Healthy Tips from HealthyLife

Beth Cooney offers tips to keep you healthy
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Archive for 2010

Water for Weight Loss

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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Do you have your water bottle handy? New research suggests you might want to fill it up, especially if you’re trying to shed some pounds. Researchers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech found study participants who drank two cups of water before each meal lost an average of five pounds more weight over a 12-week calories controlled diet than those who followed the same diet, minus the water.

The researchers randomly assigned 48 adults aged 55 to 75 to one of two groups: the water drinkers and the non-water drinkers. The water drinkers drank two 8-ounce cups of water right before they began to eat each meal, while the non-water drinkers did not. Members of both groups ate a low-calorie diet during the 12-week study. During this time, the water drinkers lost an average of 15.5 pounds while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds.

According to the authors of the study, drinking water before the meal works because while it has zero calories, water gives you the sensation of feeling partly full before you even start eating, which means you’ll consume fewer calories during the meal. In addition, say the researchers, replacing sweetened calorie rich drinks during the day with water is a good way to reduce calorie intake.

However, don’t think it’s a good idea to drink 30 cups of water a day as part of your diet plan — drinking too much water can be dangerous and results in a rare but serious condition called water intoxication.

According to official bodies like the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine say, healthy people should let natural thirst guide them on how much water to drink, but they generally recommend about 9 cups of fluids a day, including water, for women and 13 cups for men.

Is Marriage a Stress Reducer?

Monday, November 22, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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Marriage may not always be easy, but according to a new study, it can actually be a stress reducer.

Researchers at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University studied 500 masters’ degree students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The group included 153 women with a mean age of 27 and 348 men with a mean age of 29; about 40 percent of the men and 53 percent of the women were in relationships or married.

The researchers had the students play a series of computer games that tested economic behaviors. They took saliva samples before and after to measure hormone levels and changes. They made the test a potentially stressful experience that could affect levels of the stress hormone cortisol by telling the students that it was a course requirement that would impact their future career placement.

The researchers found that cortisol concentrations increased in all the study participants, but that females experienced a higher increase than males. Males also experienced decreased testosterone, a stress effect that’s been observed in humans and animals. The authors of the study also found that single individuals of both sexes had higher cortisol levels than those who were married. Apparently, say the researchers, although marriage itself can be stressful, it makes it easier for people to handle other stressors in their lives. This effect was also seen in unmarried people in committed, romantic relationships.

Diet and Skin Cancer

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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 We all know the best way to prevent skin cancer is to stop baking in the sun. According to a recent study, a diet rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids may also help protect us from the disease.

Researchers in Israel and Germany organized two groups. Members of one group were provided a drink high in antioxidants, while the other study participants drank beverages like soda. They found that those who drank the antioxidant-rich beverage had fifty percent fewer oxidation products in their blood at the end of the two-week period, which included five to six hours of exposure to the sun every day. After further studies, the researchers determined that these antioxidants had delayed the phenomenon of skin erythema, which indicates the initiation of DNA and tissue damage that can lead to skin cancer.

The researchers suggest the best dietary approach is to “go Greek,” with foods such as fish, olive oil, yogurt and colorful fruits and vegetables to fight the oxidizing effect of the sun, while going light on read meat, processed foods and alcohol (red wine is preferable). Of course, regular application of sunscreen and wearing appropriate body coverings like beach coverups and other sportswear are also important when spending time in the sun.

A Breath Test for Cancer?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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Scientists in Israel say finding out if you have cancer could be as easy as taking a breath test.

The team of scientists studied the breath of 177 people, some healthy and others with various types of cancer, to detect the different chemicals emitted from the surface of cancer cells as they grow. They found that an “electric nose” could be used as a test to detect breast, bowel, lung and prostate cancers. Not only could they distinguish between healthy and malignant breath by using the sensor to pinpoint chemical variations, they could also identify the four different common tumor types.

More work is needed to develop the technology, but this early success may lead to the development of an easy to use, portable and inexpensive test to help diagnoses cancer earlier.

Mind Games for Your Stomach

Monday, November 15, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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Anyone who’s ever battled a weight problem knows it’s awfully tricky. A new study suggests tricking our minds into believing food will be more filling than it is before we eat it could be the key to losing weight. In other words, portion control may be simply a matter of perception.

