Health A-Z

The Common Causes of Severe Knee Pain

The Common Causes of Severe Knee Pain

Knee Pain and an Active Lifestyle

Most people experience knee pain at some point in their lives. Sports, exercise and other activities can cause muscle strains, tendinitis, and more serious injuries to ligaments and cartilage. For some, knee pain can be so severe that it limits daily activities. For others, mild knee pain may be a chronic hindrance to the active lifestyle they desire. In either case, chances are that you’re dealing with a knee problem that shouldn’t be ignored.

Knee Ligament Injuries

The ligaments are what connect your thigh bone to your lower leg bones. They hold your bones together and keep the knee stable. Knee ligament sprains and tears are very common sports injuries, and can occur to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and medial collateral ligament (MCL). Any of these injuries can result in severe knee pain and could require surgery.

Knee Cartilage Tears

Other injuries, including tears, can take place in the cartilage of the knee. Cartilage is a semi-hard (tough, but flexible) tissue that covers the end of your bones. Knee cartilage comprises the two menisci on either side of the joint: the medial meniscus, located on the inside of the knee and the lateral meniscus, positioned on the outside of the knee. You’ve probably heard the phrase “meniscus tear”. A tear in the knee cartilage is a common injury, and typically requires surgery.

Arthritis of the Knee

Arthritis is a common cause of severe knee pain and disability. Unfortunately, arthritis is a chronic degenerative condition that can eventually require surgery. The three most common types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis. In the case of any of these three, you may experience stiffness and swelling, and it may be hard to bend your knee

Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Knee

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes the tissue around the joint to become inflamed and thickened. Chronic inflammation often leads to damage and loss of cartilage. Rheumatoid arthritis represents only about 10 percent to 15 percent of all arthritis cases.

Post-Traumatic Arthritis

Post-traumatic arthritis can result after a serious knee injury, including bone fractures and ligament tears. These injuries can damage the cartilage in your knee over time and lead to pain, swelling, and stiffness.
Osteoarthritis of the Knee

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is a progressive wearing of the cartilage in the knee joint. It occurs more frequently in individuals 50 and older. After 50, the impact of osteoarthritis can worsen due to accumulated use and the wearing down of cartilage that occurs with age. Osteoarthritis of the knee causes pain, limited range of motion, stiffness of the knee, swelling of the joint, tenderness, deformity and weakness.

Causes of osteoarthritis include age, weight, genetics, previous injuries, infections, and illness (such as a tumor or gout). Osteoarthritis can also be caused by sports injuries and wear and tear resulting from physical work in occupations, such as construction and manufacturing.

Diagnosing Knee Pain

Doctors diagnose arthritis and other knee problems using x-rays and a physical evaluation. You will be asked about your pain level, knee flexibility and function, and general mobility. Medical professionals will also use special tests to identify the type of arthritis affecting your knee.

Treating Knee Pain from Arthritis

Knee pain usually becomes worse as arthritis progresses. Common treatments include: weight loss, strengthening exercises, wrapping, and pain relievers—such as acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

While osteoarthritis is the most common surgical patient diagnosis, those with severe pain from any type of arthritis may benefit from surgery, including a partial or total knee replacement. It’s crucial to discuss and explore all treatment options with your doctor before opting for surgery.

Source: healthline

Stress Slows Metabolism

Stress Slows Metabolism

If you crave chocolate cake or Ben and Jerry’s after a stressful day, you could gain over 10 pounds in a year, warns a new study.

The research, published in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that women burn fewer calories when under stress. The study participants who reported stress also had higher insulin levels.

“This means that, over time, stressors could lead to weight gain,” said Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychiatry and psychology at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study, in a press release. “We know from other data that we’re more likely to eat the wrong foods when we’re stressed, and our data say that when we eat the wrong foods, weight gain becomes more likely because we are burning fewer calories.”

Researchers questioned 58 middle-aged women about their stress levels, and then served them a 930-calorie meal, complete with biscuits, gravy and 60 grams of fat. The researchers then measured how long it took the women to burn those calories (their metabolic rate). The stressed-out burned 104 fewer calories than the care-free women.

