Showing posts with label Get healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Get healthy. Show all posts
The smell of sickness
Your olfactory sense, or the ability to smell, is integral to your health. Inside your nasal passages are two patches of cells designed to detect odors. They are made up of nearly 6 million olfactory receptor cells that allow you to detect and differentiate thousands of different scents. Although impressive, other animals have an even more acute sense of smell as often their survival is dependent on being able to smell enemies or their food.1
Your sense of smell is also intimately tied to your emotions, memories, ability to taste and even to sexual attraction. Research demonstrates that your ability to smell may peak at age 8. According to different studies, you may begin to lose sensitivity to scent between age 15 and your early 20s.2 However, that loss in sensitivity to scent is not consistent from person to person as some 80-year-olds have a sense of smell as keen as that of a young adult.
Some degradation of your sense of smell, and therefore your ability to taste food, may be related to air pollution.3 A combination of solvents, pesticides, disinfectants, pharmaceuticals and perfumes may have a negative effect over the years on your ability to discern scent and on your sensitivity to smell.4 Loss of this ability may affect your capacity to pull up memories from the past.
Research shows odors are an effective reminder of experience,5 which may be tied to the way your brain processes odors and memories. Researchers have also found your sense of smell may predict your longevity, and you may be able to smell the scent of illness. In other words, the relationship between your sense of smell and your health is a two-way street.
Illness Has a Smell
From the early days of medical practice, doctors have used smell and taste to determine if their patients had a disease. Examples may be found from the late 1600s when English physician Thomas Willis observed the relationship between sweet-tasting urine and diabetes,6 to physicians today who may note a fruity scent on the breath of a diabetic whose blood sugar is too high.7 Over the years physicians have moved away from smell and taste to using more reliable methods of diagnosis.
However, a sensitive sense of smell may still give physicians a unique advantage. Some diseases have a particular scent. You may have even detected the scent of a sinus infection on the breath of a loved one. Researchers have described several scents related to diseases,8 including the smell of baked bread on someone with typhoid fever, boiled cabbage in someone unable to metabolize methionine, and the scent of a butcher's shop on someone who suffers from yellow fever.
It appears that animals use this ability to maintain the health of the group.9 For instance, mice can determine through scent if another is sick, thus avoiding them. After testing this behavior, researchers concluded an inflammatory process in the body of a mouse had a profound impact on social behavior of the individual, reducing the motivation to engage in social interaction. At the same time, illness-related odor cues from a sick mouse inhibited social investigation by healthy members, thus impacting the transmission of disease.
Researchers tested this same response in human behavior and found you likely can smell if an immune response was activated.10Researchers injected participants with an endotoxin and found within a few hours they had a more aversive body odor compared to when they were exposed to a placebo. The researchers believed this chemosensory detection may represent the first experimental evidence that sickness smells.
The researchers also noted the individuals who were sick did not sweat more. The smell from their body was not only stronger but also had a different odor.11 The smell coming from your body emanates from a variety of different areas, not just sweat or your breath. The scent that is "normal" for you will depend on your age, diet, metabolism, health and gender.12
Mats Olsson, Ph.D., lead researcher evaluating scent change in humans after exposure to an endotoxin, continued this work and found the feelings of disgust individuals experienced after smelling unpleasant smells activated a mild immune reaction.13 This, in turn, may help protect you from getting sick. He also explored other sources of scent, such as breath and urine, and found an inflammatory process was indicated by these odors and was a good indicator of some diseases.
How Does Illness Affect Body Odor?
In the original research, Olsson's participants rated the scent of body odor, or the scent your body produces after bacteria on your skin breaks down proteins from your sweat into acids.14 Your sweat alone is virtually odorless, but the bacteria on your skin that multiply rapidly in the presence of sweat, and the subsequent breakdown of sweat into acids is what triggers the odor. Your sweat is specific to the individual, which is how dogs and other animals can identify different people.
