Treelet Health provides the latest health news, disease prevention, nutrition and diet, and other professional health knowledge to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
People whose diet contained fewer processed foods lost more weight than people who ate more ultra-processed foods, a recent study confirmed. While both groups lost weight, those eating less in the way of processed foods shed twice as many pounds. The key to weight loss in both groups was likely that they both consumed a well-balanced diet, with the only difference being the amount of ultraprocessed foods they consumed.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic, degenerative condition of the joints that most commonly occurs in people over the age of 40. The condition can affect any joint in the body, but is most common in the knees, hands and hips. Although there is no cure, the condition can be managed by staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medications to relieve pain. Now, a study has found that modifying your walking style may relieve the pain and slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis as effectively as commonly used medications.
Parkinson’s disease negatively impacts the body’s central nervous system, which includes the brain. A new study has found that cycling helps restore neural connections damaged by Parkinson’s disease. This benefit was seen in as little as 12 cycling sessions over a four-week period.
Research is ongoing about what components contribute to healthier brains as people age. Recent research identified some unique brain features of ‘superagers,’ people at least 80 years old who perform cognitively similarly to people decades younger. The research also identified that superagers tended to be more sociable than their peers. More research into superagers could lead to interventions that help protect cognition.
Lithium is a mineral that can be found in nature, with small amounts also found in the human body. Past research has also shown that lithium seems to have a neuroprotective effect on the brain. A new study shows that lithium occurs naturally in the brain and plays a major role in normal brain function. Scientists also discovered that a loss of lithium in the brain may be an early warning sign for Alzheimer’s disease because it binds to beta-amyloid plaques.
Non-sugar, or artificial, sweeteners are widely used to reduce the energy in sweetened foods and drinks, particularly those marketed as diet, or low or no sugar. However, concerns about their possible health effects include links to gastrointestinal problems, metabolic effects, and even increased cancer risk. Now, a study has found that one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners, sucralose, could adversely affect cancer immunotherapy. The researchers suggest that by changing the gut microbiome, sucralose decreases the effectiveness of immunotherapy for several cancers.
Increasing daily step counts and walking faster may reduce risk of cardiovascular events in people with hypertension, a recent study has found. Walking more than 3,000 steps each day reduced risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 17%. The benefits of walking also reduced risk of cardiovascular events in people without hypertension.
A person’s “heart age” may not always be the same as their chronological age, which can raise a person’s risk for heart disease. A team of researchers has developed a free online tool to help people calculate their heart age to determine their cardiovascular disease risk. The research team tested the new online tool on thousands of American adults and found most adults have a heart that is several years older than their chronological age.
Past studies show that human aging doesn’t necessarily happen at the same pace throughout our life. There is still much to discover about the aging process, especially when it comes to how it impacts the body’s organs. A new study found that by focusing on aging-related protein changes in the body, there is an acceleration in aging of organs and tissues around the age of 50. And of these proteins, scientists found that expressions of 48 of them linked to diseases increased with age, such as cardiovascular and liver disease.
A lot of people focus on getting 10,000 steps a day for its purported health benefits. A new study says that walking for only 7,000 steps a day can help reduce a person’s risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, depression, and all-cause mortality. Scientists also discovered that walking around 4,000 steps a day still offers more health benefits than people with very low activity and about 2,000 steps a day.
Several lifestyle changes can help lower the risk for heart disease, including being physically active. A new study found that adults who developed heart disease later in life experienced a decline in their physical activity about 12 years before their cardiovascular event. Scientists also discovered that Black male participants had a more continuous decline in physical activity from young adulthood to middle age, and Black female participants consistently reported the lowest physical activity throughout adulthood, highlighting disparity.
Can you eat your way to a longer, healthier life? And if so, what diet might best foster longevity? Over the past decade or so, a long string of studies has added to the evidence that a Mediterranean-type diet may do wonders for the body and mind. In this podcast episode, we look at what this type of diet can and cannot do for our health and lifespan.