Category: Persuasion

Vitamin D deficiency is more common in winter.

Tiredness, depression and weak muscles can all be signs of vitamin D deficiency.

Depression risk is raised by vitamin D deficiency, according to one study.

This may be because of the role that vitamin D plays in regulating serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter important for mood.

Similarly, poor sleep and headaches can also be signs of the deficiency.

The current recommendations for vitamin D intake by the National Academy of Medicine are 600 IU per day for adults.

Foods that are rich in vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.

Sufficient levels of vitamin D3 can help to restore the cardiovascular system, repairing damage done by diseases like hypertension and diabetes.

The conclusions come from a study that examined the impact of vitamin D3 on a vital component of the cardiovascular system, endothelial cells.

Professor Tadeusz Malinski, study co-author, said:

“Generally, Vitamin D3 is associated with the bones. However, in recent years, in clinical settings people recognize that many patients who have a heart attack will have a deficiency of D3.

It doesn’t mean that the deficiency caused the heart attack, but it increased the risk of heart attack.

We use nanosensors to see why Vitamin D3 can be beneficial, especially for the function and restoration of the cardiovascular system.”

The results showed that vitamin D3 can help to prevent blood clots and reduce oxidative stress in the cardiovascular system.

Getting sufficient levels of vitamin D could help to reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Professor Malinski said:

“There are not many, if any, known systems which can be used to restore cardiovascular endothelial cells which are already damaged, and Vitamin D3 can do it.

This is a very inexpensive solution to repair the cardiovascular system.

We don’t have to develop a new drug.

We already have it.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Nanomedicine (Khan et al., 2018).

Keep reading here

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1474 Scott Adams: Fresh Headlines and Even Fresher Coffee. Come For the Beverage and Stay For the Laughs. – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

The magical formula for beauty could be in your walk.

Attractiveness is about more than just body shape and facial features — it is also about the way people move.

Women who sway their hips while walking increase their perceived attractiveness by 50%, research finds.

Men who walk with swagger in their shoulders more than doubled the perception of their attractiveness.

Swagger involves dipping the shoulders slightly with each step to create a rolling motion.

Dr Kerri Johnson, the study’s first author, said:

“People have always tried to identify the magical formula for beauty, and we knew body shape was important, but we found movement was also key.

When encountering another human, the first judgment an individual makes concerns the other individual’s gender.

The body’s shape, specifically the waist-to-hip ratio, has been related to gender identification and to perceived attractiveness, but part of the way we make such judgments is by determining whether the observed individual is behaving in ways consistent with our culture’s definitions of beauty and of masculinity/femininity.

And part of those cultural definitions involves movement.”

The findings come from a series of five studies in which over 700 people took part.

They watched various animations that represented people moving.

Dr Johnson said:

“The current findings bolster our understanding of how and why the body is perceived attractive.

Body cues bring about the basic social perception of sex and gender, and the compatibility of those basic precepts affects perceived attractiveness.”

Dr Johnson continued:

“We appear to effortlessly judge the aesthetics of both landscapes and buildings – it is certainly possible that the same evolved cognitive mechanisms are operative whether we judge a person to be attractive or a landscape to be beautiful.”

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Johnson & Tassinary, 2007).

Keep reading here

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1475 Scott Adams: Fresh Coffee and Even Fresher News. Let’s Criticize the Dopes in Charge. – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1476 Scott Adams: I Tell You How to Fix Our Biggest Problems While Drinking Coffee – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

This diet is the most effective regimen for reducing “bad” cholesterol, a review of 49 studies confirms.

A plant-based diet — particularly a vegan diet — can substantially lower total cholesterol, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol in four weeks.

A review of 49 studies found that plant-based diets including vegan and vegetarian diets reduced total cholesterol levels up to 29.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl).

The reduction of LDL cholesterol levels was up to 22.9 mg/dL and for HDL cholesterol up to 3.6 mg/dL when compared to other diets such as a low-fat omnivorous diet.

The strong effect of plant-based diets on lowering cholesterol levels is probably related to weight loss and body fat and because these types of foods are low in saturated fat and calories.

Also plant-based diets contain legumes, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, seeds, and nuts which are high in fibre and plant sterols.

Ms Susan Levin, study co-author, said:

“The immediate health benefits of a plant-based diet, like weight loss, lower blood pressure, and improved cholesterol, are well documented in controlled studies.

Our goal with studying plasma lipids throughout the lifespan is to capture the net risk reduction of using a vegetarian diet to control lipid levels.

We hope to empower patients with new research about the long-term cardiovascular health benefits of a vegetarian diet, which include a reduced risk of a heart attack, stroke, and premature death.”

