New research shows that negative thoughts can be physiologically
harmful, while positive thinking calms the heart rate and even
boosts the immune system and can make a significant positive
health difference.
In a study carried out
by academics at the universities of Exeter and Oxford, 135
healthy were divided into five groups and played a different set
of audio instructions. The team took physical measurements of
heart rate and sweat response and asked participants to report
how they were feeling.
Questions included how
safe they felt, how likely they were to be kind to themselves
and how connected they felt to others. The two groups whose
instructions encouraged them to be kind to themselves not only
reported feeling more self-compassion and connection with
others, but also showed a bodily response consistent with
feelings of relaxation and safety. Their heart rates dropped
along with the variation in length of time between their
heartbeats - a healthy sign of a heart that can respond flexibly
to changing situations. They also showed lower sweat response.
Meanwhile, instructions
that induced a critical inner voice led to an increased heart
rate and a higher sweat response - consistent with feelings of
threat and distress.
The three other groups
listened to recordings designed to induce a critical inner
voice, put them into a positive, but competitive and
self-enhancing mode, or an emotionally neutral shopping
scenario.
While people in both the self-compassion and
positive-but-competitive groups reported greater self-compassion
and decreased self-criticism, only the self-compassion groups
showed the positive bodily response.
The study, Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: A New
Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion,
is published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.
Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heart. Show all posts
May 17, 2019
May 30, 2014
Eight Interesting Body Facts
More germs are transferred
shaking hands than kissing.
The aorta, the largest artery in the body, is almost the diameter of a garden hose.
Capillaries are so small that it takes ten of them to equal the thickness of a human hair.
Your body has about 6 quarts (5.6 Liters) of blood. It circulates through the body three times every minute.
The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime.
The human body can function without a brain (although not long).
Humans are the only primates that do not have pigment in the palms of their hands
A mans testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day, enough to repopulate the entire planet in 6 months.
The aorta, the largest artery in the body, is almost the diameter of a garden hose.
Capillaries are so small that it takes ten of them to equal the thickness of a human hair.
Your body has about 6 quarts (5.6 Liters) of blood. It circulates through the body three times every minute.
The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime.
The human body can function without a brain (although not long).
Humans are the only primates that do not have pigment in the palms of their hands
A mans testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day, enough to repopulate the entire planet in 6 months.
Dec 14, 2012
Apple Facts
Greek and Roman mythology refer to apples as
symbols of love and beauty. This time of year we often think of warm
apple cider on a cold night.
Apples contain Vitamin C, Beta-Carotene, iron, potassium, and more. Apples have very high mineral contents, pectins, malic acid which are good in normalizing the intestines. Apples are good for treatment of anemia, dysentery, heart disease, headache, eye disorders, and kidney stones. Apple juice is an excellent means of providing essential fluids to the body.
A number of components in apples, have been found to lower blood cholesterol with a reduced risk of ischemic heart disease, stroke, prostrate cancer, type II diabetes, asthma, and a new study findings published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease show there may be some help for those patients.Apples are also good for treatment of the Acid reflux condition also called gerd (gastro esophageal reflux disease).
Green Apples - Good for strong bones and teeth, aids in vision, anti cancer properties.
Yellow Apples - Good for heart and eyes, immune system, reduce risk of some cancers.
Red Apples - Good for heart, memory function, lower risk of some cancers and to maintain urinary tract health. Maybe there is some truth to the old saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Apples contain Vitamin C, Beta-Carotene, iron, potassium, and more. Apples have very high mineral contents, pectins, malic acid which are good in normalizing the intestines. Apples are good for treatment of anemia, dysentery, heart disease, headache, eye disorders, and kidney stones. Apple juice is an excellent means of providing essential fluids to the body.
A number of components in apples, have been found to lower blood cholesterol with a reduced risk of ischemic heart disease, stroke, prostrate cancer, type II diabetes, asthma, and a new study findings published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease show there may be some help for those patients.Apples are also good for treatment of the Acid reflux condition also called gerd (gastro esophageal reflux disease).
Green Apples - Good for strong bones and teeth, aids in vision, anti cancer properties.
Yellow Apples - Good for heart and eyes, immune system, reduce risk of some cancers.
Red Apples - Good for heart, memory function, lower risk of some cancers and to maintain urinary tract health. Maybe there is some truth to the old saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Dec 11, 2009
Alcohol Protects Men's Hearts
Just in time for the holidays. Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests and the type of drink did not appear to change the results
The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men. Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent.
The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease. The research involved men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were asked to document their lifetime drinking habits and followed for 10 years.
The researchers, led by the Basque Public Health Department, placed the participants into six categories - from never having drunk to drinking more than 90g (3 oz.) of alcohol each day. This would be equivalent to consuming eight bottles of wine a week, or 28 pints of beer.
For those drinking less than a shot of vodka a day, the risk was reduced by 35%, and for those who drank anything from three shots to more than 11 shots each day, the risk worked out an average of 50% less risk of heart disease.
The exact mechanisms are as yet unclear, but it is known that alcohol helps to raise high-density lipoproteins (HDL), sometimes known as good cholesterol, which helps stop so-called bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries.
The Stroke Association meanwhile noted that overall, evidence indicated that people who regularly consumed a large amount of alcohol had a three-fold increased risk of stroke.
In the UK, the recommendation is no more than two to three units of alcohol a day for women - the equivalent of one standard glass of wine - and three to four units for men. So, drink lots and save your heart, but ruin your brain and liver. Drink less and save your liver and brain, but risk a heart attack. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. . .
The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men. Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent.
The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease. The research involved men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were asked to document their lifetime drinking habits and followed for 10 years.
The researchers, led by the Basque Public Health Department, placed the participants into six categories - from never having drunk to drinking more than 90g (3 oz.) of alcohol each day. This would be equivalent to consuming eight bottles of wine a week, or 28 pints of beer.
For those drinking less than a shot of vodka a day, the risk was reduced by 35%, and for those who drank anything from three shots to more than 11 shots each day, the risk worked out an average of 50% less risk of heart disease.
The exact mechanisms are as yet unclear, but it is known that alcohol helps to raise high-density lipoproteins (HDL), sometimes known as good cholesterol, which helps stop so-called bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries.
The Stroke Association meanwhile noted that overall, evidence indicated that people who regularly consumed a large amount of alcohol had a three-fold increased risk of stroke.
In the UK, the recommendation is no more than two to three units of alcohol a day for women - the equivalent of one standard glass of wine - and three to four units for men. So, drink lots and save your heart, but ruin your brain and liver. Drink less and save your liver and brain, but risk a heart attack. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)