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Science of Learning: 6 School & Study Tricks That Will Help Teenagers Learn

Approximately 86 billion brain cells are twitching inside your teenager’s skull, communicating via 150 trillion synapses. So, what’s the excuse? Why can’t high schoolers remember the Treaty of Versailles, conjugate Spanish verbs, or decipher the periodic table?

Why don’t their silly neurons learn better? What’s wrong?

The problem, say learning scientists, isn’t that teens are lazy or not bright. Instead, it may have far more to do with how they are being taught. Consider what the typical high school class looks like: Students sit passively in rows while they listen to teachers lecture in the front of the classroom. Then they go home to cram for a test. Once the test is done, they forget the majority of the material in a few days. Rinse and repeat. What’s the point if they’re not really learning what they’re being taught?

The science of learning, based on our understanding of neuroscience, argues that many traditional teaching strategies don’t take into account how a teen’s brain works. Recent discoveries about brain-based learning are proving not only to energize high school students, but to help teens absorb and retain information.

Teens zoning out during Euclidean geometry or citing TikTok influencers in an expository paper doesn’t always mean they are bored or lazy, argues neurologist and teacher Judy Willis, co-author of Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from Neuroscience and the Classroom. “The demands on students are squishing their natural curiosity and joy of learning,” Willis says.

Brain scientists suggest that students absorb information best if they work in what’s known as the flow state. This mindset is reached when their consciousness is fully “in the zone,” entirely focused on activities they find so pleasurable that time flies and all distractions disappear. Try these brain-based learning strategies and study skills that can help teens enter this open state of more productive and enjoyable learning.

1 Interrupt the lecture Long lectures, an indigestible staple of high school academic diets, are one of the best examples, and worst offenders, of how old-school teaching methods don’t work for the teenage brain. What, exactly, is so wrong with uninterrupted lectures that have no pauses or participation, aside from a 10-minute Q & A right before the bell rings? A meta-analysis of 225 studies conducted at University of Washington discovered students in long-lecture classes were 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in active-learning classes, and exam scores were 6 percent higher in the active-learning classes.

Long lectures impede student comprehension because after 10 minutes, the human brain’s ability to remember facts and concepts declines rapidly. Teens need a “brain break” when they’re overstimulated, says neuroscientist Willis. The stress, frustration, and boredom of listening to and trying to grasp a humongous amount of new information in a long lecture often shuts down the teen brain, blocking further absorption and learning.

Eric Jensen, author of Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching, advises teachers to strategically interrupt their lectures with what he calls “tools for engagement” to keep their students attentive and energized. To be effective, he says, engagement tools should be used every three minutes, employing — among dozens of techniques he recommends — everything from eye-opening demonstrations and props to call-and-response games and classmate interactions.

2 We won’t forget… what? Memorizing is necessary for learning, but many old-school methods don’t work, according to learning scientists. Washington University research concluded that students rereading textbooks and notes is an ineffective memorization technique.

Far better strategies are using flashcards and self-quizzes, such as asking yourself potential essay questions or inventing math and science problems to solve. Scientists also advise students to use diagrams and flow charts to associate new information they’re learning with material they already understand. New and old knowledge should always be connected, Willis says, because familiarity increases recall. How does this happen? The brain’s recognition of even a single word activates and reheats memory patterns in the cerebral cortex, creating the “I remember this” feeling that reduces stress.

Willis believes in-class, no-stakes, non-graded practice tests also encourage memorization because successful test-taking gives students a “really good dopamine release, bathing the brain in deep satisfaction so they want to do it again.”

3 Practice makes brain-based learning Repetition is often viewed as the most coma-inducing method for remembering information. Even so, learning the same material over and over and over (and over and over) again keeps the brain interested if done correctly. The trick, according to research, is to use novel memorization methods that make learning stick. “The brain’s hippocampus [which has a major role in learning and memory] gives priority to discovering and processing new information,” Willis explains. “And then, once you’ve heard it, you want to connect the new info to what is already known.”

Turn the material into a rhyme or song, have students create posters, or work on their own or with a partner to create fun memory devices. Rewards like prizes and positive call-outs are also wonderful ways to encourage students to put effort into rote memorization. The science? Like a video game, the rewards make their brains light up with a satisfying “bingo” dopamine hit.

4 Break it down and get active Two additional successful memorization strategies are chunking and active learning. Chunking is, quite simply, a technique that breaks down large amounts of content into smaller categories, making each “chunk” easier to process and remember.

As the name implies, active learning is an instructional approach that actively engages the student in their education. A study of biochemistry students at UC Santa Barbara discovered that those who were enrolled in the active learning curriculum had consistent and statistically higher test scores. Examples of active learning include role-playing, group projects, peer teaching, debates, and student demonstrations followed by class discussion.

5 Our brains can grow like muscles Growth mindset, first written about by Stanford researcher Carol Dweck, is the recognition that our brain’s ability to learn is not static, nor destined to be smart or not smart. Rather, a brain’s plasticity enables our cognitive powers to grow stronger the more we use them.

Teachers who emphasize growth mindset can help teens develop their intelligence, by building their understanding that learning will make them smarter. In Teaching with Poverty in Mind, author Eric Jensen describes how a growth mindset has been shown to be especially beneficial to students from impoverished families.

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6 Use body brain boosters Brain scientists know the body is closely linked to the brain. Playing music, exercising, eating well, and meditating all enhance the brain’s capabilities. “Bucketloads of recent research especially point to a stronger case for physical activity and sports,” Jensen says. “Our challenge, though, is that many teachers say they don’t have time for those.” Advice to parents? Encourage your high schooler to take part in those brain-boosting activities outside of the classroom, which will enhance their academic performance.

Sleep is another mind-boosting activity that is especially helpful. (But not recommended at school!) “Eight to 10 hours daily is good for adolescents,” says Willis, who stresses that more sleep is crucial for healthy cognitive function. “The early sleep cycles are superficial. It is the later sleep that’s most important. That’s when memory gets embedded.”

Teens often resist slumber, but parents can help by gently separating them from their electronic devices, tucking into bed earlier themselves, and rapping quasi-Ben Franklin: “Early to bed makes us bright when we rise. My teens will be healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

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Birds flying through Wisconsin this spring may be carrying tiny backpacks that help scientists track them

The wonder of spring migration is playing out across much of the globe as millions of birds are shifting from wintering to breeding grounds.

The annual cycle is a matter of survival for most species — they must escape cold and snow and spend winter in a more hospitable location where they can find food and shelter.

And now, as hours of daylight increase and the temperature warms in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to travel once more.

As they fly north this spring, some of our feathered friends will be adding critical data to the understanding of their migratory paths and habitats.

The birds are among tens of thousands fitted with tiny transmitters as part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System.

Some, including species with relatively poorly understood migratory paths, could be passing through your Wisconsin neighborhood any day.

"It's eye-opening to me what is still being learned," said Jennifer Phillips-Vanderberg, executive director of the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory near Port Washington. "Motus is definitely helping us answer some questions as well as helping us ask better ones."

Phillips-Vanderberg is among a cast of thousands who help coordinate Motus, an international collaborative research network run by Birds Canada.

The program uses an automated radio telemetry array to track the movement and behavior of small flying animals, mostly birds but also bats, butterflies and dragonflies.

The transmitters are fitted on the animals like tiny backpacks; they are battery- or solar-powered. Each tag has a unique signature, similar to a "chip" in a domestic dog or cat.

The signals are picked up by 1,346 Motus receivers in 31 countries on four continents, most in North America.

Wisconsin has 12 active receivers, including at Afterglow Farm near Port Washington and at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wauwatosa.

As a tagged animal flies within range of a receiver, a computer records the data.

The system can determine the location of the "hit," the speed of travel and how long the animal stays in the area.

The data is then centralized at the Birds Canada National Data Centre, where it is filtered, analyzed, archived and disseminated to all researchers and organizations in the network. The public, too, can view the results on motus.org.

The purpose of Motus is to facilitate landscape-scale research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals.

Scientists have long known the health of most migratory species rests on a triumvirate of habitat needs: breeding, wintering and migratory, or stopover.

As human development and resource use continues apace it's becoming more important each year to determine birds' exact travel routes and stopover sites.

Habitat bottlenecks occur for many species on their migratory paths; if the most critical chunks can be saved and protected, it could prevent a species from becoming endangered, Phillips-Vanderberg said.

Davor Grgic, a Wisconsin Society of Ornithology board member who lives in Sheboygan, volunteers to extract the data twice a year from Motus receivers in southern Wisconsin so it can be uploaded to the international system.

Information from Motus towers in Wisconsin has yielded many surprises. One of the most unexpected was Swainson's thrushes from western British Columbia flying through the Badger State on their fall migration, Phillips-Vanderberg said.

