Can Raising NEAT Help Lose Weight?

Living in times of great convenience, most people can move from one place to another either by car or public transportation without too much walking and energy expenditure. Meanwhile, modern people are prone to sedentary lifestyle, spending too much time sitting down. An average of 10 to 15 hours a day are spent sitting in office, in transportation, watching television, browsing or surfing the internet at home. Such lifestyle, together with unhealthy diet, has created obesity epidemic. Obesity can lead to many complications including Type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke.

If a person sits for too long, his or her body’s natural thermogenesis (calorie-burning capability) is suppressed, and he or she cannot incite the body’s full capacity to burn calories. In order to prevent from getting weight gain, people need to have more physical activities on a daily basis.

A study that was published 2012 in the online journal ‘BMJ Open’ reported that people who reduce excessive sitting to less than 3 hours a day live 2 years longer and the gain in life expectancy from reducing excessive television viewing to less than 2 hours a day is 1.38 years. Sitting for extended periods of time has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity, according to researchers.

Most experts encourage people to engage with vigorous exercise several times a week to keep fit and avoid gaining weight. But there is another way for one to burn more calories all day long: increasing NEAT time by moving more and sitting less. The theory behind this is simple: it takes energy (calories) to move even the smallest muscle.

Research published in journal ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’ (now known as JAMA Internal Medicine) found that the amount of everyday activity a person gets, beyond the 30 minutes of traditional exercise, might matter even more for his or her overall health than trips to the gym.

NEAT, which stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis, is the energy a person expends each day for everything that is not sleeping, eating, or sports-like activities. These are non-exercise activities that would normally be performed each day. According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, NEAT could play a major role in whether or not a person loses or gains weight.

Depending on everyone’s activity level, calories burned from increasing NEAT time each day can range from 1,500 to 2,400 calories. According to the American Heart Association, obese individuals tend to be seated for 2.5 hours per day more than sedentary lean counterparts. Researchers estimated that if obese individuals could adopt the NEAT habits, they could burn an additional 350 calories per day.

There are many things that can raise the NEAT. For instance, one can use the stairs instead of escalator or elevator. This would probably help burn an extra 50 to 100 calories on average each day. Other things like walking, washing dishes, doing garden work, or playing with kids can all increase the NEAT.

Which Diet Could Prevent Heart Disease?

Heart disease is the number one killers globally. People who are smokers, overweight or obese, have diabetes, high blood pressure are at a higher risk of developing heart disease. To prevent heart disease, one should not only have more physical activities but also follow a heart-healthy diet. 

When it comes to heart-healthy diets, there are so many different varieties, for instance, low-fat diets, low-carb diets, Mediterranean diets, and many others. When facing so many alternatives, people may find it hard to decide which diet should they adopt.

Following a heart-healthy diet may, however, not be as confusing as one may image. First of all, let us look at some of the diets.

Carb (carbohydrate) is one of the 3 macronutrients (the other 2 are protein and fat). Main purpose of carbs is to provide energy. Most carbs get broken down or transformed into glucose that can be used as energy. Carbs can also be turned into fat (stored energy) for later use.

Among carbs, there are whole and refined carbs. Being unprocessed, whole carbs contain the fiber found naturally in the food (vegetables, whole fruit, legumes, potatoes and whole grains). Refined carbs, on the other hand, have been processed and had the natural fiber stripped out. Good examples of refined carbs include sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juices, pastries, white bread, white pasta, white rice.

Numerous studies show that refined carb consumption is associated with health problems like obesity and Type-2 diabetes but hundreds of studies have also reported that eating high-fiber carbs like vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains could lead to improved metabolic health and a lower risk of disease. Likewise, scientists have found that some fats are actually good for the body, for instance, omega-3 fatty acids. As a result, the contemporary dietary recommendations from proponents of the low-carb diets and the low-fat diets increasingly resemble each other.

