Why Does Nutrition Advice Contradict Itself?

One day coconut oil is a cure-all, the next it will kill you. Coffee is good! No, it’s bad. Carbs are evil and then they are a necessity. Why is there so much contradiction when it comes to nutrition advice? It often results in confusion and mistrust, so I thought I would address why these contradictions occur and what you can do to make sure you are getting the most accurate information possible.

The Media

Most people obtain their nutrition information from a media source. When it comes to getting views and clicks, the more sensational the headline, the better. The media is prone to use hyperbole when reporting on scientific studies. For example, when a study found that butter had a neutral effect on cardiovascular disease risk when compared to other foods, the TIME magazine headline read, “Butter is Back!”

When the media overstates results of studies, this lends to the confusion that consumers experience. One day butter will kill you, and the next day it will save you. When you read the actual studies behind the headlines, the authors are much more reserved in their analyses.

The Nature of Evidence-Based Advice

Often the media will take one small study and run the result as if it is absolute fact. However, the way that good evidence-based advice is formed takes time and a multitude of studies. In this way, a good case can be built for giving a nutrition recommendation.

The types of studies also matter. There is a “hierarchy of scientific evidence” that classifies which study designs are strongest. For example, a randomized clinical trial holds much more weight than a case study. Unfortunately, study design is not always considered.

Finally, recognize that nutritional science is constantly evolving. Evidence builds upon itself and nutrition advice sometimes needs to be clarified, modified or completely changed based on the progression of evidence.

When taking nutrition advice, whether it be from a professional or a media outlet, be sure that it is built on sound scientific evidence. Confirm that supporting references point to peer-reviewed literature. Ask critical questions about supporting studies, including their type and reproducibility.

Bias

Bias exists in most all situations. To arrive at good nutrition advice, all of us must do our best to eliminate as much bias as possible. For example, good scientific studies try their best to eliminate bias on the part of the researchers. Researchers are human, after all, and can be biased toward a particular result or perhaps influenced by a funding source.

In addition, most of us have some level of “confirmation bias.” This means that we tend to favor evidence that upholds our pre-existing beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them. When we become aware of this quality of human nature, we can approach life with a more open mind. Be aware that your own bias affects your ability to accept and process nutrition advice as well. This goes for RDNs, too — we also can get entrenched in some rigid views of food, weight and health.

Source

It can be difficult to discern which news sources to trust. Almost anyone can label themselves a nutrition expert and share advice. It’s pretty easy for anyone to start a blog, Facebook page or Twitter account and start handing out advice.

Be wary if the source of the information also is trying to sell you something, even if they are a professional. For example, one well known TV doctor dishes out advice that is credible on one segment and out of left field on the next. Even though he is an MD, he is in entertainment and the producers of his show are looking for content that will sell.

Seek out nutrition information from sources that strive to be unbiased and based on scientific evidence. One example is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Academic institutions usually are reliable sources as well.

Conclusion

4 Tips to Beat the Post FNCE Blues

By now, you’ve probably come off the FNCE adrenaline rush, having been surrounded by motivating peers in the nutrition field, and are now eating your post-FNCE blues away with the free samples you received. However, now is the time to put your new skills and connections to work!

FNCE is the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo that occurs annually across the country bringing dietetic and nutrition professionals together around the world. This is a time to be surrounded by the coolest people (no bias here) and greatly expand your network by interacting in various capacities at the expo, sessions or events. FNCE allows attendees to gain knowledge and skills that will improve interventions, patient participation and results, as well as build upon existing knowledge with emerging research and innovative tips and tricks of the trade.

Following FNCE be sure to:

Start Sending Those E-mails!

Send e-mails and follow up with those you met. Fostering relationships is key to having a successful career. Thank the people you interacted with for sharing their advice, tips and research with you.

Put the New Information into Play

Use the newly acquired skills and information gained by modifying interventions, adjusting research questions or starting new projects after being inspired by the experts you met.

Remember: Follow Your Passions

Say yes to things that excite you, take hold of opportunities that come your way and be patient!

Take Care of YOU

Being involved in multiple projects and various sectors within the nutrition field is great, but to optimally perform we need to get adequate sleep, fuel ourselves properly and maintain our social health. Although most RDNs or future RDNs are Type A and want everything to be perfect, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to take care of you.

And now you can look forward to entering the next 100 years of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics with your robust network and newly acquired skills!

See you next year at FNCE in the nation’s capital where after the conference we will storm the Hill to advocate for the profession.

