How much we wish that all our baked goods or fatty foods disappear into thin air once we enjoy them without having to expel the excess calories through vigorous physical activity and exercise schedules! Indeed, there are a lucky few who do get to stay slim forever despite consuming high-calorie foods without minding portion control or exercising. All that we can comment is that it is in their gene to stay thin. Such a friend, colleague or family member becomes everyone’s envy. Contrarily, there are some others whose body is comparable to a tire. Just like how air can inflate the tire the food that goes inside the body rather than being used as energy gets converted to body fat and is stored forever! This might be you and me who regrets eating the single piece of cake the next day as the weighing machine shows an additional 750 grams in our weight. The most dreaded type of body is that which increases body fat without eating any of the fried foods or the red meats. In such people, a single cholesterol-derived molecule called the 27-hydroxycholesterol (27 HC) exists within the bloodstream increasing body fat even when they don’t eat a diet that’s rich in red meat and fried foods.
The research on this single molecule that has surprised everybody with its potential to increase adipose tissue even without consuming any fatty food has been published in the reputed journal Endocrinology. Until this study, 27HC was known as an abundant cholesterol metabolite that poses harmful effects on the cardiovascular system but its effects on obesity was unknown. Now that the effects are crystal clear, steps could be taken to reduce the levels of 27HC in the body which reduces the body’s capacity to make fat. Obesity exists as a public health epidemic that needs immediate intervention. Such increase in obesity/overweight numbers are primarily due to changes in lifestyle, eating habits and exercise routines. Mankind has accepted the fast food lifestyle that makes his life simpler and easy. Technological advancements, economic stability and science has enabled humans to use domestic help and machines for completing all of their work which leaves them with a sedentary lifestyle. At most, people either workout for 60 minutes a day or completely avoid even this. Such sedentary behavior exists are the root cause behind increase in obesity rates which in turn exists as a primary risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide in both men and women, and estrogen plays a prominent role in both the sexes. If you are obese/overweight it is better to get your weight under control and reach normal body weight before things go out of hand. Get in touch with registered dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who can help you in your weight loss process. In females, during menopause there is a tremendous decrease in estrogen levels which in turn produces an increase in fat tissues as estrogen is the hormone that protects the body against adiposity and weight gain and its decrease exists as the cause behind such sudden weight gain. Men produce estrogen by conversion of testosterone and hence, it is possible that it plays a role in fat tissue production in men too. Estrogen receptors (ER), a group of proteins found inside cells activated by the hormone estrogen, are present in adipocytes. Individuals with a non-functional ER are obese and those who don’t have an ER are said to possess increased fat tissue even when they eat the same amount of food daily indicating the role played by ER in regulating boy fat. Previous studies revealed that 27HC binds to estrogen receptors thereby inhibiting ER action but now it has been shown that the effects by 27HC are tissue-specific. 27HC is the first naturally-produced selective estrogen receptor modulator or SERM. Lowering 27HC levels may pave way for a method to target cholesterol lowering to prevent diet-induced weight gain.
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Food is divine and the love for eating is omnipresent. Sitting on the floor and eating meals was the unwritten law followed in earlier days. With the advent of dining tables and chairs the concept of sitting down on the ground for a meal has almost vanished from our culture and even kids hesitate to take a seat on a mat considering it to be below their dignity. But as we progress into a super-fast world where even time for a healthy breakfast is lacking our outlook on the way we eat also keeps changing. Its not new to see young adults rapidly gobbling up food (cooked with love and affection by their moms) on their way to college or office. Where is the time for them to sit down at the table with their family and finish breakfast before heading out? Its almost unimaginable as kids and adults these days finish their food on the go in a standing position. I agree that standing has become the latest trend-standing at work, standing while talking over the phone or even standing and having meetings. But haven’t we heard our moms and grandmas plead with us to take a seat, eat the food and then proceed with our VIP work? Alas, have we ever paid heed to their golden words? Never! But now, we have a new study that proves that food tastes better when we are sitting down. The study focused on how the vestibular sense that’s responsible for balance, posture and spatial orientation interacts with the gustatory sense that controls taste and flavor. Researchers confirmed this by recruiting 350 participants who rated the tastiness of a pita chip either in a standing or sitting position. It was observed that those who were standing gave it a less favourable rating than those sitting in a padded chair. Again, the researchers provided the participants with bite-sized brownies at a restaurant which they commented to be delicious, especially by those who were sitting down. The baker was told to add an extra serving of salt to make the brownie taste unpleasant. Again, when both the sitting and standing participants were served with the salted brownie those standing found it to be much tastier than previously compared to those who were seated. The standing participants couldn’t even decipher the change in taste in the brownie served as they were in a standing posture. On a lighter note, maybe its time for parents to make their children eat healthy, tasteless foods in a standing position! Or even consume your bitter medications while standing! The same participants were made to taste fruit snacks at a grocery stop with handful of bags. This created additional stress which made those standing and sitting to report negative comments on the fruit snacks. Hot cups of coffee served made those standing lack much insight into the steaming nature of the beverage but led them to reduced consumption of the same compared to those sitting. Maybe, eating while standing can lead to reduced consumption and increased weight loss? But of course, there is increased stress placed on the heart making it to pump more blood. Standing position causes stress muting taste buds-that’s because, there is more focus placed on the stress hormone cortisol which decreases sensory sensitivity decreasing taste perception and in turn, overall consumption. Folks, its better to sit down and have a meal patiently than to rush with it in a standing posture. After all, we earn to live well and what’s there to life than eating a peaceful meal that provides us with health and nutrients for a good quality of life? Workout or fitness would be the last thing on your mind after coming back from a busy day at work and all that we dream about is to spend time doing some sedentary leisure activity that keeps us happy. Exercise might be a priority item on the ‘To Do’ list alongside earning money and taking care of children but it seems to be the best one to skip as the beneficiary is none other than ourselves and our needs are least prioritized or in fact, even ignored. Exercise has become like a diet fad. We have different new ones cropping up every other day to attract us and swallow our money-Cross Fit workout, HIIT, kick boxing classes, Zumba dance, aerobic classes, gym machines, jogging, marathons and boot camps that include play-way exercises. What is exercise basically? It is a physical activity that involves bodily movements aimed at improving overall fitness and health. It does not, in any way try to deliver the fact that exercise must involve any of the options listed above. In fact, we do have fossil records showing that prehistoric humans were fitter and healthier than our Olympians of today! It is indeed a shame but it’s us, our technological revolutions and discoveries, that’s led us to this state of life. Caveman Origin Our early cavemen survived life day in and day out by fighting and facing challenges imposed. They had to hunt for food, strive for drinking water, fight against predators, toil hard in the sun to build homes for staying and even prepare tools by themselves for various purposes. Even a century ago our forefathers worked hard-scrubbing doors, mopping floors, buying groceries and washing clothes and scrubbing utensils-though it wasn’t as hard as our early caveman days. But now, technological discoveries have dramatically reduced our burden of workload. Dishwashers do our dishes, groceries are delivered online, food is ordered via apps and delivered to our homes, vacuum cleaners clean our rugs, washing machines does our laundry and above all, we employ servants to take care of all other needs of the house and save time reassigning jobs to others. We love our way of life thinking of all the time saved due to the evolution of machines and technology but scarcely do we think about compensating for the movement saved through the entire course of the day! The richer and economically stable, the lesser work and household chores that you do. Our ancestors had to hand-grind idli/dosa batter or clean up the entire house before festive seasons. Now, we buy batter from outside and delegate work to cleaning apps to refurbish our homes. Maybe, we are failing from losing 200-300 calories in this process of delegation! Our pride might grow up and instantly all of you might come up with bombarding replies that involve going to the gym for a workout, hitting the roads for a morning jog/walk or even shaking your hips for Zumba. There is even the birth of activity trackers such as Fitbits that help us move more but we need more efforts to reverse all the lost hopes. Exercise is not an option or a choice but is necessary to keep us healthy and safe. We need to find out ways to accomplish this task in life that’s not going to reward us with money but do something much more-a better quality of life. Restart Your Active Lifestyle Sedentariness is the root cause of a multitude of health problems right from obesity and heart disease to depression and high blood pressure. More than the type of exercise done it depends on our approach, how we perceive daily activities and work. Even those you don’t even consider as workouts can help in improving your well-being (https://time.com/5550764/light-exercise-heart-health/). A new study even shows that compared to women who exercise less those who achieve fulfilling more periods of light physical activity are at a 42% reduced risk of dying from coronary problems and a 22% lesser risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Exercise includes all that we do from the time we get out of bed to the time we tuck into bed to sleep-moving around the house, combing hair, gardening, hanging clothes, walking back from the grocery shop and walking to the parking lot to get onto the bike-all of them count as exercises. We have lost hours of physical activity from daily household chores such as washing clothes and mopping floors that we have reached such a state that’s overruled by obesity and diabetes. Sometime back we got a study result that sitting continuously for hours together is bad for health and companies and employers came up with the idea of standing desks but these too were overruled by yet another study that gave away the disadvantages of such desks. Again, people have resorted to sitting down and working. We live in an era where we need not leave our cubicles for anything except nature’s call, a desktop and a smartphone are more than enough to complete our jobs and we do have the freedom to eat at our desks. Hence, there are some people who hardly stay active for more than 15 minutes in their 9-hour timeframe at work. Get off the message from your brain that a sweaty workout or a kick-boxing session is the only way to stay active. Include activity as a part of your daily life without which you cannot surely accomplish daily activity needs-working out at least for 150 minutes a week. Take a walk while talking over the phone, go for walking meetings that also helps you breathe fresh air, do exercises while watching television, do your own laundry, take the stairs instead of the elevator and try to use public transport for commuting-this gives you quite enough time to walk, flex your bones and muscles, decrease pollution and increase sustainability. The real solution to health is in movement. Doing exercise for 45 minutes at the start of your day and sitting sedentary for the rest of the day will not bestow you with benefits. Of course, the 45 minutes of exercise does have a positive impact on health but its not going to change the fact that you are sedentary for the rest of the day thereby increasing your risk of a number of illnesses and studies do prove this right. We are not like our ancestors who toiled hard in the farm for their living. We work in offices where getting out of the desk seems to send out signals to superiors that the employee is not concerned with his/her work, forget about stretching yourself or going for a short walk every couple of hours. But its yourself who needs to motivate your body. Forget about others opinions and thoughts. You prepare a to-do list and start acting accordingly. Maybe you can even set an alarm every hour to get up and workout for five minutes. Others might alienate you initially but your energy and aura are surely going to bring about a change in your entire work floor and benefit all. Take a coffee break where you go for a quick walk around your office and use your lunch break to do a few yoga poses. It might seem intimidating initially but the benefits are beyond the embarrassment sustained. So, rather than thinking about taking up weight loss as a New Year Resolution or going for a gym membership at the start of every new year, maybe it’s time to incorporate quick movements all through the day to help you stay active, stress-free and even happier. References Exercising is great but even light activities like walking and housework can improve your health: https://time.com/5438387/exercise-guidelines-benefits/ Why exercise alone won’t save us: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/03/why-exercise-alone-wont-save-us Picking fresh carrots from underground and biting into them directly after washing, plucking guavas, mangoes and melons directly from the plant and consuming it or boiling your garden-fresh vegetables and eating them sounds alluring and praiseworthy. Rather than to prepare fresh green garden salad simply by chopping all the vegetables and eating we have always had a passion for dressing them up as much as possible- sprinkling freshly crushed pepper, chopping cilantro leaves, squeezing lemons, sprinkling salt & chilli powder over guava pieces and so on. Isn’t it better to relish the original taste of each fruit and vegetable at least sometimes? Indeed cilantro, lemon and pepper are good for health and should be included in our healthy diet routine but consuming food in its natural state does have its perks. This not only saves immense time but also helps you understand each of the produce’s authentic taste and flavour. So, what about dried fruits and what’s their role in influencing our overall health? It goes without saying that to the common man dried fruits are nutrition-rich as they are only dried versions of our healthy fruits which are ought to be consumed regularly. But the arrival of too many varieties of healthy foods in our supermarket aisles confuse us rather than comforting us as it has become an immense challenge to the health-conscious customer to choose those foods that have authentic nutrition value as denoted in their food packaging and nutrition labelling. The Traveller’s Best Friend My friend often comes for outings with a box full of different varieties of dried fruits and even offers us the same during snacks. Every now and then she pops a raisin or a dried apricot besides eating an extremely portion-controlled lunch which mainly constitutes of vegetables. It isn’t news that fresh fruits are always welcome in our diet plans but getting hold of them anywhere you go or anytime of the day is sometimes impractical and dried fruits come to our rescue here. Dried fruit are fruits that have almost all of their water content removed through drying methods. The fruit undergoes an enormous size shrink during this process resulting in a smaller, energy-dense fruit the most common of which are raisins, prunes, figs, dates and apricots. We also do have dried versions of mangoes, pineapples, cranberries, kiwis and strawberries available but these mostly exist as sugar-coated foods that contain ample sweet content. So, when dried fruits are simply dried versions of the same natural fruit what is there to debate on their goodness and health benefits? Indeed these dried versions contain the same nutrient content as fresh fruits, one serving can fulfil the daily recommended intake of many vitamins and minerals (but there are exceptions as vitamin C content of dried fruits are much reduced than fresh ones) and are rich sources of fibre compared to fresh ones thereby existing as a great source of antioxidants. Basically, removing water content from fruits ups the fibre and nutrient contents which is good but too much of it can also cause cramps and bloating when the individual is not used to high intake of fibre-rich foods. At the same time, it also reduces serving size to about 75% (https://time.com/4082532/dried-fruit-prunes-sugar-raisins/). A Green or Red Signal Shrinking reduces the size of the fruit and such smaller serving size can easily promote overeating of the fruit among individuals. We rarely eat 3-4 fresh apricots or figs but consuming even a dozen of their dried versions doesn’t make us feel so full-one, due to the smaller size and two, as their water content has been completely drained out. At the same time, there is enriched fibre content in dried versions of the fruit and increased phenol (antioxidant) levels too. The presence of fibre is beneficial in tackling heart disease, obesity and even certain types of cancer while polyphenols lowers the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and degenerative brain diseases in individuals. Cancer, is one of the leading causes of death presently and there is clear-cut evidence that diet and lifestyle changes can avert 40% of cancer deaths. We have results of a systematic review published in the ‘Advances in Nutrition’ journal that clearly showed that increasing dried fruit consumption to 3-5 or more servings per week has beneficial health effects including reducing the risk of certain cancers such as the pancreas, prostate, stomach, bladder and colon. It also found that higher intake of dried fruits controlled risk of cancers of the digestive system (https://www.nutfruit.org/health-professionals/news/detail/dried-fruit-intake-may-help-in-the-prevention-of-digestive-cancers). But, the scariest effect of overconsuming these dried fruits is the presence of abundant sugar in many of them. Such abundant sugar content can lead to digestion problems, the body experiences added stress trying to process all the sugar at once and inflammation is also on a rise. Already fruits are natural sources of sugar and dressing them with more sugar syrup makes them equivalent to a candy! It is recommended to always choose those dried fruits that don’t have added sugars in them. Another important concern is overconsumption of dried fruits given their smaller sizes that can lead to greater consumption risks. This can lead to calorie addition and weight gain in course of time. But if you are looking out for weight gain tricks then dried fruits are the go-to foods as they are energy dense and provide the perfect platform to gain weight and stay healthy. While raisins have always been our favourite dried apricots are popularity as they are rich in calcium (strengthen bones), magnesium (relief from muscle spasms and cramps), keep cravings in check, contain iron that improve blood health and hence are recommended for pregnant women in moderation (https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/dried-apricot-khubani-dr-harshvardhan-health-benefits-6150446/). HCA, a salt made from the rind of dried fruits is proposed to help reduce the absorption and increase the metabolism of fat, inhibit appetite and might also minimize the bad cholesterol levels. Dried fruits are definitely a healthy choice for an evening or morning snack given that you pay close attention to the portion sizes, refrain from consuming sugar-laden varieties of the fruit and ensure that their intake don’t promote unnecessary weight gain. References Fruits that Help in Gaining Weight Naturally: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/fruits-that-help-in-gaining-weight-naturally/articleshow/70127128.cms 10 ‘Healthy’ Foods that Are Actually Bad For You: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2019/03/30/10-healthy-foods-that-are-actually-bad-for-you/#21dc9ddd1aa6 Ten Weight Loss Supplements You Need to Know About: https://www.forbes.com/pictures/eigl45hgff/hca-or-hydroxycitric-acid-extract-from-dried-fruit-2/#639c3a3b9c28 Battle’s sign is not a sign of bravery after waging a war or a symbol of victory but a bruise that occurs after a person breaks a bone at the base of their skull. This break, known as basilar skull fracture can land a person in greater trouble such as meningitis, permanent brain injury and other such complications.
