lowered stroke risk Archives - Amazing Health Advances

An Apple a Day May Keep the Pharmacist Away

AHA Publisher — Mon, 16 May 2022 07:21:27 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – Which would save more lives: eating an apple a day or taking statin drugs? Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? That’s a public health message that’s beenaround since 1866, but is it true? You don’t know, until you put it to the test. As I discuss in my video Flashback Friday: Does an Apple a Day Really Keep the Doctor Away?. The objective of “The Association Between Apple Consumption and Physician Visits,” an article published in the American Medical Association’s internal medicine journal, was simple: “To examine the relationship between eating an apple a day and keeping the doctor away.” The message has been “promoted by the lay media and powerful special interest groups, including the US Apple Association”—a force so powerful that it spent a whopping $7,000 lobbying politicians during the 2017-18 election cycle. (Okay, so maybe Big Apple is more like an itty bitty appletini.) At any rate, the beneficial effects of apple consumption may include facilitation of “weight loss, prevention of neurologic degradation [protection of the brain], cancer suppression, reduction in asthma symptoms, and improved cardiovascular health.” So, apple consumers ought to require less medical care, right? “Although some may jest, considering the relatively low cost of apples…a prescription for apple consumption could potentially reduce national health care spending if the aphorism holds true.” Researchers compared daily apple eaters to non-apple eaters and asked if they had been to the doctor in the last year, been hospitalized, seen a mental health professional, or took any prescription medication within the last month. More than 8,000 individuals were surveyed, and only about one out of ten reported they had eaten an apple in the last 24 hours. The finding? “Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away…” Maybe it takes more than an apple a day? Maybe we need to center our whole diet around plant foods. “However, the small fraction of US adults who eat an apple a day do appear to use fewer prescription medications.” Given that, perhaps we should “update the well-known proverb to clarify that, if anything, apple eating may help keep the pharmacist away.” But, based on the average medical prescription cost, the researchers estimate that “the difference in annual prescription medication cost per capita between apple eaters ($1697) and non-apple eaters ($1925) to be $228”—hundreds of dollars saved. So, if all U.S. adults were apple eaters, we could save nearly $50 billion. Of course, if you factor in the cost of the apples themselves, our net savings would be closer to $19 billion, but that’s still a hefty chunk of change. If this all seems a bit like tongue-in-cheek-apple-polishing, you may be tickled to learn this study was published suspiciously close to April Fool’s Day. Indeed, this was in the tradition of the British Medical Journal’s annual Christmas issue that features scientifically rigorous, yet light-hearted, research. In fact, the BMJ itself took on the apple issue to model the effects on stroke and heart attack mortality of all older adults prescribed either a cholesterol-lowering statin drug or an apple a day. Essentially, researchers took studies like the one I show at 3:06 in my video, where we see a nice dose response indicating the more fruit you eat, the lower your stroke risk appears to fall, as well as similar data found for heart disease compared to the known drug effects, and concluded that prescribing an apple a day “is likely to have a similar effect” on population stroke and heart attack mortality as giving everyone statin drugs instead. Bonus that apples only have good side effects. “Choosing apples rather than statins may avoid more than a thousand excess cases of myopathy [muscle damage] and more than 12 000 excess diabetes diagnoses” (because statins increase the risk of diabetes). And, this article was from the UK. In the United States, one would expect five times those numbers. Ironically, though, the cost of apples is likely to be greater than that of statin drugs. (Generic Lipitor is only around 20 cents a day.) So, yes, “with similar reductions in mortality, the 150 year old health promotion message [of an apple a day] is able to match modern medicine and is likely to have fewer side effects,” but apples are a few pennies a day more expensive, not to mention they “require the more complex and time consuming process of coordinated mastication and swallowing.” Just one gulp with the drug compared to all that time-consuming chewing… Should we see our doctors every year regardless of how we’re feeling? See my videos Is It Worth Getting Annual Health Check-Ups?, Is It Worth Getting an Annual Physical Exam?, and Flashback Friday: Worth Getting Annual Health Check-Ups and Physical Exam?. Do you like the thought of taking a more food-based approach to treatment? If so, you’ll love lifestyle medicine. Check out Lifestyle Medicine: Treating the Causes of Disease. Sadly, Physicians May Be Missing Their Most Important Tool. KEY TAKEAWAYS The public health message an apple a day keeps the doctor away has been circulating since 1866. Benefits of apple consumption may include facilitation of weight loss, protection of the brain, cancer suppression, reduced asthma symptoms, and improved cardiovascular health. When researchers compared daily apple eaters to non-apple eaters, they found that evidence does not support the well-known proverb, although those eating an apple a day do appear to use fewer prescription drugs. Given average medical prescription costs, researchers estimated that each person could save hundreds of dollars annually just by eating apples. In fact, if all U.S. adults ate apples, we could save about $19 billion after factoring in the cost of the fruits themselves. The more fruits we eat, the lower our stroke risk appears to fall. Researchers concluded that a daily apple may have a similar effect on stroke and heart attack mortality as statin drugs, and apples only have good side effects, unlike statins, which increase the risk of diabetes. To read the original article click here.

