Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Never mind the grumbles and groans that accompany a clock alarm, along with a lunge for the snooze bar and murmurs of “five more minutes.” People generally wake in their best frame of mind, enjoying peak mental health and wellbeing in the morning, researchers reported in a new study published Feb. 4 in BMJ Mental Health. They also tend to feel worst around midnight, with the day of the week and season of the year also playing a role, researchers found. “Generally, things do indeed seem better in the morning,” concluded a team led by Feifei Bu, a principal research fellow in behavioral science and health at University College London. These results don’t just give a better insight into how people’s moods change throughout the day, researchers said. They also can help guide future efforts to track and treat people’s mental health, since the time of day can influence how a person might feel. “Our findings indicate the importance of considering time, day and season in mental health and well-being research,” the team wrote. “These factors should also be considered for the design and delivery of interventions, as well as the planning and provision of public health services.” For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 49,000 people who participated in a social study related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which began in… read on > read on >

Canadian youngsters are munching loads of ultra-processed foods, increasing their lifelong risk of obesity, a new study says. “We saw that ultra-processed foods contributed to almost half of a child’s total daily energy intake,” senior researcher Kozeta Miliku, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, said in a news release. About 45% of the total daily energy intake for Canadian 3-year-olds came from ultra-processed foods, researchers reported in a new study published Jan. 31 in JAMA Network Open. And higher intake of these foods at age 3 is linked to excess weight, higher body-mass index (BMI) and more body fat by age 5, researchers added. Ultra-processed foods typically are factory-made fare containing high levels of sugar, fat and salt. They’re a patchwork of ingredients, additives and preservatives engineered for flavor and shelf-life. Examples include chicken nuggets, frozen meals, hot dogs, canned soups, potato chips, soft drinks, sugary breakfast cereals, ice cream, packaged breads, flavored yogurts and condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise. As a mother of a 3-year-old, Miliku understands firsthand how hard it is to provide a well-balanced diet while avoiding ultra-processed foods. “Ultra-processed foods are very accessible and a handy solution for busy days,” Miliku said. “We are all doing our best to make sure our children are fed, but there are opportunities for us to improve their diet.” For… read on > read on >

Cold showers or ice baths have become a trendy way to recuperate after a heavy-duty workout, but do they actually help? A new evidence review suggests there’s some science to back up the hype. People report lower stress, improved sleep and better quality of life following cold-water immersion, researchers reported Jan. 29 in the journal PLOS One. However, these benefits often aren’t long-lasting, and in some cases, the body’s response might be bad for chronic health problems like heart disease, the review found. “In this study, we noted a range of time-dependent results,” lead investigator Tara Cain, a research assistant studying health and human performance with the University of South Australia, said in a news release. For example, “we found that cold-water immersion could reduce stress levels, but for only about 12 hours post-exposure,” Cain said. Researchers also noted that participants who took 20-, 60- or 90-second cold showers reported slightly higher quality of life scores. “But again,” Cain added, “After three months these effects had faded.” For the review, researchers pooled data from 11 studies on cold-water immersion involving nearly 3,200 people. Cold-water immersion involves dunking the body partially or fully in chilly water, with temperatures typically ranging from 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, researchers said in background notes. In this review, data was only included if exposure was at or above chest level… read on > read on >

Calorie labels on restaurant menus are harming people with eating disorders, a new evidence review claims. These labels are meant to make it healthier to eat out at restaurants, by informing customers of the calorie content of food choices. But people diagnosed with eating disorders tend to respond poorly when presented with a menu featuring calorie labels, researchers reported Jan. 28 in the BMJ Public Health. Unhealthy responses included avoiding restaurants altogether, triggering harmful thoughts associated with eating disorders, and obsessing over the calorie counts. Some said that seeing these menu labels actually reinforced the beliefs behind their eating disorders, researchers added. “It’s definitely set my recovery back by a long way and I only feel safe eating at home now,” a patient with an eating disorder said in one of the studies included in the review. “Our study highlights that people with lived experience of eating disorders are frustrated at being left out of the conversation around calorie labels,” senior researcher Tom Jewell, a lecturer in mental health nursing at King’s College London, said in a news release. The obesity epidemic has caused policymakers to act without any thought to the impact on people with eating disorders, Jewell added. “Striking a balance between the positive and harmful impacts of calorie labels on menus is vital in any public health policies,” he said. “Policymakers should… read on > read on >

Most community crisis services did not expand following the launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, potentially blunting the effectiveness of the hotline, a new study says. Walk-in psychiatric services, mobile crisis response units and suicide prevention programs all declined following the launch of the 988 line in July 2022, researchers reported in a new study published Jan. 29 in JAMA Psychiatry. “The lack of meaningful growth in most crisis services may limit the long-run success of 988, in particular if callers feel that reaching out to 988 fails to result in access to appropriate sources of care,” lead investigator Jonathan Cantor, a policy researcher at the nonprofit research organization RAND, said in a news release. The 988 Lifeline provides a single easy-to-remember phone number for people in a suicidal or mental health crisis. It replaced the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which had been reachable through a 10-digit 800 number. The line is intended to help counsel people in crisis and, if necessary, connect them with a variety of mental health services. However, researchers suspected that mental health emergency response systems might not have been able to rapidly beef up their operations to handle the potentially increased workload from an easier-to-use crisis line. For example, the U.S. continues to have a shortage of psychiatric beds in many regions, as well as a limited and… read on > read on >

