This Week In Wellness

This Week In Wellness I have decided to hang up the microphone (at least for the time being) and record the last ever episode of This Week In Wellness. Thank you for all your support over the years and thank you to all those who have supported this journey. You can keep following me at drbretthill on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at my private practice at www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au and inside my Healthy Lifestyle Choices Facebook group. 

This Week In Wellness a Norwegian University of Science and Technology has suggested that the costs associated with overweight individuals in the Norwegian population are even greater than those associated with obesity. And given that 75 percent of men and 61 percent of women were overweight or obese these costs are not insignificant. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231214/Overweight-not-just-obesity-drives-higher-healthcare-costs-Norwegian-study-finds.aspx  

This Week In Wellness a study of 22 pairs of identical twins by Stanford Medicine researchers has found that a vegan diet may improve cardiovascular health in as little as eight weeks. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130113042.htm https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812392

This Week In Wellness eating red meat and dairy could help to fight cancer according to a new study published in Nature. https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/22/eating-red-meat-dairy-reduces-cancer-risk-scientists-discover-19862991/amp/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06749-3

This Week In Wellness a paper in the web based peer review journal Cureus, shows that up to 80% of US citizens may be suffering from vertebral subluxation and its side effects. https://www.cureus.com/articles/195837-secondary-analysis-of-a-dataset-to-estimate-the-prevalence-of-vertebral-subluxation-and-its-implications-for-health-promotion-and-prevention?fbclid=IwAR2QrB6HIFdUIjdNhH5z1PLnvonjWMwrCjdON44rhZkCLLtPsCtyagQ-ugQ#!/

This Week In Wellness a report published in Frontiers of Endocrinology has suggested that use of the Oral Contraceptive Pill may enhance women’s susceptibility to stress-related illness and anxiety. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231109/How-do-sex-hormones-and-birth-control-affect-brain-fear-circuits.aspx https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2023.1228504/full https://events.humanitix.com/de-stress-body-mind

This Week In Wellness research published in the journal Fertility and Sterility has found that EMF radiation caused by the increased use of mobile phones may be associated with a reduced sperm concentration and total sperm count (TSC) in the semen. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231102/Study-links-heavy-mobile-phone-use-to-lower-sperm-count.aspx https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(23)01875-7/fulltext#articleInformation

This Week In Wellness high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, long demonised for their potential role in heart disease and stroke, may contribute to a lower risk of dementia and a slower cognitive decline over time compared to people who have lower levels.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231025/Older-adults-with-higher-levels-of-triglycerides-may-have-lower-dementia-risk.aspx https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2023/10/25/WNL.0000000000207923

This Week In Wellness a new study published in Nutrients has confirmed what many parents and health experts alike have long feared, namely that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) was associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms.   https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231019/Sugar-sweetened-beverages-pose-a-potential-risk-of-ADHD.aspx https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/20/4395

This Week In Wellness a study published in Scientific Reports has shown that black, green and matcha tea were all effective at inactivating the Omnicron subvariant of SARS Coronavirus 2. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231005/Green-matcha-and-black-tea-Effective-weapons-against-Omicron-subvariants-research-reveals.aspx https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43563-3

This Week In Wellness just 3000 steps a day may be enough to reduce blood pressure according to a new study in the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230927003032.htm https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/10/8/317 https://www.chiro.org.au/resources/health-initiatives/just-start-walking

This Week In Wellness research from the Journal of the Endocrine Society has shown that the ketogenic (or keto) diet may lower testosterone levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), potentially influencing their fertility.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230907105759.htm https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/7/10/bvad112/7259972

This Week In Wellness a study published in Nature Mental Health has shown that 7 different lifestyle habits can all lower the risk of depression. The most impactful of these habits being adequate sleep which was able to lower depression by a whopping 22%.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230911141148.htm https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00120-1

This Week In Wellness the class action lawsuits against Monsanto (the makers of Round-Up now owned by Bayer) previously reported overseas on this podcast have now come to Australia with an Australian man now claiming the weed killer has caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/sep/04/roundup-class-action-weedkiller-non-hodgkin-lymphoma

This Week In Wellness research published in the journal Scientific Reports showed that infants who spent most of their first year of life during the pandemic have fewer types of bacteria in their gut than infants born prior to the pandemic. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230831/Pandemic-may-have-altered-gut-microbiome-of-infants-study-finds.aspx https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40102-y

This Week In Wellness peoples self assessments of their own bodies potential to fight off a pathogen was compared with the actual levels of antibodies in their blood for that same pathogen and the results were surprisingly accurate. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230816114132.htm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301051123001540?via%3Dihub

This Week In Wellness a large meta-analysis has shown that yoga, breathing exercises and aerobic training have been shown to improve lung function in asthmatics. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230811/Key-exercises-for-asthmatic-people-help-improve-their-lung-function-finds-study.aspx https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07853890.2023.2237031

This Week In Wellness the British medical Journal has reported that peppermint oil may ease people’s pain, reduce the need for drugs and enhance their sleep after open heart surgery. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230803/Peppermint-oil-may-be-new-option-for-pain-relief-after-open-heart-surgery.aspx

This Week In Wellness researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have uncovered a potential mechanism for the increased diabetes risk seen in those who do not get enough sleep.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230707/Research-uncovers-mechanism-linking-deep-sleep-to-blood-sugar-control.aspx https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666379123002197

This Week In Wellness a new study has shown that commonly used birth-control pills can negatively impact women’s stress response, in particular the ability to reduce their levels of the stress hormone ACTH when the stress has been removed. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230707/Birth-control-pills-disrupt-womens-stress-response-study-shows.aspx https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0166432823002681

This Week In Wellness research has suggested that middle-aged men not getting enough sleep won’t get the protective benefits of exercise, when it comes to their brains. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/05/middle-aged-people-need-sleep-to-see-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise

This Week In Wellness Australian researchers have called into question the use of opioids for acute neck and back pain as research shows that the drugs may be no more effective than placebo.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-29/opioids-back-neck-acute-pain-research-findings/102530382 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32142140/

This Week In Wellness oestrogen mimicking polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been shown to pass down through the generations contributing to a variety of neuroendocrine, metabolic and reproductive problems in the grandchildren of those exposed.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230615/Adverse-cognitive-effects-linked-to-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-may-pass-down-through-generations.aspx https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/conditions/chemicals+and+contaminants/polychlorinated+biphenyls+pcbs

This Week In Wellness a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has shown that a longer duration of breastfeeding in Spanish children was linked to a lower consumption of ultra-processed food items in preschool.    https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230608/Breastfeeding-found-to-reduce-ultra-processed-food-intake-among-preschoolers.aspx https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212267223002885

This Week In Wellness supplementing with fish oil may increase the muscle and strength gains of healthy young adults doing strength training.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36822153/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33221700/

This Week In Wellness better motor skills in first grade have been linked to better performance in reading and mathematics in the 3rd grade in a recent study at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230525/Motorically-skilled-children-in-first-grade-have-better-academic-skills-by-third-grade.aspx https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/9900/Cross_Lagged_Associations_between_Physical.239.aspx

This Week In Wellness the World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated their advice on the use of non-sugar sweeteners for weight control to reflect the fact that research shows they do not confer any long term benefit and may in fact increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all death.    https://www.who.int/news/item/15-05-2023-who-advises-not-to-use-non-sugar-sweeteners-for-weight-control-in-newly-released-guideline

This Week In Wellness a healthy diet has been shown to increase physical fitness in middle aged adults by the same amount as an extra 4000 steps a day. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230511/Healthier-diets-may-lead-to-greater-physical-fitness.aspx https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad113/7146619?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=true This podcast is brought to you by Healthy Choices Chiropractic. Head to www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au to book a full spinal, postural and neurological examination with me for just $39.

This Week In Wellness a recent study published in the Frontiers in Nutrition Journal has shown that sardines may be more beneficial than fish oil supplements due to the presence of additional micronutrients. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230418/Eating-sardines-vs-fish-oil-supplements-study-evaluates-the-nutritional-benefit-beyond-fatty-acids.aspx https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1107475/full This podcast is brought to you by Healthy Choices Chiropractic. Head to www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au to book a full spinal, postural and neurological examination with me for just $39.

This Week In Wellness high quality foods lower the risk of sleep apnea by up to 41% regardless of the individual's BMI according to a US study published in Nutrients. However it didn’t significantly impact insomnia or sleep quality.    https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230427/Healthy-eating-lowers-risk-of-sleep-apnea.aspx https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/9/2078

This Week In Wellness a study published in Neurology has identified an increased risk of dementia amongst elderly people with low bone density. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230322190844.htm

This Week In Wellness a study by researchers at Monash university has found that just 0.001% of the worlds population are breathing air below the safety levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (the WHO).   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230307073211.htm https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(23)00008-6/fulltext  

This Week In Wellness the italian government has backed a bill to ban laboratory-produced meat, fish and milk including fines of up to €60,000 for those who transgress.    Italian agriculture lobbies have collected half a million signatures in recent months calling for protection of "natural food vs synthetic food" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65110744

This Week In Wellness a simple eye mask has been shown to improve memory and alertness in as little as 2 nights despite not affecting sleep timing or duration. https://www.sciencealert.com/wearing-an-eye-mask-while-you-sleep-could-have-surprising-mental-benefits https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/46/3/zsac305/6912219?login=true

This Week In Wellness a new Dutch study has shown that 60 percent of a babies microbiome is inherited from their mother and that whilst babies born via caesarian section received less gut and vaginal microbes this may at least in part be made up for by a higher percentage of microbes from mums breast milk, skin and respiratory system.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2023-03-09/babies-microbiome-mothers-birth-caesarean-section/102059396 https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(23)00043-4

This Week In Wellness research from the University of South Australia showing that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than traditional counselling or medication therapies has led researchers to call for exercise to be the primary approach for managing depression.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230224/Physical-activity-more-effective-than-counseling-or-medications-to-manage-depression.aspx https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/02/16/bjsports-2022-106195

This Week In Wellness a new review from the University of Turku, Finland has shown that red, purple and blue pigments in fruits, vegetables, and tubers called anthocyanins may be able to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by modulating energy metabolism, inflammation and the gut microbiome.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230215100419.htm https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c05879

This Week In Wellness walking and moderate to vigorous physical exercise have been shown to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia according to a study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230125085831.htm https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.12908

This Week In Wellness researchers from Irish universities have shown that practising gratitude can help to “buffer” stress, both reducing the heart's reaction to stress and also improving its recovery.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230126/Gratitude-has-a-unique-stress-buffering-effect-research-shows.aspx https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167876022002707?via%3Dihub https://www.researchgate.nehttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167876022002707?via%3Dihubt/publication/44581429_Gratitude_and_well-being_A_review_and_theoretical_integration https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4927423/

