A good diet in adulthood can improve physical fitness in old age

A study looked at the long-term effect of a healthy diet during adulthood on physical function in older age and found it boosted physical fitness. The team, led by scientists at the University of Southampton, gathered data from 969 British men and women whose lifestyles have been monitored since they were born, in March 1946. The team collected information from the participants at ages 36, 43, 53, and 60-64, examining the participants’ diets at different ages in relation to three standard measures of physical function at age 60-64 – chair…

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National Ayurveda Day: Can the Taste of a Food Item Affect Your Health?

Ayurveda is a goldmine of remedies and health-benefiting concoctions that are not only easy to arrive at but also inexpensive. The term Ayurveda stands for ‘science of life’ stemming from the words ‘Ayur’ meaning life and ‘Veda’ which means science. Ayurveda meticulously lays down guidelines on how one must chart out his/her daily routine starting from the regular diet. What we eat greatly influences our health, but as per the Ayurveda, the property of a particular food item, the time of food consumption as well as the taste of the food consumed…

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Senior citizens, beware: Ageing can delay your perception of falls

Delay in perception of falls is part of getting older which thereby increases the risk of injury or death in seniors, says a recent study. The findings will help shape the development of wearable fall prevention technology and allow clinicians to more accurately identify at-risk individuals. “Falling threatens one’s survival,” said Michael Barnett-Cowan, a kinesiology professor at Waterloo and senior author on the study. “When the nervous system’s ability to detect a fall and compensate with protective reflexes diminishes, the risk of injury or death increases significantly. “Age and associated…

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Stuck in a 9-5 desk job? Beware, as sitting for too long can cancel out benefits of exercise

No matter how much you exercise, you definitely need to take a ‘movement break’ every half an hour. According to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, sitting for excessively long periods of time is a risk factor for early death. There’s a direct relationship between time spent sitting and your risk of early mortality of any cause, researchers said, based on a study of nearly 8,000 adults. As your total sitting time increases, so does your risk of an early death. The positive news: People who sat for…

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Kicking the butt: Running group can help you to quit smoking

Having difficulty in quitting smoking? Try running as it can help you refrain. As per a recent UCB report, almost half of the people who completed a 10-week program involving running were able to successfully quit smoking. Carly Priebe, postdoctoral fellow in UBC’s school of Kinesiology said, “This shows that physical activity can be a successful smoking-cessation aid and that a community-based program might offer that. Because doing it on your own is very difficult.” In Canada, 178 smokers registered for the 2016 ‘Run to Quit’ program at Running Room…

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Gut bacteria can hack into body clock to make you fat

In a study that may someday lead to new strategies to fight obesity, scientists have found that gut bacteria, or microbiome, regulates fat uptake and storage by hacking into and changing the function of the circadian clocks in the cells that line the gut. “Our work provides a deeper understanding of how the gut microbiota interacts with the circadian clock, and how this interaction impacts metabolism,” said Lora Hooper, Professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the US. “It could also help to explain why people who work…

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