"These birds flew over the Rockies and across the Great Plains and then south along Lake Michigan," Phillips-Vanderberg said. "Later, one was detected in South Carolina and Florida on the way to Central or South America. It's such an amazing journey."

It would have been easy to assume Swainson's thrushes seen in Wisconsin were only birds that nested directly north in Ontario. Now it's known they could be from virtually anywhere in the breeding range.

Motus is also integral to a golden-winged warbler project being conducted in Wisconsin. That work, led by Amber Roth of the University of Maine, tagged several of the threatened warblers last summer near Rhinelander. The birds later were detected by Motus migrating through southeastern Wisconsin.

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The researchers are hoping the birds will be detected coming north this spring.

To date 31,235 individuals of 278 species have been tagged worldwide as part of Motus.

The quest continues to add more receivers and tagged animals to the project, including in Central and South America, where many birds that breed in Wisconsin spend the winter. Each receiver costs about $5,000 and each transmitter about $200, Phillips-Vanderberg said.

Phillips-Vanderberg recently submitted a grant proposal to help fund additional receivers in Wisconsin. The receivers, typically placed on roofs, have a range of about nine miles in optimal conditions.

She and other Motus collaborators await the 2022 spring migration as eagerly as any birder.

"The data Motus is gathering is so important," Phillips-Vanderberg said. "And if we can continue to build the network, it will help make even more significant contributions to science and allow for better decisions to help birds."

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Planting mixes of flowers around farm fields helps keep bees healthy

It’s springtime in California, and bees are emerging to feast on flowering fields – acres upon acres of cultivated almonds, oranges and other fruits and nuts that bloom all at once for just a few weeks. Farmers raise these lucrative crops in monoculture fields, each planted with neat, straight rows of a single type of crop.

The agricultural heart of California is the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. I recently drove north through the valley on Interstate 5, a 450-mile (724-kilometer) stretch of monoculture farms and agricultural land that runs from Bakersfield to Redding. Flowers were blooming as far as the eye could see. There is so much bloom here that commercial beekeepers truck in over 2 million colonies of bees in spring to ensure that every last flower is pollinated.

As a bee biologist, I study why bees are dying. Although monoculture blooms provide food for bees, scientists know almost nothing about how temporary mass-bloom events influence bee health.

I wondered whether bees in these monoculture fields were getting sick in the same way a crowd of hungry people with unwashed hands can get sick by converging at a brunch buffet. Imagine not washing your hands after picking up the tong for hash browns – hundreds of times in a row.

I found that bees foraging in monoculture pick up parasites at high rates. Disease is a leading cause of bee decline, so my research indicates that monoculture blooms are a threat to bees. However, I also found that farmers can reduce this threat by taking a page from backyard gardens and planting hedgerows with diverse mixes of flowers.

Interacting bees can spread disease Bees’ main goal in life is to collect pollen and nectar to feed their young. But as bees forage, they are exposed to bacteria, fungi and viruses, which can spread among bees via flowers.

For humans, social interaction or touching shared doorknobs in highly trafficked office buildings can spread viruses and other pathogens. Bee scientists joke that, for bees, flowers are the dirty office doorknobs.

Artificially providing animals with food can affect the spread of diseases in two ways: It can dilute them or amplify them. When a monoculture crop blooms in a landscape that’s otherwise void of food for bees, it offers an attractive pulse of pollen and nectar. When bees cluster together, disease may be more likely to spread between infected and noninfected bees.

But that’s not automatic. Flowers can feed bees and prop up their immune systems, making them less vulnerable to disease. Disease spread is also hampered if many different bee species are attracted to flowers, because not all bee species harbor all parasite species.

As the mix of bees in the community becomes more diverse, parasites are more likely to encounter unsuitable hosts, breaking up the the chain of transmission. This suggested to my research team that mass blooms could help bees under the right circumstances.

Diagnosing disease In a study that colleagues and I published in late 2021, we examined whether monoculture blooms attracted bees, and whether this process resulted in more disease or less. We then examined whether adding diverse flowers to monoculture farms helped to promote healthy bees.

We studied bees in sunflower fields in California’s Central Valley. Sunflowers are grown for commercial oil manufacturing and rely heavily on pollinators such as honeybees, bumblebees, sunflower bees and sweat bees.

Some of our sunflower study sites were grown as traditional monocultures, while others were grown adjacent to hedgerows, which are flowering strips of perennial plants such as California rose, Mexican elderberry and perennial sages. These hedgerows turn monoculture farms into more diverse systems.

Our team of professors, postdoctoral researchers and students walked through each site with aerial nets, cajoling bees into tiny sterile tubes. Back in the lab, we tested each bee for seven parasites commonly implicated in bee declines using molecular techniques.

Bees really like mass-bloom events. We discovered 35 different bee species visiting sunflowers, with their abundance highest at the peak of sunflower bloom. Places with historic legacies of growing sunflowers hosted more abundant bee populations than sites where sunflowers had been planted only recently. Even at farm sites with hedgerows, bees were consistently found foraging on sunflowers at higher numbers than on hedgerows.

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But apparently, bee gluttony comes with a cost. We found that these increases in bee abundance were subsequently associated with higher rates of parasitism. Of the individuals we screened, almost half had at least one parasite, and about a third had multiple parasites. The more bees in sunflower fields, the more parasites. Sunflower blooms were aggregating bees, which in turn was amplifying disease risk.

Nearby hedgerows help bees We also found something encouraging: When bees had access to hedgerows that contained many different kinds of flowers, they had lower rates of parasite infections. This suggests that in the presence of many flower types, bees disperse and spread across resources, reducing each individual bee’s likelihood of encountering an infected individual. Flower diversity may also provide immunity benefits to bees through other mechanisms, perhaps by enhancing nutrition.

Agencies, organizations and researchers are working to promote hedgerows and other forms of bee habitat. For example, the nonprofit Xerces Society offers farmers a certified “Bee Better” eco-label, which indicates to consumers that the farm has dedicated 5% of its land or more to pollinator habitat. And land-grant institutions such as the University of California, Cornell University and the University of Florida are teaching local communities about plant choices that work best for bees. As an agricultural extension agent, I believe that together, efforts like these can help bring back healthy pollinators by promoting habitat conservation.

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Here's what to do when you see a snake

As spring hits full stride, Daniel Sollenberger will field more calls and emails about snakes. And most will involve two questions: What species is this and what should I do?

As for the first question, seldom is the snake a venomous species, according to Sollenberger, a senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Whether it's venomous, of course, is the worry or fear underlying most of the questions. Chances are it's not. Only six of the 46 species native to Georgia are venomous and only one — the copperhead — usually thrives in suburban areas, which is where many Georgians live.

"While at least one of the state's six species of venomous snakes could be found in each county in the state, seldom are they the most common species encountered," Sollenberger said.

Now to the second question: What should you do, or not do, if you see a snake?

You can try to identify it from a distance. Resources such as georgiawildlife.com/georgiasnakes, which includes DNR's "Venomous Snakes of Georgia" brochure, can help.

Do not attempt to handle the snake. Give it the space it needs.

Remember that snakes are predators that feed on small mammals, amphibians, insects and even other snakes. There is no need to fear non-venomous snakes. Also, Georgia's native non-venomous species are protected by state law, and one — the eastern indigo — is federally protected.

If a clearly identified venomous snake is in an area where it represents a danger to people or pets, consult georgiawildlife.com/nuisancewildlife for a list of private wildlife removal specialists. Most bites occur when a snake is cornered or captured and defending itself.

Non-venomous snakes such as scarlet kingsnake, eastern hognose and watersnake species are frequently confused with their venomous counterparts — coral snakes, rattlesnakes and water moccasins, respectively. Although pit vipers, which include all venomous species native to Georgia except for coral snakes, are often identified by their broad, triangular-shaped heads, many non-venomous snakes flatten their heads when threatened, which can make their heads appear triangular-shaped. Also, some non-venomous species have color patterns similar to venomous snakes.

The bottom line: While it's likely not venomous, use caution around any unidentified snake. For more on Georgia's snakes, visit georgiawildlife.com/georgiasnakes. "Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia" (University of Georgia Press) also provides a comprehensive reference.

Venomous vs. poisonous: Venom is a toxic substance. But a key difference when the terms are used to describe organisms is how the toxin is delivered. Venomous animals inject theirs by biting, stinging or sticking — think venomous snakes, wasps and stingrays. Poisonous species, such as poison frogs, deliver toxins passively, such as when they're eaten or through skin secretions when they are touched.

Benefits: While some snakes eat rodents and even venomous snakes, others prey on creatures some Georgians also may not want near their homes. Brown and red-bellied snakes, for example, feed on snails and slugs, the bane of gardeners. Crowned snake species primarily eat centipedes.