The renowned Mediterranean Diet, a diet incorporates the traditional healthy living habits of people from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, can be viewed at a compromise between low-fat and low-carb. Despite some variations by region, a typical Mediterranean diet involves eating plenty of starchy foods, such as bread and pasta (wholegrains varieties), plenty of fruit and vegetables, some fish, less meat, and choosing products made from vegetable and plant oils, such as olive oil. A 2013 study found that people following a Mediterranean diet had a 30 percent lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

It is not necessary to strictly follow any of the diets mentioned. A heart-healthy diet can simply be one that people eat only enough calories to keep a healthy weight, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, use wholegrain breads and pastas, eat omega-3 rich fish, chicken and legumes as primary protein source, eat less red meats, and of course, avoid trans fats and processed foods. Limiting alcohol intake and eating some nuts may help improve the heart-healthy diet, too.

Heart Disease Prevention - What Cause People To Gain Weight?

Lack of physical activities and unhealthy diet may be the main reasons why people tend to gain weight. There are, however, other causes that can cause one to put on weight. What are they? 

Heart Disease Prevention - What Cause People To Gain Weight?

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Walking Prevent Heart Disease?

Many health professionals believe that walking can improve cardiac risk factors like cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, vascular stiffness and inflammation, and mental stress. It also helps protect against dementia, peripheral artery disease, depression, colon cancer, and even erectile dysfunction. But most studies that show regular exercise is good for health usually focused on various forms of exercise to investigate the influence of total amount of physical activity on health. It does not necessarily indicate that walking is beneficial.

Find out more to see if walking can prevent heart disease by clicking the following link:

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Walking Prevent Heart Disease?

How Is White Rice Linked To Diabetes?

Obesity and sugary drinks have long been accused as the major culprits of diabetes in the West. But several studies indicated that Asians are more predisposed to diabetes than Caucasians, and people do not have to be obese to be at risk. White rice, a staple of most Asian diets, has been identified as the cause.

White rice has high glycemic index (GI), meaning it can cause spikes in sugar levels, and heighten the risk of diabetes. In fact, a bowl of rice has more than twice the carbohydrate content compared to a can of soda drink.

GI is a measure of the extent to which a carbohydrate-containing food raises glucose levels in blood. The higher the GI, the more is the blood sugar produced leading to a sudden spike in glucose levels in the blood. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin and such frequent spikes can lead to diabetes. Foods with lower GI, on the other hand, break down slower and they usually take longer to digest. A GI of 55 is considered low and better while a GI of 70 or more is considered high.

A meta-analysis of 4 major studies involving 352,384 people who were tracked for 4 to 22 years by Harvard School of Public Health reported that each plate of white rice eaten in a day, on a regular basis, raises the risk of diabetes by 11 percent in the overall population. Asians like Chinese had 4 servings a day of cooked rice as compared to Australians and Americans who just ate 5 times a week. The findings were published in March 2012 in the ‘British Medical Journal’.

Diabetes, if left uncontrolled, can lead to various medical conditions, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, and gum disease. Diabetes can harm the nerve, too. As many as 70 percent of diabetics will get this kind of damage.

Nevertheless, there is no need for Asians to fully replace what they eat. Instead, they should turn to healthier varieties of rice like long grain white rice that is better than short grain white rice due to their lower glycemic index levels. Meanwhile, experts also suggest that 20 percent of brown rice could be mixed to white rice, which is sufficient to cut the risk of diabetes by 16 percent.

Since white rice is part of most Asian’s daily diet, majority of them are still unaware of the possible harmful effects of white rice and its potential in increasing the risk of diabetes. Increased awareness is definitely a necessity. Letting them know there is a need to choose healthier options, like eating foods with lower GI and controlling the portion size, may help them reduce the risk of diabetes.

Heart Disease Prevention - Is Bubble Tea Linked To Diabetes?

