Conditioning Research

This is fascinating - the impact of stress from competitors and general social interactions can promote inflammation. Negative and competitive social interactions are related to heightened proinflammatory cytokine activity These findings suggest that daily social interactions that are negative and competitive are associated prospectively with heightened proinflammatory cytokine activity. It is all about environment .....but that is not just diet,  social interactions, other stresses are important too.  Getting your stress under control - work, relationships etc - is as vital as diet.  You can get diet and exercise dialed in but if you are chronically stressed from other things then you will still suffer.  I am like this at the moment from work and family pressures There is a good commentary here.

Stress can make you fat – and being obese can create stress. A vicious circle of stress Getting fatter can potentially trigger the stress response, which in turn encourages additional weight gain. "When you go up in weight, your body also comes under stress. That probably has a self-reinforcing effect – so you get even fatter," Foss explains. But dieting can also stimulate cortisol production, which in turn may trigger the stress response and thereby counter the weight loss. "Should our hypothesis turn out to be correct, it would mean that you'll have to break this stress pattern if you want to halt the weight increase," says Foss. The paper is in medical hypotheses.... Stress in obesity: Cause or consequence? Abstract Obesity is a global public health challenge that increases the risk of various diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cancer, and will in the future cause further increases in the incidence of chronic disea...

That Paleo Guy (Jamie) tweeted about the infographic below ( more here ). It is superb - great find Jamie. It got me thinking about stress, something I am going to write about in TGO. A friend was telling me recently about his experience as a guide taking a guy up a mountain. It wasn't really a tough route, more of a walk, but the fella got very scared. The various stress hormones did their jobs - sugar dump in the blood, elevated heart rate, worse digestion etc. He got immediately exhausted and had to be physically led down the hill on a short rope. The stress response actually got him into a very dangerous situation not in terms of location but because of how his body reacted. We need to think of strategies to deal with stress to improve performance. Of couse we are also at risk from long term chronic stress........but that is another issue.

Here is an interesting one.  I've watched a couple of important people in my life decline markedly through various types of dementia recently.  It is really sad to see once vibrant intelligent people so limited by changes in their brains. Insulin Sensitivity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between BMI and Working Memory-Related Brain Activation This study has a simple conclusions:  obesity in middle age was related to alterations in brain activation during a cognitive challenge and this association appeared to be mediated by insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity again.  What can we do to maintain insulin sensitivity?  It is all the regular stuff - low carb/paleo diet, sensible exercise, adequate sleep, minimal chronic stress.....

In all the discussion of evolutionary fitness and paleo living there is a lot of focus on diet and - to a lesser degree - on exercise. Fair enough, but I think there are a range of other factors that often get left out of the argument, factors which if neglected can totally destroy other efforts. At the least I'd list: Sleep Stress Sociability / sex If we are talking about living as we are meant to there is more to it than diet and exercise, important though they are.  You need decent sleep.  You need to minimise chronic stress.  You need social contact. I just saw this study that stresses the importance of social contact. Loneliness and the Rate of Motor Decline in Old Age: Among community-dwelling older persons, both feeling alone and being alone are associated with more rapid motor decline, underscoring the importance of psychosocial factors and motor decline in old age. The whole study is available at this link. You need your tribe

Reading Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution has got me thinking more about lifestyle, in particular 2 areas: sleep and stress.   Stress messes with you hormonally. He has prompted me to do a couple of things: Totally black out my bedroom so I really sleep in total dark Aim for at least 8 hours sleep Ease back in general and take it easier. In some of his podcasts he really emphasises (stresses?) the danger of overtraining and fasting too.  Both can bump up your cortisol levels with a range  dodgy effects. Anyway, I spotted this abstract today: Sleep duration and body-weight development during puberty in a Dutch children cohort Conclusion : Changes in BMI during puberty were inversely related to changes in sleep duration, independent of possible confounders.

I mentioned a book I was reading recently - The Shallows .   It is a really challenging book basically proposing that the tools we use alter how we think.  The key thesis is that the internet is making us less likely to think deeply - we skim read now and get easily distracted led astray by hyperlinks etc.  Here is the author talking about these ideas It is really interesting stuff. From a paleo point of view what I find intersting is the idea that the hunter gatherer brain is also a naturaly distacted one - it needs to be to spot prey or evade attack.  It would do not good to be too much of a dat dreamer.  Deep thinking is good though.

