Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 7/4/12.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Natural intestinal flora strengthen immune system - Science Daily, 7/2/12 - "The research team infected two groups of mice with various viral germs. One group had a normal intestinal flora and the other consisted of so-called axenic mice, which do not have any intestinal flora due to having been treated with antibiotics or bred under particularly clean conditions. The immune response in the axenic mice was greatly reduced and led the disease to take a more severe course than in the healthy mice. When the scientists artificially provided the axenic mice with a healthy intestinal flora, their immune response improved ... The team succeeded in demonstrating that signals from the intestinal bacteria lead to a conditioning of the dendritic cells. This conditioning takes place on the level of the DNA in the nucleus and enables genes that encode these soluble mediators to be read better. The scientists speak of epigenetic changes. "This is the first time anyone has shown that changes in the natural intestinal flora resulting from antibiotics, hygiene, or lifestyle can have substantial consequences for the entire immune system," says Diefenbach" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Drinking coffee may reduce risk of most common form of skin cancer - Science Daily, 7/2/12 - "Our data indicate that the more caffeinated coffee you consume, the lower your risk of developing basal cell carcinoma ... Basal cell carcinoma is the form of skin cancer most commonly diagnosed in the United States. Even though it is slow-growing, it causes considerable morbidity and places a burden on health care systems ... Of the 112,897 participants included in the analyses, 22,786 developed basal cell carcinoma during the more than 20 years of follow-up in the two studies. An inverse association was observed between all coffee consumption and risk of basal cell carcinoma. Similarly, an inverse association was seen between intake of caffeine from all dietary sources (coffee, tea, cola and chocolate) and risk of basal cell carcinoma. However, consumption of decaffeinated coffee was not associated with a decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma ... In contrast to the findings for basal cell carcinoma, neither coffee consumption nor caffeine intake were inversely associated with the two other forms of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, the most deadly form of the disease"

Caffeine boosts power for elderly muscles - Science Daily, 6/29/12 - "For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force ... With the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle to preserve health and functional capacity, the performance-enhancing benefit of caffeine could prove beneficial in the aging population"

Dietary fiber alters gut bacteria, supports gastrointestinal health - Science Daily, 6/28/12 - "dietary fiber promotes a shift in the gut toward different types of beneficial bacteria. And the microbes that live in the gut, scientists now believe, can support a healthy gastrointestinal tract as well as affect our susceptibility to conditions as varied as type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis ... This research suggests that fiber is good for more than laxation ... prebiotics, foods that promote the bacteria's growth, or probiotics, foods that contain the live microorganism"

Why does a diet high in DHA improve memory? - Science Daily, 6/28/12 - "What we discovered is that memory cells in the hippocampus could communicate better with each other and better relay messages when DHA levels in that region of the brain were higher. This could explain why memory improves on a high-DHA diet ... Sauve noted it is a key finding that when a diet is supplemented with DHA, that additional stores of the omega-3 fatty acid are deposited in the brain ... Supplementing your diet with DHA, such as increasing fish intake or taking supplements, could prevent declining DHA levels in the brain as we age ... Earlier this year, Sauve and other colleagues discovered DHA prevents the accumulation of a toxic molecule at the back of the eye that causes age-related vision loss" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Lower DHEA in Elderly Linked to Cardiovascular Events - Medscape, 6/27/12 - "Elderly men with decreased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) show increased rates of major cardiovascular events, even after adjustment for other traditional cardiovascular risk factors ... The men were all were participants in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Sweden study, a long-term project that is evaluating risk factors for various diseases ... Those in the lowest quartile of both DHEA and DHEA-S, compared with men in quartiles 2 through 4 of both, showed a higher risk for any major cardiovascular events (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.06 - 1.70), coronary heart disease (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.05 - 1.89), and cerebrovascular events (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.00 - 1.99)" - See DHEA at Amazon.com.

Significant cardiovascular risk with Atkins-style diets, experts warn - Science Daily, 6/27/12 - "Although the actual numbers are small (an extra 4-5 cases of cardiovascular disease per 10,000 women per year) the authors say that this is a 28% increase in the number of cases and that these results are worrying in a population of young women who may be exposed to these dietary patterns and face the excess risk for many years ... authors carried out a study on just under 44,000 Swedish women aged between 30 and 49 years from 1991-92 (with an average follow-up of 15 years) ... After adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors, there was still a significant 5% increase in the likelihood of a cardiovascular event or death with every two point increase in the LCHP score. The 5% increase resulted from a daily decrease of 20g of carbohydrates (equivalent to a small bread roll) and a daily increase of 5g of protein (equivalent to one boiled egg)"

Vitamin D deficiency common among adolescents evaluated for weight-loss surgery - Science Daily, 6/26/12 - "In one of the first studies of its kind, Censani and her co-investigators found that more than half of adolescents undergoing evaluation for weight-loss surgery were vitamin D deficient, and 8 percent had severe deficiencies. Slightly less than one-fifth had adequate vitamin D levels. Patients with the highest BMIs were the most likely to be vitamin deficient ... African Americans were the most likely to be vitamin D deficient, while Caucasians were the least likely to have a deficiency" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

BPA exposure in pregnant mice changes gene expression of female offspring - Science Daily, 6/26/12 - "The study, led by Hugh Taylor, MD, professor and chief of the reproductive endocrinology section at Yale University School of Medicine, observed "major and permanent changes in gene expression" in female mice exposed to BPA as a fetus. Taylor said these differences were apparent only after estrogen exposure, either naturally at puberty or with estrogen treatment ... After estrogen exposure at puberty, the gene expression profile had changed greatly in BPA-exposed offspring, with 365 genes showing altered expression, according to the study abstract. Of these genes, 208 also showed aberrations in the usual pattern of DNA methylation, a biochemical process that regulates gene expression. At least 14 of the 208 genes have known estrogen response elements, areas that indicate that they are directly regulated by estrogen through its receptor"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Note:  There's been no abstracts in my news feeds in about five days.  Maybe someone at the NIH is on vacation again.