How to Throw a Party for All Dietary Preferences

My gluten-free, dairy-free aunt and dairy-free cousin recently threw me the most spectacular baby shower. They thought of every detail — including how to please the more than 30 guests with various dietary preferences.

First, they had a “mom-osa” bar, which I appreciated greatly since alcohol is a thing of the past for me right now. I enjoyed sipping my sparking water with a splash of pineapple juice and fresh berries. Champagne was available for those who wanted to imbibe.

They also had a buffet of Greek food including hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki sauce, pita bread, fresh cut vegetables, tabbouleh and stuffed grape leaves. It was the perfect light meal for a shower and the buffet-style service allowed people to pick and choose the foods that were appropriate for them.

My aunt made two desserts. A scrumptious zucchini spice layered cake with traditional buttercream frosting and a platter of gluten-free white champagne cupcakes, which meant everyone could enjoy a celebratory treat.

If hosting a party — and this is the time of year when many of us do — you are likely to have guests with dietary restrictions or food allergies, and the last thing you want is for them to be left out of the food festivities. At the same time, trying to please everyone can be exhausting.

Follow these four tips to help you throw a party for all your guests, no matter their dietary preferences:

Get the Details

RSVPs aren’t just for confirming attendance. They also are important to gather insight on any special dietary needs. Whether guests call, text or email their response to your invitation, be sure to have them include any food allergies or preferences so you can plan accordingly.

Explore Your Options

Once you know the dietary needs you’ll need to consider when creating a menu for your party, it’s time to jump on the computer and find recipes that will work. Find collections of recipes online that are devoted to dietary preferences and also explore cookbooks designed for specific diets.

Allow Guests to Customize Their Plates

If you have guests with various dietary needs, it may be easier to offer a deconstructed menu and let guests build their own plates with foods they prefer. The key is to provide a variety of add-ins, condiments and toppings. For example, you could have a build-your-own yogurt parfait bar with various fresh berries and fruit, regular Greek yogurt, coconut yogurt, nuts, gluten-free and regular granola, honey and cinnamon. A salad bar or taco bar also are easy meal options that give guests options.

Offer Two Variations of the Same Meal

You also can create two variations of one meal to please all your guests, such as a regular and a vegetarian chili. It may be more work for you, but your guests will appreciate the time and effort you put into making sure their needs were met. This also is a good option if the party calls for a specific or traditional meal.

Your pregnancy and baby guide

Am I pregnant? What should I be eating? Is it normal to be this tired? How can I help my partner during labour?
Whatever you want to know about getting pregnant, being pregnant or caring for your new baby, you should find it here.
You'll find detailed week-by-week guides and lots of expert videos, parents' tips and interactive tools to explore.
Before you start, why not:
work out when your baby is due with our due date calculator 
log in to create your own personalised birth plan
Want to know if you're really pregnant?

Got any of the signs and symptoms of pregnancy? Read our guide on finding out if you're pregnant.
Find out about pregnancy tests, or your next steps if you've had a positive pregnancy test.
Also, find out more about getting help if you're not getting pregnant.
Keeping well in pregnancy

everything you need to know about a healthy pregnancy diet and supplements in pregnancy
smoking and drinking can harm an unborn baby – read our stop smoking and alcohol pages for help trying to quit
Antenatal care and the baby's development
find out as much as you can about what's happening inside you in the first few weeks of pregnancy
how to cope with all those common pregnancy problems, like morning sickness, tiredness and headaches
find out all about the ultrasound scans and checks and tests you'll be offered as part of your antenatal care, including screening for Down's syndrome
Vaccinations in pregnancy
Why it's recommended that women have the flu vaccine in pregnancy and whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy.
Labour and birth

Find out all you need to know about labour and birth, including where you can have your baby – for example, either in a hospital, midwife-led unit, or at home – and what pain relief is available, such as gas and air (entonox) and epidural.
Your new baby

When your baby arrives, you can find advice on all the essentials of baby care, including breastfeeding, bottle feeding, changing nappies, and washing your baby. Plus:
find out how to cope with a crying baby and get tips on settling them into a good sleep routine
as a new mum, find out about the possible changes to your body and your relationships, and know how to spot the symptoms of postnatal depression
if you have twins or multiples, find out about feeding, getting out and about, and sleep issues
Feeding, teething and tantrums
find out about all aspects of parenting, including support and services, keeping fit, and going back to work
know the signs of serious illness in babies and the symptoms of infectious illnesses such as chickenpox
find out how to keep your baby safe and what to do if they have an accident
at six months old your baby will need to start solid foods, so be prepared with our weaning tips and first food ideas
as your baby becomes a toddler, get tips on teething, the importance of play, temper tantrums and potty training
Want to share your pregnancy and baby experiences?

