Do probiotics help relieve depression: Research here

Probiotic supplements containing helpful bacteria and yeast are marketed as a way to maintain a diverse mix of healthy gut microbes.

Now, a review published online July 6, 2020, by BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health suggests that probiotic supplements may help relieve depression symptoms.

Scientists evaluated seven clinical trials from the past 15 years, which tested a total of 12 different strains of helpful bacteria. One trial in the review tested a "prebiotic," a type of plant fibre that provides food for gut bacteria. Scientists concluded that 11 of these probiotics, either alone or combined with prebiotics, were potentially useful for relieving symptoms of depression, perhaps by reducing inflammation that could affect brain function.

The studies were small and short-term, but taken together, they suggest a gut-based approach to maintaining emotional well-being is worth pursuing.

In the meantime, talk therapy, exercise, and medications remain the most effective approaches to treat depression.

To support your gut health without expensive probiotic supplements, enjoy foods that naturally contain probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut. The prebiotic powers of whole grains also may support a healthy gut

Regular exercise improves thinking skills: says Study

There are plenty of good reasons to be physically active. Big ones include reducing the odds of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Maybe you want to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, prevent depression, or just look better. Here’s another one, which especially applies to those of us (including me) experiencing the brain fog that comes with age: exercise changes the brain in ways that protect memory and thinking skills.

In a study done at the University of British Columbia, researchers found that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and your sweat glands pumping, appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning. Resistance training, balance and muscle toning exercises did not have the same results.

The finding comes at a critical time. Researchers say one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally. They estimate that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will have dementia worldwide.

Exercise and the brain

Exercise helps memory and thinking through both direct and indirect means. The benefits of exercise come directly from its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of growth factors—chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells.

Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas frequently cause or contribute to cognitive impairment.

Many studies have suggested that the parts of the brain that control thinking and memory (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) have greater volume in people who exercise versus people who don’t. “Even more exciting is the finding that engaging in a program of regular exercise of moderate intensity over six months or a year is associated with an increase in the volume of selected brain regions,” says Dr. Scott McGinnis, a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Put it to the test

So what should you do? Start exercising! We don’t know exactly which exercise is best. Almost all of the research has looked at walking, including the latest study. “It’s likely that other forms of aerobic exercise that get your heart pumping might yield similar benefits,” says Dr. McGinnis.

How much exercise is required to improve memory? These study participants walked briskly for one hour, twice a week. That’s 120 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week. Standard recommendations advise half an hour of moderate physical activity most days of the week, or 150 minutes a week. If that seems daunting, start with a few minutes a day, and increase the amount you exercise by five or 10 minutes every week until you reach your goal.

If you don’t want to walk, consider other moderate-intensity exercises, such as swimming, stair climbing, tennis, squash, or dancing. Don’t forget that household activities can count as well, such as intense floor mopping, raking leaves, or anything that gets your heart pumping so much that you break out in a light sweat.

Don’t have the discipline to do it on your own? Try any or all of these ideas:

• Join a class or work out with a friend who’ll hold you accountable.
• Track your progress, which encourages you to reach a goal.
• If you’re able, hire a personal trainer. (Paying an expert is good motivation.)

Whatever exercise and motivators you choose, commit to establishing exercise as a habit, almost like taking a prescription medication. After all, they say that exercise is medicine, and that can go on the top of anyone’s list of reasons to work out.

Better to drink coffee after breakfast, not before

A strong, black coffee to wake you up after a bad night's sleep could impair control of blood sugar levels, according to a new study.

Research from the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism at the University of Bath (UK) looked at the effect of broken sleep and morning coffee across a range of different metabolic markers.

Writing in the British Journal of Nutrition the scientists show that whilst one night of poor sleep has limited impact on our metabolism, drinking coffee as a way to perk you up from a slumber can have a negative effect on blood glucose (sugar) control.

Given the importance of keeping our blood sugar levels within a safe range to reduce the risk of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, they say these results could have 'far-reaching' health implications especially considering the global popularity of coffee.

For their study, the physiologists at the University of Bath asked 29 healthy men and women to undergo three different overnight experiments in a random order:

• In one, condition participants had a normal night's sleep and were asked to consume a sugary drink on waking in the morning.
• On another occasion, participants experienced a disrupted night's sleep (where the researchers woke them every hour for five minutes) and then upon waking were given the same sugary drink.
• On another, participants experienced the same sleep disruption (i.e. being woken throughout the night) but this time were first given a strong black coffee 30 minutes before consuming the sugary drink.

In each of these tests, blood samples from participants were taken following the glucose drink which in energy content (calories) mirrored what might typically be consumed for breakfast.

Their findings highlight that one night of disrupted sleep did not worsen participants' blood glucose / insulin responses at breakfast, when compared to a normal night's sleep. Past research suggests that losing many hours of sleep over one and/or multiple nights can have negative metabolic effects, so it is reassuring to learn that a single night of fragmented sleep (e.g. due to insomnia, noise disturbance or a new baby) does not have the same effect.

However, strong black coffee consumed before breakfast substantially increased the blood glucose response to breakfast by around 50%. Although population-level surveys indicate that coffee may be linked to good health, past research has previously demonstrated that caffeine has the potential to cause insulin resistance. This new study therefore reveals that the common remedy of drinking coffee after a bad night's sleep may solve the problem of feeling sleepy but could create another by limiting your body's ability to tolerate the sugar in your breakfast.

Professor James Betts, Co-Director of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism at the University of Bath who oversaw the work, explains: "We know that nearly half of us will wake in the morning and, before doing anything else, drink coffee -- intuitively the more tired we feel, the stronger the coffee. This study is important and has far-reaching health implications as up until now we have had limited knowledge about what this is doing to our bodies, in particular for our metabolic and blood sugar control.

