Yoga’s brain boost

And yet another reason to do yoga and meditation. If only I could get off my butt. Yesterday I sent sewing, so no exercise and no steps... just back and forth between the sewing machine, the refrigerator and the toilet. Yikes.

Yoga and meditation are becoming increasingly mainstream activities in the U.S., and new research helps explain why. Daily sessions of either practice can have dramatic effects on brain function. Scientists asked 31 healthy people to engage in 25 minutes of hatha yoga, mindfulness meditation, and quiet reading in random order. Mental tasks completed before and after each session found that yoga and meditation led to greater improvements in the participants’ energy level, mood, executive function, and ability to control thoughts and emotions. “Hatha yoga and mindfulness meditation both focus the brain’s conscious processing power on a limited number of targets, like breathing and posing, and also reduce processing of nonessential information,” the study’s co-author, Peter Hall, tells ScienceDaily.com. That mental training, he said, apparently enables people “to focus more easily on what they choose to attend to in everyday life.”

Taken from the September 29, 2017 edition of The Week Magazine.

How exercise slows aging

Rigorous exercise? Crap. So my newly resurrected 25 minutes on the treadmill with a book isn't going to cut it?

Man, and I learned this back in February 2016 and have done nothing really since then to improve my chances. In order to write this blog entry alone I am sitting at a desk and not exercising. Dang, my posts give me all the information I should need to get me exercising; here's another discussion.

If working out makes you feel younger, a new study suggests it’s no illusion—vigorous exercise can actually slow the aging process on a cellular level, turning back the clock nearly a decade. Researchers analyzed 6,000 adults based on their physical activity and biological markers of aging, Time.com reports. Most importantly, they used DNA samples to measure the length of participants’ telomeres, protein caps that protect chromosomes, like the plastic tips of shoelaces. Telomeres shrink with age—we lose bits of them every time a cell divides. “In general, people with shorter telomeres die sooner and are more likely to develop many of our chronic diseases,” says study author Larry Tucker. Taking into account risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity, the researchers found people who exercised strenuously—say, running for 30 to 40 minutes five days per week—had longer telomeres. That gave them about a nine-year “biological aging advantage” over sedentary adults; those who exercised more moderately had a two-year edge. The researchers speculate physical activity could help preserve telomeres by reducing stress and inflammation. “We all know people who seem younger than their actual age,” Tucker says. “Exercise can help with that, and now we know that part of that may be because of its effect on our telomeres.”

June 2, 2017 The Week Magazine

Diet key to weight loss

So, exactly how many times do we need to hear this to get it? I have asked the question many times... as clearly I don't yet get it. I ate a quesadilla for lunch today and can't get the lump out of my stomach. I have been having this trouble for weeks now... don't know why it has begun, but I am constantly feeling awful. (Bought a papaya to help with digestion... not sure it's working, but can I say, that thing has a distinct smell of vomit... I swear... no wonder people think it helps with digestion. So, does freezing it for shakes kill the benefits? Any-who....)

Exercise has many proven health benefits, but those who dutifully log miles on the treadmill in the hopes of shedding stubborn pounds may want to reconsider their approach to weight loss. In a new study, researchers at Loyola University in Chicago found that healthy eating habits appear to be more important than exercise for long-term weight control, reports LiveScience.com. The team analyzed the physical activity and weight fluctuations of roughly 2,000 adults from the U.S., Ghana, Jamaica, South Africa, and the Seychelles. In each of the five countries, many of those who did 2½ hours of moderate weekly exercise actually put on more pounds over two years than their more sedentary peers. The most likely explanation for this? Exercise tends to boost appetite, meaning active people eat more than they otherwise would. The findings suggest that physical activity alone is “not enough to prevent weight gain,” says lead author Lara Dugas. “What we really need to look at is what people are eating.”

Taken from the March 3rd edition of The Week Magazine.

Exercise has limited weight-loss benefits

Running that extra mile on the treadmill may not make you any thinner, a new study suggests, because exercise alone can burn only a limited number of calories. Instead, the body actually adapts to greater levels of activity, which may help explain why people who are trying to lose weight often hit a frustrating “plateau.” The research team followed more than 300 men and women from five different countries over the course of one week, measuring their daily activity levels and energy expenditure. As expected, people who were moderately active—walking a couple of miles daily or working out for a half hour two or three times a week—burned about 200 more calories than the ones who remained sedentary. But intense activity didn’t necessarily reap more benefits: Participants who logged the highest levels of physical exertion expended about the same amount of energy as those who were only moderately active. The researchers suggest that the bodies of extremely active people learn to use energy more efficiently during exercise and to burn fewer calories while at rest. “We think this is a really common evolutionary adaptation that all animals use to keep from outstripping their resources and to keep from starving,’’ study author Herman Pontzer of Hunter College in New York City tells CNN​.com. Exercise can provide many health benefits, including weight loss, Pontzer says, but to shed a lot of pounds, “you probably ought to focus on changing your diet and watching how much you eat.’”

Crap, back to watching what I eat.

Taken from the February 16, 2016 edition of The Week Magazine. I am finially sorting through the papers on my floor. I think I need to dust down there.

How to slow brain aging

Crap - I guess this means I need to do more exercise.... As it is now I meet with a trainer but I do my best to talk with him to distract him from having me do more exercise....

Rigorous exercise may do more than protect the heart, trim the waistline, and keep bones strong. New research suggests strenuous physical activity can slow brain aging by as much as 10 years, the Los Angeles Times reports. Scientists followed 876 older adults for five years, tracking their physical activity and testing their memory and thinking skills. MRI scans also enabled researchers to assess their brain health. Repeat tests conducted five years later revealed the participants’ brain function was closely tied to how physically active they were. Those who opted for moderate to strenuous exercise, such as running and aerobics, had the highest scores and lowest risk for memory loss and decline in executive function. Less intense activities, including walking and yoga, produced only modest benefits. The brains of those who were sedentary, on the other hand, looked a decade older than the brains of their very active peers. They also had higher blood pressure and signs of undetected ministrokes. Rigorous exercise, researchers say, improves vascular health and increases blood flow to the brain, keeping it healthier into old age.

Taken from the Week Magazine... can't remember which edition. Oops.

Exercise lowers cancer risk

Taken from the June 3rd edition of the Week Magazine.

Doesn't this seem obvious? Not the cancer connection specifically, but health in general. Who paid for this study and why? I read that esophageal cancer is associated with the elimination of the bacteria H. pylori... Back to eating those homemade fermented pickles... I don't think 7% will be enough to get people to get up off the couch.

Photo taken from here

If a healthy heart and trim waistline aren’t enough incentive, maybe a lower risk for cancer will inspire sedentary people to get moving. A new study from the National Cancer Institute shows that exercise may significantly lower the risk for 13 different forms of the disease, Time.com reports. Researchers analyzed 11 years of data on the health, diet, and activity of 1.4 million people and found that a higher level of physical exertion was associated with a 7 percent lower overall chance of developing cancer. Just a few hours of weekly exercise had a particular effect on esophageal cancer, lowering the risk for the disease by 42 percent. Working out also cut the risk for lung, kidney, stomach, and endometrial cancers by more than 20 percent and significantly reduced the likelihood that people would suffer from leukemia, colon cancer, or breast cancer. The more active people were, the more their risk dropped, notes study leader Steven Moore. “Cancer is a very feared disease,” he says. “But if people understand that physical activity can influence their risk for cancer, then that might provide yet one more motivating factor to become active.”