Insulin Resistance and Adiposity in Relation to Serum β-Carotene Levels - J Pediatr. 2012 Jul;161(1):58-64.e2 - "To determine the effects of placebo vs an encapsulated supplement of fruit and vegetable juice concentrate (FVJC) on serum β-carotene levels, insulin resistance, adiposity, and subclinical inflammation in boys ... Thirty age-matched prepubertal boys (9 lean and 21 overweight (OW); age range, 6-10 years) were studied ... A 6-month supplementation with FVJC in the presence of nutritional counseling was associated with an increase in serum β-carotene concentrations and a reduction in adiposity in conjunction with an improvement in insulin resistance in OW boys" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

• Non-stick frying pans at Amazon
• Non-stick woks at Amazon
• The 8" Green Earth Frying Pan by Ozeri, with Textured Ceramic Non-Stick Coating from Germany (100% PTFE and PFOA Free)

Health Focus (Exercise):

Alternative News:

• Resveratrol may be natural exercise performance enhancer - Science Daily, 6/19/12 - "high doses of the natural compound resveratrol improved physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in lab models ... resveratrol showed results similar to what you would see from extensive endurance exercise training ... I think resveratrol could help patient populations who want to exercise but are physically incapable. Resveratrol could mimic exercise for them or improve the benefits of the modest amount of exercise that they can do" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Improvements in Skeletal Muscle Strength and Cardiac Function Induced by Resveratrol Contribute to Enhanced Exercise Performance in Rats - J Physiol. 2012 Apr 2 - "Exercise training (ET) improves endurance capacity by increasing both skeletal muscle mitochondrial number and function, as well as contributing to favourable cardiac remodelling. Interestingly, some of the benefits of regular exercise can also be mimicked by the naturally occurring polyphenol, resveratrol (RESV). However, it is not known whether RESV enhances physiologic adaptations to ET. To investigate this, male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to a control chow diet or a chow diet that contained RESV (4g/kg of diet) and subsequently subjected to a program of progressive treadmill running for 12-weeks. ET-induced improvements in exercise tolerance were enhanced by 21% (p<0.001) by the addition of RESV to the diet ... Overall, our findings provide evidence that the capacity for fatty acid oxidation is augmented by the addition of RESV to the diet during ET, and that this contributes to the improved physical performance of rats following ET" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Exercise and caffeine change your DNA in the same way, study suggests - Science Daily, 3/6/12 - "when healthy but inactive men and women exercise for a matter of minutes, it produces a rather immediate change to their DNA. Perhaps even more tantalizing, the study suggests that the caffeine in your morning coffee might also influence muscle in essentially the same way ... for those who can't exercise, the new findings might point the way to medicines (caffeinated ones, perhaps?) with similar benefits"
• Scientists identify an innate function of vitamin E - Science Daily, 12/20/11 - "Everyday activities such as eating and exercise can tear the plasma membrane and the new research shows that vitamin E is essential to repair. Without repair of muscle cells, for example, muscles eventually waste away and die in a process similar to what occurs in muscular dystrophy ... Vitamin E appears to aid repair in several ways. As an antioxidant, it helps eliminate destructive byproducts from the body's use of oxygen that impede repair. Because it's lipid-soluble, vitamin E can actually insert itself into the membrane to prevent free radicals from attacking. It also can help keep phospholipids, a major membrane component, compliant so they can better repair after a tear" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol prevents dexamethasone-induced expression of the muscle atrophy-related ubiquitin ligases atrogin-1 and MuRF1 in cultured myotubes through a SIRT1-dependent mechanism - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Dec 7 - "Results suggest that resveratrol can prevent glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting and that this effect is at least in part SIRT1-dependent" - Note:  I think what they are saying is that resveratrol may help prevent muscle loss due to high cortisol.  Stress increases cortisol.  Exercise may be partially defeating as far as muscle tone in that it increases cortisol.  That's just my theory.  See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Caffeine study shows sport performance increase - Science Daily, 12/14/11 - "Mayur Ranchordas, a senior lecturer and performance nutritionist at Sheffield Hallam University, carried out studies on footballers using caffeine and carbohydrates combined in a drink ... There is already plenty of research that shows that caffeine and carbohydrate improve endurance, but this study shows that there is also a positive effect on skill and performance ... We found that the combination of carbohydrate and caffeine allowed players to sustain higher work intensity for the sprints, as well as improving shooting accuracy and dribbling during simulated soccer activity"
• Green tea extract may protect against muscle damage from exercise - Nutra USA, 12/8/11 - "Thirty-five were recruited and randomly assigned to receive either the green tea extract or placebo in combination with strength training ... Markers of oxidative stress like lipid hydroxyperoxides were seen to increase as a result of exercise, but only in the placebo group. No such increases were recorded in the green tea group" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Amino acid-rich supplements boost muscle mass with exercise - Nutra USA, 11/8/11 - "Supplements containing a combination of amino acids and protein before and after resistance training may boost upper body strength by 13% ... The commercial supplements NO-Shotgun and NO-Synthesize by VPX were also associated with a 21% increase in lower-body strength ... The commercial supplements contain a list of ingredients including creatine, arginine, glutamine, beta-alanine, keto-isocaproate (KIC), and leucine, casein and whey protein, branched-chain amino acids, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, histidine, and methionine ... the primary active ingredients are whey protein, creatine, leucine, beta-alanine, and KIC" - [Abstract] - See BCAA products at Amazon.com.