This Week In Wellness new guidelines from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) suggest that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption and that having more than 2 drinks a week is considered “risky”. This follows a statement from the World Health organisation in the Journal Lancet in January that also stated there was no safe level of alcohol consumption.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-19/canada-guidelines-say-no-safe-limit-of-alcohol/101868992 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/20/australia-unlikely-to-follow-canada-in-slashing-alcohol-consumption-guidelines  

This Week In Wellness researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai found that pregnant women who consumed a mediterranean diet were 28% less likely to get pre eclampsia, and 37% less likely to suffer from gestational diabetes, both of which can cause complications for both mum and baby.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221222/Adherence-to-Mediterranean-diet-associated-with-lower-risk-of-preeclampsia-during-pregnancy.aspx https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2799855

This Week In Wellness a study out of the University of Leeds has shown that for women, consuming just an extra 25 grams of protein a day was associated with a 14% reduction in their risk of hip fracture.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221128100852.htm https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(22)00393-4/fulltext

This Week In Wellness a new study from China has shown that intermittent fasting for 3 months may be able to reverse type 2 diabetes in up to half of all individuals.  It is estimated that over half a billion people worldwide suffer from diabetes, with 95% of those suffering from the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/type-2-diabetes-intermittent-fasting-could-reverse-the-condition#Intermittent-fastingand-T2D-reversal https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgac661/6888005 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/type-2-diabetes-intermittent-fasting-could-reverse-the-condition#Intermittent-fastingand-T2D-reversal https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32445735/

This Week In Wellness research out of Florida State University College of Medicine has linked the popular artificial sweetener Aspartame to anxiety in mice. In fact not only did it produce anxiety in the mice that consumed it, it also extended to their offspring for 2 generations.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221208174226.htm https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2213120119

This Week In Wellness research by the Obesity Policy Coalition has found that over ¾ of the tested ready made foods for toddlers exceeded the World Health Organisations proposed guidelines for sugar consumption in a result that Health Minister Mark Butler described as "shocking". https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-08/toddler-food-products-failing-sugar-guidelines-research/101749342

This Week In Wellness a new study looking at almost 10,000 Australians has suggested that so called “protein hunger” driven by increased consumption of overly processed and refined foods may play a key role in over-eating and obesity.  https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-that-protein-hunger-drives-overeating-obesity/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20provides%20additional,body's%20strong%20appetite%20for%20protein. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.23578

This Week In Wellness a study published in JAMA Psychiatry has shown that a mindfulness-based stress reduction program was as effective as the popular antidepressant drug escitalopram in treating people with anxiety disorders.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221109124354.htm https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2798510

This Week In Wellness a review published in the Biomolecules journal has suggested that melatonin may be more effective in reducing long covid symptoms and COVID-19 inflammatory markers than commonly used antivirals. The authors have suggested that the reason it has not been promoted more as a solution is due to its easy availability and the fact that it cannot be patented by pharmaceutical manufacturers.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221109/Melatonin-could-be-a-potential-therapy-for-long-COVID-symptoms.aspx. https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/12/11/1646.  

This Week In Wellness new research published in Science has shown that remnant viral DNA from historic infections can remain in the human genome and serve as antivirals that protect against present day viruses. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/10/221027154145.htm https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq7871 The post TWIW 176: Ancient viral RNA helps ward off new viruses appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness residues of an antioxidant added to fish feed and linked to cancer has been shown to be in higher levels in Tasmanian farmed Salmon than were found in European studies before the European Union decided to ban the additive altogether, say experts who are calling for tighter regulations. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/26/fish-feed-additive-banned-in-eu-found-in-tasmanian-salmon-at-concerning-levels-researchers-say The post TWIW 175: Banned Monsanto additive found in Tasmanian Salmon appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that working long hours as a first year Medical resident leads to depression with those working 90 hours a week reporting 3 times the rate of depression as those working 45 hours. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221020/Depression-risk-increases-with-number-of-hours-worked-in-stressful-jobs.aspx https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2210365 The post TWIW 174: Long hours leads to depression appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Michigan Medical researchers have determined that it is the lifestyle factors that increase heart disease risk, not the presence of heart disease itself, that raises the risk of Covid-19 death. The study looked at over 5000 people admitted to Intensive Care Units with severe Covid in in the United States and found that those with cardiovascular disease were at no greater risk than those without, once risk factors such as age, smoking and diabetes were adjusted for. These risk factors led to a 30% higher chance of Covid whether they led to cardiovascular disease or not. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221012/Cardiovascular-risk-factors-e28093-not-preexisting-heart-disease-e28093-are-the-main-contributors-to-COVID-19-death.aspx https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.122.008942 The post TWIW 173: Lifestyle, not heart disease, raises Covid risk appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study published in Cell Metabolism has shown that eating late causes decreased energy expenditure, increased hunger, and changes in fat tissue that may increase the risk of obesity. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/10/221004121928.htm https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(22)00397-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2f Retrieve%2fapi%2FS1550413122003977%3Fshowall%3Dtrue The post TWIW 172: Eating late bad for metabolism, hunger and obesity risk appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness The US Food and Drug Administration wants to update its definition of “healthy” foods to have a greater emphasis on whole foods and allow foods like water, avocados, nuts and seeds and higher fat fish to be recognised as the health foods for the first time. Alternatively products that currently qualify as “healthy” such as white bread, highly sweetened yoghurt and highly sweetened cereals would be removed. https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/28/fda-proposes-new-rules-for-which-foods-can-be-called-healthy/ https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/use-term-healthy-food-labeling The post TWIW 171: New rules proposed for “healthy” foods appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness new research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine has shown that working out more frequently and less intensely maybe be the key to increasing muscle size and strength. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/resistance-training-over-high-intensity-study https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sms.14220 The post TWIW 170: Frequency over intensity when it comes to strength training appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the New England Journal of Medicine has published a study suggesting that the presence of mucosal antibodies in the airways may be responsible for the decreased risk of Omicron Covid infection for those with naturally acquired immunity when compared to those who received vaccinations alone. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220914180010.htm https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2209651 The post TWIW 169: The advantage of naturally acquired immunity for Covid appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness two new large studies across two countries published in the BMJ have shown that ultra-processed foods were linked to an increased risk of heart disease, colo-rectal cancers in men and early death in both men and women whilst another study presented at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference has shown that just 20% of your diet coming from ultra-processed foods is linked to cognitive decline. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/01/health/ultraprocessed-foods-cancer-early-death-wellness/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/health/ultraprocessed-food-dementia-study-wellness/index.html https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2021-068921 https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-070688 The post TWIW 168: Ultra-processed foods linked to cancer, cognitive decline and early death appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study in Nature has shown that your brain actively surveys your fat cells to determine fat levels and down-regulate brown fat production and fat burning when it deems fat levels too be low. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220831113600.htm https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05137-7 The post TWIW 167: Your brain is checking your skin-folds appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a report by the Australian Institute Of Health and Welfare (AIHW) titled Australia’s Health 2022 has shown that while life expectancy has risen, so have the levels of chronic disease. Over half of all Australians now have one or more chronic health conditions and over a third of these due to preventable risk factors such as smoking, physical inactivity or poor nutrition. If you or anyone you know needs help: Lifeline on 13 11 14 Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or its COVID-19 support service 1800 512 348 Headspace on 1800 650 890 ReachOut at au.reachout.com Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774 Brother to Brother on 1800 435 799 https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2022-07-07/health-australians-living-longer-but-with-more-chronic-disease/101213626 https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/australias-health The post TWIW 166: Australians live longer but sicker appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness sedentary lifestyle and poor sleep have been linked to fatty liver disease by Chinese researchers. The authors of the study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism said that “People with poor nighttime sleep and prolonged daytime napping have the highest risk for developing fatty liver disease,” and that even a “moderate improvement in sleep quality was related to a 29% reduction in the risk for fatty liver disease.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220728091037.htm https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgac428/6648962?redirectedFrom=fulltext The post TWIW 165: Poor sleep linked to fatty liver disease appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine and other collaborating institutions have identified a molecule in the blood that is produced during exercise and can reduce food intake and obesity in mice in an attempt to “understand how exercise works at the molecular level to be able to capture some of its benefits”. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220615113237.htm https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04828-5 The post TWIW 164: Exercise in a pill? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness as the UK experiences some of its hottest weather on record, two leading conservation charities are releasing bison back into the wild for the first time in thousands of years in a bit to help tackle the climate crisis. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/bison-released-tackle-climate-change The post TWIW 163: Wild Bison released to tackle climate change in UK appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a report by investigative journalist Maryanne Demasi has drawn into question the independence and trustworthiness of medical regulators all over the world as their finding sources are revealed. The investigation published by The BMJ looked at six leading regulators, in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, the UK, and US and showed that industry provides a significant portion of the funding for regulators worldwide and raises questions about the role this has played in medical scandals worldwide. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220630/Study-raises-questions-about-drug-regulators-independence.aspx https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1538 The post TWIW 162: Is big pharma buying drug regulators? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study of adult Americans has shown that less than seven percent of them have good metabolic health with the researchers describing the results as “a devastating health crisis requiring urgent action” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220704180921.htm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735109722049944?via%3Dihub The post TWIW 161: Less than seven percent of adults have good cardiometabolic health appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study published in Nature that looked at over 400 elderly Japanese men and women, has suggested that spinal posture assessments may be a useful tool for detecting cognitive decline in older populations. https://spinalresearch.com.au/detection-of-cognitive-decline-by-spinal-posture-assessment-in-health-exams-of-the-general-older-population/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12605-7 The post TWIW 160: Poor posture linked to cognitive decline appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness as the FDA announces that genetically modified, herbicide tolerant, HB4 wheat is safe to eat the US wheat industry spokesperson revealed that they plan to seek approval to plant HB4 wheat in Australia within the next year. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/exclusive-brazil-tests-genetically-modified-wheat-global-supplies-tighten-2022-06-06/ https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/in-a-key-step-developer-says-fda-finds-gmo-wheat-is-safe-to-eat The post TWIW 159: Plans to trial Glyphosate resistant GMO wheat in Australia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness following on from last week’s research showing a link between socialising and dementia now a University of South Australia study has shown a direct link between vitamin D deficiency and dementia. https://www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2022/vitamin-d-deficiency-leads-to-dementia/ https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqac107/6572356?login=true https://fb.me/e/3rHPv1muK The post TWIW 158: Low Vitamin D linked to dementia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

