PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  CARDIO-EXERCISE MAY CUT DEATH AND DISEASE RATE BY AS MUCH AS 20%          Running, cycling, or swimming—if you regularly exercise, you're well on track for a long and healthy life. Groundbreaking new research from the University of South Australia finds that an increased cardio fitness level will reduce your risk of death from any cause by 11-17%. Published in  BJSM ,  the study found that for every 1-MET increase in cardiorespiratory fitness—the amount of energy used for quiet sitting—a person can reduce their risk of death by 11-17%, and specifically, their risk of heart disease by 18%. Comprising 26 systematic reviews and meta-analyses representing more than 20.9 million observations from 199 unique cohort studies, it is the first study to collate all the scientific evidence on the prospective link between cardiorespiratory fitness and health outcomes among adults. Senior author UniSA Professor Grant Tomkinson says that cardiorespiratory fitn...

  RESEARCH SHOWS STRONG LINK BETWEEN DIET AND BRAIN HEALTH New research has highlighted the profound link between dietary choices and brain health.         New research has highlighted the profound link between dietary choices and brain health. Published in  Nature , the research showed that a healthy, balanced diet was linked to superior brain health, cognitive function, and mental well-being. The study, involving researchers at the University of Warwick, sheds light on how our food preferences influence physical health and significantly impact brain health. The dietary choices of a large sample of 181,990 participants from the UK Biobank were analyzed against a range of physical evaluations, including cognitive function, blood metabolic biomarkers, brain imaging, and genetics, unveiling new insights into the relationship between nutrition and overall well-being. Each participant's food preferences were collected via an online questionnaire, which the team...

  CANNABIS USE MAY INCREASE STROKE AND HEART ATTACK RISKS An analysis of 430,000 adults in the U.S. found that using cannabis, most commonly through smoking, eating, or vaporizing it, was significantly associated with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, even after controlling for tobacco use (combustible cigarettes and other tobacco products,) and other cardiovascular risk factors, according to new research published today in the  Journal of the American Heart Association , an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Although cannabis, or marijuana, is illegal at the federal level, 24 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the use of recreational cannabis. Additionally, the number of people in the U.S. who use cannabis has increased significantly in recent decades, according to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Serv...

  NIGHT WORK IMPACT ON HEALTH Just a few days on a night shift schedule can throw off protein rhythms related to blood glucose regulation, energy metabolism, and inflammation, processes that can influence the development of chronic metabolic conditions. The finding from a study led by scientists at Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory provides new clues as to why night shift workers are more prone to diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic disorders. "There are processes tied to the master biological clock in our brain that are saying that day is day and night is night and other processes that follow rhythms set elsewhere in the body that say night is day and day is night," said senior study author Hans Van Dongen, a professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. "When internal rhythms are dysregulated, you have this enduring stress in your system that we believe has long-term health consequences." Though more research i...

  Time-restricted eating and high-intensity exercise work better together. I mprovements in body composition and cardiometabolic health are seen among women with obesity.         Combining time-restricted eating with high-intensity functional training may improve body composition and cardiometabolic parameters more than either alone, according to a study published May 1, 2024, in the open-access journal  PLOS ONE  by Ranya Ameur and Rami Maaloul from the University of Sfax, Tunisia, and colleagues. Diet and exercise are well-known ways to lose weight and improve cardiometabolic health. However, finding the right combination of lifestyle changes to produce sustainable results can be challenging. Prior studies indicate that time-restricted eating (which limits when, but not what, individuals eat) and high-intensity functional training (which combines intense aerobic and resistance exercise) may be beneficial and more accessible for individuals to commit ...

  OBESITY DRUGS MAY COMPLICATE MEDICAL PROCEDURES   Popular weight loss drugs associated with increased risk of aspiration pneumonia following endoscopy New research from Cedars-Sinai suggests people who are scheduled for specific medical procedures should stop taking popular weight loss drugs in the days or weeks before to avoid complications. Investigators found that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs)—medications like Ozempic and Wegovy used to treat diabetes and obesity—are associated with an increased risk of aspiration pneumonia following endoscopy. The large, population-based study was published in the leading peer-reviewed journal  Gastroenterology. Aspiration pneumonia is caused by inhaling foreign materials—including food from the stomach or secretions from the mouth and nose—into the lungs. Endoscopy is a medical procedure in which a physician puts a tube-like scope down a patient's throat and into the body to look inside. One way the new obesi...

  CRANBERRY EXTRACTS MAY IMPROVE INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA         Cranberry extracts improve intestinal microbiota and help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A study by Université Laval and the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF) reported beneficial effects after only four days of use. Cranberries and berries are associated with multiple health benefits, mainly attributed to their high content of polyphenols in the form of tannins. They also contain high concentrations of oligosaccharides, tiny fibers that are thought to contribute to their bioactivity. The research team, led by Yves Desjardins, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, showed that the polyphenols and oligosaccharides present in cranberry extract boost the genus Bifidobacterium, which is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. "Normally, these bacteria are stimulated by dietary fiber consumption. ...

  VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY REMAINS A HEALTH CONCERN .         A new Trinity College Dublin scientists study sheds light on the complexities of achieving optimal vitamin D status across diverse populations. Despite substantial research on the determinants of vitamin D, levels of vitamin D deficiency remain high. The study was recently published in the journal  Clinical Nutrition . Dr Margaret M. Brennan, Research Assistant, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, School of Medicine, Trinity College and first author, said: "We hope this work can highlight the significant differences in vitamin D levels among different ethnic groups at northern latitudes and contribute to efforts to address the long-standing population health issue of vitamin D deficiency." The authors analyzed data from half a million participants from the United Kingdom (UK). For each person, they calculated the individualized estimate of ambient ultraviolet-B (UVB) level, which is the wav...