Bubble tea, also called pearl tea or Boba, is a drink that is originated from Taiwan. It is made by mixing black tea with non-dairy creamer or milk and adding round pearl tapioca. It is not only high in calories but also high in sugar with about 30 to 40 grams per cup, or about 6 to 9 grams of sugar per 100 ml. So it is certainly a sugary drink. But is it linked to diabetes? Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Is Bubble Tea Linked To Diabetes?

Heart Disease Prevention - Will Weight Loss Surgery Benefit Mildly Obese Diabetics?

Bariatric surgeries have been found to be effective for treating Type-2 diabetes, though most studies were done in people who are morbidly obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or above. Recently, a group of researchers from Taiwan's Min-Sheng General Hospital reported that weight loss surgery can help mildly obese people with Type-2 diabetes as well and the benefits can last for at least 5 years. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Will Weight Loss Surgery Benefit Mildly Obese Diabetics?

Why Next Generation In Europe May Lead Shorter Lives?

Life expectancy for Europeans has increased from an average of 73.2 years in 1990 to 76.8 years in 2011, and the region’s levels of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, are reducing by 1.5 percent a year until 2020. However, the rates of obesity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption remain high.

A study published in The European Health Report 2015 showed Europe has the world's highest rates of drinking and smoking, and more than half its people are too fat, putting them at high risk of heart disease, cancer and other deadly diseases. The report is published by the WHO (World Health Organization) and the study was the first of its kind for 3 years covering 39 countries in Europe, including EU member states as well as former Soviet republics.

Differences in health status between European countries, according to the report, are unacceptably high. For instance, there was an 11-year gap between the highest and lowest life expectancy. Average life expectancy for men and women was reported to range from 71 in Belarus, Moldova and Russia to 82 for countries like France, Italy and Spain, according to the latest figures from 2011. The report highlighted that Europeans still smoke and drink more despite the fact that lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption are seen in many parts of the world.

The total alcohol consumption in Europe was lowered by 10 percent between 2005 and 2010, yet Europe still had the highest rate in the world. Alcohol consumption levels vary greatly ranging from 0.32 to 14.37 liters per person annually. Many EU states have alcohol consumption averages of between 9 and 12 liters per person. Rates are lower in Turkey and former Soviet states, possibly because of a higher number of Muslims living there. On average, 11 liters of pure alcohol are drunk per person each year.

High percentage of male smokers (more than 50 percent of adults) can be found in Russia, Georgia, and Greece, and female smokers can mostly be found in Croatia, Bulgaria, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece (over 30 percent).

Meanwhile obesity is rising, with 59 percent of Europe's population either overweight or obese. Turkey, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel were among the nations with the highest rates of overweight and obese adults.

If rates of smoking and alcohol consumption and obesity do not decline, WHO fears that the next generation in Europe may lead shorter lives.

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Long Hours Of TV Viewing Cause Heart Disease?

Research has linked sedentary behavior to incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular death. But different sedentary behaviors might have different effects. Several studies had found that the association between health and TV viewing time was stronger than other kinds of sedentary behaviours. Click for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Long Hours Of TV Viewing Cause Heart Disease?

Would People Perceive Themselves Overweight Help Them Lose Weight?

Mounting evidence has linked obesity and overweight to development of chronic diseases including hypertension, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. Obviously, overweight or obese people should lose weight to stay healthy.

In the past, it was assumed that if people could correctly identify themselves as being overweight, they would have a greater motivation to change their diet or level of exercise so that successful weight management could be achieved.

However, a study conducted by researchers from University of Liverpool in England revealed that people who perceived themselves to be overweight were at a greater risk of weight gain, irrespective of whether their perceptions were correct. Meanwhile, these people were also more likely to overeat in response to stress. Their findings were published online August 7, 2015 in the ‘International Journal of Obesity’.

By analyzing data from United States National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the United Kingdom’s National Child Development Study, and the Midlife in the United States Study, the researchers found that perceiving oneself as being overweight is associated with a higher risk of future weight gain among United States and United Kingdom adults.

