PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE GROWING, ESPECIALLY AMONG MINORITIES         Depression and anxiety among college students is a growing public health problem. And new research from the University of Georgia suggests the problem may be worse for students who aren't the same race as most of their peers. The new study found that students who were not the majority race at a predominantly white college reported significantly higher rates of depression than their white peers. At the primarily white university, more than half of the students who self-identified as races other than white reported feelings of mild depression. An additional 17% said they were experiencing moderate to severe depression. Students at the predominantly white institution reported similar anxiety levels, regardless of race, with more than three in every five students saying they experienced mild to severe anxiety levels. At the historically Black college, students who weren'...

  WHY JET LAG DISORDER IN NIGHT SHIFT WORKERS FOSTERS BRAIN CHANGES AND WEIGHT GAIN         Scientists have uncovered why night shift work is associated with changes in appetite in a new University of Bristol-led study .  The findings, published in  Communications Biology,  could help the millions of people who work through the night and struggle with weight gain. Scientists from Bristol and the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Japan sought to understand how 'circadian misalignment' -- a phenomenon commonly associated with 'jet lag' whereby the body's biological clock is disrupted -- affects the hormones responsible for regulating appetite. Prevalent in night shift workers, in this new study, the international team reveals how circadian misalignment can profoundly alter the brain's regulation of hormones controlling hunger to the detriment of metabolic health. The team focused on glucocorticoid hormones in the adrenal gland, ...

  RED MEAT CONSUMPTION MAY INCREASE RISKS FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES Replacing red meat with plant-based protein sources may reduce the risk of diabetes and provide environmental benefits.         People who eat just two servings of red meat per week may have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who eat fewer servings, and the risk increases with greater consumption, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They also found that replacing red meat with healthy plant-based protein sources, such as nuts and legumes or modest amounts of dairy foods, was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. The study was published on Thursday, October 19, in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "Our findings strongly support dietary guidelines that recommend limiting the consumption of red meat, and this applies to both processed and unprocessed red meat," said first author Xiao Gu, a postd...

  HEATED YOGA MAY HELP WITH DEPRESSION Findings suggest that sessions of just once a week provide benefits. :         In a randomized controlled clinical trial of adults with moderate-to-severe depression, those who participated in heated yoga sessions experienced significantly more significant reductions in depressive symptoms than a control group. The trial results, led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), and published in the  Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , indicate that heated yoga could be a viable treatment option for patients with depression. In the eight-week trial, 80 participants were randomized into two groups: one that received 90-minute Bikram yoga practiced in a 105°F room and a second group placed on a waitlist (waitlist participants completed the yoga intervention after their waitlist period). A total of 33 participants in the yoga group and 32 in the waitlist group were...

  SHOULD SOME ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS BE TREATED AS ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES?         Researchers from the United States, Brazil, and Spain, including scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, published an analysis in a special edition of the British Medical Journal with a timely and controversial recommendation: It's time for an international shift in the way we think about ultra-processed food. "There is converging and consistent support for the validity and clinical relevance of food addiction," said Ashley Gearhardt, the article's corresponding author and a psychology professor at the University of Michigan. "By acknowledging that certain types of processed foods have the properties of addictive substances, we may be able to help improve global health." While people can give up smoking, drinking, or gambling, they can't stop eating, said co-author Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Instit...

  TYPE-2 DIABETES MAY SHORTEN LIFE EXPECTANCY BY UP TO 14 YEARS         An individual diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 30 years could see their life expectancy fall by as much as 14 years, an international team of researchers has warned. Even people who do not develop the condition until later in life -- with a diagnosis at age 50 years -- could see their life expectancy fall by up to six years, an analysis of data from 19 high-income countries found. The researchers say the findings, published in  The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology , highlight the urgent need to develop and implement interventions that prevent or delay the onset of diabetes, significantly as the prevalence of diabetes among younger adults is rising globally. Increasing levels of obesity, poor diet, and increased sedentary behavior are driving a rapid rise in the number of cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide. In 2021, 537 million adults were estimated to have diabetes worldwide, wi...

  PLANT-DERIVED NUTRIENTS AFFECT THE BRAIN AND GUT CONNECTION Study tests link in overweight adults         Prebiotics are used to foster the colonization of beneficial bacteria in the gut. These indigestible dietary fibers are found in plant-derived foods such as onions, leeks, artichokes, wheat, and bananas and in high concentrations in chicory root. They support gut health by promoting the growth and activity of beneficial gut bacteria. Researchers have now investigated whether specific prebiotics can influence brain function by improving communication between the gut microbiome and the brain. The interventional study led by the University of Leipzig Medical Center indicates that consumption of high-dose dietary prebiotics reduces reward-related brain activation in response to high-calorie food stimuli. "The results suggest a potential link between gut health and brain function, in this case, food decision-making," says PD Dr Veronica Witte, co-author of the ...

  PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN MILITARY VETERANS Chart review reports effects of 2-drug treatment at Mexico clinic.         One treatment each of two psychedelic drugs lowered depression and anxiety and improved cognitive functioning in a sample of U.S. Special Operations Forces veterans who sought care at a clinic in Mexico, according to a new analysis of the participants' charts. The treatment included a combination of ibogaine hydrochloride, derived from the West African shrub iboga, and 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic substance secreted by the Colorado River toad. Both are designated as Schedule I drugs under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. In addition to relieving symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the combined treatment also alleviated cognitive impairment linked to traumatic brain injury -- which stood out to researchers from Ohio State University who led the chart-review ana...