Take 5

1. Track your caloric intake. Keep a food diary.

2. Exercise regularly with following precautions:

Avoid early morning walks.
Don't walk against cold winds.
Clad well and avoid wind chill.
Choose an indoor exercise alternative (treadmill) etc.

3. Monitor blood pressure.

4. Drink plenty of fluids. Increase intake of soups and hot liquids.

5. Moderate alcohol consumption: Alcohol dilates blood vessels near the body's surface giving a feeling of warmth. But as the body's heat escapes alcohol cools the inner body. Moderation is the rule.

Did you know?

1 Several physiological and bio-chemical changes with the cold weather include:

The body tends to concentrate cholesterol, which means the cholesterol reading could be a bit higher in winters. The average total cholesterol can be 4-5 points higher in winters than in summers and for those with high cholesterol, the difference can be up to 11 points. The higher occurrence of cardio-vascular diseases in winters is well known.

Cold induced changes in blood composition include increase in red blood cell count, plasma cholesterol and plasma fibrinogen (protein responsible for clotting of blood), which increase risk of a clot formation and thereby a heart attack or stroke. Angina attacks also appear to be more in winters than in other times in the year.

Respiratory infections represent about 25 per cent of additional winter deaths.

2 Reduced sunlight is reported to affect moods, making some differences to our commitment to health goals. Some of us even suffer from 'seasonal affective disorder' (SAD), which can compromise health. Studies have suggested that there is increase in aches and pains in winter season as also increase in functional impairment associated with winter-seasonal depression up to 30 per cent.

Health Capsules

Brain changes may make older people more prone to scams

It's a frequent scenario. Two young con artists walk a retired high school teacher to the bank and fleece him out of $17,000. But why did the man, in his 70s, fall for it? It may be that older people are less able to identify shady characters, according to a study by Shelley Taylor of the University of California, Los Angeles, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. — Reuters

Teens may buy less tobacco when displays are hidden

A new study conducted using a virtual reality game suggests teens may be less likely to try to buy cigarettes at convenience stories if they aren't sold in plain sight behind the counter. Requiring stores to hide tobacco product displays is one option some states are considering to curb teen smoking after the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 was passed, according to the study's lead author. — Reuters Health

Eating love apples may check depression: study

Eating tomatoes just few times a week could halve your chances of suffering depression, claims a new study. Tomatoes are also called love apples in France.

Researchers analysed the mental health records and diet habits of around 1,000 men and women aged 70 or over.

They found that those eating tomatoes two to six times a week were 46 per cent less likely to suffer the blues than those eating them less than once a week, the Daily Mail reported.

Eating tomatoes every day slashed the risk by 52 per cent. Other fruits and vegetables like cabbage, carrots, onions and pumpkins do not have the same benefits, the study found. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants, are a good source of lycopene, an antioxidant that gives them their red colour and has been linked with reducing the risk of prostate cancer and heart attacks.

Researchers from China and Japan, led by Dr Kaijun Niu from China's Tianjin Medical University, were investigating preliminary reports that lycopene might also promote psychological and physical health by reducing oxidative stress, or damage to healthy brain cells."These results suggest that a tomato-rich diet may have a beneficial effect on the prevention of depressive symptoms," researchers said. The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. — PTI

Male reproductive health declining

The reproductive health of the average male is in sharp decline, the world's largest study of the quality and concentration of sperm has found. Between 1989 and 2005, average sperm counts fell by a third in the study of 26,000 men, increasing their risk of infertility. The proportion of healthy sperm was also reduced, by a similar proportion. The decline occurred progressively throughout the 17-year period, suggesting that it could be continuing.

The latest research was conducted in France and published in the journal Human Reproduction. But British experts say it has global implications. The worldwide fall in sperm counts has been accompanied by a rise in testicular cancer - rates have doubled in the last 30 years - and in other male sexual disorders such as undescended testes.

Richard Sharpe, professor of reproductive health at the University of Edinburgh, said, "Most likely factors are…a high fat diet and environmental chemical exposures."

Researchers from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire, St Maurice, used data from 126 fertility clinics in France which had collected semen samples from the male partners of women with blocked or missing fallopian tubes. The men, whose average age was 35, did not have fertility problems of their own and were therefore considered representative of the general male population.

Combined with other social trends, such as delayed childbearing which reduces female fertility, the decline in male sperm counts could signal a growing crisis for couples hoping for a family. At age 35, female fertility is around half what it is between the ages of 20 and 25, Professor Sharpe said. –The Independent