Baby snakes? Snakes such as earth and brown snake species are small (usually less than 12 inches long) and homeowners occasionally mistake them as juveniles. The common concern here: Are the parents nearby? Some snake species are live-bearers and some are egg-layers. But most snakes do not exhibit parental care. If there are parents, they are not watching over their offspring.

Prevention: To reduce the potential for snakes near your home, remove brush, log piles and other habitat features that attract mice, lizards and other animals on which snakes prey.

From eastern indigo snakes to bald eagles, DNR's Wildlife Conservation Section works to conserve rare and other Georgia wildlife not legally fished for or hunted, as well as rare plants and natural habitats. The agency depends primarily on fundraisers, grants and contributions. That makes public support key.

Georgians can help by supporting the state's Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund. Here's how:

—Buy a DNR eagle or monarch butterfly license plate, or renew one of the older plate designs, including the hummingbird. Most of the fees are dedicated to wildlife. Upgrade to a wild tag for only $25. Details at georgiawildlife.com/licenseplates.

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—Donate at gooutdoorsgeorgia.com. Click "Licenses and Permits" and log in to give. (New customers can create an account.) There's even an option to round-up for wildlife.

—Contribute to the Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund when filing state income taxes — line 30 on form 500 or line 10 on form 500EZ. Giving is easy and every donation helps.

—Donate directly to the agency. Learn more at georgiawildlife.com/donations.

—Purchase a hunting or fishing license. A one-day, $5 hunting/fishing license returns to Georgia wildlife that fee plus about $45 in federal excise taxes paid by hunters and anglers nationwide.

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Are Espresso Martinis Really That Bad For You?

Listen: I love a good takedown as much as anyone. (Discrediting fad diets? Yes, please. Debunking fitness myths? You know it.) But please, I beg of you: leave espresso martinis alone.

We're two years into a global pandemic that just won't quit, with mounting concerns over the state of global affairs (as well as the state of our actual planet), bonkers inflation, and toxic diet culture breathing down our necks. There's just not a lot we can enjoy right now.

So when you're out to brunch, dinner, or happy hour and decide to order an espresso martini - the It drink of the moment, annoying bartenders everywhere - the decision is one purely in pursuit of joy. It's the two best beverages and legal mood-altering substances we've got rolled into one wonderfully sweet package. It wakes you up. It gets you tipsy. And it tastes like dessert. What's not to love?

Yet, in a recent anti-ode to the espresso martini, the NY Post went as far to claim that the drink is "ruining your sleep and heart health." Oh.

My take? When you bring the "but it's bad for you" argument to the party, you're literally killing everyone's buzz. No one orders an espresso martini under the guise that it's a health drink. It's not a big secret that the cocktail has alcohol, caffeine, and sugar, and none of those things are totally innocent when it comes to how they affect your body. But I had to know: are espresso martinis really all that unhealthy for you? Let's investigate.

What's in an Espresso Martini Anyway? A traditional espresso martini contains the following, according to Liquor.com:

2 ounces vodka

1/2 ounce coffee liqueur (usually Kahlúa)

1 ounce espresso, freshly brewed (or cold-brew concentrate)

1/2 ounce simple syrup

How Much Caffeine Is in an Espresso Martini? How About Alcohol? The traditional recipe for an espresso martini uses just one shot (equal to one fluid ounce) of espresso, which contains about 63 mg of caffeine, according to the USDA. (Kahlúa contains just a few milligrams of caffeine per serving, so that's pretty inconsequential.) For comparison, an eight-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains about 90 mg of caffeine, per the USDA - more than you'll usually get in an espresso martini.

As for alcohol, there are generally about two ounces of vodka (with 40 percent alcohol) as well as a half-ounce of Kahlúa (with 20 percent alcohol). That's a little bit more than what the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism considers a single drink (1.5 ounces of a 40-percent-alcohol spirit). However, practically speaking, its alcohol content is about comparable with a heavy pour of wine (eight to nine ounces) and less than most other martinis, which tend to have at least 2.5 ounces of its main spirit alone.

So Is an Espresso Martini Really That Bad For You? "Naturally, consuming alcohol, even in moderation, isn't the most health-promoting thing you can do, and moderate or excessive drinking can be very damaging to your health," says Maddie Pasquariello, MS, RDN. Drinking alcohol is linked to "cardiovascular and digestive health issues, increased risk of certain cancers, dehydration, and more," she says.

Although we've collectively clung to the occasional evidence supporting the benefits of drinking alcohol moderately, the reality is that it's just not good for us in any amount (ugh). As Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, says, "Drinking any amount of alcohol poses a health risk." Indeed, a recent study published in March found that any amount of drinking increases your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Caffeine is less of an issue, at least in terms of long-term health implications. In fact, "consuming a few cups of black coffee a day can actually be beneficial to your health, according to certain studies, by fighting inflammation, boosting metabolism for a short period of time, speeding up reaction times, and improving short-term memory," Pasquariello says. While some people are more sensitive to it than others (and you should absolutely listen if your doctor has suggested you avoid it entirely), many people can consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day (roughly four cups of brewed coffee) without it causing negative health effects, says Paula Doebrich, RDN, MPH, owner of private nutrition practice Happea Nutrition. If you go over that, it could lead to increased heart rate, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, heartburn, digestive issues, and anxiety, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Now if you drink an espresso martini (or anything caffeinated, for that matter) later in the day or at night, there's a chance it will mess with your sleep. (Although this is like preaching to the choir, considering the wake-up factor is a big reason people order espresso martinis in the first place.) For most people, the level of caffeine in your blood peaks about an hour after you consume it and stays at that level for several hours, according to the Cleveland Clinic. "It has a half-life of five hours, meaning that it takes this long for the effects to begin to wear off, or longer, and up to 10 hours for it to completely clear your body," Pasquariello says.

But (!!) plenty of people consume caffeine in the afternoons or evenings without a problem. "How much coffee affects you will depend on your personal tolerance, which often is genetic. Some people metabolize coffee faster than others," Doebrich says. An estimated 10 percent of people are genetically less sensitive to caffeine, meaning they can have caffeine in large amounts or late in the day without it keeping them awake. Plus, research shows that when you consume caffeine regularly, it's less effective as a stimulant; for those who drink a few cups every morning, one shot of espresso may not do much because of the tolerance you've built up.

Alcohol negatively affects your sleep as well, potentially interfering with both the quantity and quality. "Although alcohol is a depressant and can make you drowsy, it can cause sleep disruptions throughout the night," says Katie Tomaschko, MS, RDN, contributor at Sporting Smiles. But in that respect, the alcohol in an espresso martini isn't any more malicious than the alcohol in other cocktails, beer, or wine that you might drink in its place.

That magical mix of caffeine and alcohol is a bit of a risk when it comes to your level of perceived intoxication. "One of the biggest problems when mixing alcohol with caffeine is that it makes you feel less intoxicated than you actually are, so you may end up overindulging," Doebrich says. "This is deceiving because caffeine only counteracts the drowsy effect of alcohol . . . while you might feel less drunk, you're just as drunk as you would be if you didn't add the caffeine." But it's worth noting that espresso martinis aren't the only popular bev that poses that risk (cough, vodka Red Bull). "Combining caffeine and alcohol is not a new thing," Smith says.

If sugar or calories are a concern of yours while drinking (totally fine if you don't give a crap), you should know that "espresso martinis can provide about 11 grams of sugar per cocktail, which can add up to a significant amount of calories and sugar if you're having more than one," says Holly Klamer, MS, RDN, writer at My Crohns And Colitis Team. If you're having one espresso martini, the amount of sugar isn't a death sentence, but over time, drinking lots of sugary drinks can put you at risk for Type 2 diabetes, and high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart, Tomaschko says.

And one final note: drinking water is more important than ever when you're having espresso martinis. "Caffeine is a diuretic and so is alcohol so you run the risk of dehydration as well which in itself is unhealthy and can lead to a hangover, too," Shapiro adds.

The Final Word on Espresso Martinis That might sound like a lot of bad news, and while one way to spin it is that espresso martinis are the worst, another (better?) framing is that the cocktails are the perfect every-so-often indulgence. As long as you're not downing them every night, and as long as when you do order them, you stick to just one or two, you'll probably be just fine. "Is it unhealthy? Of course it is," says Eric Ridenour, former bartender and men's health researcher. "I see no reason why espresso martinis have to be blamed for the downfall of society. Like most everything else, overdoing it is the main concern."