The findings were important since one public health strategy is to ensure people who are overweight are aware of it. But unfortunately, people who believe they are overweight may actually delay their weight loss efforts, according to some clinical psychologists. Many of these people might decide they should begin a diet tomorrow and meanwhile finish the cookies first.

While common belief indicates that people should have strong motivation to lose weight if they really want to do so, many of them feel quite stressful and have difficulty in making healthy choices in their lifestyle. They may just fall into the trap of negative stigmas like inactivity, overeating and depression. Instead of taking the stress, they simply ignore it and just use eating to make them feel better. But once they have finished eating, the stressful feeling is back, and the weight problem has not solved yet.

Some health experts argued that the more a person focuses on weight, rather than health, the more difficult for this person to manage and lose weight and control eating. If people who want to lose weight can let go of the obsessiveness with their weight and instead, relax and focus on health, they can not only lose weight, but also manage their weight relatively mindlessly.

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?

Modern lifestyles such as sedentary and unhealthy diet have been accused to be the culprit to cause such epidemic. Losing as little as 3-5 percent of the body weight can reduce the heart disease risk, according to the American Heart Association. Obviously, losing weight is the only option for people who wish to prevent from getting these diseases. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?

What Is Heart Age?

Have you ever heard a term called “heart age”? According to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), heart age gives a simple risk calculation for having or dying of heart attack or stroke. The higher the heart age, the higher the risk of getting a heart attack or stroke. It is the calculated age of a person’s cardiovascular system based on his or her risk factor profile, including high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes status, and body mass index (BMI) as an indicator for obesity.

Using risk factor data collected from every state and information from the Framingham Heart Study, the CDC researchers found that nearly 69 million American adults aged between 30 and 74 have a heart age older than their actual age.

The report that was released on September 1, 2015 is the the first to provide population-level estimates of heart age in the United States. It showed that heart age varies by race/ethnicity, gender, region, and other sociodemographic characteristics.

Overall, the average heart age for adult men is 8 years older than their chronological age, compared to 5 years older for women. Among both American men and women, excess heart age increases with age and decreases with greater education and household income. Heart age was also found to be highest among African-American men and women (average of 11 years older for both). Meanwhile, there are geographic differences in average heart age across states. 

About 3 in 4 heart attacks and strokes are due to risk factors that raise heart age. But many people do not understand their cardiovascular disease risk, and they could simply miss the early opportunities to prevent future heart attack or stroke. By knowing own heart age, people can learn how to improve it.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women. It is important to continue focusing on efforts to prevent heart disease and increase access to early and affordable detection and treatment resources.

In general, people can quit smoking or reduce blood pressure through eating a healthier diet, taking appropriate medication, or exercising more. The governments can also play a role by helping to promote healthier living spaces like tobacco-free areas, more access to healthy food options, and safe walking paths. More importantly, physicians can make use of cardiovascular risk assessment calculators to decide for their patients the type of treatments they need and work with them on healthy habits.

Is Diet Or Exercise More Important For Heart Disease Prevention?

A proper diet and regular exercise should form an indispensable part of a person’s lifestyle should he or she wishes to lower the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. But if he or she has to make only one choice, which of these two should he or she choose? 

Many people have a misconception that they can simply eat whatever they want and they can simply burn off the excess calories by exercising. Sadly, this might be misleading and unscientific.

Regular physical exercise, as shown by research, is no doubt essential for one to live a long, healthy life as physical activity helps prevent heart disease and stroke as well as other diseases including Alzheimer’s. Exercise also protects the joints from arthritis and pain. However, recent report published in the journal “Obesity Reviews” argued that regular exercise alone rarely helps lose weight, and sometimes even results in weight gain.

Numerous studies, on the other hand, have linked diet improvements to weight loss and lower risks of death and disease, regardless of the participants' exercise habits. Several studies tend to show that in terms of weight loss, diet does play a much bigger role than exercise. Nevertheless, people who have lost weight and are able to keep it off do exercise at the same time. In other words, a person’s health goals should include eating a proper diet and have a regular physical activity.