The genes that control your immune response also influence your body odor and scent production. An activated immune response may also change your excretion of metabolic byproducts that may also change your body odor.15 For instance, during stress your cortisol levels are higher, and during an immune response your androgen excretion is lower.16
Another example of body odor changing with different levels of hormones in your body is stress sweat. You likely have experienced this phenomenon at some point in your life — your body odor becomes strikingly different and worse when you are stressed. As cortisol and adrenaline, released when you're stressed, flood your body, they may cause an increase in sweat production.17
However, this type of sweat is released from two different types of glands under your arms. Eccrine glands secrete sweat when you're overheated, while apocrine glands contribute sweat when you're stressed.
The difference is that sweat secreted from your apocrine glands contain more of the nutrients bacteria on your skin require to grow and multiply. These added nutrients increase the byproduct of the bacterial metabolism and change the smell and strength of the odor coming from your sweat. In the same way that a "sick smell" triggers an immune response in others, this type of sweat changes the way you're perceived.18
Man's Best Friend May Help Detect Disease
Dogs have been used to help people with diabetes detect abnormally high or low blood sugar before they can feel it and predict seizures before they happen. Today, researchers are working with canines to help detect the scent of cancer. Several demonstrations of how dogs are being used to detect medical changes, including the diagnosis of cancer, are shown in this short news video.
A dog's ability to smell is far greater than a human's. While you have 6 million olfactory receptor cells, dogs have 300 million, and the part of the brain that is devoted to analyzing those odors is proportionally 40 times larger than yours.19 Dogs in the study in Britain detected bladder and prostate cancer 90 percent of the time or greater. In another study, dogs could detect lung cancer with up to 85 percent accuracy.20
In yet another example, a Labrador retriever was trained to detect the scent of colorectal cancer from breath and stool samples with greater than 90 percent accuracy.21 Using breath samples, the dog could detect colorectal cancer with 91 percent accuracy and had an amazing 97 percent accuracy with stool samples. The researchers concluded:22
"This study shows that a specific cancer scent does indeed exist and that cancer-specific chemical compounds may be circulating throughout the body. These odor materials may become effective tools in colorectal cancer screening."
Even without training, dogs can detect differences in their owners and warn them of impending problems. In a study of 212 dog owners with medically diagnosed Type 1 diabetes, researchers found 65 percent reported their untrained dogs had warned them of an impending hypoglycemic event by barking and growling.23
Researchers have known that malignant tumors exude tiny amounts of alkanes and benzene derivatives that are not found in healthy tissue.24 In another study using dogs to detect either lung or breast cancers, the researchers found the animals were 88 percent accurate with breast cancer and 99 percent accurate with lung cancer detection, with no false positives.25 However, while the dogs provide a noninvasive way of screening for disease, many medical professionals find the practice controversial.26
Not all studies demonstrate the same accuracy, although the scent may be confounded by other odors present in the area, such as hospital odors when tests are done in the hospital. Accuracy is also slightly different between individual dogs, in much the same way that behaviors between most trained animals occur. Some researchers are interested in isolating the exact compounds detected by the dogs so training may be standardized.
Next-Gen Dog Noses
Since some studies have not been able to replicate the results, and the animals do not perform the same way 100 percent of the time, scientists have been investigating the use of electronic noses. The concept is similar to the devices built to detect explosive components used in bomb making.27 Early use of electronic noses was undertaken by police departments to identify and quantify alcohol use in drivers.
However, for electronic devices to function, researchers must first identify the chemical components of the disease that are causing the smell. Scientists believe this may standardize the process and improve diagnosis using noninvasive methods. Using an electronic method may also overcome skepticism of physicians who may not want dogs participating in the diagnosis of disease, but may be more comfortable with an electronic device similar to one in use since 1967 to test alcohol levels on your breath.28
While electronic devices may be more acceptable in the medical community for diagnosis, dogs continue to be an important adjunct to the management of several metabolic and neurological disorders. According to \ at Monell Chemical Senses Center:29
"There are groups looking to fund research with dogs as detectors because dogs can pick up the odors in people, particularly children who are not properly regulating themselves, Type 1 diabetic children. They can be trained to pick up this peculiar odor on the breath at an early stage and warn people that they are having a low or going into a high of blood sugar."