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Altogether, in the long term, an espresso martini poses similar risks to any alcoholic drink. In the short-term, it might mess with your sleep (if you're planning to go to bed, that is) or keep you from realizing exactly how tipsy or drunk you are. For most people, drinking espresso martinis occasionally in moderation - like you should already be doing with both caffeine and alcohol - is certainly not going to "[ruin] your sleep and heart health" all on its own. "If consumed occasionally, these cocktails can be part of a balanced lifestyle," Doebrich says.

So is the beloved espresso martini really as bad as some people want to make it out to be? Well, it's certainly not great, and if it's become your new favorite drink, you should absolutely know about the potential affects it has on your perceived intoxication and your sleep, so you can imbibe responsibly and moderately. And as with all things, it's worth paying attention to how it affects you personally and acknowledging if you're super sensitive to any of the ingredients. But you can't villainize espresso martinis without condemning alcohol, coffee, and fun altogether. And do we really need that right now?

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Does Chlorophyll Water Really Have Enough Health Benefits to Be Worth It?

If you follow wellness bloggers or have recently perused the beverage-to-go fridge in a grocery or convenience store, you’ve likely stumbled across chlorophyll “water.” Some versions claim to detoxify your body while others promise weight control. Also available in drop form, celebs are even jumping on the bandwagon. Kourtney Kardashian says chlorophyll water is an important key to her health routine. But is this elixir as good for you as proponents say it is?

Before you fork over your well-earned money hoping for a drink that will change your life, find out what doctors and a registered dietitian really think of it. Here, they explain what chlorophyll water and chlorophyll drops really are and what effects they can have on your body.

What is chlorophyll, exactly? First, let’s take a step back to science class: In case you forgot, chlorophyll is a green pigment in plants that absorbs light to create food for the plant that it’s a part of. Today, tons of companies sell chlorophyll in the form of supplements, drops, or beverages for humans to ingest—all in the name of wellness. Chlorophyll “water” is usually just purified water that’s fortified with a mix of vitamins and other nutrients, including chlorophyll.

Unfortunately, Brynna Connor, M.D., healthcare ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com says that your store-bought chlorophyll water may not be the real deal. “It’s important to understand that the chlorophyll water you’re buying at the store probably doesn’t even contain natural chlorophyll,” she says. “Because chlorophyll is relatively unstable, most chlorophyll products like chlorophyll water actually contain a semi-synthetic mixture of sodium copper salts derived from chlorophyll called sodium copper chlorophyllin (SCC) or chlorophyllin copper complex.”

This means that any health benefits indicated by research done about natural chlorophyll shouldn’t automatically be assumed to be related to the semisynthetic sodium copper chlorophyllin you’re consuming via chlorophyll water.

So what does chlorophyll do for your body? One small study found that when a powdered form of chlorophyll was mixed into meals, it curbed hunger in overweight women. Another study suggests that the derivative chlorophyllin in pill form can trap cancer-causing particles in the gut.

However, Dr. Connor says that the study that showed that consuming chlorophyll may help curb hunger researched the consumption of natural chlorophyll in the form of thylakoids in their study—not sodium copper chlorophyllin—which means that sadly the stuff you get from your grocer may not fit the bill.

And as for those cancer-trapping hopes, there’s more bad news. Research on chlorophyll in humans is very limited and research with rodents has had mixed results, so it’s really a gray area. On top of that, chlorophyll supplements are not regulated by the FDA so there is no guarantee of how much chlorophyll you’re getting in beverages, powders, or capsules—or how safe they are, says Liana Lianov, M.D., a member of the American College of Preventive Medicine and vice-chair of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies medical education program.

What are the potential benefits of ingesting chlorophyll? “People use it to address a number of problems, including acne, bad breath, gut health, lung cancer, pancreatitis, constipation, detoxification, and wound healing,” says Angel Planells, M.S., R.D.N., Seattle-based Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “The truth of the matter is that there isn’t enough information available to really know how chlorophyll might work in the human body.”

Are there any risks to consuming chlorophyll? For the vast majority of the population, the only negative side effect might be potential gastrointestinal upset. “I would caution anyone pregnant or currently breastfeeding because there is not enough reliable information about the efficacy and safety of consuming it so better safe than sorry,” says Planells. “There are also some medications that may increase sensitivity to sunlight so be mindful if you are taking some like Avelox, Cipro, Elavil, Levaquin, and Tetracycline.” It's worth noting that tetracycline, doxycycline, and minocycline are frequently used by teenagers to combat acne—and they can all affect one’s photosensitivity (a.k.a. in this context, skin sensitivity to sunlight).

The bottom line: Should you drink chlorophyll water? If you don’t mind spending the money and think it really does benefit you in some way, it’s fine to try chlorophyll drops or water—as long as you check with your doctor first. However, you’re probably better off drinking regular water to stay hydrated and eating more foods like spinach, collard and mustard greens, spirulina, broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, green beans, and peas—all of which are naturally rich in chlorophyll.

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“There are plenty of well-documented health benefits of plants that contain chlorophyll like green vegetables. However, there is not enough evidence to support that chlorophyll (or sodium copper chlorophyllin) all on its own will provide even a fraction of those benefits,” says Dr. Connor.

The other benefit of eating those plants is that they also supply you with a variety of vitamins and minerals, says Planells. “It may sound boring to consume a well-balanced diet, but it is far more economical than spending money on liquid or supplemental chlorophyll,” he adds.

Unless you’re instructed by a doctor to take a supplement that does isolate one specific chemical like chlorophyll or chlorophyllin, it is almost always better to consume healthy foods as whole foods.

“Nature does a spectacular job of creating powerful health foods with a balance of many essential nutrients that are at their most effective when consumed all together,” says Dr. Connor.

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The 8 Most Common Food Allergens in the United States

Whether it's a subtle reaction to a specific food, like a scratchy throat or something much more serious like anaphylactic shock, food allergies are very common. In fact, Melanie Carver, chief mission officer of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America says about 32 million people have food allergies in the United States—roughly 26 million adults and 5.6 million children.

"A person can develop food allergies at any age," she says. "About half of adults developed their food allergies during childhood and the other half became allergic to a food after they became an adult," she explains.

Symptoms range in severity and a person can display one or several symptoms, including redness, itching, swelling, dizziness, stomach pain, vomiting, and shortness of breath. "The immune system releases defenders to attack the food it sees as harmful, but in doing so, it causes symptoms seen in an allergic reaction," Carver explains.

Immunoglobulin (IgE), the first type of food allergy, causes symptoms that result from the body's immune system making antibodies called IgE antibodies, which react quickly when they encounter the proteins of the food allergen. "The resulting symptoms can be severe and potentially life-threatening and can include hives, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, swelling and more," Carver says. She adds that having this type of allergy to one food may mean your body reacts the same way to similar foods. "For example, if you are allergic to cow's milk, you are likely to be allergic to goat's and sheep's milk."

On the contrary, non-IgE mediated food allergies involve the digestive tract. In these types of reactions, allergy symptoms can develop up to three days after eating the food allergen. "When an allergic reaction occurs with this type of allergy, epinephrine is usually not needed," Carver explains. "In general, the best way to treat these allergies is to stay away from the food that causes the reaction."

Despite how widespread food allergies are, just eight food allergens cause 90 percent of most reactions, according to Carver. Here, we outline what those foods are.

Milk The most common food allergy among infants and young children is milk, but Carver says it's often outgrown during childhood. According to Food Allergy and Research Education (FARE), 70 percent of children with a milk allergy can tolerate baked milk, which has been extensively heated, disrupting the structure of the proteins that cause the allergy.

Egg Another allergy that's common among children but is typically outgrown by age six is eggs. When someone with an egg allergy is exposed to the food, the proteins in the egg bind to IgE antibodies and trigger the person's immune defenses causing an allergic reaction.

Peanut Unlike milk and egg allergies, peanuts are typically a lifelong allergy with only about 20 percent of children outgrowing it over time. Peanut is the only food allergy that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved treatment for. According to the FDA, the treatment, called Palforzia, may be used in individuals aged four through 17 with a confirmed diagnosis of a peanut allergy.

Tree Nut Tree nut allergies which include almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, and pistachios, are one of the most common allergies among both children and adults. According to Carver, most people do not outgrow this type of allergy. Additionally, 50 percent of children with an allergy to one type of tree nut have any allergy to other types as well.

Wheat Most often reported in young children, Carver says wheat allergies are often outgrown during childhood. Different from celiac disease, a wheat allergy results from an adverse immunologic reaction to proteins in wheat.

Soy A member of the legume family, soybeans are a common allergy among infants and young children. According to FARE, people with a soy allergy are more likely to also have an allergy or be sensitive to other major allergens, including peanuts, tree nuts, egg, milk, and sesame than to non-peanut legumes like beans, peas, and lentils.

Fish About one percent of the U.S. population is allergic to finned fish—think bass, flounder, salmon, tuna, and cod—making it one of the major food allergens in the country.

