PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  CHILDREN'S DIET: ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD RISKS The calories that children and adolescents consumed from ultra-processed foods jumped from 61% to 67% of total caloric intake from 1999 to 2018, according to a new study from researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University. In JAMA, a study analyzed dietary intake from 33,795 children and adolescents nationwide. "Some whole grain breads and dairy foods are ultraprocessed, and they're healthier than other ultraprocessed foods. Processing can keep food fresher longer, allows for food fortification and enrichment, and enhances consumer convenience," said senior and corresponding author Fang Fang Zhang, a nutrition epidemiologist at the Friedman School. "But many ultraprocessed foods are less healthy, with more sugar and salt, and less fiber, than unprocessed and minimally processed foods, and the increase in their consumption by children and teenagers is concerning." The most...

  A new study offers insight into how resistance training burns fat. Findings from a new University of Kentucky College of Medicine and College of Health Sciences study add to growing evidence that resistance exercise has unique benefits for fat loss. The Department of Physiology and Center for Muscle Biology study published in the  FASEB Journal  found that resistance-like exercise regulates fat cell metabolism at a molecular level. The study results in mice and humans show that in response to mechanical loading, muscle cells release extracellular vesicles that give fat cells instructions to enter fat-burning mode. Extracellular vesicles were initially understood as a way for cells to selectively eliminate proteins, lipids, and RNA. Recently, scientists discovered that they also play a role in intercellular communication. The study adds a new dimension to how skeletal muscle communicates with other tissues using extracellular vesicles, says John McCarthy, Ph.D. study aut...

    Diabetes drugs may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. The study finds people taking the drugs have fewer biomarkers, slower cognitive decline. People taking certain drugs to lower blood sugar for type 2 diabetes had less amyloid in the brain, a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease compared to people with type 2 diabetes who are not taking the drugs and those without diabetes. The new study, published in the August 11, 2021, online issue of  Neurology , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, also found people taking these drugs, called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, showed slower cognitive decline than people in the other two groups. In people with type 2 diabetes, the body no longer efficiently uses insulin to control blood sugar. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, also known as gliptins, can be prescribed when other diabetes drugs do not work. They help control blood sugar when combined with diet and exercise. "People with diabetes have been shown to ...

  PLANT-BASED DIET: BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES Eating more nutritious, plant-based foods is heart-healthy at any age, according to two research studies published today in the  Journal of the American Heart Association , an open-access journal of the American Heart Association. In two separate studies analyzing different healthy plant food consumption measures, researchers found that young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods. The American Heart Association Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations suggest an overall healthy dietary pattern that emphasizes various fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, skinless poultry and fish, nuts and legumes, and non-tropical vegetable oils. It also advises limited saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, red meat, sweets, and sugary drinks. One study, titled "A Plant-Centered Diet and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease ...

  MICROPLASTICS, THE INVISIBLE MENACE A new study finds plastic accumulation in food may be underestimated. A new study has found plastic accumulation in foods may be underestimated. There is also concern these microplastics will carry potentially harmful bacteria such as  E. coli,  which are commonly found in coastal waters, up the food chain. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth tested a theory that microplastics covered in a layer of microbes (called a biofilm) ) were more likely to be ingested by oysters than clean microplastics. Although the experiment was carried out on oysters under laboratory conditions, scientists believe similar results could be found in other edible marine species that also filter seawater for food. Up until now, studies to test the impacts of microplastics on marine life have typically used clean, virgin microplastics. However, this is not representative of what happens to microplastics in the marine environment. Microbes readily colo...

  A fermented-food diet lowers inflammation, study finds According to researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, a diet rich in fermented foods enhances the diversity of gut microbes and decreases molecular signs of inflammation. In a clinical trial, 36 healthy adults were randomly assigned to a 10-week diet that included fermented or high-fiber foods. The two diets resulted in different effects on the gut microbiome and the immune system. Eating foods such as yogurt, kefir, fermented cottage cheese, kimchi, and other fermented vegetables, vegetable brine drinks, and kombucha tea led to increased overall microbial diversity, with stronger effects from larger servings. "This is a stunning finding," said Justin Sonnenburg, Ph.D., an associate professor of microbiology and immunology. "It provides one of the first examples of how a simple change in diet can reproducibly remodel the microbiota across a cohort of healthy adults." In addition, four types of immune ce...

  Eat whole grains for smaller increases in waist size, blood pressure, and blood sugar. Study in the middle- to older-aged adults suggests whole grains may protect against heart disease. Middle- to older-aged adults who ate at least three servings of whole grains daily had smaller increases in waist size, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels over time compared to those who ate less than a one-half serving per day, according to new research. Published July 13, 2021, in the  Journal of Nutrition , the study by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University examined how whole- and refined-grain intake over time impacted five risk factors of heart disease: Waist size, blood pressure, blood sugar, triglyceride, and HDL ("good") cholesterol. Using data from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort, which began in the 1970s to assess long-term risk factors of heart disease, the new research examined health outcomes associated wi...