Studies have revealed a link between long work hours and risk of cardiovascular disease. A new study shows it’s a dose-response situation: the more hours you work, the bigger the risk. The research found that for every extra hour of work put in weekly (over a decade), your risk goes up 1 percent. If you work 55 hours a week, your risk jumps 16 percent – work 65 hours, your risk rises 52 percent. If you clock 75 hours a week working, you double your likelihood for cardiovascular disease (stroke, heart attack, etc.).
Wellness Evidence: What Kind of Exercise Builds the Most New Brain Cells?
A new study from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), performed on rats, had some provocative findings about what type of exercise drives the most new neurons (neurogenesis) in the brain. For the first time, scientists compared the effect on the brain of running, weight training (rats climbed walls with little weights attached to their tails) and high-intensity interval training (sprinting on little treadmills, slowing and repeating). A substance was injected in the rats’ brains to track the creation of new brain cells and the runners showed by far the most brain cell creation: their hippocampus teemed with new neurons, while the high-intensity interval training showed far fewer neurons created and the weight training showed no neurogenesis.
Now There is Proof! Mindfulness Meditation Changes Both the Brain and Body
For the first time, a study showed that mindfulness meditation, unlike a placebo, changes both the brains and bodies of regular people (not just long-time meditators). Read more about how a few days of meditation changed areas of the brain that process stress reactions, and how the trial meditators also saw much lower levels of unhealthy inflammation markers in their blood – even months later.
To Prevent Back Pain, Forget Orthotics and Back Belts – Exercise Instead
A large majority of people will suffer serious back pain in their lives, but few studies have examined what really works to prevent it…and what doesn’t. A recent meta-review of studies shines new light: education on its own, orthotics/shoe insoles and back belts provided zero prevention against lower back pain – but exercise’s preventive effect was significant. No matter what kind of exercise program, it basically halved the likelihood of another back pain episode within the next year.
Bad Sleep? Low-Fiber, High-Fat & Sugary Foods May Be to Blame
A new study by Columbia University suggests that eating low-fiber, high-fat and sugary foods leads to waking up at night and less time in “slow wave sleep,” the critical restorative phase. If studies have shown that sleep deprivation leads to bad diet choices (which lead to obesity and diabetes), this new study suggests the whole “bad diet thing” is a vicious circle.
12-Minutes of Daily Yoga Reversed Bone Loss from Osteoporosis
Studies on yoga are typically ill funded (no “Big Pharma” bucks) and hard to administer, as they often require tracking people who regularly do yoga for years. A new study from Columbia University did just the latter: tracked older people from 2005-2015 (80 percent or more who had osteoporosis or its precursor) to see what 12 minutes of daily/near-daily yoga (12 assigned poses) would do. The result: a reversal of bone loss and significantly improved bone density of the spine and femur.
