Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 36
Op Ed: The New Normal
Written by Rose Davis
A series to discuss new lifestyle changes brought about by the effects of a global pandemic
I am overwhelmed by how quickly a community can be derailed. We are stubborn creatures of habit, routine, and predictability. This is not to say we do not adapt and change as a society, we do. However, when these changes threaten our habits, routines and life's predictability, instability ensues quite quickly. Coronavirus is just one example of this.
What might the impact of this ultimately be? What is going to change and will it cause forever change? This situation currently calls to question how we eat, sleep, socialise, work, interact with others, exercise, and more....
Mental Resilience
An incredible study at Yale University has discovered the brain areas that activate during stress and how this impacts our subjective experience of stress. Their findings show that when exposed to stress, a neural network in the brain activates, beginning in the hippocampus (area in the brain responsible for regulating motivation, emotion, and memory). This network extends to include areas in the brain known to be responsive to stress, such as the hypothalamus, but also more surprisingly, the dorsal lateral frontal cortex (area responsible for higher cognitive functions and regulation of emotions).
Their findings show specifically that those who feel more stressed by a stressful stimuli, have strong neural connections between the hippocampus and the hypothalamus. However, those that don’t feel as stressed, have stronger neural connections between the hippocampus and the frontal cortex. (This makes sense because previous research has suggested that people who suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety, tend to have difficulty receiving calming feedback from the frontal cortex when presented with a stressful stimuli).
Sleep
An incredible finding in fruit flies might shed light on why we sleep
New research has found that flies that are unable to fly due to lab-induced flightlessness via tampering with their wings, adapt to this by sleeping more. This suggests that sleep might be an evolutionarily tool that helps animals adapt to new environments or challenging new situations. In this study, when the flies wings weren’t functioning, the flies brains sent a signal that triggered them to sleep more and also activated neurons customarily involved in wing development. In summary, this suggests that sleep may amplify brain plasticity necessary for survival.
Nutrition
Fasting may improve your immune system (as well as your overall health)
New investigative research is finding that fasting and fasting mimicking diets are effective at replacing damaged/old immune cells and replacing them with younger and more effective ones by promoting stem cell-dependent rejuvenation of the immune system. It is also showing that fasting may make one more resistance to viral infection in the first place.
While this research is still only being conducted in mice, it is tremendously promising as research to date has already demonstrated the effectiveness of fasting mimicking dieting in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors, reducing fasting glucose, improving metabolism, and boosting weight loss. However, it is important to note that undertaking such a diet must be done under the guide of a medical professional, as restrictive eating can very easily swing the other way: the immune system can get be suppressed if one eats a poor or too restrictive diet.
Fitness
Replacing time spent sitting with sleep or light activity may improve your mood
Research has found that substituting prolonged sedentary time with either sleep or light exercise has a profound impact on our mental and physical health. Findings demonstrate that breaking up long stretches of sitting with very light physical activity (a short walk, or standing while you make a call) improves mood and reduced BMI, with effects that last up to a year. Substituting sitting with more sleep was associated with lower stress, better mood and lower BMI.
Productivity Tip
Invest in a great chair
While it may seem like a small thing, an ergonomically-correct chair can have an incredible impact on your focus and productivity
Habit Hack of the week
Disable notifications on your phone (as long as you don't need it for work)
Your phone can be one of the greatest sources of distraction. By getting into the habit of turning off pop ups and notifications, you will ensure your working flow is not interrupted