MONDAY, Dec. 31 (HealthDay News) -- As 2008 dawns, many Americans over 50 will resolve to start a new fitness program.

Experts at the International Council on Active Aging offers tips for helping to keep that resolve:

• Get a checkup first to get your doctor's OK on starting an exercise program and to find out if you need to consider any special modifications.
• Before you start a program, explore your options. Select something you'll enjoy, which will improve the chances that you'll stick with it.
• Start slowly. If you go too hard at first, you can become sore and may be discouraged from continuing with your fitness program.
• Try to make exercise dates with friends. This will help you stick to your program and stay motivated.
• Set specific short- and long-term goals for advancing your exercise program.
• Make a list of what you expect to gain from your fitness program, such as losing a certain number of pounds. Keep your expectations realistic, or you may be setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.
• If you plan on joining a fitness club/facility, carefully check out the atmosphere, amenities, equipment, programs and staff. Talking to other older adults who are members is a good way to get information that can help you decide if the club/facility is appropriate for you.
• Create a support network of family and friends who will provide encouragement.
• If an activity causes you pain, stop doing it. Never try to work through pain, work around it.
• Follow a well-rounded program that includes warm-up, flexibility, cardio, resistance and cool-down.
• Reward yourself when you achieve your goals. It should be something that feeds your spirit but not necessarily food or an expensive purchase.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about exercise for older adults.

MONDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Women who've had anorexia nervosa have markedly different brain activity patterns than those who've never had the eating disorder, a new study suggests.

A team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used functional MRI to monitor brain activity in 13 young women who'd recovered from anorexia -- defined as maintaining a normal body weight and regular menstrual cycles for at least one year. They then compared them to 13 women who had never had anorexia.

The women's brains were scanned while they played a guessing game on a computer. Correct answers yielded a $2 reward, while incorrect guesses resulted in the loss of $1.

"During the game, brain regions lit up in different ways for women who formerly had anorexia compared to healthy controls," study first author Dr. Angela Wagner said in a prepared statement. "While the brain region for emotional responses showed strong differences for winning and losing in healthy women, women with a past history of anorexia showed little difference between winning and losing. For anorexics, then, perhaps it is difficult to appreciate immediate pleasure if it does not feel much different from a negative experience."

The results of this study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that the women with a history of anorexia were more focused on the consequences of their choices during the guessing game.

This kind of research can provide new clues about why people with anorexia are able to deny themselves food and other immediately rewarding pleasures, and improve understanding of why some women (typically worriers and perfectionists in childhood) are at greater risk for the eating disorder.

More information

The U.S. National Women's Health Information Center has more about anorexia nervosa.

TUESDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Adding citrus juices or vitamin C to green tea may raise its antioxidant goodness, a new study suggests.

The antioxidants in question are called catechins, believed to be responsible for some of green tea's reported health benefits, such as reducing the risk of cancer, heart attack and stroke.

"Although these results are preliminary, I think it's encouraging that a big part of the puzzle comes down to simple chemistry," lead author Mario Ferruzzi, assistant professor of food science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., said in a prepared statement.

Using a laboratory model that simulates digestion in the stomach and small intestine, Ferruzzi tested green tea with a number of additives, including juices and creamers.

He found that citrus juice increased recoverable (absorbable) catechin levels by more than five times, while vitamin C (ascorbic acid) boosted recoverable levels of the two most abundant catechins by six and 13 times.

The findings were published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

Citrus juices and vitamin C may interact with catechins to prevent degradation in the intestines, Ferruzzi said.

"If you want more out of your green tea, add some citrus juices to your cup after brewing or pick a ready-to-drink product formulated with ascorbic acid," he suggested.

Ferruzzi is currently conducting a study examining whether citrus juices and vitamin C increase catechin absorption in lab animals.

More information

MedlinePlus has more about green tea.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding in the first three months of life appears to help shield children from developing food allergies.

That's just one of a number of findings on food allergies scheduled to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Dallas.

Research has determined a possible role for food allergy prevention strategies in high-risk children, including maternal food avoidance in pregnancy, breast-feeding, maternal food avoidance while breast-feeding, use of hypoallergenic formulas, delayed introduction of allergenic foods and probiotics, noted one expert.

"A review of 18 studies demonstrates a significant protective effect of exclusive breast-feeding for at least three months for children with high risk for atopy (genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases) against the development of atopic dermatitis and early childhood asthma-like symptoms," Dr. Robert Wood, international health director for pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

He offered a number of recommendations for children at high risk of allergic diseases:

• Women should avoid peanuts and tree nuts during pregnancy and while breast-feeding.
• Mothers should supplement breast-feeding with a hypoallergenic formula (extensively or partially hydrolyzed).
• Delay feeding these children solid foods until they're six months old.
• Delay introduction of milk and egg until age 1 and peanut and tree nuts until age 3.
• Start early intervention when signs of food allergy appear (secondary prevention).

In a planned presentation about allergies and dietary restrictions, another expert noted that a person may have an allergy to one member of a food family, but may be able to eat other members of the same food family.

For example, one study on nine common fish found cross-reactivity and allergenicity were highest among cod, salmon and pollack and lowest among halibut, flounder, tuna and mackerel. Another study on edible nuts found cross-reactivity was strong among walnut, pecan and hazelnut; moderate among cashew, pistachio, Brazil nut and almond; and extremely low between peanut and tree nuts.

"You may be allergic to a particular part of a food, but not to another part," Dr. Sami Bahna, chief of allergy and immunology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, said in a prepared statement.

Another expert said doctors need to consider food allergy as a potential cause of gastrointestinal or dermatological symptoms in patients.

"The eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID) which may affect the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum are mostly chronic and recurrent disorders that adversely impact quality of life for patients and families," Dr. Amal Assa'ad, director of the Food Allergy & Eosinophilic Disorders Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.

"Patients with EGID have a high rate of sensitization to food and environmental allergens, and many of them have a high rate of clinical symptoms with various food ingestions. A subset of patients respond to removal of major food allergens from their diet," Assa'ad said.

"EGID management often requires multiple specialists, including the primary physician, allergy and immunology, gastroenterology, nutrition and psychology," she noted.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more about food allergy.