Dissecting the Condition: Battle’s Sign A crescent-shaped bruise appears on one or both ears indicating an intensive brain injury. The skull which houses the brain and forms the head is composed of 20 different bones one of which is the basilar bone. The basilar bone at the base of the skull protects our ears, eyes, cerebellum, brain stem and nerves to the head and neck. The bruise behind the ear is not a direct injury but an indication that one or more basilar bones of the skull have been broken. A head injury is of the worst injuries as it can be life-threatening or cause debilitating side effects in many cases. Major complications include: Meningitis: Basilar skull fracture might result in leakage of the brain and spinal fluids in almost 20% of people which increases the risk of bacterial meningitis (infection of brain and spinal cord). Meningitis mostly occurs after a fracture as bacteria from the nose, ears and throat enter the brain or spinal cord in case of skull injury. Read more about meningitis from the website www.firsteatright.com. Blood vessel injury: A basilar skull fracture can cause injuries to the blood vessels that supply the brain (cerebrovascular injuries). These cerebrovascular injuries can cause permanent brain damage or even death. Symptoms While the crescent-shaped bruise is an obvious sign of the condition there are plenty other signs including:
The bruise doesn’t appear immediately after the bone breaks and it might take up to 24 hours or more for the bruise to appear after damage to the skull. Hence, in case of a head injury it is recommended to meet a physician and seek advice. Causes What could be as strong as to break the bones of the skull? It might be some form of physical violence, contact sports, car and motorcycle accidents, two-wheeler accidents that happen due to negligence of wearing a helmet and falls where the person hits the floor head-on. Treatment A Battle’s sign bruise immediately calls for a physician’s attention and treatment. The doctor evaluates the individual’s neurological health using a CT scan, physical exam, EEG, blood tests, MRI and X-ray. Such tests help to detect any injury to the brain or movement of the broken bones. The doctor suggests surgery if the injury is severe. A person’s health statistics too determine the course of treatment. If the tests prove no presence of brain injuries, bleeding or other complications the injured individual can be under a doctor’s observation and provided care at home. Once the patient has been discharged after treatment or sent home after observation he/she should strictly adhere to follow-up appointments, take extra precaution to prevent themselves from getting injured while the wound is still healing, avoid playing sports or doing physical activity up to several months, observe for symptoms such as meningitis, fever, stiff neck or headache and report to a doctor if they find new symptoms such as dizziness, headache, confusion or loss of consciousness. If your immediate thoughts are about agriculture and farming when I mention the word ‘pesticide exposure’ you are absolutely right and farming is a sector that needs everyone’s attention but it also brings into limelight our limited knowledge with regards to pesticides. How about the regular pest control person who visits our apartments every once a while to ensure the safety of the premises or the one whom we see at parks tending to the needs of pest control? Don’t we ask the furniture guy whether the piece of furniture that we would be buying is guarded from pests and bugs? Pesticide exposure exists as an occupational hazard for not only those workers involved in the agricultural industry but also for millions of those involved in more than 100 other jobs such as pest control, park maintenance, wood preservation, etc. But don’t these workers wear masks and protective covering all over their body to safeguard themselves from exposure to these pesticides? Maybe they don’t because the latest study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that job exposure to pesticides raised the risk of heart disease and stroke in healthy individuals.
The study findings are from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program that enrolled over 8,000 Japanese American men aged between 45 and 68 years during the time of study between 1965 and 1968. The study team examined the participants multiple times since 1968 with the team trying to analyze the reasons for cause of death and disease outcomes. The team measured pesticide exposure and found that in comparison to those men who did not face the risk of pesticide exposure during the first 10 years of follow-up, those with high pesticide exposure had a 45% higher risk of heart disease and stroke. No significant relationship between low to moderate exposure to pesticide and heart disease risk was observed. It is seen that pesticides have a long half-life (time required for a quantity to reduce to half its initial value and the term is often used to measure any type of exponential or non-exponential decay) and health hazards might show up only after years of exposure. As the research team followed up with the participants during various intervals of time, it was able to find that the maximum effect of exposure on heart disease and stroke risk happened during the first 10 years after 1968. But after more than 3 decades of following them, the researchers also were able to note that the link between exposure to pesticides at work and heart disease and stroke risk was no longer significant. This was due to the effects of ageing that had a much greater impact on health erasing the link that pesticides could have with heart disease risk. If you want to know what other effects ageing brings upon a person’s mental and physical health please visit the website www.firsteatright.com. Another study on Latino workers also measured occupational pesticide exposure and heart disease risk. Of the 7404 participants it was seen that one in 20 were exposed to chemicals and metals in workplace. Totally, over 6% of them suffered from some form of cardiovascular disease with coronary heart disease (4.3%) being the most commonly present health problem and atrial fibrillation least commonly (0.7%) present among participants. The study found that exposure to pesticides in the workplace increased the likelihood of coronary heart disease and atrial fibrillation (by four-folds) but not heart failure or cerebrovascular disease. It also doubled the risk of coronary heart disease. Until now we have different studies coming up with different results-men and women respond differently to pesticides, one class of pesticides gives heart attacks to women but not men, another group of pesticides might trouble men and not women and hormones too might have a serious role to play in the risk of cardiovascular disease due to pesticide exposure. While avoiding pesticide exposure is not possible for everyone these studies are clear indications to users motivating them to use personal protective equipment while handling pesticides. A weight loss idea that started from a popsicle is rather unique indeed! How about terminating fat cells from the body by freezing them? No machines, no diet, no exercise and no other invasive procedures. It just sounds as the perfect plan to shed off the extra kilograms and layers of flabs around the body. Welcome to the world of cryolipolysis.
Freezing Sculptures Liposuction has been practiced as a way of removing excess fat from the body when diet and exercise seem to have failed our efforts but here the complications are many and their consequences are also grave which might include infections and sometimes even death. A surgery is a surgery and it carries with it all the possible risks involved apart from being an invasive procedure. An accidental observation in children eating popsicles (fat necrosis was seen in the cheek of the kid sucking the popsicle) brought about the idea of fat reduction using freezing techniques. Technically termed as cryolipolysis this method involves applying an applicator set at a required temperature on a target area for a specific time period. The adipocyte tissues are the target here while other cells remain undisturbed. Owing to its non-invasive nature cryolipolysis is become one of the most sought-after procedures for spot reduction. Coolsculpting (another name for cryolipolysis) doesn’t calls for the use of anesthesia, cutting or tissue damage which makes it free of any recovery time needed and also enables the individual to carry on normal activities thereon. Effects Side effects are minor and mostly disappear in a matter of days or weeks. Common immediate side effects include redness, numbness, stiffness, bruising, firmness, mild pain, muscle cramps or a stinging sensation. Some experience diarrhea as dead fat cells are expelled out, itchiness for the ensuing couple of days after the procedure and a feeling of fullness in the throat (when fat cells from the neck or chin are removed). Coolsculpting has been approved to be a safe procedure in only certain regions of the body such as the thighs, abdomen, under the neck/chin, under the armpits, back and buttocks. Despite lack of hazardous side effects coolsculpting can never become a substitute for obesity treatment. It is generally used to dissolve those fat cells that don’t melt away with diet and exercise. The following groups of people are generally advised against coolsculpting:
While coolsculpting is applauded for its minimal side effects rare side effects that are serious include vasovagal reaction and paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), a condition where the fat cells start enlarging rather than shrinking and dying away. PAH is commonly observed in the male population but its cause is currently unknown. Go for It? While coolsculpting remains one of the best non-invasive methods for killing of adipocytes not many proofs and clinical studies exist supporting it. Individuals who have undergone this method of treatment are not numerous in number but serious consequences have not been reported until now. Cryolipolysis is not a one-time procedure but includes multiple sittings with a post-massage that’s included to enhance the results. One must also bear cost factors in mind before jumping over conclusions. Logically too, it is always better to lose weight using lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. For achieving weight loss through scientific methods of pure changes to diet and exercise please get in touch with registered dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com. While cryolipolysis exists as an efficient option to remove fat in those areas where it's difficult to remove with diet and exercise it is necessary to talk to a physician before taking any decisions. “Early to bed and Early to Rise Makes Jack Healthy, Wealthy & Wise”-We are living in a world in which many individuals haven’t even heard of such a proverb let alone have been following it! Blessed with a beautiful life our body functions tirelessly for our well-being and our circadian clock was tuned to follow a schedule exactly like the one mentioned in the proverb. Alas, we have turned it all upside down, ignored our body cues for decades together, taken advantage of the blessing showered on us and finally, ruined a healthy abode into one that suffers and toils to regain its health and wellness. Sleep schedules have gone miserable with the advent of shift jobs and web series taking priority over regular sleeping hours such that normal bed timings have been pushed to 11 PM, 12 AM or even 1 AM in the night; Eating schedules have taken a U-turn where most skip breakfast due to late sleeping hours or eat a heavy dinner in the name of partying. Junk foods and multi-cuisine restaurants attract individuals with their array of menu options; Sedentary behavior has taken front seat pushing behind an active lifestyle thereby leading to rise in obesity/overweight. We now live in a world that’s dominated by weight-related problems and seek shortcut solutions such as skipping meals altogether, starving or eliminating foods groups such as fats and carbohydrates to lose weight rather than pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Our forefathers ate their dinner soon after sunset but we have ruined it all! A large number of people have started practicing intermittent fasting (individuals fast for 12 hours or more before eating food), going for detox diets and living on fruits and vegetables as a means to cleanse their body. Fasting was practiced by our earlier generations too as a token of respect to the higher power on spiritual and religious grounds. Fad diets that believe in eliminating food groups or consuming minimal calories don’t stay long but intermittent fasting has been appreciated and pursued by many people as a strong way to lose body weight. This brings in the question of whether meal timings do affect our weight ranges. If you see clearly, early time-restricted feeding is a type of intermittent fasting during which people eat all their meals during early morning and afternoon hours right before going for a fast for the rest of the day. A new study in the Obesity journal has come up with the fact that the time of the meal has a great impact on the metabolism helping to curb hunger and promote fat burning. Until now, we did know that intermittent fasting and eating meals earlier can help with weight loss but we did not know why they did seem to help. But the study discussed here looks into the different ways by which weight loss could be achieved-burning more calories, lowering appetite or both. The study involved 11 individuals who were healthy but overweight with a BMI of 25-35. Both men and women between the ages of 25 and 45 were involved in the study. The research team split the individuals into two groups where both the groups ate the same three meals per day for 4 days but at different timings-early time-restricted feeding (eTRF) schedule (6 participants) and control schedule (5 participants). Individuals in the eTRF group ate their first meal at 8.00 A.M. and their last meal at 2.00 P.M. Individuals in the control group had their first meal at 8.00 A.M but their last meal at 8.00 P.M. So, while eTRF group participants fasted for 18 hours before eating their next meal those in the control group fasted for 12 hours. After four days participants were tested for hunger hormone levels. While both groups did not show significant difference in the number of calories they burned it was seen that individuals in the eTRF group had lower levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin and reduced appetite comparatively. eTRF group also had increased fat burning capability for which the research team justified that eating meals earlier prompted the body to switch from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fat for the same energy. While this might be good news for some, this kind of eating schedule cannot and should not be followed by all. For instance, people with diabetes must eat small meals frequently, pregnant women cannot go for a long time without eating something and patients with certain other medical conditions cannot survive on an intermittent fasting schedule. Socially too, intermittent fasting prevents individuals from eating together with their families/friends and there are some who try to eat as much as possible during the eating window which might lead to weight gain in some. In such cases, the best way is to eat small meals frequently. Fasting for longer hours might not be possible in the case of majority of people. Practically, it is possible to move your mealtimes during early hours such as eating your breakfast around 7.30 AM, lunch around 12.30-1 PM and dinner around 7-7.30 PM for maximized benefits. But changing your eating schedules alone is not sufficient and one must rely upon exercise and an active lifestyle to lose weight. For practical and scientific guidance on what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat it is better to get in touch with reputed dieticians and nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who can guide you through your weight loss journey. The joys of a new born in the house is never-ending but along with the new bundle of joy arrives the countless sleepless nights faced by parents and family members. It’s surprising to believe that a tiny human can keep so many people on toes striving for the infant’s comfort. Breastfeeding might be a problem for some mothers due to various reasons which keeps the child hungry or insufficiently fed but the foremost problem faced by many kids is lack of sleep. After being secure inside the mom’s womb for more than nine months these tiny tots have a lot on their plate to digest-adjust to outside environment, accommodate different temperatures and stay away from mom’s enclosure for most of the times. Despite these, some kids sleep through the night right from start while some