• CoQ10 may reduce muscle damage during intensive exercise - Nutra USA, 10/27/11 - "Twenty ultra-runners participated in the study and were divided into two equal groups. One group received one 30 mg capsule of CoQ10 two days before the test, three 30 mg capsules the day before the test, and one capsule one hour before the test. The other group received placebo at the same time. The test involved a 50 km distance run across Europe’s highest road in the Sierra Nevada ... Results showed that the placebo group displayed a 100% increase in levels of 8-OHdG, which <i>“a sensitive indicator of DNA damage as a result of oxidative stress”,</i> said the researchers, compared with an increase of 37.5% in the runners taking the CoQ10 supplements ... The data also indicated that CoQ10 countered the over-expression of certain pro-inflammatory compounds after exercise ... a reduction in levels of creatinine in the urine was observed in the CoQ10 group, compared with the placebo group. Creatinine is produced from creatine and high levels are a marker of muscle break down (or kidney damage) ... CoQ10 supplementation reduces creatinine excretion and therefore decrease muscle damage during physical performance" - [Abstract] - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.
• Leucine supplements boost muscle synthesis by 33% during exercise - Nutra USA, 10/6/11 - "In contrast with resistance exercise, sustained endurance exercise is mainly catabolic, yielding simultaneous reductions in muscle protein synthesis and plasma leucine concentrations during exercise, which may be attributed to the metabolic demand for branched chain amino acids in exercising skeletal muscle ... the leucine-enriched beverage was associated with a 33% increase in muscle protein synthesis ... Our findings indicate that increasing the leucine content of protein supplements provided for those populations susceptible to muscle loss, including proteolytic conditions—such as cachexia, sarcopenia, and calorie deprivation—may warrant further exploration" - [Abstract] - See leucine products at Amazon.com.
• A multi-nutrient supplement reduced markers of inflammation and improved physical performance in active individuals of middle to older age: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study - Nutr J. 2011 Sep 7;10(1):90 - "While exercise acts to combat inflammation and aging, the ability to exercise may itself be compromised by inflammation and inflammation's impact on muscle recovery and joint inflammation. A number of nutritional supplements have been shown to reduce inflammation and improve recovery. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the effect of a multi-nutrient supplement containing branched chain amino acids, taurine, anti-inflammatory plant extracts, and B vitamins on inflammatory status, endothelial function, physical function, and mood in middle-aged individuals ...Thirty-one healthy and active men (N=16, mean age 56+/-6.0 yrs) and women (N=15, mean age=52+/-7.5 yrs) participated in this investigation. Subjects completed one 28 day cycle of placebo supplementation and one 28 day cycle of multi-nutrient supplementation (separated by a one week washout period) in a balanced, randomized, double-blind, cross-over design ... IL-6 significantly decreased in both men (from 1.2 +/- 0.2 to 0.7+/-0.4 pg * mL-1) and women (from 1.16+/-0.04 to 0.7+/-0.4 pg * mL-1). Perceived energy also improved for both men (placebo: 1.8 +/- 0.7; supplement: 3.7+/-0.8 AUC) and women (placebo: 1.2 +/- 0.7; supplement: 2.8+/-0.8 AUC). Alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (from 108.9+/-38.6 to 55.5+/-22.2 ug * mL-1), Creatine Kinase (from 96+/-34 to 67+/-23 IU * L-1), general pain, and joint pain decreased in men only, while anxiety and balance (from 0.52+/-0.13 to 0.45+/-0.12 cm) improved in women only. Men showed increased performance in vertical jump power (from 2642+/-244 to 3134+/-282 W) and grip strength (from 42.1+/-5.9 to 48.5+/-4.9 kg)" - See taurine at Amazon.com and BCAA products at Amazon.com.