Problem is that for some people, they just do not have the willpower to tackle both at the same time. If this is the case, they should first focus on improving their diet, according to health experts. Imagine this, if a person wishes to reduce, say 500 calories, he or she needs either to walk 5 miles or to just cut a Snickers bar or similar food that is of 500 calories. Obviously, it is much easier for one to watch the diet than to walk 5 miles every day.

Obesity and overweight can lead to many medical disorders including Type-2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and certain types of cancer. Hence, maintaining a healthy weight is important! This can be done by balancing what is eaten with physical activity. If a person is sedentary, he or she should try to become more active. If one is already active, he or she should continue the same level of activity as he or she ages. Remember this, more physical activity is better than less, and any is better than none.

How To Eat Less To Prevent Weight Gain?

Data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese globally. Obesity is a serious health issue as it raises the risk of getting diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and certain types of cancer.

The main reason for causing overweight and obesity is a lack of energy balance. People are just taking in more calories (foods and drinks) than their body uses. There are so many reasons that people eat more than their body need. One of them is what a study revealed: adults usually consume more food when it comes in bigger packages or is served on larger plates. 

Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed 58 studies that examined how the size of things such as cereal bowls and snack bags influences the number of calories people take in. A total of 6,603 participants were involved.

In the paper published September 14, 2015 in the ‘Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews’, the researchers showed that smaller containers, dishes and cutlery might simply help adults consume up to 16 percent fewer calories (equivalent of up to 279 kilo calories per day) in the United Kingdom and 29 percent less in the United States (equivalent of up to 527 kilo calories per day).

While the effect of smaller sizes for dishes and packages did not vary by gender and was similar for normal-weight, overweight and obese people, children did not appear to be affected by size when deciding how much food or drink to consume.

Most of the studies reviewed, as the researchers acknowledged, did not follow people for long periods and there was a lack of data to assess if sustained changes in container and plate sizes over time might help weight loss or maintain a healthy weight. Data was also lacked on the impact of bottle, can or glass size on alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, the results did highlight the paramount role of environmental influences on food consumption and did suggest that limiting exposure to larger serving sizes might be an effective tool to get people eat less.

Besides small serving sizes, it is also necessary to pay attention to frequency of meals that has to be high. In other words, people have to eat regularly at short intervals in order to keep the basal metabolic rate high and more importantly, to eat healthy and stay away from junk food.

Another thing to note is that, limiting serving sizes alone might not be enough to curb obesity epidemic because obesity epidemic is a result of a number of different and complex influences. Factors like inactive lifestyle, age, lack of sleep, and medicines can all cause people to gain weight.

How To Lose Weight Healthily?

Many health issues, including sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, Type-2 diabetes and even certain types of cancer, could just happen to a person who is overweight or obese.

According to 2011-2012 statistics provided by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there are 69 percent of American adults who age 20 years and over are overweight (including obesity). Meanwhile, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was US$147 billion in 2008 and the medical costs for people who are obese were US$1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

Certainly, people should avoid becoming overweight or obese if they want to be healthy. That is why most people will try to get rid of the extra pounds around their waist whenever they know they are overweight. Sadly, not too many overweight people can actually do so, even after spending lots of money in weight loss programs.

One should know that while promising to quick weight loss is often attractive, the effect does not last. More importantly, losing too much weight too quick is not good for the health. Healthy weight loss should not exceed 0.5 kg to 1 kg a week. For most people, the initial weight-loss target should be set to lose 10 percent from the baseline body weight over a period of about 4 to 6 months.

Losing weight requires not only determination but also appropriate plan. The following tips might help one to set up a feasible plan to lose weight healthily.

