Brain Health

Brain is the center of nervous system in all vertebrates, and it is so important that most of the people reckon that brain is the one and only tool which takes part in the process of every single outcome and consequence. Although brain is extremely important, but it is extremely complicated too, either in the sense of its very own structure, or its specific functionality.

Research done by John H. Byrne, Ph.D. professor and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, revealed some interesting results about studies of neuronal and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory.

According to the study, there are three main things which you can do to promote and improve the health of your brain. The very first thing to do is: exercise. A handful of recent evidence shows that while exercising, a process called neurogenesis happens, a term which refers to the generation of new nerve cells in the brain. Therefore, exercising does not only do good things to the heart, but it also brings benefits to our brain.

The second factor appears to be our diet. According to the study too, certain foods, which are also known as "brain foods" appear to have great benefits on our brain. So where can we consume these brain foods? Studies shown that foods which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, can build the gray matter in our brain. Other than that, foods which contain antioxidant also appears to keep our brain sharp.

The last but not least factor that we should really take note of, is our brain activity. As always, there is a saying of others, especially Malaysians, sounded like "my brain becomes rusty (berkarat)". It is true enough! According to Byrne, we must exercise our brain cells just as we exercise our muscles. Therefore, activities such as reading or doing a crossword puzzle can protect our brain.

B & B (Brain & B Vitamins)

GTF Products are famous for trivalent chromium, other than that, B vitamins can also be found in the products. This type of vitamin is very essential micronutrients for cell metabolism. Other than boosting up body metabolism, it also functions in maintaining healthy skin and muscle tone, immune system enhancement, nervous system functionalities, promoting cell growth and cell division (including red blood cells formation). Such vitamins are co-exist in some foods such as whole grain foods, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, nutritional yeast, brewer's yeast and molasses (derived from wikipedia).

Knowing all these health benefits which B vitamins can provide us, there is one additional benefit that we can take heart from this micronutrient. U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutritionist Lindsay H. Allen has conducted a research, where she took a closer look at what else B vitamins can offer to human health. According to the study, B vitamins appear to have another amazing effect in preventing decline in brain function, a result which has great positive aftermath as far as medicinal science field is concerned.

The analysis done from the study showed that human with lower levels of one of the B vitamins, which is folate (vitamin B9), is associated with dementia symptoms (which directly leads to poor brain function). Another collaborated result from the study showed that in women (but not men), lower level of folate also associated with the occurrence of depression.

Waist of Death

The body circumference that we always see in front of the mirror, sometimes bug us very much and occupy our minds every single time, especially for females. For women, how large the waist plays a very important aspect as far as the image of a female is concerned. As for the males, how large the waist rings alarm about whether they are at risk in getting cardiovascular diseases as well as obesity.

All this while, large waist circumference has always been associated with inflammation, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and heart disease, but a recent study pointed out that, a large waist circumference is now linked to higher risk of death from any cause over a nine-year period.

The study which was conducted by Eric J. Jacobs, Ph.D and his colleagues at the American Cancer Society, found out that after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and other risk factors, large waist circumference (47 inches or more in men / 42 inches or more in women) increase the risk of dying by two-folds. Especially in women, such large waist circumference causes the most influence and bring major bad aftermaths to them. But the reason why strong association between waist circumference and mortality among women with low BMI is still unclear. More studies and experiments are needed in the future to further prove this point.

Wrong Perception

A study which was published in general media recently has caused some turmoil in medical and nutrition field. The mentioned study was postulating that calcium supplements may increase risk of heart attacks. Such statement does not seems to be coming in congruent with what we are practicing for now. Although GTF Products do not really exist as calcium supplement products, it is more like a product which concerns more on metabolic syndromes, but on the other hand, since it comes in the form of milk (GTF Milk Powder), many users consider that it is one of the many types of calcium supplements.

First thing first, such postulation, although was published in general media, it seems to be flawed. Before we further discuss how such study is not proven right scientifically, let us take a quick view on what the first study has to say about how calcium supplements increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

A recent trial found out that calcium supplements may trigger cardiovascular events in healthy older women, such phenomenon caused a group of researchers to conduct a meta-analysis, which is an analysis where it involves re-analysis of certain results from lots of other studies and as if they belonged to one giant study. From the meta-analysis they have conducted, it appeared that people who took calcium supplements have 31 per cents higher in suffering heart diseases compare to those who do not take in any calcium supplements.

