Wellness-uptodate

 The inner struggle fans can’t see. Ryan Reynolds opened up about how the funny, charming persona he puts on in interviews is usually covering his mental health struggle. Celebs Who Have Shared Their Mental Health Battles “I’ve had anxiety my whole life really,” the 45-year-old told CBS’ Sunday Morning in a Sunday, February 27 interview. “And you know, I feel like I have two parts of my personality, that one takes over when that happens.” The Deadpool actor is known for being witty and charismatic, but that’s not how he feels backstage. He recalled feeling overwhelmingly nervous before an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, which he appeared on several times before the host signed off in 2015. “I remember I’d be standing backstage before the curtain would open, and I would think to myself, ‘I’m gonna die. I’m literally gonna die here. The curtain’s gonna open and I’m just gonna be, I’m just gonna be a symphony of vomit,’ just, like, something horrible’s gonna happen!” Re...

 CINCINNATI (WKRC) - New research is showing that having a pet could boost your brain power. A recent study found that it can delay memory loss and other kinds of cognitive decline. It seemed to be especially helpful for exercising your verbal memory, like memorizing a list of words. One example is all the nicknames people come up with for their pets. And it wasn't just true for people with cats and dogs. Some participants also owned rabbits, hamsters, birds, fish, and reptiles. Study authors say you have to have a pet for five years or more to see improvement, but those who did in the study had a cognitive decline rate of 1.2 points less over six years than those who didn't. Continue reading

 A diet rich in beans, nuts, and whole grains could add 10 years to your life, according to a new modeling study. Gabby Landsverk Feb 19, 2022, 10:00 AM A new research tool predicts how changing your diet could add or subtract years from your life. Based on current evidence, the study found plant foods like beans, grains and nuts were healthiest.  Foods like processed meat, refined grains, and added sugar were linked to a shorter life.  Eating a more plant-based or Mediterranean-style diet could add up to ten years to your lifespan, a modeling study published February 8 in the journal PLOS Medicine suggests. Using data from a 2019 study, researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway created an online tool called Food4HealthyLife to calculate life expectancy based on eating habits.  Their goal was to use existing evidence on the health effects of various food groups, and apply it to show how diet change might affect longevity, according to Dr. Lars T. Fadnes, le...

 The Center for Disease Control released a study yesterday that the 2021 Anime NYC convention was not a superspreader event, despite the attendance of one of the first known people in the U.S. to have been infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But this wasn’t just luck—the event had several measures in place to minimize infection, which means it can be used as a model for other fan conventions in the future. The reason Anime NYC was suspected to be a superspreader (even assumed to be, one might say) is because Omicron is significantly more infectious than previous iterations of covid-19, and more than 53,000 anime fans came to the con, held in New York City at the Javits Center. The CDC says the event’s “good air filtration, widespread vaccination, and indoor masking” helped minimize spread of the virus. Additionally, Anime NYC required attendees to have at least one vaccination dose, while the convention center used HEPA filters in its ventilation. Continue reading...

 Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety aren't easy to treat. Medications help many but have a high failure rate and may bring nasty side effects. Talk therapy is time-consuming and expensive. And neither approach is suited to preventing the disorders from developing in the first place. But many people overlook another option that, when it works, can be one of the most effective, least disruptive and cheapest ways of managing mental health disorders: Exercise. It's hardly news that exercise is good for your physical health, and has long been extolled as beneficial for mental health, as well. But researchers are now making progress in understanding how exercise works its mental magic. Exercise, they are learning, has profound effects on the brain's structure itself, and it also provides other, more subtle benefits such as focus, a sense of accomplishment and sometimes social stimulation - all of which are therapeutic in their own right. And while more is gene...

We all know exercise is good for us, but that still leaves plenty of questions. How much exercise? Who benefits the most? And when in our lives? New research led by University of Pittsburgh psychologists pools data from dozens of studies to answer these questions, showing that older adults may be able to prevent declines in a certain kind of memory by sticking to regular exercise. Continue reading

 Breakfast is the most important, and some can argue, one of the most delicious meals of the day! We all love to enjoy a grand spread for breakfast, it is why breakfast buffets are so popular among foodies! Pancakes, waffles, French toast, sandwiches, just thinking about these breakfast recipes has us drooling. But eating these decadent meals every day can be unhealthy. Not anymore, we have found a healthier alternative to the beloved American breakfast delicacy pancake, oats pancake! The key methods are exactly the same, the only difference is that the all-purpose flour is being replaced with oats flour. If you don't have oats flour at home, you don't need to worry. Just simply grind rolled oats into a fine powder and you'll have oats flour ready! This oats pancake is easy to make and it is very similar to the recipe of the classic pancake. Continue reading