And this week I have a favour to ask. If you like this show and would like more people to be exposed to this kind of wellness research I would LOVE it if you could hit pause now and head to iTunes to leave me a 5 star review. Now onto the news… And This Week In Wellness a study published in the journal neurology has shown that socially isolated individuals have lower levels gray matter in their brains and a 26% increased likelihood of developing dementia. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220608161434.htm https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2022/06/08/WNL.0000000000200583 The post TWIW 157: Social isolation linked to dementia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a systematic review and meta-analysis of 38 randomised control trials controlled trials of omega-3 fatty acids has shown that the fatty acid improves cardiovascular outcomes. The study, published in eClinical Medicine showed a greater reduction in cardiovascular risk when supplementing with EPA alone rather than combined EPA and DHA supplements. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210708083854.htm https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00277-7/fulltext https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-11-5 The post TWIW 156: Healthy Fats reduce heart risk appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the Australian Chiropractors Association is reporting that Australians are now spending 5.5 hours a day on their phones, with the additional 60% of neck flexion caused placing an extra 27kg of weight through the spine and leading to increased risk for physical and mental health challenges. https://www.chiro.org.au/patients/campaigns/spinal-health-week/#techneck https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-musculoskeletal-conditions/back-problems/contents/what-are-back-problems www.chiro.org.au/find-a-chiro The post TWIW 155: “Tech neck” on the rise in Australia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness new South Australian laws enshrining emergency Covid powers into legislation have been described by the liberal opposition as “dark age dictatorship” amid growing concerns that the laws overreach in terms of the powers they provide and lack suitable safeguards. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-19/chris-picton-hits-back-at-david-speirs-over-dictatorship-comment/101081932 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/sa-covid-management-bill-set-to-pass/101073360 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-06/sa-legal-experts-concerned-over-covid-legislation/101045008 The post TWIW 154: Backroom deals create “draconian” Covid “dictatorship” appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a recent study by McGill University’s Division of Experimental Medicine, published in Science Translational Medicine shows that inflammation may in fact be necessary for healing acute injuries, throwing into question the common use of steroids and over the counter anti-inflammatories as a first line of defence. “This was very, very unexpected,” said co-author and professor Luda Diatchenko. https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/11/study-suggests-inflammation-wards-off-chronic-pain/ https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj9954 The post TWIW 153: Do anti-inflammatories cause chronic pain? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study conducted by World Animal Protection (formerly the World Society for The Protection of Animals) has shown that over half of all beef and over ⅓ of all salmon in Australian supermarkets harboured resistance to a range of antibiotics. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-04/antibiotic-resistance-study-agriculture-food-chain/101037200 https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au/take-action/stop-the-rise-of-superbugs https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au/sites/default/files/media/Antimicrobial_Resistance_in_Australian_Supermarket_Meats_Monash_Report.pdf The post TWIW 152: Antibiotic resistant meat in Australian supermarkets appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study published in Environmental Science and Policy has shown that environmentally friendly actions leads to greater ‘subjective well being’ (or happiness) regardless of their income, or values and motivations. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901122000776 https://theconversation.com/climate-change-greener-lifestyles-linked-to-greater-happiness-in-both-rich-and-poor-countries-180182 The post TWIW 151: Environmental action leads to happiness appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the US will no longer enforce mask mandates as a federal judge in Florida has ruled them unlawful forcing Joe Biden to concede the mandate would “not (be) in effect at this time”. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/florida-judge-voids-us-mask-mandate-for-planes-other-travel/100998116 The post TWIW 150: Florida judge voids US mask mandate appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a website promoting “freedom fighting” election hopefuls, has been targeted by The Australian Electoral Commission for apparently breaching “political authorisation rules”. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-12/one-nation-candidate-website-donations-for-freedom-candidates/100982564 https://www.jointheconversation.net.au/ The post TWIW 149: Freedom fighting website targeted by electoral commission appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Steven Newmaster, a researcher and botanist at the University of Guelph is facing charges of using fraudulent research methods. Newmaster found fame in 2013 publishing a study in BMC Medicine using DNA barcoding on herbal products such as echinacea, ginkgo biloba, and St. John’s wort and accusing the products of containing different plants to those labelled, laden with inert fillers and tainted with contaminants that could cause liver and colon damage, skin tumours, and other serious health problems. These reports had significant impacts on the natural health industry and led to major retailers removing products from their shelves. https://www.science.org/content/article/this-scientist-accused-supplement-industry-of-fraud-now-his-own-work-is-under-fire The post TWIW 148: Researcher famed for accusing natural remedies of fraud, accused of fraud appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness in a move described by News Ltd as being “quietly noted in budget papers” Children aged 0 to 4 years of age have been added to Australia’s vaccine injury compensation claims scheme and Health Minister Greg Hunt suggested planning was under way for “children aged zero to four”, despite no vaccines being approved as safe for those under 5 in Australia at this stage. The post TWIW 147: Children 0-4 added to vaccine injury compensations scheme appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a March 2022 study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition has found that 95% of the advisory committee members that created the 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines had a conflict of interest with food and or pharmaceutical industries. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35311630/ The post TWIW 146: 95% of dietary guidelines creators conflicted appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study has shown that “medical maximisiers”, people who are more prone to race off to the doctor, seek a prescription and demand a treatment may actually be doing themselves a disservice. The study looked at almost 3000 Aussie men aged 45 to 60 who were eligible for a prostate screening and was published on the JAMA Network Open. https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2022-03-17/how-to-avoid-overdiagnosis-and-overtreatment-prostate-cancer/100911564 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2784814 The post TWIW 145: Medical ‘maximisers’ may be worse off appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a systematic review examining the replacement of glucose and sucrose with fructose in foods and drinks has failed to show the harmful effects of Fructose previously suggested and may even suggest some benefit to fructose consumption. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.647600/full The post TWIW 144: Glucose or Fructose? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a landmark Adelaide Uni study has shown that meat consumption leads to increased life expectancy despite what they describe as “research that has thrown a negative spotlight on meat consumption in the human diet,” https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/news/list/2022/02/22/meat-eating-extends-human-life-expectancy-worldwide https://www.dovepress.com/total-meat-intake-is-associated-with-life-expectancy-a-cross-sectional-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJGM The post TWIW 143: Eating meat extends lifespan appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness as Israel deals with it’s 5th wave of Corona virus despite some of the highest vaccination and booster rates in the world a new study on Vitamin D supplementation in that country is showing a lot of promise. Described as “some of the most convincing evidence to date” Researchers from Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center have gone as far as to say that they can predict how people would fare if infected based on nothing more than their ages and vitamin D levels. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-study-offers-strongest-proof-yet-of-vitamin-ds-power-to-fight-covid/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263069 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20955219/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/1-in-4-hospitalized-covid-patients-who-lack-vitamin-d-die-israeli-study/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/israel/ The post TWIW 142: Vitamin D may massively reduce Covid risk appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness economists from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics have conducted a meta-analysis of the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on mortality and concluded that they had “little to no effect” on saving lives. Their analysis of the data concluded that lockdowns across Europe and the USA had “reduced COVID-19 mortality by 0.2% on average” with some of the studies actually showing an increased mortality. https://nypost.com/2022/02/02/covid-lockdowns-had-very-little-effect-on-mortality-rate-study/ https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf The post TWIW 141: Lockdowns didn’t work say John Hopkins Institute appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a 3 day wellness festival incorporating over 60 events is coming to the Adelaide Hills this April as part of their bushfire recovery efforts funded by the Federal Government. Martin Radcliffe, Chair of Adelaide Hills Tourism Board said that it was fitting that the Adelaide Hills was the first region in Australia to be home to the inaugural Wellness Wander event. https://wellnesswander.com.au Bad Back To School >>> https://fb.me/e/1zEMaaHQJ The post TWIW 140: 3 day wellness festival comes to the Adelaide Hills appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness musician Neil Young has told music and podcasting platform Spotify that “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” referring to Joe Rogan, one of the most popular podcasters in the world. Spotify in turn responded by removing all of Young’s music backing in the top-rated podcaster to whom they have exclusive rights. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-28/who-backs-neil-youngs-spotify-covid-stance/100787132 The post TWIW 139: Spotify chooses Rogan over Young appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness saliva sharing amongst family members helps children discern who they can trust and turn to in times of stress. A 2022 study published in the journal Science showed that exposure to family member spit (or saliva sharing) plays a crucial role in how we define our relationships and it starts from the first few months of life. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/20/saliva-sharing-babies-closest-relationships/ https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh1054 This episode is brought to you by my FREE mentoring group Healthy Lifestyle Choices. For wellness information, inspiration and mentoring from me just search the group Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill on Facebook. The post TWIW 138: If you want your kids to trust you, share your saliva appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology has shown that a cup of tea can contain up to 60 disinfection byproducts (DBP’s) including some with unknown health side effects. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210915085847.htm https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c03419 This episode is brought to you by my FREE mentoring group Healthy Lifestyle Choices. For wellness information, inspiration and mentoring from me just search the group Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill on Facebook. The post TWIW 137: Could your cuppa be causing cancer or birth defects? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This episode is brought to you by my Exercising Resilience mentoring program. For the first time this year Exercising Resilience is open to new members. Head to exercisingresilience.com to get personally mentored by me for free for the first month. This Week In Wellness getting enough DHA during pregnancy may help prevent maternal stress on unborn male fetuses, leading to a reduction in the development of neurodegenerative disorders like autism and schizophrenia. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210324113405.htm www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 136: DHA may help prevent autism and schizophrenia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness acute Vitamin D3 supplementation was shown to almost halve the risk of being hospitalized for more than 8 days in COVID cases with comorbidities compared to cases without comorbidities who did not supplement and decreased the mortality rate by over 2 times. You’ve been listening to This Week In Wellness with Brett Hill. To continue the conversation find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thisweekinwellness, if you liked this episode please leave us a review on iTunes and for more information about this and other projects from me head to drbretthill.com. P.s. my small group mentoring program Exercising Resilience is currently taking on new members for the first time in 12 months. If you would like to get involved at the EARLY BIRD rate be sure to head to www.exercisingresilience.com before xmas day to sign up. The post TWIW 135: Could Vit D halve COVID deaths? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a randomised control trial conducted by researchers from Pennsylvania State University has shown that diets high in herbs and spices may reduce blood pressure in people at risk of cardiovascular disease. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-herbs-and-spices-lower-blood-pressure#Three-test-diets https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/114/6/1936/6369090 Join me on the 16th of December for my LIVE streamed webinar on “How to strengthen your body to suit the environment”. Click on the following link to register https://fb.me/e/73h1AjKI8 The post TWIW 134: Not so secret; herbs and spices lower blood pressure appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness researchers from the University of Cincinnati are investigating whether helpful bacteria may be used to help break down and destroy cancers. The study, published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials looked at “solid cancers” such as those that affect the breast and prostate as these form a barrier around themselves of collagen and hyaluronic acid that can be hard for antibodies and immune cells to penetrate. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211119155532.htm https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.202101487 The post TWIW 133: Do you have tumour killing bacteria? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a large meta-analysis published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition show that meat abstention, in other words, vegetarianism or veganism is “clearly associated with poorer mental health, specifically higher levels of both depression and anxiety”, whilst meat consumption is associated with “lower levels of depression and anxiety”. https://www.psypost.org/2021/11/meat-consumption-is-associated-with-better-mental-health-meta-analysis-finds-62107 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2021.1974336 The post TWIW 132: Meat consumption leads to better mental health appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness in a lesson for all parents and caregivers adults who were picky eaters as kids thank strategies that were positive and encouraging for helping them change their palate. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211111130246.htm https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eat.23639 The post TWIW 131: Supportive strategies help picky eaters appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Australian researchers published in the BMJ Open have confirmed that zinc can help shorten respiratory tract infections including colds, flus, sinusitis and pneumonia whilst suggesting that many over the counter cold remedies only offer “marginal benefits”. https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20211102/zinc-might-help-shorten-your-cold-or-flu The post TWIW 130: Zinc shortens respiratory tract infections appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study looking at adherence to the PaleoDiet and the relative risk of cardiovascular disease in a mediterranean cohort has shown a 55% relative reduction in risk for those in the highest quintile (or 1/5th) compared to those in the lowest quintile. In other words those most closely in alignment with the diet were significantly less likely to get cardiovascular disease than those least in alignment. This result was consistent across sexes, weight categories and activity levels. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-021-02696-9 This podcast is brought to you by my new Facebook community Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill. To get information, videos, podcasts and LIVE mentoring from me just search for Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill on Facebook. The post TWIW 129: Could Mediterranean countries benefit from switching to a Paleo diet? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness in yet another potential blow to Bayer (the acquirer of Monsanto) and their controversial weed killer Glyphosate a pilot study published in the journal Environmental Pollution has suggested that it may cause a 4.5 fold increase in the risk of breast cancer. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33714786/ The post TWIW 128: Is Glyphosate also linked to breast cancer? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