The researchers also noted that women with a history of depression combined with stress had a bigger rise in triglycerides after the meal. High levels of triglycerides are associated with cardiovascular disease.

“With depression, we found there was an additional layer. In women who had stress the day before and a history of depression, triglycerides after the meal peaked the highest,” Kiecolt-Glaser said. “The double whammy of past depression as well as daily stressors was a really bad combination.”

While it’s unclear whether the effect would be the same in men, it’s probably safer for everyone to reach for a green smoothie after a long day.

Source: discovery news

Poor sleep quality linked to lower physical activity

poor sleep

A new study shows that worse sleep quality predicts lower physical activity in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Results show that PTSD was independently associated with worse sleep quality at baseline, and participants with current PTSD at baseline had lower physical activity one year later.

Further analysis found that sleep quality completely mediated the relationship between baseline PTSD status and physical activity at the one-year follow-up, providing preliminary evidence that the association of reduced sleep quality with reduced physical activity could comprise a behavioral link to negative health outcomes such as obesity.

“We found that sleep quality was more strongly associated with physical activity one year later than was having a diagnosis of PTSD,” said lead author Lisa Talbot, postdoctoral fellow at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. “The longitudinal aspect of this study suggests that sleep may influence physical activity.”

Study results are published in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which is published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
“This study adds to the literature that shows that better sleep leads to healthier levels of exercise, and previous research has shown that better sleep leads to healthier food choices,” said American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler. “It is clear that healthy sleep is an essential ingredient in the recipe for a healthy life.”

The study involved data from the Mind Your Heart Study, a prospective cohort study of 736 outpatients recruited from two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. PTSD was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). At baseline participants rated their sleep quality overall during the last month, and at baseline and again one year later they reported how physically active they have been during the last month. Of the 736 military veteran participants, 258 had current or subsyndromal PTSD.

According to Talbot, the results suggest that behavioral interventions to increase physical activity should include an assessment for sleep disturbance.
“The findings also tentatively raise the possibility that sleep problems could affect individuals’ willingness or ability to implement physical activity behavioral interventions,” she said. “Sleep improvements might encourage exercise participation.”

The research was performed in collaboration with principal investigator Dr. Beth Cohen of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Research funding was provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Irene Perstein Foundation, and the Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center of the U.S. Veterans Health Administration.

According to the National Center for PTSD of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, PTSD symptoms such as nightmares or flashbacks usually start soon after a traumatic event, but they may not appear until months or years later. Symptoms that last longer than four weeks, cause great distress or interfere with daily life may be a sign of PTSD.

Source: science daily

Healthy Body and a Sound Mind?

healthy body and sound mind

The Roman poet Juvenile (in his Satires 10.356-64), writing around the 1st Century AD, famously popularized the view that there was a close relationship between physical health and mental power, with the maxim,

“a sound mind in a healthy body”

In fact, Juvenile was probably paraphrasing an earlier saying attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Thales, writing around 600 BC, and who is variously identified as the first philosopher and the first scientist. Thales offered a simple prescription for the good life that still seems plausible today:

“Who is happy? ‘The person who has a healthy body, a resourceful mind and a docile nature.’

It is Juvenile who is usually credited with starting the long tradition of linking the development and functioning of the mind and of the body that continues to the present day. In fact, for most of this time this tradition competed rather unsuccessfully with another, present in the writing of an earlier Greek thinker, Plato, and certain strands of the Christian religion, but most commonly associated with the French philosopher René Descartes. This ‘Cartesian’ view portrayed the body not as an inseparable partner of the mind, but as its rather low-rent vessel. It is not difficult to see the influences of this view on most models of schooling and their distinctively disembodied conceptions of human beings, in which the mind is both the subject and object of education, and the body is relegated to a service role that is separate and inferior.

It is only quite recently that science has really caught up with the insights of the ancient Greek to the extent that it can now speak with confidence about the relationships between the body and the mind, and from the perspective of our interests, between physical activity and mental functioning. The evidence is beginning to suggest that Juvenile and Thales may have been on to something.

