Health & Fitness

Have you indulged in a little too much over the festive season? Not to worry, PT Ben Lucas shares his top four tips to you get back on track to your healthiest-self.

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Christmas Day is a time for family, friends and others who have touched our lives deeply. On this day, I hope you are sharing in the joy of the season with loved ones, and I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for subscribers like you, who help, support and share our vision for a naturally healthier, happier world, every day of the year.

Mercola.com seeks to be your trusted source of reliable and accurate health information, supported by the best available science.

But it is only because of you, our family of subscribers, that our influence has spread not only in the United States, but in other countries as well — now translated into nine languages and serving some 12.25 million unique visitors each month. It is my sincere hope that, with our continuous service, you will stay motivated to take control of your health, and help others do the same.

It's a sad fact that medical and health truth can take years, and frequently decades, before gaining widespread recognition. By shedding light on important findings, I aim to give you a significant head start, and to arm you with the information you need to avoid becoming yet another tragic statistic.

With every article you read here, you build your knowledge base of how to address the roots of disease before it even starts. Within your own sphere of influence, you have the power to help others preserve and enhance their health by sharing these health tips, and we know that many of you eagerly do.

Enjoy One of My All-Time Favorite Movies: 'It's a Wonderful Life'

Released in 1946, "It's a Wonderful Life" still captures the hearts of new viewers seven decades later — a testament to its quality, even though it was a box office failure at the time of its debut. Perhaps it's because it's such a wonderful metaphor for your power to change the world that it has stood the test of time. It's one of my personal all-time favorites.

In the film, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) spends his entire life giving up his big dreams for the good of his town, Bedford Falls. But come one Christmas Eve, he is dismayed and suicidal over a misplaced bank deposit and the plotting of the evil millionaire, Mr. Henry Potter, who wants to take over the town.

Just when George's spirit is about to be broken, his guardian angel, Clarence, falls to Earth and shows him how his town, family and friends would've turned out had he never been born. At the time, in 1946, Time magazine declared the film was "possibly the best movie of the year," noting it was the "skilled balance of fantasy, sentimentality and quality" that made the film stand out above the crowd.¹

"In unskilled hands, this moral fable might have been dully preachy," the reviewer said. "Director Capra's inventiveness, humor and affection for human beings keep it glowing with life and excitement. Stewart's warm-hearted playing of what might have been a goody-goody role is a constant delight. And if director Capra's Christmas-cheer ending is slightly hoked up to make it richer and happier than life, that is the way many a good fable ends."

Despite glowing reviews, the film failed to recoup the $2.3 million spent on the production. Some have suggested it might have been too "dark" for the 1946 postwar holiday season. The film didn't become a Christmas classic until the 1970s, after its copyright had expired and it began being aired on television on Christmas Eve.

The ending to this movie, if any of you still haven't seen it, will bring tears to your eyes and remind you of how many lives YOU touch every day. So, this holiday season, I want to thank you for your loyalty and support, and wish you peace, joy and health on this special day.

I'd like to leave you with one final thought — an idea for what to gift those on your Holiday shopping list, as quoted by novelist Oren Arnold. The best part? These gifts don't come from a store and they keep on giving all year long.

"Christmas Gift Suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect."

Merry Christmas!

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As much as we try to avoid having our babies go through pain, sometimes it is inevitable — and sometimes, as is the case with vaccinations and blood tests, pain is part of something that is ultimately important for the baby’s health and well-being.

Luckily, shots and blood tests are both quick. But there are things you can do to help your baby feel less pain, be less afraid, and get through the procedure more easily.

