PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

SUPERFOOD: GRAPES CHECKS THE BOXES Fresh grapes aren’t just a sweet snack—they’re packed with more than 1,600 naturally occurring compounds that offer profound benefits for your heart, brain, skin, gut, and even your genes. Recent research is putting grapes in the spotlight, arguing that they deserve a place among the world’s top superfoods. A new article in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, written by renowned resveratrol and cancer expert Dr. John M. Pezzuto, dives into why grapes should be recognized as a true superfood. While the term “superfood” gets tossed around a lot and isn’t strictly defined, it usually refers to foods loaded with plant-based compounds linked to good health. Grapes, Dr. Pezzuto points out, are often left off these lists—despite packing a bigger punch than most people realize. What makes grapes stand out? They’re a natural source of a vast variety of polyphenols, including things like flavonoids, anthocyanidins, catechins, phenolic acids, and the ...

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE TREATMENT: CANCER DRUGS SHOWN EFFECTIVE Researchers at UC San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes may have found a way to reverse Alzheimer’s—using two drugs that were initially developed to fight cancer. By analyzing gene expression data, the team found that certain FDA-approved cancer drugs can counteract the changes Alzheimer’s disease makes in the brain. Their approach started with a big question: Which genes go haywire in Alzheimer’s, and are there any existing drugs that flip those gene changes back to normal? The researchers compared the altered gene patterns in brain cells from Alzheimer’s patients to the effects of more than 1,300 medications. Their goal was to find drugs that could reverse the damage, especially in neurons and glia, the two cell types hit hardest by the disease. They didn’t stop at the lab. The team also combed through millions of anonymous medical records and noticed that people who had been treated with certain cancer drugs seemed les...

  PAIN RELIEF WITH VIRTUAL REALITY Imagine finding pain relief without ever reaching for a pill. That’s the premise behind new research out of the University of Exeter, where scientists discovered that immersive virtual reality (VR) nature scenes can significantly reduce pain sensitivity—sometimes as effectively as medication. The study, published in the journal Pain, took healthy volunteers and simulated chronic pain using mild electric shocks on the forearm. Participants were then immersed in 360-degree VR films of forests and waterfalls, or shown the same scenes on a regular flat screen. The difference was striking: those who experienced the scenes through VR reported almost twice the pain relief compared to 2D video, and the benefits lasted at least five minutes after the virtual experience ended. The team, led by Dr. Sam Hughes, wanted to see if the well-known pain-reducing effects of being in nature could be replicated for people who can’t easily access the outdoors—like many...

WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS: HIDDEN DANGERS GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are making headlines for their ability to help people lose weight quickly. But a new study from the University of Virginia is raising a red flag: while these medications help people shed fat, they're also causing significant muscle loss—and that could have serious consequences for long-term health. The UVA research team points out that drugs like Ozempic have clear benefits, especially for people with obesity, type 2 diabetes, or heart failure. Patients see better blood sugar control, some improvement in heart and kidney function, and, in some cases, longer lives. But there’s a catch: the weight that comes off isn’t just fat. A sizable chunk is muscle, which people need for strength, mobility, and even heart health. “Some of my patients told me they could feel their muscles slipping away,” says Dr. Zhenqi Liu, a professor at UVA’s School of Medicine. “That’s worrying. Muscle is critical for posture, daily movement, and over...

 INSOMNIA TREATMENTS: NATURAL APPROACHES If you’re struggling with sleepless nights, you might not need to reach for a prescription. New research suggests yoga, Tai Chi, walking, and jogging could be just as powerful as traditional insomnia treatments—and with far fewer side effects. A central review published in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine looked at dozens of studies comparing different ways to improve sleep. The verdict? Exercise-based interventions, especially Tai Chi, delivered major wins: longer overall sleep, better sleep efficiency, and less time spent staring at the ceiling after waking up in the middle of the night. Yoga in particular helped people feel more rested, and jogging made a real dent in insomnia symptoms. Insomnia isn’t just frustrating; it’s linked to higher risks for mental and physical health problems, including dementia and heart disease. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the gold standard for treatment, it isn’t always easy to access. Medications ...

SLEEP HABITS: REGULARITY IS KEY A new international study has found that irregular sleep schedules—like going to bed at different times every night or having a disrupted internal clock—could put you at higher risk for dozens of diseases, from liver problems to circulatory disorders. The research looked at sleep data from over 88,000 adults tracked for almost seven years, and the results are pretty eye-opening: poor sleep habits were tied to increased risk for 172 different diseases. What stood out was that sleep regularity matters just as much—if not more—than how long you sleep. People who went to bed after 12:30 a.m. had more than double the risk of developing liver cirrhosis compared to those with steadier routines. Another finding: those with unstable daily rhythms were much more likely to develop gangrene. The study also challenges the idea that sleeping more than nine hours is bad for you. When researchers used wearable devices to measure sleep objectively, they found that “long ...