• Aerobic exercise may reduce the risk of dementia, researchers say - Science Daily, 9/7/11 - "Researchers examined the role of aerobic exercise in preserving cognitive abilities and concluded that it should not be overlooked as an important therapy against dementia ... Examples include walking, gym workouts and activities at home such as shoveling snow or raking leaves ... We culled through all the scientific literature we could find on the subject of exercise and cognition, including animal studies and observational studies, reviewing over 1,600 papers, with 130 bearing directly on this issue ... brain imaging studies have consistently revealed objective evidence of favorable effects of exercise on human brain integrity"
• Research from Everest: Can leucine help burn fat and spare muscle tissue during exercise? - Science Daily, 8/28/11 - "Research on Mt. Everest climbers is adding to the evidence that an amino acid called leucine -- found in foods, dietary supplements, energy bars and other products -- may help people burn fat during periods of food restriction, such as climbing at high altitude, while keeping their muscle tissue ... We knew that leucine has been shown to help people on very low-calorie, or so-called 'calorie-restricted diets', stay healthy at sea level ... the findings also could help people at lower altitudes who want to lose weight while preserving their lean body mass, or who are elderly and don't eat or exercise enough to maintain their strength" - See leucine products at Amazon.com.
• Oral hydroxycitrate supplementation enhances glycogen synthesis in exercised human skeletal muscle - Br J Nutr. 2011 Aug 9:1-8 - "Glycogen stored in skeletal muscle is the main fuel for endurance exercise. The present study examined the effects of oral hydroxycitrate (HCA) supplementation on post-meal glycogen synthesis in exercised human skeletal muscle. Eight healthy male volunteers (aged 22.0 (se 0.3) years) completed a 60-min cycling exercise at 70-75 % \dot {>V}O_{2\hairsp max} and received HCA or placebo in a crossover design repeated after a 7 d washout period. They consumed 500 mg HCA or placebo with a high-carbohydrate meal (2 g carbohydrate/kg body weight, 80 % carbohydrate, 8 % fat, 12 % protein) for a 3-h post-exercise recovery. Muscle biopsy samples were obtained from vastus lateralis immediately and 3 h after the exercise. We found that HCA supplementation significantly lowered post-meal insulin response with similar glucose level compared to placebo. The rate of glycogen synthesis with the HCA meal was approximately onefold higher than that with the placebo meal. In contrast, GLUT4 protein level after HCA supplementation was significantly decreased below the placebo level, whereas expression of fatty acid translocase (FAT)/CD36 mRNA was significantly increased above the placebo level. Furthermore, HCA supplementation significantly increased energy reliance on fat oxidation, estimated by the gaseous exchange method. However, no differences were found in circulating NEFA and glycerol levels with the HCA meal compared with the placebo meal. The present study reports the first evidence that HCA supplementation enhanced glycogen synthesis rate in exercised human skeletal muscle and improved post-meal insulin sensitivity" - See hydroxycitrate at Amazon.com.
• Phys Ed: How Chocolate Can Help Your Workout - NYTimes.com, 8/3/11 - "chocolate’s potential role in exercise performance had not been studied, or probably even much considered, until scientists at the University of California, San Diego, and other institutions gave middle-aged, sedentary male mice a purified form of cacao’s primary nutritional ingredient, known as epicatechin, and had the mice work out. Epicatechin is a flavonol, a class of molecules that are thought to have widespread effects on the body ... The fittest rodents, however, were those that had combined epicatechin and exercise. They covered about 50 percent more distance than the control animals ... The muscle biopsies offered some explanation for their dominance. The muscles of all of the animals that had been given epicatechin contained new capillaries, as well as biochemical markers indicating that their cells were making new mitochondria. Mitochondria are structures in cells that produce cellular energy. The more functioning mitochondria a muscle contains, the healthier and more fatigue-resistant it is ... Processing destroys epicate ... heavily processed milk chocolate contains almost none of the flavonol, while cacao-rich dark chocolate has far more ... more is not better ... “More could lessen or even undo” any benefits, he said, by overloading the muscles’ receptors or otherwise skewing the body’s response"
• Low-fat chocolate milk can boost aerobic fitness, research - Nutra USA, 6/8/11 - "Immediately following exercise and again, two hours following exercise, participants consumed a recovery drink of low-fat chocolate milk, a calorie and fat-matched carbohydrate beverage or a non-caloric flavoured water ... chocolate milk improved cycling performance more than the other drinks, cutting at least six minutes on average off the cyclist’s ride time ... Chocolate milk was also found to increase signals for muscle protein synthesis, which leads to the repair and rebuilding of muscle proteins, more than the other drinks"
• Protein drinks after exercise help maintain aging muscles - Science Daily, 5/26/11 - "protein drinks after aerobic activity increases the training effect after six weeks, when compared to carbohydrate drinks. Additionally, this study suggests that this effect can be seen using as little as 20 grams of protein"
