 dieters who munched, on average, a slimming 1,400 calories a day. Those who ate their biggest meal of the day before 3 p.m. lost 22 pounds in 20 weeks, compared with 17 pounds for those who sat down to their main meal later on. Both groups got similar amounts of sleep and exercise, so those factors didn’t account for the difference. Another clue that when you eat – not just what you eat – is crucial for weight-loss success.

Why? We’re beginning to suspect that eating helps reset your body clock every day, the same way exposure to sunlight can. Downplaying or ignoring breakfast, then eating a major meal late in the day may throw off the timing that helps keep your metabolism humming – throwing it out of sync with the big body clock in your brain. This could mean the difference between calories getting burned for fuel or stored as fat after a meal.

Better-timing lesson: Start the day with breakfast and make sure you have some protein –there’s plenty of evidence that breakfast-eaters are slimmer. Then try to eat the biggest meal of your day at lunch. Keep dinner satisfying by diving into chunky, filling foods like salads, cooked and raw veggies, and veggie-packed soups, stews, stir-fries and casseroles. Then try these two additional ways to turbocharge weight loss while factoring your new, better timing into the equation.

Slow down. Making meals last longer boosts release of appetite-satisfaction hormones that help you feel full. People who spent 30 minutes eating a bowl of ice cream had 25 percent to 30 percent higher levels of two key I-do-not-feel-hungry-any-longer hormones (peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1) than those who wolfed down their treats in just five minutes. Slow eaters also saw levels of these hormones remain elevated for the next two and a half hours.

Better-timing lesson: Linger over your meals. Put utensils down between bites, make conversation, listen to music while you eat or just take in the view from your kitchen or dining-room window. Don’t sit in front of the television; it’s always important to eat mindfully and savor every bite!

Take time off. Yup, breaking your weight-loss diet now and then could help you stick with it. In one fascinating study, researchers found that people who took time off – they stopped counting calories and didn’t weigh themselves – lost just as much weight as people who dieted continuously for 11 months. Why? Knowing you’ll get a vacation soon makes it easier to resist temptation today.

Better-timing lesson: If you find you’ve been cheating a lot lately, reset your mealtime clock. Then, once you’re back on schedule, give yourself a break. Take the weekend off, declare a “no diet” day once a month in the middle of the week, or if you’re on a long-term weight-loss plan, give yourself a whole week off. Make sure you stick to healthy indulgences, like six walnut halves, half an ounce of dark chocolate twice a day or your favorite fruit. And don’t forget to stay with veggie and lean protein main dishes.

 

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2013 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Fans of this column know we’re big on good fats, especially the family of heart-friendly, inflammation-cooling omega fatty acids found in olive oil, fatty fish and certain supplements. Lately, a lesser-known omega-3 called ALA (short for alpha-linolenic acid) has stepped out of the shadows – and hopefully onto your plate. ALA is a plant-based omega-3 found in abundance in walnuts (Dr. Mike eats ‘em roasted; Dr. Oz loves ‘em soaked in water), avocado, flax and chia seeds. It’s also in the trendy salad green called purslane.

Long overshadowed by its spotlight-hogging, good-fat bros such as the omega-3s called DHA and EPA (we recommend 900 mg of algal oil DHA a day as a supplement; it converts to EPA), ALA is now coming into its own. Here’s a list of some of its superpowers:

Reduces heart-attack risk by 60 percent or more. Getting 1 gram of ALA a day – the amount in just five walnut halves – reduces odds for heart attacks and heart-attack-related deaths significantly.

Slashes levels of lousy LDL cholesterol. Getting 3.4 grams of ALA a day – that takes 18 walnut halves, or 4-5 tablespoons of ground flaxseed – can lower heart-menacing LDL cholesterol by 7 percent to 13 percent. Bonus: Adding ALA also tames a blood fat called lipoprotein (a) by 14 percent. Big news, because lipoprotein (a) is an extra-nasty type of LDL cholesterol that paves artery walls with gunky, heart-attack-triggering plaque.

Boosts blood-sugar processing. A daily supply of ALA from food can heighten your body’s sensitivity to insulin – the hormone that lets cells convert blood sugar to energy. That’s big news, because increasing insulin sensitivity reduces blood sugar levels and therefore lessens the chances you’ll develop diabetes and its complications.

If you’re taking steps to make sure you get more omega-3s by eating fish three times a week and/or taking a fish oil or algal oil supplement daily, give yourself just half of a pat on the back. Turns out these strategies won’t supply ALA or some other important fatty acids that we’ll mention in a minute.

How much ALA do you need? The Institute of Medicine, which establishes nutrient requirements, recommends 1.1 to 1.6 grams a day. You’ll get that much from six to nine walnut halves; but 14 halves – or 1 ounce – contains 2.5 grams of ALA, and more definitely is better! Meanwhile, a single tablespoon of flaxseed oil packs 7.3 grams, a tablespoon of ground flax seeds or ground chia seeds delivers about 1.6 grams, and a tablespoon of walnut oil (great on a salad) or canola oil (use in place of butter) delivers about 1.3 grams. One serving of leafy, green purslane (the veggie that’s highest in ALA) has 0.4 grams. One cup of sliced avocado has 0.16 grams.

So, what’s the best way to invite ALA and the rest of the healthy omega fatty acids over for a meal? Just take these three yummy steps:

No. 1. Add ALAs. Toss ground flaxseed into a smoothie. Use chia instead of wheat as a grain in baking. Try a chia muffin for breakfast. Keep a bag of walnuts handy for when you need a quick energy boost. Sprinkle them on your oatmeal and yogurt or puree into walnut butter or pesto. Mix up your salad by adding purslane to traditional greens.

No. 2. Get 900 mg of DHA omega-3 daily. This is great for your heart, for a quick and happy brain and for your love life. Aim for three servings of salmon or trout a week and/or take an algal oil or fish oil capsule daily. As we said before, your body converts some DHA into another helpful omega-3, EPA.

No. 3. Go for other odd-numbered omegas. Get inflammation-cooling, artery-protecting omega-7s (420 mg a day, as a purified supplement) and use olive oil whenever possible. It provides omega-9. And enjoy pomegranate seeds as a source of that other odd omega – omega-5. Now you’re getting three varieties of omega-3s (DHA, EPA and ALA) plus omega-5, -7 and -9. BRAVO!!!

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information go to www.RealAge.com. (c) 2013 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.