In Deep Water

Want to get exercise? Reach for your swimsuit instead of your sneakers, Research shows deep-water running can give you the same cardio benefits as an intense jog, minus the wear and tear on your joints. When you run on land, the impact creates a force equal to two to three times your weight, says Tish Doyle-Baker, a Calgary clinical exercise physiologist, But the buoyancy in the water eliminates most of that stress.

You can't just jump in and casually tread water, though. You have to actually run - raising your knees and pumping your arms - to get results.

That can be difficult, says Lawrence Golding, coauthor of a paper on the benefits of deep-water running published in the American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal. "There is a tendency to not work as hard in water," he says. One solution is to use a waterproof heart-rate monitor to ensure you're exercising within your target heart-rate zone, helping you achieve maximum benefits.

Bitter Remedy

A STAPLE OF CHINESE and Indian cuisine, bitter melon lives up to its name. also know as bitter gourd, bitter apple and bitter cucumber, it's been used as a contraceptive, a treatment for psoriasis, and a variety of other purposes. Mainly though, it's been hailed for lowering blood sugar, and the fruit and seeds are loaded with chemicals that appear to have an impact on glucose or insulin.

Studies suggest bitter melon may work on several levels, such as boosting insulin secretion, improving the ability of cells to absorb glucose, and hindering the release of glucose from the liver. One of the largest studies of bitter melon in people with type 2 diabetes lasted only two days, but it caused significant drops in blood sugar for 100 participants within hours of drinking suspended vegetable pulp.

Herbalist often suggest taking it in juice (50ml is a typical daily dose), but if you don't like the bitter taste you can consider capsules instead. Look for products made from the fruit or seeds - the apparent source of bitter melon's effect.

The Healing Power of your Chums

It's been known for a while that our relations with others can affect longevity - married men, for instance, live longer than unmarried ones on average. But a new Australian study suggest that it's not just close family that counts.

Monitoring 1477 people over the age of 70 for ten years, scientists found that those with the strongest network of friends tended to live longest, whereas contact with relatives didn't make much difference.

The team suggest that friends might affect health behaviours such as smoking and drinking, as well as boosting mood and self-esteem, which can have a positive physiological effect in the same way stress can have negative one.

Do You Smell That?

What do strawberies, lemon, smoke, leather and pineapple have in common? Well, according to a recent study on memory, they're five of the ten most recognisable smells that may help detect the first signs of Alzheimer's disease.

The inability to recognize these scents appears to show which people are developing dementia as opposed to those suffering simple mental decline due to aging, says Dr D.P. Devanand of the New york State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University.

Using a relatively quick and easy ten-smell test, Devanand evaluated 150 patients with minimal to mild cognitive impairment every six months, and 63 healthy subjects annually, for an average follow-up of five years.

However, Devanand cautioned that these results are very preliminary and that it's difficult to accurately diagnose who is going to get Alzheimer's over time.

Scientists hope this "scratch and sniff" test will improve diagnoses, so patients can begin taking antidementia drugs long before Alzheimer's would normally be diagnosed.

Body Language

They say the eyes are the window to the soul, What secrets do other body parts reveal about your?

A University of Alberta study found the shorter a man's index finger is compared to his ring finger, the more likely he'll be physically aggressive. There's a correlation between finger length and the amount of testosterone you exposed to in the womb; more testosterone may mean a shorter index finger.

Studies show, for men, a long ring finger and symmetrical hands indicate fertility. Women are more likely to be fertile if their ring finger is shorter than their index finger.

From the time of Confucius, Chinese doctors have used face reading as a diagnostic aid. Their findings include deductions that people whose eyebrows are thick are more driven and may be more aggressive, while people with thin lips tend to be workaholics.

How To Talk To Anyone

Be a Social Success at every party - try these tips from Leil Lowndes, relationship expert and author of Always n the Kitchen at Parties.

Never give one-word answers. If your asked what you do, expand on your response so it can start a conversation, for example "I'm a social worker and I work with adopted children."

Leave out "uh-huh," Encourage people to keep on speaking by asking questions about what they're saying.

Choose the right questions. Avoid "where?" or "when?" - they tend to promote one-line answers. Use "why?", "how?" or "tell me more."

Sound "dazzled" even if the conversation is dull. A great conversationalist makes everyone feel appreciated.