9 Tweets Expanded

Tweet1; The #WellnessGuruJim Blog has been created to summarize what you should know and can DO to live your best http://wgjim.blogspot.com

T2; #BPA the chemical you’ve been warned to avoid in plastic products, also found in 67% of 200 canned products.

We’ve all been buying BPA-free water bottles for years, but a new study conducted by six nonprofit organizations revealed that the nasty chemical is also found in 67% of all canned products. To lower your exposure, opt for fresh, unpackaged, or frozen food, and store/cook it in glass whenever possible.

T3; “1 minute” of exercise offer’s the same health benefits as 45 min of moderate exercise, concludes 12-week study #HIIT

Reading headlines like that used to make me angry, because not only do I sometimes exercises for hours at a time, I thought they were nothing but exaggerated lies designed to sell exercise equipment. But in a 12-week study at Canada’s McMasters University, 27 sedentary men performed just 3 20-second cycle sprints, the other 45 minute of moderate cycling, and both groups showed a 19% rise in cardio ability and better insulin sensitivity.

Facts from Men's Fitness July/Aug 2016

But here’s the catch—and there’s always a catch—I assume participants had to properly warm up before their 20-second sprints (even though the article didn’t mention it) or it wouldn’t have been advisable—or even possible— to properly sprint (going absolutely has hard as possible). And sprinting is HARD. Most people don’t push themselves nearly hard enough in the sprinting phase of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and they push themselves TOO hard during what should be easier endurance training.

The second catch is that the article warns that fit folks won’t see the same gains.

MAIN POINT: Whether you are training for a race, or just looking to get fit and lose weight, everyone should incorporate HIIT in to their routine at least once a week.

T4; #TroubleSleeping ? Eat foods high in #magnesium like dark chocolate, leafy greens, seeds, and nuts

Researchers at Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities found that magnesium regulates circadian rhythms, which will improve your sleep.

T5; 3 Proven ways to beat #depression --strenuous aerobic exercise, DNA, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy #MBCT

Cognition and Emotion reports, 80 subjects were subjected to sad movie scenes; the half that did 30 minutes of vigorous aerobics had less of an emotional hangover and felt happier than the ones who did not. The worst thing you can do for both your body and your emotional well-being is to mope around the house when feeling depressed. Exercise!

More exercise; DNA research on 396 adult subjects at U of Florida revealed that those who had a gene predisposing them to depression usually also had a gene that allowed exercise to help or even prevent that depression. In other words, however you personally feel about the situation, your DNA has the answer. Now use it!

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; if you’re glum, using a combo of cognitive (thinking-related) therapy and mindfulness training can lift the depression and make it 31% less likely you’ll relapse for a year, says JAMA Psychiatry.

T6; Yet another reason to avoid #FastFood –phthalates; cause birth defects, asthma, and obesity in unborn babies

If you are still temped to eat that noxious smelling garbage, so affectionately referred to as “fast food,” and you care nothing about your own health, consider the health of your unborn child. A new study out of GWU of almost 9000 subjects found that fast-food eaters had phthalate levels of up to 40% higher than non-fast-food eaters. Phthalates, harmful industrial chemicals used in food packaging, are linked to birth defects, asthma, obesity, and brain-development problems in the unborn.

T7; R U on a #HighFat diet? Eat grapes-boost polyphenois, cut body fat, increase good gut bacteria

You know that vegetables oils and low-fat dairy are bad for you by now, right? You know that you must eat high quality fat in order to lose fat. But it might surprise you to learn that adding grapes to a high-butter-fat diet (a diet with 33-44% of calories from fat) boosts the amount of polyphenols you get, which is great, because they cut overall body fat and increase good gut bacteria, according to two new studies from the U of North Carolina at Greensboro. Aim for a cup of red grapes a day.

T8; #Fructose alters brain genes, increase risk of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s; Omega-3 can fix it

Fructose, the sugar found in high-fructose corn syrup (the bane of soft drinks and processed foods), can alter brain genes and up the risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s, UCLA reports.

But the great news is that DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid in foods like fatty fish and eggs, can completely repair the damage.

T9; #ButterGreat #VegtableOilKills –eaters of oils high in linoleic acid die earlier than butter eaters

Just because the word “vegetable” is in vegetable oil, don’t get fooled into thinking it is in any way good for you. It is an incredibly cheap alternative to healthy oils, like avocado (the world’s most perfect food, like the coconut) and extra virgin olive oil, and can be found in just about every processed food.

Researches found that, out of 9500 seniors, those who used oils high in linoleic acid—like corn, soybean, and sunflower oil—died at an earlier age than those who stuck with butter.

In addition, a newly released 15-year study on 3000+ adults who ate higher levels of full-fat dairy products came to the happy conclusion that full-fat dairy is much healthier than low-fat dairy, as subjects ended up with a 46% lower risk of developing diabetes, the journal Circulation reports.