Helping your baby through the pain of shots and blood tests

Here are some suggestions that will help:

• Hold your baby. Having you be close by, and feeling your skin against theirs, can be very comforting.
• Swaddle your baby. When babies are wrapped up tightly, it helps them contain their bodies and their emotions. Obviously, shots and blood tests involve at least one leg or arm, so you can’t completely swaddle them, but you can swaddle whatever isn’t in use.
• Breastfeed, if possible. It’s not always possible for the nurse or the person drawing blood to do their job while the mother nurses because it can be hard to hold the child still, and sometimes people worry about the baby choking on milk when he or she cries. But if it is possible, it can be helpful.
• Use a pacifier. Sucking often soothes babies.
• Talk to your baby. Hearing your voice is both calming and distracting to babies.
• Talk to your doctor about using sugar water. Studies have shown that dipping a pacifier in sugar water or putting some into the baby’s mouth with a syringe can make a procedure less painful. It’s not fully clear how it works; it may activate the body’s natural systems for fighting pain.

As soon as the shot or blood test is done, pick your baby up and hold him or her close. That way the baby knows that it’s all over — and that you are there to take care of them.

Most of the time, babies are fine once the worst of it is over. But sometimes babies can have soreness where the needle went in, and it’s not uncommon for babies to feel uncomfortable or a bit sick for a day or so after vaccines. All the suggestions above can help with lingering discomfort. Usually medication isn’t needed, and after immunizations, using medications like acetaminophen can sometimes decrease the effectiveness of the vaccine itself.

Your doctor can help you decide what makes sense for your baby and your situation.

Follow me on Twitter @DrClaire

The post How to help your baby through shots and blood tests appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

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Drawing an object and naming it engages the brain in similar ways. The finding demonstrates the importance of the visual processing system for producing drawings of an object.

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Youthfulness, vitality and a long, prosperous life have been sought after throughout human history. And now, it seems scientists may have discovered one of the keys to turning back the hands of time.

Researchers from Arizona State University and Texas A&M University have made a breakthrough discovery in plant DNA that could lead to stopping cancer cold and slowing the aging process, ABC affiliate News 15 Arizona reports.¹

The research involves telomerase, an enzyme that produces the DNA of telomeres, which have been shown to play a role in the aging process. As your telomeres lengthen, they protect your cells from aging.

Take It From the Experts: Centenarians Share Their Secrets

While direct applications from the study to human health are distant, there are a number of things you can do now to improve your health span, according to one of the co-authors. In interviews and surveys with centenarians, certain themes came up time and time again when they explained why they've lived so long. The 10 most common reasons they gave for their long lives were:

Keeping a positive attitude	Eating good food
Participating in moderate exercise like walking, gardening swimming, etc.	Living clean (not smoking or drinking excessively)
Living independently	Having family to interact with
Having a circle of friends	Being born with "good" genes
Having faith/spirituality	Staying mentally active and continually learning

Centenarians are the fastest growing segment of the U.S population, with numbers doubling every decade; by the year 2050, the number of people who will have reached the century mark is expected to pass 1 million.

Centenarians have 60% lower rates of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, yet scientific explanations for their health and longevity remain elusive. As a group, they are happy and optimistic and have extremely low rates of depression and other psychiatric problems, suggesting you may live longer by maintaining the right attitude.

Hopefulness and Positivity Affect the Heart

There are compelling links between cardiac health and mental health. For example, having untreated depression or anxiety disorder increases your odds of having a heart attack or developing heart disease. Stress hormones are again a primary culprit.

According to Julia Boehm, author of earlier Harvard studies looking at optimism and cardiovascular disease (CVD):²

"The absence of the negative is not the same thing as the presence of the positive. We found that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction and happiness are associated with reduced risk of CVD regardless of such factors as a person's age, socioeconomic status, smoking status or body weight."

With a later study,³ author Eric Kim told The Harvard Gazette:

"While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience may also make a difference.

Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges."

The Significance of Sound Sleep

Getting adequate sleep is an important part of both mental and physical health. Too much or too little can lead to metabolic issues, as well as changes in mood and your ability to focus. Your circadian rhythm, which affects your sleep/wake cycle, holds implications for your brain, body temperature, hormones and cell regeneration among other things.⁴

"Irregular rhythms have been linked to various chronic health conditions, such as sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder," say scientists from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.⁵

Italian researchers found that deletion of a specific gene related to aging also affects glucose homeostasis. According to their article, published in the journal Glia, "Disruption of the circadian cycle is strongly associated with metabolic imbalance and reduced longevity in humans."⁶

Telomeres and telomerase activity are also controlled by your circadian rhythm,⁷ making proper sleep an important part of longevity. In a 2007 study involving 21,268 adult twins, Finnish researchers found that adults who slept more than eight hours per night, or less than seven, showed increased risk of death.⁸

Of course, the quality of your sleep is also important, not just the quantity. Good quality sleep, in the appropriate amount, can improve how you think and adapt to the demands on your time and changes throughout your day. There is evidence suggesting that a calm mind and active body are two important ingredients for longevity.