Connect with others who can offer practical and emotional support about any pregnancy and baby issues on the HealthUnlocked NCT forum.

Going dry for a month boosted my health

Joanna Munro describes herself as the typical mother who enjoys a well-earned glass of her favourite tipple at the end of a trying day.

As someone who drank no more than a couple of glasses of wine a day, Joanna, 45, was by no means a heavy drinker. But one day, she realised that "wine o'clock" had become more of a habit than a pleasure.

She gave up alcohol for a month for Dry January to prove to herself she was still in control but she tells how she soon started noticing unexpected health benefits.  

Pleasure or habit?

"Back in December, I was a typical example of the mother who reaches for her first glass of rosé while simultaneously burning dinner, tripping over the dog, emptying the washing machine and resolving conflicts between the kids. Then I realized that "wine o'clock" had become an automatic reflex that wasn’t so much a pleasure as a habit. 

"I didn’t find an answer to my question on the internet, but I did find Alcohol Concern’s website and a challenge called Dry January. I liked the idea – an opportunity to prove to myself that I had more self-control than a four-year-old who’d been left alone in a Cadbury’s warehouse. If I was hooked, I’d be clawing my way up the curtains in despair within days.

"So I signed up. Over the month, my resolve was considerably strengthened by Dry January’s Facebook page and the determination and solidarity of those taking part. The challenge worked a charm because people can encourage each other and be accountable to each other.

"The aim was simple on paper: give up alcohol for one month. As I’m an eternal optimist, I added an hour of exercise every day for good measure. I quickly worked out a circuit through my local village. When attempting abstinence for the first time in 12 years, sunshine and great countryside proved ideal to lift this trainee teetotaler’s spirits."

Health benefits

"The first week, I rode the virtuosity wave. I was a disdainful diva, even declining champagne on the beach to toast in the New Year. By the middle of the second week, however, the queen of self-control and restraint was glowering, Gollum-like, over her glass of Perrier and lime as hubby savoured his beer.

"After two weeks the cold turkey wore off, and the first benefits kicked in. I was in bed snoring shamelessly before 10 and was awake before the alarm at 6.15am. My skin was looking better. I had more energy, and was proud of myself for sticking at it.

"Although weight loss wasn’t a decisive factor for me, I lost 5lbs (2.3kg) in the first month and I have now lost nearly 10lbs and banished three inches (7.5cm) of muffin top from my waistline. Like many other people on Dry January’s page, my problem was the inexplicable desire to replace my evening dose of wine with snacks in front of the TV.

"Yet in the long run, less wine meant less nibbles. I realised how alcohol opened up my appetite and made me reach for those salty nibbles.

"Less nibbles meant less weight. Not exactly rocket science, but a winning equation nevertheless."

Five hacks for a good work-life balance

In today's often intense work culture, it can be difficult to strike and successfully maintain a good balance between work and our personal lives. This, in many cases, can cause burnout. Here, we provide for some tips on how to keep this balance and avoid self-sabotage.

Reportedly, people in the United States work more than any other population, and data provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development indicate that the average U.S. employee put in a total of 1,783 working hours during 2016.

Some surveys suggest that U.S. workers stay connected with job-related issues in their spare time, including at weekends and when on vacation. Overwork can lead to what is often referred to as "burnout," which is a state of feeling mentally and physically exhausted, devoid of motivation, and without much to offer.

So, what are some things that you can do to avoid your work and personal lives blending into each other? How can you maintain a sense of balance that allows you to harvest your full potential in both areas of your life? We offer you a few tips that might help you to regain - or maintain - equilibrium.

Essentially, if you want to strike that often elusive work-life balance, it is important to fully separate the two and ensure that you do not allow them to mix with each other. Setting boundaries is crucial, but what is perhaps most difficult is to set mental boundaries between your work and private life to avoid cross-spillage.

1. Dismiss the smartphone

In order to avoid getting tangled up in work during your free time, it might be a good idea to make it clear that you will not respond to work e-mails or take work-related calls outside of business hours.

If you are self-employed or work from home, try to schedule a cluster of hours each day and declare those as your "office hours."

Research has shown, time and again, that the state of being permanently connected - always inspecting your electronic devices to check your e-mails, calls, and messages - is linked to significantly higher stress levels.