As was discussed in my last post, serious interest in this issue among researchers can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s, when scientists began to undertake simple experiments assessing the relationships between levels of physical activity, intellectual performance and educational achievement. At the time, ambition and interest were not matched by access to robust scientific measures, so findings remained frustratingly cautious. More rigorous scientific investigations of the relationship of the brain and physical activity began in the early 1980s, due in large part to advances in scientific measurement and tools. It was around this time, for example, that researchers discovered that physical activity led to an increase in the secretion of endorphins (hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system with a number of physiological functions). This effect was found to be linked to a variety of psychological changes, such as positive mood state changes and improved concentration, and physical changes to the brain, such as increased blood flow, growth of nerve cells in the brain’s center of learning and memory, increased density of networks of nerve cells, and increased brain tissue volume.

Numerous tests and measures have been developed since this time. Some of these infer cognitive processes from the observation of behavior (such as the ability to pass psychological or educational tests), while others have been developed that allowed direct measures of brain activity (such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, fMRI, and Electroencephalography, EEG). The development of these sorts of technologies has offered a new perspective on the subject of physical activity, fitness, and learning.

Let us focus, for now, on the issue of physical fitness.

It now seems fairly clear that increased physical fitness, especially cardiorespiratory (aka aerobic) fitness, positively effects the brain in numerous ways. Some of the most impressive evidence comes from older people, for whom improved physical capacity can significantly enhance both the quality and quantity of life. Research with children and young people is less advanced, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that fitness is associated with improved cognitive functioning among this group, too. In fact, it seems safe to say that cognitive functioning of people of all ages benefits from increased levels of physical fitness.

There have now been many scientific studies in this area, and I will discuss some of the most significant of these in later blog posts. Let me just mention one particularly interesting set of findings that came from Sweden and examined physical fitness, intelligence performance, and school achievement. This was not an intervention or experiment, but rather was a statistical analysis of a huge sample of data (from 1,221,727 people), from every man born from 1950 through 1976 who were enlisted for military service at age 18.

Analysis of this data set revealed a positive association between cardiovascular fitness and performance in intelligence tests at age 18, and changes in physical fitness measures between 15 years and 18 years predicted cognitive performance at 18 years. In addition, it was found that cardiovascular fitness during early adulthood predicted socioeconomic status and educational attainment later in life. So the contribution of increased fitness on cognitive functioning seems to trigger a ripple effect that can ‘nudge’ towards improved performance in related domains, such as examination success and later employment.

While there is a growing consensus regarding the cognitive virtues of physical fitness among researchers, there remains some debate about the underlying neurological mechanisms. As will be seen in subsequent Smart Moves posts, many researchers discuss the “executive function hypothesis,” which frames discussions of fitness in terms of its influence on the cognitive processes required to select, organize, and properly initiate goal-directed actions. The authors of the Swedish study interpreted their findings in terms of two other hypotheses: “the brain plasticity hypothesis,” according to which fitness supports the brain’s ability to adapt to external conditions and challenges; and the ‘’cardiovascular fitness hypothesis,” in which cardiovascular or aerobic fitness acts as a mediator of changes to cognitive functioning.

From the point of view of education, the effects reported here make an compelling case, since they go to the heart of learning and achievement in school. The improvements to mood and concentration enhance what could be called the mindset of learning, because fitter children tend to approach academic tasks with a more positive attitude and greater attention than their unfit peers. At the same time, the changes to the efficient functioning of the brain relate to the mechanisms of learning. In other words, the evidence from these tests suggest that physical activity can improve students’ mental state while learning, and the efficiency with which they learn.

If a pharmaceutical drug was available that had been demonstrated to have such positive effects on children’s performance at school, I suspect that even the most cautious of parents would be lining the streets outside pharmacies. Physical activity is not a wonder drug, it has no harmful side effects, and it is free!

Source: psycholog today

Do you suffer from the most common eating disorder?

