Are Tough Times Good for Your Health?

A study in 2000 estimated that a one percent rise in unemployment reduced the death rate by 0.5 percent.

Now researchers are attempting to explain why the unemployed, or those who are employed with less work to do, are more likely to exercise, cook healthy meals and keep doctors’ appointments.

The study goes against conventional wisdom, which suggests that economic slowdowns actually harm health, with two exceptions. The pattern does not apply to mental health and its emphasis is on "temporary" slowdowns, as researchers say that in the long-term a rising economy is beneficial to health.

In the short-term, improvements in technology often do not occur fast enough to improve productivity. Therefore, workers must compensate by working longer, more stressful hours, making time for anything else, including exercise and healthy cooking, scarce.

The study showed small changes in several areas. As unemployment increased by one percent, smoking decreased by 0.6 percent, obesity by 0.3 percent and physical inactivity by 1.8 percent.

However, the relationship between the health of the economy and the health of individuals is hard to understand because of the many variables involved. For example, unemployed people may get more medical attention in order to use their insurance before it expires and employed people may take more vacations, leading to health problems from sunburn.

Critics of the study say there are so many factors involved that it is nearly impossible to measure the relationship. However, researchers say that complex statistical methodology takes many of the factors into account.

Yahoo News, February 4, 2003

Dr Mercola's comment:

I suspect this observation can be largely explained by Hans Selye’s work on stress. Stress will tend to make your system healthier as long as you have the internal resources to adjust and compensate for it.

Dr. Hans Selye was the pioneer in stress research in the 1930s. He defines stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demands made upon it. Each demand made on the body is unique in that there is a definite response: when we are cold we shiver; when we are hot we perspire; a great muscular effort increases the demands upon the heart and vascular system.

However, whatever the specific response, a non-specific response is also activated, which is independent of the cause. For example, a woman who is told that her husband died in battle suffers a terrible mental shock. If, years later, he walks into the room alive and well, she experiences extreme joy.

The specific results of the stress are opposite, but the non-specific effect on the body is the same. The accumulation of stressors, whether good or bad, will, if intense enough, ultimately cause physical disorders.

This is just how exercise works. Exercise typically breaks down and damages body tissues, but the body compensates and recovers for this and actually ends up stronger. However, as we all know, if you overdo exercise and exceed your body’s recovery capacity, you can cause some fairly serious and sometimes permanent injuries.

More details on stress are available in Dr. Selye’s excellent book,"The Stress of Life," which I highly recommend.

Dr Mercola.com

Changing Your Clock: New Research Explores How Your Body Keeps Time. Is Your Body Clock Making You Fat?

Researchers have learned that circadian rhythms -- the 24-hour cycles that keep time for your body -- are involved in sleep, weight gain, mood disorders, and a variety of diseases. They have begun to make remarkable strides in identifying the genes and neural pathways involved in regulating your internal clock.

In one study, it was found that circadian rhythms regulate metabolic processes involved in diet-induced weight gain, while others are exploring the connection between the role of temperature in regulating your daily cycles.

And in one surprising finding, researchers found that a single amino acid change in a protein triggers a chain of genetic events involved in internal timekeeping.

If this single modification is impaired, it could disrupt the cascade and serve as the underpinning of circadian rhythm-related ailments.