So, make sure to put your phone away after work. It may be better still if you leave it in a completely different room, a study suggests.

Prof. Adrian Ward, from the University of Texas in Austin, explains that our phones can act as "brain drains," and that constantly worrying about our phone notifications uses up important - and limited - mental resources.

2. Don't let job worries hijack private time

This is a tricky one, since it can be hard to dismiss work-related issues that have been on your mind for the entire day, and there is no magic switch to allow you to achieve that instantly. However, several recent studies have shown that stress weighs down relationships.

So, if you want to maintain good-quality relationships with your family, partner, or friends, try your best to keep work-related stress away from the dinner table, and do not let it monopolize conversations and "family time."

Medical News Today have recently reported on research suggesting that practicing meditation and yoga can improve the individual sense of well-being. Another study also explains how these mind-body practices can reduce stress at a physiological level.

Meditating your way out of a work "mindset" at the end of a long day might allow you to set aside any work-related worries and instead focus on spending quality time with your loved ones, or even just with yourself.

3. Consider having a 'work uniform'

If you don't already have a job that requires you to wear some kind of uniform, such as protective equipment, on a regular basis, then perhaps you should consider coming up with your own dress code for work.

One study suggests that there is such a thing as "enclothed cognition," meaning that what you wear can influence how you think about yourself and others. Different clothes have different meanings for different people, so this is an individual mental experience.

Thus, picking a particular set of clothes to serve as your "work uniform" might boost your confidence and allow you to perform better while in a work environment.

At the same time, having different kinds of clothes and accessories for work and for activities outside of work could help you to draw a mental line between one context and another.

4. 'Bookend' your commute with a good read

Existing research shows that reading can improve your life in more ways than one, and one of these ways is by significantly reducing stress levels.

In a study covered by MNT, Dr. David Lewis - who conducted the research at the University of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom - noted that books "cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness."

So why not bookend your commute to work - or your self-set business hours, if you work on a freelance basis, for instance - with a good story, or some inspiring poetry?

Reading might help to dissipate potential anticipatory stress before work and ease the way into a more relaxed headspace after.

5. Delegate chores to indulge in 'you time'

New research suggests that delegating, or "outsourcing," responsibilities such as house chores can greatly improve life satisfaction. If you leave work to return to a sink chock-full with dirty dishes, that will not do much to alleviate stress and will instead contribute to your physical state of exhaustion.

Instead, try to delegate chores where possible, or consider hiring someone to help you. That way, you can free up time to do what really counts: engaging in activities that improve your mental and physical well-being, such as hobbies.

One U.K.-based campaign suggests that leisure activities not only decrease stress levels but can also have a beneficial effect on your work by improving your creativity and making you more mentally "flexible."

Life outside of work, says Prof. Robert Lechler - who is the president of the U.K. Academy of Medical Sciences - "is not an added extra - it is integral to who we are and the skills we must develop to be successful."

All jobs are different, so not all of the tips given above may fit your current situation. The key is to do what's best for you and your well-being.

Do you have a personalized strategy for maintaining work-life balance? If so, what does it entail? We look forward to reading your opinions.

Prenatal acetaminophen may affect masculinity

When we have a headache or a cold, many of us pop a Tylenol without a second thought. But acetaminophen - the active analgesic ingredient in the drug - is also commonly used to ease pain during pregnancy. A new study suggests that this could be a major problem.

The new research suggests that taking the common analgesic acetaminophen during pregnancy is not a good idea, especially for mothers expecting male babies.

The study, published in the journal Reproduction, examines the effects of acetaminophen in mouse fetuses and finds adverse effects on the masculinization of the mouse brain, extending all the way into adulthood.

Previous research has already indicated that acetaminophen can suppress the development of testosterone in male fetuses, potentially leading to developmental changes in the reproductive system and the brain.

Testosterone is a male sex hormone that drives the growth and development of the male body, as well as the "male programming" of the brain. In men, testosterone controls sex drive, bone and muscle mass, fat distribution, and the production of sperm and red blood cells.

In the previous studies in rodents, inhibited levels of testosterone in the fetuses were shown to raise the risk of testicular malformation in newborns.

But there are other health risks posed by inhibited levels of testosterone, and many of them manifest in the behavior of adult males, suggests the new research.

The first author of the study is Prof. Anders Hay-Schmidt, who, at the time of the study, was part of the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Acetaminophen inhibits bmasculinization

Prof. Hay-Schmidt and colleagues gave mice a dose of acetaminophen almost equivalent to that which pregnant women are usually recommended.