And This Week In Wellness just 4 weeks highly processed, carb laden foods have been linked to inflammation, memory loss and Alzheimer’s whilst Omega 3’s and DHA have been shown to reduce the effects, even without other dietary changes. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211014172753.htm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889159121005043?via%3Dihub This podcast is brought to you by my new Facebook community Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill. To get information, videos, podcasts and LIVE mentoring from me just search for Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Brett Hill in Facebook. The post TWIW 127: Refined carbohydrates harm your memory appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness breathing in clean air has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Tint particulate matter released by cars and factories known as PM2.5 has previously been linked to memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease due to the capacity of the tiny particles to pass directly up into the brain (via the nose) and hence bypass the blood-brain barrier. It has also been been linked to premature death, particularly in people with chronic heart or lung diseases. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211007122123.htm The post TWIW 126: Clean air matters for brain health appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a small study published in the journal Circulation of the American Heart Association has shown that regular intense exercise for people with early signs of heart failure may be able to increase the elasticity of their heart muscles. https://min.news/en/news/63b7bf508ecb8f13705d1cd3fe7a32ca.html https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.054117 The post TWIW 125: Your heart may need more than just walking appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Dr. David Ludwig, Endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor at Harvard Medical School has published a paper with the bold claim that over consuming processed carbs rather than overeating is the primary cause of the worldwide obesity crisis. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210913135729.htm https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqab270/6369073 The post TWIW 124: Could it be carb intake rather than overeating that causes obesity? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness I launch my new online community Healthy Lifestyle Choices. In a world full of information, misinformation, bias, hyperbole and conspiracy theories it is not hard to find information but it is hard to know which information to trust. And in a social media inspired world of echo chambers, where black and white thinking abounds, it is hard to find a place to have a balanced healthy argument, where people are willing to acknowledge the pros and cons of each side of the debate in the search of truth rather than the search to be right. www.facebook.com/groups/healthylifestylechoiceswithdrbretthill/ www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au The post TWIW 123: Healthy Lifestyle Choices appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a team of American researchers have shown that reducing sugar by just 20% in packaged foods and 40% in drinks could prevent half a million deaths and save over 2 billion dollars in the US alone within the first 10 years. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210827082431.htm The post TWIW 122: Reducing sugar could save $160 billion appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness with Iceland and Israel in the midst of their biggest Covid outbreaks despite 86% of those over 16 being fully vaccinated in Iceland and Israel having 78% of those 12 and over vaccinated, questions are being asked about whether we will ever be able to reach herd immunity. https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/iceland-deals-with-growing-delta-outbreak-as-high-vaccination-rates-stop-deaths/news-story/b970a814615715e573d67b3a1c1525f0 https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-iceland-vaccines-idUSL1N2P918F https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/31/covid-19-recovery-vaccination-natural-immunity/ https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1 The post TWIW 121: What if we can’t reach herd immunity? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has reported that prescription rates of anxiety and depression medication have risen dramatically in recent months amidst the ongoing uncertainty created by the Government’s response to Corona virus. https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/use-of-anxiety-and-depression-medication-spikes-as The post TWIW 120: Anti-anxiety drug usage soars by 31% appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness popular American Osteopath and wellness blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola’s, who’s website is reported to get over 1.9 million visitors each month, has removed over 15,000 articles from his website published over the last 25 years in response to pressure from media and regulators alike, including the US-based FDA. https://www.fox4now.com/news/coronavirus/local-doctor-removing-health-articles-after-claims-of-misinformation https://www.mercola.com/newsletter-announcement.htm https://www.counterhate.com/disinformationdozen The post TWIW 119: Mercola removes 15,000 articles after media and political pressure appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Bayer Monsanto have announced that they will no longer sell glyphosate-based herbicides to residential U.S. gardeners as of 2023, following costly lawsuits over the cancer causing weedkiller, under the label Roundup. https://sustainablepulse.com/2021/07/29/bayer-confirms-end-of-sale-of-glyphosate-based-herbicides-for-us-lawn-garden-market/#.YQOsP44zY2z The post TWIW 118: Bayer to phase out Glyphosate in the US appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that the so-called “good cholesterol”, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has a previously unknown role in protecting the liver from injury. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210722171210.htm https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6553/eabe6729 The post TWIW 117: Good Cholesterol may protect liver appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness urban Aboriginal diabetes lifestyle program Too Deadly for Diabetes is creating overwhelmingly positive results in regards to weight loss, blood pressure control and glycaemic control in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people using a low-cost easy to prepare diet and flexible exercise program, providing links to YouTube videos that were sent to participants each week. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.13092 https://toodeadlyfordiabetes.com.au/our-program The post TWIW 116: Too deadly for diabetes appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness researchers from Duke University have taken a deep dive into the metabolomics of meat and so called “near meat” showing that not surprisingly they are as different as plants and animals. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210706153026.htm The post TWIW 115: Fake meat and meat are not nutritionally equivalent appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a diet high in fatty fish has been shown to reduce both the frequency and intensity of migraines when compared to a diet high in vegetable oils. Researchers from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) studied 182 adults with frequent migraines using a 16-week dietary intervention. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210630213035.htm The post TWIW 114: Swap seed oils for fish oils for a 30-40% migraine reduction appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a three-generation cohort study has shown that high fruit and vegetable consumption during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of developmental delays in the resultant children at age 2. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/fruit-and-vegetable-consumption-before-and-during-pregnancy-and-developmental-delays-in-offspring-aged-2-years-in-japan/46077C7D37518C26273C1C1C8F761CF9 The post TWIW 113: Fruit and veg in pregnancy reduces developmental delays appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness The Wellness Couch podcast network has announced that the LAST EVER Wellness Summit will be taking place online in less than a week. I am joined by my co-director Marcus Pearce as we discuss what a Wellness Summit is, talk a bit about the past Summit’s and most importantly what you can expect at this year’s LAST EVER Wellness Summit. To find out more and secure your ticket (no matter where in the world you are) head to thewellnesssummit.com The post TWIW 112: The LAST EVER Wellness Summit appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease no less, has suggested that “spiritual well being” could help to reduce multiple risk factors and potentially help people age Alzheimer’s free. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210511123727.htm The post TWIW 111: Journal says “spiritual wellbeing” may help guard against Alzheimer’s appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the cancer Council is reporting that only 16% of Australian secondary school children meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity and the story is even worse for our girls with just 9% reaching that mark. This despite over ¾ of the students acknowledging that both their parents and their school had encouraged them to participate in sport and physical activity. https://www.cancer.org.au/media-releases/2021/5-in-6-aussie-teens-not-meeting-the-recommended-guidelines-for-physical-activity The post TWIW 110: 9 in 10 Aussie girls not active enough appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a small group of researchers are pushing for the clinical construct ‘Sluggish Cognitive Tempo’ characterised by mental fogginess, hypoactivity, sluggishness, staring frequently, inconsistent awareness and slow working speed to become an officially recognised diagnosis paving the way for sufferers to get extra help and medication. https://www.statnews.com/2021/04/12/sluggish-cognitive-tempo-research-critics/ The post TWIW 109: A new mental health disorder appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a world first study investigating the levels of plastic in store bought rice has shown that Australians may be consuming up to 13mg of plastic per serve. And this plastic appears to be primarily as a result of plastics used in both agriculture and processing practices rather than packaging. https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/health-and-wellness/wash-your-rice-to-get-rid-of-microplastic-experts-say-20210510-p57qfg https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/health-concerns-after-researchers-find-microplastics-in-instant-rice-20210510-p57qe9.html https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33866293/ Grab a ticket to the best wellness event in Adelaide this year! Body, Brain and Bank https://events.humanitix.com/body-brain-and-bank The post TWIW 108: Microplastics in rice appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness whilst the US Government and the European Union have indicated a willingness to discuss waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, Germany, home to a large pharmaceutical sector and the pharmaceutical companies themselves are rallying against the idea. Drug company share prices have slipped as a result. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/eu-considers-covid-19-vaccine-patent-waiver-but-germany-drugmakers-push-back https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/06/from-pfizer-to-moderna-whos-making-billions-from-covid-vaccines Grab a ticket to the best wellness event in Adelaide this year! Body, Brain and Bank https://events.humanitix.com/body-brain-and-bank The post TWIW 107: Vaccine patents and profits in review appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders have discovered a potential role of DHA (docosahexanoic acid) in guarding against the impact of maternal stress (linked to neurodevelopmental disorders) on unborn males during early development. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210324113405.htm https://bsd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13293-020-00356-x Grab a ticket to the best wellness event in Adelaide this year! Body, Brain and bank https://events.humanitix.com/body-brain-and-bank The post TWIW 106: DHA may help guard against autism and schizophrenia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness higher mushroom consumption has been associated with a decreased risk of cancer according to a new study published in Advances in Nutrition. The systematic review and meta-analysis carried out by Penn State Cancer Institute examined 17 cancer studies, with the oldest dating right back to 1966 and a combined database of 19,500 patients. The results showed that those who ate an average of 18 grams of mushrooms a day had a whopping 45% lower risk of cancer than those who eat none. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210421200133.htm https://academic.oup.com/advances/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/advances/nmab015/6174025?redirectedFrom=fulltext Grab a ticket to the best wellness event in Adelaide this year! Body, Brain and bank https://events.humanitix.com/body-brain-and-bank The post TWIW 105: Mushrooms may reduce cancer by 45% appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a review conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney and published in the Medical Journal of Australia has concluded that paracetamol (commonly sold in Australia as Panadol) is no more effective than placebo for most common illness and injuries and in that it’s most ineffective use was for back pain. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/paracetamol-ineffective-for-most-pain-conditions-australian-study-finds/7FKRJBVST2GGPEOBGKPCL3R4L4/ https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/214/7/efficacy-and-safety-paracetamol-pain-relief-overview-systematic-reviews?utm_source=carousel&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=homepage If you are in Adelaide check out my new Chiropractic Practice, Healthy Choices Chiropractic www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au The post TWIW 104: Paracetamol ineffective for most pain appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study of 700 Geelong infants has shown that those whose dummies (or pacifiers) were sterilised or otherwise cleaned at 6 months of age were more likely to have a food allergy by 12 months of age. The Barwon Infant Study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, showed that babies whose dummies were clean with antiseptic were more likely to develop food allergies and those for whom the antiseptic use was “persistent and repeated” even more so. https://www.barwonhealth.org.au/news/item/research-into-sterilising-pacifiers-and-food-allergies-published www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674921002219 If you are in Adelaide check out my new Chiropractic Practice, Healthy Choices Chiropractic www.healthychoiceschiropractic.com.au The post TWIW 103: Dummy Sterilisation Linked To Allergies appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the Australian Federal Government has announced that they will spend $15 million funding research into psychedelics for the treatment of mental illnesses including depression, addictions and eating disorders. The trials are set to include both naturally occurring and lab produced psychedelics with the list set to include magic mushrooms, ketamine and MDMA. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-17/federal-government-research-psychedelics-treat-mental-illness/13256584 Get personally mentored by me to be more resilient physically, emotionally and financially. Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com to join my exclusive community. If you or anyone you know needs help: Lifeline on 13 11 14 Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 Headspace on 1800 650 890 ReachOut at au.reachout.com Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774 The post TWIW 102: Government to research magic mushrooms and MDMA appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Australian of the Year and Ophthalmologist James Muecke, former Australian Cricket Doctor Peter Brukner and Orthopaedic surgeon Gary Fettke have written an open letter to the Australian public asking for help participating in a current review of the Australian Dietary Guidelines by the NHMRC (the National Health and Medical Research Council). https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10222903863117781&id=1013745686 https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/nutrition/australian-dietary-guidelines-review Get personally mentored by me to be more resilient physically, emotionally and financially. Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 101: URGENT input needed into Dietary Guidelines review appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness we celebrate our 100th episode. And rather than make it a self indulgent celebration of us, we decided to make it an episode about gratitude. In particular gratitude to our long term podcast producer Joseph who is going through a tough time. If you are as grateful to The Wellness Couch as I am I would love for you to join me in supporting Joseph in this difficult time and contributing to his dear mothers funeral. Whether it is $1, $5, $10 or $100 ever cent counts at this difficult time. https://gofund.me/51c4aa92 So thanks for an amazing 2 years of listening to This Week In Wellness and here’s to many more with the support of our amazing podcast producer Joseph! The post TWIW 100: Help me celebrate 100 episodes by helping Joseph! appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a 12-week trial has shown that cats that eat more animal proteins are less likely to impact on wildlife. The study looked at 355 cats in South West England and compared cats whose diet was largely meat derived with cats who were fed more plant-derived proteins. Get personally mentored by me to be more resilient physically, emotionally and financially. Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 99: Do plant foods cause cats to kill wildlife appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness The American Cancer Society Journal has published a study showing that street lamps and neon signs may increase your risk of thyroid cancer by 55%! In yet another example of people in the alternative medicine fields being ahead of the game (and ignored or worse ridiculed by conventional medicine) the link between “light pollution” and cancer just keeps getting stronger with this study adding to previous studies suggesting that nighttime light may also play a role in breast cancer as well. https://nypost.com/2021/02/08/street-lamps-can-increase-thyroid-cancer-risk-by-55/ https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cncr.33392 Get personally mentored by me for 30 days for just $1! Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com/1signup to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 98: Street lights may cause cancer appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness working outside has been shown to lower the risk of breast cancer for Danish women over the age of 50 by new research in the journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Whilst previous research has indicated that vitamin D levels in the blood were linked to reduced levels of breast cancers that evidence was deemed inconclusive. With the primary source of Vitamin D being UVB sunlight this research further adds weight to those findings. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210201200013.htm https://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2021/01/14/oemed-2020-107125 Get personally mentored by me for 30 days for just $1! Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com/1signup to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 97: Outdoor work lowers risk of breast cancer appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness soil from the West Fermanagh scarp-lands used in ancient Irish folk remedies contains several species of antibiotic producing organisms. The study published in MDPI Applied Microbiology conducted by the Traditional Medicine Group, a collection of scientists from Northern Ireland, Swansea University and Brazil have discovered new antibiotic producing species and believe they may have discovered new antibiotics. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/su-rsi011421.php https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/1/173 Get personally mentored by me for 30 days for just $1! Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com/1signup to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 96: Irish soil kills bacteria appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness one in every eight peer reviewed nutrition studies has a tie to business, and those that are were 6 times more likely to return favourable results, with industry linked studies finding positive results the majority of the time, versus non linked studies showing positive results less than 10% of the time. Whilst industry influence has long been acknowledged and debated both in terms of how much it occurs and how much it affects the results the authors of this study claim that remarkably this is the first time such an analysis has been applied to the food industry. https://www.sciencealert.com/nutrition-studies-tied-to-food-industry-are-6-times-more-likely-to-report-favourable-results https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243144#sec012 Get personally mentored by me for 30 days for just $1! Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com/1signup to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 95: Industry influences nutrition research appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness day cares in Finland have been able to improve the microbiome and therefore immune system of children in just one month by replacing their floors with lawn, forest undergrowth and planter boxes. When compared to other urban day cares where the kids play on pavement, tiles or gravel the forest childcare kids showed an increased in their immune markers in their blood (such as T-cells) in just 28 days. https://www.sciencealert.com/daycares-in-finland-built-a-backyard-forest-and-it-changed-children-s-immune-systems https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/42/eaba2578 The post TWIW 94: Forest day cares improve the microbiome appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness 2.5 million care home residents in England will be offered a free supply of vitamin D by the Government as researchers investigate whether there is a link between Vitamin D levels and risk or severity of acute respiratory infections, including Covid-19. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/28/more-than-25m-people-in-england-to-get-free-vitamin-d-supply Get personally mentored by me for 30 days for just $1! Head to https://www.exercisingresilience.com/1signup to join my exclusive community. The post TWIW 93: 2.5 million Britons get free Vit. D appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness after a brief halt to the plan caused by the Coronavirus my home state South Australia will push ahead with its plan to ban some single use plastics (including straws, cutlery and drink stirrers) by March 1 and indicated that more items are likely to be added in the future. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-23/sa-ban-of-single-use-plastics-and-straws-to-start-in-march/13009582 Get Dr Brett’s latest book Rock Bottom; How to not only survive but thrive through personal and professional stress by heading to www.rockbottombook.com.au The post TWIW 92: Single use plastics banned appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the bones of a 9000 year old female found in the Andes have shed new light into the role of females in hunter gatherer societies. The skeleton was found with 20 projectile points and blades stacked neatly by her side, indicating that she was likely a high-status hunter. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/woman-hunter-ancient-andean-remains-challenge-old-ideas-who-speared-big-game Get Dr Brett’s latest book Rock Bottom; How to not only survive but thrive through personal and professional stress by heading to www.rockbottombook.com.au The post TWIW 91: Women were hunters too appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a new systematic review shows the potential benefits of a ketogenic diet for treating Alzheimer’s disease. With between 400 thousand and 500 thousand Australians suffering from dementia in 2020, and Alzheimer’s accounting for 70% of those, it really is an important finding. Especially as the billions spent searching for a pharmaceutical intervention have been largely ineffective. https://www.dietdoctor.com/a-ketogenic-diet-may-help-alzheimers-disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32597927/ Get Dr Brett’s latest book Rock Bottom; How to not only survive but thrive through personal and professional stress by heading to www.rockbottombook.com.au The post TWIW 90: A Keto Diet may help Alzheimer’s appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Australian Prescriber published its annual list of the 10 most commonly taken and the 10 most costly prescription drugs for the Australian Government based on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data collected between July 2019 and June 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/01/zoloft-enters-list-of-10-most-commonly-prescribed-drugs-in-australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-12-01/australias-most-commonly-prescribed-medicines-statins/12936626 https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/top-10-drugs-2019-20 http://anmf.org.au/pages/the-facts-on-australias-health-spending#:~:text=Approximately%2040%25%20of%20Australia’s%20health,than%202%25%20spent%20on%20prevention The post TWIW 89: The 10 most commonly taken drugs in Australia appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study published in nature food has shown that sterilising plastic baby bottles at the high temperatures recommended causes them to shed millions of microplastics and trillions of nano plastics every single day. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/bottle-fed-babies-swallow-millions-microplastics-day-study https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00171-y Get Dr Brett’s latest book Rock Bottom; How to not only survive but thrive through personal and professional stress by heading to www.rockbottombook.com.au The post TWIW 88: Bottle fed babies swallow millions of microplastics a day appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Doctors and scientists at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital have studied three children who tested negative and did not get seriously ill with Covid-19 despite spending a week and a half with their Covid-19 positive parents and concluded that they had in fact contracted the virus and that it was their own immune system that had been “highly effective” in stopping the virus from replicating. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-18/murdoch-research-children-and-covid-19-immunity/12890670 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19545-8 The post TWIW 87: Children’s own immune system protects them from Covid-19 appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness common household chemicals may alter the gut microbiome. This study measured the levels of semi-organic compounds found in detergents, plastics, soaps, shampoos, hair sprays and stain and water repellent fabrics in the blood and urine of 69 toddlers and preschoolers and then examined their gut microbiome using fecal samples. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201112080906.htm https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00776 The post TWIW 86: Household chemicals alter microbiome appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness new research published in the journal Psychological Science showed that people who feel “enthusiastic and cheerful” are less likely to experience memory decline as they age adding to a growing body of research on the benefits of positivity in ageing. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029135501.htm https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797620953883 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 85: Positivity prevents memory loss appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness infectious disease epidemiologists, public health scientists and concerned citizens have come together online to state their grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach called “Focused Protection” in a document titled The Great Barrington Declaration. Over 550,000 concerned citizens, over 11,000 medical & public health scientists and over 30,000 medical practitioners from all over the world have stated their concerns that current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. https://gbdeclaration.org/ Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 84: The Great Barrington Declaration appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness “Independent” Australian researchers Nutrition Research Australia (NRAUS) are asking people to #rethinkthepink suggesting that pink salts contain low levels of nutrients and potentially harmful levels of heavy metals. The study looked at 31 samples of pink salts commercially available in Australia and suggested that the contents were unpredictable and inconsistent in nature. The level of nutrients in the pink salt varied widely with some containing no iron and others 17mg of iron per 100g and some containing 53mg of calcium whilst others contained 574mg. https://nraus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Media_Release.pdf https://nraus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Backgrounder_on_NRAUS__Team.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3zEbiGRXLqpE7RABar_fPAboUeOsIVIJ2grl45oKmHP4zkBq0__7X-yKI Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 83: Is pink salt healthy? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the FDA has re-evaluated its recommendations on amalgam fillings in teeth. The FDA have now acknowledged that the mercury vapour released from these devices may cause harmful health effects in “certain groups”. In particular pregnant women, nursing women, children (especially those under 6), people with neurological disease such as MS, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s, people with impaired kidney function and people with a “heightened sensitivity to mercury”. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-issues-recommendations-certain-high-risk-groups-regarding-mercury-containing-dental-amalgam Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 82: FDA warns about dental amalgam appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a new review has found that e-cigarettes triple the chances of a non-smoker taking up regular cigarettes. Researchers from the Australian National University’s national centre for epidemiology and population health looked at 25 studies on e-cigarette use and smoking and found that every single one of them showed that e-smokers were more likely to become smokers. Especially the youth. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/30/vaping-increases-the-chances-of-regular-smoking-threefold-australian-review-finds Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 81: Vaping leads to smoking appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Jenny Mikakos, the Victorian health minister who last year controversially called for a review into Chiropractic care for children, despite there being no reports of harm, 98% of parents saying it helped and 99.7% of parents reporting a positive experience, is under fire again. This time from her own premier. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has told the inquiry into the state’s hotel quarantine scheme that he “regarded Minister Mikakos as accountable for the Program. The CCC (Crisis Council of Cabinet) was provided with regular reports by Minister Mikakos containing data relevant to Victoria’s response to the public health emergency,” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-25/victoria-coronavirus-hotel-quarantine-inquiry-daniel-andrews/12704116 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-25/health-minister-knew-about-private-security-in-hotel-quarantine/12702376 https://www.bettersafercare.vic.gov.au/reports-and-publications/chiropractic-spinal-manipulation-of-children-under-12 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 80: Jenny Mikakos “responsible” for hotel quarantine fiasco appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness I have officially launched pre-sales of my new book Rock Bottom. Whether you feel like you are at Rock Bottom, on your way there or on your way back this book has some timeless, practical advice to help you smooth out the journey. Bouncing back from Rock Bottom need not always be a complex recovery process that requires a degree in psychiatry to understand. Sometimes you just need real, simple actionable advice that you can understand and follow step by step to find peace, healing and confidence. http://drbretthill.com/shop/books/rock-bottom-paperback/ The post TWIW 79: Bouncing back from Rock Bottom appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness phase 3 trials of a coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca in conjunction with Oxford University have been suspended after an “unexplained illness”. The potential vaccine, which Australia has already secured 33.8 million doses of, has had it’s trials paused in order to allow for a review by an independent committee. Australia has also locked in 51 million doses of a potential vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland and CSL meaning that with those two commitments alone they will have access to a number of vaccines more than triple the Australian population. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-09/coronavirus-vaccine-on-hold-patient-adverse-illness-astrazeneca/12643812 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 78: Oxford Corona vaccine trials paused appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness 13 medical practitioners have penned an open letter to Victorian Premier Dan Andrews about his approach to Covid19 lockdowns and the controversial State of Emergency Bill. This letter has since been supported by a further 270 medical and allied health professionals via an online submission called the Covid Doctors Network, a phrase that strangely shows no results when Googled. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/victorian-doctors-pen-desperate-letter-to-dan-andrews-about-controversial-state-of-emergency-bill/news-story/477352005ec852b6dd4b0e8f31f97441 https://600230e9-a39b-48cd-8ff1-3b49ca999143.filesusr.com/ugd/886b40_76e8e8aa2bf8497a8420940bb6e9d909.pdf https://www.coviddoctorsnetwork.com/ Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 77: The Covid Doctors Network appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness excessive fructose consumption has been linked with leaky gut and fatty liver disease according to a study co-authored by a large group of scientists from all around the world. Whilst fructose is found naturally in fruit, honey and even in root vegetables it has become prolific in the diet due to the use of high fructose corn syrup to sweeten processed foods, especially in America. Whilst the link between fructose and fatty liver disease has been shown before this is the first time it was shown that it was in fact the leaky gut (also caused by the fructose) that preceded the liver damage. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200824131807.htm https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-020-0261-2 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 76: Fructose linked to leaky gut and fatty liver appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a very low carbohydrate diet has been shown to help older adults with diabetes lose weight, improve body composition and improve insulin sensitivity in just eight weeks when compared to a low-fat diet. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820151337.htm https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12986-020-00481-9 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 75: Low carb diets help the elderly appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness researchers led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have suggested that boosting the immune system might be a good strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Whilst this might initially appear like a sarcastic, parody headline it is in fact in contradiction with the immuno-suppressive approaches that have been used around the world. https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/boosting-immune-system-a-potential-treatment-strategy-for-covid-19/ Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 74: Boosting not supressing immune system might be the answer for COVID appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a paper published online by Cambridge University Press has shown that Coca-Cola paid scientists to downplay the role of sugary beverages in the obesity epidemic. Scientists used information gathered from over 18,000 pages of emails via freedom of information requests made by a US non-profit public health group “Right To Know”. These emails were between Coca-Cola and public health academics at the West Virginia University and University of Colorado who formed part of the supposedly independent anti obesity think tank the Global Energy Balance Network. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8589497/Coca-Colas-work-scientists-low-point-history-public-health.html https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/evaluating-cocacolas-attempts-to-influence-public-health-in-their-own-words-analysis-of-cocacola-emails-with-public-health-academics-leading-the-global-energy-balance-network/03A12A2379B132AFBDBE7A462ECB4041 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 73: Coke’s “email family” of obesity researchers appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a group of physicians calling themselves America’s Frontline Doctors have dominated world wide news cycles and social media channels, despite efforts to censor them. Social media platforms have this week scrambled to delete the repeatedly posted video featuring 7 doctors claiming to be at the front line of America’s Coronavirus response. Critics suggest that whilst these doctors have active medical licenses they are offering little more than personal opinions from supporters of the Trump administration. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/30/americas-frontline-doctors-tout-hydroxychloroquine-covid-who-they/5535096002/ Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 72: America’s Frontline Doctors appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness facial recognition cameras being trialled in East Perth have raised concerns about their scope of use and the potential for human rights breaches. Whilst facial recognition software is legitimately used by law and border enforcement officials to identify individuals based on their facial features using artificial intelligence technology, in other parts of the world the scope of use is much more broad, with China using it widely for it’s controversial “social credit system”. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/facial-surveillance-slowly-being-trialled-around-the-country/12308282 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 71: Human rights concerns over facial recognition CCTV appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness creating bio-diverse green spaces can help to “re-wild the microbiome” of our environment and as a result improve human health. A research team led by the University of Adelaide published a study in Restoration Ecology compared carrying levels of green space diversity from lawns to re vegetated woodlands has shown that re-vegetation of green spaces can improve soil microbiome diversity towards a more natural, bio-diverse state. It is believed that the increased diversity and number of microbiota may provide immune system training and regulation that is beneficial to the overall health of humans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-microbiome-rewilding-biodiverse-urban-green.html https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec.13175 Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 70: Bio-diversity linked to respiratory health appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness scientists have identified a new strain of swine flu in China capable of creating another pandemic. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the paper states that whilst it is carried by pigs, it can affect humans and has “all the hallmarks” of becoming highly contagious in humans and needs close monitoring. Get personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days head to www.exercisingresilience.com The post TWIW 69: Could new swine flu trigger new pandemic? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a review in the Journal of The American College of Cardiology has stated that not only were there no beneficial effects of reducing saturated fat intake on cardiovascular disease or total mortality, there were in fact protective effects against stroke if the saturated fat intake was retained. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109720356874 Would you like to be personally mentored by me for FREE for 30 days? Head to www.exercisingresilience.com to find out more. The post TWIW 68: No benefit to reducing Saturated fat says Cardiology Journal appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Australian researchers are investigating whether vitamin D could be the answer to our country’s “allergy epidemic”. With one in 10 infants and one in 20 children in Australia already suffering from food-related allergies, and with the rates seemingly on the rise, researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute are hoping that vitamin D might provide the answers. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-19/allergies-trial-to-test-vitamin-d-on-children-and-infants/12372224 The post TWIW 67: Can vitamin D prevent allergies? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a new study investigating the impact of lifestyle interventions for early stage type 2 diabetics has shown that nearly two thirds can achieve complete remission within 12 months. The study published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology comes on the back of many other studies in recent years showing the success of lifestyle interventions without the need for medication. It investigated 150 subjects with Middle Eastern or North African ancestry and an average age of 42 years. Participants we asked to follow a diet known as the Cambridge Weight Plan whilst also completing at least 150 minutes of physical exercise a week and walking at least 10,000 steps a day and were compared to a control group receiving standard medical care. https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/diet-exercise-reverses-diabetes-remission-lancet-trial-reports/ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30117-0/fulltext To join Brett for his FREE group mentoring session on the 25th of June go to www.drbretthill.com/vital The post TWIW 66: Lifestyle can reverse diabetes appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness scientists from Harvard University have advised couples to wear masks whilst having sex and suggests they should be advised to engage in sexual activity via telephone, video chat services or masturbation in order to reduce there risk of spreading the corona virus. https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/couples-should-wear-masks-having-22123980 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233185/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2765654?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=050720 The post TWIW 65: Couples “should wear masks while having sex” appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Australian researchers have shown that infant tummy time is associated with improved development, healthier weight babies and improved head shape. It was also linked with improved social and cognitive function as well as walking. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/05/02/peds.2019-2168 https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more The post TWIW 64: Tummy time leads to better development appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness social media giants Facebook and Youtube have increased their efforts to censor and “deplatform” debate around Covid19 lockdowns from lay people, scientists and experts alike whilst Twitter has maintained a more open approach and more and more people are flocking to MeWe, founded by entrepreneur and privacy advocate Mark Weinstein. The post TWIW 63: Social media giants increase censorship appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study from Clinical Reviews in Food Science and Medicine has indicated that avoidance of meat in the diet may be linked to increased rates of anxiety and depression. This is not the first time that these links have been drawn and suggested reasons for the link include reduced omega-3 fatty acid intake, vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies, iron and zinc deficiencies and even the potential for higher levels of pesticide consumption due to the higher consumption of plant based foods. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2020.1741505 The post TWIW 62: Meat avoidance linked to depression and anxiety appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Germany has moved to ban the use of the herbicide Glyphosate from 2023 and phase out its use from 2020 as Adelaide council Marion moves to join other Australian councils in phasing out its use. Several legal challenges by over 50,000 Americans against the manufacturers of Glyphosate (ag and pharmaceutical company Bayer) claim it has contributed to Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cases with the three trials completed so far all falling against Bayer. Despite this Germany plans on banning the chemical over concerns for their insect populations rather than their human ones, citing concerns for the impact on their food sources. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has labeled glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic.” https://www.agprofessional.com/article/germany-will-ban-glyphosate-after-2023-save-insects https://www.agweb.com/article/glyphosate-overview-where-are-we-now https://usrtk.org/monsanto-roundup-trial-tracker-index/ The post TWIW 61: Germany to ban Glyphosate appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a research article published in Biomed Central (BMC) has shown that women choosing to birth outside of hospitals, be that a home birth or a free birth, did so in search of the “best and safest” birth experience. In Australia 97% of births occur in a hospital setting however this paper investigated 28 women who chose to birth outside of that system between 2010 and 2014, with 13 choosing a home birth and another 15 choosing a freebirth (intentionally unassisted by any health professional). https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-020-02944-6 The post TWIW 60: Shortfalls causing women to birth outside the system appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study has shown that receiving Chiropractic care at regular planned intervals regardless of symptoms had more pain free weeks and shorter painful episodes of lower back pain compared to people who sought care “when needed”. The study was conducted in Sweden where 98% of all chiropractors who are members of the Swedish Chiropractic Association consider maintenance care to be clinically useful and beneficial for patients with recurrent and persistent musculoskeletal pain and was published in Chiropractic and Manual Therapies. https://chiromt.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12998-020-00309-6 The post TWIW 59: Chiropractic maintenance reduces pain episodes appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a pre-print study published by medRxiv for the first time measured the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in a representative sample of the Californian population. Stating that “to date, many epidemic projections and policies addressing COVID-19 have been designed without seroprevalence data to inform epidemic parameters”. “A sero-survey gives you a snapshot in time of who is infected in your given population,” says Kanta Subbarao, a virologist at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne going on to say that these kinds of studies are very important for a virus that can cause mild or no symptoms. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01095-0 The post TWIW 58: COVID-19 cases may in fact be 50-80 times higher appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Sweden could be the new model that countries around the world seek to model as their Coronavirus infection rates and deaths plummet despite not imposing the strict lock-downs seen in other parts of the world. Sweden has not closed bars, cafes, restaurants, playgrounds or schools and gatherings of up to 50 people are still allowed. Despite this the Swedish infection rate and death rate for the last two days has dropped lower than it has been in a fortnight as the logarithmic growth charts suggest that the curve is well and truly flattening. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8212365/Swedish-PM-tighten-coronavirus-restrictions-Austria-De https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/10/europe/sweden-lockdown-turmp-intl/index.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-sweden-trump-lockdown-herd-wrong-a9459111.html The post TWIW 57: Is Sweden the Covid19 answer? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness physical exercise could help reduce the amount of time people spend in acute mental health facilities and reduce their reliance on psychotropic medications when they are there according to a study published in SAGE Journals. “The general attitude of medicine is that you treat the primary problem first, and exercise was never considered to be a life or death treatment option. Now that we know it’s so effective, it can become as fundamental as pharmacological intervention,” explains David Tomasi, a lecturer at the University of Vermont https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190521124650.htm https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2164956119848657 The post TWIW 56: Movement eases acute mental disorders appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness whilst the media is reporting the seemingly exponential growth of Coronavirus worldwide some are suggesting that the spread of the disease may be plotting a different path. It is common in the media to show linear graphs of the Coronavirus that show seemingly exponential growth and this growth has been extrapolated by many experts in the media to forecast dire results. Kenneth Chang, science reporter at the New York times argues that we should be looking more closely at the logarithmic graphs of the spread rather than the linear graphs. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/health/coronavirus-data-logarithm-chart.html https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries The post TWIW 55: How to track a pandemic appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness traditional recipes provided by the families of London schoolchildren and derived from traditional family recipes originating in Europe, Africa and the Middle East have in some cases been shown to be as effective as malarial medications. Researchers from Imperial College London helped the schoolchildren test their family soup broths for activity against the malaria parasite. These broth recipes had been passed down generations for the treatment of fever. Out of a total of 56 broths, five of these broths were shown to curb the growth of the malaria parasite by 50% including two cases where the reduction was equivalent to the leading antimalarial drug dihydroartemisinin. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/193986/scientists-schoolkids-find-family-soups-have/ https://adc.bmj.com/content/104/12/1138 The post TWIW 54: Soup broths may help curb malaria appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the World Health Organisation WHO has officially declared the Coronavirus COVID-19 a pandemic as action is taken all over the world to halt it’s spread including America shutting its borders to the EU, the NBA cancelling the rest of its basketball season and the Australian Government advising against “non-essential” gatherings of 500 people or more, but are things you can do. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/13/australia-coronavirus-live-news-formula-one-f1-gp-grand-prix-melbourne-australian-government-stimulus-economic-package-asx200-latest-updates?page=with:block-5e6b07f08f08c2df6d278c18 https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus The post TWIW 53: Preventing Coronavirus appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) through their President Associate Professor Chris Freeman say that “we are neglecting vulnerable older Australians when it comes to protecting them from medicine-related harms” and describes their medicine safety as a game of “Russian Roulette”. https://ajp.com.au/news/most-aged-care-residents-have-three-medicine-problems/ The post TWIW 52: “Russian Roulette” for 95% of older Australians appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine has linked intermittent fasting to improved health, slowing or reversing ageing and a reduction in chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neuro degenerative brain disorders. Whilst the authors acknowledge that the results can be variable and influenced by things like sex, diet and genetic factors, they claim that the positvie link to longevity is consistent. They show that studies in animals and humans have shown that the many health benefits of intermittent fasting are not just the result of reduced free-radical production or weight loss but are related to more complex adaptive cellular responses that improve glucose regulation, increase stress resistance and reduce inflammation just to name a fee benefits. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136 The post TWIW 51: Fasting linked to longer life, less disease and better performance appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a healthy lifestyle leads to a life that is free of chronic illness including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer for longer. Using data from the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals follow up study this paper in the British Journal of Medicine was able to confirm that never smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight, moderate to vigorous physical activity, moderate alcohol intake and a quality diet were able to add up to 10 years of chronic disease free life as well as increasing life expectancy if they exhibited 4 or 5 of these healthy lifestyle factors. https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.l6669 The post TWIW 50: Healthy lifestyle adds 10 disease free years appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a Bolivian hunter gatherer tribe famous for its impeccable heart health has seen an increase in their levels in recent years as their levels of cooking oil intake have gone up. The Tsimane’ isolated population have traditionally eaten a whole food omnivorous diet including lean meats, fish, fruits and vegetables and occasional honey. Along with an active lifestyle this has led to very healthy hearts. A 2017 study by the NIH National Institute on Ageing showed that they have low average blood pressure, little heart disease and the best coronary artery calcium scores ever measured. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190916081430.htm https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/oby.22556 The post TWIW 49: Cooking oils lead to increased obesity in hunter gatherers appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

