Cold Plunges Produce Cellular Changes, Improving Autophagic Function Linked to Longevity A small 2024 study from the University of Ottawa (ten young males) closely examined how seven days of one-hour cold plunges affected cells at the molecular level, looking at its impact on autophagy (the body’s cleaning out of damaged components) and apoptosis (programmed cell death). They found that repeated cold exposure significantly enhanced autophagic…
Study: Being in Shape is Far Better for Longevity than Being Thin A new study from the University of Virginia examined the relationship between aerobic fitness, body mass and longevity. It was the largest, most thorough study on the issue to date, analyzing a vast amount of earlier research. It found that being out of shape doubled or tripled the risk of dying prematurely, whatever…
Study: Just Four Minutes of Intense Exercise Each Day Slashes Cardiovascular Risk University of Sydney researchers, analyzing data from 103,000 people that used a fitness tracker for years, found that just 1.5– to 4–minute bursts of daily high intensity exercise (whether taking the stairs instead of the elevator or carrying groceries) dramatically lowered risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The impact was much greater…
Virtual Yoga Classes Showed Major Impact on Back Pain, Use of Pain Meds, Quality of Sleep A 2024 randomized controlled trial from the Cleveland Clinic studied two groups with back pain: one group did live-streamed group yoga classes (for 16 minutes, four times a week) and the other group continued medication as usual. The study found that just 12 weeks of virtual yoga classes reduced back pain intensity…
Mindfulness Meditation Offers Real Pain Relief; Not a Placebo Mindfulness meditation, used for pain management in various cultures for centuries, has long been thought to work by activating the placebo response. However, a 2024 study from University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers showed that this appears not to be the case: the practice engages separate neural pathways from the well-documented “placebo effect.”…
Catching Up on Sleep on Weekends Associated With 20% Lower Risk of Heart Disease A study presented at the 2024 European Society of Cardiology meeting examined data from 90,903 adults in the UK Biobank project, a database holding medical and lifestyle records of 500,000 people in the UK. Of these, 19,816 met the criteria for being sleep deprived. Over a follow-up period of 14 years, the…