The researchers evaluated the male rodents' behavior, looking at their aggressiveness toward other males and their ability to mark their territory, as well as their ability to mate.

As adults, the mice whose mothers had received acetaminophen performed significantly worse across all of the three criteria.

Prenatal exposure to acetaminophen resulted in alterations in the adults' urinary marking behavior. The rodents were also less aggressive toward males invading their territory. The mice also had "reduced intromissions and ejaculations" during mating.

The behavioral changes noticed by the researchers were also backed up by investigations into the mice's brains. The researchers found that the number of neurons had significantly decreased in the brain region that controls sex drive.

Specifically, in the acetaminophen-exposed male mice, the brain area called the "sexually dimorphic nucleus" in the anterior hypothalamus had "half as many neurons as the control mice."

The corresponding author of the study, Dr. David Møbjerg Kristensen - of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - comments on the findings.

He says, "We have demonstrated that a reduced level of testosterone means that male characteristics do not develop as they should. This also affects sex drive."

"In a trial, mice exposed to paracetamol at the fetal stage were simply unable to copulate in the same way as our control animals. Male programming had not been properly established during their fetal development, and this could be seen long afterwards in their adult life. It is very worrying."

Dr. David Møbjerg Kristensen

He recommends taking the painkiller with caution and also reminds future mothers to consult their physician if they are unsure about the medication they wish to take.

"I personally think that people should think carefully before taking medicine. These days it has become so common to take paracetamol that we forget it is a medicine, and all medicine has side effects. If you are ill, you should naturally take the medicine you need. After all, having a sick mother is more harmful for the fetus," says Dr. Kristensen.

What happens to the brain as we age?

Brain aging is inevitable to some extent, but not uniform; it affects everyone, or every brain, differently. Slowing down brain aging or stopping it altogether would be the ultimate elixir to achieve eternal youth. Is brain aging a slippery slope that we need to accept? Or are there steps we can take to reduce the rate of decline?

At around 3 pounds in weight, the human brain is a staggering feat of engineering with around 100 billion neurons interconnected via trillions of synapses.

Throughout our lifetime our brain changes more than any other part of our body. From the moment the brain begins to develop in the third week of gestation to old age, its complex structures and functions are changing, networks and pathways connecting and severing.

During the first few years of life, a child's brain forms more than 1 million new neural connections every second. The size of the brain increases fourfold in the preschool period and by age 6 reaches around 90 percent of adult volume.

The frontal lobes - the area of the brain responsible for executive functions, such as planning, working memory, and impulse control - are among the last areas of the brain to mature, and they may not be fully developed until 35 years of age.

Normal brain aging

As we age, all our body systems gradually decline - including the brain. "Slips of the mind" are associated with getting older. People often experienced those same slight memory lapses in their 20s and yet did not give it a second thought.

Older individuals often become anxious about memory slips due to the link between impaired memory and Alzheimer's disease. However, Alzheimer's and other dementias are not a part of the normal aging process.

Common memory changes that are associated with normal aging include:

• Difficulty learning something new:Committing new information to memory can take longer.
• Multitasking: Slowed processing can make processing and planning parallel tasks more difficult.
• Recalling names and numbers: Strategic memory that helps memory of names and numbers begins to decline at age 20.
• Remembering appointments: Without cues to recall the information, appointments can be put safely in storage and then not accessed unless the memory is jogged.

While some studies show that one third of older people struggle with declarative memory (memories of facts or events that have been stored and can be retrieved), other studies indicate that one fifth of 70-year-olds perform cognitive tests just as well as their 20-year-old counterparts.

Scientists are currently piecing together sections of the giant puzzle of brain research to determine how the brain subtly alters over time to cause these changes.

General changes that are thought to occur during brain aging include:

• Brain mass: Shrinkage in the frontal lobe and hippocampus - areas involved in higher cognitive function and encoding new memories - starting around the age of 60 or 70 years.
• Cortical density: Thinning of the outer-ridged surface of the brain due to declining synaptic connections. Fewer connections may contribute to slower cognitive processing.
• White matter: White matter consists of myelinated nerve fibers that are bundled into tracts and carry nerve signals between brains cells. Myelin is thought to shrink with age, and as a result, slow processing and reduce cognitive function.
• Neurotransmitter systems: Researchers suggest that the brain generates less chemical messengers with aging, and it is this decrease in dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and norepinephrine activity that may play a role in declining cognition and memory and increased depression.