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Shellfish The most common food allergy among adults, shellfish allergy impacts about two percent of people across the country. While there are two categories of shellfish—crustaceans (shrimp, prawn, lobster, and crab) and mollusks (oysters, clams, octopus, muscles)—crustaceans are the most common allergy to shellfish, with shrimp dominating as the most common shellfish allergen.

Sesame While this isn't among the top eight foods outlined by Carver, she notes that sesame is a "rising food allergy in the United States and was recently declared a major allergen in the United States." Although it affects less than one percent of the population, FARE states that on January 1, 2023, sesame will become the ninth major allergen that must be labeled on packaged food across the country.

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Red wine drinkers have less stomach fat than spirits or beer drinkers, study finds

Red wine drinkers have less stomach fat than those who drink beer, white wine, or spirits, a study suggests.

Registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert said red wine is more likely to be consumed in moderation, which could cut back on calories.

"Alcohol has no nutritional benefits that warrant introducing it," she said.

Drinking red wine rather than beer or spirits has been linked to having less stomach fat in a new study.

White wine was not associated with the same outcome, according to the research published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal.

The researchers assessed data from 1,869 white adults aged between 40 and 79 and found that red wine drinkers had less visceral fat, which is the fat that wraps around the abdominal organs and is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

The participants' alcohol consumption was self-reported and their height, weight, blood samples, and body composition were measured.

The researchers also found that those who drink white wine in moderation had better bone mineral density, study author Brittany Larsen wrote.

However, registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told Insider that there are lots of variables that could have affected these findings, and alcohol should not be considered a healthy drink.

"Alcohol has no nutritional benefits that warrant introducing it," Lambert said.

Red wine has more polyphenols than white Red wine contains organic compounds called polyphenols, and has around 10 times more than white, Lambert said.

"Their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may have preventive and/or therapeutic effects for cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and obesity," she said.

Lambert suggested that red wine drinkers may have less abdominal fat because red wine could be a drink more likely to be consumed in moderation, compared to other types of alcohol which might be consumed in larger quantities.

Clear spirits with sugar-free mixers are the lowest calorie choice Weight gain occurs when a person consumes more calories than they burn, and alcohol is seven calories per gram.

Spirits, particularly clear ones like gin and vodka, are often the drink of choice for people watching their weight because they're usually lower in calories than beer, wine, and cocktails.

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A single gin and diet tonic, for example, might be about 90 calories, compared to 200 calories in a 250ml glass of white wine and 240 calories in an average pint of beer.

However, Lambert said spirits can be high in sugar when combined with mixers — vodka, lime, and soda water would be a low sugar choice.

Ultimately, moderation is key.

"Heavier, and prolonged, drinking can lead to health problems including increased blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, and depression," Lambert said, adding that alcohol also stimulates appetite leading to people eating more.

"To reduce intake, aim for several alcohol-free days a week," she said.

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a16z Kicks Off Crypto Research Lab Led by Columbia, Stanford Professors

Key Insights: Andreessen Horowitz is building a dedicated crypto research lab.

Professors from Columbia and Stanford will lead the team to address the hardest problems in web3.

The lab will work closely with its portfolio companies to solve important issues in the crypto space.

Andreessen Horowitz, after accelerating its push into the metaverse, now wants to solve “some of the hardest problems in web3.”

a16z Forms Crypto Research Unit Venture capital giant a16z on Thursday announced that it is deep-diving into the crypto space with the launch of a new crypto research unit.

Dubbed a16z Crypto Research, the unit will bring researchers from top US universities to tackle issues and risks in web3 and the crypto space. The team will be spearheaded by Tim Roughgarden, a professor at Columbia and Stanford who has written extensively on Web3.

The VC noted that the research lab is modeled after AI-powered OpenAI and Alphabet’s DeepMind.

“we’re excited to announce the creation of a16z crypto research, a new kind of multidisciplinary lab that will work closely with our portfolio and others toward solving the important problems in the space and toward advancing the science and technology of the next generation of the internet.”

Why Web3? Andreessen Horowitz has just begun exploring the web3, or what it calls an “extremely rich design space for innovation.”

New entrepreneurial applications in the web3 space have uncovered fresh research challenges and questions such as how the computational infrastructure will scale and evolve and how token incentives in protocols should be structured.

The crypto-dedicated academic unit aims to address such problems by, for instance, developing new tools that would help its portfolio companies grow their businesses.

Joining the founding board are Harvard’s Scott Duke Kominers, Meta’s Valeria Nikolaenko, author Joseph Bonneau and researcher Benedikt Bünz.

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Investment firm Paradigm has built a similar strategy. For instance, Rick and Morty animated series creator, worked with Paradigm on a new NFT sales mechanism.

According to Ali Yahya, the general partner at a16z,

“So many people in this space claim to have research, and I think a big difference here is that this is ‘capital R’ research, and it connects basically world-class talent at the scientific academic level, with world-class talent at the engineering level, with the best and most interesting problems in the space through the portfolio.

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I'm taking this advice to heart and trying to trust myself more

When this happens, I usually turn to loved ones for guidance. But there's a difference between seeking advice and relying on others to make your decisions for you.

This is something I've personally been working on being more aware of, which is why I loved this week's Millennial Therapist column by Sara Kuburic.

In the piece, she shares a few things to consider before automatically turning to your friends for advice. Ask yourself:

Does this person have my best interest in mind?

Does this person understand my situation adequately to offer advice?

Is this person only going to tell me what I want to hear?

Is there someone more objective (such as a professional) that I can speak with?

But what struck me the most was her section on when to ask for advice:

It can be helpful to ask for advice once we’ve already spent time thinking about the situation. So many of us are quick to seek the opinions of others in order to avoid having to come up with our own. Advice is always more useful when the person offering it has an understanding of our inner process, understanding and positioning. Requesting advice shouldn't involve asking someone to tell us what to do or think. We should seek guidance and perspective that can help us be the most authentic version of ourselves – not the best version of someone else.

If you also struggle with trusting yourself, I hope this helps. I'm personally challenging myself to do more self-reflection before turning to others to weigh in.

To read Sara's full column, which has even more tips, click here.

Suicide leaves us asking 'why?' In new memoir, journalist looks for answers I wanted to share a book I'm excited to read from USA TODAY Life's Managing Editor Laura Trujillo, titled "Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal."

In a recent article about the book, my colleague Alia E. Dastagir writes how Laura bares herself in the pages in an effort to better understand her mother's suicide.

"I wanted to know everything," Trujillo wrote. "Like a lot of people who lose someone they love to suicide, I had been shocked. Numb. Now I wanted to understand how this could have happened and what I could have done differently, what we all might have done differently to help her."

Trujillo examines suicide, but also the grief it generates. She writes of the immediate anguish, "I couldn't think, couldn't process order or time," and the lingering kind, when she was functional but utterly lost: "Back then, if you took the GPS away from me, I couldn't tell you where I was, much less feel my way home."

We've long been told salt is bad for you. Is it really? In this week's medical column, Dr. Michael Daignault is making us realize we may have a misguided view of salt and sodium. Here's a snippet of what he shares:

For years now, we’ve continued to debate whether salt is actually “bad” for our health. And in discussing healthy diet and lifestyle choices with both my ER patients and friends alike, the common thread is the failure to distinguish between salt and sodium. They are often incorrectly used interchangeably.

Sodium is a mineral and metallic element symbolized by “Na” on the Periodic Table. It is an essential nutrient and ion necessary to maintain our body’s fluid balance, contract and relax muscles, and conduct nerve impulses. But we need only a minimal amount of daily sodium to accomplish these goals.

Salt is a chemical compound of only 40% sodium and predominantly 60% chloride, or “NaCl.”

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But it’s not necessarily the salt that’s dangerous for your health. A landmark meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2011 involving a combined 6,250 participants showed there’s no convincing evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, stroke or death in people with normal or elevated blood pressure.

However, excess sodium has been linked to elevated blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. The strongest evidence links elevated sodium intake to high blood pressure and the inverse – reducing sodium intake lowers blood pressure.

The bottom line is that we can make healthy food and lifestyle choices to significantly reduce our sodium intake. This can be done primarily by avoiding processed foods. Further reduction can be made by switching to Himalayan salt, which has less sodium than table or sea salt, and includes trace amounts of other key elements. Also consider increasing your potassium with fresh fruits and vegetables – high dietary potassium intake can relax blood vessels and help excrete sodium while decreasing blood pressure.

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Soy may protect against cancer and build bones. Yet many have misconceptions about it

April being soyfood month means it’s time to dispel soy myths and review the benefits of soy to encourage more people to try this tasty and economical legume.

