Are you siting more than ever？Take a moment to think about your sitting activities.You're probably sitting while reading this.Sometimes you sit when you are driving or at ending a meeting.Other times you sit when you watch a movie or play computer games.That undoubtedly a lot of sitting.The fact is，the amount of tie spent sitting has increased over time.As of today，an adult will spend 56-86% of their daily times sitting.
We know sitting too much is bad，and most of us naturally feel a little guilty（内疚的） after a long-time TV watching.But what exactly goes wrong when we park ourselves for nearly 8 hours a day？A study on nearly 8，000 adults suggests that there's a direct relationship between the tie spent siting and our risk of early death of any cause.As the total sitting time increases，so does the risk of early death.
"Sit less，move more" is what the Heart Association encourages us to do.But this guideline is just too simple and abstract（抽象的） to make a difference.It is like telling someone to just "exercise" without telling them how.Exercise guidelines are always more practical.For example，the Center for Disease Control advises adults to do exercise for two hours and 30 minutes every week，plus muscle strengthening activities two or more days a week.We need similar guidelines for sitting.
To make up the weakness，a research team is working on more specific guidelines. "It would probably be like this：for every 30 continuous minutes of sitting，standup and move or walk for five minutes at a quick pace，" Diaz，the lead researcher said，adding that the study has put us a step closer to the satisfying（满意的） guidelines.But more researches are needed to confirm（证实） their ways.
You are always told to wash your hands before you eat. You know you must wash your hands after going to the bathroom. You should wash your hands many times during the day. Do you know how to wash your hands correctly?
Always use soap to wash your hands. After turning on the tap (水龙头) and wetting your hands, you can rub (摩擦) your hands with soap. Soap may not kill all the germs (细菌), but it can wash away the oil on your skin. As the oil is washed away, the germs will leave your hands and go away.
You should wash your hands for 15-20 seconds. How do you know the length (长度) of 15-20 seconds? You can sing ABC Song. By the time you get to the last note, your hands will be clean!
Rub your hands together. You can use one hand to rub the back of the other hand and then exchange two hands. You also need to rub between your fingers. Don't forget to rub under and around your fingernails.
Maybe your hands don't look dirty, but there are germs on them. Germs are too small for you to see. They are on your hands all the time. Many illnesses are caused by germs, so you should often wash your hands.
For most of us, stress is a fact of life. But there are many useful ways to lower stress. Let's take a look.
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Sometimes it can be difficult to say exactly what we're feeling. When we feel uneasy or disappointed, we can put problems into words. Keeping a diary is a good way to relax. |
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If we get angry |
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When we get nervous or upset before a test, take a few deep breaths. |
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Enough sleep helps us keep clear minds. Without plenty of rest, it is hard to pay attention to our study or work. |
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Actually, the most important way that we can lower stress is to have a healthy lifestyle. Especially exercise is a key part of staying healthy and good for both physical and mental health. |
If you ever run into Brad Pitt, chances are he won't recognize (识别) you the second time around. That's because the famous actor has face blindness (脸盲症).
Face blindness, is the inability to recognize or remember faces, including one's own. It can cause problems in relationships and in the workplace. Some people with face blindness also have difficulty recognizing animals and telling the differences between objects, such as cars. Others have a much harder time and experience nervousness, depression and fear of social situations.
There are two main kinds of face blindness. Acquired face blindness is caused by brain damage (损伤). Harm to the right side of the brain is more likely to influence your ability to recognize faces you used to know. It is lesser-known and may take a turn for the better. The other main kind of face blindness is born with or developmental, which is much more common. Although it was considered hard-to-find before, scientists now estimate (估计) as much as 2.5 percent of Americans may be developing it. The cause of developmental face blindness is still unknown, but it does appear to run in families. A person with the second kind of face blindness never fully develops the ability to recognize faces.
Adults with face blindness may not realize that other people can recognize and remember faces. They may think they are the "normal" ones. However, a person who develops face blindness following a damage may notice the loss of the ability right away. Children with the illness may have trouble making friends, since they can't easily recognize others. They usually befriend people with easily recognizable features (特征). They may also find it difficult to tell family members apart according to sight or tell the differences between characters in movies.
At present, there is no treatment for face blindness. However, there are training programs to help these people, such as focusing on the voice, hairstyle and clothing. It may help to make a list of features in mind, such as tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and remember them rather than trying to recall the face. Sometimes it's the easiest to simply let people know that you have trouble with faces.
Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction (上瘾). When we eat or drink sugary food, the sugar enters our blood and influences parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a stronger effect.
"It seems like every time I study an illness, I find my way back to sugar," says Richard Johnson, a famous scientist. One-third of adults in his country have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million have diabetes (糖尿病). Why? "Sugar, we believe, is one of the main reasons," says Johnson.
Our bodies are designed to live on very little sugar. Early humans often had little food, so the bodies learned to keep sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very important thing that once saved us may now be killing us.
It's clear that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today's world, it's very difficult to avoid sugar because our foods are increasingly filled with it. In most advertisements, some manufactures even use sugar to take the place of the fat in foods. As a result, the fat in the foods is less. This may make the food appear healthier, but much sugar is often added.
But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are offering more fruit instead of desserts. Other schools are building places for students to do exercise. The battle (战斗) has not yet been lost.
From high-fat meals to low-fat lunches, much of our health depends on what we eat. We know it's great to eat correctly for our physical health, but cooking food can be good for our mental(心理的) health as well.