Sources: Science Daily February 11, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Everything in nature has a rhythm, and that includes your body. The ebb and flow of the ocean’s tide, the rising and setting of the sun, and the transition from one season to another all happen with comforting regularity. Your body, too, strives to keep its 24-hour cycle, or circadian rhythm, steady and even. This is why most of us naturally feel like waking when the sun comes up, and sleeping when it’s dark. But your internal clock does much more than just help you nod off in the evening. Your body actually has many internal clocks -- in your brain, lungs, liver, heart and even your skeletal muscles -- and they all work to keep your body running smoothly by controlling temperature and the release of hormones. Your heart rate, body temperature and hormone production vary with your personal internal clock. This, in turn, influences such things as: The easiest time to detect disease in your body The times when you’ll be less sensitive to pain The times when you’ll be more productive at work Your circadian rhythm has evolved over many years to align your physiology with your environment. However, it is operating under the assumption that you are behaving as your ancestors have for generations: sleeping at night and waking during the day. If you push these limits by staying up late at night, depriving yourself of sleep, or even eating at strange hours (such as at 2 a.m.), you are sending conflicting signals to your body. As a result, you body doesn’t know whether it should be producing chemicals to tell you to go to sleep, or gearing up for the beginning of your day. Is Your Body Clock Making You Fat? A disrupted body clock can wreak havoc on many areas of your health, including your weight. For instance, losing sleep has been shown to raise levels of two hormones linked with appetite and eating behavior. More specifically, lack of sleep reduces leptin, a hormone that tells your brain there is no need for more food, and increases ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger. On the other hand, your diet also impacts your internal clock, as what you eat sends your body signals about when to wake up and go to sleep. Your meals, which are typically at relatively consistent times throughout the day, also help to reinforce other time-setting activities. This is one reason why it’s best not to eat a big meal right before you go to bed; this tells your body to get to work digesting your food during a time when it should be signaling you to go to sleep. A Disrupted Circadian Rhythm May Cause Cancer Aside from weight gain, if you throw your internal clock off kilter too much, chronic diseases like cancer can result. In fact, the World Health Organization recently added overnight shift work to the list of probable carcinogens because it disrupts your biological clock. This disruption may influence cancer progression through shifts in hormones like melatonin, which your brain makes during sleep, and which is known to suppress tumor development. Melatonin is an antioxidant that helps to suppress harmful free radicals in your body and slows the production of estrogen, which can activate cancer. When your circadian rhythm is disrupted, your body may produce less melatonin and therefore may have less ability to fight cancer. The Importance of a Dark Night’s Sleep Getting enough sleep during the night is only one part of the equation to keeping your body’s clock on schedule. You also need to sleep in a pitch-black room, because exposure to light during the night is damaging to your health. For one thing, exposure to light during the night can reduce your melatonin levels and increase your risk of cancer. Getting exposed to light at varying times during the night also prevents your circadian rhythm from adjusting to a pattern, creating a state of permanent "jet lag." This also activates your stress response and weakens your immune system, which is why irregular sleep cycles can lead to stress, constipation, stomach ulcers, depression, heart disease, and many other illnesses. So please be sure to install some blackout drapes or shades in your bedroom, close the door, get rid of any nightlights or clock radio lights, and by all means, if you get up to go to the bathroom during the night, don’t turn the light on. What Should You do if You’re a Night Owl? Some of you are probably wondering what to do if you’re a night person, who simply feels best working and staying awake at night, and sleeping during the day. Well, I would first suggest that you seriously think about whether you truly feel better this way, or if it is more a matter of habit, convenience or other exterior reason why you’ve adjusted your schedule this way. Keep in mind that people have naturally been sleeping during the nighttime for many years, before the advent of electricity. This has been an important part of Ayurvedic medicine for over 5,000 years. If you come to the conclusion that you simply must stay up at night, or if you work the night shift and can’t change it, you can somewhat counter the health effects by keeping to a schedule. This way, your body’s clock will eventually adjust to your sleep/wake cycle, and this is less damaging than if you constantly change shifts and expect your body clock to adjust (this is what happens to people who frequently travel long distances, have insomnia, or must change from day shifts to night shifts often). Ultimately, your body is a phenomenal source of feedback. If it is telling you to stay up during the night, and you feel great afterward, then go for it as it is likely OK for you. The key is to honor the signals your body is giving you no matter what some “expert” tells you. My experience, however, is that it is very rare for most to be honestly and consistently in communication with their body's signals, and that is a powerful reason why so many get sick. Keeping Your Body Clock Running Smoothly The following tips can help to keep your circadian rhythm in its natural cycle: Sleep in total darkness! If there is even the tiniest bit of light in your room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of the hormones melatonin and serotonin. This is the “hidden” secret that most people tend to ignore. It was recently brought to my attention by my close friend, and highly knowledgeable chiropractor, Dr. Lloyd Fielder who told me that he never fully appreciated the power of this intervention. He recently installed blackout drapes in his bedroom and was shocked at how much better he felt -- it radically improved the quality of his sleep. Personally, I sleep in a room that is so dark, it’s even pitch black at noon. Sleep when it’s dark outside and get up when the sun comes up. This is another largely ignored -- yet vitally important -- health principle. You should at least strive to sleep between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This means you should be in bed, with the lights out, by 10 p.m. and be up by 6 a.m. Avoid working the night shift. It’s been linked to significantly lower levels of serotonin, which may cause sleep problems, anger, depression and anxiety. If you currently work the night shift, I would strongly suggest trying to switch your hours, or at the very least not keeping the night shift for longer than a couple of months at a time (and giving your body a chance to readjust in between). Dr Mercola.com

