Wellness-uptodate

Jan. 28, 2022 -- What if you could lower your cholesterol by eating foods that you like? A new study shows that when people were asked to eat “hedonically acceptable” snacks that contained ingredients known to lower cholesterol, nearly all of them did. In contrast, only about half of people asked to change their diets substantially to lower cholesterol followed the diet in a previous study.   Continue reading

 In a perfect world, we’d all have access to a balanced, nutrient-dense diet that’s chock-full of healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, adequate protein and fiber — and theoretically, shouldn’t have to take additional vitamin supplements in order to strengthen our immune system However, not only do most of us fail to hit these daily nutrition goals, but we may have situations — like physical stress or inflammatory health issues — when we need more of certain nutrients than what we’re getting from food. Continue reading

 Squats are a simple exercise that anyone can do inside or outside your home. They work the muscles in the legs and can help increase your overall strength, balance and flexibility. You might not notice that people actually squat whilst doing everyday activities such as playing with children or lifting boxes Continue reading

 New research published in Human Brain Mapping provides evidence of a shared neural mechanism that underlies sleep disturbance and mental disorders in preadolescents. The findings indicate that sleep disturbance and mental health problems are both related to the connectivity between and within two important brain networks. “I noticed the importance of sleep years ago when I read several papers about the immediate amyloid protein deposition in the brain after short-term sleep deprivation. Amyloid is neurotoxic waste in the brain and needs to be transported out by cerebrospinal fluid,” said study author Ze Wang, an associate professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  Continue reading

 Close your eyes and imagine a narcissist. Try to picture what you think a narcissist looks like in your mind. It looks like a man, right? While, yes, there are many men in the world with the narcissistic personality disorder, too often, we associate the qualities of narcissism only with men. We think of unrelenting ego and a smug sense of self-satisfaction and, for whatever reason, we identify those as male qualities. It’s one of the most common stereotypes about narcissism. But here’s the thing — narcissism knows no gender boundaries. Women can be narcissists too. Continue reading

Losing belly fat can be a long, hard process. While losing weight in other areas of the body may easily come off, belly fat is harder to budge. So it's important to understand why. "There are three types of fat: triglycerides, the fat that circulates in your blood, subcutaneous fat, the layer directly below the skin's surface, and visceral fat (also known as abdominal fat or belly fat)," explains Colette Heimowitz, MS, Vice President of Nutrition & Education at Simply Good Foods Company. "Visceral fat is located beneath the muscles in your stomach and poses risks to your health when there is too much of it." Continue Reading  

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers hope for antidepressant-resistant disorders January 26, 2022  |  Corey Levitan A device shaped like a ping-pong paddle delicately brushes the left side of Teresa Lindhardt’s forehead. Her psychiatrist reaches over to flip a switch. Several bursts of what sound like soft bug zaps ensue for three minutes. After six weeks of daily treatments with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Lindhardt, 55, says she’s completely free of the symptoms of depression that disrupted, and twice nearly ended, her life. Continue reading