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What You Eat Affects Your Productivity

Think back to your most productive workday in the past week. Now ask yourself: On that afternoon, what did you have for lunch?

When we think about the factors that contribute to workplace performance, we rarely give much consideration to food. For those of us battling to stay on top of emails, meetings, and deadlines, food is simply fuel.

But as it turns out, this analogy is misleading. The foods we eat affect us more than we realize. With fuel, you can reliably expect the same performance from your car no matter what brand of unleaded you put in your tank. Food is different. Imagine a world where filling up at Mobil meant avoiding all traffic and using BP meant driving no faster than 20 miles an hour. Would you then be so cavalier about where you purchased your gas?

Food has a direct impact on our cognitive performance, which is why a poor decision at lunch can derail an entire afternoon.

Here’s a brief rundown of why this happens. Just about everything we eat is converted by our body into glucose, which provides the energy our brains need to stay alert. When we’re running low on glucose, we have a tough time staying focused and our attention drifts. This explains why it’s hard to concentrate on an empty stomach.

So far, so obvious. Now here’s the part we rarely consider: Not all foods are processed by our bodies at the same rate. Some foods, like pasta, bread, cereal and soda, release their glucose quickly, leading to a burst of energy followed by a slump. Others, like high fat meals (think cheeseburgers and BLTs) provide more sustained energy, but require our digestive system to work harder, reducing oxygen levels in the brain and making us groggy.

Most of us know much of this intuitively, yet we don’t always make smart decisions about our diet. In part, it’s because we’re at our lowest point in both energy and self-control when deciding what to eat. French fries and mozzarella sticks are a lot more appetizing when you’re mentally drained.

Unhealthy lunch options also tend to be cheaper and faster than healthy alternatives, making them all the more alluring in the middle of a busy workday. They feel efficient. Which is where our lunchtime decisions lead us astray. We save 10 minutes now and pay for it with weaker performance the rest of the day.

So what are we to do? One thing we most certainly shouldn’t do is assume that better information will motivate us to change. Most of us are well aware that scarfing down a processed mixture of chicken bones and leftover carcasses is not a good life decision. But that doesn’t make chicken nuggets any less delicious.

No, it’s not awareness we need—it’s an action plan that makes healthy eating easier to accomplish. Here are some research-based strategies worth trying.

The first is to make your eating decisions before you get hungry. If you’re going out to lunch, choose where you’re eating in the morning, not at 12:30 PM. If you’re ordering in, decide what you’re having after a mid-morning snack. Studies show we’re a lot better at resisting salt, calories, and fat in the future than we are in the present.

Another tip: Instead of letting your glucose bottom out around lunch time, you’ll perform better by grazing throughout the day. Spikes and drops in blood sugar are both bad for productivity and bad for the brain. Smaller, more frequent meals maintain your glucose at a more consistent level than relying on a midday feast.
Finally, make healthy snacking easier to achieve than unhealthy snacking. Place a container of almonds and a selection of protein bars by your computer, near your line of vision. Use an automated subscription service, like Amazon, to restock supplies. Bring a bag of fruit to the office on Mondays so that you have them available throughout the week.

Is carrying produce to the office ambitious? For many of us, the honest answer is yes. Yet there’s reason to believe the weekly effort is justified.

Research indicates that eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day isn’t simply good for the body—it’s also beneficial for the mind. A fascinating paper in this July’s British Journal of Health Psychology highlights the extent to which food affects our day-to-day experience.

Within the study, participants reported their food consumption, mood, and behaviors over a period of 13 days. Afterwards, researchers examined the way people’s food choices influenced their daily experiences. Here was their conclusion: The more fruits and vegetables people consumed (up to 7 portions), the happier, more engaged, and more creative they tended to be.

Why? The authors offer several theories. Among them is an insight we routinely overlook when deciding what to eat for lunch: Fruits and vegetables contain vital nutrients that foster the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the experience of curiosity, motivation, and engagement. They also provide antioxidants that minimize bodily inflammation, improve memory, and enhance mood.

Which underscores an important point: If you’re serious about achieving top workplace performance, making intelligent decisions about food is essential.

The good news is that contrary to what many of us assume, the trick to eating right is not learning to resist temptation. It’s making healthy eating the easiest possible option.

SOURCE…hbr.org

Why Fitness Pros Are Obsessed With Apple Cider Vinegar

Check out this powerful tid bit of knowledge ! Now we all know they say  an apple a day may keep the proverbial doctor away, but a daily splash of apple cider vinegar may be just what your trainer ordered. Fitness pros are gung-ho on the ingredient’s better-body powers, and for good reason. Here’s why:

How It Helps: “Apple cider vinegar has a positive impact on gut health because it’s anti-microbial. It helps to break down bad bacteria and feed the good,” say New York City-based master trainer Josh Stolz.

