HealthHacks

Redbook has 21 ways to burn fat faster and 14 ways to speed up your metabolism.

[tags]diet,metabolism,fat[/tags]

Library journal has an overview of ten new diet books. Link

[tags]diet, books [/tags]

A new study adds more evidence that omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory and may contribute to cancer. Researchers added arachidonic acid to prostate tumor cell cultures, and observed that this doubled the normal growth rate of the tumors.

This is particularly concerning as the modern “Western” diet is loaded with vegetable oils high in omega-6 fatty acids. Even worse, the levels of the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids in our diet have fallen appreciably over the years. The relatively high levels of omega-3s in the Mediterranean diet may explain much of its success in preventing disease.

Link to study information. Link to more information on omega-3s.

[tags]studies,omega-3,omega-6,diet,inflammation,cancer[/tags]

There is an interesting article here discussing why constant, white noise helps us to sleep. If you have even taken a child for a car ride, you have experienced this phenomenon. There is nothing better than that droning hum to put your two year old down.

The article attributes the effect to the ability of white noise to mask other sounds. My own theory is that sleep works like a thermostat. As long as the current ambient temperature, noise level, and comfort level are within a reasonable margin of the condition you fell asleep in, you will stay asleep. If, however, there is an appreciable change in any of these parameters, your body clicks into action and you wake up. This would certainly make sense from an evolutionary perspective. You shut down your senses enough to recharge, but not so much that you totally disregard you environment. Masking those changes then (at least auditory changes) would seem to make sense as a sleep strategy.

[tags]sleep,evolution[/tags]

A study out of the University of British Columbia suggests that the placebo effect may be a consequence of the release dopamine. Researchers studied Parkinson’s patients who normally received a chemical precursor to dopamine as a standard treatment for their condition. When they unknowingly received a saline injection instead, their dopamine levels still rose dramtically. Link

[tags]studies,dopamine,placebo effect,Pakinson’s[/tags]