How to Adjust to the Fall Time Change

 

t’s that time of year again – time to fall back and set our clocks back one hour.   Resetting clocks in devices is simple.    Unfortunately, your body clock is not nearly as easy to reprogram.    This comes with some serious health consequences.  An hour time shift does not seem like a lot, but your body runs on a tight schedule and this one-hour change throws us off.

Scientists have documented that the shift to daylight saving time in the spring, when we lose an hour of sleep, is linked to an a much higher rate of attacks and car accidents.  Although we gain an hour to sleep – the fall change throws off the sleep cycle and that is where all the problems come from.

Over the last 20 years, scientists have documented that, in addition to the master clock in our brains, every cell in our body has a circadian rhythm and time-keeping mechanism. The body and cell’s circadian rhythm help regulate important functions such as sleep and metabolism. And increasingly, there's evidence that when our habits — such as when we eat and sleep — are out of sync with our internal clocks, it can harm us.

When we disrupt our routines with erratic sleep or eating habits, it can increase the risk of metabolic disease. For instance, overnight shift workers are at much higher risk of developing diabetes, obesity and even cancer! Research also shows that kids who don't have set bedtimes and mealtimes are also more likely to become overweight.

As days get shorter with less daylight, it's easy to fall into bad habits, and light exposure is key to regulating circadian rhythm.     It is the primary signal to turn on the body’s metabolic processes for sleep and rest to active and alert.

How to prepare for the dark days

Go to bed an hour or so earlier and get up 8 hours later. 

Maximize your exposure to daylight in the morning hours, since it gets dark so early in the evening.

Minimize Nighttime light 

Exposure to light and electromagnetic fields from computers, phones, tablets, and T.V.’s all act as a stimulant, so it is important to minimize nighttime light exposure and blue light exposure in particular.  Blue light comes from artificial lighting.   Blue wavelengths – which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood – are disruptive at night.   Energy efficient lighting is packed with blue light as our electronics.

So try to turn off lights and if you must use a computer get a blue light filtering program that will adjust the amount of blue light emitted by your computer, phone, and tablets such as flux – https://justgetflux.com and the Twilight app for your phone.   Both allow you to set times and adjust blue light output of your devices automatically based on time of day!  You can also buy blue blocking glasses to use in the evening.   This may seem gimmicky but there is very well done research supporting the effectiveness of reducing blue light in the evening through these and other measures!

Exercise for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts almost one million Americans. It is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons which control movement. As Parkinson’s Disease progresses patients have progressive loss of the control of movement.

Symptoms generally develop slowly over years and can include:

Tremors, mainly at rest

Limb rigidity and stiffness

Walking and balance problems

In addition to these movement symptoms there are non-motor symptoms.   Non-motor symptoms include Hyposmia (loss of smell), sleep disorders, constipation, anxiety and depression.    These symptoms often affect patients more than their motor symptoms.

Exercise and Parkinson’s Disease

Exercise helps prevent Parkinson’s and slows the progression of the disease for those affected.   High levels of moderate to vigorous activities in mid or later life lower risk.    

Key parameters of exercise for Parkinson’s:

Task Intensity – higher is better meaning exercise must challenge the person.    

Task Specificity – the task must be specific to the motor circuits being affected – so using the area of the body affected is key.

Task Complexity – activity should be complex enough to engage the exerciser and require them to focus and engage.

To maximize benefit include activities that include an element of motor learning.   Introducing an element of skill development as part of an exercise program with activities such as dance or Tai Chi can be very beneficial. 

The Importance of Vigorous Aerobic Exercise

In addition to activities which challenge motor learning it is critical to engage in vigorous aerobic exercise.   This fits the overall requirement of engagement of the exerciser – more intense aerobic exercise requires more concentration and engagement!  Vigorous aerobic exercise is also shown to dramatically increase BDNF which is brain derived neurotrophic factor.   BDNF is like miracle grow for the brain – it is growth factor that is critical for maintaining synaptic connections and growing neurons.  Parkinson’s patients have decreased BDNF.

To learn more about exercise and Parkinson’s Disease check out this excellent interview with a leading Parkinson’s researcher:  https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/giselle-petzinger

 

The Benefits of Percussive Therapy

Percussive therapy has actually been around for a long time, but it was recently re-invented thanks to the invention of the Theragun.   Most of us have experienced a massage where the therapist deliver rapid taps/pressure to the body and know how good this can feel!

Theragun is the world’s first handheld Percussive Therapy Device.   Percussive Therapy can be defined as the rapid and repetitive application of pressure perpendicular to the body.    This percussive stimulus produces tissue pressure and vibration.  The stimulation distracts the brain from pain while delivering deep and effective treatment every time you use it.

The amplitude and frequency with which the Theragun comes on and off the body keeps the brain from acclimating to the stimulus so it keeps working overtime.    Amplitude is how far the head of the Theragun moves with each revolution and frequency is how many times per second a revolution is completed.    Amplitude and frequency combined with the level of pressure the user or therapist chooses to delivery determines the level of tissue vibration, pressure and percussive stimulus.

