Wellness

You might know pomegranates as one of the world's most delicious and least accessible fruits. I have a friend who was once on a date, one summer day, with a man who bought and ate a pomegranate while they were walking down the street, resulting in one of the messiest, most awkward and least charming seduction attempts she has ever experienced. But I digress. Pomegranates might be messy, but according to a recent study — reported by the Guardian ("Can pomegranate juice lower stress levels at work?") — they might also be the remedy for all kinds of life-shortening ailments, especially stress.

I am currently trying to starve a cold (due less to science, and more to a phlegm-induced lack of appetite), so I guess this might count as good news. According to recent research reported by USA Today — "Could 'extreme' low-cal diets bring longer, healthier life?" — living in a state of constant deprivation might help extend your life. (Though it's debatable just how happy you'll be in the meantime if you have to forsake fried chicken, key lime pie and pork belly sandwiches. But maybe I'm just projecting.)

Few things in life are as fine a balance as sleep, and it's tough to get it just right. Too little sleep has been linked to all kinds of chronic problems, from unflattering eye bags to obesity, diabetes and premature death. And now it turns out that either too little or too much sleep can unduly age your brain, and even speed up the onset of dementia.

Welcome to our new health blog! We'll be publishing posts from Monday to Saturday, from a variety of authors, about all the health and wellness information Chatelaine readers care about.

It will come as no surprise that people who are happy and more positive enjoy life more, but according to a review of over 100 studies by scientists from the University of Illinois, it turns out that those same people actually live longer than their grumpier, less content peers.