COVID-19 (the disease caused by the novel 2019 coronavirus) has changed the world. The health and safety of our readers and everyone around the world is at the forefront of our minds. And we know right now—maybe more than ever—health and wellness occupies a place of prominence in yours.
At Ask The Scientists, we will continue to provide you with the accurate, science-based information about nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle you need right now. We believe information and understanding is power—to maintain your health, to keep your family healthy, to battle fear with truth.
That’s why below you’ll find collected stories about topics of utmost importance—immunity, mental health, self-care, and healthy habits at home. We aren’t experts on the novel coronavirus, so there are no specifics about symptoms or the virus’ spread. But you’ll also find a guide to sourcing trustworthy, scientific information about COVID-19 and the ever-evolving global pandemic.
And if you need an answer to a question about health, wellness, nutrition, or healthy living, we’re here, in this with you. We’ll be doing what we always do—arming you with quality, science-based information to help you continue living your life in these uncertain times.
If you don’t find an answer or the information you’re looking for, all you have to do is ask. Reach out through the site or on our Facebook page.
Your Guide to Quality Sources of Coronavirus-Specific Information
What you didn’t find in the links above was specific information about COVID-19. We aren’t experts in epidemiology, virology, or infectious disease. But we can point you to quality sources about symptoms, how the virus spreads, case numbers, vaccines, and more. And remember that the information you put in your brain is as important right now as the food you put in your body.
Here are tips for finding trustworthy sources of coronavirus information and links to those sites:
National government health departments (like the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health in the U.S.) will have more specific information about what’s happening in your country.
Local government health department sites have resources that will be most applicable to the situation unfolding around you.
For the latest research, turn to reputable scientific journals, like Nature Reviews Immunology, New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Seek out more general coronavirus information from recognized experts. This includes places like the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, and academic sites from credible universities around the world.
Entertain and inform yourself by turning to blogs from brands and authors you can trust. Maybe check out What’s Up USANA? for more lifestyle tips about working from home and much more.
What you don’t want to do is constantly scroll through your social media feeds, plucking out the most sensational tidbits being posted. Evaluate the sources of any information popping up on your Facebook or Twitter feeds. Or slim down your information diet to only include trusted sources like the ones listed above. Managing your mental health might even mean taking a break from the deluge of news about the global pandemic.
When you’re ready for more information, we’ll help you find the best source. And if you’re curious about your immune system, eating to help support your immune health, or healthy habits at home, we’ll be here for you. Come back to Ask the Scientists for more immunity, overall wellness, nutrition, and healthy living content you can trust and act on to help you maintain your health.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AdobeStock_329115265-1-scaled.jpeg13712560staffstaff2020-04-02 12:59:592022-07-20 15:05:48Coping With COVID-19: Healthy Living Information to Support You Through the Global Coronavirus Pandemic
You don’t need to be a neuroscientist to grasp the basics of how the brain works. Sure, your body’s command center is complex—a lot happens inside your skull. But a handful of key concepts can help you establish a working knowledge of the fundamentals of brain power.
Start flexing your mind muscles and learn about four basic brain-science concepts.
The Mechanics of Brain Power
Your brain is packed with nearly 100 billion (100,000,000,000) neurons. Each links with other neurons to create networks that, in total, boost trillions of connections. This massive, complex web makes your brain the powerful central computer it is. And that’s how it’s possible for the brain to handle all the world throws at it—thinking, reacting, recalling, and controlling every aspect of your life.
But how does it work? The complexity makes it hard to understand. But knowing the parts and spinning a simple metaphor can help unravel the mysteries of brain mechanics.
The neurons in your brain look like a tree stump, with a main body (called the soma) and roots reaching out all around. A tree’s roots are for collection—spidering into the soil to bring in nutrients and water. The roots coming off a neuron body need to collect and communicate.
That’s why neurons have two types of extensions—dendrites and an axon. Dendrites collect information and take in signals from other neurons. And the axon transmits messages using specialized chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Synapses are the interfaces where messages are transferred. These connections between the axon terminals of one neuron and the dendrites of another make communication in the brain possible.
Each of your neurons is like a tiny TV news network. The reporters and producers are the dendrites reaching out to sources, collecting facts, and gathering the news. The anchor who broadcasts the news is the axon, passing on messages from the news network (or, in this example, the neuron).
Together, this connected community of information sharers keeps your brain up to date and communicating fluidly.
Exploring Your Ability to Adapt with Neuroplasticity
Your brain takes in so much data every minute of every day. Your environment, emotions, and other circumstances are also constantly changing. With all the input and perpetual transition, your brain has to adapt.
Neuroplasticity describes your brain’s incredible flexibility.
This is much more than the ability to change your mind about a topic. Neuroplasticity is the physical adaptations your brain makes by rewiring neural connections and networks. Using neuroplasticity, your powerful brain can switch the area where certain tasks are performed if the need arises. (Be careful not to confuse neuroplasticity with neurogenesis, which is the process of creating new neurons.)
Many circumstances have been shown to prompt the brain reorganization done through neuroplasticity. Physical injury, emotional trauma, and emotional stress all initiate change. More positive situations, like learning and improving your environment, can also stimulate neuroplasticity.
You know your brain is going to adapt. What you can do is help guide that rewiring through positive habits.
Executive Functions Help You Grow Up Mentally
Your ability to conquer your daily life has a lot to do with a collection of cognitive skills called your executive functions. And you learned and earned these skills—because you aren’t born with fully developed executive functions.
They include:
Shifting attention around
Controlling your impulses
Regulating behavior
Considering consequences before acting
Remaining focused
Executive functions also help you toss around abstractions until you eventually create concrete conclusions. And they encompass your working memory, mental flexibility, and aspects of your creative problem-solving abilities.
Even if this concept is new to you, it’s not to your brain. You’ve used your executive functions to make your way through school. They’ve helped you achieve physical health goals. Executive functions even aided with managing emotions during tricky or rough times. And now you know what to call them.
Working Memory vs. Short-Term Memory
Defining memory seems simple. It’s what you can remember, right? Your brain’s storage capacity. What you can recall when you need to.
There’s a little more to memory than that. It starts with defining and differentiating the main types of memory.
Long-term memory is pretty self-explanatory, and easily separated from short-term and working memory. If it’s stored for more than a minute, it likely falls under long-term memory. But comparing working and short-term memory is a little bit more involved.
Short-term memory is the ability to remember small amounts of information for under a minute. Your ability to keep a number in your mind for long enough to write it down is an example of short-term memory. But you forget a lot of what’s stored in short-term memory.
Working memory has limited space, but it’s a conduit for moving information from the senses to short- and long-term memory. And it also shuffles longer stored items to the front of your attention and mixes them with current stimuli to help you accomplish tasks in front of you.
Cooking your favorite meal provides an example of working memory. You’re pulling the ingredients, proportions, and timing from your long-term memory. Your working memory helps you complete the dish by mixing sights, sounds, and smells with the stored data in the recipe. That helps your meal come out right—without extra or incorrect ingredients and cooked properly.
So, the main different between working and short-term memory? Working memory allows you to manipulate memories and stimuli. Short-term memory is just temporary storage.
No matter where this rabbit hole leads, you understand how your brain will adapt, the way neurons will facilitate the communication of new information, and how facts will be stored in your memory.
Look in the mirror and you see dead skin. Don’t be shocked. Your body needs it to be that way. All the skin cells that interact with the world are dead by design. This layer protects you. But if it doesn’t move over for more freshly deceased cells to pop to the top, it could be time to exfoliate.
What is Exfoliation?
The simple definition for exfoliation is clearing away excess dead cells on the surface of your skin.
“Out with the old and in with the new” is the principle behind exfoliating. Remove the older cells to make room for newer, fresher skin.
Why You Should Exfoliate
You might want to understand more about exfoliating before you start scrubbing, peeling, or otherwise expelling the top layer of your skin. The practice of exfoliation comes from the knowledge of how your skin cells grow and replenish.
Cells are born deep in your skin, and they’re pushed to the surface by the growth of new cells. By the time they reach the surface, your skin cells have died. But they shingle together to help create a protective barrier before eventually being shed completely.
Exfoliation speeds up the shedding. And it helps you avoid buildup of stubborn dead skin cells that can impact your skin’s appearance. If you’re seeing dry patches or dealing with flaky areas, exfoliating could be for you.
Additional benefits of exfoliation include:
helping skin appear brighter
aiding in the absorption of your skincare products so they work better
assisting in keeping breakouts at bay by clearing pores of dead-skin buildup
Picking a way to expunge the outermost layer of your skin may sound like choosing your preferred version of torture. But exfoliation shouldn’t be painful. Whether you choose a mechanical or chemical means—the two main types of exfoliating—you’ll have plenty of pain-free options.