• Moderate exercise dramatically improves brain blood flow in elderly women - Science Daily, 4/12/11 - "it's never too late for women to reap the benefits of moderate aerobic exercise. In a 3-month study of 16 women age 60 and older, brisk walking for 30-50 minutes three or four times per week improved blood flow through to the brain as much as 15% ... At study's end, the team measured blood flow in the women's carotid arteries again and found that cerebral blood flow increased an average of 15% and 11% in the women's left and right internal carotid arteries, respectively. The women's VO2 max increased roughly 13%, their blood pressure dropped an average of 4%, and their heart rates decreased approximately 5% ... A steady, healthy flow of blood to the brain achieves two things. First, the blood brings oxygen, glucose and other nutrients to the brain, which are vital for the brain's health. Second, the blood washes away brain metabolic wastes such as amyloid-beta protein released into the brain's blood vessels. Amyloid-beta protein has been implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease"
• DSM builds olive extract IP with energy & exercise performance patent - Nutra USA, 4/7/11 - "According to European Patent EP2009/063492, the invention refers to hydroxytyrosol in combination with at least one other ingredient, including the likes of CoQ10, resveratrol, B vitamins, and EGCG from green tea ... Hydroxytyrosol is thought to be the main antioxidant compound in olives, and believed to play a significant role in the many health benefits attributed to olive oil. Previous research has linked the compound to cardiovascular benefits, with reductions in LDL or 'bad' cholesterol. Data has also suggested the compound may boost eye health and reduce the risk of against macular degeneration ... Hydroxytyrosol significantly increased the running distance to exhaustion in mice and so improved endurance in prolonged exercise ... hydroxytyrosol promotes mitochondrial activity and mitochondrial biogenesis leading to an enhancement of mitochondrial function and cellular defense system" - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.  As far as the synergy, I would think that most would be already taking the CoQ-10, resveratrol, B-vitamins and green tea.
• Carbohydrate Ingestion during Endurance Exercise Improves Performance in Adults - J Nutr. 2011 Mar 16 - "This study was a systematic review with meta-analysis examining the efficacy of carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion compared with placebo (PLA) on endurance exercise performance in adults. Relevant databases were searched to January 2011 ... time trial (TT) or exercise time to exhaustion (TTE) ... effect size (ES) ... The ES for submaximal exercise followed by TT was significant (ES = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.37-0.69; P < 0.001) as was the ES for TT (ES = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.07-0.53; P = 0.011). The weighted mean improvement in exercise performance favored CHO ingestion (7.5 and 2.0%, respectively). TTE (ES = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.32-0.62; P < 0.001) and submaximal exercise followed by TTE (ES = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.08-0.80; P = 0.017) also showed significant effects, with weighted mean improvements of 15.1 and 54.2%, respectively, with CHO ingestion. Similar trends were evident for subanalyses of studies using only male or trained participants, for exercise of 1-3 h duration, and where CHO and PLA beverages were matched for electrolyte content. The data support that ingestion of CHO between 30 and 80 g/h enhances endurance exercise performance in adults"
• Relation of Vitamin D Level to Maximal Oxygen Uptake in Adults - Am J Cardiol. 2011 Feb 22 - "Low cardiorespiratory fitness and low serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25[OH]D) levels are associated with increased cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, but whether low 25(OH)D is independently associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy adults is not known ... Serum 25(OH)D concentration was positively related to Vo(2max) (r = 0.29, p = 0.0001), even after adjusting for relevant predictors (e.g., age, gender, and body mass index). There was also a significant interaction between 25(OH)D level and self-reported hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA; p <0.02). With each SD increase in 25(OH)D, Vo(2max) increased by 2.6 ml/kg/min (p = 0.0001) when MVPA was low (16 hours/week) and 1.6 ml/kg/min (p <0.0004) when MVPA was moderate (35 hours/week) but only 0.01 ml/kg/min (p = 0.9) when MVPA was high (64 hours/week). In conclusion, serum 25(OH)D levels predict Vo(2max) in adults; the effect is greatest in those with low levels of physical activity" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Is dairy colostrum the key to Olympic success? - Science Daily, 2/24/11 - "bovine colostrum can massively reduce gut permeability -- otherwise known as 'leaky gut syndrome.' Their findings, published in the March issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, could have positive implications not just for athletes but also for sufferers of heatstroke ... The London School of Medicine and Dentistry looked at athletes who were asked to run for 20 minutes at 80 per cent of their aerobic maximum. At the end of the exercise, changes in the subjects gut leakiness were measured using urine sample -- also determined were changes in the athletes' core temperature. Under standard conditions, gut leakiness had increased by 250 per cent and temperature had risen by 2 degrees. However, when the group were given a drink of dairy colostrum for two weeks before the trial, the rise in gut leakiness was reduced by about 80 per cent, despite the same effort and temperature rise" - See colostrum at Amazon.com.