Do you suffer from the most common eating disorder

Have you ever done that thing with food? You know, that thing where you’ve been dieting all day, and you’ve been doing awesome… not one carb, drinking nothing but water with lemon squeezed in, even power walking on your lunch break… and then comes the night

You’re ready to go to sleep. You’ve had an awesome day, you stayed on your diet all day long. The only problem is you can’t sleep. You lay there listening to your stomach grumble, feeling tired, very, very tired. But you’re also wired and your eyes are wide open. You’re staring at the ceiling, obsessing about food and trying really hard not to get out of bed. Finally you get up and go to the fridge. Just a slice of turkey will kick this. Maybe a bite of cereal. Maybe a bowl of cereal. Maybe another bowl of cereal. Maybe the rest of the pint of ice cream. Maybe a peanut butter sandwich or two. And this all happened in front of an open refrigerator in just under 30 minutes. Been there? Been there a lot? If so, you might be dealing with Binge Eating Disorder.

Binge Eating Disorder is the most common eating disorder, affecting 5.5 percent of the adult population. So, if you are doing this, you are not alone. You feel alone because you do these behaviors in secrecy, but so are millions of other people. When you suffer from binge eating and emotional eating attacks, food is your drug. You try to stop using by going on diets, but inevitably you wind up back on the streets… or in the Oreos.

But there is hope and it is totally possible to be free from this. Here are some tips to break free from binge eating, stress eating, compulsive eating and emotional eating.

1. Stop dieting right this instant

Diets give you a false sense of control. You’re feeling bad about yourself and you vow to go on a diet. The diet makes you feel as though you have some control but inevitably you don’t. Every time you go on a diet, you set yourself up for bingeing. The 20-billion-dollar weight-loss industry thrives when you mess up your diet and sign up for a new one. Instead, vow to leave the industry behind and get off the hamster wheel of bingeing and dieting.

Do you suffer from the mos2

2. Learn intuitive eating

It’s a little more complex than “eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.” Someone who has been a chronic dieter doesn’t quite know when they are hungry because they have fought to push their hunger away for so long. The best thing to do is to is to start just by paying attention to what is going on in your body. Remember that your body is constantly looking for a fuel source to run on. When it is digesting food, it has fuel. When you are no longer digesting, you are hungry and you need fuel; you are running on empty. Take a few moments out of your day, several times a day, to check in with your body and notice how it’s feeling. When you begin to feel empty in your belly, but before you get to the point of really having your fuel light on, check in with your body and ask it what it needs. Just close your eyes, put your hand over your heart, let your mind sync up with your heartbeat and ask “what do I need?”; your body will tell you.

3. Let go of black-and-white thinking

Chronic dieters tend to have an all-or-nothing approach to food. They talk about “good” days and “bad” days. Like if you were to have a day where you ate ice cream or cookies it would be a bad day, if you had a day where you ate salads and drank water, it would be a good day. Food does not hold a moral value. A cookie doesn’t make you a bad person and a salad doesn’t make you a good person. When a chronic dieter goes off her diet by eating a couple of cookies, it can make her feel like, “Oh well, the whole day is ruined, I might as well finish off the bag now.” When you feel as though you’ve behaved in an unhelpful way with food (unintentionally eating an entire box of cookies), rather than spending the rest of the day bingeing ask yourself, “what’s the next right thing that I can do?” It might be going out and taking a walk, it might be brushing your teeth, it might be calling a friend or making your bed. Rather than making it worse for yourself, make it better. Do the next right thing. Get right back on your bicycle and ride rather than spending the rest of the day laying on the ground.

4. Find support

Talk to a therapist who specializes in treating eating disorders, or find other people who are dealing with the same thing that you are. You can search for a binge eating support group either online or in person. You can do a 12-step group or go to ANAD to find free in-person groups. Because Binge Eating Disorder thrives in isolation, it suffocates when the light is shined on it.

5. Keep binge food out of your home

When you are beginning the process of letting go of binge eating, it is best to take the binge foods out of your house. Make your house a safe zone for a little while. If you were recovering from cocaine addiction, you wouldn’t keep cocaine in your cupboards. It’s the same thing. It’s okay to clear out your home to make it a more hospitable environment for your recovery. It’s not forever, it’s just until you are feeling stronger and more settled in your recovery.