Importance of Smell to Your Health and Predicting Death
Your sense of smell may also have predictive value in determining your longevity, and changes in your sense of smell may indicate the early stages of dementia.30 Smell is inextricably linked to memories formed in the limbic area of your brain. In a study of nearly 3,000 people ages 57 to 85, researchers found that nearly all the participants who could identify only one or two of five different scents had evidence of dementia five years after the test was completed.31
The olfactory nerve is located deep in the base of the brain. When you have problems with smell, it may indicate a higher likelihood you may develop Parkinson's disease or other neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and has an annual research budget of $480 million.32
Researchers hope that by using a simple and inexpensive smell test for early identification, patients may be saved the cost of an MRI and offered early intervention to slow the progression of the disease. In an analysis of similar data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project,33 researchers found an inability to perceive odor was associated with a four times greater risk of death in the following five years, compared to those who had a healthy sense of smell.
The researchers took into account potential confounding factors, such as nutrition, smoking, cognitive function and alcohol abuse. The researchers concluded that your olfactory sense was one of the strongest predictors of five-year mortality. As reported in the Guardian:34
"The olfactory nerve is the only part of the nervous system that is exposed to the open air. As such, it offers poisons and pathogens a quick route into the brain, and so losing smell could be an early warning of something that will ultimately cause death."
The loss of sense of smell is also a symptom of zinc deficiency. You can read more about this deficiency, how to test for it and the foods that may balance your zinc levels in my previous article, "Study Warns That Losing Your Sense of Smell May Mean You May Not Live Much Longer."
Get Healthy
Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is a powerful tool that helps you eat healthier with minimal effort.
It is based on the concept of mindfulness and helps you pay attention to what you are eating, why you are eating and how fast you are eating.
Here are a few simple tips that can help you become a more mindful eater.
- Eat food slowly.
- Chew thoroughly.
- Focus on how you feel when you’re eating — are you actually hungry?
- Turn off the TV and put your phone away.
You can find more helpful tips on mindful eating here.
SUMMARY:Mindful eating is a powerful tool to help you eat healthier. It helps you pay attention to what, why and how fast you are eating.
Eat Sitting Down
In today’s fast-paced society, people are always eating on the go.
However, research has shown that eating on the go can affect your ability to process hunger signals.
For instance, a study with 60 women discovered that people consumed more food and overall calories if they ate while walking (48).
Sitting down is also a form of mindful eating. Combine it with a few other tips above to eat healthier with less effort.
SUMMARY:Sitting down while you eat can help you process hunger signals better and eat less overall food.
Go for a Walk During Your Breaks
Finding time to exercise is a real problem for many people around the world, especially with work.
However, regular exercise is important for a healthy lifestyle. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that shows a lack of exercise is linked with poor mental and physical health (49, 50).
That said, there are many ways to fit exercise into your day — even with a busy schedule. For instance, walking during your lunch break can greatly improve your health and well-being.
In one study, 56 people walked for thirty minutes three times a week during their lunch break. This improved their enthusiasm and relaxation at work, while also reducing nervousness (51).
SUMMARY:Walking during your breaks is a great way to fit exercise into a busy schedule. Try walking with a few colleagues to help make it a habit.
Take the Stairs Instead of the Elevator
Taking the stairs is a simple way to add exercise to your daily routine.
It is also great for your long-term health. Research has shown that people who climb at least eight flights of stairs daily have a 33% lower risk of death than people who spend most of their time sitting (52).
What’s more, taking the stairs may actually be faster than taking an elevator.
One study discovered that, on average, taking the stairs was 23.5 seconds faster per flight of stairs. This includes the average waiting time for an elevator (53).
If you are constantly moving between levels in your office, taking the stairs could help improve your fitness and productivity.
SUMMARY:Taking the stairs is a great way to fit exercise into your routine. Surprisingly, it also seems to be faster than taking an elevator.
Try Using a Standing Desk
People are sitting for longer than ever before.