Soy is a wonderful source of plant protein that differs from other plant proteins in that it contains all nine essential amino acids as well as calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium and fiber. Soy contains isoflavones, which are beneficial, but have contributed to misinformation.

Isoflavones are a plant hormone that resembles human estrogen but is much weaker, with an effectiveness of 1/1,000 of estrogen. Isoflavones may protect against certain types of cancer and have a role in bone health. A gram of soy protein has 3 mg of Isoflavones. The average Asian diet has 25-50 mg of isoflavones from food and the average American diet has less than 3 mg a day.

Two persistent soy myths concern the effect of soy on men’s health and breast cancer in women. The weight of scientific evidence shows that soy intake has no effect on erectile function, sperm motility or quality or testosterone levels.

Regarding breast cancer, a 2009 study by Shu et al in JAMA demonstrated a deceased risk of death and recurrence of breast cancer in women with the highest soyfood intake. The only soy product to use sparingly would be soy sauce. One tablespoon has 40% ( 920mg) of daily recommended sodium. Of course, adding that same tablespoon to a dish to bring out the umami would be fine if you were serving four people.

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It is easy to add good taste and great nutrition with a bit of soy. Use soynut butter and bananas on whole wheat toast; add roasted soy nuts to a trail mix and sauté tofu in your next stir fry.

The easiest work snack and one of my favorites is edamame. Frozen edamame are in the supermarket freezer case. A half cup serving is 65 calories, 6 grams of protein (18 mg of isoflavones) and 3 grams of fiber.

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Zombie parasite stars are eating other stars alive

On Earth, parasites have been devouring unassuming hosts from the inside out for millions of years, but not all parasitic entities are necessarily alive.

Stars can also gnaw away at living victims. There is often stellar parasitism in binary systems, where one star slowly eats away at another as they orbit each other, as if it had been infected by the virus in Splinter that takes over the body of its prey to zombify it into a voracious cannibal. This is possibly why half-eaten red giant stars that aren’t dead yet are showing up in our galaxy. Astronomers from the University of Sydney have discovered less massive or less luminous red giants that were only predicted — but never actually found — until now.

Dying slow and blazing deaths, red giants show what the future of our Sun will look like in another 4 billion years. They are what remains of stars that have burned all their hydrogen and have now become cooler, but red and inflamed. While most stars (with our Sun being a misfit) are part of binary systems, some are more predatory than others. Head astronomer Yaguang Li, who led a study recently published in Nature, and his research team were able to find out how low the masses of these stars are, and prove they had found what they were looking for.

“We used an AI model with 99% accuracy, but a tiny fraction of stars can have the wrong classifications,” he told SYFY WIRE. “When we tried to find more post-mass-transfer stars, we suddenly realized we were looking at some that had gone through binary interactions.”

The red giants that almost eluded the researchers were HB or horizontal branch stars, which can no longer power themselves by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen (since they exhausted it all), so they burn the helium they had previously created from that hydrogen. White dwarfs are the luminous cores of dead stars that are left after their outer layers have decomposed in space. Binary stars are bound to each other by gravity, and as they grow older, star stuff from one can reach the the grasp of the other’s gravity and be ripped away in what is known as a mass transfer. It would be downright gruesome if stars were made of flesh and blood.

Now this is where it gets like Splinter. Just like that virus killed and reanimated human bodies so they could tear the flesh off other humans and grow into even more horrifying monsters, the white dwarf, which is the zombie star in the system, keeps eating the red giant it orbits with.

“We used asteroseismic scaling relations to determine stellar properties,” said Li. “Asteroseismic observations can tell us two characteristic frequencies, which can help us solve for mass and radius to determine whether these were smaller, less massive red giants.”

Seeing red giants that are not nearly as huge or bright as they are supposed to be made Li and his team suspicious. Astroseismology takes a closer look at the oscillations of stars, or movements of stellar gas. Analyzing these movements can tell observers more about what is going on deep inside a star. Using astroseismology along with spectroscopy, which revealed the temperatures of the cannibalized red giants, the astronomers were able to determine the radius and mass of each one. They finally had evidence for very low-mass and under luminous red giant stars.

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Most HB stars give themselves away because they appear as a blob on the left end of a hook-like structure, and Li knew what to expect from models of stellar evolution, but what initially confused him was that there were similar bodies on the opposite side. That was almost passed off as a mistake until he and his team realized that this was not an AI error. After they painstakingly went through each of the stars they observed just to make sure there was no glitch, it turned out that those which had unusually low mass or luminosity really were HB stars.

“Our findings suggest the masses and radii of these unusual targets differ from the majority of HB stars, so they must have a very different history,” Li said. “We’ll have a better understanding of this question once we get more spectra of these stars.”

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Why time-restricted eating isn’t a magic diet trick after all

It’s the diet beloved of A-listers and Silicon Valley tech bros. One that doesn’t involve luminous green juices or cartloads of cabbage, but something simpler: spending more time each day without food.

Yet time-restricted eating (TRE) – consigning your daily consumption to a six or eight-hour window – has this week been debunked as an effective weight-loss method.

In a year-long study by Southern Medical University in China, 139 participants followed a low-calorie daily diet (1,200-1,500 calories for women; 1,500-1,800 for men) over either eight hours in every 24 or the entire day. All lost just over a stone on average, whichever strategy they followed. From waist circumference to blood glucose levels, body fat, insulin sensitivity and blood pressure, no notable distinction was found between the fasters and fast-nots.

So has intermittent fasting – on which a whole industry has been built – been exposed as a meaningless fad?

The researchers’ conclusion, that there were “no substantial differences” between either diet, does appear to send a wrecking ball through the TRE machine that has sprung up in recent years.

Whether following the typical 16:8 hour pattern, or doing intermittent fasting through the 5:2 (five days of regular eating, two days of minimal calorie intake) or even whole-day fasts, evangelism about the benefits has regularly been provided by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, George Osborne, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (who “felt like I was hallucinating” after his first day-long attempt), supermodel Gisele Bundchen… and many, many more.

There have been no signs of it hitting saturation point, either, as luxe fasting clinics continue to pop up all over the world. Austria’s Mayr and Lanserhof Clinics will, for around £5,000 per week, ensure you spend 16 hours a day food-free; there are now retreats across the UK, Portugal, Thailand, Germany and beyond.

Books – many of them bestsellers – abound, too, with fasting guides from the likes of Michael Mosley and Valter Longo spending weeks atop the sales charts. Appetite is now such that hybrid TRE diets have begun to appear, with fasting combined with the likes of keto, veganism and intuitive eating all capitalising on current demand.

Until this week, research had largely seemed to be onside. Conducted primarily in animals, TRE could seemingly reduce weight and improve blood glucose, according to a 2021 paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nutrition & Diabetes; going 12-16 hours without food has also been found to catalyse cells’ autophagy (where cells repair, which happens to a lesser degree when blood sugar is high from eating).

Then there was a 2019 paper from the US National Institute on Ageing, featuring results from around 80 studies, which noted that fasting reduced fat stored in the liver as triglycerides (a type of blood fat), with periods of fasting breaking them down and converting them to energy for other tissues in the body to use, especially the brain.

Intermittent fasting has not only been confined to the pursuit of a more svelte figure, however. As obese research participants lost weight, the associated risks – of type 2 diabetes, inflammation and certain lifestyle-induced cancers – were also shown to drop.

All of this may be explained by two factors. The first is that by reducing a window in which a person can eat, they eat less overall, reducing calorie intake by an average of 300-500 daily, according to studies. Then, there are the health benefits of following your circadian rhythm. Limiting the hours in which you eat may mean fewer late nights, for instance, and thus better sleep – something that helps to keep immune function, digestion, cognition and cardiovascular activity in check.

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“As a consumption-cutting tool, TRE can work, as caloric restriction will be caloric restriction, whatever time of the day you choose to do it,” says Dr Giles Yeo, principal research associate at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science at Cambridge University. “But in terms of time restriction itself, universally, as a solution, it probably doesn’t work for everybody.”

So is it simply a fad worth ditching? This is where things get complex.

“I’m a believer that if you do something and it’s not dangerous, and it actually works for you, then by all means, do it – because the likelihood is, it will work for some people. Just not all,” says Dr Yeo.

The Southern Medical University research is the longest TRE study to date – but Michael Mosley, who runs the popular Fast 800 programme, which combines intermittent fasting and calorie control, is critical. He claims that those following both TRE and a calorie-controlled diet lost more weight and body fat than those only doing the latter, but that “the study wasn’t big enough for these differences to be considered statistically significant”.

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Women with overactive bladders could find relief with over-the-counter medicine

Women with overactive bladders could get tablets over the counter for the first time under new proposals.

Regulators are consulting on making changes to make it easier for millions of women to access medication without having to see their GP.

It is estimated that around one in six women in the UK have symptoms associated with overactive bladder, such as the sudden, uncontrolled need to urinate that can lead to accidental leaks.

The call for evidence, launched on Saturday, could lead to the medicine Aquiette being reclassified so that it can be obtained at a pharmacy without a prescription.

The tablets are used to treat women with milder symptoms of the condition which cannot be controlled by bladder training alone.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is calling on people with the condition, as well as healthcare professionals with experience of treating it, to share their views in the reclassification consultation.

‘It makes daily life a challenge’ Dr Laura Squire, chief healthcare quality and access officer at the MHRA, said: “For many women, an overactive bladder can make day-to-day living extremely challenging.

“It can impact on relationships, on work, on social life, and it can lead to anxiety and depression.

“Fortunately there are treatments around and from today you will have a chance to have your say on whether one of those treatments, Aquiette, can be available for the first time without a prescription.”

Maria Caulfield, minister for women’s health, said: “When it comes to sensitive issues such as bladder control, speaking to a GP may act as a barrier for some women to seek help.

“Reclassification of Aquiette would enable women to access vital medication without needing a prescription.”

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Safe as a pharmacy medicine The Commission on Human Medicines has been consulted and advised that it is safe for these products to be made available as a pharmacy medicine. This means that women seeking to buy the tablets would need to ask a pharmacist, but would not need a prescription.

Earlier this year watchdogs opened consultation on proposals to offer some forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) over the counter. The MHRA is proposing to reclassify vaginal oestrogen tablets so that for the first time women could purchase them over the counter.

It comes amid widespread shortages of other HRT products. Earlier this week MPs warned that women have been left “unable to work or sleep” because of the scarcity of some forms of medication amid a doubling in demand in the last five years.

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A simple and innovative way to prevent falls in the elderly

Falls among the elderly are a major problem in our society. It’s so important that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a page on its website devoted to the topic.

According to the site, 36 million people over the age of 65 report falling each year in the United States. This results in an estimated 8 million injuries, 3 million of which are treated in emergency departments, with 800,000 being hospitalized. In 2015, the total medical costs for falls totaled more than $50 billion.

To make matters worse, the CDC reports that this problem is on the rise. From 2007 to 2016 falls increased by 30%, and if that trend continues, they predicted that we can anticipate 7 deaths per hour from falls in the year 2030.

The CDC website also lists the physical and mental complications that can result after a fall. It mentions conditions that increase the likelihood of falling and outlines steps to decrease the risk. While this information is of tremendous importance for the safety of our senior citizens, there is one vital nugget of info that should be added. Something that may have the biggest impact of all in decreasing an individual’s risk of falling.

That missing piece is toe strength, and research has shown that it is perhaps the single most important predictor of whether or not an elderly person will fall. This was evidenced in a prospective study with a large sample size, titled "Toe weakness and deformity increase the risk of falls in older people." In this study, the researchers discovered that senior citizens without a history of falling had 20% more toe strength than those who fell. It also reported that people who fell and those that didn’t had similar strength in the larger muscles of the lower extremity, indicating that toe weakness, rather than weakness in general, increases the risk of falling.

Research has also demonstrated that small increases in toe strength can have a profound impact on fall risk. Strength of the big toe is especially important, particularly the pressure it can exert into the ground. Another study, titled "Efficacy of a progressive resistance exercise program to increase toe flexor strength in older people," showed that for every 1% increase of body weight generated beneath the big toe, the risk of falling decreases by 7%.

Let’s use a real-life example of someone who weighs 150 pounds. Based on the above information, if this person increased the pressure under their big toe by 6 pounds (4% of their body weight), it would decrease their risk of falling by 28%.

You can appreciate the relationship between toe strength and falling with a simple test. Stand with your arms at your side and your body straight. Maintain this alignment and slightly lean forward. Notice how your toes, especially your big toe, push into the ground to prevent you from falling forward. The stronger your toes are, the farther you can lean forward before you lose balance.

Falling often occurs when someone reaches forward to grasp an object or when they begin to walk forward. The reason for this is the subtle forward lean that occurs in these two instances, and strengthening the toes can help control this.

Dr. Tom Michaud, a world-renowned expert in the treatment of lower extremity injuries, recommends a simple exercise to increase toe strength and decrease the risk of falling. You would begin by standing in front of a wall, close enough so that you can support yourself with your hands if you need to. While keeping your hips and torso straight, slowly lean your body forward while forcefully pushing your toes down into the ground. Hold this position for 5 seconds, then push your body back to vertical by vigorously pressing down with your toes. Dr. Michaud suggests that people perform this exercise 20 times per day.

The pressure from your toes decelerates the forward motion of your torso, and as your toes become stronger, the distance you can lean forward will gradually increase.

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It has been reported that the big toe has the ability to exert a downward force equal to just over 50% of body weight. Small strength gains are relatively easy to achieve, and after a few months of performing the simple exercise described earlier, people have seen their ability to exert pressure under their big toe improve by 30%. Even strength increases equaling half this amount could profoundly decrease someone’s risk of falling.

While addressing all areas of fall risk is critical, whether that be addressing medications that cause dizziness or making alterations to improve home safety, the importance of toe strength cannot be overstated. Because of the proven connection between falling and toe weakness, toe strengthening exercises should be a part of every senior citizen’s daily exercise regime.

[claracai]

What is the slowest thing on Earth?

What is the slowest thing on Earth? – Jiwon, Brookline, Massachusetts

In the words of the infamous villain, Dr. Evil: “Lasers.”

Lasers focus a narrow, directed beam of light on a specific spot, making them a great tool for cutting, burning, welding – or in the case of Dr. Evil, shooting enemies from atop a shark. These activities all produce or require heat. Laser beams travel at the speed of light, more than 670 million miles per hour, making them the fastest thing in the universe.

So how does a laser produce the slowest thing on Earth?

First, it’s important to understand the relationship between an object’s temperature and its speed. The hotter something is, the more energy it has and the faster it moves. Even things that appear to be perfectly still – say, a pen or your notebook – are not. On a microscopic level, the particles they’re made of are moving rapidly. This is even true of living beings.

Let’s use the sloth as an example. If you zoom in on the molecules that make up this famously slow animal’s body, you’ll see them behaving like kids jumping around inside a bounce house. Why? About 70% of this creature’s body is made up of water and those water molecules are bouncing around at hundreds of miles per hour.

Laser cooling So it might seem surprising that I use bright, intense lasers to cool things down in my lab experiments. I am a physicist who is interested in how atoms and molecules behave at the very coldest temperatures. It’s a strange world where quantum mechanics rules. In this realm, particles sometimes behave like waves in the ocean, and believe it or not, can sometimes be in two different places at the same time.

To study this extraordinary behavior, I use lasers to produce clouds of frigid atoms that are the coldest things on Earth – which we call Bose-Einstein condensates. When you cool a bunch of atoms down to almost absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, atoms start to obey quantum mechanics and behave in surprising ways.

Studying ultra-cold atom clouds might provide clues about how other weird materials, like superconductors, work. Superconductors carry electricity much better than existing materials, so well that they may someday be used to build super high-speed trains.

Creating the slowest thing on Earth So how exactly do lasers chill out a cloud of atoms? In the lab, we start by shining lasers at atoms of a silvery-white metal called ytterbium. These atoms, which are really hot, are held inside a 1-foot-wide chamber. But after a few seconds under the laser beam, they cool off, slow down and become trapped together in the center of the chamber.

How does this happen? All light, including a laser, is made up of photons, which are packets of energy that are constantly moving. When we shine a laser into our chamber, the atoms collide with streams of photons in the beam and slow down and get colder – like what would happen if you tried running really fast against a strong wind.

These little collisions bring the temperature of the atom cloud down to just a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero. That’s 459 degrees below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

But that’s still not enough to give this cloud the prize for being the slowest thing on Earth. It takes one last step to make it just a little colder, a technique we physicists call “evaporative cooling.”

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First, we capture all the atoms, sometimes using a magnetic field made by running electricity through a wound-up wire. This creates an invisible well that holds the atoms: Picture marbles sitting at the bottom of a bowl. Then we lower the sides of this bowl-shaped force field by decreasing the electric current that runs through the wire. That allows the faster, warmer atoms to zoom out of the “bowl” and escape the trap.

Only the slower atoms are left behind – and they are truly beyond freezing: one-tenth of one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero. The atoms in this cloud move in slow motion: If they traveled in a straight line instead of bouncing around, it would take them an entire hour to travel across a room. For comparison, the molecules in your body could dash across that room in just a fraction of a second.

The atoms in our frigid atom cloud quite literally move at less than a snail’s pace – and that cloud is the slowest thing on Earth.