6. Be gentle with yourself

This is a process. The dieting mentality will have you believe that you can lose 10 pounds in two weeks. It thrives on a quick-fix mentality. But let yourself take this process slowly and learn from it. You can recover and you can get through this. Just allow it to take time, and be kind to yourself. Food and diets have been your coping mechanism up to this point. Now it’s time for you to integrate loving kindness as a coping mechanism.

Source: sheknows

Climate change may increase risk of kidney stones: study

Climate change may increase risk of kidney stones

A warming planet is likely to bring more hot days, more sweaty people and more dehydration — a key risk factor for a surge in kidney stones, researchers say.

Already, the study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found a link between hot days and kidney stones in 60,000 patients whose medical records were studied in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

“We found that as daily temperatures rise, there is a rapid increase in the probability of patients presenting over the next 20 days with kidney stones,” said lead author Gregory Tasian, a pediatric urologist and epidemiologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

As average daily temperatures climbed above 10 degrees Celsius, the risk of kidney stone presentation increased in all the cities except Los Angeles. When comparing daily average temperatures of 10 to 30 degrees Celsius, researchers found the higher temperatures were associated with a 38 per cent higher risk of kidney stone in Atlanta and a 37 per cent higher risk in Chicago.

Similarly, the risk in Dallas was 37 per cent higher and in Philadelphia it was 47 per cent higher. Los Angeles saw a smaller increased risk of 11 per cent on hotter days.

Kidney stones were most common within three days of a hot spell. Researchers also found that very cold weather in Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia was associated with a rise in kidney stones, perhaps because people were inside and restricting their physical activity more than usual. Kidney stones are caused when substances in the urine, such as calcium and phosphorus, become highly concentrated. Failing to drink enough fluids can exacerbate the problem.

About 10 per cent of the U.S. population is believed to suffer from kidney stones. They are more common in men than women.

“These findings point to potential public health effects associated with global climate change,” said Tasian.
With worldwide temperatures already regularly higher in recent years than the 20th century average, and more warming expected in years to come, Tasian said experts believe that kidney stones may become more common.

“Kidney stone prevalence has already been on the rise over the last 30 years, and we can expect this trend to continue, both in greater numbers and over a broader geographic area, as daily temperatures increase,” said Tasian.

Source: ctv news

Top 8 health benefits of drumsticks

Top 8 health benefits of drumsticks

Drumsticks are obtained from the Moringa oleifera plant and are well-known for their myriad therapeutic qualities. Called as shajan in Hindi, this green vegetable is loaded with valuable minerals, healthy proteins and essential minerals. A must-have ingredient in sambar, one can harness the health benefits of drumstick by cooking it with other vegetables, lentils (dals) or as juice or soup. Here are the top eight reasons why you should include drumsticks in your diet.

It builds strong bones

Drumsticks contain high amounts of calcium, iron and vitamins that help in strengthening bones. When consumed either in the form of a juice or with milk on a regular basis, it is found to raise the bone density and enhance bone health in kids. Read more about 7 surprising foods for healthy bones.

It purifies blood

The leaves and pods of this green vegetable posses blood purifying properties and it also acts as a potent antibiotic agent. The regular consumption of drumsticks, either in the form of soups or juices, reduces acne and other related skin problems.

It lowers blood sugar levels

Drumstick leaves significantly reduce the blood glucose levels in the body and help in controlling diabetes. It is also found to enhance gall bladder function, which in turn helps to lower sugar levels, helping you live a healthier life

It eases respiratory problems

In case you suffer from a sore throat, a cough or congestion, drink a cup of drumstick soup as its anti-inflammatory properties help in relieving a wide range of respiratory complications. It acts as an effective natural remedy to fight against lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis.

It is good for pregnant women

It is recommended that women should eat drumsticks during pregnancy as it helps in delivery and also eases pre and post delivery complications. The presence of essential vitamins and minerals in this vegetable reduces the sluggishness of the uterus along with boosting the milk production after delivery.