In understanding the neural basis of cognitive decline, researchers can uncover which therapies or strategies may help slow or prevent brain deterioration.

Recent discoveries in brain aging

Several brain studies are ongoing to solve the brain-aging conundrum, and discoveries are being frequently made.

Stem cells

Recently, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York revealed in a mouse study that stem cells in the brain's hypothalamus likely control how fast aging occurs in the body.

"Our research shows that the number of hypothalamic neural stem cells naturally declines over the life of the animal, and this decline accelerates aging," says Dr. Dongsheng Cai, Ph.D., professor of molecular pharmacology at Einstein. "But we also found that the effects of this loss are not irreversible. By replenishing these stem cells or the molecules they produce, it's possible to slow and even reverse various aspects of aging throughout the body."

Injecting hypothalamic stem cells into the brains of normal old mice and middle-aged mice, whose stem cells had been destroyed, slowed or reversed measures of aging. The researchers say this is a first step toward slowing the aging process and potentially treated age-related diseases.

SuperAgers

"SuperAgers" are a rare group of individuals over the age of 80 years who have memories as sharp as healthy people decades younger.

Research by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, compared SuperAgers with a control group of same-age individuals. They found that the brains of SuperAgers shrink at a slower rate than their age-matched peers, which results in a greater resistance to the typical memory loss observed with age, thus revealing that age-related cognitive decline is not inevitable.

"We found that SuperAgers are resistant to the normal rate of decline that we see in average elderly, and they're managing to strike a balance between life span and health span, really living well and enjoying their later years of life," says Emily Rogalski, associate professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

By studying how SuperAgers are unique, the researchers hope to unearth biological factors that might contribute to maintaining memory ability in advanced age.

Therapies to help slow brain aging

Factors have been discovered that speed up brain aging. For example, obesity in midlife may accelerate brain aging by around 10 years, and both sugar and diet varieties of soda are correlated with fast-tracking brain age, having smaller overall brain volume, poorer episodic memory, and a shrunken hippocampus.

A growing body of evidence suggests that people who experience the least declines in cognition and memory all share certain characteristics:

• partaking in regular physical activity
• pursuing intellectually stimulating activities
• staying socially active
• managing stress
• eating healthily
• sleeping well

Recent research highlights a plethora of ways that we can actively take charge of our health and perhaps decrease the rate at which our brains age.

Exercise

One intervention that crops up time and time again to stave off age-related mental decline is exercise.

A combination of aerobic and resistance exercise of moderate intensity for at least 45 minutes each session and on as many days of the week as possible has been reported to boost brain power in people aged 50 and over significantly.

Likewise, other research by the University of Miami found that individuals over the age of 50 who engaged in little to no exercise experienced a decline in memory and thinking skills comparable to 10 years of aging in 5 years, compared with those who took part in moderate- or high-intensity exercise. Essentially, physical activity slowed brain aging by 10 years.

Dancing has also shown to have an anti-aging effect on the brain of seniors. A study conducted by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany found that while regular exercise can reverse the signs of brain aging, the most profound effect was seen in people who danced.

Playing an instrument

Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, Canada, revealed why playing a musical instrument may help older adults ward off age-related cognitive declines and retain their listening skills.

Researchers found that learning to play a sound on a musical instrument changes brain waves in such a way that improves an individual's listening and hearing skills. The alteration in brain activity indicates that the brain rewires itself to compensate for disease or injuries that might prevent a person's ability to perform tasks.

"It has been hypothesized that the act of playing music requires many brain systems to work together, such as the hearing, motor and perception systems," said Dr. Bernhard Ross, senior scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute. "This study was the first time we saw direct changes in the brain after one session, demonstrating that the action of creating music leads to a strong change in brain activity."

Diet

A key component of brain health is diet. Recent research has linked omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the blood with healthy brain aging. Another study has also determined that consuming foods included in the Mediterranean or the MIND diet is associated with a lower risk of memory difficulties in older adults.

Research by the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, discovered that middle-aged people who have higher levels of lutein - a nutrient that is found in green leafy vegetables, such as kale and spinach, and eggs and avocados - had similar neural responses to younger individuals than of people the same age.

"As people get older, they experience typical decline. However, research has shown that this process can start earlier than expected. You can even start to see some differences in the 30s," informs Anne Walk, a postdoctoral scholar and the first author of the study. "We want to understand how diet impacts cognition throughout the lifespan. If lutein can protect against decline, we should encourage people to consume lutein-rich foods at a point in their lives when it has maximum benefit."

