The best health advice from 2019

From napping to tattoos, here's what the experts had to say

A jogger.
(Image credit: m-imagephotography/iStock)

Napping may boost your heart health. That's the finding of researchers in Switzer­land, who tracked 3,462 healthy adults for five years. Those who dozed for five minutes to an hour once or twice a week were 48 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure than those who never snoozed in the daytime. Napping longer or more often didn't deliver any additional health benefits. Lead author Na­dine Häus­ler says it's still unclear how napping might influence heart health. "Our best guess," she says, "is that a daytime nap just releases stress from insufficient sleep."

Eating mushrooms could lower your chances of developing memory problems in later life. A study involving 663 Chinese men and women found that those who ate one or two 5-ounce portions of mushrooms a week had a 43 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment — a precursor to Alzheimer's — than participants who consumed less than one. Those who ate more than two portions had a 52 per­cent reduced risk. Lead author Lei Feng says the most likely explanation for this "dramatic effect" is that the fungi contain antioxidants that protect neurons from damage.

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