HEALTHY LIVING: RECENT RESEARCH #3
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| Mindfulness App in Action |
(Topics covered: Sleep: How Much? / Diet: Eat More of This / Alternative to Coffee for Increasing Attention / Work the One-Legged Stance into your Movement Practice)
(Topics covered: Blood Pressure and Isometric Exercise / Drinking Water Before Meals / Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Walking / Stress Relief from Reading)
Additional topics that help build a foundation of good health habits:
Slower Breaths, Deeper Sleep
Before using supplements and medication for sleep disruption, try deep breathing. Authors of THIS RESEARCH STUDY found that slower, deeper breathing can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply. Scientists often link sleep disruption to an overactive sympathetic nervous system - the body’s “fight or flight” mode. Whereas, slower breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which lowers heart rate and reduces stress hormones. This shift calms the mind and triggers the release of melatonin, the hormone for inducing sleep and maintaining its quality.
Also, authors of THIS RESEARCH STUDY discuss slowing breathing to 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out - 6 breaths per minute. To help with deeper breathing, at the top of this post is a GIF of the Apple Watch’s mindfulness app in action. This image opens for 5 seconds, then closes for 5 seconds. Before falling asleep, I use this app before reading my book. If you want to give it a try, breathe in for 5 seconds, out for 5 seconds - 6 breaths per minute - for up to 5 minutes before bed. It’s like a natural sedative.
Mushrooms: A Source of Vitamin D?
If you are like me, you get extra vitamin D through pill-form. However, this RESEARCH STUDY shows placing mushrooms in sunlight for as little as 15 minutes produces vitamin D to support your needs.
That’s because, while white mushrooms contain almost no vitamin D while growing in the dark, they contain a compound called ergosterol. When exposed to UV light, either from the sun or a special lamp, this compound converts into vitamin D.
Researchers found that placing mushrooms in 15 to 30 minutes of direct sunlight (more surface area means more vitamin D) raised vitamin D in blood levels of participants. The vitamin D stays stable for up to a week in the fridge and even survives cooking (retaining up to 88% of its potency).
While I have not seen this, apparently some stores carry “UV-treated” mushrooms which have already been exposed to light, activating vitamin D.
Vigorous Exercise Protects Health More Than Previously Thought
I have mentioned before that national fitness guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week is recommended for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. And, if vigorous exercise is used, guidelines were halved to 75 minutes per week. However, NEW RESEARCH indicates that one minute of vigorous exercise (like fast stair walking or fast uphill walking) can provide the same health benefits as significantly more time spent on moderate exercise (like brisk walking on a flat surface).
This research concludes that just 1 minute of vigorous activity was just as effective as 4 minutes of moderate activity at reducing all-cause mortality. And for reducing the risk of cardiovascular death, 1 minute of vigorous activity was just as effective as 8 minutes of moderate activity. Similar ratios were also seen for limiting major cardiac events and preventing type 2 diabetes.
The scientists believe that vigorous activity forces your heart, lungs, and muscles to work harder in short bursts, improving your cardio and metabolism more quickly than gentler movement can. It’s like giving your body a sharper signal, and your body responds by adapting more efficiently.
The study also found that light activity (like walking) still helps, but it has a ceiling: no matter how much you accumulate, it can’t drive larger risk reductions on its own.
If you want to take the results from research to real life, it’s likely worth trading 30 minutes of less-intense activity for about 5 minutes of intense exercise. Or, finding time for a few 1-minute all-out bursts of high-intensity exercise, such as fast walking up stairs.
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Thank you for reading!
For more, check out the Health Living section in the EOOC TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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Experiment of One Coaching covers topics ranging from running, strength training, health & wellness, sports nutrition to travel. I usually post once or twice a month. This is not medical advice. If you have a question about any of these topics that you would like me to address, send it to: info@experiment1coaching.com .
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