The Wheels Of Government Turn Slowly; Even For Food-Safety:

A short while ago, we talked about Sam Parr's question on slim travelers.

He was surprised by how many people came back from European vacations noticeably slimmer than before.

But since these were generally healthy people who had good diets and exercised regularly, there seemed to be some x-factor responsible.

One of the revelations from that post was that the European Food Safety Agency bans a lot more ingredients in their food than we do.

-Which leads right into today's post, because both the CSPI and Consumer Reports are trying to get one of them banned here...

The post Food Safety Updates: CR’s Revolt Against Red Dye #3 & The US Finally Follows An EU Food-Additive Ban appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Just Like The Original Top Gear. Always Ambitious But Sometimes Crap:
Missed it by -that- much!

Hi Healthtrekkers!

Looks like I was a little too ambitious in trying to get Monday's post out.

It seems I was unaware how quick and efficient my web host's team is at server migrations.

I also was unaware to what extent Firefox caches certain data.

So as a result, the post that was finished last week and set to go out first thing Monday morning got lost in the shuffle.

Thankfully with the aid of an amazing support team and their clever ideas, I was able to work some database wizardry on a backup and retrieve the post!...

The post UPDATE: Sorry For The Delay. Monday’s Post Got Munched By A Server Migration + Email News: appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Air Pollution Isn't Just 1970s Los Angeles Anymore*:
Fifty-six years ago, Jimi Hendrix warned us all about the dangers of Purple Haze.

With all the different pollutants we have to deal with today, it seems like prophetic advice.

The sad part about this is that many of them come from places none of us expected.

The plastic bottle BPA scare years ago was just one of them.

And unfortunately, these insults seem to affect the vulnerable among us the most, like the very young,very old, and those already ill.

So if plastic bottles were an unwelcome surprise back then, the EWG's new findings on products you already have in your house will be another...

The post Air Quality ACHTUNG! Home Cleaning Product Dangers Equal Surprisingly Real Indoor Air Pollution: appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Where Is The Data Behind Slim Europeans & People Traveling There?:
A couple days ago, Sam Parr of The Hustle, My First Million, and Hampton asked about The French Paradox on Twitter.

He said one of the things he noticed is his friends come back from trips to Europe weighing less than they did at home.

Unfortunately, the next few questions he asked were on whether or not people have any data to back this up.

As far as I know, there isn't a lot in study-land, only "anecdata" from friends and associates.

So to aggregate a few things, including info from friends who are from the EU, I've created a list of all the main answers and studies I could find here...

The post Sam Parr Discovers The French Paradox And Accidental Weight-Loss Of Americans Traveling In Europe appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

The Baptist Conspiracy Against Alcohol Finally Revealed!:
One of the more difficult parts of becoming a health nut is changing the things you used to like in your diet.

This might be easy when you considered the Cap'n Crunch, Pancake, OJ carb-splosion you used to engage in as a kid.

But the more you whittle things down, the more disappointing it seems to get.

This was particularly difficult for me when I found out how dangerous eating dark chocolate can really be.

We're going to have to pour another one out for an old friend on this one.

Because where I was sure Mormons perpetrated this idea first, apparently a squad of Wake Forest Baptists is out to convince you to give up alcohol...

The post Alcohol vs. Alzheimer’s. Drinking Really Can Go Straight To Your Head. In A Very Bad Way. appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

To anyone & everyone who can help:

One of the most wonderful human beings on Planet Earth is in a tight spot due to his father passing recently and leaving behind a "challenging" situation where Josh might lose his home.

The rest of the details about lawyers, probate, outstanding bills, etc. are all over at the page John put up for him.

Invest in the best of humanity with whatever you can give!

PS: Given the potential costs he'll get realistically stuck with, the funding goal is actually a little bit on the modest side.

Thanks very much for anything you can do to help, even if it's just a few bucks!...

The post Let’s Get Together And Help Joshua Keep His Home! appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

The Amazing Biochemistry Of Muscle & Exercise Strikes Again!:
Most of us were raised to believe quicksand and sharks in swimming pools would be daily hazards in adult life.

Similarly, we were also raised to think that we're born with a certain number of brain-cells and do nothing but lose them thereafter.

That may be true for "Florida Man", but it's not so for everyone else.

