New Hampshire Health News Digest

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say fasting and calorie restriction resulted in mice living longer and healthier lives. The study authors say it sheds new light on how and when people eat can regulate metabolic health. Researchers studying the effects of calorie restricted diets in animals is nothing new. Dudley Lamming, an associate professor of medicine at UW-Madison, and graduate student Heidi Pak were in the midst of a calorie restriction study using mice when Pak noticed the mice ate the food they were given within two hours, going another 22 hours before eating again. "Heidi really picked up on this and wanted to see whether or not the effect of fasting for so long during the day was really contributing to the effects of calorie restriction," said Lamming. "And that's something that nobody else has ever really investigated." Lamming, Pak and 14 other researchers from UW-Madison and the University of Alabama, Birmingham devised a ser...

According to WebMD, "For ALD, the cause is too much alcohol. You may be even more likely to get it if you drink a lot and Are obese Are malnourished Have chronic viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C Have genes that make you more likely to get it Are an African-American or Hispanic male Age — the older you are, the more likely it becomes. The reason why some people with NAFLD have simple fatty liver and others get NASH isn't known. Genes may be a reason. NAFLD or NASH is more likely if: You're overweight or obese Your body doesn't respond to insulin as it should (called insulin resistance) or if you have type 2 diabetes You have high levels of triglycerides or "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, or low levels of "good" (HDL) cholesterol You're older You have polycystic ovary syndrome You have sleep apnea You have an underactive thyroid (the doctor will call this hypothyroidism) You have an underactive pituitary gland (you'll hear this called hypopi...

Taking a look at the numbers One in four individuals with diabetes reports having depressive symptoms The lifetime prevalence of depression in women with diabetes is 10-25% The lifetime prevalence of depression in men with diabetes is five to twelve percent 52% of individuals with diabetes report experiencing social stigma related to their disorder Type 2 diabetes is associated with a 20 percent increased risk for depression Depression is associated with a 60 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-is-state-mind/202112/the-relationship-between-diabetes-and-depression

"If you’ve tried to stop procrastinating but haven’t managed to be successful yet, this guide is for you. I’m going to walk you step-by-step through 5 of the most effective anti-procrastination strategies I know of. As a professional psychologist, these are the strategies I use day-in and day-out to help my clients eliminate procrastination and massively increase productivity. Here are the 5 best strategies you can use to stop procrastinating. You can quickly jump to the one that looks most interesting using the links below: Productive Procrastination The Seinfeld Method The Procrastination Equation Digital Minimalism Mindfulness Okay, let’s dive in!" https://nickwignall.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating/

The most effective motivational techniques were not based on guilt, shame, or promises of a healthier, happier body and mind. Rather, the most motivation came from giving members a tiny amount of credit points to their Amazon account per gym visit. Even if the credit amounted to mere pennies, the system tended to get more people to the gym more often and consistently than these other common motivational measures: Reminding people about their commitment to go to the gym Explaining why various types of exercise are important Text message interventions that reminded users of the workouts they found most fun or effective Researchers purposefully set the amount users could earn to be “inconsequential,” Dena Gromet, one of the co-authors, told Inverse. The most anyone ever earned for a gym visit was $1.79. If they lasted through seven days, that would be enough to purchase a six-item Bert’s Bees gift package. Still, people responded best to the language of money. “I think the take-home me...

Some of the most popular meditation practices emphasize a relaxed focus of attention in which thoughts, images, sensations, and emotions may emerge and pass freely without actively controlling or pursuing them. Several recent studies show that meditation activates frontal brain areas associated with attention focusing and physical relaxation. The objective of the present study was to assess whether brain activation during relaxed focusing on a meditation sound could be distinguished from similar, concentrative control tasks. Brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in experienced practitioners of Acem meditation. Bilateral areas of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA47) were significantly more activated during repetition of a meditation sound than during concentrative meditation-like cognitive tasks. Meditation-specific brain activation did not habituate over time, but increased in strength with continuous meditation bouts. These observations suggest t...

A new study by Temple University School of Medicine researchers has shown why the pounds melt so quickly on low-carbohydrate diets, and it's not related to water, metabolism or boredom. The research was conducted in a group of obese patients with type 2 diabetes who followed the Atkins diet. According to lead researcher, Guenther Boden, M.D., "When carbohydrates were restricted, study subjects spontaneously reduced their caloric intake to a level appropriate for their height, did not compensate by eating more protein or fat, and lost weight. We concluded that excessive overeating had been fueled by carbohydrates." Almost 80 percent of diabetics are overweight or obese, compounding health risks such as heart disease and stroke. Boden wanted to examine how low-carbohydrate diets, which have been shown to produce rapid weight loss, affected weight, appetite and blood sugar in obese diabetics. He discovered that study subjects did not eat less because they were bored with ...

