Category: Psychology

A traditional way to heart health and a long life.

Drinking tea as little as 3 times per week has been linked to a reduction in heart disease and all causes of death, new research finds.

A study on 100,902 subjects suggests that regular tea drinking is associated with living longer and staying healthy for many years.

Dr Xinyan Wang, the study’s first author, said:

“Habitual tea consumption is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death.

The favourable health effects are the most robust for green tea and for long-term habitual tea drinkers.”

Participants were divided into two groups; one was non-habitual tea drinkers who consumed tea less than 3 times per week and the other group was habitual tea drinkers who consumed tea 3 times or more per week.

The study found that habitual tea drinkers had a 22 percent lower risk of heart attack and stroke compared to the other group.

The risk of heart disease events and strokes was reduced by 20 percent in the habitual tea drinkers group.

Moreover, they had 15 percent lower risk of any type of death.

A fellow-up after 5 years revealed that drinking tea on a regular basis appears to be the key factor since polyphenol antioxidants found in tea cannot be stored in the body.

Dr Dongfeng Gu, study co-author, said:

“The protective effects of tea were most pronounced among the consistent habitual tea drinking group.

Mechanism studies have suggested that the main bioactive compounds in tea, namely polyphenols, are not stored in the body long-term.

Thus, frequent tea intake over an extended period may be necessary for the cardioprotective effect.”

Further analysis suggested that unlike black tea, drinking green tea was associated with a 25 percent decreased risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and any type of death.

Dr Gu said:

“In our study population, 49% of habitual tea drinkers consumed green tea most frequently, while only 8% preferred black tea.

The small proportion of habitual black tea drinkers might make it more difficult to observe robust associations, but our findings hint at a differential effect between tea types.”

There are some factors that might explain the health benefits of green tea compared to black tea.

Green tea is an excellent source of polyphenols — this antioxidant has a protective effect against cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.

Black tea, however, in order to darken the leaves, is fermented and the antioxidant effect is lost.

In addition, milk is usually added to black tea, which can block the absorption of antioxidants and reduce the health benefit of these nutrients.

The study was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (Wang et al., 2020).

Dangerous chemicals were detected in the blood samples of those who have these meals.

People who eat fast food, takeaway meals, or eat often at restaurants have higher levels of PFAS in their bodies, a study found.

Exposure to harmful PFAS chemicals can be easily diminished if the meals are prepared at home instead of eating fast foods or takeaways.

A further benefit of cooking is avoiding processed foods and appreciating healthy ingredients used in home-made meals.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), are a class of toxic compounds that cause serious damage to humans.

PFAS have been associated with weight gain, decrease in fertility, thyroid dysfunction, liver and kidney damage, immune suppression, and cancer.

They are largely used in consumer products such as waterproof, nonstick, and stain-resistant cookware, carpeting, and cleaning materials.

PFAS are also used in food packaging such as burger wrappers and pastry bags, popcorn bags, french fries and pizza boxes.

Researchers, after analysing 10,106 participants’ diet and their blood samples, found that those whose meals were prepared at home had much lower amounts of PFAS in their bodies.

On the other hand, PFAS levels were high in those who ate often at restaurants or ate more ready meals and fast food, such as pizza.

This suggests that restaurant food, take-out and fast food is most likely contaminated with PFAS due to direct food contact with their packaging.

Dr Laurel Schaider, study co-author, said:

“These chemicals have been linked with numerous health problems, so it’s concerning that people are potentially exposed to them in food.

Exposure to some PFASs has been associated with cancer, thyroid disease, immune suppression, low birth weight, and decreased fertility.

Children are especially at risk for health effects because their developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxic chemicals.”

One third of American adults and children eat pizza or other fast food every day.

The study also found that microwave popcorn consumers had much higher amounts of PFAS in their blood.

Contamination of popcorn with PFAS occurs as the chemicals are leaching out of the packaging.

Because of health and environmental issues, manufacturers have started to use different materials instead of long-chain PFAS for food packaging.

However, the replacements contain other compounds such as BPA and phthalates, which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals, meaning they are able to disrupt, interfere or mimic hormonal action.

These chemicals can cause health problems such as decreased fertility and pregnancy loss.

Therefore, experts are suggesting that all these chemicals should be restricted.

Ms Kathryn Rodgers, study co-author, said:

“The general conclusion here is the less contact your food has with food packaging, the lower your exposures to PFAS and other harmful chemicals.

These latest findings will hopefully help consumers avoid these exposures and spur manufacturers to develop safer food packaging materials.”

The study was published in Environmental Health Perspectives (Susmann et al., 2019).

Anti-inflammatory compounds from this delicious food dampen the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The benefit of eating dark chocolate is no longer a mystery as we now know that anti-inflammatory compounds in this food keep the heart healthy.

Certain bacteria in the gut can ferment the cocoa found in chocolate into anti-inflammatory compounds in the body.

These compounds will lower the inflammation of the heart tissues, resulting in a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.

Our gut contains probiotics such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid and these friendly bacteria gorge on chocolate.

We should not forget that our gut also contains bad bacteria as well as the good ones.

E. coli and Clostridium are examples of harmful bacteria that cause bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea, and inflammation.

A study has revealed that cocoa found in chocolate contains a small amount of fibre and mostly nutrients called polyphenols that are rich in antioxidants, such as epicatechin and catechin.

These components remain undigested until they enter the colon where the friendly bacteria start working on them.

Professor John Finley, who led this study, explained:

“In our study we found that the fiber is fermented and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolized to smaller molecules, which are more easily absorbed. These smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity.

When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke.”