Dr Charles Ross, a physician, managed to lower his cholesterol from 230 mg/dL to a healthy 135 mg/dL without taking any medication and only by going on a plant-based diet.

He lost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) within a month of adopting this diet.

He said:

“I wake up every day eager to hear about how a plant-based diet and a healthful lifestyle is changing and saving lives in our community.

What I’ve found is that if you want your patients to make significant health changes, you have to make them yourself.

The prescription started to spread soon after my family, co-workers, neighbors, and friends heard about my experience.”

High blood cholesterol levels and triglycerides can lead to hyperlipidemia which often is not diagnosed and so left untreated.

If only 10 percent of patients with hyperlipidemia are treated this could save 8,000 lives every year.

Making lifestyle and dietary changes even in small steps could avert 10,000 cases of heart disease in the US, 20,000 heart attacks, and three billion dollars of medical expenses every year.

Ms Levin said:

“To make any form of health care work and to truly power economic mobility, we have to get healthy.

The first place to start is by building meals around nutrient-packed, plant-based foods, which fit into nearly every cultural template, taste preference, and budget.”

The study was published in Nutrition Reviews (Yokoyama et al., 2017).

Keep reading here

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1477 Scott Adams: Persuasion Lessons Plucked From the Headlines. And Coffee. – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

Vitamin D deficiency is still common around the world.

Depression, tiredness and weak muscles can all be signs of vitamin D deficiency, research finds.

The vitamin is also thought to play a role in regulating serotonin, a neurotransmitter important for mood.

One study has linked vitamin D deficiency to a 75 percent higher risk of depression.

Other signs of vitamin D deficiency include headaches and poor sleep.

Vitamin D deficiency is still common around the world.

The main function of vitamin D in the body is to help it absorb calcium.

Vitamin D deficiency is linked to rickets in children.

Rickets is a disease that affects bone development, causing them to be painful and soft.

In adults, vitamin D deficiency can contribute to the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis.

Elderly people, in particular, may benefit from vitamin D and calcium supplementation to reduce the risk of fracture.

The current guidelines for the amount of vitamin D required in the body vary.

Professor Sylvia Christakos, the study’s first author, said:

“Recommendations based on earlier studies using a number of different tests for vitamin D levels persist and, not surprisingly, current guidelines vary.

For example, it is not clear that the most optimal levels for vitamin D are the same for Caucasians, blacks or Asians alike.

More laboratories are now implementing improved tests and efforts are being made to standardize results from different laboratories.”

The current recommendations by the National Academy of Medicine are 600 IU per day for adults.

Foods that are rich in vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.

That is why levels are typically lower in the body through the winter months in more northern climes.

The study was published in the journal Metabolism (Christakos et al., 2019).

Keep reading here

{{options.learnMore}} {{options.dismiss}}’, ”, ”, ” ], cookieName: ‘dilbert_cookieconsent_dismissed’, readystate: ‘interactive’ }; ]]> Episode 1478 Scott Adams: Vaccination Reasoning Viewed Through a Hypnosis Filter. And Coffee. – Scott Adams’ Blog ]]>

Keep reading here

Higher intelligence drives ‘cognitive hunger’.

Openness to experience is the personality trait most strongly linked to higher intelligence, research finds.

People who are open to experience tend to be intellectually curious, imaginative, seekers of variety and sensitive to their feelings.

Naturally, people who are open to experience like trying out new activities and ideas.

Openness to experience is one of the five major aspects of personality, along with conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness and extraversion.

The study’s author, Dr Scott Barry Kaufman, explains:

“Openness to experience is the broadest personality domain of the Big Five, including a mix of traits relating to intellectual curiosity, intellectual interests, perceived intelligence, imagination, creativity, artistic and aesthetic interests, emotional and fantasy richness, and unconventionality.”

The conclusions come from a survey of 146 people who were asked questions about their personality and intelligence.

The results showed the strongest links between openness to experience and higher IQ.

Being open to experience is so powerful that it is linked to intelligence when measured almost 40 years later.

In particular, two aspects of openness to experience were most strongly related to intelligence.

Firstly, intellectual engagement, which comprises:

• finding abstract thinking pleasurable,
• enjoying coming up with new solutions to problems,
• and liking reading.

Secondly, aesthetic engagement, which can involve activities like:

• going to the cinema,
• drawing or painting,
• dancing,
• and playing a musical instrument.

More intelligent people are particularly appreciative of beauty: they have a strong aesthetic sense.

Curious

Along with these factors, insatiable curiosity is also strongly linked to higher intelligence.

The link is probably down to higher intelligence driving ‘cognitive hunger’.

Cognitive hunger makes people seek out new experiences to satiate this hunger.

The study was published in The Journal of Creative Behavior (Kaufman, 2013).

Keep reading here