Mechanical exfoliation (sometimes also called physical exfoliation) isn’t the most comforting term. But it just means using the force of friction to remove dead skin. That encompasses a lot of options:
light buffing with a washcloth
grainy sugar polish or other gentle scrub
homemade coffee scrub
wet pumice stone (never use a dry one on your skin)
exfoliating glove
brushes
microdermabrasion
Even though you may have guessed how chemical exfoliation works, it’s not quite as harsh as it sounds. Yes, chemicals are involved. Typically, they are enzymes, retinoids, and gentle, natural acids. These compounds loosen the bonds holding skin cells together so they’re more easily removed.
Those choosing to chemically exfoliate often opt for alpha or beta hydroxy acids. Popular alpha hydroxy acids are water soluble and similar to the acid found in citrus fruit, apples, grapes, and yogurt. Beta hydroxy acids are often used as treatments for skin issues. But these oil-soluble acids (like salicylic acid) are also exfoliant options.
Enzymes provide a more ancient approach that started with putting fruit on the skin. Even today, the enzymes used in chemical exfoliation also come from fruits and vegetables. These enzymes work on skin proteins, breaking them down to eliminate dead-skin buildup.
You have your choice of over-the-counter options for chemical exfoliation. Choose wisely, with your skin type and goals in mind. You should consult your dermatologist or healthcare provider before starting a new exfoliation practice.
How to Exfoliate for Your Skin Type
Just like your cleanser, moisturizer, and other skincare products, the exfoliation tactic you choose depends on skin type. If you don’t know it, take this skin type quiz to find out where you fall on the spectrum.
Removing your outside layer of skin is an inherently irritating process. So, your skin type should guide the form and frequency of your exfoliation experience. Sensitive, dry, oily, and combination skin all tolerate exfoliating differently.
Here’s what you need to know before you choose an exfoliating method:
Sensitive Skin Type: Exfoliate gently and less frequently to minimize the redness and stinging that comes easily for this type. A very mild scrub or a simple washcloth may be all the mechanical exfoliating your skin can tolerate. And mild hydroxy acids and enzymes are your best bet for chemical exfoliating.
Dry Skin Type: Like those with sensitive skin, care should be taken to minimize over-exfoliating. Gentle is also the standard for mechanical or chemical exfoliant methods. But the flakes and rough buildup of dry skin does require regular exfoliating to keep those issues at bay and maximize your skincare products’ effectiveness.
Oily Skin Type: Exfoliate away. This type tolerates more robust approaches to chemical and mechanical exfoliation. Tools like brushes and pumice stones, along with rougher scrubs, are great for oily skin. Stronger chemical peels are also options for this skin type. And exfoliating more frequently isn’t off the table like those with dry or sensitive skin.
Combination Skin Type: You have two skin types to deal with, so exfoliate them separately. Be gentle with the dry sections and stronger on the oily parts.
Your skin will tell you if you’re exfoliating too often or taking an approach that’s too harsh. Pay attention to what the color and feel of your skin is telling you. Exfoliating improperly or too often can cause problems for your skin. Watch for redness, small breakouts, and unusual sensitivity to your normal skincare products.
Help Reveal a New Shine for Your Skin
Taking care of your skin sometimes means shedding some of it. Properly exfoliating one to three times per week (depending on skin type) is the best way to scrub or peel away the buildup of dead skin to help you shine. Just remember to consider the proper approach for your skin and always follow-up with an appropriate moisturizer. And like with your overall health, listen to what your body is telling you. The good news is that the results of your exfoliating efforts should be obvious—and written all over your face.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Skin-Asian-Woman-AdobeStock_229281914.jpeg501835staffstaff2020-03-06 10:00:532022-07-20 15:13:36Scrub to Shine: Your Guide to Exfoliation
You’re probably pleasantly (or painfully) aware of your current physical fitness. But can you gauge the sharpness of your mind? In a world where exercise is king it’s important to whip your brain into shape, too. That starts when you test your cognitive skills so you can judge your baseline brainpower. And it’s trickier than you might think.
Instead of counting push-ups or running speed, you need different means to assess your memory and cognitive skills. Luckily, there are metrics you can measure to see where you’re at. And plenty of resources exist for gathering data on your brain.
Take the first step and familiarize yourself with the mental skills you can measure and tests you can take to establish your baseline brainpower.
Assessing Your Short-Term Memory
Your short-term memory is an easy cognitive skill to test. And quick, too. Short-term memory lasts for about 30 seconds—one minute at the most—and only stores about five to nine items of information. You use this type of memory for a phone number before you dial, or the confirmation code on a plane ticket.
There are dozens of online quizzes and mobile phone apps dedicated to improving your short-term memory. But, first, it’s important to see where you’re starting from so you can track progress.
To appraise your current short-term memory capacity, you can complete tasks that involve recalling a series of numbers or letters from a master list.
Here are two tests you can take right now to see where you’re at:
Knowledge stored in long-term memory and information from your environment combine to create your working memory. Reading, cooking, driving, and mental math all require working memory. These tasks take the rules and skills stored in long-term memory and apply them to solve new problems.
Attention and concentration are also made possible through working memory. Your brain uses working memory to help you focus on work and ignore distractions.
Testing working memory can be fun. Activities like Sudoku and search-and-find games put your brain to work filtering out competing sources of information. They challenge you to focus your attention to complete a task.
Another good assessment of working memory and attention is the Stroop test. You use this type of memory to identify words and colors with variable rules.
A final component of memory you can test involves your senses. Your brain is always receiving sensory information. Scent, sound, taste, touch, and visual data enter the brain and are stored in your sensory memory for a very brief period of time.
When you test this kind of memory, you do it one sense at a time. A common evaluation is called a change blindness test. It plays on your sense of sight and requires your brain to tell the difference between two very similar images.
Take a stab at a sensory memory test with these change blindness demonstrations:
Test Your Cognitive Skills
Cognition may be the most subjective brain metrics. By definition, cognition is the sum of all the processes going on inside your brain. Language, thought, judgment, and memory are all part of cognition.
Your cognitive capabilities are as unique as you are. So, in an effort to create a measurable standard, there are tests available to summarize your cognitive strength. Some cater to specific groups of people (young children, for example), but a few can be applied to anyone looking to gauge their overall cognitive abilities.
Inductive reasoning tests task your brain to identify patterns and find meaning in large amounts of data. Games that ask you to guess the next in a sequence of numbers, letters, or shapes are examples of this sort of test. The children’s game “one of these things is not like the other” also assesses inductive reasoning skills.
A situational judgement test is another evaluation of cognition. It’s often administered in questionnaire form, asking you to judge the best or most appropriate response to a given situation. Job applications and interviews often utilize situational judgement testing to narrow down a list of candidates.
Intelligence tests are a common form of cognitive skills assessment. These are tricky, because many factors influence a person’s intelligence, including education, nutrition, environment, etc. But the Miller Analogies test (MAT) is a reliable version. The MAT uses analogies to evaluate your logical and analytical reasoning.
Check out these online resources to test your cognitive skills:
You might be wondering how your brain can keep up with all the information you learn and absorb. Neuroplasticity makes it possible for your brain to grow and change over time. And while it doesn’t literally grow in size, your brain can definitely grow in strength.
The vast networks of neurons in your brain shift and grow as you learn and gain new experiences. Your brain’s ability to adapt and create new neural pathways makes it possible for you to learn a foreign language or pick up a new hobby.
Learning a new skill is the best way to test neuroplasticity. But you can see your brain’s neuroplasticity in action through the power of an fMRI machine that makes neural networks visible.
These machines track the flow of blood in all the regions of your brain. When fMRI scans of the brain are compared over time, it is possible to see new brain pathways develop. This kind of testing is incredibly interesting and expensive, though.
A Word to the Wise About IQ Tests
Odds are you have heard of an IQ test, or even taken one before. IQ stands for intelligence quotient. So, it makes sense that this test aims to quantify your intellectual capabilities and compare them to a general population.
The catch is it’s really difficult to assign a number to anyone’s intelligence. Many factors determine how “smart” you are. IQ tests measure concepts, rather than actual intelligence. They don’t account for the more abstract and individual traits that make a person’s reasoning skills and personality.
They may be interesting, but don’t read too much into IQ tests. They serve a purpose but aren’t the end all be all. Instead, try to use multiple cognitive tests and brain tasks to see where you’re at.
Take Ownership of Your Brainpower
You have a lot of brainpower available to you. Apply some of it to measure your cognitive skills. And use what you’ve read in this review of memory tests and mental tasks to establish your cognitive-skills baseline. Then put your skills to the test or start finding ways to strengthen different aspects of your brainpower.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AdobeStock_299565343.jpeg502835Sydney SprouseSydney Sprouse2020-03-06 10:00:412022-07-20 15:16:22Test Your Cognitive Skills to Find Out Your Mental Fitness
Your shape is all your own. A unique mixture of your in-born genetic blueprint and lifestyle choices manifest what’s reflected in the mirror. While nobody shares your body’s specific shape, there are categories of body types most fall into.