Additionally, the study suggests that adding prebiotics to the fibre in cocoa can improve the break down of polyphenols into anti-inflammatory compounds.

This is an extra bonus as prebiotics are food for gut bacteria so they can help improving overall human health.

Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates sold as dietary supplements and are found in fruits and vegetables like bananas, chicory, asparagus, artichokes, onions, and chickpeas.

Professor Finley said:

“When you ingest prebiotics, the beneficial gut microbial population increases and outcompetes any undesirable microbes in the gut, like those that cause stomach problems.”

The authors also suggest that the health benefits would be greater if dark chocolate is eaten with fruits such as acai pomegranates.

The study was presented at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, 2014.

Being healthy and heaving a balanced diet won’t prevent heart disease if you don’t follow this instruction correctly.

Either too little sleep or too much sleep can increase the risk of a heart attack, as well as heart disease and stroke, new research finds.

Although regular exercise, a balanced diet and avoiding smoking are important for heart health, the right amount of sleep is also critical.

Sleep duration is a vital health factor since a study of almost half a million people shows that less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours sleep will higher the chance of a heart attack dramatically.

Subjects who slept less than 6 hours nightly had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack.

The risk was increased to 34 percent for those who had more than 9 hours sleep.

The risk of heart attack increased to 52 percent in people who slept five hours compared to those who had 7 to 8 hours sleep per night.

The risk was even higher for those who slept 10 hours as they had double the chance of having a heart attack.

People genetically prone to heart disease cut the risk by 18 percent when sleep duration was more than 6 hours, but less than 9 hours per night.

Mr Iyas Daghlas, the study’s first author said:

“It’s kind of a hopeful message, that regardless of what your inherited risk for heart attack is, sleeping a healthy amount may cut that risk just like eating a healthy diet, not smoking, and other lifestyle approaches can.”

Due to modern lifestyles, lack of sleep is spreading fast and resulting in serious global health issues.

Previous studies have suggested that less than 7 hours sleep will increase the chance of heart disease and stroke.

This study is taking a step further and showing the impact of sleep duration on heart health.

Lack of sleep can cause damage to the lining of the heart and blood vessels and increase inflammation in the body.

It also promotes unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as ill-timed eating and poor dietary choices which leads to gaining weight, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Sleeping to much will also increase inflammation, cardiometabolic risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease or stroke.

Dr Celine Vetter, the study’s senior author, said:

“This provides some of the strongest proof yet that sleep duration is a key factor when it comes to heart health, and this holds true for everyone.”

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Daghlas et al., 2019).

This treatment is a traditional technique that can resolve chronic pain, fatigue and poor sleep.

Acupressure can reduce lower back pain, new research finds.

Acupressure is a technique similar to acupuncture that involves applying physical pressure with special devices or the elbows, palms and fingers on specific points on the body.

This can be performed as a self-massage technique to relax the muscles in the targeted area.

The are two types of self-administered acupressure treatments, which are known as stimulating and relaxing.

Both stimulating and relaxing acupressure treatments have been shown to lessen fatigue in survivors of breast cancer.

Additionally, the relaxing acupressure technique can effectively improve sleep quality.

Researchers found that self-administered acupressure can reduce pain in people with cancer or osteoarthritis.

Now a new study shows self-administered acupressure can reduce the pain and fatigue in people with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Dr Susan Murphy, the study’s first author, said:

“Acupressure is similar to acupuncture, but instead of needles, pressure is applied with a finger, thumb or device to specific points on the body.

Relaxing acupressure is thought to be effective in reducing insomnia, while stimulating acupressure is thought to be effective in fatigue reduction.”

Participants in this study were trained to apply acupressure to certain points of the body for 30 minutes every day for six weeks.

There was another group in the study, these participants were in the usual care group and were asked to continue their usual treatment for back pain and fatigue.

Dr Murphy said:

“Compared to the usual care group, we found that people who performed stimulating acupressure experienced pain and fatigue improvement and those that performed relaxing acupressure felt their pain had improved after six weeks.”

Patients with chronic pain cannot easily overcome the pain and its additional symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbance and fatigue.

These type of non-pharmacological treatment options can be effective in managing the pain and the above symptoms.

Dr Murphy said:

“Better treatments are needed for chronic pain. Most treatments offered are medications, which have side effects, and in some cases, may increase the risk of abuse and addiction.”

The study was published in the journal of Pain Medicine (Murphy et al., 2019).

Cholesterol in this food is linked to cardiovascular disease and death.

High consumption of eggs increases the risk of heart disease and death, research suggests.

This finding is based on the collected dietary data from 6 studies on 30,000 American adults over 31 years.

They show that consuming large quantities of eggs has a negative impact on health.

The recommended daily dietary cholesterol intake is below 300 milligrams (mg).

One egg contains 200 mg of cholesterol, which is almost the same amount as a 230 gram steak.

The study found that the risk of cardiovascular disease increased by 17% and risk of death was higher by 18% when an additional 300 mg of dietary cholesterol was consumed per day.

Professor Katherine Tucker, the study co-author, said:

“Eating several eggs a week is reasonable.

But I recommend people avoid eating three-egg omelets every day.

Nutrition is all about moderation and balance.”

The evidence on whether egg consumption or dietary cholesterol is tied to heart disease and death remains contradictory.

For example, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland suggests that eating up to one egg per day or a moderately high intake of dietary cholesterol won’t elevate the risk of stroke.

Cholesterol helps the body make certain hormones which we need and this common nutrient comes from the diet and the liver.

One major source of dietary cholesterol is egg, a food that includes important nutrients for eye and bone health.

The first study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Zhong et al., 2019) and the second study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Abdollahi et al., 2019).