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Study Shows This Simple Eating Trick Will Keep You Happy and Healthy

Good food is well known for making us happier inside and out. A study shows how a simple trick can increase this effect.

Basics of the study

Every person has a different way to feel more comfortable. While for some it is relaxation methods such as yoga or meditation, others rely on sports, painting or talking to friends. But it is not uncommon for people to feel completely at ease after a delicious meal.

Based on the assumption that good food makes you happy, Edith Cowan University (ECU) initiated a study to prove that there is a connection between good food and our mental health.

A total of 657 people took part in the study, each of whom underwent a seven-week cooking course focused on preparing healthy food. After completing the cooking course, it was examined to what extent participation in the program affected general, but also mental health and subjective vitality. The term “subjective vitality” includes, among other things, perceived energy, willingness to perform and zest for life.

Cooking yourself: Good food should make you even happier

The results were impressive: The participants not only had a higher self-confidence when it came to cooking in general, but even adopted new and healthy eating habits in everyday life. In all three areas that were examined after the study, positive effects were found in the test persons: in general, but also in mental health and subjective vitality.

Basically, the study shows that there is a connection between health and healthy eating. Significant for an improvement in nutrition is not only healthy cooking, but also cooking at home – which increases the good feeling even more. According to the researchers, such nutritional improvement is also a way to combat mental health problems, obesity and other metabolic health disorders.

How much time is invested in cooking and the quality of the ingredients used is less relevant. It’s more about consciously turning to healthy cooking and doing something good for yourself; for example, just eating more fruit and vegetables can have a big effect.

Conclusion

In summary, it can be said that a healthier diet can be implemented at home and can have a positive effect on your physical and mental health. The question of how food can make you happier can be answered easily: Cooking at home is fresh, healthy and fun.

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health

Study Shows This is What Happens to Your Body When You Smoke Cannabis

Smoking cannabis has different effects on the body. Researchers have now investigated whether there is also a risk of thrombosis.

Cannabis: what happens in the body?

As the University of Saarbrücken announced, the scientists compared the blood cells of three marijuana smokers with those of three non-smokers. All test subjects are in their mid-30s. Prof. Kaestner and his team observed that the red blood cells swelled immediately after contact with the cannabis active ingredient dronabinol – more so in people who regularly smoked marijuana than in non-users.

Dronabinol – also known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – stimulates a specific ion channel on red blood cells during smoking. The channel called TRPV2 regulates the uptake and release of certain messenger substances into and out of the cell. Cannabis consumption increases the concentration of sodium ions in the blood cells, which means that more water is absorbed. This causes the cell to swell.

However, the situation does not last long. Within an hour, the cells returned to their original shape. According to Prof. Kaestner, however, the risk of thrombosis for cannabis smokers increases slightly during this time. Because the blood cells are larger and rounder, they tend to get stuck in small capillaries. In addition, when smoking cannabis, the vessels constrict, which also increases the risk of micro-thrombosis.

Scientists: health risk is unclear

According to the German Society for Angiology (DGA), in the event of a thrombosis, vessels such as veins are blocked by a blood clot. Leg and pelvic veins in particular can be affected. If a clot forms in these areas, there is a risk of the clot being carried through the bloodstream to the lungs. A pulmonary embolism is imminent. Various factors can lead to thrombosis. One danger is, for example, prolonged lying down, for example during a hospital stay. In this case, thrombosis stockings prevent vascular occlusion. However, the tendency to thrombosis can also be inherited.

The disease can be fatal. According to figures from the DGA, around 100,000 people die every year in Germany as a result of a pulmonary embolism. This is the third most common fatal cardiovascular disease after heart attack and stroke. If thrombosis is suspected, action must be taken quickly. As a first step, the patient is injected with an anticoagulant substance. This prevents the clot from growing and leading to a pulmonary embolism.

Prof. Kaestner cannot say that the observations of the Saarbrücken researchers actually pose an immediate health risk. This question was not part of the study.

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health

Study Shows: These Sports Extend Our Lives Massively

Those who play sports have a longer life expectancy. Everyone is probably aware of this fact.

These seven sports extend your life the longest:

Tennis by 9.7 years
Badminton by 6.2 years
Playing football by 4.7 years
Cycling by 3.7 years
Swimming 3.4 years
jogging by 3.2 years
Gymnastics 3.1 years

The sports that top the list have one thing in common: they are played in teams or at least in pairs. It seems that team sports in particular have a positive influence on people’s life expectancy. Apparently, the component of social interaction plays a decisive role here.

The leader here is tennis, which can extend the length of life by an average of 9.7 years. Badminton players live about 6.2 years longer, according to the study. But football also has a positive effect on lifespan. On average, football players have a significantly longer lifespan of 4.7 years.