• Relation of Whole Blood n-3 Fatty Acid Levels to Exercise Parameters in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease (from the Heart and Soul Study) - Am J Cardiol. 2011 Feb 7 - "After multivariable adjustment, n-3 fatty acid levels (DHA + EPA) were strongly associated with heart rate recovery (beta 2.1, p = 0.003), exercise capacity (beta 0.8, p <0.0001), and exercise time (beta 0.9, p <0.0001). Increasing levels of (DHA + EPA) were also associated with decreased risk of impaired heart rate recovery (odds ratio 0.8, p = 0.004) and exercise time (odds ratio 0.7, p = 0.01) and trended toward significance for exercise capacity (odds ratio 0.8, p = 0.07). These associations were not modified by demographics, body mass index, smoking, co-morbid conditions, statin use, or β-blocker use (p for interaction >0.1 for all comparisons). In conclusion, an independent association exists between n-3 fatty acid levels and important exercise parameters in patients with stable coronary artery disease. These findings support the hypothesis that n-3 fatty acids may increase vagal tone and physical conditioning" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • vagal tone - encyclopedia.com - "The effect produced on the heart when only the parasympathetic nerve fibres (which are carried in the vagus nerve) are controlling the heart rate. The parasympathetic nerve fibres slow the heart rate from approximately 70 beats per minute to 60 beats per minute"
• Taurine Prevents Hypertension and Increases Exercise Capacity in Rats With Fructose-Induced Hypertension - Am J Hypertens. 2011 Feb 3 - "Five groups of 15 Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated and designated as control, high fructose-fed (fructose), high fructose-fed plus exercise (FE), high fructose-fed plus 2% taurine supplement (FT) and high fructose-fed plus 2% taurine supplement and exercise (FET) groups ... Noninvasive SBP differed significantly (P < 0.001) from week 3, both noninvasive and invasive ABP increased significantly (P < 0.001), and exercise capacity significantly decreased (P < 0.001) in the fructose group compared with the control group. The individual effects of swimming and taurine supplementation were incapable of preventing the development of hypertension and SBP significantly (P < 0.001) increased in the FE and FT groups; exercise capacity in those groups remained similar to control. The combined effects of exercise and taurine alleviated hypertension and significantly increased exercise capacity in the FET group. Insulin resistance increased significantly and plasma nitric oxide (NO) decreased significantly in the F, FE, and FT groups. Both parameters remained similar to control values in the FET group with an increasing antioxidant activity. Conclusion Taurine supplementation in combination with exercise prevents hypertension and increases exercise capacity by possibly antioxidation and maintaining NO concentrations" - See taurine at Amazon.com.
• Chronic oral ingestion of L-carnitine and carbohydrate increases muscle carnitine content and alters muscle fuel metabolism during exercise in humans: the dual role of muscle carnitine in exercise metabolism - J Physiol. 2011 Jan 4 - "total carnitine (TC) ... At 50% VO2max, the Carnitine group utilised 55% less muscle glycogen compared to Control (P<0.05) and 31% less pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activation (PDCa) compared to before supplementation (P<0.05). Conversely, at 80% VO2max, muscle PDCa was 38% higher (P<0.05), acetylcarnitine content showed a trend to be 16% greater (P<0.10), muscle lactate content was 44% lower (P<0.05) and the muscle PCr/ATP ratio was better maintained (P<0.05) in Carnitine compared to Control. The Carnitine group increased work output 11% from baseline in the performance trial, while Control showed no change. This is the first demonstration that human muscle TC can be increased by dietary means and results in muscle glycogen sparing during low intensity exercise (consistent with an increase in lipid utilisation) and a better matching of glycolytic, PDC and mitochondrial flux during high intensity exercise, thereby reducing muscle anaerobic ATP production. Furthermore, these changes were associated with an improvement in exercise performance" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.
• Boosting supply of key brain chemical reduces fatigue in mice - Science Daily, 12/10/10 - "Researchers at Vanderbilt University have "engineered" a mouse that can run on a treadmill twice as long as a normal mouse by increasing its supply of acetylcholine ... could lead to new treatments for neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis, which occurs when cholinergic nerve signals fail to reach the muscles ... The choline transporter is vital to the capacity for muscle contraction -- including the ability to breathe -- because it regulates the supply of choline, the precursor to acetylcholine. "We reasoned that giving more of this protein might enhance muscle function and reduce nerve-dependent fatigue,"" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
• Bicarbonate adds fizz to players' tennis performance - Science Daily, 10/25/10 - "sodium bicarbonate supplementation can prevent the fatigue-induced decline in skilled tennis performance seen during matches. The service and forehand ground stroke consistency was maintained after a simulated match in the bicarbonate trial. On the other hand, these consistency scores were decreased after the match in the placebo trial" - Note:  If you're not an athlete I wouldn't try it.  I'm sure the sodium in sodium bicarbonate will have the same effect as sodium chloride (table salt) on your blood pressure.
• Lonza’s L-carnitine may boost exercise recovery: Study - Nutra USA, 8/12/10 - "Blood samples showed that L-carnitine supplementation significantly improved a range of biochemical markers, including purine metabolism, free radical formation, and muscle tissue disruption ... The l-carnitine l-tartrate supplementation therefore reduced both myoglobin and creatine kinase concentrations, providing additional evidence that LCLT reduces post-exercise muscle disruption ... Such findings support the additional findings that l-carnitine l-tartrate significantly reduced muscle soreness immediately after the exercise workout and at 24 and 48 hours postexercise when compared with the placebo condition" - [Abstract] - See GPLC at Amazon.com.