The number of American adults over the age of 65 is set to more than double in 40 years, rising from 40.2 million in 2010 to 88.7 million by the year 2050. Due to this aging population, it will become increasingly important to understand the cognitive changes that go hand in hand with aging.

While many questions remain regarding the aging brain, research is making progress in illuminating what happens to our cognitive functions and memory throughout our lifetime, and it is emphasizing ways we can preserve our mental abilities to improve our quality of life as we advance into older adulthood.

Try alternative therapies

Some people find alternative therapies useful to help them to quit smoking, but there is currently no strong evidence that any of these will improve your chances of becoming smoke-free, and, in some cases, these methods may actually cause the person to smoke more.

Some alternative methods to help you to stop smoking might include:

• filters
• smoking deterrents
• electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes)
• tobacco strips and sticks
• nicotine drinks, lollipops, straws, and lip balms
• hypnosis
• acupuncture
• magnet therapy
• cold laser therapy
• herbs and supplements
• yoga, mindfulness, and meditation

Prepare for quit day

Once you have decided to stop smoking, you are ready to set a quit date. Pick a day that is not too far in the future (so that you do not change your mind), but which gives you enough time to prepare.

There are several ways to stop smoking, but ultimately, you need to decide whether you are going to:

• quit abruptly, or continue smoking right up until your quit date and then stop
• quit gradually, or reduce your cigarette intake slowly until your quit date and then stop

Research that compared abrupt quitting with reducing smoking found that neither produced superior quit rates over the other, so choose the method that best suits you.

Here are some tips recommended by the American Cancer Society to help you to prepare for your quit date:

• Tell friends, family, and co-workers about your quit date.
• Throw away all cigarettes and ashtrays.
• Decide whether you are going to go "cold turkey" or use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or other medicines.
• If you plan to attend a stop-smoking group, sign up now.
• Stock up on oral substitutes, such as hard candy, sugarless gum, carrot sticks, coffee stirrers, straws, and toothpicks.
• Set up a support system, such as a family member that has successfully quit and is happy to help you.
• Ask friends and family who smoke to not smoke around you.
• If you have tried to quit before, think about what worked and what did not.

Daily activities - such as getting up in the morning, finishing a meal, and taking a coffee break - can often trigger your urge to smoke a cigarette. But breaking the association between the trigger and smoking is a good way to help you to fight the urge to smoke.

On your quit day:

• Do not smoke at all.
• Stay busy.
• Begin use of your NRT if you have chosen to use one.
• Attend a stop-smoking group or follow a self-help plan.
• Drink more water and juice.
• Drink less or no alcohol.
• Avoid individuals who are smoking.
• Avoid situations wherein you have a strong urge to smoke.

You will almost certainly feel the urge to smoke many times during your quit day, but it will pass. The following actions may help you to battle the urge to smoke:

• Delay until the craving passes. The urge to smoke often comes and goes within 3 to 5 minutes.
• Deep breathe. Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of three and exhale through your mouth for a count of three. Visualize your lungs filling with fresh air.
• Drink water sip by sip to beat the craving.
• Do something else to distract yourself. Perhaps go for a walk.

Remembering the four Ds can often help you to move beyond your urge to light up.

Five ways to quit smoking

Deciding that you are now ready to quit smoking is only half the battle. Knowing where to start on your path to becoming smoke-free can help you to take the leap. We have put together some effective ways for you to stop smoking today.

Tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke are responsible for more than 480,000 deathseach year in the United States, according to the American Lung Association.

Most people are aware of the numerous health risks that arise from cigarette smoking and yet, "tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease" in the U.S.

Quitting smoking is not a single event that happens on one day; it is a journey. By quitting, you will improve your health and the quality and duration of your life, as well as the lives of those around you.

To quit smoking, you not only need to alter your behavior and cope with the withdrawal symptoms experienced from cutting out nicotine, but you also need to find other ways to manage your moods.

With the right game plan, you can break free from nicotine addiction and kick the habit for good. Here are five ways to tackle smoking cessation.

Scientists may have found a way to stop cancer from metastasizing

Metastasis is the main cause of death in cancer, and current treatments against it are ineffective. But new research may have found a way to slow down, and perhaps even halt, the spread of cancer cells.

Metastasis is the process by which cancer spreads throughout the body. During this process, cancer cells may either invade nearby healthy tissue, penetrate the walls of lymph nodes, or enter the surrounding blood vessels.