In fact, research shows that the average office worker spends 15 hours of their day sitting. In comparison, an agricultural worker sits for around 3 hours per day (54, 55).
Unfortunately, research has shown that people who sit the most have a higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and death (56).
A standing desk could help you be on your feet for longer while still being productive.
Not to mention, research has even shown that people in the same job who use standing desks were 53% more productive over six months (57).
SUMMARY:A standing desk could help you stay on your feet longer while working. Studies show that people who sit for longer have a higher risk of chronic diseases.
Unplug From Technology an Hour Before Bed
Quality sleep is absolutely essential for optimal health. However, roughly 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from poor sleep (58).
It seems that technology and other sources of artificial light are a big reason for poor sleep (59, 60).
These devices emit blue light, a type of light wave that is common during the day. However, this means your devices may tricking your brain to think it is daytime (61).
Not to mention, research has shown that using artificial light before bed is linked with a higher risk of breast cancer, mood disorders and depression (62, 63, 64).
Avoiding technology an hour before bed may help improve your quality of sleep.
SUMMARY:If you suffer from poor sleep, try avoiding technology an hour before bed. Devices like your phone and computer emit blue light, which can keep you up for longer.
Sleep at the Same Time Every Night
Besides poor sleep quality, a lot of people struggle to fall asleep.
It can leave you exhausted, feeling sluggish and even increase your risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes (65, 66).
One of the biggest culprits is not having a regular sleep schedule. Having a set bedtime helps train your body’s internal clock to fall asleep faster at a certain time (67).
SUMMARY:Having a set sleep time, even on weekends, can help you get to sleep faster. It helps train your internal clock to fall asleep at a set time.
Try Regular Meditation
Stress can have a major toll on your overall health.
Research has shown that meditation is an effective way to alleviate stress and improve your overall health (70, 71).
For instance, an analysis of 47 studies with over 3,500 people discovered that mindful meditation helped reduce anxiety, depression and stress (71).
You can learn more about the benefits of meditation here.
SUMMARY:Meditation is a great way to relieve stress. Try incorporating it into your routine a couple times per week.
The Bottom Line
Being healthy is easier than you think. In fact, there are many ways that you can get healthy with minimal effort.
These include having a glass of water with each meal, eating fatty fish, having a regular sleep schedule and choosing more real foods.
Additionally, shopping on a full stomach can help curb supermarket cravings and prevent impulse buys, while mindful eating can help you take control of your eating habits.
Adding just a few of these strategies into your daily routine can lead to a healthier and happier lifestyle.
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Get Healthy
Always Keep Healthy Snacks in Reach
Cravings often derail attempts at eating healthy.
In fact, roughly 50% of people have food cravings on a regular basis. This can make unhealthy foods quite appealing (37).
Stocking your pantry with healthy snacks can help you fight cravings when they arise.
It’s also a great idea to keep some healthy snacks in your bag or purse to help fight cravings when you’re on the go.
Some great healthy snacks include a handful of nuts, fruit or even a little bit of dark chocolate. You can find more healthy snacks here.
SUMMARY:Cravings can often derail an attempt to eat healthier. To stave off cravings, make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks are available in your pantry and with you while you’re on the go.
Drink a Glass of Water With Every Meal
Water is important for your health. Drinking enough water can help maintain healthy brain function, concentration and a positive mood (38).
In addition, water may help you lose weight by keeping you full and increasing how many calories you burn (7, 39).
If you find it difficult to drink enough water, try having a glass with each meal. This ensures you drink at least a few glasses of water each day.
SUMMARY:Water is important for optimal health and performance. If you struggle to drink enough water, try to have a glass with each meal.
Make a Grocery List Before You Shop
A grocery list is a powerful tool that can help you eat healthier.
It helps you remember what you have at home, plan for healthier food in advance and avoid impulse buys.
What’s more, studies have shown that people who use grocery lists are more likely to eat healthier and carry less weight (40).
SUMMARY:A grocery list can help you make healthier decisions when shopping and prevent impulse buys. Studies have also shown that lists can help you eat healthier.