You’ll have a chance to figure out your type below—if you don’t know it already. But there’s an important fact to cover first that’s essential no matter the shape of your body.
An endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph can lead a healthy, happy life. Having any morphic body type doesn’t shackle you to specific health outcomes forever. Your life and health are yours to shape.
That doesn’t mean helpful information can’t be gleaned from a discussion of body type (also more formally called somatotype). Knowing what signifies a body type and which lifestyle tips work better for different body shapes may be enlightening.
General recommendations of frequent physical activity, a balanced diet of whole foods, good sleep, and other health habits work across the board. But knowledge about your specific somatotype can help guide you in the development of goals and healthy lifestyle approaches to achieve them.
After all, the shape you’re in now is just the starting point. Your body type is as much a reflection of your recent choices—diet, exercise, sleep, and more—as anything. From that starting point, and with the additional information below, you can make changes so your goals are what’s eventually reflected in the mirror.
Your Guide to the Endomorph Body Type
You might recognize an endomorph by their stockier or rounder shape. This body type has a tendency to accumulate fat around the midsection and hips. Some of that can be attributed to a slower metabolism. Sedentary lifestyles and calorie overages exacerbate fat build up.
Fighting the natural inclination for gaining and holding onto fat guides the health choices endomorphs should consider making. Diet and exercises focused on fat loss and maintaining proper calorie balance are key.
Diet suggestions for endomorphs include:
Watching refined and simple carbohydrate intake (especially sugar). The propensity to store fat leads to these easily overeaten items to help pack on unwanted pounds.
Turning to lean proteins to fill up and fuel muscle growth.
Choose the right fats. Don’t shy away from beneficial omega fatty acids—like those found in cold-water fish—and plant-based fats just because fat storage is a common concern for this body type.
Keeping a watchful eye on calories in vs. calories out. It’s the key to weight management for any body type, but it’s even more important for endomorphs.
Fill up on colorful, fiber-rich plants. These fruits and vegetables are lower calorie and have the fiber to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Exercising as an endomorph should focus on burning fat while maintaining muscle mass, stabilizing joints, and promoting cardiovascular health. That means using a mix of cardio exercises (walking, running, biking, etc.) and strength training. This helps burn extra calories while working to maintain or grow muscle. Using a combination of cardio and strength exercises has also been shown to burn more fat after your workout ends than sticking to one type of exercise.
Gaining weight around the midsection can be troublesome for long-term health. So, endomorphs need vigilance to fend off this trend. Healthy lifestyle choices can help fight off the weight-related health issues that can crop up.
Your Guide to the Ectomorph Body Type
Slender. Narrow. Petite. All these descriptors fit a typical ectomorph. A fast metabolism plays a big role in keeping this body type thin, with long, lean frames.
An ectomorph can have trouble gaining weight and building muscle, though. To some, that may sound like a good problem to have. And one that means you can eat whatever you want and not exercise. But that’s not actually true. Ectomorphs still need to focus on a healthy diet and physical activity to support their best possible life.
The dietary specifics for the ectomorph body type include:
Packing the menu with nutrient-rich foods, and not simply feeding on less nutritious foods to fuel a fast metabolism.
Shooting for a high-protein approach. This macronutrient is essential for everyone, but is especially helpful for ectomorphs to maintain or bolster muscle mass.
Aiming for an energy imbalance of more calories eaten than burned if weight gain is the goal. Use these extra calories on beneficial fats, lean proteins, and nutrient-rich options.
Pick smart carbs. Since carbohydrates can take up more of the macronutrient balance for ectomorphs, your options open up. More choices could lead to less-than-ideal selections, though. Stick to smart sources of carbs—like whole grains.
The exercises an ectomorph chooses should fit specific goals—like any body type. But that frequently means heavy weight training for those looking to bulk up. These weight-bearing exercises are also good for the bones and joints.
A tip for ectomorphs is to take more rest between sets. This leads to fewer calories burned during exercise. And that’s a good thing because ectomorphs’ fast metabolisms can quickly rack up a calorie deficit that hampers efforts to gain mass.
With a natural tendency to be thin, it can be easy to fall for the misconception of “skinny always equals healthy.” Just because you could get away with a laissezfaire approach to eating and activity doesn’t mean it’s good for your healthspan.
That’s where a balanced, varied diet and regular exercise comes in. One feeds a fiery metabolism while providing nutrients needed to help maintain overall health. The other assists in supporting cardiovascular, bone, joint, and muscular health.
Your Guide to the Mesomorph Body Type
A little bit of Latin and Greek helps crack the code of the mesomorph. You can roughly translate mesomorph to the middle shape. So, it answers the question: what’s in the middle of endo- and ectomorph?
And that’s a good place to start.
If endomorphs are stockier and ectomorphs are thinner, mesomorphs stand athletically in the middle. Broader shouldered and muscular, this body type takes more of a v-shape.
Much of this springs from the mesomorph’s place in the metabolic sweet spot. Weight goes on and comes off fairly easily. So, muscles are easier to grow, but fat isn’t as hard to burn. If this sounds perfect, that’s because many cultures have held up the mesomorphic body type as the aesthetic ideal. And the average gym is full of different body types trying their hardest to achieve a mesomorph somatotype.
That doesn’t mean people with this body type can ignore their diet. A mesomorph should target a diet that:
Focuses on proper calorie balance. They can turn the calories dial to add weight or lose it.
Promotes nutrition through a focus on fruits and vegetables. Fitness goals need to be supported by quality nutrition. It’s no different for mesomorphs, and nutritious plant foods are vital.
Splits the essential macronutrients basically in thirds. An efficient, but not overachieving metabolism means this body type can aim for a fairly equal split between fat, carbs, and protein.
When it comes to a workout routine, the mesomorph has definite advantages. Pick a fitness goal, and this body type makes it a bit easier to hit it. Building muscle means aiming for light cardio and more strength training. Dropping weight may look like more running or biking. The raw materials for gaining speed, power, or enhancing athleticism are on the surface for mesomorphs. It’s just a matter of matching a fitness goal to the right exercises.
Any activity that helps hit the recommended 150 minutes a week works great. Even though mesomorphs rule the gym and the pop culture spotlight, they aren’t immune from the hazards of a sedentary lifestyle or poor diet.
That’s because the way you look in the mirror is a literal reflection of your health. But it isn’t everything. A visually striking exterior still might paper over long-term health issues if proper care isn’t taken with diet, sleep, activity, and stress management.
Your Body Type is a Freeze Frame of Your Health Right Now
There’s no skirting the truth of what you see in the mirror. Where you stand with your shape today is an impression of your health—a snapshot of where you are right now.
That’s a more modern view of body type, though. The original concept of somatotypes—proposed by W.H. Sheldon in the 1940s—was more rigid. It locked people into their type, even attributing personality traits to people’s shapes.
This philosophy has been thoroughly debunked. Today, fitness and health professionals have kept the beneficial information these classifications provide. But they focus on body type as a starting point, not a trap.
Throwing away the whole theory would ignore the immutable aspect of body shape—genetics. The perfect diet and right exercises aren’t likely to make you taller, reshape the structure of your bones to widen your shoulders, or change how where you store fat.
But—as you’ve read above—lifestyle factors like diet and exercise can help each body type achieve health goals and live their best lives. It’s also possible to reshape your body.
If you’re born an ectomorph, you can build muscle to climb closer towards a mesomorphic type. Endomorphs, if they want, can sculpt a stockier starting point into the mesomorph’s characteristic v-shape. It goes both ways, too. Poor diet and inactivity can round out any body type with extra fat accumulation.
Shape Your Life, Shape Your Health
You can be an endomorph who is healthy and happy. You can be an ectomorph who is healthy and happy. You can be a mesomorph who is healthy and happy.
It’s worth repeating one more time: wherever you fall on the somatotype spectrum—and most people will be some combination of types—you can be healthy, happy, and live a fulfilling life.
Don’t be defined by your body type because that isn’t the totality of who you are. Don’t let it box you in because you can make changes if that’s what you want or need to do. And remember, people of all shapes and sizes are beautiful and valuable. It’s most important to be healthy and happy—and that’s not one-size only.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Body-types-AdobeStock_309197982.jpeg418835David BakerDavid Baker2020-02-21 10:00:002022-07-20 15:21:17Know Your Body Type—Eating and Exercising for Your Shape
Your old, reliable meals are the easy answer to a dinner dilemma. But when you find yourself mired in menu malaise, do yourself a favor—mix up the food you buy and eat. Chowing down on a varied diet supplies the wide range of nutrients you need to live well.