Sleep more to slim down, scientists say

by Brigitte Castelnau

PARIS (AFP) - An extra hour between the sheets at night might be the key to shedding excess weight and fighting obesity, according to recent research.

"More sleep could be the ideal way of stabilising weight or slimming," said neuro-scientist Karine Spiegel, of France's INSERM, a public organisation dedicated to biological, medical and public health research.

While poor eating habits and lack of exercise clearly play a role in the global rise of obesity, recent data indicates that lack of sleep may also be a factor, and one that is often under-estimated.

Around 30 surveys carried out on wide population samples in seven countries have underlined a link between lack of sleep and excess weight or obesity in both children and adults, Spiegel said.

The first of the studies, carried out in 1992 in France, highlighted the problem in children and teenagers. Spiegel said the increase in obesity in the US in the second half of the 20th century corresponded with a mounting decrease in sleep.

Two key hormones produced at night which help regulate appetite were at play, she said.
Grehlin makes people hungry, slows metabolism and decreases the body's ability to burn body fat, and leptin, a protein hormone produced by fatty tissue, regulates fat storage.

"We have shown that less sleep (two four-hour nights) caused an 18 percent loss of appetite-cutting leptin and a 28 percent increase of appetite-causing grehlin," she said.

Such hormonal changes made people hungry for foods heavy in fats and sugars such as chips, biscuits, cakes and peanuts, she added.

The sleep loss caused a 23 to 24 percent increase in hunger, Spiegel said, translating into an extra 350 to 500 kilocalories a day, "which for a young sedentary adult of normal weight could lead to a major amount of added weight."

It was unclear whether several years of sleep deprivation could lastingly harm the body's ability to restore a balance between the two hormones.

A study released in Washington in February showed children lacking shut-eye faced a greater risk of becoming obese than kids who got a good night's sleep.

Each extra hour of sleep cuts a child's risk of becoming overweight or obese by nine percent, according to an analysis of epidemiological studies by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

By contrast, children who got the least sleep had a 92 percent higher chance of being overweight or obese than children who slept enough, said the study published in the journal Obesity.

"Our analysis of the data shows a clear association between sleep duration and the risk for overweight or obesity in children. The risk declined with more sleep," said Youfa Wang, a senior author of the study.

"Desirable sleep behavior may be an important low cost means for preventing childhood obesity and should be considered in future intervention studies," Wang said in a news release.

The researchers reviewed 17 published studies on sleep duration and childhood obesity.

Some research recommends that children under five years old sleep 11 hours or more a day, while children age five to 10 should get 10 or more hours of sleep, and children older than 10 should sleep at least nine hours.

Wellness Works comment:

While scientific studies show that sleeping that extra hour between the sheets does help to take those extra pounds off, it doesn't mean that everyone should sleep more and forget about proper eating habits and exercise.

All in moderation: proper rest and recuperation, sound nutritional habits (eat smaller portions, don't eat late at night, eat only until full, eat healthy snacks and don't eat when you are emotionally upset or depressed) proper sanitation, movement and exercise ( at least 3-5x per week) and learning how to de-stress the body will help you to lose those extra ponds and keep them off.

Spring into a Slimmer Summer This Year

Can’t you just feel the change?

Longer and warmer days… budding flowers… singing birds… and the undeniable energy of happy people coming out of their houses after a long, cold winter…

I know I can’t!

But, if you’re like a lot of people, you may have put on some extra pounds over the winter months. Pounds that you may find difficult to take off now that spring is here.

I’ll bet you can’t wait to jump into all the activities of summer – swimming, bike riding, cookouts, playing at the beach…

It’s no mystery that obesity is an epidemic in America today.