“My digestion improved when I added it to my diet so I started recommending it to clients. One had chronic bad breath that may have been linked to an imbalanced digestive system, so I got her on a daily apple cider vinegar protocol and her breath, digestion, and skin improved within weeks.” Consistent ingestion of apple cider vinegar has been tied to moderate weight loss as well. “Some studies suggest the acetic acid in it can boost satiety between meals so you may eat less,” says Brian St. Pierre, R.D., a fitness and nutrition coach with Precision Nutrition.

How To Try It: Stir a couple teaspoons into a glass of water and sip before meals. Another trick: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons to seltzer water then add stevia to taste (optional). “It’s like drinking a non-alcoholic, non-caloric sparkling cider,” says Stolz, who advises keeping your daily ACV dose to 2 to 3 tablespoons max.

Some advocates favor the pungent tonic first thing in the morning, but pairing it with your starchy meals may be your best bet. “Research shows apple cider vinegar can help prevent blood sugar spikes because it interferes with starch and carbohydrate absorption,” says Stolz. Pros agree that reducing the glycemic response in the body is especially important if you’re diabetic or have insulin resistance, but anyone can benefit. Notes St. Pierre: Ingesting it with a higher carbohydrate meal can decrease post-meal blood glucose levels, which can also lower inflammation and protect blood vessel linings.

Yet another super-worthy stat: Apple cider vinegar enhances the nutrition of bone broth. “Add it to the bones, water, and seasonings—1/8 cup for 1 pound bones, ¼ for 2 pounds of bones, and so on—about a half an hour before boiling. This helps pull more minerals from the bones,” says Stolz.

Why fitness pros are obsessed with apple cider vinegar
SOURCE..http://news360.com

Nutrition and Diet Trends

Overall diets have changed dramatically over the past century. Food selections, availability and science are constantly evolving, and new trends are emerging for foods that we consume. Some of the current and most prominent diet trends include flexitarian, organic, functional/value, and gluten-free diets. Knowing the facts about these nutrition trends can help you make more informed diet decisions.

The Good, the Bad and What You Need to Know

The Flexitarian Diet

Designed for those who aren’t ready to embrace a full vegetarian diet, the flexitarian diet balances a decreased consumption of meat with more produce. This diet is receiving positive feedback by the nutrition community as it encourages eating more healthful vegetarian foods such as beans, nuts, whole grains, and fresh produce while being flexible in the amount of meat eaten.

The diet plan has three levels:

• Beginner – 2 meatless days a week with 5-6 oz. of meat-based protein consumed on each of the other 5 days

• Advanced – 3 or 4 meatless days a week with 6 oz. of meat-based protein consumed on each of the other 3 days

• Expert – 5 meatless days a week with 9-10 oz. of meat-based protein consumed per week

One of the benefits of this diet is the ease of reducing the consumption of meat while enjoying more produce. It also provides a smooth transition for those who do not care for the taste of protein replacements but want to slowly wean themselves from meat.

Another positive: this diet encourages more complete whole grains as protein complements. New research suggests that people who consume several servings of whole grains per day, while limiting daily intake of refined grains, appear to have less fat tissue thought to trigger cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

One area of concern, however, is that the flexitarian diet may not contain enough complete proteins for growth and maturation or provide enough protein for athletes. If one is not fully committed to the responsibility of obtaining proteins; this diet can cause health complications.

Organic Diets

Influenced by the seasonality and the locality of foods, these diets focus on sustainable consumerism and choosing foods that are good for you as well as for the Earth. Among these foods are organic and raw foods. Often debated, organic foods are not exposed to pesticides and other chemicals thought to be harmful when consumed and bad for the environment. Organic livestock farmers do not use antibiotics or hormones, thought to cause different types of cancer, to prevent disease and spur growth in animals. Raw foods are not prepackaged or cooked, keeping them rich in flavor and nutrients.

Because organic foods can be 50 to 100 percent more expensive, experts encourage consumers to spend their food dollars wisely by carefully choosing between organic and conventional items. Produce and foods that a family eats most often are most important to spend extra on. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., recommends choosing organic at least for produce with the highest pesticide residues. These selections include produce with thin or no skin such as apples, pears, peaches, berries, all leafy greens, peppers, celery and potatoes. Raw food sales are on the move. Susan Baker, marketing leader at Whole Foods Market–Greenlife Grocery agrees and notes an emerging trend towards a completely raw foods diet and the nutritional benefits.

