Hi and believe it or not it's been a year.

Hi and welcome back to the show.

I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and believe it or not, it's been a year.

After an exciting launch last January, I'm thrilled that the Savvy Psychologist Show ended its first year as one of the iTunes best podcasts of 2014.

But more importantly, gain the support of fantastic listeners like you.

So today, first we'll hear about our sponsor and then we'll get into our anniversary episode.

So I was asked, what have I learned after a year of hosting the podcast?

Well, aside from learning that the best episode ideas come from listeners, and that surprisingly good recording acoustics can be achieved by surrounding myself with piles of laundry, I've also read hundreds of scientific papers this year. So in honor of the first anniversary of the

podcast, here are the five essential tips I've learned about living a happier, healthier life in the new year.

Now essential tip number one is exercise and I can hear you groaning already,

but I've been blown away by the research on the mental health benefits of exercise.

For example, a 2007 study found that exercise was comparable to antidepressants in treating

major depression and a 2011 follow-up found it also helped prevent

depression relapse. And aside from depression, exercise treats PTSD, panic,

social anxiety, pretty much any mental health challenge you can name.

Plus, it's been used to help people quit smoking,

sleep better, improve energy, sharpen cognitive functioning, and increase libido.

If you could bottle it, you would make millions.

But what really sold me was a series of studies on exercise and dementia from episode 31, four tips for Alzheimer's prevention.

So Alzheimer's runs in my family, and while I know there's no silver bullet, I'll do pretty much anything to prevent or delay the disease.

And the clincher was this.

A 2011 study looked at the effect of exercise on those with the Apo E4 gene, a gene that puts you at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's.

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