And This Week In Wellness a study of 7000 US adults over the age of 50 has shown that those with the lowest sense of life purpose were twice as likely to die in the following 5 years, even when adjusting for socio-economic status, health characteristics and psychological well-being. In a confirmation of findings from previous studies this 2019 report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It used data from The Health and Retirement Study where participants filled in a questionnaire to rank their life purpose, amongst many other things. These same participants were then followed up 5 years later. According to the study heart, circulatory, blood and digestive tract conditions seemed to be especially related to life purpose. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2734064 https://www.bluezones.com/2019/05/news-huge-study-confirms-purpose-and-meaning-add-years-to-life/ http://thewellnesscouch.com/category/100no The post TWIW 48: Purpose adds years to your life appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the European Commission has decided not to renew approval for a pesticide linked to harming bees, meaning farmers will not be allowed to use Bayer’s insecticide known as thiacloprid, sold under brands Calypso and Biscaya, after April 30 this year. “There are environmental concerns related to the use of this pesticide, particularly its impact on groundwater, but also related to human health, in reproductive toxicity,” Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement. https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2020/01/14/eu-commission-bans-bayer-pesticide-harmful-to-bees-humans https://www.pum.com.au/blog/where-does-australia-stand-on-neonicotinoid-insecticides/ The post TWIW 47: Europe bans bee killing pesticide appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness sunscreen lotions and sprays may leach up to 360 times more of one chemical alone than the FDA allows, whilst the other 5 chemicals tested also gathered in the blood in levels higher than the recommended amount even days after application. Strangely the FDA and American Academy of Dermatology stresses the chemicals are safe despite the levels being above their own recommendations and with several reports linking them to hormone disruption and liver and kidney failure. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7911979/Sunscreen-chemicals-concentrations-blood-360-TIMES-higher-FDA-threshold.html https://bit.ly/2RWN678 The post TWIW 46: Popular sunscreens leading to toxicity appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research has found that “wounds” caused by insects may actually make fruit healthier for human consumption showing that the stress response mounted by the fruit actually increases the levels of anti-oxidants. Principle investigator of the study Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, Ph.D.,said that “There was the existing idea proposed by others that insects present in the field in organic farming could cause a stress response in the plant and increase antioxidant compounds, however, this hypothesis or concept was never tested until now, where we mimicked the damage caused by insects. We proved that wounding leaves in plants like those caused by insects produce healthier organic fruit.” https://phys.org/news/2020-01-wounds.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55033-w The post TWIW 45: Insect damage makes fruit healthier appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research published in the journal Science has shown that humans consumed high carb roasted potatoes as long ago as 170,000 years and that it may have played a significant role in our evolution. While some proponents of the ‘Paleo Diet’ recommend followers cut out carbs in favour of high protein or high-fat foods citing our evolutionary past as evidence, new research has shown that roasted potatoes were consumed over 170,000 years ago and may have played a crucial role in our evolution. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/01/02/true-paleo-diet-should-include-carbs-according-archaeologists/ https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6473/87?intcmp=trendmd-sci The post TWIW 44: A true Paleo diet includes carbs appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness people who nap longer than 90 minutes, people who sleep longer than 9 hours and people who sleep poorly are all at increased risk of stroke according to a study in Neurology, the online journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Whilst napping for less than an hour seemed fine, those napping for over 90 minutes had a 25% increase in their risk of stroke according to the study. Those sleeping more than 9 hours a night had a 23% increased risk of stroke. And those who rated themselves poor sleepers were 29% more likely to have a stroke. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/aaon-tln120919.php https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2019/12/11/WNL.0000000000008739 The post TWIW 43: Long naps linked to stroke appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study from Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that kids exposed to dogs prior to the age of 12 were significantly less likely (as much as 24%) to develop schizophrenia later in life. Robert Yolken, M.D., chair of the Stanley Division of Pediatric Neurovirology and professor of neurovirology in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and lead author of the paper says that “Serious psychiatric disorders have been associated with alterations in the immune system linked to environmental exposures in early life, and since household pets are often among the first things with which children have close contact, it was logical for us to explore the possibilities of a connection between the two,”. “There are several plausible explanations for this possible ‘protective’ effect from contact with dogs — perhaps something in the canine microbiome that gets passed to humans and bolsters the immune system against or subdues a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia,” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191218153448.htm https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0225320 The post TWIW 42: Man’s best friend linked to brain health appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness, in what will not be a very timely announcement for many, the NHMRC’s new draft guidelines recommend that people drink “no more than 10 standard drinks per week” to reduce the health risks, especially cancer. The NHMRC have also retained the recommendation to not drink more than four drinks in one sitting. They state that the link between drinking and developing a number of different cancers is now more certain. These latest recommendations come after three years of research into the pros and cons of alcohol. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/alcohol-drinking-guidelines-revised-down-on-cancer-links/11798992?pfmredir=sm https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/alcohol The post TWIW 41: Alcohol recommendations reduced due to cancer links appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness JAMA paediatrics has published a study linking maternal fluoride exposure during pregnancy with lower IQ scores at 3 to 4 years of age. Fluoride has long been a hotly debated topic due to it’s potential neurotoxicity and that fast that the dosage when included in the water supply is hard to control. Fluoride is known to cross the placenta, accumulates in brain regions involved in learning and memory and alters neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. Water fluoridation is supplied to about 89% of Australians, 66% of Americans, 38% of Canadians, and 3% of Europeans. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2748634 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2748628 The post TWIW 40: Maternal fluoride intake linked to lower IQ in kids appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness An international team of researchers, clinicians, regulators, and citizen advocates from the British Medical Journal (BMJ) are launching a campaign to separate medicine from Big Pharma. Citing a 2009 Institute of Medicine report, that identified widespread financial conflicts of interest across medical research, education, and practice, the BMJ team say that “endemic financial entanglement with industry is distorting the production and use of healthcare evidence, causing harm to individuals and waste for health systems”. They cite industry sponsored education events and industry sponsored drug trials as major concerns and state that those trials cannot be trusted, in an editorial published on Wednesday. https://www.smh.com.au/national/cannot-be-trusted-causing-harm-top-medical-journal-takes-on-big-pharma-20191203-p53ggj.html https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6576 The post TWIW 39: British Medical Journal takes on big pharma appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a new study has estimated that almost 41% of cancers can be linked to lifestyle and environmental factors. The study, published in Canada by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) looked at 24 lifestyle and environment-related risk factors for cancer such as smoking, obesity, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of exercise, alcohol and air pollution just to name a few and combined the risk estimates of each. The conclusion was that 40.8% of cancers could be attributed to these 24 risk factors, with smoking being the highest, accounting for 15.7% of all cancers, followed by physical inactivity (7.2%) and excess body weight (4.3%). https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-13-most-cancer-caused-by-processed-food-and-toxic-ingredients-new-study-confirms-2.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28687643 The post TWIW 38: 41% of cancer caused by environment and lifestyle appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study published in The Lancet has ranked Australian teens 140th out of 146 countries for the physical activity of our teens. The study examined 1.6 million adolescent school students across 146 countries and compared them using the World Health Organisation’s physical activity guidelines that for this age group recommend a minimum of one hour of vigorous physical activity of intensity similar to jogging. http://theconversation.com/140th-out-of-146-australian-teens-do-close-to-the-least-physical-activity-in-the-world-127434 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30323-2/fulltext The post TWIW 37: Australian teens amongst the least physically active in the world appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness a study reviewing the available evidence supporting complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies to help babies with colic has suggested that probiotics, fennel extract and spinal manipulation, do appear to help. The Systematic Reviews were published by researchers from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) at the University of Bristol and the University of Manchester. It stated that whilst the available evidence was ‘limited’ due to small sample sizes, possible biases, the inability to “blind” practitioners and data collection methods, that the “encouraging” results require further investigation through well-designed RCTs” (randomised control trials). https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191112113958.htm https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-019-1191-5 The post TWIW 36: Alternatives for colic? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research from the University of Adelaide suggests that microbes in dust may help improve gut health and by extension mental health. This contributes to a growing body of research linking time in nature with improved health outcomes. Especially from Japan where Forest Bathing or “shinrin-yoku”, which means “taking in the forest”, has been popular for decades and research has been done and benefits have been shown from microbes in the soil right through to scents from the trees. At the same time our urban environment has been linked with reduced health, including mental health disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-biodiverse-soil-linked-anxiety.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719346753?via%3Dihub The post TWIW 35: Getting dirty could reduce anxiety appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

