Resolutions are great, but let’s face it: The more radical they
are, the more likely you are to drop them. And then feel bad
about doing so. Instead, try adapting a few smart new habits
based on science-supported statistics. The changes you’ll make
to your routine are practically effortless (will you have a hard
time, say, incorporating chocolate into your diet?), but they
can have life-altering benefits. The stat: Eat chocolate five or
more times a week and you may be 57 percent less likely to have
coronary heart disease than people who don’t. The details:
Studying more than 4,900 people, researchers at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital, in Boston, found that those who ate
chocolate—dark, milk, whatever!—five or more times a week were
less likely to have heart disease than chocolate teetotalers.
While the study didn’t examine the physiological reasons for the
results, experts surmise that the antioxidant flavonoids found
in chocolate may help lower blood pressure, which in turn
protects the heart. The stat: Exerc