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. And with today’s massive amount of research on how what we consume affects our health, it’s no surprise that these ground seeds are being investigated. The question is: To what extent is drinking coffee good for your brain? In 2017, Boukje van Gelder and her colleagues reported on 676 elderly men they had studied over 10 years to see if coffee protected them from cognitive decline. They found that men who drank coffee had less cognitive decline than those who didn’t.   Continue reading

  Twenty minutes of daily moderate to vigorous exercise in early old age (70-75) may best stave off major heart disease, including heart failure, in late old age (80+), suggests research published online in the journal  Heart . The findings reinforce the maxim of ‘better late than never,’ when it comes to exercise, but earlier on in older age is better still, concludes a linked editorial. Continue reading

  Working out buffs up the body and perhaps the mind, too. BOB HOLMES MENTAL-HEALTH CONDITIONS like depression and anxiety aren’t easy to treat. Medications help many but have a high failure rate and may bring nasty side effects. Talk therapy is time-consuming and expensive. And neither approach is suited to preventing the conditions from developing in the first place. But many people overlook another option that, when it works, can be one of the most effective, least disruptive, and cheapest ways of managing mental health: Exercise. Continue Reading

 by Beth Ellwood February 14, 2022.  A study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry has found new evidence that too much sitting can negatively impact mental health. The study found that while mental health tended to improve among US residents in the aftermath of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, those who spent more time sitting showed slower recovery from depressive symptoms. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, mental health professionals have expressed concern about citizens’ psychological health. One way the crisis might impact mental health is by increasing sedentary behavior, with citizens spending much more time at home in an effort to follow public health guidelines. Notably, the first wave of the coronavirus was unexpected, requiring rapid changes in people’s behavior. Researchers Jacob D. Meyer and his colleagues recognized an opportunity to explore how sudden changes in sedentary behavior within a short period of time would impact mental health. The researchers used a longit...

Delicious midday meals ideas whether you're gluten-free, vegan, or simply looking for a quick, energizing workday lunch. Many of my clients who work away from home have one common obstacle: they don't plan ahead when it comes to lunch. As a result, they typically wind up eating something—like a fast-food burrito, a hodgepodge of processed snacks, or heavy takeout—that leaves them feeling zapped of energy and sluggish all afternoon.  While bringing a healthy lunch to work does take a little more time and effort, the payoff is well worth it. Meal-prepped lunches for work tend to be more nutritious, can help you better regulate your blood sugar, and keep you focused and productive all afternoon. Plus, eating a healthy breakfast and lunch may boost your motivation to prep a healthy dinner.  Here are 10 easy and nutritious lunches that you can prep and pack for work. Whatever your dietary needs—vegan, gluten-free, or low-carb—you'll find a recipe on this list that's deliciou...

Drinking up to three cups of coffee every day could help you live longer, a decade-long study suggests. Regular drinkers of the hot beverage were up to 12 per cent less likely to die, results showed. But experts found the health benefits only come from consuming ground coffee — not instant varieties. And drinking more than three cups a day doesn't have any good effects, according to the research of almost 500,000 people. Continue reading

Whether you're looking to maintain a consistent workout routine, improve your endurance, or build muscle, there's a goal for everyone on this list—no matter their fitness level. With the first month of 2022 behind us, many may be losing steam when it comes to sticking to their New Year's resolutions. Why? Because people either set unrealistic goals that leave them discouraged or fail to hold themselves accountable through tracking their progress, Lindsay Ogden, a NASM-certified personal trainer at the health club chain Life Time, tells Health.  Therefore, the key to setting yourself up for fitness goal success is devising them with the SMART method in mind. This tried-and-true approach creates goals that are: Specific: The goal is clear and defined. For example, "workout three times a week" rather than "exercise more." Measurable: There's a way to track your progress, which could be logging the weights you lift or the distance you run each week. Atta...

  By now, you likely know that fiber is linked to a variety of potential benefits including gut health, low cholesterol, and stable blood sugars. Same goes for protein, the macronutrient we know is responsible for building muscle, repairing tissue, and key for vital bodily functions. So, if breakfast is “the most important meal of the day,” it stands to reason that including both would be critical. Continue reading

Changing what you eat could add up to 13 years to your life, according to a newly published study, especially if you start when you are young. The study created a model of what might happen to a man or woman's longevity if they replaced a "typical Western diet" focused on red meat and processed foods with an "optimized diet" focused on eating less red and processed meat and more fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. Continue reading  

The catch? You have to actually be sleeping. I was fascinated reading this paper, which brings into the real world data that previously only existed in highly controlled laboratory experiments. When people sleep less, they eat more. Prior research in the field has been very consistent. If you take an individual and put them in a sleep lab and force them to sleep only 4 or 5 hours a night, they will eat more calories the next day. The mechanism of this relationship -- the hormones, cytokines, and other substances that drive the sleep-hunger axis -- is still being worked out, but the relationship is clear. Continue Reading