Dietary variety delivers other health benefits, too. Diversifying the food you eat helps support total-body health—see more on the specifics below. It also tastes good! And eating a varied diet leaves you feeling better than the fast food and packaged snacks that can often replace a nutritious meal.
Take up the challenge and add new foods to your routine. Here’s how you can give your go-to meals a break and inject variety into your diet.
Dietary Variety Starts at the Grocery Store
By definition, a varied diet means eating foods from across all food groups. This ensures you acquire a broad-spectrum of the macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to help you feel your best. However, not everyone is great at buying and cooking the variety of foods a healthy diet requires.
A recent study paints a clearer picture of how little variety people have in their diet. In 2017, researchers compared the grocery shopping habits of four generations of adults.
Scientists wanted to learn about shopping and eating behaviors across a range of ages. This was the focus because you can tell a lot about a person’s health by the way they shop for food. And in the case of the millennial generation, it’s what they’re not buying that’s more revealing.
The study showed millennials spend less money on groceries than any of their predecessors. They prefer to dine out more and cook at home less. And the smallest portion of their money goes to buying healthy foods like whole grains, vegetables, and lean meats.
Instead, millennials are devoting the biggest chunk of their budgets to ready-to-eat food items that fall short of meeting the standard for good nutrition.
How does that impact the variety of your diet? When it comes to convenient snacks and prepackaged foods, the contents are similar. Starches, sugars, trans fats, and little fiber. Not the wide range of nutrients you can find in a diverse diet of whole foods.
The vibrant array of vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables can be largely absent in a diet of ready-to-eat foods. But you can boost the quality of your nutrition by including more food groups on your shopping list.
Millennial or not, pull your diet out of the rut that relies on prepackaged foods. Take a lesson from older generations and set aside more money for healthier, whole foods. It will make your shopping list more interesting and increase dietary variety.
Body Benefits of a Varied Diet
Plentiful evidence supports the concept that eating a variety of foods is best for your health. That’s because diversifying your diet broadens the sources of the vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients that fuel your body, which is important.
Your body utilizes dozens of nutrients your diet has to provide. That’s one reason eating the same thing every day proves tiresome. A healthy body has a high demand for macro- and micronutrients. And you can’t amass them all from one place.
Supplying your body with a bounty of nutrients is important for total-body health. All of your body’s systems, organs, and cells need these essential macro- and micronutrients. But there are specific body benefits.
Dietary variety predicts a healthier heart and weight range. Those are great reasons to opt for diversity in your dining. With a goal to eat more from each food group, you’re more likely to skip the crackers and chips and choose wholesome and more sustaining foods. This leads to picking high-fiber, low-calorie, nutrient-packed foods that support a healthy heart and weight.
Another reason for a more varied diet is the strength diversity brings to your gut. So much in the body is influenced by the digestive tract. Almost all nutrient absorption takes place in the small intestine and your immunity takes root in the gut, too.
Bacteria and microbes work alongside the cells in your small intestine to digest food and extract nutrients. But your microbiome needs nourishment just like the rest of your body. Prebiotic (those with fiber) and probiotic foods (those containing good bacteria) help you maintain a beneficial microbial balance. This makes what you feed your microbiome important.
In your quest for variety, try to find ways to add foods that facilitate good digestion and microbial diversity to your diet. Legumes, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are good sources of the prebiotics that support gut health. Fermented dairy products (yogurt and kefir) as well as sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, and other healthy, plant-based options help provide the probiotics your guts need to maintain health.
So, the case for a wide-ranging diet is pretty simple: Including items from across the food groups fills your meals with substance and variety, while supplying the spectrum of nutrition you need to be healthy.
Tips to Increase the Variety in Your Diet
If you want to infuse you diet with more diversity, here are a few ideas to help get you started:
Buy In-Season
A great way to increasingly vary your food is to buy fruits and vegetables during their peak season. Not all fruits and vegetables are available year-round. But when you shop for food in its growing season, you enjoy exceptional taste and freshness. Get to know when to expect your favorites to be the ripest.
Picking seasonal produce adds a layer of variety to your diet all year because what’s in season is always changing. Instead of always grabbing an apple, choose blackberries and strawberries during the warm berry season. Pick oranges in cooler months. You’ll adopt a revolving calendar of healthy foods to eat as fruits and vegetables rotate through their seasons.
Try Perimeter Shopping
Maybe a change in the way you shop is all you need to spice up your meals. Give perimeter shopping a try.
This technique can help you shake up what you choose in the grocery store. And the principle is simple. Try to only put foods found along the perimeter of the store in your shopping cart. Here’s why. The perimeter of most grocery stores is lined with healthy foods not found on the shelves at the center of the market. On the outside edges you find fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, dairy, and whole grains.
Processed, conveniently packaged food tends to reside in the aisles lining the center of the store. Since items from the aisles in the middle are quick and easy to grab, you might forget that they’re not the best for you. Branch out from your comfort foods and try making meals with what you can find along the perimeter.
Get Creative
Plan meals that use foods in new ways. Substitute spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for your regular pasta. Try riced cauliflower in place of white rice. Swapping out food staples like these makes adding variety to your diet simple and satisfying. Not to mention the added vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients you’ll also pick up.
The Brighter the Better
Noticing the colors of the food on your plate puts you on your way to creating a more varied diet. That’s because diverse foods come in a rainbow of colors, and a meal featuring several means you’re off to a good start.
The colors of your food also hint at the nutrients they bring to the table—literally. Orange and yellow foods (like carrots and peppers) are full of vitamin A to help support your vision. Green foods like broccoli and spinach have iron and calcium to maintain the health of your red blood cells. Red and purple fruits and veggies are packed with vitamins C and K to support your immunity and help with healthy mineral storage in your bones.
Imagine what you’d miss out on if you ate monochromatic meals. Instead, flood your body with the nutrition it deserves by splashing more color on your plate. And challenge yourself to eat from every color of the rainbow.
Plan Ahead
A sure-fire way to diversify your cooking is by prepping healthy, assorted foods ahead of time. Busy days squeeze out any room for cooking, so it’s tempting to settle for a bowl of cereal or a trip through the drive through. Those options leave you without the healthy variety your diet desperately needs.
Pack your freezer full of mixed fruits and vegetables for days when you can’t cook. Steam frozen veggies for a quick bite. A fruit smoothie with berries, peaches, and banana is a great alternative to a lackluster fast-food sandwich—with many times the nutrient value.
Keep an assortment of healthy, fun, and flavorful foods at your fingertips so you can enjoy the dietary variety your body deserves.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Shopping-for-food-AdobeStock_284032830.jpg501835Sydney SprouseSydney Sprouse2020-01-31 10:00:432022-07-20 15:21:59Spice Up Your Life—Eat a Varied Diet
Humans are 99.5 percent the same, at least genetically. The other 0.5 percent of your DNA, combined with lifestyle choices and circumstances, determines the extent to which you are physically different. Many differences are inconsequential and unrelated to health. They include hair, eye, and skin color, as well as your height. Other differences are tied to body composition—like body fat, bone density, and muscle mass—and can have a direct impact on your health and lifespan.
Too much emphasis is put on body weight in relation to health, when in reality health and lifespan are linked more closely to body composition. Does the number on the scale matter? Yes, but the composition of that body weight is most important to overall health.
In very simple terms, your body’s two major components are fat mass and lean mass (muscles, bones, organs, and water). The distribution of these two types of body mass mean so much to your health. Understanding how your body composition impacts you and learning how to optimize it will help you forget all about the number on the scale.
Defining Body Composition
There are several ways to describe the composition of the human body. For example, body composition can be expressed in terms of chemicals:
Water
Proteins
Fats
Carbohydrates (like glucose)
Genetic material (DNA)
Vitamins and minerals
Gases (like oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen)
Body composition can also be evaluated as tissues or other types of material. This includes muscle, fat, bones and teeth, nerve tissue, body fluids, connective tissue, and air in the lungs.
When the concern is health and fitness, body composition typically describes the percentages of water, fat, bone, and muscle. These are the body components over which you have the most control and can make the greatest impact on your daily health.
Body Composition vs. Other Body Measurements
A quick check of your health or fitness progress often includes stepping on a scale to get your weight. It isn’t without benefit, but the number doesn’t say much about your health.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is another way to analyze health. Your height and weight are considered, which makes it slightly more accurate in determining health status. But BMI is still comparing how heavy you are to a standard. And, that standard may not fit your individual goals.
