译自美刊《每周》杂志健康科学栏 Some of the things they said were good for us.

磁铁的确有使损伤痊愈能力。今年，科学家展示了磁场可增加血流和消除肿胀的功能。当你用磁铁来治疗损伤时可能要比用冰箱中的冰强十倍，它可使损伤附近的毛细血管扩张，致使损伤加速恢复。一些研究者认为，可以用磁铁取代冰袋来治疗磕碰所导致的肿胀和瘀青。

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Magnets really do have healing power. This year, scientists demonstrated the ability of a magnetic field to increase blood flow and to reduce swelling. When treated with magnets about 10 times stronger than the ones on your fridge, tiny blood vessels near an injury dilate, allowing for faster healing. It’s possible, some researchers say, to treat your bumps and bruises with a magnet instead of an ice pack.

涉足政治可以提升你的脑力。神经药理学者 John Roache认为，“当我们聆听候选人演讲并思考其演讲的内容时，大脑就会处理这些信息，从而促进了神经间的联系。”如果你在观看总统竞选辩论，你的大脑就会像破解数学问题时那么兴奋，尤其是你确确实实地关切哪位候选人的输赢。Roache说，“情感的涉入或承诺程度越深，大脑的处理信息的过程就越强。”

Political involvement boosts your brain power. “As we listen to the candidates and think about what is being said, the brain processes the information, which grows neural connection,” says neuro-pharmacologist John Roache. If you watched the presidential debates, your brain got as much exercise as it would have working a math problem-especially if you really cared which candidate won. “The greater levels of emotion or commitment further enhance the brain processes,” says Roache.

慈善行动不仅有益于世界，也有益于你的情绪和自信心。实验室研究和对公众调查都发现，一般来说，将钱花在别人身上要比自私地花在自己身上更会使你感到自豪，并会感到生命更有意义。经常性慈善工作要比每年一次性的捐款要好。社会心理学家Elizabeth Dunn认为，当赋予“成为生活中的一种习惯时，那就会使你感到生存更有意义。”

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Charity isn’t just good for the world. It’s good for your mood and self-esteem. Studies in the lab and public surveys find that spending cash on others makes you feel better about yourself and life in general than spending it selfishly does. Regular charity works better that a once-a-year contribution. When giving “becomes a way of living,” says social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn, “then it could make a lasting difference.”

空腹禁食可以帮助正在做化疗的病人。研究者发现，在进行化疗的前几天限食会帮助化疗药物分辨出癌细胞和正常的体细胞，从而使药物更加有效并且还可以减轻那些令人难以忍受的副作用。短暂不吃东西也发现可以帮助一种不太严重的情况：时差反应。研究显示，当你在乘跨夜飞机的旅行之中和之前都不吃饭，就可以消除你的时空感。一旦着陆再吃上一顿饱餐，你的生物钟就调整好以应对新的时差了。

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Fasting can help cancer patients undergoing chemo. A restrictive diet in the days leading up to chemo, researchers found, can help the drugs distinguish between cancer cells and regular body cells, making the drugs more effective and lessening the nasty side effects. Forgoing food for a short time also was found to help a less serious condition: jet lag. Research shows that when you don’t eat before and during an overnight flight, it suspends your body’s sense of time. Once you land and eat a big breakfast, you reset your body’s clock.

同伴压力可能救你的命。Harvard大学的研究发现，如果人们要戒烟，他们多趋于集体一起戒。当一个社会圈中的几个人决定抽烟不好而戒烟时，剩余的吸烟者一下子就会感到孤单难存。Nicholas Chrstakis医生说， “吸烟者曾经是聚会的中心人物，但现在却成了边缘人。”大多数滞后的瘾君子也会迅速的加入戒烟队伍以免受到孤立。

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Peer pressure could save your life. A Harvard study found that when people quit smoking, they tend to do it in groups. When a few people within a social circle decide that smoking is uncool, suddenly the remaining smokers are outcasts. “Smokers used to be the center of the party, but now they’ve become wallflowers,” says Dr. Nicholas Chrstakis. Most lagging addicts quickly fall in line to avoid being ostracized.