• l-Carnitine l-tartrate supplementation favorably affects biochemical markers of recovery from physical exertion in middle-aged men and women - Metabolism. 2010 Aug;59(8):1190-9 - "Two grams of l-carnitine supplementation had positive effects and significantly (P < or = .05) attenuated biochemical markers of purine metabolism (ie, hypoxanthine, xanthine oxidase), free radical formation (malondialdehyde), muscle tissue disruption (myoglobin, creatine kinase), and muscle soreness after physical exertion. However, markers of physical performance (ie, strength, power, get up and go) were not affected by supplementation. These findings support our previous findings of l-carnitine in younger people that such supplementation can reduce chemical damage to tissues after exercise and optimize the processes of muscle tissue repair and remodeling" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.
• Olympic gold? A new effect of caffeine boosts performance - Science Daily, 6/29/10 - "high doses of caffeine directly increase muscle power and endurance during relatively low-intensity activities ... a caffeine dosage of 70 µM enhanced power output by ~6% during both types of activity. This effect in humans is likely to be very similar"
• Early physical activity promotes lower prevalence of chronic diseases in adulthood - Hypertens Res. 2010 Jun 24 - "Physical activity in youth was associated with lower rates of occurrence of arterial hypertension (odds ratio (OR)=0.42 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.29-0.62)) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (OR=0.29 (95% CI=0.15-0.56)) in adulthood, but current physical activity was not related to these outcomes"
• Folic acid found to improve vascular function in amenorrheic runners - Science Daily, 5/10/10 - "folic acid supplement improved blood flow-mediated dilation in the brachial artery which correlates with increased blood flow to the heart"
• Effects of continuous vs. interval exercise training on blood pressure and arterial stiffness in treated hypertension - Hypertens Res. 2010 Apr 9 - "Continuous and interval exercise training were beneficial for blood pressure control, but only interval training reduced arterial stiffness in treated hypertensive subjects"
• Blueberries may protect muscles from exercise damage - Nutra USA, 4/2/10 - "Although it is difficult to deduce the biological significance of the data presented here from in vitro studies, one may speculate that consumption of blueberry fruit polyphenolics and particularly malvidin glycosides may be beneficial in alleviating the damaging consequences of oxidative stress in muscle tissue" - [Abstract] - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Blueberry fruit polyphenolics suppress oxidative stress-induced skeletal muscle cell damage in vitro - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Mar;54(3):353-63 - "These in vitro data support the concept that blueberry fruits or derived foods rich in malvidin glycosides may be beneficial in alleviating muscle damage caused by oxidative stress" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.
• Exercise Plays a Preventive Role Against Alzheimer's Disease - J Alzheimers Dis. 2010 Feb 24 - "Regular physical activity increases the endurance of cells and tissues to oxidative stress, vascularization, energy metabolism, and neurotrophin synthesis, all important in neurogenesis, memory improvement, and brain plasticity. Although extensive studies are required to understand the mechanism, it is clear that physical exercise is beneficial in the prevention of AD and other age-associated neurodegenerative disorders"
• Low levels of vitamin D linked to muscle fat, decreased strength in young people - Science Daily, 3/6/10 - "A ground-breaking study published in the March 2010 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found an astonishing 59 per cent of study subjects had too little Vitamin D in their blood. Nearly a quarter of the group had serious deficiencies (less than 20 ng/ml) of this important vitamin. Since Vitamin D insufficiency is linked to increased body fat, decreased muscle strength and a range of disorders, this is a serious health issue ... The study by Dr. Kremer and co-investigator Dr. Vincente Gilsanz, head of musculoskeletal imaging at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles of the University of Southern California, is the first to show a clear link between Vitamin D levels and the accumulation of fat in muscle tissue -- a factor in muscle strength and overall health" - [Nutra USA] -See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 may boost lung function during sport - Nutra USA, 3/3/10 - "Amateur Iranian wrestlers, and not the Hulk Hogan kind, experienced improvements in numerous measures of lung capacity, including lung volume [forced vital capacity (FVC)] and airflows [forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)], and found significant improvements following 12 weeks of supplementation and training ... At the end of the study, improvements in FEV1 of 41 per cent and FVC of 53 per cent, in the omega-3 supplements and training group as well as four other measures, compared to the other groups" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• The effects of omega-3 supplementation on pulmonary function of young wrestlers during intensive training - J Sci Med Sport. 2010 Mar;13(2):281-286 - "consuming omega-3 during 12 weeks training had a significantly positive effect on pulmonary variables such as FEV1, FVC, VC, MVV, FEF25-75, FIV1 (p=0.001), but no significant changes were observed in FEV1% (p=0.141) and FIV1% (p=0.117). The results of the present study suggest that consuming omega-3 during intensive wrestling training can improve pulmonary function of athletes during and in post-exercise" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• What You Eat After Working Out Matters - WebMD, 1/29/10 - "A new study shows that eating a low-carbohydrate meal after aerobic exercise enhances insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin sensitivity makes it easier for the body to take up sugar from the bloodstream and store it in muscles and other tissues where it can be used for fuel ... Impaired insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, increases the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease"
