Your health: What makes you happy?

Happiness myths

People tend to be poor judges of what will make them happy. The Harvard Medical School has come up with some widely held myths about what will bring happiness:

Money and material things. The question of whether money can buy happiness has, for more than 30 years, been addressed by the “Easterlin paradox,” a concept developed by economist Richard Easterlin. His research showed that people in poor countries are happier when their basic necessities are covered. But any money beyond that doesn’t make much difference in happiness level.

Being young and physically attractive has little or no bearing on happiness. In a study published by Easterlin in 2006 in the Journal of Economic Psychology, not only did being young fail to contribute to happiness, but adults grew steadily happier as they moved into and through middle age.

Children can be a tremendous source of joy and fulfillment, but their day-to-day care is demanding and can increase stress, financial pressures and marital strife.

Walking plan

Leslie Sansone holds to the philosophy that exercise doesn’t have to be high-impact. If you like to walk but the treadmill is boring or you need some inspirational words, the “Leslie Sansone: Ultimate 5 Day Walk Plan” DVD may help shake things up without requiring you to leave your living room.

Sansone has planned out five days of exercise, with increasingly long walks that are accompanied by sessions for working various muscle groups. You don’t need to use weights, but Sansone recommends 3- to 5-pound dumbbells. Because there is no jumping or pounding on the joints, this DVD is well suited to anyone experiencing or recovering from an injury.

Removing toxins

Not everyone is convinced that eating or avoiding certain foods can help remove toxins from your body, but Christina Pirello of VegNews is a true believer. In The Washington Post, she argues that a “cleanse” can help your liver and kidneys speed up toxin removal.

Pirello suggests adding 10 foods that she calls the “superheroes of clean” to a normal diet. Garlic, cabbage, green tea, leafy greens and broccoli sprouts all have the power, Pirello says, to speed up cleansing enzymes.

Fresh fruit and daikon, or icicle radish, are both high in vitamin C, which is thought to stimulate weight loss. Whole grains are rich in soluble fiber, which keeps things moving. Lemon helps convert toxins into a form that the body can easily flush out. The most crucial element of a cleanse, she says, is water and staying hydrated.

Without water, your body won’t function properly and your detox efforts won’t be effective.