People with low back pain might want to look into the ancient Chinese mind-body movement exercise known as qigong, a new study published recently suggests. Qigong is similar to tai chi, in that it uses slow-flowing exercises and still, meditative postures to ease tension and increase flexibility. The practice brought pain relief and better sleep to a small group of military veterans after eight weeks, compared to another group that didn’t use qigong. “Stretching, loosening, strengthening and balancing techniques of qigong may release back tension, ease pain and improve flexibility and alignment,” senior researcher Cheryl Krause-Parello, associate vice president for research at Florida Atlantic University, said in a news release. For the study, a group of 10 veterans with back pain were randomly assigned to take an eight-week course of qigong, researchers said. Another 12 vets were placed on a wait list and served as a control group. Between 40% to 70% of veterans suffer from chronic pain, and back pain is most commonly reported, researchers said in background notes. Painkillers aren’t the solution, researchers argue – veterans are more likely to be prescribed opioids than civilians, and are therefore at increased risk of addiction and overdose. Researchers figured qigong might be a way to help veterans manage back pain without resorting to painkillers. “This holistic approach addresses the complex challenges faced by veterans with… read on > read on >

Helping kids with obesity drop pounds can have a huge impact on their future health. When these children and teens lose weight, they are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol as young adults, researchers reported in a new study published Jan. 21 in JAMA Pediatrics. They also had a lower risk of dying young, their results show. “The results are very good news,” senior researcher Emilia Hagman, a docent of clinical science, intervention and technology at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a news release. “Whether or not the treatment of obesity in childhood has long-term health benefits have been debated, since weight-loss is hard to maintain,” she said. “This emphasizes the importance of providing early treatment, as we know that timely intervention increases the likelihood of success and helps mitigate the long-term health risks associated with obesity.” For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 6,700 Swedish children who registered for obesity treatment between 1996 and 2019. All received at least one year of obesity treatment prior to age 18. On average, the kids started treatment at age 12 and received around three years of treatment, researchers report. The research team then checked in with the children as they reached adulthood — between 18 to 30 years of age — to see whether losing weight had… read on > read on >

Major heart health risk factors like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure remain on the rise in the United States, according to an annual report from the American Heart Association (AHA). These risks are thwarting efforts to save lives from heart disease, heart attack, stroke and other lethal heart-related diseases, says the report published Jan. 27 in the AHA journal Circulation. Overall, there was a slight increase in heart-related deaths in 2022, the most recent year for which final data is available, the 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report says. There were 941,652 heart-related deaths in 2022, an increase of more than 10,000 from the 931,578 deaths in 2021. The report indicates that heart-related deaths appear to be leveling out after a major uptick during the COVID pandemic, the report says — but heart disease remains the No. 1 killer in the U.S. Someone dies of heart disease every 34 seconds, amounting to nearly 2,500 people every day, noted Dr. Keith Churchwell, volunteer president of the American Heart Association. “Those are alarming statistics to me — and they should be alarming for all of us, because it’s likely many among those whom we lose will be our friends and loved ones,” Churchwell said in a news release. He noted that heart disease and stroke together kill more people than all cancers and accidental deaths… read on > read on >

That busy highway could be contributing to depression, and not just because you’re snarled in a traffic jam. Air pollution from traffic appears to increase risk of depression among women, according to a new study published Jan. 21 in the journal Menopause. Further, researchers think this air pollution might be raising depression risk by affecting women’s menstrual cycles. “Traffic-related air pollution exposure was significantly related to having a longer menstrual cycle length, and having a longer menstrual cycle length was significantly related to higher depression,” wrote the research team led by Anwesha Pan, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. These effects could be more pronounced among minority and poor women, whose neighborhoods are often located nearer to high-traffic areas. Thus, air pollution could be “potentially setting the stage for a clustering of risk factors for poor psychological health in vulnerable individuals,” the researchers wrote. For the study, researchers tracked the health of nearly 700 healthy women of reproductive age living in Northern California. Their exposure to vehicle exhaust was calculated by comparing their home address to state traffic data. Results showed that the more traffic-related air pollution a woman faced, the greater her symptoms of depression. “Women with greater traffic-related air pollution exposure were significantly more likely to experience depression according to self-reports on an established questionnaire measure of depressive symptoms,”… read on > read on >

Could a virtual avatar be the future of mental health care? New research shows that artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) goggles could revolutionize therapy — helping patients overcome addiction and receive unbiased care. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Extended Reality focused on patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis, a serious liver condition linked to long-term alcohol use. Using a VR app developed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, patients had counseling sessions with AI-powered avatars programmed for motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy. After 30-minute sessions, 85% of participants said they found the experience to be helpful, and 90% expressed interest in doing it again. “For individuals awaiting liver transplants for cirrhosis, alcohol addiction remains a high-risk factor,” corresponding author Dr. Brennan Spiegel, a professor of medicine and director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai, said in a news release. “We see VR as a way to augment traditional interventions, which often fall short due to a shortage of mental health professionals, societal stigmatizing of alcoholism and other factors.” A second study, published earlier this month in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, explored whether AI-driven virtual therapists could provide care to a varied selection of patients. Researchers simulated more than 400 conversations between AI-powered therapists and virtual patients, assigning each patient a unique profile based on characteristics such as race,… read on > read on >