Experts all agree that a diet high in fresh foods, including fruits and vegetables, is good for one’s health. However, there is some concern for diets based entirely on raw foods. Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in Los Angeles, says in the journalEatingWell, “There’s no doubt that plant-based diets have been linked with a lower risk of obesity and other chronic diseases, but because the raw-foods diet is so restrictive, its followers are at risk for deficiencies of vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids. And the diet isn’t based on science: cooking destroys some nutrients, but it makes others (like the lycopene in tomatoes) more absorbable.”

Functional/Value Diets

According to Cornell University, decreasing consumption volume and placing a focus on eating healthy foods is the cornerstone of the functional or value diet. The consumer is motivated to build a meal plan around foods that offer more than just taste and calories, thus getting more nutrient value from foods. The focus of this diet is on the function of the foods and benefits they provide.

A functional diet might include foods with added bioflavonoid and probiotics such as yogurt and dairy products to regulate intestinal health. This diet often includes exotic fruits (or “superfruits”) such as mangosteen, goji berries, and noni that have a high nutrient and antioxidant content. Research supports that adults can increase their chances of maintaining healthy brain activity by adding certain functional foods and beverages to their diets. For example, dark chocolate provides natural stimulants like caffeine to enhance concentration, and nuts and seeds provide good sources of vitamin E, an antioxidant associated with preventing cognitive decline. Coldwater fatty fish is an excellent functional food as omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are linked to lower dementia and stroke risks; slower mental decline; and are thought to play a vital role in enhancing memory.

No one challenges the benefits of this type of diet other than to advise that foods are balanced across meals.

Gluten-Free Diet

The gluten-free craze is another diet trend that’s becoming hard to ignore. This diet has increased in popularity over the last few years partly as a result of greater awareness and improved diagnosis of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder triggered by exposure to gluten. Additionally, there has been a mass movement toward gluten-free products by those who have self-diagnosed gluten intolerance, believe a gluten-free diet is a healthier way of eating, or believe that it can help to help reduce weight. Since 2004, the gluten-free market has experienced an average annual growth rate of 28 percent. Today, less than one percent of the population has celiac disease; however, marketers believe that between 15 and 25 percent of consumers want gluten-free products.

The good news is that consumers who are following a gluten-free diet are usually eating less white and processed foods, and more fruits and vegetables. Another positive is that the trend has motivated manufacturers to provide more high-quality, gluten-free foods that the truly intolerant would normally not have access to. In the past, many gluten-free foods have been based on nutrient-poor ingredients, such as potato and corn starches, with xanthan and guar gum to improve texture.

The bad news is that people who have diagnosed themselves as gluten intolerant are missing an exact diagnosis from a doctor and could be incorrectly treating symptoms related to another health issue. Unless carefully managed, gluten-free diets can be deficient in vitamins and minerals. Gluten-free foods can also be very expensive and some can have high values of fat and sugar added by manufacturers to make them more appealing. Dieticians are increasingly advising true gluten intolerant sufferers to follow a naturally gluten-free diet.

Be Informed, Be Balanced

There is one thing on which experts agree: regardless of the diet you choose, eat plenty of produce and maintain a balanced diet. National guidelines recommend eating a variety of fruits and vegetables to take advantage of their diverse nutritional benefits. A balanced diet is important, no matter what trend you may choose to follow.

SOURCE…www.healthscopemag.com

World First Stem Cell Trial To Treat Parkinson's Disease Starts At Royal Melbourne Hospital

The future of combating disease has arrvied ! A world first stem cell trial could revolutionise the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, for which there is currently no cure.A 64-year old Victorian man was the first patient to receive the neural stem cells in a delicate operation performed at Royal Melbourne Hospital.Neurologist Andrew Evans and neurosurgeon Girish Nair practised weeks beforehand on a 3D model of the patient’s brain, planning a way to enter the brain for the five hour operation.

‘The first patient’s operation was a success, however we won’t know for 12 months the effects of the stem cell implants and if we are on the verge of a new treatment for Parkinsons,’ Dr Evans said.It’s estimated around 10 million people around the world suffer from Parkinson’s disease, including 80,000 Australians.The debilitating condition destroys a person’s ability to control their body movements, leaving them with tremors, rigid muscles and slow movement.

According to Parkinson’s Australia, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease relates to a lack of a brain chemical called dopamine.’The first phase is critical for us to understand the right amount of neural stem cells required to be injected into the brain,’ Dr Evans said.’The three different doses range from 30,000,000 to 70,000,000 neural cells and of those, only a very small percentage will become dopamine. Dopamine is a hormone that transmits information between brain cells and is one of the most critical transmitters in the brain that is lost with Parkinson’s disease.’