others have trouble sleeping any time of the day. We even hear people often commenting that kids born during daytime sleep through the night while those born during the night sleep through the day. Indeed, we do have exceptions here also-maybe there are some like mine which doesn’t like to sleep day or night keeping the parents sleep-deprived most days of the week. Where does the problem lie in case of such kids and how essential is sleep for these newborn children? One of the commonest questions faced by paediatricians is on the baby’s sleeplessness and one of the commonest changes faced by the new mom is her lack of sleep with the arrival of the baby. The baby develops a sense of time from the rhythms in the womb, including the heart beat and are said to have two sets of timing genes (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/26/why-dont-babies-sleep-at-night). The first set helps them to sleep like any other living being (including animals) and the second set instils the 24-hour sense of time through the day which includes waking up and sleeping. The genes that gets engraved in your baby is thoroughly your luck indeed. There are few babies that sleep like logs helping their parents too rest well. You might be a deep sleeper but your baby might be the lightest one waking up with the slightest hustle bustle in the house. Mostly, the baby’s genes are a mixture of yours and your partner’s but babies are different and there are minimal chances indeed that their sleep patterns stand up to that of an adult’s. Letting your Baby Know Night & Day Mom is the first person through whom the baby comes to experience day and night and sleep and wake. After birth, the need to feed surpasses all other needs in an infant and this happens frequently as their tummies are extremely small. At birth, these tiny creatures don’t know to differentiate between night and day and it takes almost 2-6 months for them to function on a 24-hour timing sense. Maybe this helps us understand primarily that babies don’t sleep through the night because they can’t. From then onwards, their sleep regulations and recommendations are similar to that of adults-darkening the bedroom when it is time to sleep, keeping electronic gadgets and television out of reach when it nears sleep time and setting the baby’s internal clock by exposing it to sunlight during the day. Above all, it is necessary that parents habituate the baby for a regular sleeping pattern to help them get into the routine. A study by Australian researchers shows that infants whose mothers had poor mental and physical well-being during pregnancy are at an increased risk of developing severe sleep problems. There are some babies which are predisposed to extreme sleep resistance before birth and these are the ones whose mothers faced higher rates of depression, poor physical health and well-being during pregnancy compared to those moms who did not have trouble sleeping. Likewise, such infants who experience frequent sleeplessness at nights are likelier to have difficulty concentrating and exhibit behavioural problems around 3-4 years of age. This makes it extremely important to diagnose and treat sleep problems in infants and young children. Lack of sleep affects kids in other ways too-it’s often associated with an increased risk of being overweight, having emotional and behavioural difficulties in adolescence and adulthood, are likelier to suffer from increased risk of depression, anxiety and aggression during adulthood and it also affects their performance during the day having a strong impact on school grades resulting in lower self-esteem and emotional disturbance. While making the child sleep well through the night is not 100% in our hands we can try to do as much as possible to regulate their sleep schedules and match it to our sleeping routines. This helps us sleep better and keeps the baby healthy. References Poor Mental and Physical Health in Pregnancy Linked to Infant Sleep Problems: https://www.smh.com.au/national/poor-mental-and-physical-health-in-pregnancy-linked-to-infant-sleep-problems-20191001-p52wlm.html Babies Sleep Patterns Can be Challenging-Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Despair: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/mar/01/babies-sleep-patterns-challenging-shouldnt-despair-baby-sleep-day Poor Infant Sleep May Indicate Attention problems Later: https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/health/story/poor-infant-sleep-may-indicate-attention-problems-later-267731-2015-10-12 How Not to Get Baby to Sleep: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1728755,00.html Our priorities in life define our attitude towards different things. Each of us have our own priorities that includes good job, better scores in exams, becoming a better person in life, more money, etc. We design our day-to-day life surrounding our priorities-adjusting food timings to enable more study time or skipping the movie to get something done for the next day’s project meeting at office. People are either happy or sad with only some of them having a neutral feeling towards life taking it as it comes, living one day at a time. Their state of mind too might be a result of their priority accomplishments. As we live and days pass some lose focus on them but there are others whose priorities become an addiction. Their desire to achieve their goals quadruple and they are ready to go to any extreme to fulfill it. For most of us addiction includes smoking or drinking but the present world is surprising us with a number of newer addictions being added to the list quite often. Gaming addiction was added sometime back and now we are into exercise addiction. Ok. I understand that you are bewildered as we live in a world intoxicated by sedentary behavior and higher obesity rates. But even if you go and re-read the sentence a hundred times the fact is going to remain unchanged. Though a source of surprise for all the lazy bums out there, exercise addiction exists as a major problem with exercise regulars. When Habit becomes an Addiction There have been innumerable articles reinstating the importance of physical activity and exercise. Health experts and fitness professionals keep requesting individuals to make exercising as a part of their daily routine, a habit of sorts such as brushing teeth or taking bath. There have been some who take this seriously and reap benefits. But how can a habit turn into an addiction? If we analyze, brushing teeth or having a bath are basic requirements essential for survival and failing to do can lead to foul smell or likewise. On the other hand, overperforming them is not going to make things better or improve our health. But exercise is different. Once we start realizing the benefits of exercising seeing a positive change in our health and body, we become very much in love with it. Exercise is something that showers you with added benefits when you keep performing more and more. Higher the intensity and longer the duration greater are its benefits. But as we know, too much of anything is good for nothing and exercise too is not an exclusion from this. Overstraining and pushing your limits to the core with exercising can land you in greater trouble in the form of weakened immune system, fat gain, decreased performance, fatigue, amenorrhea in women (absence of menstruation for three or more months), decreased appetite and insomnia. Hindrance to Quality of Life Its all good when we introduce exercise as a part of our lifestyle and reap benefits. Sometimes some people are overjoyed with its benefits that they start overperforming the activities and prolonging the schedules. It becomes their number one priority in life-they skip parties and functions, socializing becomes almost nil, they take a power walk during every office break, get up very early for some morning laps but once again perform vigorous exercise in the evening and don’t stop exercising even if they have hit the fatigue button long back. I’ve even seen people cribbing about losing out on their day’s exercise routine even though it was due to inevitable reasons. The entire day seems to bank out on a dull note and the mood never changes until they get a chance to exercise. There are some others who try to exercise every time after they eat some processed food or even their regular meal. They are obsessed with the feeling that eating food without exercising loads them with undesirable body fat. There are people who are compelled to feel their heart race and the muscles stretch. They feel guilty staying sedentary, become anxious or even victims of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression. Exercise can also become a way to cope with stress, beat worries, homesickness, heartaches and escape from the lingering problems at home. Exercise, an activity that’s useful for fighting against depression and anxiety can become the platform for the same when overdone; the activity that helps in weight loss can lead to fat gain when overdone; it has the power to result in anemia; can lead to overuse injuries, dehydration, anemia, a compromised immune system or even death. Even sleep patterns are affected due to exercise obsession. Many of them are irritable and experience mood swings when they are unable to exercise. Exercising beyond a stipulated limit affects the heart which stops benefiting and starts getting stressed (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/10/18/excessive-exercise-may-harm-the-heart-study-suggests/#154fb1df7fa5). Being promoted as a means to prolong longevity in individuals by as much as 30% exercising moderately is always recommended. But if you are working out too much you are digging your own grave of shortening your life span. Working out too much is equally bad as not working out at all (https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/working-out-too-much-as-bad-as-no-exercise-at-all-study-says-20150204-135nmo.html). Getting Trapped with Fitness Apps Fitness apps have been treated as a boon to keep individuals fit. But the same apps can become reasons for getting into an exercise addiction as well. Once you start performing well these apps encourage you with points, rewards and applauds which motivate you to keep doing more and better. Measurements are a way to boost your self-esteem but the same numbers can fail you when you don’t perform well-it keeps telling you that you have fallen short of the goal or the statistics are not as good as yesterday and you need to push yourself a little more. Looking at the app every day each morning brings about a fresh wave of energy to start the day with the best performance. But when this is not possible the day is ruined as per your thoughts and you feel grumpy throughout. The intellect to realize your addiction to exercise and to take a step in the right direction is not so easy. Understanding that it has become an addiction takes time and once you realize don’t delay any further and seek help as early as possible. Exercise moderately and enjoy what you do. Never be in a haste to complete all sets, redo them and jump on to something else. Have a ‘let go’ attitude without becoming obsessed. You can’t control everything around-all that you can do is only control your emotions and responses to the situations around you. References I Was Addicted to Exercise: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/working-out-too-much-as-bad-as-no-exercise-at-all-study-says-20150204-135nmo.html I Was Addicted to Exercise: Here’s How to Spot the Signs: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/working-out-too-much-as-bad-as-no-exercise-at-all-study-says-20150204-135nmo.html When Exercise Shifts from a Healthy Habit to an Unhealthy Addiction: https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/09/health/exercise-addiction-explainer/index.html Beware, There’s Exercise Addiction Too: https://time.com/4686043/exercise-workout-obesity/ How Can I Break my Addiction to Exercise? https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2007/dec/02/features.magazine87 The youth and charm that you possess in your 20s and 30s diminish gradually as you approach 40s and 50s with evidences of greying hair, ageing skin and crow’s feet (wrinkles around the eyes). Say goodbye to beauty products, anti-ageing creams and Botox treatments for staying youthful. Its great news for those who rely on natural beauty and avoid spending hefty prices for beauty products and creams. A first-of-its-kind scientific study has shown that practicing facial exercise daily for at least 30 minutes helps an individual stay youthful and look younger. The exercises proposed enlarge and strengthen facial muscles, face becomes stronger and much toned. Face Health Our face reflects our thoughts and emotions. Any stranger first looks into your face and it gives an insight about your inner self. Our face shape, color and features are gifts of nature and we have no power in altering any of it. The face pad between facial muscles and the skin gives the face its shape and as we age the face pad becomes thinner. The pads fit together like a child’s jigsaw puzzle, but ageing promotes thinning face pads to degenerate and droop giving our face a saggy look as we age. Increasing muscle area in the face helps the skin seem stuffier and the firm muscles help the face look fuller. Muscle growth and density helps to increase facial volume and nullify the effects of ageing. Anti-ageing Study Study participants included women aged between 40 and 65 years who underwent two 90-minute training sessions from a certified facial exercise instructor. The participants continued doing these exercised at home for 20 weeks. They did the exercises daily for 30 minutes for the first eight weeks whereas from the ninth week they started doing it for 30 minutes every alternate day. Each of them was taught around 32 different facial expressions common of which included puckering and squeezing the cheek and each of them were done for a minute. Common exercises taught included the cheek lifter where the participants open the mouth and form an ‘O’, upper lip is positioned over teeth, the participants smile to lift cheek muscles, put the finger over the top of the cheek, release cheek muscle to lower them and lift them back up. This is repeated by lowering and lifting the cheeks. Yet another famous exercise is the happy cheeks sculpting where the participants are required to smile without showing their teeth. Here, the women purse lips together, smile forcing cheek muscles up, place fingers on the corners of the mouth and slide them up to the top of the cheeks and hold in this position for 20 seconds. Two dermatologists assessed photos (before and after exercise) using a standard facial aging scale looking at 19 different features and rating all at three different time points-beginning of the study, at eighth week of study and at week 20. Results showed that upper cheek and lower cheek fullness was enhanced after exercising and average age of the patient decreased after the course of the study. While it started at 50.8 in course of the study (at eighth week) it fell to 49.6 years and finally to 48.1 at 20 weeks. Participants seemed almost three years younger in a span of just 20 weeks. Going Natural Facial exercises are non-invasive, have no side effects, come free of cost and can be done as per your schedule. Even exercising such as raising both eyebrows in surprise strengthening forehead muscles, frowning your eyebrows deals with the crow’s feet, blinking and closing your eyes, imitating chewing a bubble gum gives a rounded shape to the cheek, imitating the blowing of a balloon and then holding the lips together as though whistling helps to firm lip muscles, contracting and relaxing your neck pulling it up and sideways to avoid double chin and toning the neck and staring at a distant object with a shocked expression helps to improve blood circulation are extremely popular facial exercises. Along with these exercises when you eat healthy food especially those that improve skin care you are sure to sparkle and twinkle. For a list of those foods please visit the website www.firsteatright.com. Putting a full stop to sugary drinks and beverages seems next to impossible despite the overwhelming controversies surrounding it. Weekend cheat meals, late-night parties or celebrations are never complete without our favorite colas. We take comfort in choosing diet colas and beverages but the basic truth remains that at the end of day anything that contains sugar is never going to be healthy. Sugar indeed is white poison. Sugary drinks aren’t restricted to sodas but extend to fruit juices and fizzy pops that are overladen with sugar. These beverages saw the limelight initially because of their tendency to cause weight gain leading to increase in obesity and overweight rates. Debates on imposing taxes for these sugary beverages aren’t short and the beverages have definitely caused a spike in weight gain rates worldwide.
