Nutrition: For centuries, ginger root has been used as a folk remedy for things like colds and upset tummies. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain caused by exercise (sports or recreation). Ginger had been showed to exert anti-inflammatory effects in rodents before, and this study has concluded that the root can reduce muscle pain in humans by as much as 25%; it is also believed that heating ginger, as it happens when it is cooked in a soup or sauté, might increase its pain-relieving benefits. The study will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Pain. Read More…
Psychology: Looks like washing your hands has more than a physical benefit. A recent study concludes that the activity “wipes the slate clean,” affecting us psychologically by removing doubts about recent choices, in addition to the feeling of being clean of germs as well as the already established link to feeling morally restored. “It’s not just that washing your hands contributes to moral cleanliness as well as physical cleanliness, as seen in earlier research” said Spike W. S. Lee, a doctoral candidate in social psychology. “Our studies show that washing also reduces the influence of past behaviors and decisions that have no moral implications whatsoever.” The researchers say that the “clean slate” effect may be relevant to many choices and decisions in life, not just the complex ones where ‘good behavior’ is implicated (for example, cheating) but also with simple choices like whether to buy one car over another (buyer’s remorse). The study was published in the May 7th issue of Science. Read More…
Green: Harvesting…electrons? Yes. In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have tapped the power of plants, as researchers looking for alternate sources of electricity experimented with plugging in to algae cells and succeeded in harnessing a tiny electric current. They found it at the very source of energy production – photosynthesis, a plant’s process of converting sunlight to chemical energy. This may be the first step toward generating high efficiency bioelectricity that doesn’t give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In the experiment the researchers intercepted the electrons (using gold electrodes) just after they had been excited by the light and were at their highest energy levels. “We believe we are the first to extract electrons out of living plant cells. This is potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for energy generation,” said WonHyoung Ryu, lead author of the paper published in Nano Letters. Read More…
Geology: The Age of Aquarius? Not quite – it’s the Anthropocene Epoch, say the scientists and Nobel prize winner who suggest that the Earth has entered a new age of geological time. The term Anthropocene (New Man) Epoch, proposed by the researchers, comes from the interaction between humans and their environment and the changes that this has brought to the world in the past two centuries. Recent human activity, including stunning population growth, sprawling megacities and increased use of fossil fuels, have changed the planet to such an extent that we are entering a new era, says the article published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. “The Anthropocene represents a new phase in the history of both humankind and of the Earth, when natural forces and human forces became intertwined, so that the fate of one determines the fate of the other. Geologically, this is a remarkable episode in the history of this planet,” explain the scientists. They also warn that the dawning of this new era may include the sixth largest mass extinction in the Earth’s history, due to consequences from human activity, such as global climate change and plant and animal extinctions. Looks like the fate of the world is, indeed, in our hands. Read More…
Psychology: Looks like Trevor McKinney was right – paying it forward does work. Much in like the 2000 film with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, a study done by UC San Diego and Harvard has now provided laboratory evidence that cooperative behavior is contagious and that it spreads from person to person. As illustrated by the experiment where strangers played a game, when people benefit from kindness, they “pay it forward” by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network. “The flow of good and desirable properties like ideas, love and kindness is required for human social networks to endure,” said Nicholas Christakis, co-author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “In turn, networks are required for such properties to spread. Humans form social networks because the benefits of a connected life outweigh the costs.” Read More…
Exercise: Poor air quality apparently affects the running times of women marathoners, according to a study. Higher levels of particles in the air were associated with slower running times for women, while men were not significantly affected. The differences, according to researcher Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech, may be due to the smaller size of women’s tracheas, which makes it easier for certain particles to deposit there and possibly cause irritation. “Although pollution levels in these marathons rarely exceeded national standards for air quality, performance was still affected,” Marr said. Her studies were conducted where major USA marathons are located, such as New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, where pollution tends to be highest. Although the regular person might not be significantly impacted by low-yet-still-acceptable air quality, marathoners typically inhale and exhale about the same amount of air as a sedentary person would over the course of two full days. This means they are exposed to much greater amounts of pollutants than under typical breathing conditions. Interestingly, the performances of female marathoners appeared to only be affected by particulate matter, and not other pollutants like carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide. The research was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise. Read More…
Exercise: Regularly practicing yoga may help with inflammation. According to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. IL-6 is an important component of the body’s inflammatory response, and reducing inflammation may provide benefits for diseases like stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and other debilitating conditions. The yoga practitioners also showed smaller increases in IL-6 after stressful experiences than did women who were the same age and weight but who did not practice yoga. “Hopefully, this means that people can eventually learn to respond less strongly to stressors in their everyday lives by using yoga and other stress-reducing modalities,” said Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, lead author of the study. “Muscles shorten and tighten over time, mainly because of inactivity. The stretching and exercise that comes with yoga actually increases a person’s flexibility and that, in turn, allows relaxation, which can lower stress,” said Ron Glaser, co-author of the research. Read More…
Cancer: Eating pomegranates, a fruit that contains anti-aromatase phytochemicals, reduces the incidence of hormone-dependent breast cancer. According to a study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, pomegranate is enriched in a series of compounds known as elllagitannins, which seem to be responsible for the anti-proliferative effect of the fruit by allowing ellagic acid to inhibit aromatase, an enzyme that converts androgen to estrogen and plays a key role in the growth of cancer cells. “Phytochemicals suppress estrogen production that prevents the proliferation of breast cancer cells and the growth of estrogen-responsive tumors,” said Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., lead author of the study. The research was done on isolated cells in vitro; more research needs to be done with humans to determine the exact effect because ellagitannings are not absorbed as well by the blood when provided in the diet. Read More…
Exercise: Santa should get off his sleigh and walk a few, says a study. According to research conducted by Dr. Nathan Grills and published in the Christmas issue of the journal bmj.com, the current image of Santa promotes obesity, drink-driving, speeding and a generally unhealthy lifestyle. His study found that among American children, Santa Claus was the only fictional character more highly recognized than Ronald McDonald, and with ads like the ones that have him drinking Coca-Cola, the beloved St. Nick may have a negative impact on public health. “Santa sells, and sometimes he sells harmful products,” said Grills. While Santa is now banned from smoking, images of him enjoying a pipe or cigar can still be found on Christmas cards, and there is still the tradition of leaving him a brandy to wish him well on his travels (Grills argues that, with a few billion houses to visit, Santa would quickly be over the limit.) The author proposes a new image of the iconic Christmas figure: a slimmed down version on a treadmill. Read More…
Breathing is an involuntary process that is necessary for life: you breathe whether you want to or not, because your life depends on it. But excessive breathing in the form of exercise is something you can – and should – control during times of pollution.
Summer is the time we want to be outdoors, exercising our right to, well, exercise. A good run, some yoga, a little hiking – all are favorite California activities and all are generally great for your health. But not so much when the air is polluted. Read More…