Individual sports extend lives longer than team sports

Individual sports also increase lifespan, but not to the same extent as team sports. Cycling accounts for an additional 3.7 years, swimming for 3.4 years, jogging for 3.2 years – this also supports another study, according to which fast runners live up to 15 years longer than dawdlers – and gymnastics for 3.1 years . But why is that?

Contact with other people seems to be an important reason here. “If you are interested in training for health, longevity and wellness, perhaps the most important feature of your training program is that it should include a play date,” said Dr. James O’Keefe, one of the co-authors of the Copenhagen City Heart study. The social interaction in team sports not only moves you, but also maintains social contacts, which is immeasurable for a long life.

Activities like running and weightlifting prolong life and provide numerous other health benefits. But the best thing would be for people who play these kinds of sports to supplement their training with activities that promote social bonding, says O’Keefe.

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health

Beer, Wine and Schnapps: Study Shows at What Age Alcohol is Particularly Harmful

People like to drink alcohol after work, at the weekend or in a relaxed atmosphere. The results of a study now show at what age beer, wine & Co. is particularly harmful to us.

Alcohol more or less harmful? Age matters

However, there are phases in life when you should urgently avoid alcohol consumption. A study has identified three phases in which beer, wine, schnapps and the like are particularly harmful. The British-Australian study was published in the medical journal British Medical Journal

Heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy, for example, can cause enormous brain damage in infants. “Around 10 percent of pregnant women worldwide consume alcohol, with rates in European countries being significantly higher than the global average,” said Louise Mewton, who led the study.

Alcohol greatly reduces the brain volume of the newborn and can lead to cognitive impairment. This is also known as fetal alcohol syndrome.

Alcohol during pregnancy: How consumption affects the baby

But according to the study, even small amounts of alcohol are harmful: at a sensitive point in time, such as during the development of the brain in the embryo, even a few milliliters of alcohol are dangerous for the brain structure of the child.

The second highly sensitive phase is between the ages of 15 and 19. Heavy alcohol intoxication has serious consequences for adolescents. According to the study, about one in five young people would regularly consume 60 grams of pure alcohol. The result:
decreased brain volume
Deficits in cognitive performance
slower white matter development
According to the scientists, the delayed development of brain mass would result in an increased risk of traffic accidents and a higher affinity for suicidal thoughts.

Alcohol at retirement age: Even small amounts accelerate deterioration

The third critical phase of life concerns the older generations. According to the study, anyone who continues to drink alcohol regularly from the age of 65 upwards must expect a reduction in brain volume. Even moderate alcohol consumption would reduce the size of the brain. However, it is unclear whether this structural change in the brain also affects cognitive abilities. However, the authors of the study strongly believe that this is not the case.

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health

Greenpeace Shows What Costs Meat Consumption Causes for the General Public

Conventional meat production causes environmental damage for which the general public pays. That’s what Greenpeace says in a new study – and calculates how expensive meat should actually be.

Factory farming produces a lot of liquid manure that ends up on fields as fertilizer. The problem: There is too much manure and the soil is over-fertilized, which is why our groundwater is polluted with nitrate. In order for the water to be drinkable, it must be cleaned. The water suppliers take care of that, they bear the costs for the water purification.

This is just one example of how the meat industry causes damage that it ultimately does not pay for itself – this is referred to as “external costs”. According to a new Greenpeace study, the consumption of beef and pork in Germany causes 5.91 billion euros in such costs each year, which the general public has to pay for. Most of the costs are caused by pork (73 percent).

Environmental and climate damage caused by meat production

The 5.91 billion euros annually are made up of various types of damage, such as:

Greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis
Destruction of rainforest for animal feed
Water bodies polluted by fertilizers and pesticides
deterioration of soil quality
If the meat producers had to bear the “true costs” themselves, meat would be significantly more expensive. According to Greenpeace, pork should cost twice as much: an average of 3.04 euros per kilogram instead of 1.52 euros. Beef would be about half the price: 5.33 euros per kilo instead of the previous 3.50 euros. The external costs of meat imported from South America are even higher.

Greenpeace: The costs should be borne by those who cause them

In the study, the authors also compared conventional meat production with organic. The result: The ecological variant causes significantly less damage – and thus also lower external costs. If all companies would only produce meat according to ecological standards, more than two billion euros could be saved. Nevertheless, organic meat would also have to be more expensive so that the general public no longer pays – pork by 23 percent, beef by 50 percent.

“Anyone who consumes at the expense of third parties harms the general public,” says Greenpeace agricultural expert Martin Hofstetter. “Because supermarkets want to lure their customers with cheap meat, others have to pay a high price.” Greenpeace calls for political measures according to the “polluter pays principle”, i.e. those who pay for the damage they cause: meat companies and meat consumers: inside. This is possible, for example, through increased taxes on meat or a CO2 tax.

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