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  • Poor Sleep In 40s May Add Years To Your Brain Age: Study Finds

    Poor Sleep In 40s May Add Years To Your Brain Age: Study Finds

    Missing out on sleep not only makes you feel groggy the next day, but the effects can be long-lasting. Adding to the growing body of evidence, researchers have now found that poor sleep in the middle ages is linked to accelerated brain aging in the next ten years.

    The latest study that evaluated participants’ brain health using brain scans revealed that having poor sleep quality in the 40s might add more years to the brain age.

    “Sleep problems have been linked in previous research to poor thinking and memory skills later in life, putting people at higher risk for dementia. Our study which used brain scans to determine participants’ brain age, suggests that poor sleep is linked to nearly three years of additional brain aging as early as middle age,” said study author, Clémence Cavaillès from the University of California San Francisco in a news release.

    The researchers evaluated the sleep patterns of 589 participants with an average age of 40 using questionnaires at the start of the study and five years later. After 15 years, the researchers evaluated the brain shrinkage of the participants using brain scans.

    The questionnaires evaluated participants based on six sleep issues: difficulty falling asleep, waking up in between sleep, waking up too early, short sleep duration, bad sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness.

    Based on the results, participants were divided into three groups according to their sleep quality. Those in the low group had just one poor sleep characteristic and 70% belonged to this group. However, the middle group, comprising 22% of participants, had two to three poor sleep features, while the high group, with more than three poor sleep characteristics, made up 8% of the population.

    After analyzing brain scans alongside sleep patterns, researchers found that participants in the middle group had an average brain age of 1.6 years older than those in the low group. Meanwhile, those in the high group showed an average brain age of 2.6 years older than the low group.

    Out of the six poor sleep characteristics studied, bad sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep and early morning awakening were linked to greater brain age. This was particularly strong when the participants consistently had it for over five years.

    “Our findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep problems earlier in life to preserve brain health, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, exercising, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before going to bed and using relaxation techniques,” said author Dr. Kristine Yaffe, from the University of California San Francisco.

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  • No Cardiovascular Benefits, Raises Circulatory Risks; Study Finds

    No Cardiovascular Benefits, Raises Circulatory Risks; Study Finds

    Sitting for extended periods has long been linked to various health risks including cardiovascular issues, driving the popularity of standing desks among office workers. However, a recent study suggests that standing for extended periods offers no long-term cardiovascular benefits and may not be the better option.

    According to the latest study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, standing for long periods may not benefit heart health and could increase the risk of circulatory problems, such as deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins.

    Researchers from the University of Sydney analyzed heart conditions and circulatory disease data from 83,013 UK adults, collected over seven to eight years. These participants, who did not have any heart disease at the start, were monitored using wrist-worn wearables similar to smartwatches to track their activity and health.

    The analysis revealed that for every additional 30 minutes spent standing beyond two hours, the risk of circulatory disease increased by 11 percent.

    “The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health. We found that standing more does not improve cardiovascular health over the long-term and increases the risk of circulatory issues,” Dr Matthew Ahmadi, the lead author of the study said in a news release.

    The researchers also found that sitting for more than 10 hours a day raises the risk of both cardiovascular disease and orthostatic issues.

    Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that people who are regularly sedentary or stand for extended periods incorporate regular movement throughout the day to mitigate these risks.

    “For people who sit for long periods on a regular basis, including plenty of incidental movement throughout the day and structured exercise may be a better way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub.

    “Take regular breaks, walk around, go for a walking meeting, use the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some movement,” Stamatakis said.

    Earlier research by the team found that just 6 minutes of vigorous exercise or 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per day can reduce the risk of heart disease, even in individuals who are highly sedentary for over 11 hours a day.

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  • Secret To Cholesterol Control? Study Finds Corn Flour Blend Could Be A Game Changer

    Secret To Cholesterol Control? Study Finds Corn Flour Blend Could Be A Game Changer

    Yes, you can control your cholesterol levels through diet, but could it be as simple as adding a corn flour blend to your meals for just a few weeks? Researchers have found that incorporating a blend of refined corn flour and corn bran can reduce LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels by 5% to 13.3% in just four weeks.

