Spice up your life: Cinnamon’s weight loss potential

University of Tokyo Japan, March 2, 2022

The active compound in cinnamon maybe a more tolerable weight loss ingredient than chilli pepper's capsaicin, a small exploratory clinical trial finds. A single ingestion of the active compound cinnamaldehyde increased energy expenditure by nearly four more calories over a 90 minute period compared to placebo. The researchers say cinnamaldehyde may offer a more tolerable thermogenic alternative to compounds like capsaicin found in chilli peppers. Anti-obesity effects? Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are located throughout the body and mediate sensations such as pain, taste and temperature. TRP channels can be activated by natural compounds such as chilli peppers' capsaicin and previous animal studies have suggested this may impact energy balance and have an 'anti-obesity' effect. Capsaicin can increase metabolism in humans through sensory nerve stimulation. A single ingestion of cinnamaldehyde significantly increased energy expenditure by 3.6 kcal over the 90-minute period of the experiment when compared to placebo. Capsaicin and cinnamaldehyde enhanced postprandial fat oxidation and increased nose temperature until 15 minutes after ingestion. Cinnamaldehyde also increased the cheek and chin temperature, the facial thermography revealed. Heart rate variability analysis did not show any changes to the nervous system.

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Exposure to great outdoors boosted mental health during pandemic 

University of Colorado, March 2, 2022

People exposed to more green space during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reported significantly less depression and anxiety, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research published  in the journal PLOS One. The study also found that, at a time when mental health problems soared due to financial woes, supply shortages and nonstop news coverage of the virus, people sought solace in the great outdoors, with one-third spending more time there than they did pre-COVID. “This research shows how critical it is to keep parks and green spaces open in times of crisis. “It also shows that, as a public health measure, more effort should be made to put in green spaces and make them accessible.” The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that green space can have a measurable impact on health.

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National study examines link between accountability to god, psychological well-being

Baylor University, March 2, 2022

Religious believers who embrace accountability to God (or another transcendent guide for life) experience higher levels of three of the four variables of psychological well-being – mattering to others, dignity and meaning in their lives, though not happiness – according to a study from researchers with Baylor University, Westmont College and Hope College. The study also found that this relationship is stronger among those who pray more often, suggesting that accountability coupled with communication may be a powerful combination for well-being. The study, Perceptions of Accountability to God and Psychological Well-Being Among US Adults, appears in Journal of Religion and Health and relies on data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey, a national survey of American religious beliefs, values and behaviors.

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Regular chocolate intake linked to enhanced cognition in cohort study

University of South Australia and University of Maine, March 2, 2022

Habitual chocolate consumption has correlation with better cognitive functioning, according to analyses of 968 people living in New York A study due for publication in the journal Appetite by researchers at the University of South Australia, the University of Maine and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (L.I.H.) examined the chocolate eating habits and cognitive performance of participants and assessed the eating habits of 968 people aged 23–98 years for 25 years.

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Acupuncture improves outcomes in carpal tunnel syndrome in part by remapping the brain

Massachusetts General Hospital, March 2, 2022

In a study reported in the journal Brain, a team of investigators based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) sheds new light on exploring acupuncture for chronic pain disorders Researchers performed a sham-controlled acupuncture neuroimaging study of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a neuropathic pain disorder. Few chronic pain disorders have established biomarkers or measureable treatment outcomes. However, in CTS measurements taken at the wrist of the speed at which signals are transmitted along the median nerve are a well known and accepted biomarker.

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Analysis: Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine Could Make Swaths of Europe 'Uninhabitable for Decades'

Russia's assault on Ukraine risks nuclear devastation "far worse even than the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe of 2011," Greenpeace warns.

Common Dreams. March 2, 2022

The international environmental group Greenpeace warned Wednesday that Russia's intensifying assault is placing Ukraine's nuclear power facilities under serious threat, risking devastation "far worse even than the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe of 2011." In a 12-page analysis, Greenpeace details the unique hazards posed by Russia's war on Ukraine, which maintains 15 nuclear power reactors and is home to the largest nuclear energy complex in Europe. That facility, known as the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, is currently surrounded by Russian troops looking to force their way through a makeshift blockade erected Wednesday by ordinary Ukrainians. Greenpeace's new brief argues that the Zaporizhzhia plant is especially vulnerable to an accident or attack stemming from Russia's invasion,. Greenpeace raises particular concern over the complex's susceptibility to electrical power outages, its storage of spent nuclear fuel, and risks posed by flooding given the facility's close proximity to the massive Dnipro river system. Severe damage to the plant, the group warns, could "render vast areas of the European continent, including Russia, uninhabitable for decades." "For the first time in history, a major war is being waged in a country with multiple nuclear reactors and thousands of tons of highly radioactive spent fuel," he continued. "The war in southern Ukraine around Zaporizhzhia puts them all at heightened risk of a severe accident."

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