The Health & Fitness Digest - Feb 12
/In today's digest:
- Study shows that long-distance steady running leads to brain shrinkage
- Each extra hour of sitting increases risk of diabetes by 22%, even if you exercise daily
- Eat your fruits "before" your workout but not "after", and limit quantities
- More than half of the world's workforce are saying that they're close to "burning out" because of work stress
Study shows that long-distance steady running leads to brain shrinkage
As many of my readers / followers are aware, I'm not a fan of long/steady cardio exercises (e.g. long running/cycling). Countless studies have shown that they are (i) less healthy than short bouts of intense exercise and (ii) not necessary to develop long-distance racing performance in endurance races. Now a new study from Germany revealed some additional "not so great" evidence on "long steady running": when studying ultramarathon runners, they discovered significant "brain shrinkage", especially in the brain's "grey matter". Furthermore, it took 6 months for the runners' brains to revert back to normal, and in some cases, even longer.
Each extra hour of sitting increases risk of diabetes by 22%, even if you exercise daily
I've written about the dangers of sitting in the past, and how studies have shown that people who spend their day on their feet are fitter/healthier than people who sit for hours, even if those who sit work out daily. Now a new study from the Netherlands has revealed a direct link between sitting and risk of Type II Diabetes: every additional hour of sitting increases risk of diabetes by 22%. Working in an office on the 25th floor, I find it difficult to resist the temptation of spending countless hours sitting at my desk, and getting a stand-up desk at the office is not an option at the moment. So here is what I do: I use a reminder built into Google Chrome to force me to get up every 25min, I go down and walk around the block every hour, and I conduct most of my meetings standing up.
Eat your fruits "before" your workout but not "after", and limit quantities
I've often advised against fruits as fuel for exercise because of the high fructose content: fructose doesn't easily get broken down into glucose, so it's harder for the body to use it as fuel. It goes straight from your gut to the liver, where it gets converted to triglycerides (fat) and VLDL (the "real" bad cholesterol). This is essentially how "fructose makes you fat" and why fruit juices are even worse than soda. But a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that fructose does get "burned" if eaten BEFORE a workout, but NOT AFTER. But even when eaten before a workout, much of it still gets converted into VLDL (again, the "real" bad cholesterol), so limit quantities and enjoy them as a treat.
More than half of the world's workforce are saying that they're close to "burning out" because of work stress
I was shocked when I read this report, and if we keep going in that direction, global warming isn't going to be the main problem for humans. A global survey covering over 100 countries revealed some disturbing statistics: (i) 53% of the employed people in the world are closer to "burning out" compared to 5 years ago. (ii) the No1 reason for that is "lack of exercise & health eating", followed by "IT frustrations" in No2, and "not enough staff" as No3. With oil price below $30, world commodity prices crashing, economic indicators pessimistic globally, and people continuing to lose their jobs, this is only going to get worse: you can't control what companies do, but you CAN CONTROL "how you to CHOSE to live". Don't be in that 53%!
As usual, any questions / comments, hit reply or comment below.
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Tony
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