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How Bathing in a Tub for 10 Minutes Changes Your Mindset (& Much More!)

AHA Publisher — Fri, 28 May 2021 07:00:31 +0000

Leah Zerbe, MS, NASM-CPT, NASM-CES via Dr. Axe – There is something so therapeutic about slowing down and taking a warm bath, but the benefits of bathing in a tub go far beyond a few minutes of relaxation. Emerging research suggests creating a regular tub bathing routine could play a role in transforming your health. Here are some incredible benefits of taking a bath that may inspire you to schedule some extra soak time! Habitual Bathing = 28% Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease You may have heard about cold shower benefits, but if the thought of that makes you shiver, consider a warm bath instead. A landmark 2020 studyinvestigating the effects of habitual bathing in 30,000 people in Japan over a nearly 20-year period found that regular tub time reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 28 percent. In the study, the frequency of baths mattered, but the temperature did not. Those who enjoyed warm, lukewarm or hot baths “almost every day” received the most cardiovascular protection compared to those who only took sporadic baths throughout the week. Interestingly, the temperature of the water was not a factor, although most bathers in Japan soak in baths 104 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Daily Baths Are Linked to Lower Stroke Risk The same Heart study looking at Japanese bath habits also found a link between daily bathing and stroke risk, with those taking a bath every day having a 25% lower risk of stroke compared to people who bathed zero to two times a week. Still, researchers note that hot baths can cause dizziness and issues in people with low blood pressure and said caution is needed, along with more research on the potential benefits of taking a bath in cooler water. Evening Baths = Better Sleep One of the benefits of taking a bath in the evening includes better sleep. One study looked at the effects of evening bathing on two groups: People 65 to 83 years old People 17 to 22 years old Younger adults reported feeling warmer, while older study participants noted falling asleep more quickly and getting higher quality sleep. Interestingly, researchers noticed less body movement during the first three hours of sleep, suggesting that a bath before sleep enhances the quality of sleep, particularly in the elderly. A pre-bedtime bath can also help dilate the skin’s blood vessels, which can help the body release excess heat for more comfortable sleep. If you need more reasons to take a bath, consider these other health benefits of carving out more tub time: Better breathing Reduced inflammation and glucose control Increases in body heat can trigger the brain to release more depression-fighting serotonin Benefits of Baths vs. Showers Although tub bathing is popular in Japan, showering is still the most common form of bathing around the world. This is significant because when a team of researchers compared showering versus immersion bathing in warm water for 10 minutes, striking perks emerged for tub bathers. Immersing yourself in warm water induces vasodilation and increases blood flow, which carries more oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the body. As you can imagine, this leads to all sorts of improvements in: Fatigue Stress Pain Skin Mental health Interestingly, tub bathers also experienced less: Tension and anxiety Anger and hostility Depression and dejection There are bath benefits you won’t get when taking a shower. Researchers explain that immersion bathing — not shower bathing — exerts hyperthermic action that induces increased blood flow and helps flush out more metabolic waste, helping people feel better both physically and mentally. How to Take Your Bath to the Next Level Add a cup of epsom salt to your bath water for a magnesium-rich detox boost. Avoid using commercial bath bombs, bubble baths and soaps that contain “fragrance” or “fragrance oils” on the label. Synthetic scents are common in bath products, and ingredients have been linked to hormone imbalances, asthma and even certain cancers. Consider making your own homemade bubble bath with calming lavender and chamomile. Practice diaphragmatic breathing. Take this time to relax and reconnect with your breath. On each inhale, picture your diaphragm muscle drawing down as your lungs fill with air. Let your belly relax and rise with each inhale, and lower with each complete exhale. Final Thoughts Tub, or immersion, bathing is an ancient form of hydrotherapy with a host of health benefits. Bath benefits include better sleep, improved stress hormone profile, lower risk of heart attack and stroke, pain relief, and more. To add to your bath’s detoxifying effects, add a cup of epsom salt to your bathwater, but skip commercial scented bubble baths and “bath bombs” that contain concerning chemicals. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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