Ultra-Processed Food: A Common Cause of Constipation
Doctors used 24-hour dietary recalls on 12,716 US adults, of whom 1290 suffered from constipation and 1067 had diarrhea. Those who ate the most ultra-processed foods had more than double the incidence of constipation as those who ate the least, and minimally-processed...
Donald Sutherland: COPD and Prostate Cancer
Actor Donald Sutherland died on June 20, 2024, after suffering from prostate cancer and severe lung damage from smoking up to four packs of cigarettes per day. Several year before he died, he stopped smoking and wouldn’t let anyone smoke near him. He kept smokers at least 100 yards away from his movie sets. In his last years, he had to breathe from an oxygen tank all the time.
Even Skinny People Can Have a Fatty Liver
Having a fatty liver is associated with a marked increase in heart attacks and liver damage, even in people who are not overweight (Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2017 Oct;15(10):1604-1611). Getting both obese and normal weight people to lose weight helps them to get fat out of their livers and markedly reduce their chances of being diabetic.
Plant-Based Meat Substitutes May Not Be More Healthful Than Meat
Extensive research has found that a plant-based diet is significantly less likely than a meat-based diet to be associated with increased risk for heart attacks or diabetes (American J of Preventive Cardiology, Sept 2021;7:100182). Entrepreneurs in the plant-meat industry have stepped in and added chemicals to processed parts of plants to make a plant-based food that looks and tastes like meat. However, very recently, Singaore researchers found no evidence that plant-based meat substitutes are less likely than animal meats to increase heart attack or diabetes risk
Brooks Johnson, Outstanding Track Coach
The track world has lost an epic coach, and society has lost a man who helped to develop leaders among his aspiring athletes. Johnson died of prostate cancer on June 29, 2024, at age 89. He coached athletes in track and field for more than fifty years, with accomplishments that included Track coach at the University of Florida (1975-1979), Stanford University (1979-92) and California Polytechnic State University (1993-96).
Sarcopenia: Loss of Muscle Size and Strength
Everyone loses muscle size and strength with aging, to increase risk for disability, accidents, diseases, loss of independence and premature death (J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2018;9:3–19). Loss of muscle is called sarcopenia. You lose about 10 percent for each 10 years from age 50 to age 70, and about 15 percent per decade after age 70. A healthier lifestyle helps to slow loss of muscle size and strength as a person ages
Colon Bacteria That Produce SCFAs May Determine Your Susceptibility for Infections
Some of the bacteria growing in your colon may help to protect you from getting infections throughout your body. Researchers cultured stool samples from more than 10,000 people, including more than 600 people hospitalized for serious infections. The stool was specifically checked for 16 types of bacteria that produce Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs). They found that over six years, those who had 10 percent more colon bacteria that produce SCFAs were 15-25 percent less likely to be hospitalized for serious infections.
Healthful Lifestyle Later in Life Increases Chances of Living to One Hundred
It is never too late to adopt a healthful lifestyle. Researchers followed the records of people over age 80 (61 percent women) for an average five years and found that those with the most healthful lifestyle (no smoking, regular exercise and varied diet) were most likely to live to be 100 years old, be free of chronic diseases, have higher physical and cognitive function, and have far less mental illness. Less likely lifestyle factors for living from age 80 to 100 were: where a person lived, years of education, marital status, having chronic medical conditions, u.sing alcohol or being obese. In this study, 1454 people lived to be 100 and 3768 died before reaching 100 years
Self-Monitoring of Blood Pressure Better Than Just Doctor Monitoring
Checking your own blood pressure several times a day may offer better blood pressure control than just taking occasional blood pressure measurements in a doctor’s office.
Plant-Based Diets Associated with Reduced Risk of Prostate Cancer Spreading
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the U.S. A study of 2062 men with an average age 65.0, diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and followed in 43 different urology practices, found that the men with cancer who ate the most plant-based foods had a 47 percent reduced chance of having their prostate cancer spread in 6.5 years, compared to men who ate the least plant-based foods