You knew it, and were just waiting for science to catch up. Coffee is good for you. For your brain. For your health. Overall, it’s the elixir of good health.
Scandinavian researchers followed the health of coffee consumers from middle to old age. The subjects were divided into three groups: low coffee drinker (0-2 cups), moderate (3-5), and heavy (more than 5 cups per day). 21 years later, 1,500 participants were examined for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. They found that “Moderate coffee drinkers had a 65%-70% decreased risk of dementia and a 62%-64% decreased risk of Alzheimer’s compared with low coffee drinkers.” Low coffee drinkers also scored higher for depression. Coffee drinking has also been associated with lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.
What is it about coffee that has such a salubrious effect on the health? Caffeine? Not quite. Tea, also a highly caffeinated beverage, didn’t produce a similar pattern of mental health in its drinkers. Perhaps it’s something else in the coffee that does it. Whatever it is, you now have a better reason to hang out at the coffee machine at work.
There’s a link between the mind and the body. If you think you’re ill, you can make yourself ill, and if you think you’re well, it can help you recover. All of this is part of the well-documented though poorly understood placebo effect.
But some mind-body connections are more physical. And it is both documented and understood how depression, stress, and anger can lead to high cholesterol and diabetes.
The most obvious connection is the affect it has on behavior. When people are stressed, they eat more, particularly unhealthy foods; smoke more; and exercise less. The result is lethargy and poor health which can lead to hypertension and diabetes.
But there’s also a hormonal effect. Negative emotions increase the circulation of fight-or-flight hormones. In the short term, these hormones increase our cognition and performance. But in the long-term, they begin to damage the system, reduce happy hormones, and damage blood vessels. The results aren’t pretty.
What to do if you’re under stress? Relax. Try a massage or day spa, or exercise, even if you don’t feel like it. Exercise is great for both the mind and body. If necessary, seek therapy or medical intervention. In the long run, it can prevent physical deterioration and poor health.
by Jose Sonik
With aging, comes reduced hormone levels. Does reversing the hormone levels reverse aging?
Not exactly, but it might come close.
Human growth hormone is a hormone that predominantly increases height. While doing so, it also increases muscle mass and bone density. HGH is at its highest levels during childhood and puberty. As we mature, the levels decrease, beginning a sharp decline at around age 30. At around that time, bone density declines, muscle mass reduces, and physical disorders like diabetes increase.
Until now, some of the more desperate aging generation have taken HGH in the hope of reversing aging, but research has not corroborated their theory.
But now, something new is in the air. According to Natalie Angier of the NY Times: “In a clinical trial of 21 healthy men ranging in age from 61 to 81, researchers found that after six months of injections of a genetically engineered version of the natural body hormone, the men emerged with bodies that by many measures were almost 20 years younger than the ones they started with.”
Aging was measured only in the distribution of body weight. The men were found to have increased muscle mass and decreased fat. The scientists hypothesize that some bulk went to internal organs, which shrink with age, but aren’t sure. The men’s skin also increased in thickness and youth, and bone density increased.
Of course, the significance of this improvement is debatable. HGH is known to increase muscles mass and reduce fat, but without really increasing strength. And what’s the point of muscle without strength? Similarly, the change in appearance was not correlated to an increase in performance of organs or body.
And as with all drugs, there were the side effects. HGH can cause swelling in the face, arms, and legs; arthritis; diabetes; hardened arteries, high blood pressure, and heart failure; and abnormal growth of bones and organs, among others.
by Bill Diblasio
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get the benefits of exercise without expending more energy then swallowing a pill? AICAR, an old drug that has long been recognized for its ability to stimulate the creation of mitochondria, might be the pill for you.
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, producing the energy that powers our body. Recently, AICAR was administered to mice who were kept sedentary. After a few weeks, the AICAR mice raced regular sedentary mice, and ran 44% farther and 23% longer.
AICAR seems to mimic the effects of aerobic exercise, increasing stamina, but not building strength. It is being investigated as an aid in fighting diabetes and aging, and for uses in heart bypass surgery. Athletes need not apply.
Of course, the fact that AICAR works in mice doesn’t mean it’ll work in humans. Furthermore, it might have unpleasant side effects. And, as many researchers have hastened to point out, it doesn’t mimic all the myriad of benefits a person gets from real movement and exercise, which includes many chemical reactions besides mitochondria.
By Lydia Yolen
There’s finally good news in the health industry – heart disease and stroke death rates are down down down.
Death rates from coronary heart disease are down 30.7% since 1999, and stroke mortality has dropped 29.2%.
The American Heart Association set a goal to reduce coronary heart disease and stroke death by 25% by 2010, and it seems that they’ve succeeded. But they’re not resting on their laurels. Though death rates themselves are down, the risk factors that lead to death are perilously high, risking a reverse of the downward trend with time.
Age, being male, and genes are not risk factors that anyone can change, but you can try to reduce your risk factors by eliminating the following:
- Smoking
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Physical inactivity
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Stress
- Birth control pills
- Excessive intake of alcohol