Like the number on the scale, the BMI doesn’t distinguish between muscle and fat or tell you anything specific about your body tissues. People with the same BMI could have drastically different body types and fitness levels. But knowing the make-up of your body is helpful for understanding your current health, setting health goals, and monitoring progress.
General Composition of the Human Body
Along with giving you shape, your body tissues have different functions and roles, affecting your health in different ways. Knowing what you’re made of may explain a lot about your current health and help direct your wellness efforts.
Let’s take a closer look at how each of the four components influence your body composition and health.
Part 1: Fluids and Total Body Water
Total body water (TBW) is all the water contained throughout your tissues, blood, bones, and various fluid compartments. TBW is a significant fraction of the body both by weight and volume.
The average adult male’s weight is approximately 60 percent water. The number for an average adult female is about 55 percent. Age, health, water intake, gender, and body fat can significantly influence total body water. The body of a newborn infant can be as much as 93 percent water and a very obese adult can have as little as 15 percent water.
This large variation is due to the difference in body fat tissue, which retains less water than lean tissue. About 75 percent of the body’s water content is found in muscles. Fat accounts for only about 10 percent. Water not contained in the muscle and fat is part of various body fluids (like blood), inside organs, gastrointestinal tract, the eyes, and elsewhere. About two thirds of the body’s water is located within cells.
Part 2: Body Fat (Adipose Tissue)
There are two major types of adipose tissue: white and brown. For the purposes of this article—and in general when discussing body fat—white adipose tissue is what’s referred to as fat. That’s because brown adipose tissue makes up only about five percent of the fat tissue in a newborn. And that number decreases significantly with age. Its primary function is to generate body heat.
The primary role of fat is to store energy. But fat also plays an important role in protecting and insulating the body and its organs. Until recently, fat was thought of as an inactive storage site for energy. Body fat is far from inert, though.
Fat cells produce hunger-related hormones (like leptin), sex hormones (like estrogen), cell signaling molecules called cytokines, and a fat-specific hormone called resistin. This hormone has been linked to insulin resistance, obesity, and diabetes. Because of these important functions, fat is now considered an endocrine organ.
And when it comes to health, there are three things to remember about fat: location, location, location. Where fat is stored makes all the difference. It is better for your health to be pear-shaped (fat stored in the hips and thighs) than apple-shaped (high percentage of abdominal fat). Take a look at the different places fat accumulates.
Belly Fat or Visceral Fat
Fat that surrounds the abdomen and is packed between organs is known as visceral fat. But it’s more commonly referred to as belly or abdominal fat. An excess of visceral fat results in a protruding belly, and infiltrates the abdominal cavity and the body’s organs. This visceral fat, much of which is hidden within the abdomen, is most closely linked to obesity-related disease and health conditions. Many studies have suggested visceral fat can predict disease risk and life expectancy more accurately than BMI or waist circumference.
Sex hormones have a large influence on the storage location of body fat. That’s why males are more likely than females to store fat in the abdomen. Female sex hormones direct fat to be deposited primarily in the buttocks, hips, and thighs. When estrogen declines, excess energy is stored mostly in the belly.
Subcutaneous fat
Subcutaneous fat is located just below the surface of the skin. It provides insulation, protection, and a reserve of energy. This fat is located throughout the body in the limbs, hips, and buttocks but is not significantly related to most obesity-related health conditions.
It does increase the burden on the circulatory system, as each pound of fat requires approximately a mile of new blood vessels. In addition, subcutaneous fat is metabolically active (less so than visceral fat) and secretes hormones, like leptin and resistin. The release of these hormones increases with the level of body fat. And since they influence appetite and insulin resistance, these hormones can certainly complicate your intention to lose weight or get into better shape.
Intramuscular Fat
The majority of body fat is located in the abdomen and under the skin, but there is another location that can impact your health. Fat stored within muscle itself is known as intramuscular fat. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s an important source of energy that can be used during exercise. But like most things, a little is good and a lot is bad. Too much intramuscular fat can lead to increased insulin resistance and obesity-related health conditions.
Part 3: Muscle
Your body has three different types of muscle: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. But skeletal muscle is the only type significantly influenced by exercise and diet. Unless otherwise stated, discussion of muscle refers to skeletal muscle.
Skeletal muscles work the skeletal system, support movement, posture, balance, and actions like chewing and swallowing. Skeletal muscle gives you broad shoulders, strong arms, or toned legs. But skeletal muscle isn’t all about physical size and strength.
Muscle holds a valuable source of energy stored in the form of carbohydrate (glycogen), which is made available when the body needs sugar (glucose) for energy. It’s also an important source of amino acids that support protein synthesis and energy production when dietary and other resources are depleted or unavailable. This storage role is increasingly important in times of high stress and when supplies are too low (during starvation). Age-related muscle loss greater than normal can decrease the quality of life in many ways and leave the elderly at a higher risk of poor health and disease.
The other two muscle types are under involuntary control. Smooth muscle lines the walls of blood vessels and digestive organs. Cardiac muscle makes up the bulk of the heart, and is responsible for the life-long rhythmic contractions of one of the body’s most vital organs. You may not have as much direct influence on smooth and cardiac muscle, but your diet and lifestyle do influence the function and health of these vital and unseen muscles.
Part 4: Bone
Bones are more than a structural framework that also protect vital organs. They’re living tissue that play many roles in health.
Bones contain nerves and blood vessels, and marrow is the site of red-blood-cell creation. Perhaps bones’ most important function—as it relates to body composition—is as storage for minerals. That’s mainly calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. When needed, these minerals can be released from bone to help buffer the pH of the body and maintain acid-base balance.
About 80 percent of adult bone mass is the hard, durable outer layer known as cortical, or compact bone. The interior is filled with a spongy network of tissue called cancellous bone, but is also referred to as spongy or trabecular bone. It’s less dense and more flexible than cortical bone, and contains blood vessels, fat, and marrow.
Since bones are living tissue, they need constant nourishment and maintenance. Bone anatomy and function is complex, but the thing you need to know is your diet and lifestyle directly impact the density, strength, and function of your bone.
Why Body Composition Matters
Obesity rates around the world have been rising for years. And there is near universal agreement that excessive body fat is a serious risk to health and lifespan. That’s because numerous health problems are related to excess body fat and obesity.
The current obesity epidemic highlights the importance of knowing and understanding your body composition. Whether it’s too much body fat, too little muscle, low bone density, or a combination of each, body composition can significantly impact your short- and long-term health.
Health complications related to excess body fat are well established and commonly understood. That makes it tempting to assume that it’s healthiest to have as little body fat as possible. However, having too little body fat, has its own complications. It’s also possible to be overfat and underweight. Being lean, on the other hand, represents a healthier ratio of muscle to fat and better illustrates a healthy body type.
When it comes to health and nutrition, the importance of balance cannot be overstated. The same principle applies to body composition. Variations within and between individuals are of little consequence to health when they are within normal ranges, but extremes on either end of the spectrum can significantly increase the risk of health problems.
Some complications associated with unbalanced body composition include:
Excess Body Fat/Obesity
Shorter lifespan
Cardiovascular disease and impaired heart function
High blood pressure
Glucose dysregulation and Diabetes
Gallbladder disorders
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Increased risk of various types of cancer
Osteoarthritis and back pain
Obstructive sleep apnea
Various complications in pregnancy
Menstrual abnormalities
Shortness of breath and other respiratory disorders
Compromised immune function
Increased stress levels
Low/Insufficient Body Fat
Low body insulation
Minimal energy reserves
Inadequate cushioning for organs
Decreased cardiovascular function
Depressed immune health
Impaired ability to recover from exercise and illness
Diminished testosterone levels
Menstrual abnormalities, amenorrhea
Low Muscle Mass
Increased risk of frailty and poor balance
Insulin resistance and poor glycemic control
Increased risk of metabolic disorders
Poor bone health
Disruption in normal hormone functions
Decrease in strength
Increased susceptibility to hospitalization
What is a Healthy Body Composition?
The best body composition for you depends on several things. But body fat percentage usually takes center stage. That’s because it’s the easiest to manipulate and has the greatest influence on health. Aside from feeling healthy and vital, a minimal level of body fat is necessary to maintain life and reproductive functions.
Your ideal body fat percentage depends on your gender and your fitness level and goals. For example, females require a slightly higher percentage of body fat than men, mostly for reasons of childbearing and maintenance of reproductive hormones. Based on guidelines from the American Council on Exercise, the table below provides the ranges of body fat that best represent fitness level and gender.
Percent Body Fat Definitions for Men and Women
Description
Men
Women
Minimum Essential Fat
2-5%
10-13%
Elite Athletes
6-13%
14-20%
Healthy and Fit
14-17%
21-24%
Acceptable
18-24%
25-31%
Obese
>25%
>32%
How to Analyze Body Composition
Body composition analysis gives you a snapshot of your health. A variety of methods describe the make-up of the body, differentiating between fat, protein, bone and minerals, and body water. Approaches vary from quick and simple estimates to complex and highly accurate results. Some methods require a health professional or experienced practitioner to perform the analysis and interpret the results.