I've pointed to research in the past on the effect of different types of exercise on cell aging, as measured by telomere length( for example - Marathons make your muscles old ). As usual, things are quite complex . Anyway, there is some new research just published that Vigorous physical activity appears to protect those experiencing high stress by buffering its relationship with telomere length. Chronic psychological stress is responsible for a range of health problems, but it seems that it even has an effect at a cellular level right in the DNA. Exercise however can reduce its negative impacts: In the study, 62 post-menopausal women – many of whom were caring for spouses or parents with dementia -- reported at the end of each day over three days the number of minutes of vigorous physical activity in which they had engaged. Vigorous activity in the study was defined as "increased heart rate and/or sweating.'' They also reported separately their perceptions of life ...

the impact of the mind on your health is wildly underapprecited. I think many health problems are at root exacerbated by - if not caused by - psychological stress. It is not just our diet that is far divorced from what it should be, it is our psychological state. We are chronically stressed. Anyway typically, optimism is good for your immune system: Optimism boosts the immune system Feeling better about the future might help you feel better for real. In a new study, psychological scientists Suzanne Segerstrom of the University of Kentucky and Sandra Sephton of the University of Louisville studied how law students' expectations about the future affected their immune response. Their conclusions: Optimism may be good for your health. Other studies have found that people who are optimistic about their health tend to do better. For example, people who are optimistic about heart transplant surgery recover better from that grueling operation. But it's not clear how optimism affect...

mc pointed these out: To get a flavour of Sapolsky's amazing work, there are at least two audiobook lectures at iTunes U on the work from Zebras on stress. The first is Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers ; the second is Stress and Coping: What Baboons can Teach Us . These are both free, and part of Stanford's Healthy Living Series at iTunes U. The take aways from Baboons are perhaps no surprise, but that they are so well underlined with both observation and physiology is well worth exploring. Very definitely worth listening to. mc's posts are always worth reading and reflecting on. ( interview with her here )

This follows on from the Spark posts . I saw this in the Guardian today: Start running and watch your brain grow, say scientists Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and it has a big impact on mental ability. A few days of running led to the growth of hundreds of thousands of new brain cells that improved the ability to recall memories without confusing them, a skill that is crucial for learning and other cognitive tasks, researchers said. The new brain cells appeared in a region that is linked to the formation and recollection of memories. The work reveals why jogging and other aerobic exercise can improve memory and learning, and potentially slow down the deterioration of mental ability that happens with old age. Shame they weren't looking at resistance training too. Here is the Telegraph version

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned this book which had been mentioned by Frank Forencich . The book came to me from Amazon a week or so ago and I've been skimming it before reading through properly. It is about the way in which exercise improves your mental performance, memory and psychological well-being. The focus is on aerobic exercise - because that is where the research is - but he does mention benefits from resistance training. Anyway, what I found interesting was Ratey's prescription for exercise, which is pretty similar to Art Devany's position or indeed to the routine that Nassim Taleb wrote about. This is what Ratey says in his chapter "The Regimen": Today, of course, there's no need to forage and hunt to survive. Yet our genes are coded for this activity, and our brains are meant to direct it. Take that activity away, and you're disrupting a delicate biological balance that has been fine-tuned over half a million years......The ancient rhythm...

I've posted in the past about the way in which emotional issues and stress can give rise to pain. I know in my life episodes of chronic back spasm correlate closely with periods of stress in work or in my personal life. The topic was covered well by Monte and Adam also. Anyway, this caught my eye: Abuse in childhood linked to migraine and other pain disorders Researchers from the American Headache Society's Women's Issues Section Research Consortium found that incidence of childhood maltreatment, especially emotional abuse and neglect, are prevalent in migraine patients. The study also found that migraineurs reporting childhood emotional or physical abuse and/or neglect had a significantly higher number of comorbid pain conditions compared with those without a history of maltreatment. Full findings of the study appear in the January issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain,

I saw this mentioned by Frank Forencich and it looks interesting, so I ordered the book ( extract here ). The author's blog has some nice stuff. In Spark, John J. Ratey, MD, takes the listener on a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection, presenting startling new research to prove that exercise is truly the best defense against everything from mood disorders to ADHD to addiction to menopause to Alzheimer's. He explains that the brain works just as muscles do-growing with use, withering with inactivity-and shows why getting your heart and lungs pumping can mean the difference between a calm, focused mind and a harried, inattentive self. Anyway it ties in with some of the ideas that I was thinking of after speaking to mc . It fits in with Kelly Lambert's ideas too. Here is how Frank applies the ideas...it comes down to moving being healthy. "SPARK" your brain with Exuberant Animal from Lauren Muney on Vimeo .

