Tag Archives: Diet

Current Affairs, Food & Drink, Science & Health

It’s not just the diet: Mediterranean lifestyle lowers risk of death by nearly 30 percent

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com staff writer, 8/20/2023

A recent collaborative study from La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has found that people in the UK who closely follow a Mediterranean lifestyle are at a decreased risk of death from all causes and specific diseases.

The Mediterranean lifestyle, often praised for its health benefits, goes beyond just the diet. While the diet forms a substantial component, the lifestyle as a whole encompasses a range of habits and practices traditionally found among people living in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. 

Overall, the Mediterranean lifestyle emphasizes a diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in added salts and sugars. It is also focused on sufficient rest, physical activity, and social interactions.

Source: https://www.earth.com/news/mediterranean-lifestyle-linked-to-a-30-percent-lower-risk-of-death/

Current Affairs, Food & Drink, Science & Health

“Anti-hunger” molecule found to promote weight loss after exercise | New Atlas

By Nick Lavars, June 19, 2022

A new study has pinpointed a molecule that suppresses hunger after intense exercise
Depositphotos

Though we understand exercise to be good for our wellbeing, there is a lot still to learn about the complex and varied ways physical activity drives positive health outcomes in humans.

Scientists digging into the molecular details of this relationship have made a significant discovery, pinpointing a modified amino acid that spikes in the blood following intense exercise, and travels to the brain to suppress hunger and in turn drive weight loss.

“We’re all generally aware that exercise is beneficial,” said Jonathan Long, an assistant professor of pathology at Stanford University, who led the research. “It’s good for body weight and glucose control. But we wanted to take a look at that concept in more detail – we wanted to see if we could dissect exercise in terms of molecules and pathways.”

To this end, Long and fellow study authors from University of California, Davis and Baylor College of Medicine turned to a technique called metabolomics. This meant leveraging mass spectrometry to track the concentration of different molecules in tissue and blood samples, and how exercise caused levels of certain ones to rise and fall.

Initially, this was put to use on mice who were made to carry out a short session on a treadmill, with the scientists able to pinpoint a large spike in a certain molecule after the workout. Analysis of blood from racehorses came next, with the team again seeing a spike in the same mysterious molecule after their exercise.

Source: “Anti-hunger” molecule found to promote weight loss after exercise

Current Affairs, Food & Drink, Science & Health

Changing Your Diet Can Add Up to 10 Years to Your Life Expectancy, New Study Shows

LAURA BROWN, THE CONVERSATION, 9 FEBRUARY 2022

A table showing the amounts of daily foods on each diet. (Laura Brown)

Everyone wants to live longer.

And we’re often told that the key to doing this is making healthier lifestyle choices, such as exercising, avoiding smoking, and not drinking too much alcohol. Studies have also shown that diet can increase lifespan.

A new study has found that eating healthier could extend lifespan by six to seven years in middle-aged age adults, and in young adults, could increase lifespan by about ten years.

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The researchers brought together data from many studies that looked at diet and longevity, alongside data from the Global Burden of Disease study, which provides a summary of population health from many countries.

Source: Changing Your Diet Can Add Up to 10 Years to Your Life Expectancy, New Study Shows

Food & Drink, Science & Health

How Ikarian Coffee Benefits Longevity, http://www.imagechef.com/Plus How To Make It | Well+Good

By Elsie Yang・January 27, 2022

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

A fact that many of us have been well-aware of for, well, a while: Coffee is an elixir of life.

But according to Dan Buettner, an expert on longevity, National Geographic fellow, and author of The Blue Zones Challenge: A 4-Week Plan for a Longer, Better Life, coffee’s benefits far transcend its potent caffeine content.

Buettner has spent much of his career studying the world’s Blue Zones: The five regions that contain the highest concentration of the longest-living people on earth. These include Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California.

Each Blue Zone has its own unique cultural customs, traditions, and environmental influences, but the five regions share a few characteristics in common. One is their eating habits: Folks living in the Blue Zones tend to follow a largely plant-based diet filled with fresh produce, beans, healthy fats, and whole grains; highly processed foods don’t play a big role in their cuisine.

Source: How Ikarian Coffee Benefits Longevity, Plus How To Make It | Well+Good