Here is a short summary of the most common methods of body composition analysis to help you decide the best fit for you.
Skinfold Thickness (Calipers): The most commonly used method measures subcutaneous fat by pinching the skin and using a caliper device to measure the thickness of the skin fold in several sites on the body. The chest, arms, abdominals, and thighs are usually measured, although some protocols may include as many as seven different parts of the body. The caliper measurements are then plugged into a formula used to estimate body composition. This method is quick, accessible, and inexpensive. But it’s limited in its ability to accurately portray total body composition since it only measures subcutaneous fat.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA): This method uses electrical impulses to determine the level of lean body mass. Machines used for BIA range from simple home scales with electrodes under each foot, to more complex, elaborate devices with electrodes for hands, feet, and other parts of the body. BIA works on the principle that water is a good conductor of electricity. The devices send tiny electrical impulses through the body and measure how quickly they return. Since lean tissue has a much higher water content than fatty tissue, lean body mass can be estimated based on the speed of the electrical impulses throughout the body. BIA is quick, safe, and doesn’t require any expertise. It does, however, rely on certain assumptions (ie. percent of body water) that limit its accuracy.
Hydrodensitometry (Underwater weighing): First, your weight is taken outside the water on a scale. Then, your weight is determined while fully submerged underwater. Because lean tissue is denser than fatty tissue, the difference in the two weights can be used to determine the density of your body. That measurement can then be used to estimate your body composition. The accuracy and reliability of this method is good, but accessibility and convenience can be a negative.
Air Displacement Plethysmograph (ADP): The method of using air displacement to assess body composition is a more recent advancement. Using a similar principle to underwater weighing, a machine called the Bod Pod measures body weight and air displacement to determine body density. Body composition is then calculated and stated as a percentage of lean body mass and fat mass. It’s quick, safe, and accurate, but requires access to a machine and an experienced clinician.
DEXA (Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry): If you’ve had a bone density test in the past several years, you may already be familiar with a DEXA machine. But they can be used for more than bone density scans. Using X-ray beams, DEXA machines can determine bone mineral density, lean body mass, and fat mass. It’s the gold standard for measuring bone density, but it is also very accurate in determining the composition of other body tissues. It can also measure the status and change in specific parts of the body. But it does require expensive equipment and results in exposure to small amounts of radiation.
Ultrasound: This method has been used to accurately assess body fat and tissue composition for over 50 years. The portable machine is capable of making fast regional estimates of body composition. It is used most often in research situations because it is reliable, accurate, and reproducible.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Strong magnetic fields and radio waves are used, in concert with your body’s own natural magnetic properties, to produce detailed images of the inside of the body. MRIs can analyze a range of different fat and muscle tissues with high precision, including individual muscles. This method can differentiate different types of fat and muscle, and determine the volume of fat within organs and muscles. MRIs are highly accurate, but for the purposes of body composition analysis would only be used in clinical or research settings.
No single method is best for everyone. They all have advantages and limitations. Working with your health professional, trainer, or clinician will help you determine which method is best for you based on your health status, fitness goals, and the practicality of the method. But the following table recaps the characteristics of selected body composition assessment methods.
Measurement Methods Table
Method
What is Measured
Pros
Cons
Skinfold thickness
Thickness of subcutaneous fat in various sites of the body
Inexpensive, non-invasive. Reliable and useful for measuring body fats in specific regions of the body.
Use is limited to moderately overweight and thin subjects.
Accuracy and reliability can vary, depending on the skill of the technician and the brand of caliper.
Estimate regional fatness, but doesn’t give an accurate representation of body composition.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)
Total body water (TBW) which is converted to fat free mass (FFM)
Inexpensive, safe, quick, and require little-to-no technical expertise.
Good for monitoring changes within individuals over time.
Because it assumes a typical body water content, validity is best in young, healthy, and normally hydrated adults.
Accuracy can be influence by disease states and tends to overestimate lean mass in obese individuals.
Hydrodensitometry (also called hydrostatic weighing or underwater weighing)
Body weight on land and under water, body volume, body density, and residual lung volume
Reliable and consistent in determining body density with long history of use in clinical settings and sports.
Not easily accessible. Residual lung volume can influence its accuracy. The density of lean mass is an assumed constant, but varies with age, sex, and fitness level.
Air Displacement Plethysmography (ADP), BOD POD
Total body volume, lean mass, and fat mass
Accuracy similar to underwater weighing, but easier to perform.
Reliable for assessing body fat and body density.
Expensive machine and not easily accessible.
Can overestimate fat mass. Health conditions and disease states can reduce accuracy.
Clothing and facial/body hair can alter results.
Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)
Total and regional body fat, lean mass, and bone mineral density
Highly accurate and reproducible. Can determine body composition in specific body regions. Gold standard for analyzing bone density.
Expensive equipment required. Small amount of radiation exposure.
Changing Your Body Composition in a Positive Way
Nothing has greater influence on your body composition than your diet. This is especially true of body fat because it’s a matter of energy balance. You’re either storing fat or using it for energy to perform activities. Understanding your energy needs and knowing the appropriate range of calories you need to consume for your ideal weight is a good place to start.
Focusing solely on diet or exercise to lose weight or stay healthy might not be the answer. Combining consistent exercise with a healthy diet can help propel you to a healthy weight and achieve a body composition right for you.
Ideal body composition is not just about weight or the level of body fat. Training to improve muscle size and strength is another way to improve body composition and positively alter the ratio of lean body mass to body fat. Whether you choose to focus on cardio-type exercises, emphasize strength training, or combined both, it’s most important to find a routine that you enjoy and promotes consistency.
There’s no doubt diet and exercise have the greatest impact on body composition, but there are other factors to consider. Genetics, current or past health conditions, quality of sleep, and stress management can all influence body composition.
Start Changing Your Body Composition Today
Lifelong health and wellness is most often a matter of balance. This is also the case with your diet, exercise, and physical body itself. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that a healthy body composition represents a balance between fat and muscle, as well as sturdy bones and good hydration.
Instead of focusing solely on weight, challenge yourself to make improvements to your body composition. Even small changes for the better can improve many aspects of your health. Chances are good you will move easier, sleep better, and be in a better mood.
If you’re not sure where to start, check with your health or fitness professional about the healthiest ways for you to eat better and incorporate physical activity. This is especially important if you haven’t been active for a while.
From now on, when you think about fitness, focus on “shape” rather than weight. It provides a better picture of your actual health. And it’s more likely to increase your “healthspan” as well as your lifespan.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Pushups-AdobeStock_257634593.jpg418835Russ BartonRuss Barton2020-01-17 10:00:322022-07-20 15:22:43Your Body Composition Shapes Your Health
If you’re alarmed by the number on the bathroom scale, you probably want to find a way to lose weight fast. But healthy weight loss takes place over time, not over the weekend.
Small, manageable changes to your diet and exercise will yield lasting results—even if it feels too slow. It’s important to think about weight loss as a sustainable solution, not a quick fix. This kind of thinking isn’t your fault.
The idea that you can lose a lot of weight quickly and maintain it long-term is a classic weight-loss trap. Avoid it by sidestepping the well-trod path of rigid diets that leave you feeling hungry. These diet plans produce results that may not last long. You could quickly tire of the restrictions and find yourself rebounding into old habits. And it’s more likely you gain the weight back than see lasting changes.
That’s because quick weight loss isn’t the best way to settle at a healthy weight. In other words, it simply isn’t sustainable.
Eat up these facts about how this measured approach is the right one for healthy weight loss that will last.
Why Healthy Weight Loss is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Here’s a fun fact: It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose one pound (equal to about 0.5 kilograms) of fat. If that seems like a lot of calories, that’s because it is. The average recommended daily calorie intake for adults is 2,000 calories. So, one pound of fat represents almost as many calories as two full days of eating.
This is one reason why healthy weight loss is a gradual process. If you want to lose weight, you have to start by reducing the number of calories you consume. If you eat 500 fewer calories each day than you burn, you can expect to lose one pound over the course of a week.
You can achieve this calorie deficit with diet alone. Or you can mix in exercise to burn more calories in a day. Thirty minutes, five times a week is a great place to start. Focus on any type of exercise or activity that increases your heart rate and moves your body.
By incrementally altering your diet and exercise habits, you can safely lose one to two pounds a week. At the same time, you’re creating manageable lifestyle habits that can stick.