Mark Salter, a doctor, told the BBC:" Baking(烘焙) and cooking are good feelings. They help patients develop planning skills, short-term memories and social skills-short of which may cause mental illness. "
TV famous cook and writer Nadiya Hussain agrees that cooking is great for helping our mind. She loves to bake and became the winner of the TV show, The Great British Bake Off. And she thinks that baking is an important tool for our mental health.
Certainly, creating some delicious food takes our mind off unhappy things and gives us something to do, helping us get through the recent doldrums. It makes you feel pleased again. People have said that mixing dough(生面团) to make bread, for example, has given them a sense of calm and control. Research has shown that doing creative tasks, like cooking, makes us feel happier.
Of course, cooking can be a very sociable activity and sharing the end result, a rewarding experience. Hopefully, as we start to mix with friends and family again, we can enjoy the benefits once more and put us all in the right state of mind.
March 21 is World Sleep Day. Here are some facts about sleep.
Sleep at advised times
In 2021, the Ministry of Education（MOE）advised that junior and senior high school students should go to bed before 10 pm and 11 pm respectively（分别的）.
How do astronauts sleep?
Just like on Earth, a person in space goes to bed at night and then wakes up the next day. But in space there is no up or down, and you do not feel the pull of gravity（重力）. As a result, astronauts usually sleep in fixed sleeping bags.
Earworms happen while sleeping
Some people enjoy listening to music a lot. While we' re awake, the music we know well keeps ringing in our ears, which is called earworms（耳虫现象）. This can happen during sleep as well, which could cause problems in getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Sleep with your pet?
Pets, like dogs and cats, do not sleep continuously and they will often get up and walk on the bed, which can make you sleep even worse.
But recent studies found that having pets in the bed may help people who are often worried. The pets, like soft toys, can help cut down their worry.
Socks can help us sleep
Studies have shown that wearing socks to bed can help you fall asleep faster!
Hands and feet help exchange（交换）heat between the far ends of the body and the heart. Wearing socks means an increase of blood to your hands and feet, which cuts down your core（核心的）body temperature. The lower the core body temperature is, the faster you fall asleep.
Being sad or in a low mood is a normal (正常的) part of life. Many people feel down from time to time. For example, when people face challenging events in their lives, such as financial(经济的) difficulty or major changes, it's common to feel down. But in most cases the bad feelings slowly disappear.
As for depression(抑郁症), however, the bad mood lasts for weeks, months, or ever longer because it is a mental(精神的) illness. As the World Health Organization (WHO) noted, depression is a mood disorder. It shows in different ways, including loss of interest in normal activities and feelings of low self-worth. It often lasts for a long time and greatly harms a person's ability at work or school or in the daily life. People with depression usually don't like to talk about their problems with others. More seriously, depression may even lead to the act of killing oneself.
"Depression is not just a bout(一阵) of sadness or a sign of weakness, and you can't just simply stop feeling depressed." said the health news website www.mayoclinie.com.
But depression is not a person's problem. It's also more common than most people think. It is hurting about 280 million people around the world, according to WHO.
Though depression is worrying, we don't have to be afraid of it. Depression can be treated by getting professional(专业的) help, taking medicine or a mixed treatment of both. In fact, when you begin to feel the danger of depression, you can try to deal with it early by yourself. Listening to music, doing some sports and drawing some pictures might help you feel better. Another useful way is talk therapy. When we are attacked by a low mood, having a conversation with others is of great help. Being honest about how we feel does not make us weak, it makes us human.
Many of us don't pay atention to the importance of eye care. It's said that if you take care of your body, then you can be healthy. That is why our eyes should be given a lot of care. Natural eye care should be put in a number one place.
There are several causes leading to poor eyesight, like not enough food, genes(基因) and aging(年龄增长). Televisions, computers and reading are also the causes of having poor eyesight.
If you happen to work in front of the computer, it is best to take a rest every once in a while. Something dirty can cause redness and they will make you feel uncomfortable. It is bad for your eyes, too. If this happens, the best way is to clean your eyes by using cold water. You must also try your best to protect your eyes from harmful things. For example, sunglasses are not just fashion, but they can also serve as a great way to protect your eyesight from UV rays.
Eating healthy foods will do good for your eyesight. Remember that vitamins(维生素)A, C and E are good for eyes. Try to eat food groups that have these vitamins. And you should do eye exercises because exercise protects your eyesight, too. If a person exercises regularly(规律地) and eats the right kind of food, his eyes will stay in good condition for a long time.
All above are natural ways of eye care that help us keep healthy eyes. Being happy all the time can be helpful to a person's eyesight, t, In a word, eye care is very important, no matter how old a person is.
Do you want to live a happier life? Try laughing for no reason at all. That's how thousands of people start their day at Laughter Clubs around the world.
Many doctors are interested in the effects of laughter on our health. According to a 5-year study，laughter improves our health against illness by about 40%. They think that having a good laugh might be one of the best ways to stay healthy.
The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai，India，in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria. ""Everyone's naturally good at laughing. We want people to feel happy with their lives，"says Dr. Kataria. There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1，300 worldwide.
So，what happens at a Laughter Club? I went to my nearest club in South London to find out. I was quite nervous at the beginning of the class，to be honest-I didn't like laughing with a group of strangers. Our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands and say" ho ho ho, ha ha ha" while looking at each other. Although our bodies can't tell the difference between fake（假的）laughter and real laughter，they still have the same healthy effects.
After ten minutes，everybody in the room was laughing genuinely（真诚地）, and some people just couldn't stop laughing! At the end of the class I was surprised by how relaxed and comfortable I felt. So if you're under stress, then start laughing. You might be very pleased with the results!
music has a wonderful influence on our feelings. When we feel sad, it fills our hearts with warmth. 