If pizza or burger isn’t enough to spoil our health these foods go hand-in-hand with fizzy pops that act as the icing on the cake ruining oral health, causing dental caries and leading to tooth removal too in kids as young as 5-6-year-olds. Besides causing a surge in oral problems and weight issues there are theories now that consuming these sugary beverages might increase the risk of cancer too. The link between obesity and its increased risk on cancer is evident but proofs for sugary drinks and the risk of cancer is still limited. This provoked a group of French researchers to analyze the relationship between consumption of sugar drinks (sugar sweetened beverages, 100% fruit juice), artificially sweetened beverages and the risk of cancer that includes breast, bowel and prostate cancer as well. The study included more than 1,00,000 healthy French adults who participated in the study whose average age was 42 years. Each of the participants completed at least two 24-hour online validated questionnaires that helped in assessing the intake of 3,300 different foods and beverages and were followed up for up to 9 years. The research team took into account several risk factors of cancer such as age, sex, education level and family history and the relationship between daily beverage consumption and the cases of cancer reported by participants were cross checked. It was seen that consumption rates across the male gender was generally higher compared to the female gender (90.3 mL vs 74.6 mL). Follow-up on the participants revealed that 2,193 of them were affected by cancer (693 breast cancer, 291 prostate cancer and 166 colorectal cancer) and the average age of the participants was 59 years. For every 100mL increase in consumption the risk of overall cancer increased by 18% and that of breast cancer increased by 22%. Though artificially sweetened beverages were not linked with a higher risk of cancer compared to fruit juices and other sugary drinks it might also be because of the fact that the number of participants consuming artificially sweetened beverages was comparatively low. The researchers theorize that the increase in cancer risk due to beverage consumption could be due to the presence of additives in soda or due to the effect of sugar in sugary drinks on visceral fat (stored across organs such as liver and pancreas), blood sugar levels and inflammatory markers and all of these are linked to increased cancer risk. All said and done, we cannot come to definite conclusions as this is only an observational study and it might also be possible that those who drink more of sugary beverages might also be habituated to other unhealthy behaviors such as eating more processed foods and leading a sedentary lifestyle that increase the risk of cancer. Its wise to minimize the consumption of any sugary beverage and perform regular exercise to lead a healthy life. Get in touch with reputed dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com to help in planning a healthy diet plan that’s good for the body. It’s a privilege to pluck a handful of freshly grown mint or basil from our kitchen garden and use them to garnish our yummy meal preparations. Indeed, it gives us a sense of accomplishment and mental satisfaction knowing that the herbs we use are completely fresh without pesticides. Nowadays, terrace farming, backyard gardening or potted plants are becoming an indispensable part of each of our houses where we grow plants and flowers of our choice. Among roses, hibiscus and aloe vera we have our tiny little fenugreek, coriander, curry leaves, rosemary, Thai basil or even parsley cluttered in fancy pots aligned in our precious balconies or garden terraces. Welcome to the flavored world of herbs! Herbs are used for garnishing and flavoring food, in medicines and as fragrances for their aromatic and savory properties. They are different from spices in that herbs refer to only the leafy green or flowering part of the plant whereas spices are dry fetched from other parts of the plant such as seeds, fruits and barks. But this is only in the culinary herbs and when used for medicinal purposes herbs might refer to any part of the plant such as flowers, roots, seeds and leaves. Some of the herbs that many of us are familiar nowadays include thyme, sage, lavender, parsley, basil, rosemary, coriander, mint and even turmeric. Growing herbs at home is not only fun but also favors health apart from flavoring foods. Different herbs including cilantro have been used as anticonvulsants but their mechanical pathway was unknown until now. For long, cilantro has been used for reducing seizure activity in the brain (by binding to a specific part of the potassium channel and activating it) apart from being reported as a great anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and analgesic agent that’s been used by mankind for more than 8000 years. Going Back to Our Ancestral Methods Herbs were used as weapons to ward of ill-health by our ancient humans but somehow lost its charm with the overpower of science and technology in the 19th century. Almost 5000 years ago Sumerians discovered the lifesaving property of myrtle and thyme, Chinese herbal pharmacology sustained priority and magic right from first century AD and in Renaissance England, chamomile, hyssop and tansy were strewn on the floor to stay safe from plague (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/t-magazine/herbs-cooking-food-flowers.html). In due course, these wonder plants were restricted to kitchen use either as flavoring agents or garnishing materials for salads and food. Herbs were ripped off their uniqueness and special properties and restricted to their usefulness in culinary purposes. Life is a giant wheel where ups and downs are part of every individual. Also, those that have been discarded as petty and outdated soon seen the light of day in due course and this is true in the case of most things right from fashion and appearance to foods, dishes and practice methods. If you are eager to start using herbs in your cooking but in a great dilemma whether it should be coriander or thyme, I would recommend the basil and tarragon to start with! Both of them are rich in flavor and aroma blending well with mild-tasting vegetables, fruits, proteins, sauces, dressings and condiments. Thai basil can be used with anything that adds a sweet tinge to your dish while tarragon, a staple of French cuisine, is widely used in preparing pesto sauces that enhance the taste of your pasta or protein serving. You can add some basil to your soup preparations, lavender to your salads and even prepare chamomile tea to ease your cold! Healthy Twist to Herbs Many people nowadays try using herbal supplements to ease pain and improve health. A third of cancer patients in a study reported relying on herbal medicines, alternative medicines or chiropractors as a remedy for pain but rarely reported this to their attending physician. Almost 29% of them in the study did not report this to their doctor and another study found that individuals using complementary or alternative medicines (CAMs) were two times likelier to die from disease as they mostly did not take up recommended treatment procedure. People strive hard to save themselves from cancer and use dietary supplements alongside their cancer treatment procedures as well without telling their doctor. What they fail to notice is the fact that these supplements might interact with the treatment procedures either causing harm to the patient or reducing the overall effectiveness of the treatment procedure which finally affects the patient only. That’s mainly because many did not feel the need to inform their doctor or simply because the physician did not question them on it. China is one of the main countries practicing herbal medicine therapy and their belief in traditional medicines is so strong that pharmacies deliver meds based on unauthorized herbs alongside formal pharmaceuticals. But now we have been doomed with the news that a specific ingredient found in some of these supplements might influence cancer just like smoking. Birthwort is a leafy vine abundantly present in China containing a compound called aristolochic acid that’s used to ease childbirth and treat arthritis mainly. Later, this compound became part of weight loss pills, ointments and other treatment plans to cure rheumatoid arthritis and menstrual symptoms. Warnings and mishaps about these pills came into limelight when several women consuming them for weight loss started complaining about kidney failure in the 1990s. Several herbs have been used in preparing herbal extracts that have the property to protect brain cells, serve in treating asthma, bronchitis and brain disorders. Latest buzz is the use of adaptogenic herbs to neutralize cortisol levels thereby reducing stress levels in an individual. There are more than 50 herbal plants that are proud of owing this property of which two most-famous of them are tulsi and Ashwagandha root (both of them own a standard place n Ayurveda which is deep-rooted in India). It is believed that Adaptogens play a critical role in adrenal glands same like what exercise does to muscles but we need further research in needed in this field. Apart from medical and culinary use herbs also find a place in bouquets, floral arrangements and beauty products! They are treated as equals to flowers alongside roses and orchids, given as bouquets wrapped in string to treat asthma patients and find a place in posh buildings as architectural diagrams and paintings too! Storing them Right Buying herbs is no big deal. It all depends on how you save its freshness and fragrance. Soon after buying your favorite herbs rinse them in free flowing water and leave them to dry for a couple of hours. Then, place them in damp paper towel wrapping them up, placing them in a plastic bag and storing them in a refrigerator. For softer herbs like parsley and cilantro it is better to trim the stems of the herb and keep it in a jar covered with 1-2 inch of water. Cover the herb once again with a plastic bag securing it with a thread or rubber band to press the air out and keep it refrigerated until use. Freezing also helps in preserving the herbs minus their texture. You can either chop the herbs and keep them in a freezer tray or zip them into freezer bags. While basil, thyme and cilantro are regular ones why don’t you get your hands full on a few different ones like the lettuce-leaved basil, summer savory, chop suey greens or sweet bergamot to spice up your culinary taste and skills? These might be completely new but they are worth the time and effort taken to locate their seeds and grow them in pots. References Third of Cancer Patients Use Herbal Remedies, Chiropractors and Alternative Medicines: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cancer-alternative-medicine-herbal-remedy-homeopathy-acupuncture-a8865336.html 10 Herbs You Probably Haven’t Heard of But Must be Growing: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/05/10-herbs-probably-havent-heard-of-should-grow-alys-fowler Common Herbal Supplement Linked to Cancer: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/08/common-herbal-supplement-linked-cancer What are Adaptogens and Why are People Taking Them? https://time.com/5025278/adaptogens-herbs-stress-anxiety/ Breakfast, the most important meal of the day, is still undervalued and given lesser prominence than deserved. Man lives by his own set of preferences and priorities in which eating a healthy morning breakfast exists down in the list for most people. We become our own nutritionists and dietitians dictating food intake practises and diet routines to achieve several goals including weight loss, fat loss and more. In this process, breakfast becomes the most affected meal of the day as we skip it based on multiple factors such as absence of time to prepare food and eat, weight loss strategies or calorie restrictions. We skip breakfast 1, 2, or even 3 times a week and for some others eating breakfast is a luxury indulgence when they have time. Such repeated instances of breakfast skipping have been associated with a number of health problems including cardiometabolic risks, obesity, insulin insensitivity and type 2 diabetes. Besides affecting the health of the individual skipping breakfast makes a person sluggish, lose concentration, lack focus and optimal memory skills and perform not up to the expected standard. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevails as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality rates worldwide owing to our unhealthy lifestyle and dietary practises. Unbalanced blood sugar levels bring about microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy) and macrovascular (coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease) complications that contributes to increased medical expenses and health degradation too. Aichi Workers’ Cohort Study Japan has a 10.2% diabetes rate in male workers aged between 40 and 69 years and a 4.7% rate in female workers in large-scale companies in 2008-2010 and 15.0% in men and 8.0% in women in the National Health and Nutrition Study in 2011. Almost 14.4% men and 11.1% women skip breakfast which is a modifiable risk factor for T2DM and finding out the reason behind this can help us correct the risk and lead a healthier life. This motivated a group of researchers to extract data from the Aichi workers’ cohort study that included 6648 Japanese civil servants in Aichi prefecture aged 35-66 years in 2002. All of them answered a questionnaire regarding their lifestyle and medical history and were followed up until 2011. T2DM prevalence in the participants were examined through two methods: One, by noting down the year when fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels reached ≥126 mg/dL and the date of onset was set as July 1st. Second, the answers from the questionnaires helped the researchers know the existence of diabetes in patients and the year of onset. All the participants were probed for their breakfast habits using yet another self-administered questionnaire and eating frequency was assessed using five categories-every day, almost every day with occasional skips, 3-5 days/week, 1-2 days/week and none. Using the frequency response all the participants were split into two groups-breakfast eaters (included those who reported eating breakfast every day and almost every day with occasional skips) and breakfast skippers (all the other categories). The brief-type dietary history questionnaire (BDHQ) included data on intake of fish, fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, cereals, coffee, sugar-sweetened beverages and snacks and also speed of eating classified as very fast, relatively fast, medium, relatively slow and slow. Height, weight, BMI, blood glucose levels and insulin concentration were noted down. The participants were analysed for their smoking habits classified as current, former and never; the number of days they were engaged in physical activity classified into two categories ≥3 days/week or <3 days/week. Work timings were noted and scheduled into 4 categories-shift work including night shifts, shiftwork but without night shifts, without shiftwork but with night work and without shiftwork or night work. Sleep duration was classified as <7h or ≥7h and stress was classified into 4 categories including very much, much, ordinary and little. Results Of the 4631 who participated 90.4% ate breakfast. On a comparative basis, those who skipped breakfast were following a worse lifestyle that included current smoking, alcohol consumption, increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and decreased intake of fruits and vegetables. Results showed that:
Chronotype as a Middle Man between Skipping Breakfast & Type 2 Diabetes Incidence Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies show increased cardiometabolic risk in kids and adults who skip breakfast. A long-term study spanning more than 20 years showed that those who skipped breakfast at childhood and adulthood showed greater waist circumference and higher fasting insulin, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol than those who eat breakfast. A big-scale long-term study spanning more than 16 years on 29,206 participants showed that skipping breakfast was associated with a 21% increased risk of type 2 diabetes. But, a study on low-income Latino diabetic patients showed that breakfast skipping was linked to increased plasma glucose levels but not haemoglobin (HbA1C) levels that’s generally taken as the standard for diabetes measurement. The circadian cycle ensures regulation of a number of daily physiological rhythms including sleep/wake and feeding behaviour, peripheral tissue metabolism, energy expenditure and hormonal profiles. Each of us are at our peak energy levels at different times during the day-some during the early morning hours called as ‘morning lark’ and some during late nights called as ‘night owls’. The chronotype of the individual can be deduced from self-reported sleep times. We all love to stay late nights and get up even later but a study shows that those who do so are at a 2.5 times higher risk of type 2 diabetes which in turn indicates that a later chronotype keeps the individual at a higher risk of T2DM. Likewise, those with a later chronotype often eat less or skip eating altogether after waking up late in the morning. These individuals prefer to eat more of alcohol, fat and cholesterol, especially during dinner compared to those with an early chronotype. Maybe that’s why late risers probably suffer from poor glycemic control. A study focused on knowing more about the role of chronotype in patients with T2DM and skipping breakfast. The study team invited patients from the Rush University Medical Centre and once chosen all of them self-reported age and race, recorded height, weight, BMI and entered the recent Hb1Ac values. Bedtime, wakeup time, sleep onset latency and sleep duration both during weekdays and weekends during the previous month was recorded. Mid-sleep time as the midpoint between sleep onset and wake time was calculated and mid-sleep time on free days (MSF) was arrived at from mid-sleep time on weekend nights with adjustments for sleep duration on weekend nights was calculated. SDF is calculated sleep duration on weekend nights and SDw is calculated sleep duration on weekday nights. All the participants mentioned their perceived actual sleep duration and preferred sleep duration on weekdays. They answered a 24-h dietary recall to know about the content and timing of the meal over the previous day. Total calorie intake over the day was also calculated using this data. Results Comparison between breakfast eaters (n=172) and breakfast skippers (n=22) showed that those who skipped breakfast were significantly younger and had higher HbA1c levels and BMI but had no difference between groups in median