Shop on a Full Stomach
Shopping on an empty stomach can be a disaster if you’re trying to get healthy.
In fact, studies have shown that people tend to buy more high-calorie foods when they shop on an empty stomach (41).
By shopping after a meal, not only are you more likely to avoid unhealthy impulse buys, but you will probably save some money, too.
This strategy would work even better when combined with a grocery list.
SUMMARY:Shopping on an empty stomach can make you more likely to make impulse buys. Try shopping after a meal to avoid temptations in the supermarket.
Choose Real Foods Over Highly Processed Foods
While processed foods are convenient, they often lack nutrients and increase your risk of chronic diseases (44, 45).
Simply eating more real foods can help you get healthier with minimal effort. Real foods tend to have more fiber and are packed with vitamins and minerals.
Real foods are single-ingredient foods that are mostly unmodified and lack any chemical additives.
Here are a few examples of real foods:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Spinach
- Brown rice
- Unprocessed meats
- Whole eggs
SUMMARY:In modern society, people are eating more highly processed foods than ever, which are low in nutrients. Simply choosing real foods can help you eat healthier as they have more nutrients and fiber.
Get Healthy
Consider Certain Supplements
Whole foods are typically the preferred way to meet your nutritional needs.
They contain a variety of nutrients that have synergy together, helping deliver most of their nutritional benefits (19).
That said, many people struggle to meet their daily nutritional needs through foods alone. That’s where supplements can come in handy because they provide you with a great dose of nutrients in a convenient package.
Two supplements that are especially useful are soluble fiber and fish oil.
Soluble fiber supplements like glucomannan can help you stay fuller for longer, keep you regular, reduce your blood sugar and lower your blood cholesterol (20).
Fish oil supplements provide you with a great dose of omega-3, just like fatty fish. Diets high in omega-3 fatty acids are linked with a lower risk of heart disease, less chronic inflammation and better mental health (13, 14, 15, 16).
SUMMARY:Although whole foods are preferable, supplements can be helpful if you struggle to eat enough nutrients from diet alone. Two great supplements are fish oil and soluble fiber, such as glucomannan.
Drink Green Tea
Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages you can drink.
It is low in calories and packed with plenty of nutrients and antioxidants. These antioxidants can help your body fight free radicals — molecules that have been shown to increase disease risk and speed aging (21, 22).
Studies have also shown that people who drink the most green tea tend to live longer, have a lower risk of heart disease and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (23, 24).
Green tea also contains epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and caffeine. These compounds may help you burn fat by boosting your metabolism (25, 26).
SUMMARY:Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages you can drink. It is low in calories, yet rich in nutrients and antioxidants. It also has impressive health benefits.
Have Your Coffee Black
It is no secret that Americans love their coffee.
In fact, one study found that over 160 million Americans drink coffee regularly. However, roughly two-thirds of people add sugar, milk, cream or other additives (27).
Unfortunately, that means your coffee may be sneaking extra calories into your diet.
For instance, a tall latte from Starbucks contains 204 calories and 14.4 grams of sugar. In comparison, a cup of brewed coffee or an Americano contains fewer than 15 calories (28, 29).
Simply switching to a black coffee can cut extra calories from your diet without sacrificing your caffeine hit.
SUMMARY:Switching from milky and sugary coffee to black coffee is a great way to cut your calorie intake while still enjoying coffee’s benefits.
Avoid Sugary Soda
If you want to be healthier, try to avoid sugary drinks.
They contain no essential nutrients and are loaded with added sugar. For instance, a can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams or 10 teaspoons of sugar (30).
Research has shown that sugar-sweetened beverages may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even certain cancers (31, 32, 33, 34).
In addition, the acids in soft drinks can damage your teeth, especially when combined with sugar (35, 36).
If you drink a lot of soda, opt for a healthier beverage like unsweetened sparkling water with lemon.
SUMMARY:Sugary sodas are bad for your health and loaded with added sugar. If you drink a lot of soda, opt for a healthier beverage like green tea.
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