Such results might exist, but it does not appear to be accurate and convinced. According to Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., the vice president of Global Government and Scientific Affairs for the Natural Products Association, he pointed out that such study was not precisely referring that calcium supplements could increase the risk of heart diseases, because there are thousands of studies on calcium, but the authors who conducted the meta-analysis selected only eight to do the meta-analysis, in addition, none of the selected studies had cardiovascular outcomes as the primary end-points. He further encouraged that especially for those populations that are at high risk for fractures to continue their regimens by taking their calcium supplements without distracted by such less than satisfactory study.

Biological Clock & Triglycerides

Previously, an article about circadian rhythm is published in this blog site, and as all of you have been informed if you have read it, circadian cycle is so important for all of us, as it basically determines how our biological system works daily. Hence, following how it goes routinely should be done everyday.

Recently, another published study even strengthens the importance of the rhythm. US researchers have recently discovered that, if the body clock (biological clock) or circadian rhythm is disrupted, it could consequently interfere with a normal 24 hour cycle of high and low triglycerides in a way that leaves them at a high level all the time. If such phenomenon occurs, it generally means that the risk of atherosclerosis and heart diseases would increase.

Dr. Hussain and colleagues conducted the study with two batches of mice, where one of the groups consist of normal mice, where they were active at night, coming out to hunt for food, and sleep during the day time. While the other group, was specially bred so that they were adapted to a broken sleep-wake cycle, where the researchers refer them as the "clock mutants". For the clock mutant group, they had no regular pattern in sleep or wake, they were bred in a way that they eat both during the day as well as during night time.

The result of such study showed that, for the normal mice, the level of triglycerides peaked or even doubled when they were asleep, but comes to a lowest point at night when the mice were most active. In the contrary, researchers observed that the clock mutants had their triglyceride levels varied hardly throughout 24 hours, and what is more, the triglyceride levels stayed relatively high all the time.

A high level of triglycerides could cause major bad aftermaths such as metabolic disorders and obesity. Therefore, folks, you might need to start thinking of when to sleep, when to stay active from now onwards.

Importance of Socialites

Being lonely, or in other words, keeping yourself remote, away from other individuals in this social circle, is now claimed to be causing bad consequences in human health. To be precise, such phenomenon is said to be on par with other ill effects of human health such as obesity, smoking, alcoholism and inactivity (lack of exercise). Such inclination could harm the lifespan of mankind greatly.

A new study from the United States shown just that. The new study suggests that social interaction should be considered as one of the many important factors in order to extend lifespan. The researchers at Brigham Young University located in Utah, who conducted this study, found that individuals who are having social ties with friends, families, neighbors as well as co-workers can possibly improve odds of survival by as many as 50 percents.

Such analysis was being calculated by pooling the data from 148 published longitudinal studies (which is refers to studies where researchers tracking groups of people from time to time and taking constant observations as the time goes by), and results shown that individuals who had low social interaction had a very much similar impact on lifespan as smoking for about 15 cigarettes a day, or being an alcoholic.

Sleep Disorders & Dementia

According to Google Health, dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases, and it affects memory, thinking, language, judgment and behavior of oneself. Dementia often happens to old people, and as you may have guess correctly, Alzheimer's Disease is one of the many diseases categorized under dementia.

Recently, a new study published under the online issue of Neurology claimed that 63% of people who experienced Rapid Eye Movement Behavior Disorder (RBD) developed dementia or Parkinson's disease in later life. Speaking of RBD, it's actually a sleep disorder that involves abnormal behavior during the sleep phase, where under such phenomenon, vivid dreams occur, and causing sufferers to be unconsciously acting out their dreams where they might injure themselves or their bed partner.

According to the acting chief executive of this new research, Ruth Sunderland, he pointed out that however, the link between sleep disorder and dementia is not yet conclusive, but it is important for us to know that lifestyle factors play a vital part in reducing our risk of dementia, such as eating a healthy diet and doing regular exercises. In relation to that, GTF products (GTF Milk Powder) could play a very pivotal role in ensuring you a deep and comfortable sleep other than regulating your metabolism.