Theragun Percussive Therapy is massage reinvented™.  Theragun percussive therapy devices are scientifically calibrated with a 16mm amplitude to reach deep into muscles and stimulate heat and blood flow, helping to bring oxygen in and flush waste products out, improving the health and function of your muscles.   Theragun devices are scientifically calibrated to reach 60% deeper into muscle than the average home massager, at 40 times a second, for greater therapeutic benefits to the body.

One of the best features of Theragun products is their triangular handles which allow a person to self-administer a customized level of percussive stimulus to almost any area of their body without the need for another person!

Proven benefits of Percussive Therapy include:

Decreased soreness and stiffness

Increased blood flow

Maximizes warm-up and recovery

Decreases Lactic Acid

Enhanced recovery between work sets and interval allowing a better workout

Ideally Theragun should be used before, during and after your workout.    To learn more about Percussive Therapy and Theragun see a Workout Anytime Coach!    To get a sense of how Therabody works check out this short video:    https://youtu.be/TCn0dtnhknM

 

High-Intensity Interval Training Better for Seniors Too!

 

A recent long-term study proved that older adults get more benefit from high-intensity interval training.   The study showed that five years of high-intensity interval training increased quality of life, improved fitness and decreased mortality in a group of older adults.

Training Intensity is Key!

The Generation 100 Study randomly divided people in three different groups.   One group was assigned to do high-intensity interval using the 4X4 method twice a week, while the second group was instructed to train at a steady, moderate intensity for 50 minutes twice a week.   The control group exercised on their own without supervision and were given standard Norwegian Health Authorities' recommendations.

"Both physical and mental quality of life were better in the high-intensity group after five years than in the other two groups.   High-Intensity interval training also had the greatest protective effect on fitness," says the lead researcher of the study.

Does High-Intensity Training Lead to a Longer Life?

The short answer appears to be YES!    The high-intensity interval training group had significantly lower mortality during the five year study.     

To see a comprehensive review of the study go here:  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-high-intensity-older-people.html 

To learn how to perform the 4 X 4 interval training workout go here:   https://vimeo.com/75764170 

Exercise and Time Restricted Eating – A Powerful One – Two Punch for Breast Cancer Prevention!

 

Research shows that exercise is an important step in the prevention of breast cancer!  There are many studies that show strong evidence that exercise lowers the risk of breast cancer (along with colon cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal and stomach cancers!).

There is also strong evidence that exercise reduces anxiety, depressive symptoms, and fatigue in cancer patients.   Studies show that regular exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer by 20 – 30% with a 38% reduced risk of invasive breast cancers.

Studies also show that breast cancer patients with higher exercise levels have 29 – 41% lower risk of dying from breast cancer.

How Exercise Fights Cancer

Exercise has direct and powerful effects on human physiology that directly lower cancer risk including:

Improved insulin sensitivity – insulin resistance is directly linked to cancer growth and spread!

Improved blood circulation driving more oxygen into cells and helps the liver detoxify cancer causing substances.

Improved mitochondrial function – mitochondria are the energy factories of the cells and healthy mitochondria are key to prevention of many chronic diseases including cancer.

Decreased bodyfat levels – excess bodyfat produces copious amounts of estrogen and being overweight is an independent risk factor for breast cancer for this reason.

Improved immune function – a strong immune system is primed to recognize and destroy cancer cells before they form tumors!

Time Restricted Eating and Breast Cancer Prevention

Time restricted eating is exactly what it sounds like:  restricting your intake of food to a certain period of time each day.    Most Americans eat something every two hours for 16 – 18 hours per day.     Time restricted eating involves shortening this “feeding window” to somewhere between 8 and 12 hours per day.     

In the course of our evolution humans spent hundreds of thousands of years without constant access to food, and even as recently as the 50’s most people only ate two times per day.  Our bodies were not designed to have constant food intake all day, every day and doing so causes problems.

Every time we eat we secrete insulin which is necessary to absorb nutrients into our cells.  However frequent insulin secretion is one of the reasons so many Americans develop insulin resistance which frequently progresses to adult onset diabetes aka type 2 diabetes.   Woman with type 2 diabetes have a 23% higher risk for developing breast cancer and a 30.8% higher risk of breast cancer mortality

There is considerable research linking high evening/night-time calorie intake to elevated insulin resistance and inflammation both which drive breast cancer.

Enter Time-Restricted Eating where you simply restrict calorie intake to 11 - 12 hours per day - ideally having your first meal early in the day and finishing your last meal 11 hours later.   For example, an eating window of 7am - 6pm or 8am - 7pm.   Research has shown that this simple step can dramatically improve insulin sensitivity and inflammation and lower breast cancer risk.

A recent study analyzed data from the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living study and found that breast cancer survivors who didn’t eat for at least 13 hours overnight had a 36% reduction in the risk of recurrence and were 21% less likely to experience breast cancer related mortality. 

The proposed mechanism is reduced insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity, and this makes perfect sense because elevated insulin levels and decreased insulin levels are directly linked to cancer growth. Each 2-hour increase in nightly fasting was linked to progressively lower hemoglobin A1C levels which is a sign of improved insulin sensitivity.  

An advantage of time-restricted eating versus other dietary interventions like reduced calorie intake is that it is very simple to perform.   To learn more about time-restricted eating (which is also referred to as “intermittent fasting”) check out this previous blogpost on this subject:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting.html