diabetes duration, insulin use or number of diabetes complications. Those who skipped breakfast generally had a later chronotype as their bedtime routine was later than those who ate breakfast. More number of breakfast skippers complained of lack of appetite during morning hours and reported consuming fewer total calories during the previous day. These guys consumed a major portion of their calories during lunch and dinner compared to those who ate breakfast. It was seen that breakfast skipping was associated with significantly high HbA1c levels. To see the effect of chronotype on diabetes and breakfast skipping a series of regression models were performed. In the first model, skipping breakfast was linked to higher HbA1c levels and in the second model it was linked to later MSF. In the third model MSF was linked to HbA1c and the fourth model suggested that MSF and breakfast skipping was linked to higher HbA1c. Chronotype did not entirely have an impact on breakfast skipping and HbA1c levels but it was seen that both chronotype and breakfast skipping remained independently linked to poor glycemic control. Behavioral interventions in the form of eating breakfast or modifying sleep time could be considered strategies for improving glycemic control in the participants. Other Studies The meta-analysis results from 2015 showed a direct link between breakfast skipping and type 2 diabetes risk but we don’t have any dose-dependent studies until now that can confirm whether skipping once a week would be less destructive than skipping twice per week. It is also not right to categorize all those who skip breakfast into one single category without paying heed to the frequency of times as this does have an important impact on the results. A meta-analysis of studies on skipping breakfast and type 2 diabetes using two random-effects models was done-standard random-effects model meta-analyses and dose-dependent meta-analysis. Though six studies met the inclusion criteria only 4 had BMI data. The standard random effects meta-analysis showed a 32% increased type 2 diabetes risk before adjusting BMI and a 22% increased risk after adjusting for BMI. Pooled RR value was 1.06 suggesting an increased risk of 5% after adjusting for BMI. There was an increased risk of 55% seen for 4-5 days of skipping breakfast/week before adjusting BMI and an increased risk of 40% after adjusting for BMI. It was observed that prolonged periods of fasting including skipping breakfast led to an increased postprandial insulin resistance during the next meal and increased ghrelin (hunger hormone linked with weight gain) levels as well. But we also have data showing that intermittent fasting, alternate day fasting and daily calorie restriction helped reduce diabetes risk factors such as body weight, viscera fat, fasting insulin and insulin resistance and we need long-term trials to confirm anything. Glucose concentration and markers of insulin resistance (such as high cholesterol and inflammation) are higher after lunch on days when individuals skipped breakfast. This inflammation affects insulin sensitivity thereby increasing one’s risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is always recommended to start the day on a healthy note with fruits, whole grains, milk, eggs and nuts while avoiding high-sugar and processed foods. References Breakfast Skipping is Positively Associated with Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Evidence from Aichi Workers’ Cohort Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411234/ The Relationship between Breakfast Skipping, Chronotype & Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411234/ Breakfast Skipping & Type 2 Diabetes: Where Do We Stand? https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/149/1/1/5280617 You can’t wait to tell your bestie about the new employee who has joined your team; The latest secret about your dream hero is sulking you though its been discussed repeatedly; the guys don’t get to talk enough on their favorite cricketing Gods after yesterday’s victorious match! The handsome boyfriend of your worst enemy is making headlines everywhere in the college and people haven’t stopped praising about him to you. All of the above are some or the other form of what we all know it to be-GOSSIP! There is enough of it happening around and each of us are almost ready anytime to hear a juicy piece of information. This might be a word that’s often linked to the female gender and mocked upon by all but not so much as the 16th and 17th century British. During those periods, those gossiping too much were made to wear an iron cage over their heads consisting of iron spikes that went into the mount and prevented the individual from speaking (this was mostly subjected to women who were the ones talking too much during those days). We don’t have the opportunity to do something like that now despite the bitter truth that people who love gossiping still are very much prevalent in the society with the only difference that men too are actively involved in in very much more than what was their contribution centuries back! Sign language enabled conversation among people back then with actual language forms appearing way later enabling people to exchange their ideas and promoted effective interaction between humans. Evolutionary scientists strongly support the fact that gossip among our ancestors helped in shaping the community in a better way shedding light on many things that could have remained in the dark otherwise. The most famous theory on gossip came from Robert Dunbar who proposed that gossip existed as a grooming tool for social groups that were growing in size. Our hunter gatherers needed to cooperate with one another to successfully catch their meal for the day and for this, they needed to share information such as who goes to catch the prey, who goes to fetch edible fruits and who looks after the caught prey. In short, they needed to gossip about each other to communicate their thoughts clearly and get the work done. The Process of Making Humans More Human! Gossip helps us to make people human, exchange important information with each other and promote love, bond and affection with families and friends. Being in close relationship with our fellow humans is essential for our survival and this behavior could be seen even in apes who do this mainly by grooming-touching, stroking the fur, giving out grunts or cleaning another’s fur. Human’s ability to speak makes our collaboration with other humans special and versatile. While it is unimaginable for two people to survive on a relationship that’s devoid of any speech, it’s amazing to see apes and gorillas build cohesion without uttering a single word. When people talk shitty stuff about celebrities, fellow neighbors and others, gossip seems to be the worst discovery that tries to humiliate people, make them cry until their eyes go dry, spread rumors or simply exchange information. At the same time it might turn out that gossiping which includes sharing information about your friend’s marriage, talking about your son’s spell bee competition next week or telling your mom about your cousin’s new entrepreneur venture does have positive influence on the people of the society too! A new study finds that people gossip for an average of 52 minutes a day talking to someone about someone else who is not present. The study further elates us with the news that most of the gossip is on neutral grounds directed away from filthy talks and dirty chats purely existing as nonjudgemental chitchat (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/13/722141820/we-gossip-about-52-minutes-a-day-that-may-not-be-as-toxic-as-it-sounds). This was the same study that also shed light that men gossip about the same amount as women and extroverts gossip more than introverts. Gossip generally helps people update each other on what’s going about in the society, in each other’s life, builds upon cooperation and is a means of survival. We all rely upon our loved ones for love and affection, interaction and a meaning in life. Gossip is a way of knowing the hurdles that’s happening in another person’s life, it tells you if there are any problems with your job and the company is going for a mass layoff (which means you can start looking for options elsewhere) and gossip is what also helps us equip ourselves with facts and thoughts about the person gossiping and the person being gossiped about too! Sometimes, gossiping can have negative consequences on a person too and some of these consequences can be turned into positives when the person involved corrects his/her criticisms and starts leading a better life. Gossip can be psychologically relieving-two studies came up with the fact that people cooperated in a better way when they knew that their behavior might be gossiped about and they start acting in the best interest of all the individuals present around them rather than tending to their own selfish needs alone. Positive gossip helped people understand how they could do better for themselves while negative gossip could make them feel better but also raise the fears that they could be the next subject for gossip in the group. This fear of being gossiped exists in each of us still we don’t refrain from gossiping as its etched in our cells more because it’s useful for us rather than simply being an element of fun and social interaction. One study shows that the tendency to gossip starts as early as the age of 5 in children. Gossip is like stuffing yourself with high-energy, empty-calorie foods. It invokes the pleasure centers of the brain, especially when the gossip is more negative than positive as it contributes towards building the person’s self-esteem. It helps people stay away from isolation existing as a means of connection among individuals. Gossip has got to do more than simply speaking about who’s living with whom in the social world, what’s the bank balance of your relative or how to cheat on your best friend. It is etched in our genes and maybe even language evolved in humans with the primary function of enabling gossiping among fellow individuals that encouraged them to connect socially, commit to people, reduce stress and anxiety and even encourage happiness. So, next time you go all hush-hush over someone or something don’t feel embarrassed but also ensure to never cross your boundaries which could otherwise ruin the other person’s life and career as well. References Have You Heard? Gossip is Actually Good and Useful: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/have-you-heard-gossip-is-actually-good-and-useful/382430/ Gossiping is What Makes us human: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11657765/Gossiping-is-what-makes-us-human-says-Oxford-professor.html As a kid I remember my dad telling me one solution for every health complaint I used to bring to his notice and that was none other than to eat more fruits and vegetables along with my daily diet intake. I had mixed emotions-sometimes I was frustrated, sometimes very angry and at other times I used to just ignore his suggestion but I never had the inclination to never pay heed to his suggestion and work upon it. Growing up, I realized the worthiness of his valuable comments after I started reading health magazines, newspaper articles and started seeing that my friends too who had taken up a produce-rich diet that’s good for wellness and health. Beyond all, the craziness of my adolescent wish to lose weight, become extremely slim and look chic prompted me for such a sudden transition in my eating habits that comprised of a vegetable-enriched diet. Just because fruits and vegetables are always included as a part of our daily cooking routine there isn’t much attention that we give to it! In fact, most of us show a face when served with most vegetables other than few like potato or cauliflower. The nutrient-rich beans, carrots, pears, apples and tomatoes that sit tight in our refrigerators and kitchen cabins are yet to find a place in most of our hearts but not with much success! Maybe, once you realize the goodness and benefits of these produce I am sure that none of us would ever again ignore to start eating them.
Don’t Have a Grudge Against Veggies Vegetables intake has been insisted upon as it’s a rich source of micronutrients and phytochemicals that help to protect the body against chronic disease and also reduce the risk of death from conditions such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. A meta-analysis of studies showed that regular consumption of fruits and vegetables (more than 5 portions daily) was linked to a 17% reduced risk of CHD when compared to the consumption of less than 3 portions daily. For every increase in portion of produce intake the risk of CHD decreased by 4% in yet another meta-analysis. But when we look behind the reason for such a variation in risk its seen that the type of fruit and vegetable consumed and also the processing method have a strong role to play in this apart from the cooking method, the type of produce consumed as some veggies and fruits are more beneficial than others, saturated fat intake, lifestyle factors and smoking habits. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 2015-2020 provides specific recommendations for daily vegetable intake depending on energy needs and also provides specific recommendations for different subgroups including dark green, red, legumes, starchy veggies and other kinds of veggies too. The reason why the DGA recommends different proportions for consumption of different vegetables is because of the simple fact that the health-promoting bioactive compounds are not evenly distributed across all vegetables. Moreover, introducing a variety of vegetables over a meal also has the potential to increase the liking of these vegetables and therefore, the quantity of the vegetables consumed. We have ample studies in our kitty that encourage us to consume more vegetables on a daily basis. Cross-sectional studies show that a higher variety of fruits and vegetables intake was linked to a lower risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension but these studies did not distinguish variety from quantity and we don’t know whether the association for variety was independent of the quantity consumed. Still, there are hardly a few studies that find a strong association between the variety of vegetables consumed and their benefits on heart health. So, it would make sense to take up those studies that deal with a variety of vegetables and their effect on CHD and also examine the association of quantity and variety in produce intake and its relationship with CHD. Greater the Variety of Produce, Smaller the Risk of CHD The study elaborated here focuses on the variety of vegetables consumed and their effect on CHD. The Healthy Food Diversity index (this index can be applied to different population groups by making only two small changes-define the food groups to be included and consumption targets for these food groups) was used to measure vegetable variety that’s independent of the total quantity of vegetables consumed. The index is comprised of two parts namely the Berry Index and the Health Value and its value is fetched by multiplying the two parts. The index score is bounded by 0 and 0.64 and higher scores are achieved when there is more consumption of vegetable subgroups and there is greater consumption of vegetable subgroups that have a greater weight. To assess the relationship between vegetable variety and cardiometabolic disease the participants in the study were categorized by quintile of vegetable variety scores with those in quintile 1 having lowest score and those in quintile 5 having greatest scores. To find the relationship between vegetable amount and each cardiometabolic disease subtype participants were categorized by quintile of vegetable amount (those in quintile 1 had lowest intake amount and those in quintile 5 had greatest intake amount). Also, to understand the link between each vegetable subtype and prevalent disease individuals were categorized as either consumers or non-consumers. The study included 38, 981 participants in which most of them were between 31 and 50 years of age and 52% were females. Of the total number of participants, 53% did not report smoking status, 53% had a BMI between 25 and 30, mean household size was 3 persons, 63% were living with a domestic partner and 81% reported being fully food secure. Participants consumed a mean of 3.4 meals per week away from home and 7000 respondents were told by a physician that they suffered from cardiometabolic disease. Results showed that:
The study clearly shows that vegetable variety and amount are inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease. Each of the vegetables are rich in different nutrients-dark green veggies are rich sources of nitrates, folate and carotenoids (helps to avoid inflammation and oxidative stress). Spinach, beets and broccoli are rich in phenolic compounds and display antioxidant activity. Also, most of the vegetables are rich sources of potassium that’s essential for blood pressure homeostasis. Another study happened in a group of Chinese men and women. 67, 211 women aged 40-70 and 55,474 men aged 40-74 involved in the study were assessed of their food intake with a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Frequencies and amount of food intake was converted into daily intake of each food. Total fruits and vegetables intake were derived by summing intake of all the fruits and vegetables consumed during the entire day. The FFQ included fruits such as pear, apple, citrus fruits, watermelon, banana, peach and grapes among other fruits while there were 33 vegetables including cruciferous vegetables, alliums, legumes and other vegetables such as celery, eggplant, cucumber, tomato, sweet potato and bean sprouts. Results showed that total fruits and vegetables intake was 502 g/d among women and 440 g/d among men. Women generally consumed more fruits and less vegetables compared to men. It was also observed that those who consumed more produce had higher income, education and were likelier to use more supplements. Women in the highest quartile of total fruit and vegetable intake had a hazard rate (HR) of 0.62 for CHD compared to those in the lowest quartile. For every increase in portion intake of produce there was a 6% reduction in CHD incidence among women and also the HR for CHD decreased with every portion increment in fruit and vegetable intake. In case of men, the lowest HR for CHD occurred at 6 portions per day. It was only banana that stood apart from the rest of the produce-a higher banana intake was associated with a lower risk of CHD in women. Assessing Produce Effect on Nurse’s Health Study (NHS) & Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) Another study tried to establish an association of quantity and variety in fruit and vegetable intake in relation to incident CHD in the NHS and HPFS study. An FFQ was sent to participants every 4 years to update information on their diet and also the participant’s intake of fruits and vegetables. Average daily intake of individual fruits and vegetables were summed to compute total fruit and vegetable intake. Potatoes, soy and legumes were not included in the definition of vegetables in the FFQ and variety in fruit and vegetable intake was defined as the total number of unique fruits and vegetables consumed at least once per week. Participants with a higher quantity-adjusted variety score were less likely to smoke, were more physically active and had higher intake of fruits and vegetables and women with higher variety were likelier to use more multivitamins and aspirins. Higher intake of fruits and vegetables were associated with a lower risk of CHD and higher intake of various subgroups including all fruits, all vegetables, citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables and vitamin C-rich foods were associated with a lower CHD risk. Total fruits and vegetables intake showed that risk of CHD was 18% lower in the third quintile compared to 1st quintile but further intake did not decrease the risk. All these studies clearly show that the amount of vegetables you consume, the variety of the vegetables and the frequency of consumption definitely impact the risk of CHD. The recommendations include 5 portions of fruits and vegetables every day and most adults don’t meet this requirement. It is necessary that each of us take every step possible to fulfill this requirement and stay in good health. References Greater Vegetable Variety & Amount are Associated with Lower Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease: https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-018-0376-4 Fruit & Vegetable Intake And Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3947047/ Quantity and Variety in Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3831537/ Relatives and friends visiting our home is a welcome relief in a world that’s dominated by nuclear families and day-care centers. Ironically, the pleasure of such get-togethers is not long-lasting these days unlike earlier times when such gatherings were governed by yummy home-cooked meals, playing dumb charades, laughing our heart out discussing childhood memories or even enjoying a simple game of cards. Meetups these days mostly revolve around discussing the latest series that’s worth watching in Amazon Prime or Netflix, ordering take-aways or online delivery of foods, boasting about our kid’s achievements, bragging about the latest materialistic addition or worse, each of us ruined by the 6 inch smartphone that grabs every attention of ours detaching us from the present situation engrossed in the virtual world that would take us nowhere! The first question that pops out of someone visiting our homes are a request to access our Wi-Fi password, be it a child or an adult alike. Each of us are aware of the words Wi-fi, mobile data and Internet all of which have intruded our lives as much as possible but beyond what we see there are numerous impacts of using these technologies related to our health which we remain unaware of! Wi-fi is a wireless networking technology that allows computers, laptops and other equipment to interface with the Internet. There is an Internet connection established through a wireless router and when you are connected to Wi-Fi you are connecting to a wireless router that allows your Wi-Fi-connected devices to interface with the Internet. There are towers erupted in certain individual houses or in open spaces near our apartments that enable connectivity to the surrounding areas. While many individuals have given approvals for raising such towers in their flats there are also concerns raised from neighboring people regarding the dangers linked with such towers due to the radiations emitted from them. Though telecommunication people and groups are absolutely sure that Wi-Fi creates no impact on our health the incremental usage of these networks have raised concerns on Wi-Fi usage on our health. Hence, given below is an assessment of Wi-Fi using 23 controlled, scientific studies that discuss its effects on animals and humans. Scientific Studies Showing the Effects of Wi-Fi on Human Health Studies show that exposure to Wi-Fi have bad impact on the testis cumulating towards male infertility, oxidative stress, apostasis, cellular DNA damage and neuropsychiatric changes including EEG and hormonal changes. The effects discussed here are mostly results from multiple studies focusing on Wi-Fi and previously confirmed by non-thermal exposures to other microwave frequency EMFs. The U.S. office of Naval Medical Research study reported decreased testosterone leading to lowered testis size, histological changes in testicular epithelial structure, gross testicular histological changes and decreased spermatogenesis. A review published by Tolgskaya and Gordon on rodents showed that the heart, testis and the nervous system were the three most sensitive organs in the body to non-thermal microwave EMFs. 7 effects of Wi-fi have been repeatedly reported by a number of studies throughout: oxidative stress contributes much towards chronic human disease; cellular DNA damage can cause cancer contributing partially towards EMF as a cause for cancer as DNA damage occurs in sperm cells producing a mutation that can affect future generations; calcium overload is said to be the cause for the following effects: apostasis plays a primary role in neurodegenerative diseases; neuropsychiatric effects are caused by the impact of EMFs on brain structures. Meta-analysis shows decline in sperm count and quality by almost 50% in all advanced technology countries which worries researchers highly as it can lead to human extinction as we now know the impact of EMF exposures on sperm count and quality in human and animal studies and, surely the results on male fertility are depressing. Pulsed EMFs There are three types of EMF patterns each of which has its own importance but has been conveniently ignored by the telecommunication industry. The foremost of them is that pulsed EMFs are biologically more active than non-pulsed (continuous wave) EMFs of identical frequency and intensity. Wi-Fi and other similar wireless devices communicate via pulsation which makes them more dangerous. Pulsation and EMFs are directly related to each other with higher pulsation meaning greater damaging effects of EMF. Another point is that artificial EMFs are polarized which makes them extremely dangerous on the living cells. Impact of low-intensity EMFs on animal brains were reviewed and results showed that initial 1-2 months exposure produced modest changes in brain structure and neurons but when exposure stopped these changes disappeared showing that such changes are largely reversible. But prolonged exposure to these EMFs brought about severe impact on the brain and neuron structure which are irreversible. Magras and Xenos put pairs of young mice in cages on the ground at two different locations both having a different exposure to an antenna park. The exposure levels were well within the recommended safety guidelines which makes it clear that there should be no biological relevance. Mice go through a gestation period of 30 days. At higher levels of exposure, the pairs produced one litter of lower than normal size and a second litter with lowered number of pregnancies after which all the mice became sterile or had very low fertility rates. On the other exposure site, the mice produced four litters followed by a decrease in the number finally resulting in complete sterility. Both the groups were given another chance to mate under no EMF exposure but still the fertility effects were not reversed. Such absence of reversal of EMF effects on the brain could happen in humans too. Studies show that the brain damage to animal brains, neuropsychiatric effects in human brains, reproductive dysfunction in mice and mutational effects are cumulative and might be completely irreversible. Hence, short-term studies of Wi-Fi might greatly underestimate the damage Wi-Fi might do over a longer period. The cumulative effect of Wi-Fi placed in restaurants, at our homes, schools, hospitals, colleges and everywhere else might lead to debilitating effects on humans. Greater Effect on Smaller Children Young kids have smaller skulls and lesser skull thickness comparatively and the microwave frequency EMFs might be much more damaging to these kids. There are proofs showing that EMFs show maximum effect on embryonic stem cells. Children have higher densities of stem cells with fetuses having the highest which shows that EMF effects are also the greatest in young kids. Such EMF exposure that can cause irreversible DNA damage makes young kids increasingly susceptible to cancer risk and disrupts brain development, yet another risk factor for autism. Placement of Wi-Fi in schools and colleges disrupt the health of small kids and young adults placing even more danger to a pregnant teacher whose fetus might be maximum affected due to its radiations. EMF Effect on Non-thermal Health 24 different studies showed the effects of low-intensity EMFs could be blocked by calcium channel blockers, drugs that are specific for blocking voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and also showed that such VGCC activation in human and animal cells could produce non-thermal effects. In plant cells too, the EMFs activate similar calcium channels and have a similar kind of effect on oxidative stress, cellular DNA damage and calcium signaling. A study published by Pilla found that pulsed EMFs produced an “instantaneous” increase in calcium/calmodulin-dependent nitric oxide synthesis in cells in culture. [Ca2+]i produces many important regulatory effects and over activation of these effects can have large pathophysiological consequences and such sustained elevation of [Ca2+]i produces major cell damage. EMFs have the capability to react with one or both radicals changing their spin state and lowering the ability to react back with each other generating increased free radicals and oxidative stress. Several studies show that there is a magnetoreception mechanism found in animals that can detect and respond to the very low intensity geomagnetic field. Most of them are on bees and birds that use this mechanism for navigation purpose have tiny magnetite particles that might be tethered through a microtubule to a mechanosensitive channel such that tiny magnetic forces could open the mechanosensitive channel allowing cation flow into the cells. The magnetic particles linked in honeybees to an undefined calcium channel produces increase in [Ca2+]i. Many birds fail to get the precise direction owing to the presence of these radiations and frequencies that disrupt their natural flow of direction. Risks Due to Exposure to Radio Frequency Mankind’s exposure to radio-frequency radiation (RFR) is prominent owing to the frequent use of cell phones and other wireless devices. Apart from disrupting human health RFR also causes physiological effect on bees, plants and trees. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) categorized RFR from cell phones and other WTDs as possibly carcinogenic to humans. A large number of case-controlled studies on cell phone exposure and glioma and acoustic neuroma showed increased risk that showed further increase with increasing latency, cumulative duration of use and earlier exposure age. Research by the Hardell group found that being exposed to cell phone radiations before the age of 20 maximized the risk of glioma and acoustic neuroma. The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the U.S. showed a significant increase in incidence of radiographically diagnosed tumors of the pituitary, increase in meningitis rates across age groups (15-85+ years), nerve sheath tumor and vestibular Schwannoma rates. A meta-analysis by Roosli et al. showed that epidemiological evidence does not show increased brain or salivary gland tumor risk with mobile phone (MP) use but there are doubts when the use prolongs for more than 15 years and MP usage as kids. A Swedish study found reduced survival rates in those patients (suffering from glioblastoma) with long term use of smartphones. The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) showed increased prevalence of glioma and malignant Schwannoma in animal carcinogenicity studies which were exposed to RFR. Organs such as brain and heart also showed evidence of DNA damage. A study focusing on the exposure of kids aged between 3 and 14 years to RFR showed that having a cell phone against the head of a child exposed deeper brain structures to almost twice the radiation doses of that in adults and the marrow in the thin skull of kids absorbs almost 10-fold higher local dose than that found in the skull of an adult male. RFR also affected neurodevelopment in foetuses when pregnant women used more of these cell phones during the pregnancy period. Rago et al. found altered sperm DNA fragmentation in subjects who use mobile phones for more than 4 hrs/day especially in those who place their cell phones in their trouser pockets. 5G technologies pose risk to mankind in terms of oxidative stress, altered gene expression, effects on skin and systemic effects on immune function. This modern world doesn’t allow us to live devoid of smartphones and technology. Avoiding radio wave exposure is impossible in present scenario where the exposure rates are only increasing. All that we can do is to keep wireless devices away from us as much as possible and turning them off when not in use which minimizes exposure rates. References Risks to Health & Well-being from Radio-frequency Radiation Emitted by Cell Phones & Other Wireless Devices: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6701402/ Wi-Fi is an Important Threat to Human Health: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935118300355 Healthy muscles are imperative for normal functioning of the body. Men are hyper-excited about bodybuilding and six-pack abs while women mostly settle down for a well-toned body. Its rare to find a woman excited about increasing muscle strength or building muscles except for some of those specializing in that domain. Since time immemorial women have been raised to think, act and behave gently refraining from doing boy stuffs or acting rash like a guy. But women today are breaking such barriers, involving themselves in every domain possible, riding Harley Davidsons or taking care of a family single-handedly. They are dominating every stream of life with their talent and skill. Despite this, myths and fancies surrounding strength training continue to exist. While researchers are busy exploring and discovering reasons to explain why weights are good for the lady there are not many women who come forward to lift weights fearing the oversized development of muscles! Some women who’ve tried it are also not super-excited about the results and have often heard pacifying comments from people around them encouraging them with the standard dialogue that women cannot build muscles like men owing to their lack of testosterones. So, how much of this is true? Testosterone Tester Every woman’s body responds differently to different situations. While women suffering from lack of muscle growth even after lifting weights do exist there are also cases of those women who have hit the gym with the strong notion that they wont build muscles and had gained muscle weight a couple of weeks after training hard. So, if testosterone was the culprit behind lack of muscle strength then why does this differentiation arise? This proves that testosterone is only partially responsible and the rest lies within our DNA. Our genes play a greater role in deciding what type of muscle fiber we have and where it is distributed in the body. Genetics even decides upon the way in which we respond to exercises, the ratio of testosterone versus estrogen and where fat is stored in the body. Above all, genetics determines our body type. If you are someone interested in knowing the role of genetics in determining our body weight as well, www.firsteatright.com is the right place to look for clear explanations and insights. Exercising for the Body Type Every woman falls under one of these three body types or is a combination of them.
Mesomorphs show a greater response to strength training by building muscle mass compared to ectomorphs despite the fact that both of them follow a similar training regimen. Endomorphs must lose body fat to reap the fruits of their strength training. While strength training might not help the ectomorphs build muscles mass quickly, they do become stronger with resistance training exercises. Focus on the Heart Muscle Strength training relies on the basic principle that overloading a muscle helps it increase in size. For instance, stair climbing or step training change the size and shape of the lower body muscles which increase further with increasing the height of the step or doubling powerful movements. Hence, if you wish to avoid muscle building it would be helpful to reduce step height or lower impact of the movements. This decreases the overall overload on the muscles decreasing the chances of building muscles. Stick to the Rules Go by the tried and tested principles that to stay stronger one needs to work with heavier weights and do fewer repetitions. Contrarily, to increase endurance one has to do more repetitions and work with lighter weights. Doing this way, women too experience a 20-40% increase in muscular strength after several months of resistance training. Follow the nuances of exercise and enjoy the experience rather than looking forward to only witnessing changes in your body. It is crucial to understand the body type and realize how you might respond to exercises in order to set your goals. Also, make it a point to never compare with others as no two people are alike. Accept your body and realize it’s worth. This is a sure shot way to overcome the guilt and frustrations lurking inside. This doesn’t mean that you must overlook the weight gain part. All that I am trying to tell is that keep working and eating the right foods. Automatically you would see a sea change in your weight and activeness quotient. Are you a heart or brain person? Do you think from your brain or feel from your heart? Your answer can determine your quality of life. Though heart and brain are two very different organs, they are interrelated in different aspects. Heart is the organ that pumps blood throughout the body helping each part of the body perform its duty and enable survival of the human. Damage to blood vessels can cause serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke and dementia. Hence, blood vessel occupies prominent roles in keeping both your heart and the brain going strong and healthy.