The Open Secret to Weight Loss: Calorie Deficit
No matter what new diets promise, the proven way to lose weight is by creating a calorie deficit. Calories are converted from food into cellular energy by your body during metabolism. They power muscle contractions, breath, brain activity, and so much more. But when you consume more calories that your body needs to operate, they are stored as fat (including visceral fat) for later use.
Even a gentle, incremental start to losing weight can provide you with an encouraging beginning. That’s because it’s possible to lose more in the first few weeks of your weight loss journey.
Build on the momentum, but understand what’s going on biologically. This quick start is the result of your body ridding itself of extra water weight. But staying the course means your weekly weight-loss rate could eventually settle around a pound or two per week—the incremental, sustainable rate you want.
Be cautious of diets and exercise programs that promise faster results. And remember that it’s typical to experience a weight-loss plateau a few weeks after you start. This is your body’s natural response to a sudden drop in weight. Along with the fat loss you’re aiming for, it’s possible to lose a bit of muscle mass, too.
Since muscles are the calorie-burning machines of the body, decreasing their mass can hurt your rate of calories burned. You can minimize muscle loss by ramping up your exercise and keeping your protein intake high. That way you’ll bust through the plateau in no time.
One way to break through periods of changing weight-loss rate is to focus on why you’re doing it. People lose weight for many different reasons. But the fact is, living at a healthy weight benefits your overall well-being.
The heart is one of the first organs to see lasting benefits. Maintaining a healthy weight supports your cardiovascular function, circulation, and reduces the workload on your heart.
Sleep issues are often linked to being overweight. So, one added benefit of your healthy weight loss could be improved sleep. Healthy weight loss can also be good for your mood and help support healthy energy levels. You may find you have more strength and endurance than before, along with a boost in self-esteem that often comes with weight loss.
Designing a Sustainable Weight-Loss Diet: Quality of Calories vs. Quantity of Calories
Diet is one of two main ways to control your calorie balance sheet. So, what you eat obviously plays a key role in the success of your weight loss journey.
While the numbers vary individually and by gender, adults need between 1,600 and 3,000 calories each day to thrive. As you’ve read above, a moderate, consistent calorie deficit will be enough to trigger weight loss.
But you should think beyond simple calorie counts.
It’s important to know all foods are not created equal. Some are high or low calorie. Some foods are filling, while others are not. Look at what you’re eating to determine if the calories in your food are being put to good use.
High-calorie, low-quality foods eat up a large piece of your daily intake, but don’t fill you up. Take soda for example. A 12-ounce serving of the sugary drink represents about 150 calories. These empty calories are all liquid, without fiber or other nutrients, and leave you hungry. Eating 150 calories of filling, fibrous vegetables have a different outcome.
Cutting out empty calories will bring you closer to your weight loss goals. Aim to make high quality, whole foods—like vegetables and lean protein—the center of your diet. Poultry, lean beef, and fatty fish provide quality nutrition and ample energy without the extra calories, starches, or sugars typically found in processed foods. Green vegetables are naturally low-calorie and packed with fiber that leaves you feeling full long after you eat.
On a daily basis, that means limiting high-calorie, low-fiber foods—like sugary drinks, fruit juice, and candy. Replace the drinks with water and snack on an apple instead. Always remaining mindful of where your calories are coming from can help you take control of your diet and create lasting, healthy weight loss.
Up the Ante on Exercise
It often takes healthy eating and exercise to create lasting weight loss. Experts recommend 150 minutes of exercise each week to achieve healthy weight loss. That can look like 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week, or three 50-minute workouts.
One of the best tips for your meeting long-term weight loss goals is to find a physical activity that suits you. Exercise isn’t limited to grueling days at the gym. It can look like a walk or jog with a friend, a hike in the woods, playing a sport, or a group fitness class in your neighborhood.
Don’t beat yourself up if your exercise routine is at a beginner level. Everyone starts somewhere. You will gain strength over time. Your endurance will improve. Soon you’ll find you can do more, have more fun, and feel better.
Celebrating Non-Scale Victories Helps with Long-Term Weight Loss
Over the course of your weight-loss journey, there will be hiccups that slow or halt your progress. You might indulge in too many sweet treats, catch a cold, or suffer an injury. When these obstacles pop up, don’t fret.
Trust the process. Continue to eat well. Also keep incorporating regular exercise to help break out of your slump. No matter whether your weight loss is flourishing or has plateaued, celebrate achievements other than the number on the scale.
Here are some examples of non-scale victories worthy of revelry:
Fitting into old clothes
Keeping up with your kids
Increasing endurance during exercise
Experiencing better sleep
Developing a new love for healthy food
Feeling more energized
Gaining self-confidence
Noticing an improved sense of overall health and wellbeing
These non-scale victories will make the excitement of reaching your goal weight even sweeter. You’ll feel better in your body and see all the fruits of your hard work.
Remember that a slow, steady pace is the key to long-term weight-loss success. When you focus on the whole-body benefits of weight loss, you’ll summon the willpower to keep going. If you need more motivation, think of your heart, mental health, sleep, and endurance improving each day. Reaching a healthy weight has added benefits that set you up for a happy and full life ahead.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Diet-plan-AdobeStock_281397727.jpg418835Sydney SprouseSydney Sprouse2020-01-10 10:00:362022-07-20 15:23:19How to Achieve Healthy Weight Loss that Lasts
It’s easy to recognize how great you feel when you eat well. When you make healthy eating a habit, this sense of wellbeing can become your new normal. That’s because you’re laying a foundation of broad-spectrum nutrition that’s essential for encouraging your body to thrive.
To maximize your health you need consistent, high-quality nourishment. Use your diet and supplements to stockpile the solid foundational nutrition your body can draw from always.
Build Health Brick by Brick
Consider the idea of foundational nutrition. Just like a home stands atop a strong foundation, your body builds its health on a base of broad-spectrum nutrition.
A healthy, complete diet is full of micro- and macronutrients—vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and it even includes water. Like bricks, these pieces of your diet fit together to support your body in all it does to keep you feeling your best. Whole foods and essential nutrition give you a firm footing and solid start toward the goal of overall wellness, and cells need water to support healthy, proper function.
These bricks in your dietary foundation need mortar to hold them together. A high-quality dietary supplement acts a lot like that glue. Supplements can provide a variety of nutrients that might not be prevalent in your real-world diet. These fill the nutrient gaps that exist when eating perfect isn’t possible. And they can help strengthen your nutritional foundation when your body needs extra support.*
How does foundational nutrition benefit your body? Basically, in every way:
Ensures basic dietary requirements are met
Builds up stores of important vitamins and minerals
Supports the immune system*
Maintains brain health and cognitive function*
Helps preserve heart and lung health*
Supports the body’s defenses from free radicals and oxidative stress*
Your body does its best when your diet provides more than the bare minimum you need to survive. A wealth of resources from a nutritious diet amplifies your health and your body’s ability to maintain that feeling of well-being—no matter what life throws at you.*
Essential Nutrition and Your Health
The word “essential” comes up a lot when talking about nutrition. Nutrients are considered “essential” when they cannot be made by your body, so they have to come from your diet. Vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fatty-acids, and amino acids are all essential nutrients.
These nutrient bricks are used by your body for everything you do. You secure that foundation by laying new bricks of essential nutrition every day. Since carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals are all important, make sure you supply your body with plenty of each from your daily diet.
When your eating isn’t as healthy as it should be, you start to miss out on the nutrients that keep you in tip-top shape. So, secure your nutritional foundation with a wide variety of healthy foods and help reinforce it with supplementation.
Weather Life’s Storms with Foundational Nutrition
Broad-spectrum nutrition is necessary to maintain your health during physically trying times. Busy lives bring a host of issues that can send your body into survival mode. Stress, poor sleep, and fatigue are just a few of the ways your body is challenged.*
One example comes from your immune system during busy times. When germs are everywhere one of your best defenses is a nutritious diet. Bacteria and viruses thrive in bodies unprepared for battle. They pick on cells and systems that don’t have the support to fight back.*
That’s why it’s important to lay a strong foundation of essential nutrition. Your body can make better use of dietary resources when there’s plenty available—instead of scrounging for vitamin, mineral, or macronutrient morsels.
Another area supported by foundational nutrition is your body’s response to stress. Work (whether in or outside the home) really takes a toll on your body. A nutritious diet can help alleviate some of that stress. A body flush with vitamins and essential nutrients can dedicate more energy to help balance stress levels.*
Focusing on broad-spectrum nutrition may even help provide more restful sleep. Healthy eating supports healthy sleeping, especially when your diet is full of the B vitamins that regulate melatonin, the sleep hormone. And a good night’s sleep is one of the most effective ways to combat stress and support your immunity.*
You can be prepared to handle the curveballs life throws at you by maintaining that foundation of good nutrition. Combat germs with a great diet. Sleep better and stress less by acquiring broad-spectrum nutrition. A carefully laid base of essential nutrition makes all of this possible.*
Broad-Spectrum Nutrition Helps Create Opportunities for Your Body
Foundational nutrition has benefits beyond fulfilling your body’s basic needs. That’s because the roles of vitamins and minerals are magnified in the body as you build your nutritional foundation. Everything from nutrient storage to additional benefits at advanced levels are possible when you have a strong nutrient foundation.
