Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
Continue reading “Eat less or exercise more? Either way leads to more youthful hearts”
People who adopt four healthy behaviours – not smoking; taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day – live on average an additional fourteen years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behaviours, according to a study published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
Continue reading “4 health behaviors can add 14 extra years of life”
According to a new study published in Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, regular participation in sports reduces the risk of developing blood clots by 39 percent in women and 22 percent in men.
Continue reading “Regular exercise reduces risk of blood clots”
Obesity and aversion to exercise have become hallmarks of modern society – and a new study suggests that a blood protein linked to these lifestyle factors may be an indicator for an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Researchers from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute report their findings in the August 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Continue reading “Obesity and lack of exercise could enhance the risk of pancreatic cancer”
Part of an ongoing study into the impact of drinking milk after heavy weightlifting has found that milk helps exercisers burn more fat.
Continue reading “Drinking milk helps gain muscle and lose fat after exercise”
Regular exercise and little or no caffeine has become a popular lifestyle choice for many Americans. But a new Rutgers study has found that it may not be the best formula for preventing sun-induced skin damage that could lead to cancer. Low to moderate amounts of caffeine, in fact, along with exercise can be good for your health.
Continue reading “Caffeine and exercise can team up to prevent skin cancer”
Taking a break in the middle of your workout may metabolize more fat than exercising without stopping, according to a recent study in Japan. Researchers conducted the first known study to compare these two exercise methods—exercising continually in one long bout versus breaking up the same workout with a rest period. The findings could change the way we approach exercise. Who wouldn’t want to take a breather for that”
Continue reading “Exercise, exercise, rest, repeat — how a break can help your workout”
One route to a long and healthy life may be establishing the right balance in insulin signaling between the brain and the rest of the body, according to new research from Children’s Hospital Boston. The study, published in the July 20 issue of Science, not only reinforces the value of exercising and eating in moderation, but also helps explain a paradox in longevity research.
Continue reading “Reducing insulin signaling in the brain can prolong lifespan”
Abdominal fat, the spare tire that many of us carry, has long been implicated as a primary suspect in causing the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes the most dangerous heart attack risk factors: prediabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, and changes in cholesterol.
But with the help of powerful new imaging technologies, a team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at Yale University School of Medicine has found that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle leads to alterations in energy storage that set the stage for the metabolic syndrome.
Continue reading “Metabolic syndrome – don’t blame the belly fat”
Although a number of studies have suggested that regular exercise reduces inflammation – a condition that is predictive of cardiovascular and other diseases, such as diabetes – it is still not clear whether there is a definitive link. And if such a link exists, the nature of the relationship is by no means fully understood.
A recent study by kinesiology and community health researchers at the University of Illinois provides new evidence that may help explain some of the underlying biological mechanisms that take place as the result of regular exercise.
Continue reading “Research suggests fitness reduces inflammation”
Can adopting a healthier lifestyle later in life help — or is it too late? In a study published in the July 2007 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston found that people 45 to 64 years of age who added healthy lifestyle behaviors could substantially reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reduce their death rate. Once these people achieved 4 healthy behaviors, eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables daily, exercising at least 2.5 hours per week, maintaining their Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 30 kg/m, and not smoking, investigators saw a 35% reduction in CVD incidence and a 40% reduction in mortality compared to people with less healthy lifestyles.
Continue reading “It’s not too late to change and lower cardiac risk later in life”
Regular exercise appears to modestly increase levels of high-density lipoprotein, or “good,” cholesterol, according to a meta-analysis study in the May 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Continue reading “Exercise may slightly boost ‘good’ cholesterol levels”
A natural compound found in blueberries, tea, grapes, and cocoa enhances memory in mice, according to newly published research. This effect increased further when mice also exercised regularly.
“This finding is an important advance because it identifies a single natural chemical with memory-enhancing effects, suggesting that it may be possible to optimize brain function by combining exercise and dietary supplementation,” says Mark Mattson, PhD, at the National Institute on Aging.
Continue reading “A natural compound found in fruits, cocoa and tea enhances memory in mice”
People looking to shed body fat might want to follow their workouts with a few capsules of fish oil, if preliminary research is correct.
In a study of overweight adults, Australian researchers found that a combination of exercise and fish oil supplements was effective at reducing body fat and improving cholesterol levels and blood vessel function.
Study participants who took fish oil, alone or with exercise, saw their levels of “good” HDL cholesterol go up, while their triglycerides (an unhealthy form of blood fat) took a dip. Meanwhile, both exercise and fish oil seemed to cut body fat.
Read rest of the story at Yahoo News
By giving ordinary adult mice a drug – a synthetic designed to mimic fat – Salk Institute scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans is now able to chemically switch on PPAR-d, the master regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat. Even when the mice are not active, turning on the chemical switch activates the same fat-burning process that occurs during exercise. The resulting shift in energy balance (calories in, calories burned) makes the mice resistant to weight gain on a high fat diet.
Continue reading “‘Exercise pill’ switches on gene that tells cells to burn fat”
Advocates of low-carbohydrate diets, such as the popular Atkins diet, claim that those diets may help prevent obesity and coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the long-term safety of those diets has been debated, particularly because they encourage the consumption of animal products, which are high in saturated fats and cholesterol and could potentially increase the risk of CHD. Prevailing dietary recommendations have advocated a contrary approach, recommending diets that are low in fat and high in carbohydrates as the best way to manage weight and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In the first study to look at the long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found no evidence of an association between low-carb diets and an increased risk of CHD in women. Their findings did suggest, however, an association between low-carb diets high in vegetable sources of fat and protein and a low risk of CHD.
Continue reading “Researchers find only vegetarian low-carb diet is associated with lower risk of heart disease”
Most successful dieters regain the weight they lost. But new research shows that stepping on a scale every day, then cutting calories and boosting exercise if the numbers run too high, can significantly help dieters maintain weight loss. The study, conducted by researchers at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School, reports results of the first program designed specifically for weight loss maintenance. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Unlike other obesity studies, which focus on how to lose weight, the clinical trial called STOP Regain tested a method that taught participants how to keep those pounds from coming back – regardless of what method they used to lose the weight in the first place.
Continue reading “Daily weighing and quick action keeps pounds off”
A moderate exercise program may reduce the incidence of colds. A study published in the November issue of The American Journal of Medicine, led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, found that otherwise sedentary women who engaged in moderate exercise had fewer colds over a one year period than a control group.
Continue reading “New study indicates moderate exercise may protect against colds”
Biosingularity 