It protects against infections

The leaves and flowers of drumstick contain antibacterial agents that help in preventing a wide range of infections related to the throat and skin. It also contains high levels of vitamin C which boosts the immune activity and helps in eliminating the harmful free radicals from the body.

It helps in digestion

Drumstick leaves and pods are loaded with B complex vitamins (such as niacin, riboflavin, folic acid and pyridoxine), which are said to play a vital role in digestion. These vitamins regulate the digestive process by helping in the breakdown of complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats into their simpler forms

It enhances sexual health

The presence of good amounts of zinc in drumsticks is found to enhance the process of spermatogenesis along with playing a key role in female sterility. The bark of this plant is found to contain certain compounds that help in curing impotency, premature ejaculation and thinness of semen.
Source: the health site

5 healthy habits that regulate your appetite

5 healthy habits that regulate your appetite

Have you ever found yourself hungrier after working out, and then “ate back” more calories than you burned exercising? It’s a common phenomenon, and the trick to breaking the cycle may just be choosing ways of being active that feel like fun. In a recent Cornell University study, researchers asked two groups of adults to take a two kilometer walk before lunch or a snack. Those who were told they had been on an exercise walk wound up eating 35 percent more chocolate pudding for dessert at lunch and 124 percent more MMs at snack time than those who were told they had been on a fun, scenic walk.

Other research shows that intense exercise—sweat sessions that are perceived as work—can lead to eating more overall. In other words, a “no pain, no gain” mentality may wind up wreaking havoc with your appetite. If you’re in a similar boat, try mixing things up. Trade grueling workouts for activities that get your heart rate up but seem like play. Think dancing, hiking, roller skating, and swimming. Many of my clients find that even if they burn fewer calories, engaging in recreational activities often helps them lose more weight, because they don’t experience rebound hunger spikes.

Get enough sleep

Catching too few ZZZs is notorious for not only ramping up hunger, but also increasing cravings for junk food. One study from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that too little sleep triggered excessive eating and weight gain, and getting more sleep slashed the consumption of carbs and fat, leading to weight loss. Another from the University of Chicago found that getting 4.5 hours of sleep (rather than 8.5) ups hunger and appetite, especially in the early afternoon.

In addition to causing appetite craziness, sleep deprivation has been tied to a number of health problems, including weakened immunity, and a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, depression, and heart disease. For these reasons, in my opinion, making sleep a priority may even be more important than exercise for weight loss. If you’re falling short like most people, read up on ways to improve your slumber.

Drink more water

Research backs what I find to be true for myself and my clients: drinking plenty of water can help manage appetite. One study found that people who drink about seven cups of water per day eat nearly 200 fewer daily calories compared to those who gulp less than one glass. Another found that when adults drank two cups of water right before meals, they ate 75 to 90 fewer calories. A second study by the same researchers showed that when two groups of people followed the same calorie-limited diet for 12 weeks, those who downed two cups of water before meals lost about 15.5 pounds compared to about 11 pounds for the water-free bunch.

Finally, a German study showed that a 16-ounce dose of water resulted in a 30 percent increase in metabolic rate within 10 minutes. The effect peaked 30 to 40 minutes after consumption, but was sustained for more than an hour. To take advantage of the benefits, drink about 16 ounces of H2O four times a day. If you dislike the taste of plain water, spruce it up with wedges of lemon or lime, fresh mint leaves, cucumber slices, fresh grated ginger, or a bit of mashed fruit.

Eat on a schedule
Your body loves consistency, which is why in my own personal experience, as well as my clients’, eating at the same times every day can go a long way in regulating appetite. Try eating breakfast within one hour of waking up and spacing your remaining meals about three to five hours apart. In addition to consistent meal times, strive for a steady meal structure in terms of the foods and proportions you include.

For example, I recommend always including: produce, lean protein, plant-based fat (like avocado), and a small portion of a healthy starch. I’ve seen that mixing up the foods you choose within these categories, while keeping the types and quantities comparable, can have a huge impact on regulating hunger, supporting sustained energy, and creating a predictable return of hunger, almost like clockwork. In other words, when your meals are all over the place, it’s much easier to feel hungry all the time or confuse true hunger with boredom or other emotions.