And This Week In Wellness a study in the British Medical journal analysing Australian births has suggested that for low-risk pregnancies birthing at home is just as safe and has a 6 times higher chance of resulting in a “normal birth”. Professor Caroline Homer, director of the UTS Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health says “home births are associated with fewer incidences of induced labour, epidural, vacuum or forceps delivery and C Sections and there are no differences in the death rates for babies born in hospitals, compared with those born at home or in midwife run birth centres. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e029192 https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/calls-for-greater-access-to-homebirths/11653760?fbclid=IwAR1-vWhcS1JnRIOto6vtsXo-lZt77qVrtmN1RB3anZOWv4pAkevw20uNT2g The post TWIW 34: Home birth just as safe for low risk mums appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness high levels of trans fats in your blood may make you 50 to 75% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia according to a new study in the journal Neurology. The study was run over 10 years and utilising over 1600 men and women and importantly measuring the actual trans fat levels in their blood over that time (rather than relying on dietary questionnaires) adding weight to the findings. After adjusting for other influencing factors like high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, the study found that people with the highest levels of trans fats were up to 74% more likely to develop dementia compared to those with the lowest levels. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/23/health/alzheimers-trans-fats-dementia-risk-75-higher-wellness/index.html https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2019/10/23/WNL.0000000000008464 The post TWIW 33: Trans fats raise alzheimer’s risk by 74% appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the Australian Chiropractic College (ACC) has announced it will open its doors in Adelaide’s CBD in January 2020 with a promise to deliver ‘job ready’ chiropractors. The ACC say that they will integrate science, philosophy, hands on experience and business studies to deliver a smoother transition from classroom to clinic. The ACC says one of the defining differences between the course offered by the College and other providers, is that the Adelaide-based course is the only chiropractic degree program in Australia with business and management courses integrated throughout the entirety of the curriculum https://acc.sa.edu.au The post TWIW 32: NEW ‘AUSTRALIAN CHIROPRACTIC COLLEGE’ LAUNCHING appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness group of papers about red meat, processed meat and human health have been released by the Annals of Internal Medicine suggesting that they are OK to eat and that they couldn’t find any links to heart disease and cancer. Unsurprisingly given the vilification of red meat and processed meats in recent times this has created quite an uproar amongst the general population and researchers alike. https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190930/controversial-studies-say-its-ok-to-eat-red-meat https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2752328/unprocessed-red-meat-processed-meat-consumption-dietary-guideline-recommendations-from The post TWIW 31: Red meat back on the menu appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness the ACT Government has voted to legalise cannabis for personal use with residents over the age of 18 allowed to possess 50 grams of cannabis and grow 2 plants. Whilst the possession and growth of cannabis would remain a federal offence and the risk of prosecution is “not entirely removed” in practice the laws will not apply. ACT attorney-general, Gordon Ramsay, says it is time to treat drug addiction as a health issue, and that there needs to be an increase in drug and alcohol services. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/cannabis-set-to-be-legalised-in-australian-capital-territory-for-personal-use The post TWIW 30: Cannabis legalised appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness, CSIRO (an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research) is recommending a low carbohydrate approach to help curb the obesity epidemic and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease in a dramatic shift from the high carbohydrate, low-fat approach recommended previously. With two in three Australians either overweight or obese, it is a timely shift and one that has come none too soon. Professor Grant Brinkworth from CSIRO says that “For many years, we’ve had the high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach – and research shows it’s only offering people moderate benefits,” https://7news.com.au/the-morning-show/csiro-recommends-a-low-carb-diet-for-long-term-weight-loss-goals-c-473130 The post TWIW 29: CSIRO recommends low carb approach appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness research suggests that a diet low in protein and high in carbohydrates may be the key to living a long life, despite the fact that they led to weight gain and that previous idea on the benefits of caloric restriction may not, in fact, hold up. Nutritional scientist Dr Samantha Solon-Biet suggests that the 2 million-plus Australians who go on a diet every year may be better off focusing less on low-carb, high-protein diets, unless their only goal is weight loss. https://sydney.edu.au/research/research-impact/the-secret-to-healthy-ageing-is-a-low-protein-high-carb-diet.html https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(14)00065-5 NB. In this episode, I misspoke when I suggested that historically many humans gained the majority of their energy from animal proteins. I should have said animal sources (this would have included fats and proteins even carbohydrates from dairy). The post TWIW 28: High carbs for longevity? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

