If you want to get out of the hospital quicker, make sure you get on your feet as fast as you can–and not just because it’s easier if you want to make a run for the door.

Getting up and getting around is a sign of a recovering patient–and the latest research shows that seniors who get on their feet first, leave the hospital quickest.

In a study that sounds more like an experiment in house arrest technology, researchers outfitted 162 hospitalized seniors with ankle bracelets that tracked each step they took.

And, to put it simply, those who walked first and walked the most got out sooner –even after the researchers adjusted for differences in the patients’ conditions and illnesses, according to the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They also found that the shortest walks of just a few simple steps also helped boost those recoveries.

It’s as if each step you take is a step closer to home.

The researchers hope their study will help doctors recognize the importance of simple walking for older hospital patients, but it may take a while before that message gets out.

That means for now, you need to take matters into your own legs–and insist on getting some help getting back on your feet after you’ve been laid up.

And if you need a motivational boost, consider this: Each day you spend inside a hospital is one more day you risk exposure to a potentially deadly bacteria.

These hospital-acquired infections can increase the length of your stay. And since many of them are now resistant to drugs, they can even kill you. (Read more about that here.)

Hospital stays are also associated with sudden, rapid mental declines, including a frightening condition called delirium. (Click here to read more.)

Throw in bad food and uncomfortable beds, and you might want to walk out the door right now.

Maybe it’s time to take the first step.

Picture this: You’re about to go under the knife for a non-emergency procedure, and just as you’re given the anesthesia, the surgeon delivers a quick message:

“Umm… I know this probably isn’t the best time to mention this, but I was up all night doing emergency work and I am plum tuckered out.”

That’s followed by a long, dramatic yawn and maybe a stretch of the arms.

If your response is to get up off the table and run home before the anesthesia kicks in, you’re not alone–up to 80 percent of all patients say they’d reschedule if they knew their surgeon was on the wrong end of a double shift.

But in reality, your doc doesn’t have to say boo about how he spent his night–so there’s no way to know for sure if he’s “all there” as you operates on you.

And there’s a growing call to change that.

In a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers urged hospitals to restrict surgeons who had been working all night from performing elective procedures the next day.

And if that’s too much to ask, they want them to at least require surgeons to disclose that on their own–and offer the patients a chance to reschedule.

That may sound like common sense–but it’s not common enough, because a leading group of surgeons strongly disagrees.

In a competing editorial, three members of the American College of Surgeons insisted that surgeons know when they can and can’t do their job–and there’s really no reason to keep the patients informed.

But ignorance isn’t bliss.

Studies have shown that patients operated on by sleepless surgeons are 83 percent more likely to experience complications after the procedure.

And it’s not just surgeons who goof when they lose sleep. Studies have also shown that doctors, hospital residents, interns, nurses, and more are all more likely to make mistakes when they’ve been up for too many hours.

Lack of sleep increases the risk of serious mistakes in the intensive care unit by 36 percent–and ups the odds of serious diagnostic mistakes by a shocking 460 percent, according to recent studies.

Now consider this: In many hospitals, docs work 30 hours straight–and 80 hours a week.

In other words, they’re not just tired. They’re practically zombies.

Yet hospitals won’t act to set limits–because that would mean hiring more workers, and that would cost big bucks.

Public Citizen has been actively working to put an end to the practice–and you can learn more on the group’s “Wake Up Doctor” Web site.

And if your doctor isn’t going to tell you when he’s tired, don’t be afraid to ask… especially if he yawns as he walks into the operating room.

Forget the low-fat mantra the mainstream has been chanting for generations now, because the consensus is quietly changing.

Now, top researchers from the nation’s leading institutions are singing a new tune, because they’re finally recognizing that fat on the belly isn’t caused by fat on the dinner plate–but by the sugar and other carbs hidden inside the staples of the modern American diet.

An eye-popping report in the Los Angeles Times offers a who’s who of big names joining the Carbohydrate Tea Party: Harvard, Duke, Tufts and UC Davis are throwing the sugar overboard and embracing a common-sense approach that can save millions of lives.

Let’s hope it’s not too late–because the latest research shows that today’s teens are already suffering from the earliest warning signs of sugar overload.

Researchers have found that adolescents who consume the most white stuff already have the cardiovascular risk factors that once appeared only in middle age or beyond.

These sugar-addicted teens have lower levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and higher levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Naturally, they’re also far more likely to be overweight and are even showing signs of insulin resistance, putting them at risk for diabetes, according to the study in Circulation.

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, and found that today’s teens now eat or drink a quarter pound of sugar every single day–nearly double the consumption of kids the same age back in the late 1970s.

And if that keeps up, we’re facing a dark future–because if there’s ever been a single ingredient responsible for more death and disease than sugar, I haven’t seen it.

Eliminating sugar in all its forms, even without following an otherwise strict low- carb diet, would do more for your overall health than any other single dietary change.

And getting rid of the rest of the bad carbs will positively transform you.

But if you don’t want to take my word for it, now you can listen to Harvard:

“If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases,” Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Times.

Maybe it’s time for the low-carb craze to mount a comeback.

What’s good for the belly is good for the mind.

We already know that switching over to a Mediterranean diet can help keep your waistline in check, protect your heart and even add years to your life.

And now, the latest research finds that it may even save your mind, too.

Researchers examined the dietary habits of 3,759 Chicago seniors and assigned them two scores: A “MedDiet” number based on how closely they followed a traditional Greek diet rich in fish, legumes, olive oil and wine, and an HEI-2005 number based on how closely they followed the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans updated in 2005.

Then, the seniors were given cognitive assessments every three years to measure word memory and basic math skills.

Over an average of 7.6 years of follow up, those with the highest MedDiet scores showed the slowest rate of decline. Those with the highest HEI-2005 scores… well, at least they could feel good about following government advice.

But they didn’t do any better on cognitive tests.

Of course, this shouldn’t be too surprising, because the Mediterranean lifestyle is low in brain-robbing sugars and other bad carbs.

What’s more, the key fats at the heart of the diet aren’t just good for brain function–they’re absolutely essential if you hope to keep your thinking cap on straight.

And let’s not forget about the role of booze, which plays a central role on the Mediterranean dinner table. Studies have found that a glass or two a night can help protect the mind and keep dementia at bay.

U.S. government guidelines, meanwhile, only grudgingly acknowledge the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption–and even call abstention “an important option.”

Given a choice between the two, forget Washington and go Greek instead.

There’s just one catch: If you have a lot of weight to lose, the Mediterranean diet might not be the right approach–not right away anyway.

While the diet is low in sugar, it still features plenty of carbs in the form of whole grains, which can slow or even inhibit your weight loss.

That’s why the best approach–at least in the beginning–is a strict low-carb menu. Then, as you get closer to your goal, you can slowly reintroduce the healthier carbs that are a part of this diet.

And don’t worry–once the sugar is out of your system, you’ll hardly miss it.