Learn how to deal with stress

For most of my clients, stress is the number one eating trigger. And research backs the old adage: “stressed is desserts spelled backwards.” One recent animal study found that female monkeys chronically exposed to stress overate calorie-rich foods, unlike their calm counterparts. They also ate more throughout the day and evening, while the chilled-out chimps naturally restricted their noshing to daytime hours only. This behavior parallels what I see in so many people, and until they find effective ways to reduce stress, emotional eating is a difficult pattern to break.

The best place to start: stop beating yourself up. Instead of berating yourself for not having enough willpower, acknowledge that when your stress hormones are surging, you’re programmed to reach for chips or chocolate. Speak kindly to yourself, and shift your energy toward testing out positive ways to cope, like listening to guided meditation, venting to a friend, spending time outdoors, reading, stretching, drawing, or whatever gives you a mini-vacation from the intensity of your emotions. That strategy, rather than “dieting,” is a much better way to set yourself up for successful weight control and better overall health.

Source: health medicine metwork

Getting too little sun could be risky, study says

Getting too little sun could be risky

Getting too much sun can lead to skin cancer. But getting too little sun also can be risky, especially in regions with limited sunshine, a study suggests.

Women who avoided the sun were twice as likely to die from any cause, including skin cancer, as those who had the greatest sun exposure, according to a report in the July issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine. Exposure to sunlight is the main source of vitamin D. Deficiencies in the vitamin have been linked to cardiovascular deaths and more aggressive skin cancers, the researchers said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding prolonged exposure to the sun and wearing sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15. The study, conducted in Sweden, suggests sun-exposure guidelines may be too restrictive in northern latitudes.

From 1990 to 1992, sun exposure was assessed in close to 30,000 Swedish women ages 25 to 64. Subjects reported on questionnaires how often they sunbathed, their use of tanning beds, and if they traveled to other regions to swim and sunbathe. Sun exposure was scored from 0 (avoiding sun) to 4 (highest exposure). Other factors, such as a history of malignant melanoma and red hair, a risk factor for melanoma, were recorded.

Melanomas and deaths were subsequently tracked through national registries until 2011. There were 267 cases of melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, and just over 2,500 deaths from all causes during the study period.

Source: Fox news

Daily fish oil boosts memory function in older adults

Daily fish oil boosts memory function in older adults

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center have found positive associations between fish oil supplements and cognitive functioning as well as differences in brain structure between users and non-users of fish oil supplements. The findings suggest possible benefits of fish oil supplements on brain health and aging.

The results were reported at the recent International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, in Paris, France.

The study was led by Lori Daiello, PharmD, a research scientist at the Rhode Island Hospital Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center. Data for the analyses was obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), a large multi-center, NIH-funded study that followed older adults with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s Disease for over three years with periodic memory testing and brain MRIs.

The study included 819 individuals, 117 of whom reported regular use of fish oil supplements before entry and during study follow-up. The researchers compared cognitive functioning and brain atrophy for patients who reported routinely using these supplements to those who were not using fish oil supplements.

Daiello reports that compared to non-users, use of fish oil supplements was associated with better cognitive functioning during the study. However, this association was significant only in those individuals who had a normal baseline cognitive function and in individuals who tested negative for a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease known as APOE4. This is consistent with previous research.

The unique finding, however, is that there was a clear association between fish oil supplements and brain volume. Consistent with the cognitive outcomes, these observations were significant only for those who were APOE4 negative.
Daiello says, “In the imaging analyses for the entire study population, we found a significant positive association between fish oil supplement use and average brain volumes in two critical areas utilized in memory and thinking (cerebral cortex and hippocampus), as well as smaller brain ventricular volumes compared to non-users at any given time in the study. In other words, fish oil use was associated with less brain shrinkage in patients taking these supplements during the ADNI study compared to those who didn’t report using them.”

Daiello continues, “These observations should motivate further study of the possible effects of long-term fish oil supplementation on important markers of cognitive decline and the potential influence of genetics on these outcomes.”

Source: science daily