The British Dental Journal says that half of elite athletes have rotting teeth. 352 Olympic and professional athletes were examined and showed higher than usual rates of dental problems despite the fact that they brushed and flossed more than your average person. Researchers hypothesise that is is the high intake of sugary sports drinks, gels and bars that may be the culprit whilst the intense exercise may also cause changes to saliva and the immune system that may be related. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/08/23/extreme-fitness-rots-teeth-new-study-finds/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-019-0617-8 The post TWIW 27: Elite fitness causes dental decay appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

A study in the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) has shown that your risk of developing coeliac disease may be increased if you consume gluten as a child. “Our study shows a clear association between the amount of gluten the children consumed and the risk of developing coeliac disease or pre-coeliac disease.”, says Daniel Agardh, associate professor at Lund University, and leader of the study. Whilst the study is observational and therefore does not prove causation, the linkages were strong and matched the findings from a smaller pilot study. They showed that at the age of 2, over 2 grams of gluten a day  (the equivalent of a slice of white bread), was associated with a whopping 75% increase in the risk of coeliac disease compared to a child who has less than 2g. https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/association-between-coeliac-disease-risk-and-gluten-intake-confirmed https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2747670?guestAccessKey=eb2a6561-4de9-4408-a170-bce0393e02a5&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=081319 The post TWIW 26: Childhood gluten intake linked to coeliac disease appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

This Week In Wellness Oncologists are unlikely to offer lifestyle tips that improve the health and reduce the risk of recurrence in cancer patients according to a survey conducted by the journal Cancer. The survey of primary care physicians, specialists and oncologists from the Midwestern Health System in America showed that less than 10% of specialists and only ¼ of oncologists would recommend lifestyle changes and that when oncologists did address lifestyle factors, it was usually because the patient brought the subject up. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-survivors/cancer-doctors-dont-focus-on-lifestyle-risks-idUSKCN1VG2AT https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.32410 The post TWIW 25: Cancer doctors reticent to offer lifestyle advice appeared first on The Wellness Couch.