But new research may have found a way to control metastasis by inhibiting the migration of cancer cells. Stopping the cells from migrating is key in stopping metastasis.

What enables cancer cells to migrate is a set of protrusions that help them to move. The team of researchers - led by Mostafa El-Sayed, Julius Brown Chair and Regents Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech's School in Atlanta, GA - managed to successfully cut off these protrusions using a special technique.

The findings were published in the journal PNAS.

Breaking cancer cells' 'legs'

The long, thin protrusions that help cancer cells to move are called filopodia. They are an extension of a set of "broad, sheet-like" fibers called lamellipodia, which can be found around the edges of the cell.

The suffix "-podia" (or "-podium," singular) comes from the Greek language and means "something footlike."

Essentially, lamellipodia and filopodia are tiny "legs" that help healthy cells to move within the tissue. But in cancerous cells, lamellipodia and filopodia are produced in excess.

The researchers used so-called nanorods, made of gold nanoparticles, to obstruct these tiny legs.

With the help of nanotechnology, scientists are able to reduce the size of certain materials to a nanoscale - with "nano" meaning the billionth part of a meter - at which point these materials start to show new chemical and physical properties.

Prof. El-Sayed and colleagues introduced the nanorods locally. The nanorods were covered with a coating of molecules, called RGD peptides, that made them attach to a specific kind of protein called integrin.

"The targeted nanorods tied up the integrin and blocked its functions, so it could not keep guiding the cytoskeleton to overproduce lamellipodia and filopodia," explains co-author Yan Tang, a postdoctoral assistant in computational biology.

A cytoskeleton is the support structure of a cell, responsible for giving it a shape. It also has additional functions, with one of them being to form the filopodia protrusions.

Method could kill cancer cells

The experiments revealed that simply binding the nanorods to the integrin delayed the migration of the cancer cells.

Importantly, this method avoided healthy cells, which could make this therapy drastically less damaging for patients who undergo toxic chemotherapy treatment.

"There are certain, specific integrins that are overproduced in cancerous cells," explains Moustafa Ali, one of the study's first authors. "And you don't find them so much in healthy cells."

In the second stage of the experiment, Prof. El-Sayed and team heated the gold nanoparticles with a laser of near-infrared light. This effectively stopped the migration of the malignant cells.

"The light was not absorbed by the cells, but the gold nanorods absorbed it, and as a result, they heated up and partially melted cancer cells they are connected with, mangling lamellipodia and filopodia."

Prof. El-Sayed and his colleagues have previously conducted similar experiments in mice, in which they applied the same method. The former research found no toxicity from the gold for up to 15 months after the treatment.

The researchers hope to soon be able to treat "head, neck, breast, and skin cancers with direct, local nanorod injections combined with the low-power near-infrared laser."

The laser could reach the gold nanorods at 4 to 5 centimeters deep inside the tissue, and deeper tumors could be treated with deeper nanorods injections, the authors say.

Poliovirus kills off cancer cells, stops tumor regrowth

Researchers from Duke University in Durham, NC, may have discovered a new way of killing off cancer cells.

The team was jointly led by Dr. Matthias Gromeier, a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, and Prof. Smita Nair, who is an immunologist in the Department of Surgery.

The new research - which is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine - shows how a modified poliovirus enables the body to use its own resources to fight off cancer. The modified virus bears the name of recombinant oncolytic poliovirus (PVS-RIPO).

PVS-RIPO has been in clinical trials since 2011 and preliminary results have offered hope to patients with one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumor: recurrent glioblastoma. So, the researchers set out to investigate more deeply how exactly PVS-RIPO works.

Explaining the rationale behind their research endeavor, Dr. Gromeier says, "Knowing the steps that occur to generate an immune response will enable us to rationally decide whether and what other therapies make sense in combination with poliovirus to improve patient survival."

Poliovirus attacks tumors, inhibits regrowth

The researchers examined the behavior of the poliovirus in two human cell lines: melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer. They observed that the poliovirus attaches itself to cancerous cells. These cells have an excess of the CD155 protein, which acts as a receptor for the poliovirus.

Then, the poliovirus starts to attack the malignant cells, triggering the release of antigens from the tumor. Antigens are toxic substances that the body does not recognize, therefore setting off an immune attack against them.

So, when the tumor cells release antigens, this alerts the body's immune system to start attacking. At the same time, the poliovirus infects the dendritic cells and macrophages.