Change your mood, shrink your belly

By MICHAEL ROIZEN, M.D., and MEHMET OZ, M.D.

Everyone gets into a gloomy mood now and then, but if you've been in a dark place for too long, here's a new reason to do something serious about it: Depression raises the odds of your waist expanding. Whether you call it a muffin top or a beer belly, a fat buildup in your abdomen puts you in line for inflammation that can lead to diabetes, impotence, wrinkles, cancer, heart attack and stroke.

The belly fat-depression connection isn't new, but we YOU Docs have been scratching our heads over which came first. Now, a 20-year study of more than 5,000 people has answered this "chicken or egg" question: Being depressed first widens waistline more.

The likely link is cortisol, a stress hormone that sometimes peaks when you're depressed. Cortisol is belly fat's evil co-conspirator: It makes you crave high-calorie snacks, tells your body to pack calories in your belly and converts tiny fat cells into fat super-tankers.

So if you've gained weight around your middle, check your feelings, not just your diet. If you suspect you're depressed because you're soooo stressed, try reining in cortisol with these: relaxation exercises, yoga, lavender fragrances, goofing off with friends, sipping black tea. Not all of these remedies help everyone, but lots help many.

For deeper-down gloom, talk to your doctor about medications, and try proven depression-busters such as aerobic exercise and cognitive behavior therapy. Soon, your mood should lighten and your waistband should loosen up. Reason to smile.

Make air travel safer by walking

You've got your passport, boarding pass, euros, pesos or pounds. You've made it through security and have your shoes back on. But before you claim a seat in the waiting area, take a walk. And if you're over 40 and your flight time is more than four hours, stroll the plane aisles every couple of hours. Long flights (include tarmac time), cramped seats (especially window seats) and being older are all risk factors for the infamous threat that frequent flyers call economy-class syndrome. Doctors call it deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) - a blood clot in a deep vein.

There's no proof that walking around the cabin prevents DVT, but it can't hurt. Neither can doing those anti-clotting plane-seat exercises found in many in-flight magazines. Why? When you're immobile, blood flow slows, and clots may form. That can cause scary problems if, say, a clot gets loose and gets into your lungs. If that happens, forget your trip.

Here are other common-sense tips to pack in your "can't hurt, could help" carry-on: