According to a recent study, babies who were breastfed exclusively for at least the first three months of life scored higher on IQ tests at age six than children who weren't breastfed exclusively. Previous research has shown that breastfed babies had enhanced thinking, learning, and memory abilities.

Researchers aren't exactly sure what the link between breastfeeding and IQ is. It could be a nutrient in breast milk -- perhaps the amino acids or cholesterol that's found in breast milk but not in formula. Or it could be the attachment-inducing act of breastfeeding.

The researchers of this study recommend breastfeeding exclusively for at least three months, though six months to one year may have added benefits.

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Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

Hooray for Paige Davis! I just got done interviewing the delightful host of TLC's Trading Spaces and I genuinely like her a lot. We spent an hour blabbing our brains out, and I have to tell you that the girl is as easy, sweet and likable in person as she is on the show. The world of home improvement fans exhaled a collective sigh of relief when TLC announced they were bringing back their beloved Paige.

She's sweet, she's smart, and she happens to have a smoking body. She's been professionally dancing for a very long time, and has some terrific advice to help get the rest of us in super shape as well. Paige's perspective on both life and fitness seems to be on track. Her enthusiasm is contagious. If you'd like to catch a case of her 'perfect life' germs...read on!

Fitz: You've been gone from Trading Spaces for a few years, and just finished shooting the first half of the new season. How'd it go?

Paige: Great! We've shot 13 episodes so far. It's been different, but great! It's wonderful to be back working with all of my friends who were there before. It is so much fun working with Frank. And Doug is like a sibling to me. We have this silly chemistry, and we just poke fun at each other and have a blast all the time. Plus, I've made lots of new friends. I love it.

Fitz: Moving is really hard work. The audience may wonder of you're just the cute perky girl hosting the show, without having to actual pitch in to the tasks. How much physical labor do you actually do while filming?

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As the end of the year quickly approaches us, many of us will be resolving to work on our bodies in 2008. But working our mind is just as important--after all, can you imagine what life would be like if you lost it? The key to aging well not only lies in your physical state--it lies in your mental capacity too. So make sure you work your mind too.

Here are some suggestions:

• Use it or you'll lose it. Work on your mental strength by taking on new tasks. Take up a new hobby, sign up for a class or commit to doing a crossword or sudoku puzzle each night. Watching a new TV show or movie doesn't count.
  
• Rest. You need your rest -- make sure you're getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, and when you feel tired, take some downtime.
  
• Find a way to limit stress. Research shows that stress hormones hinder the function or parts of the brain associated with learning and memory. But this isn't a permanent state -- drop your stress levels and you brain will return to normal.

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I'm so excited. My husband and I just purchased the Smart Cycle as a Christmas gifts for our kids, ages two and four. The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle Learning Game System is a cool little stationary bike that hooks up to a television and allows children to pedal through learning adventures. Kind of like a spinning class for three year olds, who can learn their ABC's while working out.

My husband and I purposely seek out toys that will encourage our children to be active. Along with the bounce house we keep in the unfurnished dining room and the scooters they zoom around the house on, this Smart Cycle will fit in quite nicely in our playroom.

The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle Learning Game System Cycle retails for $99, but we bought ours for $89 at Sam's Club. I'll look forward to December 25th, when Parker and Ginger can jump on this thing and go for a ride. Of course we do a lot of bike riding outside, but this thing will make rainy days a lot more fun. Hopefully the two of them will take turns nicely.

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Get a good and healthy breakfast or your learning may suffer! Those words, or some like them, may come out of the mouths of many concerned parents in the morning, and there is quite a bit of truth to them. If you don't give a growing mind the right type of energy, how can it perform at its best?

There's more to it than brain food, too -- things like good self–esteem and not creating "ups and downs" using refined carbohydrates and sugars are all tools to help your child succeed better in school.

Hindering learning is never a good thing, and by ignorance alone, many parents allow this day in and day out -- and then wonder why grades suffer and attention levels wander throughout the day. Want more? Read this. Then, act.

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Hate the mornings? Feel groggy, inept, and mentally sluggish during the afternoon?

Don't worry, you're normal.

A team of scientists recently discovered that time of day plays a significant role in how well your brain can learn. But what's even more surprising, is that their research also reveals that human brains learn best at night. Apparently it's all to do with our ancestors, whose bodies learned to adapt to different times of day in order to avoid predators.

Regardless, now I know why all my best ideas come in the evening -- we're all smarter when the sun goes down!

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I know music has a big impact of my fitness -- if I have heart-thumping tunes to motivate me, I'm more likely to push myself hard then if I was listening to something slow or listening to nothing at all. The faster the best, the better, and the louder the song, the more likely I am to push my limits. The New York Jets also listen to music when they're training, but they're not listening to the recent Top 40 hits -- they're listening to Mozart.

Head Coach Eric Mangini choose to blast Mozart's symphonies throughout practice because he's heard of The Mozart Effect -- the idea that listening to Mozart or Baroque music stimulates in the mind in a way that facilitates learning. And while I don't know how true this is, it can't hurt. Plus, he's cultivating what could possibly be the most cultured professional football team ever.

What do you think?

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We are so used to negative feedback that we are more aware of our weaknesses than our strengths. So it is often hard to enjoy success, no matter how small each success might be. Celebrating your strengths and achievements is a natural process to building self esteem. Learning to recognize that we are human and that we will make mistakes will also help us build self esteem so we all need to learn to forgive ourselves.

Self acceptance is required before self esteem can develop. Self esteem is built by experiencing success whether small or large. To build self esteem you need to stop dwelling on your weaknesses and learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes. Beating yourself up is only defeating yourself and your energy is better spent if you build positive thoughts about yourself even when things are not as successful as they can be. Learning to recognize if you are judging yourself against unreasonable standards will help you to know your strengths. So setting goals that you can reach is a good way to set yourself up for success and will continue to build strength in yourself.

A self help exercise is to write down the things you do successfully. Every mistake a person makes can be an opportunity to learn. We can't be afraid to make mistakes, this is how we learn to improve. Persistence and learning from past mistakes will help us succeed.

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They need to stop doing studies on college and higher-education, because every time they do I just get more confused.

The latest research finds that people with higher educations suffer faster memory loss as they age. The study looked at people over age 70 and asked them to remember 10 words. The same people were tested up to 4 times between 1993 and 2000, and those with more schooling had a greater loss than those with less. Given, they had more "knowledge" to start with, but a lot of good that did them since they ended up at the same place as their less-educated counterparts in the end.

Okay, so college reduces your risk of stroke as you get older, but now it also increases your risk of memory problems. However will we choose?

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A study done in Europe shows that being well-educated lowers the risk of stroke for women. 48,000 Swedish women were followed over 10 years, and the data shows that those with less education had a much higher risk -- as much as two times greater -- of having a stroke than those with higher educations.

Researchers attribute the difference mainly to socio-economic status and associated lifestyle choices, like smoking and drinking alcohol. Many people are encouraged by this study because it confirms that educating people really can improve quality of life, and that making an effort to reduce your risk factors for stroke can have a huge impact.

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