Trying to shed a few pounds? It’ll be easier to skip high-calorie treats when you carry a photo of a new swimsuit or dress you want to fit into and look at it whenever cravings strike. A new University of Texas at Austin study shows that having a strong reminder of the long-term benefits of not giving in to temptation—such as fitting into a smaller size—makes it significantly easier to stick to a diet plan since folks tend to focus on the short-term benefits of giving in—such as how good the treat will taste.
[photo: Alaskan Dude]
Love sandal season, but aren’t ready to show your toes? Good news: All you need is the right kind of babying to make your feet ready for your even your skimpiest warm weather footwear. Here’s what dermatologist Richard Scher, M.D., recommends for getting beautiful-looking feet fast:
Next time you twist your ankle, have menstrual cramps or are suffering another type of discomfort, try breathing slowly. Study volunteers who took in 50% fewer breaths per minute experienced significantly less pain when heat was applied to their palms than when they breathed normally, reports the journal PAIN. Research shows that breathing slow relaxes tense muscles and relieves anxiety—two factors that make pain sensations more intense.
Or where you laid your purse, eyeglasses or the remote control? You may have better luck finding them when you cut down on your intake of sugary foods. In a recent Georgia State University study, scientists found that a diet high in sweets impaired spatial memory—the type needed to recall where you placed items—by raising levels of triglycerides, a fat that interferes with brain signals needed to boost memory.
A lavender sachet. Long known to soothe the jangled nerves of humans, the scent of lavender has now been shown to calm anxious dogs who are traveling by car, making them more likely to lay down quietly and less inclined to move around or bark, reveals a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Even better? Unlike pricey pet tranquilizers, breathing in the scent of lavender has no dangerous side effects.
Burning a scented candle or spraying a room with your favorite air freshener doesn’t only make your home smell wonderful, it stimulates areas of the brain that change your mood. “Scents can generate reactions in the frontal lobe and the hypothalamus that influence behaviors and personalities,” says Alan Hirsch, M.D., Founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. According to his research, if you want to be more… 
Imagine you’re out on a mani/pedi date with your BFF when, in between coats of Lickable Pink, she suddenly slumps to the floor and stops breathing. Can you remember enough CPR training you learned from Girl Scouts mumble-mumble years ago to save her life?
Check on an elderly neighbor, return cash to a cashier who gave you too much change or do another nice deed. Just like Mom insisted, beauty really does come from the inside, report researchers in the journal Personal Relationships. In their study, volunteers who were asked to rate the attractiveness of strangers in photos actually changed their views after learning how nice they were. Folks who were friendly and honest were perceived as better looking while those who were unfair or rude were perceived as less attractive!
It worked for hundreds of Cornell University students in a recent experiment. Those who chewed gum prior to and during test-taking scored, on average, 30 points better than those who didn’t chew. Shocked? So were the students! Upon announcing the findings, “you could literally hear a gasp from the class,” says Edward McLaughlin, Ph.D., who conducted the study. So, was it a special ingredient in the gum? Nope—past studies show that the simple act of chewing gum eases anxiety, increases your focus and makes it easier to recall information.
When you don’t enough zzz’s, it triggers a shutdown of your prefrontal lobe, a part of your brain that keeps emotions under control. The result? You’re more likely to act irrationally and dramatically overreact to negative situations—such as spilling your drink or someone showing up late to a meeting, according to a new brain imaging study from researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Berkeley. “Sleep appears to restore our emotional brain circuits, and in doing so prepares us for the next day’s challenges and social interactions,” the study authors explain.
It’s your multivitamin! A recent National Institutes of Health study reveals that the body cells of women who pop one every day are biologically younger than those who skip them. Credit goes to the micronutrients they contain, which help fend off free radical damage and chronic inflammation that age your body faster, says lead study author Honglei Chen, M.D., Ph.D..