Mr Girish Nair said accuracy was key when injecting the stem cells into the brain. ‘The stem cells entered the brain through two 1.5cm holes in the skull and we targeted 14 sites on the brain and each injection had to be spaced four minutes apart,’ Mr Nair said. Eleven more patients will now have the surgery, each being monitored over a 12 month period to ‘evaluate the safety and the effects of the neural stem cells.”PET scans will also be performed at various times during the study to see if the transplanted stems cells have taken effect,’ Mr Nair said.The stem cell used in the procedure is known as a pluripotent stem cell.

It’s a master cell that can change into any cell in the body and is highly influenced by its environment. ‘At the end of the study we will have transplanted tens of millions of neural stem cells directly into the brains of the 12 Australian participants. Hopefully this will go a long way into understanding how we can replenish brain function for people with Parkinson disease.’ The transplant of stem cells in the remaining 11 patients will finish in 2017 with the results expected in 2019.

SOURCE…www.dailymail.co.uk

Sugar And High Fructose Corn Syrup Both Are The same… "Bad For Your Health!"

These two industries are literally both full of trash and not natural at all. In the below article we detail the battle between the two as they battle for   brain damaging and free radical supremacy as both destroy the body.

The sugar industry and high fructose corn syrup producers are meeting in a Los Angeles federal courtroom in their struggle over whether sugar and high fructose corn syrup are essentially the same. Corn refiners say that high-fructose corn syrup is natural and “nutritionally the same as table sugar.” A lawsuit brought by sugar processors’ say those statements are false. The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

In 2008, corn refiners launched an advertising campaign calling high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar.” The advertising also claimed that the body cannot tell the difference between the two. In 2011, the Western Sugar Cooperative and other sugar processors sued a group of corn refiners to stop the campaign. The corn refiners filed a countersuit arguing the sugar industry was pushing misinformation about high-fructose corn syrup to protect their market share. The sugar industry is seeking $1.5 billion in damages from the corn refiners. The corn refiners are seeking $530 million in damages from the sugar industry.

The advertising was described by the attorney for the corn refiners as an effort to combat falsehoods and junk science pushed by the sugar industry. Corn syrup producers say the sugar industry has been engaged in a campaign of misinformation for years. After high fructose corn syrup became commercially available in the 1970s, sugar began losing its hold on the sweetener market. Roughly 10 years ago, the sugar industry began pushing unsubstantiated claims about corn syrup being worse for health than sugar, according to the attorney.

According to the corn refiners’ position, both sugar and corn syrup are processed,with the only difference being that corn sugar is made from corn. The corn refiners claimed that the Sugar Association falsely claimed in its newsletter that corn syrup causes obesity and cancer. The outcome of the billion-dollar battle could have wide ranging effects on both the sugar industry and the high-fructose corn syrup industry. The case has been delayed by years of legal wrangling.

The Corn Refiners Association also complains that sugar growers benefit from generous U.S. government subsidies and they will be challenging sugar’s protected status with the help of a Washington lobbyist hired earlier this year. Both sugar and high-fructose corn syrup have been blamed for contributing to a host of health issues, ranging from diabetes and obesity to tooth decay. In 2004, a report by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked corn syrup to obesity. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled that high fructose corn syrup could not be called sugar.

READMORE…newsonwellness.com

Science Finds The 'Attractive' Level Of Body Fat

Let’s be honest: A fair proportion of us hit the gym to become more sexually attractive.  It’s human nature to want to look good – and now science has discovered what “looking good” actually means. Research from Macquarie University has found that in order to qualify as attractive, a man only has to have a normal body fat percentage, whereas a woman needed to be below the healthy range to be labelled attractive. In this article from coach.nine.com writer Stuart Marsh explains in detail the research behind what we deem “fat or “fit”…READMORE

Hour Of Exercise Counters Desk Job's Risks

Save your life with more fitness. If you fear you’re doing irreparable damage to your body because your white-collar job keeps you sitting at your desk from 9 to 5, or you regularly spend entire weekends sprawled out on your couch this article written by  Washington Post writer Ariana Eunjung Cha … Read the full story

There's a disorder that makes it impossible to feel pleasure, and scientists are just beginning to understand how it works

No pain no gain, but what if you can’t feel pleasure?  There may be a reason as stated in the article by Tanya Lewis for the Business Insider.

There’s a name for the inability to take pleasure in activities you once found enjoyable, the subject of countless commercials for depression medications: anhedonia.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, scientists stimulated the brains of rats to induce feelings of anhedonia, helping to explain how the phenomenon arises in the brain.

Hopefully, this understanding could one day lead to better treatments for depression and other related mood disorders….READ MORE