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WHAT’S TRENDING IN
HEALTH AND FITNESS
THIS MONTH
NOW
HEALTH
ON
TIME
Researchers have likened
brunch to the equivalent of jet-lag,
saying the digression from a regular
eating schedule can be as disruptive as
the body confusion of changing from
one time zone to another. In particular,
our Sunday brunch could be linked to
an increase in body mass index (BMI).
In the study, 1106 university students
reported their weekend eating schedules
during the school year from 2017 to 2019.
The participants’ BMI was also recorded.
By determining the group’s average
meal duration during the week
and on the weekends, as well as
the eating midpoint (halfway
between the fi rst and last
meal of the day), each
person’s overall eating
jet-lag value was worked
out by subtracting
the weekday’s eating
midpoint from the
weekend’s eating
midpoint. Those with
an overall eating jet-lag
of three-and-a-half hours,
or more, had higher
BMI values.
Studies have long supported
Transcendental Meditation (TM) – a
form of silent mantra meditation- in its ability to help anxiety,
depression, brain function,
PTSD, and more. But the cause
of these benefi ts hasn’t been
entirely understood, until
now. New research shows
that the benefi ts exist due
to certain changes that
occur in the brain during
and after the practice. For
three months, 19 participants
followed a TM program
involving two 20-minute
sessions daily. The participants
completed questionnaires at
the beginning of the study to
measure anxiety and stress levels,
plus how well they managed their stress.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
tests (fMRI) were also performed to
measure connectivity changes within the
brain and resting brain activity before
and after the three months. The group
uced stress and anxiety
he fMRI scans revealed what
the brain to cause those
he reduction of anxiety levels
d with specifi c changes in the
between di erent cerebral
all have an important role
ation of emotions and inner
ains Giulia Avvenuti. The
monstrate how in a short
me, the meditative practice
y infl uence wellbeing.
Inner peace
Should our diet change as we age?
Researchers from the University of
Technology Sydney say it should, after fi nding
strong links between certain food groups, memory loss and heart
disease or diabetes. In particular, high consumption of fruit
and vegetables was linked to a
heart disease, while high consu
was associated with a better m
that the link between food grou
may vary among diff erent olde
with those aged 80 years and o
highest risk of memory loss and
if they had a low consumption o
Lead author Dr Luna Xu says th
points to a need for age-specifi
dietary guidelines.diet change