Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain’s nerve cells (neurons), which results in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes. Affecting more than a million Americans, this debilitating disease has scientists …
What is Coronary Artery Disease? Coronary artery disease (also known as ischemic heart disease) occurs when cholesterol plaque builds up in arteries inside the heart stiffening them and reducing the volume of blood supplied to the heart muscle. It includes a group of diseases that …
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults ages 18 and older, about 18% of the population.
Published in the journal Brain and Behavior, a paper has revealed that women and young adults are suffering from anxiety in greater numbers globally than men – twice as likely, to be exact. Furthermore, individuals younger than 35 years old in North America and Western Europe are the most likely to be affected.
The paper analyzed 48 scientific papers discussing anxiety disorders from around the world, focusing on the proportion of individuals with this disorder from 1990 to 2010. Globally, the paper reports the highest proportion of individuals with anxiety is in North America, “where almost eight out of every 100 people are affected.” East Asia has the lowest proportion of individuals with anxiety – less than three in 100 people.
Lead author and doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge in England reports, “Anxiety has not been given much importance in mental health research and in general. There has been a lot of focus on depression, which is an important mental health issue, but anxiety is equally important. It is debilitating.”
Source: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/women-and-people-under-the-age-of-35-at-greatest-risk-of-anxiety
Exercise is an excellent antidote for stress and anxiety. Aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety by up to 50% according to research. Exercise also improves sleep disorders. This is important because adequate rest improves the ability to respond to stress properly. The correct amount of sleep each night for most healthy adults averages 7 to 8 hours.
Decrease the amount of caffeine you consume; 2 cups of coffee doubles the amount of epinephrine (a stress hormone) your adrenal glands release. Epinephrine is a “fight or flight” hormone, and it plays a central role in the short-term reaction to stress. It is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency, or if you are stressed out.
When secreted into the bloodstream, epinephrine rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes such as digestion of food. Epinephrine increases your heart rate, dilates your pupils, and constricts the small blood vessels in the skin and gastrointestinal tract while dilating those in muscle improving the supply of blood and energy to muscle. Epinephrine elevates your blood sugar level. Like some other stress hormones, epinephrine has a suppressive effect on your immune system increasing your risk of upper respiratory tract infection (usually a flu or cold infection).
It is no secret that the United States is facing an obesity crisis. A recent study reported the prevalence of obesity has increased significantly; specifically among women. Published in The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), two new studies from the U.S. Centers for Disease …
In April of 2016, scientists from Cardiff University and Cultech Ltd set out to research the benefits of combining three ingredients – marine fish oil, cocoa extract and phytosterols – “as a means of preventing atherosclerosis, or “furring” of the arteries.” According to Science Daily, …
A new study has reported that a daily dose of vitamin D3 improves heart function in people with chronic heart failure. The University of Leeds performed a five year study, funded by the Medical Research Council, to determine the link between Vitamin D3 and heart function. Dr. Klaus Witte, from the School of Medicine and Consultant Cardiologist, reported, “This is a significant breakthrough for patients. It is the first evidence that shows this vitamin can improve heart function of people with heart muscle weakness – known as heart failure. These findings could make a significant difference to the care of heart failure patients.”
Vitamin D, known as the “Sunshine Vitamin”, is naturally synthesized through a chemical reaction between the sun’s UV rays and the cholesterol on the skin. It has been estimated that approximately 70% of North Americans have Vitamin D deficiencies. A deficiency of this vitamin can occur due to a lack of sunlight or low consumption of foods high in Vitamin D (like fatty fish).
Vitamin D3 (also known as cholecalciferol) is a vitamin that is produced when sunlight is absorbed into the skin. It has been shown to be up to 10x more potent in the human body than Vitamin D2 and can have more prolonged effects. It is a fat-soluble vitamin. Excess quantities are stored in the body’s soft tissue, such as muscles, fat, and blood vessels.
Read more about Vitamin D3 by clicking here!
More than 160 participants from Leeds who were already being treated for their heart failure, using beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors and pacemakers were used in the study. Participants either took Vitamin D3 or a placebo tablet for one year. Researchers report that those patients who took Vitamin D3 experienced an “improvement in heart function, which was not seen in those who took the placebo.” In the 80 patients who took Vitamin D3, the heart’s pumping function improved from 26% to 34%. There was no reported change in cardiac function for the remaining individuals who were given a placebo.
The study concludes that for some heart disease patients, taking vitamin D3 regularly may lessen the need for them to be fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that detects irregular heart rhythms and can shock the heart back to a normal rhythm.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160404152900.html