将你的感受守口如瓶实际上是将伤心事抛到脑后的有效方法。研究发现，在某些人中，忘却难过的经历要比说出来更有平复伤心的效果。心理学家 Mark Seery 认为， “我们应该告诉人们，如果他们不愿意说出他们的想法及感受没有什么不对。他们能够妥善处理并会成功地将伤心事抛到脑后。”

Bottling up your feelings is actually a useful strategy for getting over a traumatic event. For some people, studies found, pushing away memories of an awful experience is more therapeutic than talking it out. ”We should be telling people there is likely nothing wrong if they do not want to express their thoughts and feelings,” says psychologist Mark Seery. “They can cope quite successfully and are likely to be better off.”

神奇的蘑菇可能就能使你成为一个更快乐，更有精神的人。Johns Hopkins大学的研究人员发现，在实验中服用（蘑菇提炼的）迷幻药Psilocybin数年后，受试者依然可以感受到实验的经历对他们的影响，在实验中他们感受到自己与任何人和任何事间的紧密联系。61%的受试者感到他们的人格变得更好---更有爱心，心胸豁达和感受更加细腻。一位志愿者解释说，“当你心胸豁达时，你就会感到如释重负、拥有享受及喜悦的感觉。”

Magic mushroom might just make you a happier, more spiritual person. Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that years after taking the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin in an experiment, subjects were still affected by their experience, during which they felt a profound connection to everyone and everything. Sixty-one percent felt that they were better people---more loving open, and sensitive. “There was this sense of relief and joy and ecstasy when my heart was opened,” explained one volunteer.

阅读名人杂志不需要持又内疚又喜悦的矛盾心理。研究人员发现，不断追踪影星、歌星、球星和其它著名人物的生活细节实际上可提升你的自信心。研究作者Shira Gabriel认为，“因为追星族倾心于他们的偶像时，他们就会自我模仿名人的气质而自我感觉良好。”然而，如果这是个业余嗜好就会有益，达到痴迷的程度则会适得其反。

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Reading celebrity magazines need not be a guilty pleasure. Keeping up with the lives of your favorite movie stars, musicians, athletes, and other famous people, researchers found, can actually boost your self-esteem. “because people form bonds in their mind with their favorite celebrities, they are able to assimilate the celebrity’s characteristics in themselves and fell better about themselves,” says study author Shira Gabriel. This is only true, however, if celebrity—watching is a part-time hobby, not an obsession.

幽香可使你进入甜美的梦境。即使在深度睡眠中，你周围的环境也会影响你的梦幻世界。德国的研究人员发现，在睡眠中，一束花或熏衣草护肤膏的幽香都会帮你的大脑创造出美梦幻境。

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Good smells give you pleasant dreams, Even in deep sleep, the world around you can flavor your dream world. German researchers have found that a bouquet of flowers or lavender lotion at bedtime can help your brain to manufacture beautiful dreamscapes.

白葡萄酒终于得到了其应有的声誉。尽管红葡萄酒独揽了所有的美誉，但白葡萄酒对心脏的益处正像红葡萄酒一样的好。白葡萄酒是由葡萄的果肉而不是葡萄皮酿成，但它含有与红葡萄酒一样的对心脏有保护作用的化学物质。分子生物学家Dipad Das说，“葡萄的果肉和果皮异曲同工。就安全来说，每天喝一两杯白葡萄酒（对心脏的保护）恰如喝红葡萄酒一样有益。”

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White wine is finally getting the credit it deserves. Though red wine has gotten all the accolades, white wine is just as good for your heart. White wine is made from the pulp of the grape, not the skin, but it contains the same heart-protective chemicals. “The flesh of the grape can do the same job as the skin,” says molecular biologist Dipad Das. “We can safely say that one to two glasses of white wine per day works exactly like red wine.”

待续，后续有《美刊选出08年十大有害于健康的新研究》译文。