British researchers showed study subjects the ingredients of a fruit smoothie. Half of the participants were shown a small portion of fruit and the other half were shown a large portion. They were then asked to assess the “expected satiety” of the smoothie and to provide ratings before and three hours after drinking it. All the participants consumed the same smaller quantity of fruit, but those who were shown the large portion of fruit reported significantly greater fullness.

In a second experiment, researchers manipulated the “actual” and “perceived” amount of soup that study subjects thought they had eaten. The amount of soup in the bowl was increased or decreased as participants ate, without their knowledge, using a soup bowl connected to a hidden pump. Three hours later, the perceived amount of soup in the bowl, not the actual amount of soup consumed, predicted post-meal hunger and fullness ratings.

Researchers say these findings could have implications for more effective food labeling. Perhaps, they say, foods that are now labeled “light” and “diet” should be labeled “satisfying” or “hunger-relieving.”

Is Romantic Rejection Addictive?

Thursday, November 11, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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If you’ve ever wondered why being rejected by a romantic partner drives some people over the edge, science may have an explanation. According to a study by researchers at Rutgers University, Yeshiva University, Stony Brook University and SUNY Stony Brook, the pain and anguish of rejection by a romantic partner may be the result of activity in parts of the brain associated with motivation, reward and addiction cravings.

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activity in 15 college-age, heterosexual men and women who had recently been rejected by their partners (an average of 63 days before their enrollment in the study) but still claimed to be intensely “in love.” All the participants said they spent more than 85% of their waking hours thinking of the person who rejected them, and that they wanted to get back together.

The study subjects each looked at a picture of their former partners, then completed a simple math exercise to distract them from their romantic thoughts and finally viewed a picture of a familiar “neutral” person, such as a roommate’s friend. The researchers found that looking at pictures of the participants’ former partners stimulated several key areas of the participants’ brains more than looking at photos of neutral people did. These areas are associated with motivation, reward, cravings, addiction, physical pain and distress. The researchers say these results support their hypothesis that romantic rejection is a specific form of addiction.

However, there is hope for the lovelorn. The researchers found that the longer it had been since the rejection, the less activity there was in the area of the brain associated with attachment when the study subjects viewed pictures of their former partners. At the same time, areas associated with reappraising difficult emotional situations and assessing ones’ gains and losses were activated, which suggests rejected individuals are trying to understand and learn from their difficult situation. So perhaps time really does heal all wounds.

Massage and Headache

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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There’s no question that a massage can be enjoyable and relaxing. According to new research, it may also help bring relief to people suffering from tension headaches.

Researchers at the University of Grenada, the Clinical Hospital San Cecilio and the University Rey Juan Carlos in Spain say their study proves that the psychological and physiological state of patients with tension headache improves within 24 hours after receiving a 30-minute massage.

They found that a 30-minute massage on cervical trigger points improved autonomic nervous system regulation in these patients. In addition, patients exhibited a better psychological state and were able to “reduce the stress and anxiety associated to such a disturbing disorder.” Plus, patients reported a perceived relief from symptoms within 24 hours after the massage. Researchers believe this may mean that massages reduce the pain caused by trigger points, which would involve an improvement in the general state of patients.

Tension headaches are usually treated with pain medications that relieve symptoms temporarily. The presence of trigger points is one of the main causes of this type of headache.

Milk and Muscle Tone

Monday, November 8, 2010 by:Jill Montag
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If you regularly turn to sports drinks after a workout at the gym, you might want to switch to milk. A recent study found that women who drink two large glasses of milk a day after their weight-lifting routine gained more muscle and lost more fat than women who drank sugar-based energy drinks.

Researchers at McMaster University in Canada monitored young women who did not previously perform resistance-training exercises for 12 weeks. Every day the women were required not to eat or drink anything but water for two hours before exercising. The training, monitored by personal trainers to ensure proper technique, consisted of pushing (e.g. chest fly, bench press), pulling (e.g. abdominal exercises without weights, seated lateral pull down) and leg exercises (seated two-leg hamstring curl, leg press).

Right after their workout, and then again one hour later, one group drank 500ml, or about 17 ounces, of fat free white milk, while the other group consumed a similar-looking sugar-based energy drink.

The researchers found that the women who drank milk barely gained any weight because they balanced what they gained in lean muscle with a loss in fat. They say this study shows that simple things like weightlifting regularly and drinking milk can substantially improve women’s body composition and health.

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