The global food landscape is paradoxical. Fast food consumption rages on in middle-income countries, and in places like Argentina and Ghana, where it’s recently skyrocketed. On the other hand, large multinational companies are fast acquiring healthy food/beverage start-ups to meet consumer demand. And veganism and vegetarianism are seeing staggering growth in Western nations (much driven by millennials).
Study Suggests Regular Sauna-Going Lowers Risk for Hypertension
A recent study (Univ. of E. Finland, studying 1,621 men over 25 years) suggests that regular trips to the sauna can significantly reduce high blood pressure. Those who did two to three sauna sessions/week were 24% less likely to have hypertension, and four to seven visits cut the risk by 46%. The researchers noted: “This is good news…A healthy thing that is pleasant to do, and involves no sacrifice.”
GWI’s New Wellness MoonshotTM: New Research Reveals Urgency
On Oct. 9, the Global Wellness Institute launched a “Wellness Moonshot” – whose mission is a world free of preventable disease. Top medical leaders spoke on what’s most needed to achieve this ambitious but critical goal. Dr. Andrew Weil argued that because it all comes down to lifestyle change, we simply must do more to make those changes easier: for instance, the cheapest, most available food right now is the least healthy…that must change. Dr. Michael Roizen of the Cleveland Clinic noted that to achieve the moonshot we need a serious change in the medical reimbursement model: preventative wellness needs to be rewarded more, or at least equally, to illness care.
Infographic: The History of Workplace Well-being
The first of the GWI’s Wellness at Work Initiative’s new infographics on workplace wellness.
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of October 25, 2017)
Does Eating Right Protect You From Air Pollution? – The New York Times, October 19, 2017
The answer seems to be yes. According to the author of “An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Disease,” new research indicates that Mediterranean-like diets (lots of fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains and nuts) may protect the body against the ravages of air pollution – a growing global threat. How this works is not fully understood, but it seems that such a diet blunts the effects of air pollution “not by shielding the body directly like a mask, but by helping our bodies to cope with the insult”.
Microplastic Contamination: The Next Big Story in Pollution (and Wellness)
VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION By Thierry Malleret, economist Microplastic contamination is going to be the next big story in pollution… and have a profound impact on wellness. A new study based on global tap water samples has revealed that 83 percent of samples are contaminated with plastic fibers. The U.S. has the highest contamination rate, at 83 percent, followed by…
