Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Foam rollers are great tools for improving range of motion before a workout and easing soreness as part of the cooldown after exercise. Rollers come in different densities. As a general guideline, choose low-density if you’re a beginner or if you’re rehabbing and need to slowly work to increase blood flow to the injured area. Medium-density rollers often have raised lines to encourage more oxygen and blood to reach the spot you’re working on. High-density foam rollers are made for more advanced athletes. The technique for using a foam roller is simple. Position the roller directly under the muscle or area you want to reach and gently roll back and forth on it. Take care not to roll over any joints. For hamstrings, position the roller under your legs, just above the backs of the knees. Press your hands into the floor to lift your rear off the ground and slowly roll back and forth along the length of your thighs. For calves, move the roller below the knees and roll to just above the ankles and back. For quads, turn onto your stomach and place the roller under your thighs. Prop yourself up on your elbows before you roll back and forth. If you feel a knot or trigger point, stop when you roll onto it and press into the roller for 20 to… read on >

Could living near the coast be an inexpensive balm for mental troubles? “Our research suggests, for the first time, that people in poorer households living close to the coast experience fewer symptoms of mental health disorders,” said researcher Dr. Jo Garrett, from the University of Exeter, in England. “When it comes to mental health, this ‘protective’ zone could play a useful role in helping to level the playing field between those on a high and low income,” Garrett said in a university news release. For the study, her team analyzed survey responses from nearly 26,000 people who took part in the Health Survey for England. The investigators compared people’s health to their proximity to the coast and found that people living in towns and cities near the coastline reported having better mental health, even the poorest folks. About one in six adults in England suffers from mental anxiety and depression, and they are more likely from poorer families, the study authors noted. Research into what the investigators call “blue health” should boost efforts by governments “to protect, create and encourage the use of coastal spaces,” said Dr. Mathew White, an environmental psychologist at the university. “We need to help policy makers understand how to maximise the wellbeing benefits of ‘blue’ spaces in towns and cities and ensure that access is fair and inclusive for everyone.”… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Applying to college can be a stressful experience for teens, says Hillside Treatment Center. Made worse by other sources of stress — such as homework and extracurricular activities — anxiety during this time is common. To ease college application anxiety, Hillside Treatment Center encourages parents to: Create realistic expectations. Avoid comparing your child to others. Offer support and pay attention to their feelings. Ensure your child eats well and gets enough sleep. Focus on finding the right college, not necessarily the best college. Enjoy quality time with your child, away from college concerns.

When you hear the word diet, you might think only of weight loss. But a lifestyle diet can bring even greater benefits. One option that belongs on your radar is the MIND diet created by researchers at Rush University in Chicago. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It’s a hybrid of those two heart-healthy diets, both of which reduce the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. In initial studies, the MIND diet offered a huge additional benefit — lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 53% in participants who stuck to it rigorously and by about 35% in those who only did so moderately well. But the key is to start now, no matter your age, because it seems like the longer you follow it, the lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Do Eat: Green leafy vegetables and other vegetables Nuts Blueberries or strawberries Beans Whole grains Fish Poultry Olive oil Wine Do Limit: Red meat Butter and stick margarine to less than a tablespoon a day Cheese, pastries, sweets, fried or fast food to one serving in total per week The MIND diet isn’t complicated. Each day have at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and one other vegetable along with a glass of wine. On most days, make nuts your snack. Have beans… read on >

Feel bad about feeling bad? Don’t. Studies done at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that acknowledging a blue mood — and not berating yourself for it — can help you work through it more easily. It turns out that accepting negative emotions is better for your long-term mental health than constantly passing judgment on yourself, which can cause your feelings of negativity to snowball. Putting pressure on yourself to feel upbeat can make you feel even more downbeat, according to the research. It turns out that the people who let feelings like sadness, disappointment and even resentment run their course had fewer mood disorder symptoms than people who judged themselves for having them or who tried to bury them. Accepting negative emotions seems to help you better cope with your stressors. There’s one important caveat, however. While it helps to acknowledge the normalness of negative emotions and not think you can — or need — to feel happy 24/7, it’s also important not to ignore a persistent and deep blue mood, and other signs that could signal depression. Symptoms of depression include a loss of interest in things that you used to enjoy, and deep feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that last for three or more months. Unlike a blue mood, depression needs treatment, such as counseling, medication or both. Other Key Signs… read on >