First of all, all meals and snacks should be planned so as one does not feel hungry most of the time. To do so, he or she should snack on low-calorie drinks, consume fruit and raw vegetables like carrot sticks. Switching to brown rice or eating more servings of vegetables and fruits during meals can help slow down digestion and absorption, which can always feel full for a longer period of time.

Then, drinking enough water is essential because hydration is important in optimizing the body's metabolic rate and its energy expenditure. The average recommended daily water intake should be between 8 and 10 glasses of 250 ml each.

Alcohol should be avoided at all time. Alcoholic drinks are high in calories and the drinks also suppress fatty acid oxidation, the process by which fatty acids are broken down by various tissues to produce energy.

It is important that one should never skip breakfast. When one does not eat breakfast, his or her body goes into starvation mode and tries to protect itself by conserving energy. This will not make the body's metabolism to be at an optimal rate. People will tend to snack before lunch or overeat during the next meal. In fact, all 3 meals of the day should not be missed. Remember this, a successful weight-loss program should minimize hunger and fatigue.

Why One Should Not Eat While Walking?

Overweight and obesity can lead to many chronic diseases including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. Lack of physical activities and unhealthy diet can of course lead to weight gain and so can overeating. But how can people overeat?

People overeat because of habits, or because they eat too fast or they simply not aware of the calorie intake. Recently, researchers from the University of Surrey found that having meals while walking can also lead to overeat. Their findings were published online August 20, 2015 in the ‘Journal of Health Psychology’.

60 women were each given a cereal bar to eat under 3 different conditions: one group watched a 5-minute clip of the television show "Friends" while eating; the second group ate while walking around the hall; and the final group ate while sitting and talking with a friend. After the experiment, they were then asked to complete a follow-up questionnaires and a taste test involving 4 different bowls of snacks, including chocolate, carrot sticks, grapes and crisps. The researchers measured how many snacks they ate after they left the room.

Eating while walking around were found to trigger more overeating compared to eating during watching TV or having a conversation with a friend. Participants ate more snacks at the taste test if they had eaten the initial cereal bar whilst walking around and specifically they ate 5 times more chocolate. In other words, eating on the go might just make a person overeat later on in the day.

Walking is a powerful form of distraction that disrupts one’s ability to process the impact eating on one’s hunger, according to researchers. Meanwhile, people may regard walking as a form of exercise that justifies overeating later on as a form of reward. Any form of distraction including eating at the desk or in front of a TV can lead to weight gain. This is because people just do not track or recognize the food that has just been consumed when they are not fully concentrate on their meals.

By slowing down and paying attention, people can recognize when they are beginning to get full and stop before overeating. So in order to avoid overeating, it is important to focus on the food and refrain from eating while doing other activity like watching TV, looking at computer or cellphone, and to eat slowly by increasing the number of chews per bite.

Also, planning ahead can help one stick to a healthy diet. Instead of grabbing whatever looks good when hungry, grocery shopping should be done at the beginning of the week with a list to cover meals and snacks for the days ahead.

Would Depression Or Bipolar Disorder Lead To Heart Disease?

Depression can happen to anyone at some point or another when he or she encounters disappointments. For most people, it should be over after a while but for some, the depression can become so severe that it will affect their daily lives and can become a serious illness. There are many forms of depression, namely major depression, persistent depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness or bipolar affective disorder, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. It is characterized by periods of 2 extremes of mood - mania (elevated) mood and depressive (low) mood.

The disorder often develops in a person's late teens or early adult years. At least half of all cases start before the age of 25. Some people have their first symptoms during childhood and others may develop symptoms late in life. About 3 percent of people in the United States have bipolar disorder at some point in their life, and around 1 percent are found in other countries. 

While the cause is not clearly understood, bipolar disorder tends to run in families. It could be caused by brain structure and functioning, too. Nevertheless, most scientists agree that there is no single cause for such disorder. Instead, the illness can likely be the results of many factors act together.