Nuts Fuel Weight Gain 11/23/02 Nuts Fuel Weight Gain Nuts are high in unsaturated fats, fiber and micronutrients, and it has been suggested that they can reduce the risk of heart disease. However, a recent study examining the effect of nuts on insulin resistance and in patients with type 2 diabetes found that nuts may also increase weight. Twenty people participated in the study by eating about 3 ounces of almonds a day for four weeks. Though the nuts did not substantially influence insulin sensitivity, body weight increased significantly, which may have affected changes in insulin sensitivity. Cholesterol, both good (HDL) and bad (LDL), decreased significantly after the four-week period. In patients with diabetes, the increase in almonds did not alter blood sugar control. The study suggests that in order to avoid weight gain, nuts must replace other sources of energy and fat in the diet. American J Clinical Nutrition November 2002;76(5):1000-6 Dr. Mercola's Comment: I...

Maintaining your muscle mass through strategies like regular exercise and eating nutrient-dense foods can not only help your overall function, it may even boost your chance of living longer. According to a study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, muscles mass loss may be related to earlier mortality. Researchers studied a group of 839 men and women over the age of 65 for about four years, recording their body composition with bone density scanning over time. They looked at "appendicular muscle mass," meaning the arms and legs, as well as subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. The results showed that women with low appendicular mass were 63 times more likely to die early compared to those with more arm and leg muscle mass. Men with low appendicular mass were 11 times more likely to be at risk for early mortality. "Muscle mass plays a key role in stabilization for the hips and shoulders," says lead researcher Rosa Maria Rodrigues Pereira, M.D., Ph.D., of the Uni...

  The cannabis users surveyed were 34 percent more likely to report sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night when compared to non-users, as well as being 56 percent more likely to report sleeping more than 9 hours when compared to non-users, after accounting for potential confounding factors.   Recent cannabis users were also more likely to report having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, sleeping too much in the past two weeks, and having ever told a physician about sleeping problems. However, cannabis exposure was not associated with frequent daytime sleepiness. "We determined there to be a possible exposure-response relationship between frequency of use and sleep duration; heavy users were at the greatest risk of both extremes of nightly sleep duration compared with non-users," the team writes. https://www.sciencealert.com/large-study-links-cannabis-smoking-to-sleep-disruption-especially-among-heavy-users

  What does science say? In this new book, experts in neuroscience, medicine, psychology, philosophy and the humanities share groundbreaking perspectives on how nondirective meditation interacts with brain and body, mind and culture. Nondirective meditation is not about emptying the mind. Instead, mind wandering is seen as an important resource. Silently repeating a meditation sound helps to cultivate a free mental attitude. The activity in the brain’s default mode network increases, enriching the flow of spontaneous thought. Mind wandering brings rest and recuperation, helps us consolidate our memory of the past, and stimulates our planning toward future goals. It enhances creativity and makes it easier to shift perspective. It is a central feature of empathy and social relations. Contributors (in alphabetical order): Turid Suzanne Berg-Nielsen, Svend Davanger, Halvor Eifring, Øyvind Ellingsen, Anne Grete Hersoug, Are Holen, Eirik Jensen, Bjørn Lau and Morten Wærsted. https://www....

. Short-term sleep deprivation with nocturnal light exposure alters time-dependent glucagon-like peptide-1 and insulin secretion in male volunteers - PubMed Moreover, it also induced profound derangements in GLP-1 and insulin responses such that postprandial GLP-1 and insulin levels were markedly elevated and the normal variation in GLP-1 responses was abrogated. These alterations were not observed in sleep-deprived participants maintained under dark conditions, indicating a direct effect of light on the mechanisms that regulate glucose homeostasis. Accordingly, the metabolic abnormalities known to occur in shift workers may be related to the effects of irregular light-dark cycles on these glucoregulatory pathways. Short-term sleep deprivation with nocturnal light exposure alters time-dependent glucagon-like peptide-1 and insulin secretion in male volunteers - PubMed : 

by Lance Carter | Apr 22, 2021 Dopamine is well known as the ‘reward’ neurochemical as we get a boost of it when we have an experience worthy of praise or pleasure. Research on dopamine’s role in the body also now shows that conditioned fear responses are directly lessened by dopamine release. Called a fear extinction event.., this is where the release of dopamine engages learning in a way that eliminates the fear. Researchers discovered that when dopamine was disabled from doing it’s job in tests, conditioned fears stayed present over time even though the initial fearful event was not repeated. With the dopamine re-introduced.., the conditioned/learned fears disappeared quickly. https://roxiva.com/dopamine-is-an-antidote-to-fear-light-exposure-effects-dopamine-function/