I read this in an article by Doug McGuff . It reminded me of something Skyler wrote the other day. From THE GEEKS SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH Several non-training circumstances seem to offer the millieu in which proper training can be most productive. While non-scientific and anecdotal at best, these factors were universally present during my own periods of rapid progress as well those of my clients. Personally, I was able to make these observations because my growth seems to occur all at once on a very intermittent basis. It usually occurs in the early morning and will actually awaken me from sleep because I can feel it occurring. It can best be described as “feeling like rice crispies sound when you pour milk on them”. I’ve had as much as 3/4 inch arm growth overnight. Such results never seemed to correlate to the previous workout, but several factors over time can be noted in my journals. 1. Happiness-in general I was not elated or extremely happy. Rather, I was simply contented with ...

Here is another guest post from Monte Hueftle (you may remember my interview with Monte recently ). Monte talks again about stress and tension causing physical pain. This update is geared towards runners or active people who are battling what they think are over-use injuries, muscle imbalances, or having a body that is out of alignment. I can confidently state to you that in most cases (90%+) your injury is being caused by inner stress and tension and it is not a physical problem. Let me qualify that statement. I am speaking about chronic pain or a chronic injury pattern. Meaning you have had your injury on and off for 2 months or longer. Or you have a chronic injury like sciatica for three months and then it goes away but now you are battling pain in your hip or back or butt. You win these injury battles but there is always a new one challenging you. You have tried numerous treatments and medical specialist but no one knows exactly what is wrong or how to fix it. If they do, what t...

Positive attitude is really important. Don't be like this

Every know and again on this blog I talk about the importance of mental factors . I believe we often underplay the psychological factors of health - the need for us to minimise chronic stress, to have a positive outlook on life. Here is an interesting story from the BBC Optimistic women had a 9% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause after more than eight years of follow-up. In comparison, cynical women who harboured hostile thoughts about others or were generally mistrusting of others were 16% more likely to die over the same time-scale. One possibility is that optimists are better at coping with adversity, and might, for example take better care of themselves when they do fall ill. In the study, the optimistic women exercised more and were leaner than pessimistic peers. Unhappiness, misery is unhealthy....it is not how things were meant to be. The related story of course is that Divorce makes you ill

I've written before about back injuries coming from psychological stress - for example the interviews with Monte and Adam . I thought about these principles after t he English Wicketkeeper was hurt preparing for the test on Friday: Wicketkeeper Prior then suffered a back spasm at 1000 BST shortly after the England players finished their football warm up and to make matters worse, England masseur Mark Saxby was struck on the head by a ball during Australia's catching practice. Reflecting on his freak injury, Prior revealed it had been "really touch and go" over whether he would participate in the match. "I had a bit of a shocker," he stated. "I've absolutely no idea how or why it happened, I was jogging along and suddenly had a back spasm. It was a tricky situation. "The toss was pushed back 10 minutes and thanks to the Aussies for letting that happen. Ten minutes isn't a great deal to ask, but it was great they allowed it. "The keepi...

I've mentioned stress before. Psychological factors are I think under appreciated when it comes to health and fitness. This story harks back to the ideas of Malcolm Kendrick - author of the Great Cholesterol Con - who sees the cause of heart disease as social stress rather than fat. He explained it in the videos here . This study particularly looks at the stress of social subordination. I wonder how "natural" that condition is. Unemployment, poverty, nasty bosses, poor relationships, etc all bring such stresses That is not how it was meant to be N ew research links social stress to harmful fat deposits, heart disease "We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic," Shively said. "Much of the excess fat in many people who are overweight is located in the abdomen, and that fat behaves differently than fat in other locations. If there's too much, it can have far more harmful effects on health than fat located in other areas." She notes that obesity ...