Two out of three people are overweight — and one out of three are clinically obese. And at any given point in time, up to 35% of all Americans are trying to lose weight.

Every year the overweight and obese spend a shocking $50-90 billion on products and services to lose weight.

This includes buying low-calorie and low-fat foods, drinking artificially sweetened drinks, joining many commercial weight loss centers (and buying their expensive packaged foods), visiting ‘fat farms’, using antidepressants or stimulants, and undergoing liposuction or gastric bypass — to name a few.

These Methods May Compromise Your Health…

Unexpectedly poor results may be the outcome from these options.

Low-calorie or low-fat foods may not address your personal issues with weight management at all. In addition to being highly processed and nearly free of any vital nutrients, these types of foods often contain ingredients that may compromise your health when consumed.

Even what you might consider a “healthy” food, may not be right for your unique Nutritional Type.

Even what you might consider a “healthy” food, may not be right for your unique Nutritional Type. This is the absolute key to obtaining and maintaining your optimal weight.

Another perilous pitfall for your health lies in your decision to drink diet soda, thinking it’s a healthier alternative to regular soda. They are both bad news. Simply eliminating soda from your diet would likely produce tremendously positive results for your body.

Artificially sweetened beverages contain many synthetic and harmful ingredients. Not only that, but the latest research shows very clearly that artificial sweeteners actually cause weight GAIN! I’ve detailed their hazards in my book Sweet Deception, as well as in various articles on this website. Please do your best to replace drinking soda with pure filtered water.

Many commercial weight loss centers demand your time to attend meetings. Plus, their food products are expensive — and offer little flexibility to meet the needs of your particular Nutritional Type. And the positive effect of visiting many ‘fat farms’ can often disappear as soon as you return home to your ‘real life’.

If you’ve been on my website much, you can probably guess my opinion about antidepressants and stimulants, liposuction and gastric bypass. Please don’t go there. The risk of side effects is simply much too great.

Did you know, for example, that some weight loss medications may cause increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, headache, insomnia, diarrhea, abdominal pain, constipation, dry mouth, and more? And they may cause nutrients to be more poorly absorbed, too.

Further, if you go the surgical route, you are essentially gambling with your health…

You risk potential side effects of surgery; infection, allergic reaction to anesthesia, blood clots, blood loss, damage to your skin, nerves, or vital organs, plus non-life-threatening, unpleasant effects.

Physical risks are only part of the risks involved with many common approaches. There is huge potential for emotional fall-out as well.

Why?

It might shock you to know that there is a whopping 95 percent failure rate with most weight loss programs.

And when you fail, it’s not uncommon to get down on yourself — and then find your self-esteem plummeting and your weight rising.Not exactly the goal you were in search of...

In Search of a Magic Bullet in Weight Loss?

Like it or not, there really is no Magic Bullet or panacea that will instantly erase weight issues in one fell swoop.

One of the most important steps for effective weight management is to choose foods that were designed for your specific genetics and unique biochemistry. I have found that Nutritional Typing (NT) is a very effective strategy to achieve this. It will normalize your weight based on your personal metabolism and genetic makeup, among other factors.

Sorry! No magic bullets available at this time. But there is still hope. Read on…

Another crucial element is to get 30-60 minutes of appropriate exercise each and every day.

Find something you like to do — and commit to doing it religiously. Get an accountability partner to help you be consistent.

Now that spring is here, something as simple as a walk or bike ride in your neighborhood will get you started toward better health, just in time for summer.

Those are the two most critical actions to take to help with weight loss.

Then, if you need an additional boost for your weight loss efforts — and a jump start to success you will want to consider a natural adjunct filled with beneficial herbs.

Dr Mercola.com

Can You Calculate Your Age by How Often You Eat Out?

Is it possible to calculate your age by how often you enjoy eating out? Get ready for a mathematical mind-bender– and don't cheat by scrolling down first!

This takes less than a minute. Work it out as you read, either in your head or on a piece of paper. But be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat (more than once but less than 10 times)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1758 ... If you haven't, add 1757.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should now have a three digit number. The first digit of this was your original number, (i.e., how many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week).

The next two numbers are:

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!)

This is the only year (2008) the calculation will ever work, so you have less than nine months to spread this around.

Dr Mercola.com