[claracai]

Despite a 'bucketload' of drugs, his blood pressure was perilously high

Andrew J. Rosen wasn't surprised when he was diagnosed with high blood pressure at 39. Both his parents had taken medication for years, which had effectively controlled the condition that affects nearly half of all American adults and frequently runs in families.

But Rosen, who lives in Carlsbad, Calif., was not so lucky. Even on the maximum recommended doses of five drugs, his blood pressure remained stubbornly elevated.

Rosen said he repeatedly asked his doctors whether an undiagnosed condition might be to blame. Each time, he received the same response: He had "essential hypertension" - high blood pressure with no underlying cause.

Sometimes, doctors told him, the condition, also known as primary hypertension, can be difficult to control. Poorly controlled high blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, irreversible kidney damage and early death.

More than a decade would elapse before Rosen learned that he had been asking the right question but had been given the wrong answer. His persistently high blood pressure did have an underlying, treatable cause.

"He was on a bucketload of medication," which was the first clue, noted William F. Young Jr., a Mayo Clinic expert Rosen consulted in 2019. Young said Rosen's case is "extremely typical" of patients whose delayed diagnosis results in preventable harm.

For a variety of reasons, observed Young, a professor of medicine at Mayo, "physicians often seem to not think about what might be causing" resistant hypertension - high blood pressure that is not controlled by three or more drugs. It is an oversight he is attempting to remedy.

"To be honest," Young added, "this is one of the simplest things to diagnose."

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Now 60, Rosen, senior vice president of development for a company that builds rehabilitation hospitals, suspects he developed high blood pressure in his late 20s, although there's no way to know. He hated having his blood pressure measured, so readings were confined to periodic medical visits.

Those measurements routinely exceeded 140/90 mmHg, the cutoff that then signified hypertension. (It has since been lowered to 130/80.) Rosen said he talked his way out of that diagnosis by assuring doctors he had "white-coat syndrome," also known as "white-coat hypertension" - readings that are high in a medical setting but otherwise normal. Because of his youth, doctors typically agreed.

In fact, Rosen didn't know if that was true; he assiduously avoided taking his blood pressure at home. "It was anxiety-producing," he said. "It was always high." He hated feeling the cuff squeezing his arm and preferred to assume he did not have high blood pressure.

Not all doctors were persuaded. His allergist in Atlanta, where Rosen was then living, expressed skepticism about the white-coat explanation. "He said, 'I don't know. You're too young for high blood pressure,' " Rosen recalled.

In 2001, after his internist diagnosed hypertension, Rosen began taking a beta blocker, a medication that blocks adrenaline. When his blood pressure didn't budge, his internist added two other classes of drugs: a calcium channel blocker and an ACE inhibitor. When that trio proved ineffective, the doctor increased the doses.

In his mid-40s, Rosen was told he had high levels of cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the processing of sugar is impaired. Cholesterol-lowering and diabetes drugs controlled those problems.

In 2011, after Rosen moved to the San Diego area, his new primary care doctor changed his blood pressure medications. When that resulted in only a minimal reduction, the doctor added two more drugs.

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But the elevated readings persisted. "It would be 148/90 when the nurse measured it on the machine several times," Rosen said. At the end of a visit, Rosen's doctor would do a quick manual reading and announce that it had dropped to 118/69.

Rosen, whose sister is a physician, was relieved. "I assumed he was a really good doctor," he said. "And I liked his answer."

But over the next several years, he grew increasingly uneasy. Even though he took his medication faithfully, too many readings were too high to make him believe his blood pressure was under control.

In 2017, after both his parents had undergone cardiac bypass surgery for blocked coronary arteries, Rosen consulted a cardiologist.

The heart specialist ordered a stress echocardiogram, a test that measures how well the heart is functioning. It showed that Rosen's heart appeared to be normal, but the cardiologist was alarmed by his blood pressure, which was sometimes as high as 179/85, and increased the amount of the one drug Rosen wasn't taking at the maximum dose. He suggested that Rosen's hypertension might be the result of a kidney problem, but a kidney scan found nothing.

At this point, Rosen told his family physician he wanted to start looking for a "zebra," the term doctors use for a rare diagnosis. The doctor ordered tests for a pheochromocytoma, a rare, typically benign tumor that originates in one or both adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys.

After tests did not reveal a "pheo," Rosen was referred to an endocrinologist, a physician who specializes in treating hormone-related diseases.

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Rosen saw the first endocrinologist in November 2018. She suspected he might have the disorder most commonly associated with resistant hypertension - primary aldosteronism (PA), also known as Conn or Conn's syndrome after University of Michigan endocrinologist Jerome W. Conn, who discovered it in 1954.

PA is caused by a surfeit of aldosterone, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Excess aldosterone can cause the kidneys to retain sodium and lose potassium, which raises blood pressure.

The disease can be detected by blood tests that measure the levels of aldosterone and renin, an enzyme made in the kidneys that helps control blood pressure, then calculating the ratio between the two. Further testing is required to confirm the diagnosis and to determine whether one or both adrenal glands are affected. In the latter case, PA is treated with medication. But in 30% of cases, PA is caused by a benign tumor on one gland. Surgically removing that gland can normalize blood pressure.

While awaiting the results of his blood tests, Rosen pored over the voluminous clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of PA issued in 2016 by the Endocrine Society, the international medical organization of endocrinologists.

He discovered that sleep apnea and low potassium levels, both of which he had, are associated with the disease. And he was heartened when his blood tests seemed to point to it.

"To me, this seemed like a really good thing, because it's treatable," Rosen said.

But the junior doctor who worked with his endocrinologist ruled out the possibility. "You don't have it. Your aldo[sterone] is too low," Rosen remembers being told. Rosen said he protested that his understanding of the 50-page Endocrine Society guidelines, along with his calculation of the blood test ratio, suggested otherwise.

The fellow disagreed. Rosen said he ended the call and immediately began searching for a new specialist.

Soon afterward, Rosen saw a second endocrinologist, who agreed that PA seemed likely. She ordered additional testing along with a CT scan, which provided confirmation. The final step was a technically tricky procedure known as adrenal venous sampling, which involves the insertion of a catheter into the adrenal veins to determine whether one or both are affected. That finding would guide treatment.

After consulting Young, the second endocrinologist advised Rosen to undergo the vein sampling procedure at Mayo. In April 2019, Rosen and his sister flew to Minnesota and met with Young, the clinic's former chair of endocrinology and a past president of the Endocrine Society.

An interventional radiologist who specializes in the vein sampling procedure found that only one adrenal gland was involved, which meant that Rosen was a candidate for surgery. ("You need only half of one adrenal gland to be totally normal," Young said.)

In June 2019, Rosen underwent laparoscopic surgery at UCLA Medical Center. Over the next year, he lost 35 pounds and his health improved dramatically. He now needs a low dose of only one blood pressure medicine to achieve readings of 124/80.

"I feel much better now than I did before," he said. "And I'm much more active."

But the delayed diagnosis exacted an irreversible toll. Years of uncontrolled high blood pressure caused Stage 3b kidney disease, for which Rosen takes medication and regularly sees a kidney specialist. If his disease worsens, Rosen has been told he may need a kidney transplant.

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Young said he sees patients like Rosen far too often, a primary reason he has become an evangelist for PA screening.

Although doctors have long been taught that the disease is rare, Young said that recent studies show it is not. Researchers estimate that 5% to 10% of people with high blood pressure and 20% of those with resistant hypertension have PA. Most don't know it because they have never been tested.

A 2020 Stanford study found that only 2.1% of patients with resistant hypertension were screened for PA; at the University of Minnesota, the figure was 4.2%. And a 2003 study from Australia found an unexpectedly large number of PA cases among a group of patients with high blood pressure.

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"It's vastly underdiagnosed and not just in the U.S.," said Young, who advocates screening everyone with hypertension at least once. "From my perspective, it comes down to clinician awareness. Endocrinologists and nephrologists think of this. Primary care doctors, not so much."

People with PA are more likely to develop heart and kidney disease and have a poor quality of life, Young noted in a 2018 article. Timely treatment can reduce those outcomes.

Rosen said he, too, has sought to educate his doctors. "I have tried to tell every doctor I go to that if you have a patient on three or more [blood pressure] meds and they're not well-controlled, you need to test them" for PA, he said, echoing Endocrine Society guidelines.

After his surgery, Rosen said he "sent nice letters to all my old doctors saying, 'You missed this.' " The only doctor he heard from was the first endocrinologist, who called to apologize, saying that the fellow had misinterpreted Rosen's tests.

Rosen said he hopes his experience spares others. "Every day I wish I had done more research," he said. "If I had done it 20 years ago, I wouldn't have kidney damage."