    In a clinical trial involving 36 adults with LDL cholesterol above 110 mg/dL, researchers evaluated the consumption of three types of corn flour: whole-grain corn meal, refined corn meal, and a blend (refined corn meal plus corn bran). The participants took each food intervention for four weeks, with at least a two-week break in between, before returning to their baseline.

    At the end of the four weeks, the team found that 70% of the participants had reductions in LDL cholesterol concentrations when consuming the blend, while there were no reductions in other groups. The findings were published in the Journal of Nutrition.

    The researchers provided participants with corn flour incorporated into baked goods, aiming to test a practical and realistic intervention.

    “People often think that dietary changes must be robust and significant to have a real impact on cardiovascular health and metabolic regulation. The bottom-line is this: corn is unique and underappreciated. The art and science of refining grains and making full use of corn bran can result in delicious foods that, in this case, also happen to produce real results for heart health,” Corrie Whisner, a researcher from the Arizona State University, said in a news release.

    The researchers noted that there were no digestive discomforts for any participants during the interventions, indicating that there was no significant change in gut microbiota. However, they found an increase in gut bacteria- Agathobaculum during the phase in which participants had whole-grain corn, but not in the other two groups.

    “The increase in Agathobaculum could be due to the greater diversity of polyphenols found in whole grain corn, which has the highest antioxidant capacity (compared to wheat, oats, and rice), but the study did not analyze this possibility,” Whisner said.

    “Nevertheless, while the influence of whole grains on the microbiota varies from person-to-person, some universals are generally known fibers in whole grains can be fermented by microbes into butyrate, and both fiber and butyrate are frequently associated with a healthy gut. These findings support that understanding,” Whisner added.

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  • Cutting Out This Item From Your Diet Could Reverse Aging, New Study Finds

    Cutting Out This Item From Your Diet Could Reverse Aging, New Study Finds

    Your health isn’t solely influenced by what you eat but also by what you cut off from your diet. Researchers have now identified a specific item in your daily diet that, when reduced, could potentially reverse the signs of aging.

    Fruits, veggies, and a diet rich in vitamins and minerals are all essential for healthy aging. However, a recent study identified that even when people ate healthy diets, each gram of added sugar could increase their biological age.

    The study published in Jama Network Open examined the link between added sugar and epigenetic aging, which assesses an individual’s aging through DNA methylation patterns. The findings revealed that cutting back on sugar had a profound effect, potentially reversing biological aging at the cellular level.

    “We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor. Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity,” said study co-senior author Elissa Epel in a news release.

    Co-senior author Barbara Laraia said, “Given that epigenetic patterns appear to be reversible, it may be that eliminating 10 grams of added sugar per day is akin to turning back the biological clock by 2.4 months, if sustained over time. Focusing on foods that are high in key nutrients and low in added sugars may be a new way to help motivate people to eat well for longevity.”

    The study examined dietary records of 342 Black and white women with a mean age of 39 years in Northern California. To understand their epigenetic scores, they assessed the saliva samples of the participants, which were then compared against the dietary records.

    The researchers also compared the diet scores of the participants against a Mediterranean-style diet rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods and a diet linked to reduced risk for chronic disease.

    Finally, they evaluated the diets using the “Epigenetic Nutrient Index (ENI),” which measured nutrients linked to anti-oxidative or anti-inflammatory processes and DNA maintenance and repair. The results suggest that adherence to all diets rich in Vitamins A, C, B12, and E, folate, selenium, magnesium, dietary fiber, and isoflavones was associated with a lower epigenetic age. However, the strongest association was seen with the Mediterranean diet.

    The researchers came across a key finding: consuming foods with added sugar was linked to accelerated biological aging, even if the rest of the diet was healthy.

    “The diets we examined align with existing recommendations for preventing disease and promoting health, and they highlight the potency of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients in particular. From a lifestyle medicine standpoint, it is empowering to see how heeding these recommendations may promote a younger cellular age relative to chronological age,” said Dorothy Chiu, the first author of the study.

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