Dr. Sandrine Thuret showed us all a few years ago that we can grow new brain cells, with cardio and especially running.

The only downside to her results was that it appeared weight-lifting exercise didn't help.

A team from IU looks like they might have a little light at the end of that tunnel...

The post Weightlifting’s Brain Benefits Surprise. So If You Lift, You Don’t Have To Be A Meat-Head After All! appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Get Your Debate-Team Helmets On! This Time? Protein Calcs!:
In the constant race we all run to either lose weight or keep it off, many of us find the key is diet.

For a number of reasons it's been the biggest subject in the health & wellness space, since well forever really.

If you've veered anywhere near the gym-bros of the exercise crowd, you'd know that among the strange elixirs they drink like BCAAs and grape juice with creatine, they also focus a lot on protein.

Not only have recent studies shown that protein & creatine are really the only two things you need to build muscle, besides exercise,

But changing the amount of protein in your diet might have even more benefits than the swole gains, yo...

The post Protein Vs. Longevity: Japanese Team Finds The Fountain Of Youth By Refining Gym-Rat Bro-Science appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

A 50 Year-Old Drug Is Looking Like Anti-Aging Magic:
What do billionaires have in common with the rest of us?

No, not replacing all humans with robots to increase profit margins to infinity and beyond, silly!

They love money, and they do whatever they can to live as long as possible.

You can bet everything from The Shake-Weight, to blood transfusions, to Bryan Johnson's exhaustive "Blueprint" and the suspended-animation of The 2045 Project has crossed their desks at one point or another.

When they're not airlifting hypercars onto mega-yachts, they're trying crazy health hacks.

Strangely enough, the basis for their new favorite looks like it might be even better than before...

The post Metformin & Muscles: Diabetes Drug Pulls A Few Tricks Out Of Its Hat With Some Mysterious Health Benefits appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

UPF Junk Food Gives A Whole New Meaning To, "I Don't Mind":
Swanson may have had only good intentions when they wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner accessible to all in 1953.

But ever since that first set of turkey & sides were put into an aluminum tray, things have gotten steadily worse.

Because not only have obesity rates gone up a lot since then, but the rate of people consuming ultra-processed foods today is also increasing.

Worst of all, is that !SCIENCE! is finding that UPFs don't just make you fat, like they did to the Amazon tribesmen who got "gifts" shipped-in from Nestle.

UPFs are like dietary plutonium. Not only are the after-effects weird, they look like they're occurring in some of the worst ways...

The post The Dietary Plutonium Of Ultra-Processed Food Might Steal Your Mind & Accelerate Cognitive-Decline appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

A Little Bit Of The Right Dietary Chemistry Goes A Long Way:
The increase in UPF consumption is a worrying stat.

It seems to indicate that for many people, food is still seen as some vague substance that's only there to fill you up.

But what that increase also suggests is that many people don't care what their food is made of.

Now contrast that with what a lot of research and specific plans like Intermittent-Fasting will tell you.

Food isn't just fullness. It's a biochemistry equation that you eat.

And Harvard researchers are finding out another healthy-eating staple seems to make a much bigger difference than just fancy flavor and a full stomach...

The post Look At This Photograph And Fight Off The Deadly Ravages Of Dementia w/ The Awesome Biochem Of Olive Oil appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

What's Really Holding Back Your Results?:
Every once in awhile I get asked how to achieve weight-loss results.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling that many people are held up by something almost invisible.

Whether it's bad habits, a lack of experience, or even just good-ole' fear of the unknown.

When I get a chance to talk to them, I share whatever I can. Many times it seems like a bit too much.

But one of the ideas I keep coming back to has parallels to their questions and the answers I give.

Because I'm usually reminded of a few parts of my own journey.

Once upon a time, I got a little bit too chubby...

The post Lower The Bar appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Grandmas & Pre-K Teachers Were Onto Something All Along!:
I guess as long was we all recognize Gary Vaynerchuck as the Fifth Horseman Of The Apocalypse, we're all going to get along great here.

Because as any non-Elon tech bro can tell you, it is possible to push yourself too hard and burnout is a real thing.

On the other side of the world, they seem to have a bit less caffeine and some older, odder daily traditions called Siesta.

Maybe it was just socialism or recovery from the hottest part of the day in southern Europe. Like a thirst-quencher Sangria for mind & body.

