Watch Your Mouth

Less stress and anger equals better oral hygiene. So says a team of dentists from the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health.

Their study, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association (December 2003), found that men who reported being angry and stressed out on a daily basis had a 43 percent higher risk of developing periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease, than men who reported seldom being angry.

The study included 42,523 US-based, health-professional men between the ages of 40 and 75. More than half the study participants were dentists. None of the men had gum disease at the start of the study.

The men who had at least one close friend had a 30 percent lower risk of developing periodontitis compared with those who did not have a close friend.

Men who participated in religious meetings or services had a 27 percent lower risk of developing periodontitis than men who did not.

Men with the highest anger scores were 72 percent more likely to have periodontitis than men whose anger scores were in the lowest percentile.

It’s no surprise the researchers concluded that “reduced social isolation and anger expression may play an important role in maintaining oral health, as well as general health and well-being.”

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10 Energy Boosters for Women

How energetic are you? Are you a morning person who bounces out of bed to welcome the start of another day? Or do you warm up more slowly, reaching a sluggish peak sometime after your third coffee? Most women find themselves somewhere between these two extremes, with many of us suffering from less-than-ideal energy levels.

Low energy is a very common concern and often results from a combination of environmental, physical, and emotional factors. Finding out about these influences may help you boost your energy stores to optimize your enjoyment of life every day.

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Water Immune Booster

Walking on water may be reserved to a select few, but walking in water is a simple immune-boosting treatment anyone can do. This form of hydrotherapy—called dew walking or water stepping—was one of many pioneered by Father Sebastian Kneipp in the 19th century.

When you go dew walking, remember to warm up your feet first, then take a five-minute walk early in the morning on the wet grass. As you walk, you increase your lower-body circulation and tone your muscles, veins and immune system. Dry off your feet and put on warm socks.

Water stepping can be done in a large bucket or a bathtub. Be sure to warm up your body through exercise or a footbath before you begin. There should be a big difference between your skin temperature and the water temperature; a difference of at least 10 C is most effective in a cold water treatment.

Lift one leg completely out of the cold water before immersing the other leg. The difference between the warm air and the cold water produces a healing effect, easing vascular headaches, mild hypertension and vulnerability to infections. Ten minutes after a cold treatment follow with a warm application to reheat the body.

Taking a full bath in cold water for 10 seconds can also increase your metabolism, immunity and circulation.

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