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Some incentives to get off the sofa and burn a calorie work better than others. Here’s one that, for me, works very well indeed.

A team of British scientists analysed the results of 10 separate studies involving about 1250 people to try to determine what affects mental wellbeing. That’s a fancy way of saying mood.

What the scientists came up with as the best way to raise spirits was sweet: a five-minute walk in natural surroundings.

The type of exercise is not important – you can cycle or row or skate or jump on a pogo-stick – and you don’t have to limit it to five minutes if you want to stay out longer.

It’s just that, if you find a park or a beach, and do some exercise in it, it is going to lift your mood. And the biggest lift comes in the first five minutes.

The effects were stronger if there was water nearby – so the beach or a park with a lake is best – and the biggest benefits were in young people and mentally ill people.

Study leader Jules Pretty, of the University of Essex, said those who were generally inactive, or stressed, or with mental illness would probably benefit the most from green exercise.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the British mental health charity Mind, said the research was further evidence that even a short period of green exercise could provide a low-cost and drug-free therapy to help improve mental wellbeing.

"It's important that people experiencing depression can be given the option of a range of treatments, and we would like to see all doctors considering exercise as a treatment where appropriate."

The research results were published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Exercise, Health, Psychology

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Smile if you want to live a long time

March 27th 2010 06:37

Julia Roberts, whose smile is the only Earth feature visible from Alpha Centauri, is expected to live longer than most of the known planets.

The secret of a long life could be in your face — in the width of your smile and in the depth of the smile lines around your eyes.

That is the conclusion of a study just published by researchers at Wayne State University in Michigan. They studied photographs, all taken from the 1952 Baseball Register, of more than two hundred major league baseball players, and categorised them according to their smiles.

The categories were no smile, partial smile and full smile. A full smile required the mouth and eyes to be involved and both cheeks to be raised.

They aren't all dead yet, these sports stars of almost 60 years ago, but of those who are, the no-smilers lived an average of 72.9 years, the partial smilers an average 75.0 years, and the full-smile players an average 79.9 years.

"To the extent that smile intensity reflects an underlying emotional disposition, the results of this study are congruent with those of other studies demonstrating that emotions have a positive relationship with mental health, physical health and longevity," the researchers said.

The results were published this week in Psychological Science.

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Health, Psychology

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Do you prefer your men macho or nerdy?

March 17th 2010 10:08

Muscles or metrosexual? Stubble or sanitised? A farter or a flosser?

The question is one which apparently has received insufficient attention in the past, so psychologists from Scotland's University of Aberdeen decided to look into it. Specifically, they tested a theory that macho tendencies in men are a sign of genetic health, and that this in turn affects women who instinctively look for mates likely to produce offspring with the best chance of survival.

The psychologists got on the internet and recruited more than 4,500 women, all in their early 20s, spread around 30 countries. Things then got simple. The women were shown 20 pairs of photographs, each pair of the same guy but with features photoshopped to make the man look nerdy (slim-jawed and feminine) in one and macho (square-jawed and masculine) in the other.

What the study found was that preference for stubbled hunks declined the healthier the society. The study used the "national health index", a basket of indices developed by the World Health Organisation, to relate the findings, and discovered that the lower a country's NHI rating, the more that country's women were attracted to the strong, silent and hairy knuckle-draggers.

"Our prediction was correct," lead researcher Lisa DeBruine said. "Women from countries with poorer health did prefer masculine men more."

In other words, the fact that mating choices differ from country to country, and culture to culture, is due entirely to political and socio-economic considerations. Underneath all that, women share the same biological drive.

The research went further, however, in determining that women who choose macho men as a preferable influence in the pre-natal arena, do not necessarily see that same man as a positive, or even necessary, fixture in the post-natal process.

"Indeed, there is compelling evidence that women ascribe antisocial traits and behaviours to masculine men," says the study. "Women perceive masculine men as dishonest, uncooperative, more interested in short-term than long-term relationships, and even as 'bad parents'."

The results of the study, we fear, will come as no surprise to many woman.
Agence France Presse; picture: images.buycostumes.com

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Life questions, Psychology

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Atheists, ethics and religion

February 12th 2010 10:14

Is it possible to live, work and play in an ethical way without the guiding hand and stabilising influence of religion?

According to a study at America's Harvard University, it is a result which some may dismiss as oxymoronic and others may dismiss as trivial

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