But it was lost on the "Coffee-Achieving" West, until just recently.

And a team from London and Uruguay is finding out there's a lot more to naps than anyone outside Portugal, Italy, Greece, or Spain might imagine...

The post Your Brain Health Vs. Time. The Wisdom Of Cats, Parents, & Matadors Confirmed In The Magic Of Naps appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Looks Like Taurine Make You STRONG LIKE BULL!:
Humanity has done some pretty stupid stuff in the past.

Whether it's trying to use "Pyramid Power" to keep houseplants alive without water,

Giving LSD to animals, or teaching rats to understand backwards-Japanese.

We've certainly tried a lot of stupid stuff, some in the spirit of evolution, some that seemed destined to win a Darwin Award.

But the quest for The Fountain Of Youth is one of our smarter pursuits.

And Science has helped a lot, finding out great stuff about Ultra-Processed Foods, Sugar, and Intermittent-Fasting.

But a Columbia team might be onto another simple patch that almost anyone could do as time marches on...

The post Red Bull Just Might Give You Wings! Energy Drink Amino Acid May Slow Aging And Extend Your Lifespan appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Does The Road Of Less Excess Lead To The Palace Of Life-Extension?:
So if the magazine, "Mens Health" re-hashes a headline onto every cover saying, "How [celebrity dude] Got Six-Pack Abs And You Can Too!",

Then every other health magazine has a recurring cover of the Yoga/Salads/Actress/Fabletics horsewomen of the Apocalypse.

But if you look around a little bit, all kinds of interesting work is showing health & wellness is about a lot more than AG1 and Instagram protein ads.

A few of the most interesting ones have shown that we're all full of trillions of little clocks.

In a weird irony, the seemingly-endless search for non-Ozempic-based weight loss collided with that fact and may be getting us a lot closer to the fountain of youth...

The post Less Is More? Could Hunger And Other Types Of Restriction Be The Keys To Longevity & A Healthier Life? appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

If An Addiction To Lifeway Kefir Is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right:
So ever since Jamie Lee Curtis tried to show America her gastro-intestinal tract for Activia, we've had a renaissance in the field of probiotics.

But in the recent years, there have been some well-reasoned critiques of some as being ineffective.

So what are we supposed to make of all these special bugs that allegedly help us in a variety of different ways?

Are the naysayers right, or are the yogurt saleswomen who are "experiencing technical difficulties" the ones on the right track?

Well, considering we know very little about them, let's take our lead from a study out of China that focuses on something we all want to do.

-Live a lot longer than average...

The post That Kimchi Habit Could Save Your Life! How You Might Live Longer If Your Food Has The Right Probiotics appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

It's Time To Pick Up The Flugelhorn & Join Your Local Jazz Band!:
So except for Juggalos, I think many of us want to improve as time goes by and to retain as much of our capabilities as possible.

Faygo and face-paint are mercifully off-the-menu for most upright-walking mammals. -Except Lemurs.

So to do this, there are nutritional components, supplements, and others, with of-course physical exercise being the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

But are there other things we could do to keep our marbles, like sudoku, cross-words, or social-networking?

Or is dopamine-driven curiosity the key?

Well, researchers from China are finding some very interesting quirks about an old human activity that might help, too...

The post Could Music Actually Be Exercise For The Brain That Works Better Than Cross-Words, Sudoku, Or Lumosity? appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.

Quit Sake-Bombing Your Guts And Eat Your Broccoli Instead!:
So unfortunately in the health & wellness space, the term Superfood is as overused as a pair of gas station flip-flops in the southern US.

Especially after the blow-up of Açaí failing to triple your metabolism and burn off all your fat just because it's from Brazil.

So sometimes we can be a little bit wary of using an overused term.

But ever since we found out An Apple A Day really does keep the doctor away, some of the advice we would've gotten from Mom about things like eating our vegetables doesn't seem that far off-base anymore.

And as SCIENCE gets weirder and more in-depth, it too is finding out that once again, Mom was right.

In the case of Broccoli, this might actually make a huge difference...

The post Broccoli A Superfood? I Have A Gut Feeling The Study’s Right And It Protects You From The Inside Out appeared first on Health & Wellness Research Weblog | HealthTrekker.