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is in the news a lot, and now newer research has prompted a leading pediatricians’ group to update its guidelines for diagnosing and treating the disorder for the first time since 2011. Dr. Mark Wolraich, lead author of the guidelines, noted that there weren’t any dramatic differences between these and previous guidelines. But, he said, these latest updates keep the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines in sync with the same diagnostic and treatment criteria used by child and adolescent psychiatrists. ADHD “is not a ‘new’ diagnosis. It’s a real diagnosis that needs treatment,” said Wolraich. “There are two forms of treatment effective for ADHD: medications, especially stimulant medications; and behavioral treatments. Neither treatment is curative,” he said, but they can help manage the symptoms. Wolraich is an emeritus professor at the University of Oklahoma, in Oklahoma City. More than 9% of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the guideline authors. Boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with the disorder. Kids with ADHD often have symptoms of another mental disorder, such as depression or anxiety, and they may also have learning and language problems. Updates to the guidelines include: Changing the age at which symptoms need to have first started. Previously, symptoms needed to begin before age… read on >

New research suggests that anxiety and depression can make it hard for some kids to manage their asthma. Young patients with all three conditions ended up in the emergency room nearly twice as often as kids who only struggle with asthma, the study found. “Asthma self-management is complex, requiring recognition of symptoms, adherence to medication and avoidance of triggers,” explained study first author Dr. Naomi Bardach. She is from the University of California, San Francisco’s department of pediatrics and Institute for Health Policy Studies. “The symptoms of anxiety and depression can make it more challenging to follow treatment, leading to more ER visits,” she added in a university news release. “There also may be a greater tendency to use the ER for supportive services, even in the absence of a serious asthma attack.” Though many of these emergency department visits are not necessary, they account for 62% of asthma-related costs, the investigators found. Anxiety and depression are more common in children with asthma than in those without the lung disease, the researchers noted. Among the asthma patients in the study, just over 11% had anxiety and nearly 6% had depression. This compared with about 7% and 3%, respectively, for children aged 3 to 17 in the general population, based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the study, the researchers… read on >

If a mother is depressed, her young children might be at risk for hyperactivity, aggressiveness and anxiety, a new study suggests. Interestingly, a father’s depression only affected kids if mom was also depressed, the researchers found. “Depression among parents both during and after pregnancy not only affects the person suffering from depression but also has a long-term impact on the well-being of the newborn child,” said researcher Johanna Pietikainen, from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. “Even in cases of mild depression, it is important that the symptoms are identified and the parents are offered support as early as possible, if necessary … during the pregnancy,” she added. One parent’s depression also puts the other parent at risk. Symptoms of depression can start during pregnancy and continue after the child’s first birthday, the researchers noted. The findings were published Sept. 30 in the CMAJ. “It is important to monitor the mental well-being of both parents during pregnancy and after the birth of the child, and if one parent shows symptoms of depression then the symptoms of the other parent should also be examined,” Pietikainen said in a news release from the National Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finland. Long-term depression indicated that depression occurred before the pregnancy. Previous depression was a key risk factor for moderate or severe depressive symptoms, the study authors… read on >

You’ve signed up for your first fitness event and you’ve mapped out your training schedule for success. Now add mental preparation to the plan. It’s essential because the very physical training that gets your body into shape for competition can dull your mental motivation and even bore your muscles, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. So, build in some variety. Instead of your usual stretching, take a yoga class once a week. If you weight train with free weights, try resistance bands. If cycling is your typical cardio, try a rowing or cross country ski machine. Next, add mental exercises, starting with visualization. Take a few minutes each day to run through the event in your mind, from picturing yourself full of energy at the starting line to working with focus during the event to sailing through to the finish. Try to see the image in as much detail as possible — your clothes, the air temperature, the balloons at the starting line. Draw on all your senses to experience the moment. This not only motivates you, but also tamps down any nervousness you might have. Be your own booster squad. Use positive words to encourage yourself, and remind yourself of past accomplishments as you resist focusing on any doubts. Think about the fun element of the activity, why you love the sport,… read on >

Most dogs and owners share an unbreakable emotional bond. But can they also share expanding waistlines? Yes, said Danish researchers, who found that Fido is twice as likely to be heavy or obese if his owner is as well. Why? “Based on our findings, it seems that the way owners give their dog treats is related to the owner’s weight,” explained study author Dr. Charlotte Bjornvad, a professor in companion animal internal medicine at the University of Copenhagen. “Trim and overweight owners both give their dogs treats,” she noted. But “there seems to be two ways to use treats.” Some offer treats to reinforce training or coax more activity, explained Bjornvad. But others share treats as a “hang out” indulgence. Danish people have a specific name for it: “hygge.” Roughly translated as “cozy,” the term refers to enjoying mutual relaxation, inactivity and snacking, either alone or with friends and pets. Based on a dog-rearing questionnaire completed by 268 owners in Denmark, the study team concluded that overweight and obese owners are more likely to offer their dogs “hygge treats” than trim owners. (One-fifth of the dogs were either heavy or obese.) It may also be that overweight owners “spend more time relaxing, and therefore they give more treats during relaxation,” added Bjornvad, though her team did not test that theory. But is the “hygge” affect… read on >