When you cultivate broad-spectrum nutrition, you store up certain essential nutrients for later use. Vitamin B12 is an example of an essential nutrient that can be stockpiled for future use—if your body has all it needs. Your liver can save extra B12 from your diet for up to four years.
Antioxidants keep working in your body long after your diet has met your daily requirements. Two examples: Lutein and lycopene. These two powerful antioxidants work tirelessly to help support the health of your eyes.*
When reserves of vitamin A, another natural antioxidant, are built up, it takes on other important tasks. This includes fighting harmful free radicals and helping clean up oxidative damage. Vitamins C and E work in much the same way. Extra vitamins C and E help support your cardiovascular system and immunity.*
Your bones also thrive when your diet includes broad-spectrum nutrition. Vitamin D’s primary role is helping your bones absorb calcium. Once your daily threshold levels of vitamin D are met by your diet, it can work on other important jobs. Vitamin D works on supporting healthy brain function and helping to protect your heart and immune system.*
A strong nutrient foundation helps your body to thrive—not just survive. Powered by the extras in your diet, essential vitamins and minerals help your health and maintain your wellbeing.*
Be Consistent For Lifelong Health
Like any structure, a nutritional foundation requires consistent upkeep. That’s where supplements can take center stage. A broad-spectrum multivitamin and multi-mineral—and other quality nutritional supplements—can help fill dietary gaps to assist in maintaining the constant level of nutrition necessary for healthy living.*
Supplements can be taken daily as a source of essential vitamins, minerals, and other important—but not essential—micronutrients. To maximize their benefit, be consistent with your supplementation. Take your supplements every day, as directed—which may mean with meals for ideal absorption.
Consistency with your healthy diet and supplements means your body can rely on them as solid sources of great nutrition. Creating this base of nutritious foods puts your body on the path to wellness every day. And you’ll be on your way to setting a stable footing for living your best life.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Hair-food-AdobeStock_140683789.jpg501835Sydney SprouseSydney Sprouse2020-01-06 10:00:552022-07-20 15:24:19Building the Case for a Strong Base of Broad-Spectrum Nutrition
A meal can make your day. Or the wrong one can sink your plans—and your digestive system—like a stone. That’s because all foods don’t digest the same way. Digestibility can even change from person to person. This depends on factors like digestive juices and enzyme activity, microbiome makeup, and anatomical differences. But there are some hard to digest foods that are largely troublesome.
These problems are broadly categorized as digestive issues. And it might be best to leave it at that. To describe them in detail would probably end your reading experience right here. You’re likely familiar with the variety of feelings that result from eating the worst digestion foods out there. It isn’t pretty or comfortable.
And that’s good enough reason to figure out how to swap out these six potentially day-derailing foods.
Fried Foods Burn Your Day to a Crisp
A diet full of fried foods provides a variety of issues. They are a main culprit in the modern, Western dietary descent into the unhealthy. Eating fried foods has many links to unhealthy weight gain and all the associated issues.
While your waistline might be the first thing that jumps to mind, don’t forget the impact fried foods have on your digestive system. Frying any food adds fat. No surprise, since you’re literally immersing food into liquid lipids.
This abundance of fat can trigger a variety of gastric issues for some. It also has been found to have adverse effects on the healthy diversity of the gut microbiome. And that community of microbes play a big role in digestion. That makes fried foods a double-whammy of digestive difficulties.
Eat This Instead: Baking or roasting foods instead of frying will cut down on added fat without sacrificing some of the crunch and crisp of fried foods.
Sugar Substitutes Aren’t Sweet on Your Digestive System
You or someone you know is cutting back on sugar consumption. This is a good goal. But turning to highly processed sugar substitutes may create digestive issues.
Some alternative sweeteners—especially sugar alcohols—have been tied to gastrointestinal unpleasantness. That’s because these substitutes aren’t fully digestible. And consuming too many of various sugar alcohols—frequently found in chewing gum and other sugar-free foods—can sour your day.
Eat This Instead: Cutting out sugar is tough, but there are natural, plant-based substitutes that aren’t linked to substantial digestive issues.
Fatty Meats Make Hard to Digest Foods
Just because the fat is present before cooking doesn’t make fatty meats easier to digest than fried foods. Once again, you need to trim the excessive, unhealthy fat.
The same concerns about your microbiome exist with fatty meats. But your anatomical digestive processes can be upset by eating too much fat, as well. That’s because fat impacts the speed of stomach emptying. Altering the timing of movement and the flow of food through your digestive tract could wreak havoc.
Whether it slows down emptying or speeds up the process, you will feel it.
Eat This Instead: Protein is a key component of a healthy diet. You absolutely need it. But that well-marbled steak isn’t essential. So, replace fatty meats with leaner—or plant-based—protein sources.
Processed Foods Interrupt Your Digestive Processes
Your body has developed to eat what’s around you. For a long time, that meant whole foods from plant and animal sources. Now food scientists and manufacturers can develop foods that take parts and pieces from many sources to make a new whole.
This processing often strips fiber, which is great for digestive health. It also adds fat, sugar, and salt—all of which aren’t good for digestion in excess. More digestive issues could come from the prevalence of artificial ingredients and preservatives that may be hard for your body to handle.
Eat This Instead: Stick, as much as you can, to whole or minimally processed foods—fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
Dairy can be Disastrous for Digestion
If you’re lactose intolerant, the dairy aisle has many hard to digest foods. That’s obvious. Many lack the enzymes necessary to process lactose (or milk sugar). There are remedies, but dairy digestion could remain hard no matter what, especially soft cheeses and milk.
Eat This Instead: Fermented dairy products like yogurt. Also lactose-free milk and harder cheeses are easier because lactose isn’t present or is limited. That’s because it has already been taken care of. So, turn to these easier options to get your dairy fix.
Carbonated Drinks Don’t Do You Any Favors
Many carbonated drinks have alternative sweeteners or are loaded with sugar. Both can be bothersome. But the bubbles are the real problem.
Some people deal with carbonation better than others. But filling your stomach with gas can easily lead to bloating for anyone. And when those bubble pop, the air has to escape somewhere.
Aren’t Fiber-Rich Grains, Fruits, and Vegetables Hard to Digest Foods?
You’ll see fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains on lists of foods that may menace your digestive system. You can blame fiber.
It’s true that fiber—both soluble and insoluble varieties—aren’t fully digested. Given what you know, that seems bad. And packing yourself with a bunch of fiber-rich foods does generate a gastrointestinal reaction.
But the reason fiber-rich plant-based foods aren’t on the list above is because these foods have so many positives. And there are easy ways around the digestive dysfunction they could cause.
First of all, fiber also aids in digestion, adding bulk and helping the movement of waste products. It also acts as food for your microbiome (prebiotics). And finally, fiber has ties to multiple health benefits and weight management success.
Vegetables and fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients. So, you don’t want to skip them because they were on a list of hard to digest foods. You just have to be smart about how they are prepared and how much you eat.
Gradually increase your consumption of raw vegetables—especially cruciferous types, like cabbage and broccoli. That way your body and microbiome have time to adjust to the incremental increase in fiber and other plant material. Cooking vegetables will also help with their digestibility, and, in some cases, improve the bioavailability of certain nutrients.
When it comes to fruits, moderation still matters. But selection is important, as well. Berries and bananas—and other low-fructose fruits—are easier on your digestive system than choices like pears or apples. Also, don’t overdo it with acidic fruits.
Obviously, avoid grains if you’re allergic to them. And legumes (beans, lentils, and peas) are tough because they’re full of fiber and you may not have the enzymes needed to break them down. Soaking beans before cooking is a step towards mitigate beans’ impact on your guts.
Do a Favor for Your Digestive System
There are so many factors to consider when planning your meals. You can focus on macronutrients, micronutrients, calories, and on and on. Just don’t forget about what happens after the food leaves your fork.
Cut the food that you eat into small pieces and chew each bite completely before swallowing, as this can aid in digestibility. Swap out or limit the hard to digest foods you eat for ingredients easier on your gastrointestinal tract. That way eating will be energizing, filling, and satisfying instead of a form of culinary sabotage for your day.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Digestive-issues-AdobeStock_205318799.jpg418835David BakerDavid Baker2019-12-06 09:00:332022-07-20 15:26:52Easy Swaps for 6 Hard to Digest Foods
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