A new study published in a reputed journal shows that individuals who are diagnosed with coronary heart disease are at a higher risk of cognitive decline later in life. This study is yet another valuable proof for how the heart and brain work in coordination together. Such clarity is possible because there are more and more people experiencing heart diseases, surviving them, undergoing operations and given medications. The study involved stroke-free adults who were followed up for 12 years and had been diagnosed with a heart attack or angina where the former led to rapid memory loss compared to the latter problem. Researchers give many reasons for the effect of heart disease on brain functionality and most important is the impact of small blood vessels that could prevent oxygen supply to the brain. Many unhealthy habits and health conditions play a role in determining blood vessels health. These include sedentary lifestyle practices, obesity/overweight issues, high blood glucose levels and high blood pressure levels. While the cognitive impairment might seem minimal initially these changes over the years can increase the risk of dementia greatly. And till now, we don’t have a cure for dementia and there are only measures available to keep the patient as comfortable as possible over the years. All that we can do is to take every step possible to detect, prevent or intervene during initial stages to stave off the problem or address it as efficiently as possible. Heart patients must also be taught to analyze and report every concern regarding memory and cognition. Many times, many patients fail to comply with these suggestions and refrain from reporting any deviations in their normal cognitive routines to their physician. Both the doctor and the patient should interact with each other, go over the medications to ensure that they are taken properly, discuss on lifestyle routines, be sure about sleep routines and analyze mood swings (if any) to gauge the overall health of the patient and improvise on those areas that need attention. It is recommended to meet a registered dietitian nutritionist at www.firsteatright.com who can recommend a healthy eating plan for your health requirements. Generally, eat more of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, don’t smoke, abstain from drinking alcohol, keep your blood pressure levels under control, ensure that diabetes is well under normal ranges and stay active. Every individual is recommended to perform at least 150 minutes of physical activity every week which comes to around 30 minutes of activity five days a week. Even small activities such as taking the stairs, walking while talking or parking your car further away from the parking lot counts in your activity list. Nuts aren’t like chocolates or wafers-they are not every child’s favourite! Today, nuts stand as an excellent value-addition to our daily dietary routine offering a wide variety of nutrients for good health. Yet, the discussions and controversies surrounding these tiny fruits with inedible hard shells and a seed is huge. There have been talks about these food sources being a versatile nutrient resource, a rich source of dense calories and also one of the best snacks to consume. Still, people, especially those with diabetes (both adults and kids), are perplexed whether or not it is advisable to consume nuts. Don’t succumb to any of these doubts as the rich nutrient presence in the form of magnesium, vitamins such as B and E, fibre, protein, good fats and more makes nuts one of the most valuable food choices for those with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2).
Nutrients in Nuts Promote Optimized Glucose Levels The combination of protein and fats optimize blood sugar levels while magnesium affects insulin activity, the major hormone involved in controlling blood sugar levels. Studies show that people with type 2 diabetes generally suffer from lower magnesium levels and it is also true that the general population too lack in magnesium. Though its true that proteins and fats promote sugar control it is also extremely necessary to take care of portion sizes as nuts are powerhouses of calories too and overconsumption can ultimately result in weight gain. Its been shown that taking nuts along with a high-carb food helps in lowering blood sugar levels to a greater extent than when consuming them alone. A study showed that eating nuts with white bread lowered sugar levels to a greater extent than consuming them alone while another study showed that eating pistachios with pasta/rice also limited rise in blood glucose readings after consumption. Every nut tastes differently and has its own blend of nutrients and it depends upon you to choose a wise combination of them for maximum benefits. Pair them with the right kind of foods: add chopped almonds or pistachios in yogurt and salads, spread almond butter on sliced apples, peanut butter on bread slices or mix walnuts in trail mix. You can even give your kids a small bowlful of mix nuts including almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts and cashews as a tasty evening snack. Calorie-Dense Yet Friends of Weight Management Time and again we have insisted that nuts contribute towards increase in weight if portion control is not maintained but we also have studies that show that frequent nut eaters are leaner than those who eat nuts infrequently. That’s mainly because, nuts increase satiety levels decreasing hunger levels thereby leading to less food intake. Also, nuts in shells such as pistachios take a longer time to crack making the individual spend more time finishing off the snack which ultimately increases satisfaction and decreases overeating. Read more about nuts, the different nutrients present in different nuts and their beneficial effects on health by visiting the website www.firsteatright.com. Still, every 30 grams (Around 24 almonds, 48 pistachios, 14 half walnuts) of nuts contains around 150-200 calories and hence it is recommended to restrict kids to not more than 30-45 grams of nuts per day. Also, two tablespoons of almond/peanut butter equal 30 grams and it is the duty of every parent to ensure that their kids don’t overeat. In case they do so, they not only reap benefits of all the nutrients present in the nut but also become victims of weight gain! Beyond looking at overall fitness and figure the world had taken one step forward focusing on every part of the body for attaining perfectly toned structures! Exercising is an age-old concept for weight loss which has gone through different phases and still is resurfacing with aplenty new discoveries-but all of them have the fundamental notion of weight loss. I once remember my grandma excitedly telling me about her latest interest in exercises-one of the effects of being an avid book reader! She went on speaking about the different exercises that have been proposed for working out different parts of the body and keeping them in shape. She went one step ahead and performed them right in front of me. This old lady seriously has some health goals in mind and this motivated me too to read more about how exercise can be an effective guide for losing weight from different regions of the body. It was during this venture that I came across the term ‘spot reduction’ which opened a whole new sea of information.
Men and women put on excess fat in different parts of the body. A woman is prone to fat addition mostly around her thighs, hips and buttocks while men put on excess fat around the midsection. During perimenopause and menopause there is a shift in fat addition from hips to belly in woman owing to hormonal changes. Apart from this, gender, age, genetics and lifestyle affect weight gain and addition of stubborn body fat in certain regions of the body. This weight gain frustrates the individual, especially those who have a normal overall body weight but move around with excess fat peeping from their arms or tummies. There are some others who carry fat unproportionally in certain regions that makes them appear more awkward than the ones who carry it all over their body. All these individuals look at ways to reduce fat from certain regions of the body before proceeding to lose overall body weight. For such individuals, spot reduction has been proposed as the best way to achieve their target! Targeting the Unachievable Crunches for abs, curls for arms and lunges for butt seem to be the latest talk of the town. Spot reduction is a type of targeted exercise performed with the goal of burning fat in specific body areas. We have been vigorously working out on our different muscles for losing fat but neither does the fat disappear nor do we get rid of this concept. It is saddening to see instructors and experts abandoning the concept of spot reduction come up with side bends for attacking ‘muffin tops’, abdominal crunches for our ‘multiple spare tires’ and outer thigh exercises for ‘saddlebags’. For someone who is already lean performing these exercises might help in defining muscles in the specific areas but if your aim is to lose fat, tone muscles or build them pursuing these exercise formats leaves you disappointed and frustrated for sure. While learning an exercise the instructor also asks questions on the muscle that’s getting triggered meaning that the exercise helps in working out the specific muscle of the body. Though you might feel the pain or activation of the muscle spot reduction simply doesn’t workout because it targets muscles that are small with exercises that are trifling in enhancing fitness and strength. Trying to focus on small muscles without paying heed to the bigger ones is ridiculous. A study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that six weeks of abs workout brough about no changes to the performer’s midsection. Another study showed that 12 weeks of one-armed workout led to less loose skin in the exercise-performing hand but zero fat loss. Exercising for some part of the body doesn’t help you trim it down but it might favour fat burn in certain other body parts and stomach is a classic example of this (https://time.com/collection/guide-to-weight-loss/4901936/weight-loss-stomach/). Time and again we repeatedly hear that spot reduction is only a myth. Performing ‘n’ number of crunches is not going to give you a six-pack abs when the body fat percentage is too high. But it is also good to understand that no exercise is a waste of time. Some of the fat deposits are more responsive and metabolically active comparatively and exercising at high intensities helps you lose more of the metabolically active body fat. Scientific studies also back the concept that spot reduction is not possible by exercising the specific body part. But beyond that, if fat burn does happen its ok to enjoy the good result. If it doesn’t happen please don’t repent for it. Don’t go behind those pretty ads and posters that claim to help you target those ‘fat-laden’ areas of the body with certain exercises. Get going with performing a variety of physical exercises and eating a healthy diet which helps you target not only one specific part but enables weight loss all throughout the body. References Weight Loss & Spot Reduction: Does it Work? https://time.com/collection/guide-to-weight-loss/4901936/weight-loss-stomach/ Myths & Misconceptions: Spot Reduction & Feeling the Burn: https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/3629/myths-and-misconceptions-spot-reduction-and-feeling-the-burn There are innumerable satirical comedies and banters surrounding individuals who are loud snorers. Often people sleeping besides the snorer are shown to protect themselves in different ways using props such as pillows or cotton. In worse case, they escape to another room to get some peaceful sleep. We do pity them but do you realize that this is only a short-term or temporary problem and the actual effect finally falls on the snorer. There have even been cases where some marriages have failed as either of the couple was a heavy snorer and the chapter ends there for the party affected badly by the snoring spouse and a new chapter starts for the snorer in terms of devastating health effects if snoring is too much or for too long! Obesity has been the culprit for a number of health conditions such as heart attack and stroke but it also prevails as the major reason behind some of the risk factors for these conditions as well. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping disorder that’s become increasingly prevalent in developing countries that stands as an independent risk factor for stroke and the primary reason behind this exists as obesity. Discovery of diseases and conditions are the results of great efforts by scientists but do you know that a first description of OSA was not from a scientist but from our beloved Charles Dickens in a series of papers titled ‘The posthumous papers of the Pickwick club’ in the form of a character (obese boy) who suffered from excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring and right heart failure? But the formal connection between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and stroke was first observed in the 19th century and did not achieve prominence about research studies until the 1980s. SDB is an umbrella term for a constellation of sleep-related breathing disorders and abnormalities of respiration during sleep that do not meet criteria for a disorder and OSA is one of the main disorders included under this umbrella. Obstructive Sleep Apnea OSA is the most common type of SDB which involves repeated narrowing or complete collapse of the upper airway despite ongoing respiratory efforts that’s terminated by arousal from hypoxemia (abnormally low concentration of oxygen in blood) or efforts to breathe. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) is calculated by adding together the number of episodes of apnea (absent airflow) and hypopnea (reduced airflow) and then dividing them by number of sleeping hours. AHI values above 5 are defined as OSA with the severity level depending on the AHI value: 5-15 is mild, 15-30 is moderate and AHI greater than 30 is severe. OSA is very common in stroke and ischemic stroke patients and also exists as a risk factor for all stroke patients. The awareness on considering sleep apnea and snoring as risk factors for arterial hypertension (HTN), cardiac arrhythmias, coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction came into prevalence only during the late 20th century. Those with untreated sleep apnea are at a higher risk of cardiovascular mobility than those with treated sleep apnea. It is essential to note that one-third of strokes are due to the effects of previous stroke and untreated OSA in patients with stroke could also be a reason for recurrent strokes. Stroke prevalence has a strong connection with the intensity of OSA and with every increase in AHI values the risk of developing stroke goes up. There are 50-70% chances of OSA occurring in patients with stroke. OSA might precede stroke occurrence, worsen during acute stage and linger on after the acute phase. There are various studies since the last couple of decades establishing a bi-directional relationship between SDB and stroke-SBD as a cause and a consequence of stroke. It is better to examine the relationship and understand clearly which dominates the other. The Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) There are more than 18 million stroke cases happening annually of which one-third of them are fatal. Besides being the second leading cause of death, it can leave the person with severe disabilities forever which makes it our duty to identify the risk factors and take preventive steps as much as possible to prevent its occurrence. Diabetes, smoking, atrial fibrillation and hypertension are major risk factors and recent research includes OSA too. The SHHS focuses on understanding whether OSA is an independent risk factor for stroke. It is a cohort study that deals with the cardiovascular consequences of OSA. The study initially included 6,441 participants but some of them were excluded due to various reasons leaving the research team with 2,462 men and 2,960 women. At baseline, all of them were given questionnaires asking about their sleeping habits, general health and medicine use and at intervals of 3 and 5 years after baseline a survey on the diagnosis and treatment for OSA was performed. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels were measured. Obstructive apnea hypopnea index (OAHI) was defined as the average number of obstructive sleep apneas plus hypopneas per hour of sleep. Arousal index is the number of arousals per hour of sleep which had a within-score interclass correlation coefficient of 0.70 to 0.75 and between-scorer interclass correlation coefficient of 0.69 to 0.75. The study consisted of 5,422 participants all of whom were free from stroke and untreated for OSA followed up for around 8.7 years. In this period 193 of them suffered from ischemic stroke corresponding to an incidence rate of 4.4 ischemic strokes per 1,000 person years. Results showed that in both men and women ischemic stroke was linked to increasing age and systolic blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medications and atrial fibrillation. In women, the incidence of stroke was linked to race and diabetes but BMI, smoking and alcohol use did not influence both men and women. Men and women who suffered from ischemic stroke during the study had moderate or severe OSA that was 30% more common in them at baseline. The odds ratio (OR) value of 2.26, the increased odds of incident stroke for someone with OSA compared with someone without OSA, is equal to the increased risk associated with a 10-year increase in age. The OR value was much lesser, around 1.65 in the case of women. In both genders, a higher incident rate of stroke was observed with increasing OAHI. Men who had OAHI >19 events/h were at a 3-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke compared to men with an OAHI less than 4.1 events/h. But in women, stroke risk was dependent on age, diabetes, hypertension medication use and smoking but not with OAHI quartiles or desaturation levels. Women with a higher arousal index had decreased chances of stroke incidence-women with an arousal rate greater than 12 had a 40-60% decreased hazard rate of ischemic stroke compared to women with a lower arousal index. OSA & Stroke Observational study by Lee et al. heavy snoring increases the risk of carotid atherosclerosis but the Oxford Vascular Study by Mason et al. did not find significant link between repeated snoring episodes and occurrence of carotid atheroma, stenosis or plaque type. There are some studies that show that while sleep apnea indirectly increases the risk of stroke due to its effect on vascular risk factors it is also an independent risk factor for stroke. A study by Yaggi et al. found that AHI≥35/hour in patients with a HR of 2.24 increased the risk of stroke and mortality rates despite controlling for stroke risk factors such as HTN, AF, smoking status, diabetes and hyperlipidaemia. Another study on 394 patients (all of them were males) aged between 70 and 100 years with an AHI≥30 were at a high risk of ischemic stroke. An AHI score ≥20 in 1189 patients increased the risk of stroke in them for the next 4 years. A study by Marin et al. showed that severe OSA increased the risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events while CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) treatment reduced the risk. The Wisconsin sleep cohort study showed a higher cardiovascular mortality risk when SDB was left untreated irrespective of age, sex and body mass index (BMI). The SHHS study also proved that men in the highest quartile of AHI had a HR of 2.86 for stroke and did those in the moderate sleep apnea category. Every 1 unit rise in AHI increased stroke risk by 6% in men while in women the risk existed only in those in the severe sleep apnea group. A 2010 meta-analyses of 29 studies showed that 72% of patients who had a stroke had an AHI >5 and 29% had severe OSA. Prevalence of stroke increases risk of OSA about 5 times more than in the general population. A case-control study by Lipford et al. identified a strong link between OSA and cardiometabolic stroke with paroxysmal AF as a causative factor. Yet another retrospective study on 5,000 patients showed that stroke was more common in patients with the comorbidity of AF and OSA. Poli et al. showed that AF followed by cardioembolism is a major risk factor for stroke on an analysis of 134 patients showing twice the proportion of cardioembolic stroke in SDB patients. OSA & Stroke Have Certain Common Risk Factors There are many shared as well as independent risk factors for OSA and stroke. There are studies that show OSA to be a high-risk factor for hypertension which is one of the primary risk factors for stroke and studies do link OSA with other risk factors such as atrial fibrillation (OSA increases risk by 4 times), heart failure, coronary artery disease, insulin resistance and arrhythmia. When OSA increases stroke risk directly or indirectly those with untreated OSA after stroke suffer from worse functional outcomes and higher mortality rates-it can cause cognitive decline, decreased concentration, excessive daytime sleepiness, prolonged hospitalization and compromised rehabilitation participation. Obesity is one of the most common risk factors of stroke with increasing BMI linked to increased OSA prevalence. But obesity becomes a less-significant risk factor in those who have had a stroke compared to others. Also, being a male in his advanced years makes you vulnerable to OSA as 65% of post-stroke patients are men. OSA: How Does it Increase Risk of Stroke? OSA is ruled by intermittent hypoxemia and arousals resulting in conditions such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, hearty failure, pulmonary hypertension and stroke. Changes in vasodilator and vasoconstrictor substances due to endothelial dysfunction and inflammation happen and these play a role in the atherogenic and prothrombotic states induced by OSA. Blood circulation to brain is altered due to partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Pco2). Sleep apnea causes rise in Pco2 levels causing vasodilation and increased blood flow. Apnea is followed by hyperpnea decreasing Pco2 levels and vasoconstriction. In those with vascular disease increased vasoconstriction can lead to ischemia. There is indeed a bidirectional association between OSA and stroke as both of them share common risk factors. Besides increasing stroke risk in OSA patients it also elevates functional outcome in these patients. Stroke too has the potential to cause SDB. References Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea & Incident Stroke: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2913239/ Sleep-disordered Breathing and Stroke: Chicken or Egg? http://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/25986/html A Sleeping Beast: Obstructive Sleep Apnea & Stroke: https://www.mdedge.com/ccjm/article/201629/sleep-medicine/sleeping-beast-obstructive-sleep-apnea-and-stroke?channel=133 Sleep Apnea and Stroke: https://svn.bmj.com/content/1/4/185 Obstructive Sleep Apnea & Stroke: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6340906/ Early Diagnosis & Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Stroke: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3721244/ Sleep is a potent medicine to good health that has no harmful effects when taken in the prescribed quantity, neither too less nor more. But as we know, many individuals are not of the habit of pursuing something that’s good for health which includes sleeping too. The present-day world offers people with too many options that keep them entertained, in the form of online games, thrilling online series and social media platforms, that individuals often don’t think about sleeping. We don’t even bother to get the right amount of sleep at least few days of the week hooked up to our mobiles through the night. This leads to sleep deprivation, a condition from which many of us suffer these days, and such insufficient sleep has been linked to disrupted brain functioning resulting in impaired alertness and cognitive skills. But now, we see that sleep loss is connected to disrupted energy regulation in humans which can have grave impact on weight gain and other health problems as well.
The utterance of the word ‘fat’ creates panic but its not the nutrient that’s the cause for tension here (as it is integral for different vital functions performed by the body) but the individual who does not control his/her consumption portion that exists as the root cause for many problems. Sleep’s effect on glucose metabolism has been studied but its impact on fat metabolism is quite unexplored until now. This interested researchers with a group of them focusing on 15 healthy men in their 20s observing them for sleep-related changes in their body. All of them spent a week getting plenty of sleep at home and then checked into a sleep lab for a ten-night study. During five out of 10 nights each of them did not spend more than 5 hours in bed each night. The rest of the time during the days (where participants got only 5 hours of sleep) was spent in an engaging and positive way by playing games, interacting and talking with the research team members and among themselves. All of them were given a high-fat dinner consisting of a bowl of chili mac after four nights of restricted sleep. The food was energy-dense and tasty which could be found from the empty bowls of food as the participants had no trouble eating it. But all of them felt less satisfied after eating the same meal while sleep deprived compared to when they had eaten it after a good night’s sleep. Blood samples showed that sleep restriction affected postprandial lipid response leading to faster clearance of lipids from the blood after a meal-this is a high-risk factor for weight gain. All of them had Friday and Saturday nights where they could sleep for as much as ten hours to catch up for all the lost sleep. After the first night they ate one last bowl of chilli mac and satisfaction measures showed that though the participants were better satisfied than they were when they lacked proper sleep still they did not achieve the baseline healthy level of recovery. An optimal number of hours is required every day to stay healthy. Trying to compensate for the lost hours of sleep during weekdays on weekends is not going to benefit the individual in the long term. It was no surprise when my mom who was a role-model for her perfect physique started gaining weight as she started growing older. She was an epitome of fitness ensuring to eat healthy food, exercise regularly and stay in shape. This change in her body weight and the ever-growing weight measures almost pushed her into depression. This is not the story of one individual but the startling truth that happens to almost every person who crosses his/her 40s, 50s and 60s. Does it point to our change in metabolism or simply makes us realize that we become less and less active as we keep getting older.
Ageing brings about numerous changes in our body, hormones, organs and their functioning and weight gain is an impact of too. Some people suffer to stay within normal weight ranges even during their teens, 20s and 30s owing to their genes, metabolism and activity levels and, these are the ones who fall into overweight/obesity ranges as they grow older owing to an inability to keep their weight gain under control. Such weight gain is inevitable even in the case of normal people who stay on a healthy body weight simply by leading an active lifestyle. The struggle of any person who has crossed 30s to lose weight is understandable. A study done at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has discovered the root cause behind such weight gain. Karolinska Study The study on fat cells that happened over a long span of 13 years included 54 men and women. During this time period, unconditional of the fact whether the subjects gained or lost weight, there was a decrease in lipid turnover (rate at which fat in the fat cells is removed and stored) in the fat tissue. Those participants who did not reduce their calorie intake to compensate for this decrease in lipid turnover gained around 20% extra weight according to the same study. The researchers also examined lipid turnover in 41 women who underwent bariatric surgery trying to understand how their lipid turnover rate affected their ability to keep the weight loss off for at least 4-7 years after the surgery. It was seen that those participants who had a low lipid turnover rate before surgery were the ones who were able to increase the same after surgery and maintain weight loss. That’s because these individuals had room to expand their lipid turnover rate unlike others who had already reached the maximum threshold before surgery. According to the researchers, processes in our body fat tissue regulate changes in body weight while ageing and this is independent of other factors. This fact could be valuable in helping researchers probe into new ways for treating obesity. We already know that performing physical activity increases lipid turnover in fat tissues and when this is applied for weight loss surgery patients as well it could multiply their chances of keeping off the weight loss for a longer time. Obesity and overweight problems are becoming global epidemics affecting both the adult and the children population equally. The advent of processed foods and sedentary lifestyles are the major causes behind such weight gain problems. Besides calorie restrictions imposed on our daily diet the most efficient way to burn calories is to exercise at any age. Take the stairs, play a sport, walk or hit the gym to burn calories and stay active. Besides becoming less active as we grow older, we also become less proactive about our nutrient needs. Get in touch with a reputed dietitian nutritionist at www.firsteatright.com to help you overcome nutrient barriers and reap benefits of a healthy body. Once dominated by families that had 4,5,6 or even 10 kids, families these days either have one or at most 2 kids after thinking for quite some time! Even with these 1 or 2 kids parents hire maids, nannies and more to take care of these children. Kids are the cornerstone of happiness, fun and the sound of laughter at home. There are many who would agree on the fact that returning home to your kids is one of the biggest blessings available to mankind. Its different reasons that couples these days quote for anything from not wanting to have kids to restricting to a single child. The whims and fancies surrounding the positives and negatives of a single child have always been present in our families but at the end of day we have always supported the presence of a sibling. Being the eldest, youngest, middle one or even twins has its own pros and cons in life. While the eldest is expected to take responsibilities the youngest is always pampered making him/her lack certain qualities expected while the middle one in any family exists as the most neglected human being. Twins have their own share of worries as there is a competitive edge between them and the world keeps comparing these children for anything and everything that they do. Yet, siblings share a bond of their own relishing the presence of each other, relying onto each other in times of distress and supporting one and other when situation demands. Its only very rarely do we see sibling rivalry taking upon serious turns in life with the siblings staying out of sync with each other forever. Going in for the Sibling Love Besides having someone to shoulder them in times of need the presence of a sibling is a blessing in many other ways. Kids learn to share things, care for other people, learn to co-exist, adjust for others’ needs and above all, constantly have someone with whom they can spend quality time. Now, we have evidence that quality of relationship among siblings affects these kids’ mental health and risky behaviour. Siblings with positive relationships engaged in less risky behaviour and those with negative relationships engaged in more risky behaviour. Hence, it is essential that parents encourage their children to spend quality time with each other as this helps them develop a close bond and motivate them to take care of each other. Such positive sibling relationships during childhood makes these kids maintain the same through adulthood as well. The relationship between siblings decides upon their risk of depressive symptoms and involvement in risky behaviour including that of sexual risks in life. Negative relationship between siblings is greatly linked to anti-social, aggressive and delinquent behaviour that includes even substance use while a good relationship between siblings is totally linked to positive adjustments, improved peer and romantic relationships, academic adjustments, positive mental health and well-being. It is even suggested that teaching children to communicate in positive ways, help them come up with win-win situations and making them understand that both belong to the same team instead of treating each other as competitors helps siblings show self-control, social confidence, perform better in school and display minimal risks of depression compared to those siblings who are not in tune with each other. While siblings are a blessing and having a brother or sister can be a welcome relief a sister-sister relationship is the best of the lot. Young or old, having a sister improves your well-being and increases your affinity for performing good things in life (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/28/sisters-good-for-mental-health-report). While elder children would have been a bit apprehensive when a younger one arrives in the family even trying to garner attention by indulging in negative stuff, studies clearly show that kids with younger siblings are less likely to be obese. Single kids and even mothers of singleton babies are likelier to be obese themselves. This change in weight status in kids in the presence of a sibling is surprising but when we look into the issue there are quite a few logical stuffs that do make sense. Having a younger child in the family makes the elder one more active as he/she starts running around the toddler to engage the little one; families also are likelier to take kids to the play area or park when there are two instead of one child; elder kids stop engaging with television but start to engage in pretend play sessions and other such activities with the younger sibling; above all, parents start loosening their grip on the elder child and his/her eating habits as they find it exhaustive to focus all their attention to the child’s eating behaviour. Moms start letting off control to the kids themselves allowing them to respond to their satiety cues and self-regulate their eating habits. This helps the child get on board a healthier weight pattern compared to a child without a sibling. Though you might fight like Tom and Jerry, can’t stand the presence of each other, envy one another and feel good when the other is not at home all these are temporary feelings. The basic love and affection for each other is everlasting which grows stronger as siblings grow into adults. Close or distant, busy or free the relationship remains rock solid and powerful as families stay strong forever and the sibling bond stays stronger through the thick and thin of life. So, thank your blessings and cherish your sibling for there might come a day where you don’t get to thank enough for his/her presence in your life. References Adult Siblings can Make Our Lives Healthier & Happier: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/11/23/565362158/adult-siblings-can-make-our-lives-healthier-and-happier Having a Younger Sibling May be Good for Your Health: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-obesity-siblings/having-a-younger-sibling-may-be-good-for-your-health-idUSKCN0WD2CN Is it Better for Children to Have Siblings? https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23778123 Why Sisters are Good for You: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/28/sisters-good-for-mental-health-report Good Relationship between Siblings can Keep Risky Behaviours at Bay: https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/relationship/story/good-relationship-between-siblings-can-keep-risky-behaviors-at-bay-266387-2015-10-05 |
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Dr. Nafeesa Imteyaz of First Eat Right clinic, is the Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Bangalore. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Pune. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Hyderabad. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Chennai. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Mumbai. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Delhi. Best Dietitian Nutritionist in Kolkata.