The meditative technique known as "mindfulness" has even been shown to have a beneficial effect on genetic expression. According to a 2018 article in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity,⁹ meditation has also been found to affect the enzyme telomerase, which some researchers believe is actively involved with the process of aging.

After Resting, Be Sure to Refuel

Additionally, there are many other strategies you can implement to improve your health and extend your life span. To live longer, you need to counteract the progressive loss of muscle mass by increasing your protein intake as you age. The elderly, bodybuilders and endurance athletes typically have higher than normal protein requirements for their age group.

It's also important to cycle high and low protein intake. Ideally, combine protein restriction with time-restricted eating, followed by increased protein intake on strength training days.

Fasting 16 to 20 hours each day is likely ideal, as this allows your body to more thoroughly deplete the glycogen stores in your liver. Benefits of fasting include the suppression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and the activation of autophagy, both of which play decisive roles in disease prevention and longevity.

You'd also be wise to avoid eating two to three hours before bed, as late-night eating will decrease your nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) level, which is crucial for health and longevity. Late-night eating will also make you pack on unwanted pounds, as the excess calories will not be burned but stored as fat.

Preventing Cognitive Decline

Naturally, if you're going to live longer, you'll want to be healthy for the remainder, and that includes maintaining your cognitive function. Specific nutrients that can help prevent dementia and cognitive decline include vitamin D, DHA, folate and magnesium. Additional nutrients of notable interest, which are readily available in supplement form, include:

• Astaxanthin — Commonly called "king of the carotenoids," is a potent anti-inflammatory from specific types of microalgae and may be useful for treating joint and muscle pain. It also supports healthy vision and can be used as an "internal sunscreen."
• Ergothioneine — Found in porcini mushrooms, ergothioneine appears to play a specific role in protecting your DNA from oxidative damage. Along with glutathione, it may offer protection against age-related conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and heart disease.
• PQQ — Particularly important for the health and protection of your mitochondria, PQQ has been shown to help protect against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. It also works synergistically with CoQ10, producing better results than when either one is used alone. Celery, parsley and kiwi are dietary sources of PQQ.

Kick the Chemicals to the Curb

Naturally, there's also the issue of toxic exposures, which can take a toll on your health, so avoiding toxins is a given, right along with eating a wholesome diet of organic, unprocessed foods.

This includes tossing out your toxic household cleaners, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides and insecticides, just to name a few, and replacing them with nontoxic alternatives.

A group of scientists from Southeast University and Changzhou No. 7 People's Hospital in China recently published a study¹⁰ about the role of plastics in our environment and how long-term exposure affects our health. They found that high concentrations of nanoplastic particles reduced the life span of roundworms.

They believe that different levels of exposure may have effects on locomotion and immune response, indicating that nanopolystyrene is likely toxic to all types of organisms.

"Our results highlight the potential of long-term nanopolystyrene exposure in reducing longevity and in affecting health state during the aging process in environmental organisms," they wrote. Next week I will post my interview with leading researcher James Clement on his book, "The Switch," that will go into far more fascinating details on this topic.

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Researchers have now achieved the highest reported rates of inserting genes into human cells with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a necessary step for harnessing CRISPR for clinical gene-therapy applications. By chemically tweaking the ends of the DNA to be inserted, the new technique is up to five times more efficient than current approaches.

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A research team found the temperature increase caused by the probe beam could be utilized to generate a signal per se for detecting objects. Notably, this so-called 'active thermal detection' enables super-resolution imaging at all scales.

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