In a scientific statement released on Aug 10, 2015 by the American Heart Association, the researchers warned that major depression and bipolar disorder can put teens at a significantly higher risk of heart disease, and hence adolescents with mood disorders need to get extra screening. The findings were also published online Aug 10, 2015 in the journal ‘Circulation’.

Several studies on depression, heart disease and adolescents were reviewed by the researchers. Their findings revealed that youths with depression and bipolar disorder were much more likely to have high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, obesity, Type-2 diabetes and damaged arteries than most of their peers.

A 2011 study included in the review examined more than 7,000 American adults younger than 30 and found that a history of depression or attempted suicide was the top risk factor for heart disease death caused by narrowed or blocked arteries in young women; it was the fourth highest risk factor in young men.

Reasons for the increased risk were unclear. But inflammation and other types of cell damage are more common among teens with mood disorders, which might help explain the increased risk of heart disease. 

Youth with mood disorders have not been widely recognized as a group at increased risk for excessive and early heart disease. The new findings, however, should remind doctors to pay extra attention to the heart disease risks of teens with depression and bipolar disease.

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Do Married People Have Lower Heart Disease Risk?

Married people are at a lower risk of getting a heart disease and stroke. A large study that was released on March 28, 2014 and presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session on March 29, 2014, found that married people are less likely than singles, divorced or widowed people to suffer from any kind of heart or blood vessel problem. Check it out at:

Heart Disease Prevention - Why Do Married People Have Lower Heart Disease Risk?

Can Walking Keep One Fit?

It is generally thought that spending an hour of running or working out in the gym is the only way to fitness, yet some fitness experts think otherwise. They argued that walking is just as good.

Modern people spend plenty of time sitting. In fact, there is a new category of people, known as “actively sedentary” who are fit for one hour but sitting around the rest of the day. Obviously, exercising for just an hour or so can never be able to offset the long hours of stillness.

Emerging evidence has suggested that combined physical activity and inactivity may be more important for chronic disease risk than physical activity alone. In a study conducted in 2013 by researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health, 218 marathoners and half marathoners were asked to report their training and sitting times. It was found that median training time was 6.5 hours per week, and median total sitting time was between 8 and 10.75 hours per day. This suggested that these runners were simultaneously highly sedentary and highly active.

Sedentary lifestyle has been blamed for years to cause obesity epidemic, which ultimately lead to many chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. So getting active is the key to one’s overall long-term health. 

A paper published in the journal ‘Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise’ by scientists at Indiana University found that three 5-minute walks done throughout 3 hours of prolonged sitting did reverse the harmful effects of prolonged sitting on arteries in the legs.

Physical activity is undoubtedly essential to health, and walking is the most basic foundation of movement. It is easier to get movement than it is to get exercise. There is a growing number of people calling walking a “superfood”, though this is somehow controversial.

While walking can benefit one’s health, it is definitely not a magical cure because walking would not help muscle or improve cardiovascular system. In order to help prevent disease and lose weight, weights and more intense cardio such as jogging are necessary, according to some fitness experts. Nevertheless, walking might be the only choice of physical activity for some people, especially for those who are not fit for jogging and those who are elderly. 

One might consider setting a target on number of steps to finish everyday. If fitness-walking guidelines of 10, 000 steps per day is too much, maybe one can begin at about 7,500 steps per day and at least 150 minutes of activity each week. Some habits change can help achieve the target. For instance, one might start with walking to friend’s house or the grocery store if they are within walking distance. If one takes public transport, get off a few stops early and walk the rest of the way. If possible, one can fit a walk every evening. Walking, when combined with healthy diet, would certainly benefit one’s health in one way or another.

Heart Disease Prevention - Are Sugary Drinks Really So Bad For The Heart?

Sugary drinks could actually make people feel not as full as if they had eaten the same calories from solid food. A recent study reported that sugary drinks are killing 184,000 adults around the world every year, and insisted that such drinks should be eliminated from people’s diets. Visit the following link for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - Are Sugary Drinks Really So Bad For The Heart?