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THE EASIEST WAY TO GET HEALTHIER TONIGHT

Don't answer that e-mail. Doctor's orders! See, your body doesn't respond as well as you think it might to the "get ahead now, sleep when you're retired" philosophy. A group of 32- to 59-year-olds who got fewer than five hours of sleep a night for several years were twice as likely to develop high blood pressure as those who got a healthy seven or eight hours each night. If you've shorted your sleep in favour of peeking at your inbox one more time or searching for the ultimate Spider-Man costume for your kids, you're like most people over age 30 who are getting historically low levels of sleep. Blood pressure is on the rise in this young age group too, and is related to lack of sleep. Here's how it works: * When you snooze, your body goes into a lower blood pressure mode. Too little time in this low-key state can lead to consistently high blood pressure. * Less sleep means you spend more time dealing with stress instead of resting. * Cutting back on a full night's sleep again and again also adds to your desire to eat. That's because lack of sleep leads to a lack of the feel-good brain chemical dopamine. Your brain receptors crave dopamine, so they trigger sugar cravings in your body because sugar also releases dopamine - but constantly overdoing sugary foods increases your weight and your high blood pressure risk. If getting enough shut-eye is a challenge, consider this: Whatever's tempting you to stay up late will still be there tomorrow. But with rest, you'll do those tasks better - and probably faster.

SIX THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT YOUR MEDICATIONS

What do good mystery novels and new prescriptions have in common? Both can keep you guessing. About 75 million Americans are helped by meds each year, but 1.5 million people are harmed. How do you tilt the table more in your favour? Get these six facts every time you're given a new drug: 1. The trade or generic name of the medication. Many drugs sound the same - witness Zyrtec (for allergies) and Zyprexa (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). Their generic names (cetirizine and olanzapine) help clear up confusion. 2. Why you need it. 3. How long you should keep taking it. If you think it's a blood pressure pill, but it's really for a sinus infection, you don't want to keep refilling it. Conversely, don't do a Clinton and get a heart attack because you stop taking a drug without telling your doctor. There's only one good reason you should ever stop taking the meds you are supposed to take: Your doctor tells you to. 4. The potential side effects. Find out what to look for and what to tell your doc. If you do not have a partner, you may not want a drug whose side effect is that it increases your libido. 5. How much you should take. 6. How many doses you need, and when you should take them. Write down the answer. One study found that people's brains play an evil trick: After being given a very clear order, such as "don't take this pill in the evening," they'll remember broad details -"pill,-evening-" but not the specifics. Guess what happens.

THIS COLOUR CAN MAKE YOU HEALTHIER

When it comes to fruits and legumes, it's pretty much impossible to reach for anything bad. But often you can get extra goodies by reaching for red. Not only do naturally red foods make your meals look like they just arrived from a photo shoot, but they pile on the health benefits too. Try these three heavy hitters: * Red bell peppers: They have almost twice as much vitamin C as their green siblings. And getting ample C is credited with a 30 per cent reduction in the risk of stroke, one of the top causes of death and disability in North Americans. Vitamin C helps your arteries stay young and keeps your immune system strong. * Red kidney beans. These are right up there with blueberries when it comes to total phytonutrient value. And phytonutrients - protective substances found in plant foods - help your body produce more of its own antioxidants. These defenders swiftly mop up free radicals, the cellular by-products that can damage DNA and lead to cancer, heart disease and early aging. So brighten up salads now and stews later by tossing in some crimson beauties. * Red grapefruit. The red varieties contain more lycopene - a phytonutrient that may add extra anti-cancer and heart-health benefits - than white grapefruit does. Lycopene is absorbed better, though, when fat is around, so try tossing red grapefruit segments into a sauté or salad drizzled with canola or olive oil. Or if you love spooning out the sections one-by-one on Sunday morning, eat them with a side of whole-grain toast spread with peanut butter. You're good to go.

THINK OF THIS NUMBER, GET HEALTHIER

How many steps will you walk today? You don't know? What, you don't have a pedometer yet? People who have a number in mind (and track it with a pedometer) walk a whole lot more than people who don't. Studies prove it. Honest. The best number to go for is 10,000. That's not that many more than you're probably already taking. Most people log between 3,500 and 5,000 steps daily just by looking for the remote, double-checking that they fed the dog and otherwise going about their day. Even if you take 5,000 steps throughout the day - about 2 1/2 miles - experts (and even us YOU docs) consider you to be less than minimally active, or what our research friends politely term "sedentary." But the good news is that if you're doing that much without even trying, it's not going to be that hard to bump up to the amount that counts when it comes to making your RealAge younger. Research shows that people who kept the 10,000-step goal in mind literally walked the extra mile, logging about 2,000 extra steps a day. Wear a pedometer and experiment. How close to your goal do you get by taking the long way to the cafeteria or the produce section of the grocery store? Dr. Mike parks his car in the indoor lot that's farthest from his office at the Cleveland Clinic. Those extra milers also lost weight and improved their blood pressure. Do it, and bring on other benefits: Walking lowers your lousy LDL, raises healthy HDL and decreases inflammation. And our favourite: It makes you feel great.

THE BEST WAYS TO STOP JOB WORRIES

The surprising cure for job stress: schedule one more meeting. The current daily avalanche of headlines about layoffs, mergers, plant closings and jobs being exported to countries halfway around the world can give even rock-solid employees job jitters. What to do if you're on edge? You can't change what researchers call "collective uncertainty about the future," but you can book a meeting with your supervisor to discuss the company's goals and define your role in achieving them. Research shows that clearly defined goals make workers happier and healthier. Then run. Not from your job, but for the financial health of your company (and for your own health). See, gym-goers perform better at work than sedentary people. And when one study looked at entrepreneurs, that is, people under extreme stress and time constraints, it was clear that those who took the time away from their business to run regularly were not only better at attaining personal satisfaction, but also had significant improvement in sales over companies managed by non-runners. Why does that work? Physically active people process data faster, and they're more likely to have less stress or handle it better than chair-bound types. Workouts help your mind relax, so it's a better incubator for new ideas and solutions. As one study subject said, "running gives me a body that performs better at everything that I must do during the day." Even if your job is secure, why pass up the chance to be at the top of your game all day long?