Photo by Glenn Diaz

There is so much going on in our lives everyday that it can take a toll on us physically and mentally. Some health breaks can help:

Body breaks/Movement breaks

• Taking time to move your body during the day can prevent risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
• If you are sitting at a desk all day, you are at risk for sitting disease. Stand up and move around every 30 minutes, if needed set an alarm to take a quick walk, grab a cup of tea, stretch, use a phone call as a walk break.

Rest breaks

• Having rest days from work to clear your mind is important
• Exercise rest days can help your body recover and prevent injuries
• Some things to tackle on rest days: leisurely walk, stretching, yoga

Screen breaks

• Take a screen break every 20 minutes for 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away(20-20-20 rule) to prevent eye strain
• Use blue light filters or blue light glasses to avoid eye strain, reduce eye diseases such as macular damage from damage to retina, prevent headaches, and even get better sleep.

Meal breaks

• Don’t skip meals
• Skipping meals can lower your metabolism, affect your work performance, lead to blood sugar fluctuations, and can cause mood changes such as irritability

Commercial breaks

• When watching TV, use the commercial breaks wisely….get up, take a quick trip to grab some water, stretch

Per Meg Tirell, in CNN Health “Ozempic shown to reduce drinking in first trial in alcohol-use disorder”.

“For years, people taking Ozempic or other drugs in the same class for diabetes and weight loss have noticed the medicines don’t just curb their desire to eat; for some, they also lead them to drink less alcohol.

Now, the first clinical trial – although relatively small and limited in duration – has confirmed it.

A study of 48 people with signs of moderate alcohol-use disorder found that those taking low doses of semaglutide – the generic name of Ozempic – for nine weeks saw significantly greater reductions in how much alcohol they drank, as well as cravings for alcohol, compared with people on a placebo. The results were published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry."

The study was a relatively small study with 48 participants. While the results are promising, larger clinical trials are needed before we can draw any conclustions.

Photo by Margarita Zueva

The thermic effect of food (TEF) is the amount of energy it takes for your body to digest, absorb, and metabolize food. Certain foods, particularly protein-rich foods and complex carbohydrates, require more energy to digest and absorb, leading to a higher metabolic rate and improved energy levels.

High-thermic foods are specific foods that require the body to use more energy to digest than the energy they provide. These foods are important to boost metabolism, support digestion, improve energy levels, and help burn more calories. Protein has the biggest thermogenic response with around 20-30% of calories being expended during digestion, Carbohydrates about 5-15%, and Fat the lowest at 0-5%.

High-thermic foods

• Protein has the biggest thermogenic response and is one of the best macronutrients if you’re looking for weight loss and muscle mass retention. Protein-rich foods are fish, eggs, lean meat, and dairy products. Plant based protein include tofu, lentils, beans, and nuts.
• High fiber foods such as whole grains can help you feel full longer along with help with burning calories. Brown rice, oats, and quinoa are some examples.
• Spicy foods such as chilli peppers and cayenne pepper contain a bioactive component called capsaicin which increases your body temperature, makes you sweat, and helps to up metabolism and burn calories.
• Green tea-contains catechins which increases metabolic rate
• Fibrous vegetables-are high in fiber and have high thermic effect. Examples are spinach, kale, and broccoli.

Factors that effect TEF

• TEF decreases with age
• TEF decreases with obesity, type 2 diabetes
• TEF is about 31-45% higher in those that are physically active

While we can take advantage of the thermic effect of food and practice some mindful eating, eating a balanced diet with regular physical activity is what is important to maintaining a healthy weight.

Per Aimee Cunningham, in ScienceNews “Is alcohol linked to cancer? Here’s what the science says”.

“The link between drinking alcohol and developing cancer, described in a new report by the U.S. Surgeon General, may come as a surprise to many Americans.

Although evidence for this link has been growing for some time, fewer than half of Americans are aware of the association, according to the 2019 Cancer Risk Awareness Survey. That’s in contrast to tobacco, which 89 percent of the survey respondents identified as a cancer risk.

The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk, released January 3, puts the link between drinking alcohol and developing seven different types of cancer — including esophagus, breast, liver and colorectal — in the spotlight to help increase awareness. The report calls for adding information about cancer risk to the Surgeon General’s health warning labels on alcohol. And it recommends public health professionals and health care providers discuss the risk, which generally increases the more one drinks, with patients and the public. That way, people can take the risk into account in choosing whether or how much to drink."

Dry January is a good time to evaluate your relationship with alcohol. Abstaining from alcohol for even a short period of time has many health benefits.

While many may have taken on the Dry January challenge, for those that have not, it is never to late to look at atleast cutting down and/or getting creative with mocktails and carrying over this theme throughout the year.

As per the famous Chinese proverb:

“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.

If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.

If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.

If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.”

August 28th is National Thoughtful Day. It is a day to check in with yourself and see what you have been doing to spread thoughtfulness and joy to others and in the process to yourself as well.

It may be hard to eat “real food” for a multitude of reasons, be it time, cost, busy schedule etc. Nevertheless, our goal should be to eat as much real food as we possibly can.

Per UCSF “Healthy Diet with Less Sugar Is Linked to Younger Biological Age”.

“Researchers at UC San Francisco have found a link between following a diet that is rich in vitamins and minerals, especially one without much added sugar, and having a younger biological age at the cellular level.

They looked at how three different measures of healthy eating affected an “epigenetic clock” – a biochemical test that can approximate both health and lifespan – and found that the better people ate, the younger their cells looked. Even when people ate healthy diets, each gram of added sugar they consumed was associated with an increase in their epigenetic age.

For the cross-sectional study, researchers analyzed food records from 342 Black and white women with a mean age of 39 years from Northern California. Then, they compared their diets with epigenetic clock measures, which were derived from saliva samples.

Researchers scored the women’s diets to see how they compared to a Mediterranean-style diet rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods and then to a diet linked to lower risk for chronic disease.

Finally, they scored the women’s diets against a measure they created called the “Epigenetic Nutrient Index (ENI),” which is based on nutrients (not foods) that have been linked to anti-oxidative or anti-inflammatory processes and DNA maintenance and repair. These include Vitamins A, C, B12 and E, folate, selenium, magnesium, dietary fiber and isoflavones.

Adherence to any of the diets was significantly associated with lower epigenetic age, with the Mediterranean diet having the strongest association.

The researchers examined sugar intake separately and found that consuming foods with added sugar was associated with accelerated biological aging, even in the presence of an otherwise healthy diet."

The American Heart Association suggests that women consume no more than 100 calories (about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams) and men no more than 150 calories (about 9 teaspoons or 36 grams) of added sugar per day. With added sugar in much of every day foods we consume, it is not too hard to go way beyond that. The mediterranean diet has many health benefits which study after study continues to show us.

This study in JAMA Network Open gives us yet another reason to look at ways to limit added sugar and work on eating more healthier and nutritious foods.

Per Philippa Roxby & Elena Bailey, in BBC News “Two new dementia risks identified by major report”.

“Treating failing eyesight and high cholesterol are two new ways to lower the risk of dementia developing, a major report suggests.

Scientists have now identified 14 health issues which, if reduced or eliminated, could theoretically prevent nearly half of dementias in the world.

Most of the reason why we get dementia is down to things we cannot control, such as the genes we inherit from our parents and grandparents.

But 45% of our risk can be changed, according to international experts in the field, and can therefore be reduced."

The Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care published a report on July 31, 2024 with recommendations to reduce dementia risk in the world. While we can’t change our genes, we can definitely work on reducing our other risk factors.

Photo by Shadi

Our bodies are made up of 60% of water. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day is important and even more so in the summer when it is easy to become dehydrated. Fruits and vegetables provide hydration in addition to nutrients and fiber.

Here are some foods to stock up on in the summer:

• Cucumbers-made up of 96% water, have the highest water content of any solid food
• Iceberg lettuce(96% water content)
• Romaine lettuce(95%)
• Bell peppers(92%), green bell peppers have the highest water content
• Cabbage(92%)
• Spinach(92%)
• Cauliflower(92%)
• Zucchini and summer squash(94%)
• Asparagas(92%)
• Zucchini(94%)
• Tomatoes(94%)
• Watermelon(92%)
• Strawberries(92%)
• Oranges(88%)
• Apples(84%)
• Cantaloupe(92%)
• Peaches(89%)
• Grapefruit(88%)
• Broths and soups(92%)
• Plain yogurt(88%)

Incorporate theses foods in your meals…be it in salads, smoothies, side dish, main meal, or as snacks.

Per Deidre McPhillips, in CNN.com “Nearly half of adult cancer deaths in the US could be prevented by making lifestyle changes, study finds”.

“About 40% of new cancer cases among adults ages 30 and older in the United States — and nearly half of deaths — could be attributed to preventable risk factors, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society.

Smoking was the leading risk factor by far, the study found, contributing to nearly 1 in 5 cancer cases and nearly a third of cancer deaths. Other key risk factors included excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, diet and infections such as HPV.

Another recent study found that the risk for certain cancers was significantly reduced for people taking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

As rates of early-onset cancer rise in the US, it’s especially important to create healthy habits early, experts say. It’s harder to quit smoking once you’ve started or lose weight that you’ve gained.

And making lifestyle changes to minimize exposure to certain factors can reduce cancer risk relatively quickly, experts say."

Prevention is the key but it is never too late to start working on decreasing your risk factors.