"Put simply, our blood sugar control is impaired when the first thing our bodies come into contact with is coffee especially after a night of disrupted sleep. We might improve this by eating first and then drinking coffee later if we feel we still feel the need it. Knowing this can have important health benefits for us all."

Lead researcher, Harry Smith from the Department for Health at Bath added: "These results show that one night of disrupted sleep alone did not worsen participants' blood glucose/insulin response to the sugary drink compared to a normal night of sleep which will be reassuring to many of us. However, starting a day after a poor night's sleep with a strong coffee did have a negative effect on glucose metabolism by around 50%.

"As such, individuals should try to balance the potential stimulating benefits of caffeinated coffee in the morning with the potential for higher blood glucose levels and it may be better to consume coffee following breakfast rather than before.

"There is a lot more we need to learn about the effects of sleep on our metabolism, such as how much sleep disruption is necessary to impair our metabolism and what some of the longer-term implications of this are, as well as how exercise, for instance, could help to counter some of this."

Body Clock disruptions linked to mood disorders

At the moment, with all the Covid uncertainty, people are more stressed and sleeping issues have increased, as reported by the NHS. This can not only effect your daily routine, but can actually create further health implications, as per the results of a recent study.

"People who experience disrupted 24-hour cycles of rest and activity are more likely to have mood disorders, lower levels of happiness and greater feelings of loneliness," was the conclusion of a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, The Lancet Psychiatry

Researchers wanted to see if disruptions to the 24-hour "body clock" of rest and activity (circadian rhythm) had an impact on mental health.

They used wearable fitness-tracking devices to assess the physical activity of 90,000 people in the UK, and then compared the results with associated questionnaires looking at mood and mental health outcomes.

They found that people who were less active in the daytime and more active at night were more likely to have depression and bipolar disorder, less likely to describe themselves as happy, and more likely to say they were often lonely.

But we don't know whether this is cause or effect; for example, insomnia leading to increased night-time activity could be either a cause or effect of depression.

The researchers who carried out the study were from the University of Glasgow, the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden .

Researchers used data from 91,105 people in the UK Biobank study who'd worn an activity monitor on their wrists for 7 consecutive days from 2013 to 2015.

They had also filled in questionnaires about their mood when first recruited between 2006 and 2010, and filled in an online questionnaire about their mental health in 2016.

People who were less active in the day and more active at night were slightly more likely to have had depression or bipolar disorder in their lifetime.

Using the activity monitors, the researchers calculated people's day/night activity levels – a measure that shows the ratio between someone's activity during their 10 most active hours and their 5 least active hours.

This study adds to the evidence that good sleep at night, and activity during the day, is linked to better mental health.

“The big question is exactly how this link works and what "direction" it's travelling in: does poor sleep and sluggish activity during the day affect people's mental health, increasing their chances of mood disorders, or do mood disorders affect people's ability to sleep well and be active during the day?

It's also possible that both sleep cycles and mood disorders are caused by another underlying factor we don't know about yet.”

 

Quick guide to Vitamin C

It is also known as Ascorbic Acid

It is water soluble - and easily absorbed into our blood streams. However, it also means the body
removes it easily and therefore you need to include this nutrient in your daily dietary intake.

It contributes to the normal health and function of bones, teeth, cartilage, gums, skin, blood vessels.

Vitamin C deficiency is known as scurvy.

You should always consult a medical professional before taking vitamin supplements as certain medicines. like Niacin, prescribed hormones, as well as medications for blood clotting, and some anti-depressants shouldn’t be combined with a high dose of vitamin C. Be aware.

Humans, primates and guinea pigs are the only mammals unable to produce their own vitamin C. We get it all from our diets.

Too much vitamin C can have unpleasant side effects including diarrhea, nausea, and heartburn.

Best sources of Vitamin C are vegetables and fruits. Another reason to include them in your daily nutrition.

Saturday 1st August 2020 - determined to put two entries a day on from tomorrow

Hello everyone.

A couple of months ago - on the 31st May - I said I would start making daily entries on this blog, that we promote in our health packs.  We have a lot of fantastic entries, covering a range of subjects, around Mind-set, Nutrition, Exercise and Routine already.

Instead I got focused on our health packs, and have contributed little here since then. This will change in August.  I have been seriously neglectful. And there is so much info to add.

Look out for more blog pieces on studies and research, as well as guidance and facts.

Thanks to everyone who comes onto the blog.  Please keep supporting us.

Yay!!!  Lazza

Running can drop your heart age: Research here

At the moment I am slightly frustrated as I have a torn meniscus in my right knee (cartilage), and that has stopped me running (or jogging). And for someone who has played a lot of football and cricket, I have found it troubling.

And now a study has suggested that taking up running can make your heart four years younger!

Experts from University College London and Barts Health NHS Trust, who published their findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found six months of training for a marathon can significantly reduce blood vessel stiffness and blood pressure. Amonst the 138 participants, older, slower runners - half of whom were men - saw the most benefit.  Apparently, blood vessel stiffness is a normal part of getting old.  They also found "vascular age" - a key m,easure of heart health - fell by four years.

Dr. Charlotte Manisty said the benefits were clear for all the participants, whose average age was 37. She said the study showed the importance of lifestyle changes to slowing age-related health risks and it was "never too late".

Professor Metin Avkiran, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "keeping active reduces your risk of having a heart attack or stroke and cuts your chances of an early death"

It should be said that you do not need to be training for a marathon to reap these benefits. More is great, but every bit counts.  As they say; "something is always better than nothing".