  Selenium—a mineral found in many foods—could reverse the cognitive impact of stroke and boost learning and memory in aging brains, according to University of Queensland research. Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) lead researcher Dr. Tara Walker said studies on the impact of exercise on the aging brain found levels of a protein key to transporting selenium in the blood were elevated by physical Continue reading

It pays to love your veggies. Especially when you’re loading up on some of the healthiest in the vegetable kingdom. Read on for a list of nutritionist-approved go-to veggies to support good health. THESE ARE THE BEST FOODS FOR YOUR HEART, EXPERTS SAY 1. Shiitake mushrooms...  Continue Reading

 THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Living with and managing bipolar I disorder (BD-I) remains a profoundly challenging experience, according to the results of a survey released by the pharmaceutical company Alkermes and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. The survey, conducted online by The Harris Poll during August 2021 on behalf of Alkermes, included 305 U.S. adults (aged 18 to 60 years) living with BD-I and who took BD-I medication at the time of the survey or in the year prior to the survey. Continue Reading

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects children and adults. The most common characteristics of this condition are hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention, but people with ADHD can also experience mood swings for a variety of reasons. This article discusses the link between ADHD and mood swings Continue reading  

  Belly fat is obviously a major bummer—but while the kind you can pinch with your fingers may make your clothes fit differently, it's not nearly as harmful as the kind that's deeper and less visible. This specific type of abdominal fat, known as visceral fat, is actually super dangerous for your health. Unlike subcutaneous fat—the kind that can accumulate around your arms, hips, and thighs—visceral fat can increase your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, and other chronic diseases and conditions. Visceral fat has also been linked to high cholesterol and insulin resistance. What's worse, studies have shown that even people within a normal weight range are at a higher risk of health issues if they have a lot of visceral fat. Continue reading

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one person dies every 36 seconds from heart disease. That's a staggering statistic! And with heart disease being such a prevalent cause of death, there's good reason to take care of your ticker as much as possible. Some new research suggests another reason to add to our list: heart-healthy living can also help boost your brain health. Preliminary research from a presentation at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2022 found that brain images appear healthier and have fewer injuries in people who live a heart-healthy lifestyle. The research surveyed more than 35,000 adults between the ages of 40 and 69. The researchers used the American Heart Association (AHA)'s Life's Simple 7—a list of seven major ways to reduce your heart disease risk—to determine what makes a heart-healthy lifestyle. The seven factors on Life's Simple 7 are: Stop Smoking Eat Better Get Active Lose Weight Manage ...

HAMILTON, Ontario — The human body is very much the sum of its parts. If one bodily area is out of whack, it’s very likely that other organs and processes will have a problem as well. Case in point, researchers from McMaster University report higher levels of body fat are a risk factor for cognitive decline, slower thought processing speed, and memory issues. Even after the research team accounted for cardiovascular risk factors, like diabetes or hypertension, and vascular brain injuries, the result stayed consistent. There was an undeniable association between body fat and lower cognitive scores. This strongly indicates there are additional, but still unclear pathways connecting excessive fat buildup to cognitive decline.   Continue reading

Microbial fermentation may interact with health through multiple different biological pathways. It can enhance the nutritional composition of the final food, create bioactive compounds, and change the composition of the gut microbiota (potentially outcompeting harmful pathogens). The lactic acid bacteria in fermented food might also help to influence your immune system and strengthen your intestinal barrier. Some fermented foods, like tempeh, also contain prebiotics; these are fibers that escape your digestion and are broken down by your gut bacteria, including your lactic acid bacteria, which feed off prebiotic fiber to help grow their colonies. In a recent diet experiment, a high-fiber diet was compared with a diet high in fermented foods (eg, yogurt, fermented vegetables, kefir, fermented cheese); those who ate higher fermented food had lower markers of inflammation and an increased diversity of gut microbiota (which is thought to be a good thing in adults). So, in theory, fermented...

 6 high-protein, plant-based foods the longest-living people on the planet eat Plant-based diets are common in Blue Zones, regions where people live long, healthy lives.  For protein, many Blue Zone cuisines rely on carb-rich staples like legumes and whole grains.  Nuts, with some fish, dairy, and eggs, round out the moderate protein intake in Blue Zones diets.  Continue reading

 Exercises for anxiety relief may help a person manage certain anxiety symptoms, such as muscle tension, increased heart rate, and rapid breathing. Breathing exercises help foster deep, even breaths that promote diaphragmatic breathing. These exercises may reduce anxiety and help a person relax by restoring a typical breathing pattern. Continue reading