Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 4
Mental Resilience
A new primitive study (also in Time here) links anger more than sadness with negative health outcomes in older age. While anger in healthy doses can foster positive developmental growth, as you age, such emotion can cause inflammation in the body increasing risk of chronic disease. However practicing stress-relieving activities such as yoga, exercise, or forgiveness can help keep negative emotions at bay.
Sleep
This article reinforces a very important point on sleep health: Stress negatively impacts sleep
Elevated stress increases cortisol in the body, which makes it harder to relax. This usually leads to difficulty falling asleep and/or fragmented sleep. However, some easy ways to improve your sleep hygiene include jotting down thoughts on your mind before bed; limiting screen time, light in the bedroom, and caffeine consumption in the later afternoon; and having a consistent sleep schedule.
Nutrition
This new study (also in the Business Insider here) links sugar not only with diabetes, but with the growth of cancerous cells in the body. This research shows that cancerous cells preferentially use anaerobic respiration (fermentation) to break down sugar and this process stimulates cell proliferation, cancer development, cancer growth and tumour formation.
Fitness
Findings from a recent study done by Oxford and Yale University (also in the Business Insider here) showed that people who exercise regularly were happier than those that didn’t even when the nonactive participants made $25,000 (£19,600) more per year.
But, caution… there is an upper limit! This study warns that over-exercising (3+ hours/day) can have the opposite effect.
The ideal: Aim for 45 mins of exercise 3-5 times/week and for the greatest happiness boost, exercise socially.
Productivity Tip
Spend time before bed writing a to do list for the next day and prioritise tasks by importance. Not only will this help aid in decreasing stress before sleep, but it will boost your productivity for the following day.
Habit Hack of the week
Try to make it a habit to include something green at every meal.
Struggling to fit them in? There are many greens powders available that provide a plethora of vitamins and nutrients and can simply be added to water or a smoothie.