• Antioxidants aren't always good for you and can impair muscle function, study shows - Science Daily, 1/26/10
• Moderate physical activity and breast cancer risk: the effect of menopausal status - Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Jan 19 - "Participating in moderate-intensity physical activity decreased the risk of BC in both pre- and postmenopausal women (OR = 0.96; 95% CI 0.92.-0.99; OR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.86-0.93, respectively) for every 3 h per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. There was a statistically significant modification effect by menopausal status"
• Impact of cocoa flavanol consumption on blood pressure responsiveness to exercise - Br J Nutr. 2010 Jan 19:1-5 - "randomised to consume single servings of either a high-flavanol (HF, 701 mg) or a low-flavanol (LF, 22 mg) cocoa beverage in a double-blind, cross-over design ... the BP response to exercise (area under BP curve) was attenuated by HF compared with LF. BP increases were 68 % lower for DBP (P = 0.03) and 14 % lower for mean BP (P = 0.05). FMD measurements were higher after taking HF than after taking LF (6.1 (se 0.6) % v. 3.4 (se 0.5) %, P < 0.001). By facilitating vasodilation and attenuating exercise-induced increases in BP, cocoa flavanols may decrease cardiovascular risk and enhance the cardiovascular benefits of moderate intensity exercise in at-risk individuals"
• l-Carnitine l-tartrate supplementation favorably affects biochemical markers of recovery from physical exertion in middle-aged men and women - Metabolism. 2009 Dec 30 - "Two grams of l-carnitine supplementation had positive effects and significantly (P </= .05) attenuated biochemical markers of purine metabolism (ie, hypoxanthine, xanthine oxidase), free radical formation (malondialdehyde), muscle tissue disruption (myoglobin, creatine kinase), and muscle soreness after physical exertion. However, markers of physical performance (ie, strength, power, get up and go) were not affected by supplementation. These findings support our previous findings of l-carnitine in younger people that such supplementation can reduce chemical damage to tissues after exercise and optimize the processes of muscle tissue repair and remodeling" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.
• Exercise reduces death rate in prostate cancer patients - Science Daily, 12/7/09 - "men who walked four or more hours a week had a 23 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to men who walked less than 20 minutes per week. Men who walked 90 or more minutes at a normal to brisk pace had a 51 percent lower risk of death from any cause than men who walked less than 90 minutes at an easy walking pace"
• Danisco extends betaine’s sport science - Nutra USA, 8/13/09 - "During various power, muscle endurance and anaerobic power exercise tests over a two week period, subjects given BetaPower showed a significant improvement in lower body muscle endurance and quality of the workout compared to those participants that were not given supplementation" - [Abstract] - See trimethylglycine at Amazon.com.
• Effect of betaine supplementation on power performance and fatigue - J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Feb 27;6:7 - "Subjects were tested prior to the onset of supplementation (T1) and 7 (T2) and 14 days (T3) following supplementation ... No differences were seen at T2 or T3 in the repetitions performed to exhaustion or in the number of repetitions performed at 90% of both peak and mean power between the groups in the bench press exercise. The number of repetitions performed in the squat exercise for BET was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than that seen for PL at T2. The number of repetitions performed at 90% or greater of peak power in the squat exercise was significantly greater for BET at both T2 and T3 than PL" - See trimethylglycine at Amazon.com.
• CLA may protect against elderly muscle loss - Nutra USA, 7/24/09 - "Supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevented age-related muscle loss in mice ... After six months the researchers note that both the trans-10 cis-12 and CLA-mix showed “significantly higher muscle mass, as compared to corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups” ... Both groups also exhibited increased cellular energy production (ATP), as well as higher levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase in the muscles, compared to the corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Exercise Cuts Decline in Mental Skills - WebMD, 7/13/09 - "sedentary older people who began new exercise programs curbed their rate of cognitive decline, especially when it came to the ability to process complex information quickly ... people who were consistently sedentary had the worst mental skills. On a standard test that measures overall cognitive function, including memory, attention span and problem-solving, "they scored the worst at the beginning and experienced the fastest rate of cognitive decline,""
• Antioxidant may boost exercise endurance - msnbc.com, 6/29/09 - "Compared with days of no supplementation, the quercetin supplement periods were associated with a modest — nearly 4 percent — increase in maximum oxygen uptake. Quercetin was also associated with a 13 percent increase in "ride time" before the volunteers were too fatigued to continue" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is related to indicators of overall physical fitness in healthy postmenopausal women - Menopause. 2009 Jun 6 - "Serum 25(OH)D was the common contributor to physical fitness indices (androidal fat mass, lean mass, balance, handgrip strength) in healthy postmenopausal women" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Sleep Extension Improves Athletic Performance And Mood - Science Daily, 6/8/09
• Antioxidants needed by exercising populations: Nutritionist - Nutra USA, 5/14/09 - "Commenting on the design of the study, Dr Childs said it was unclear if the subjects encountered the same absolute level of muscle fatigue during exercise in the supplement and control conditions and hence stimulus for antioxidant up-regulation. “Because of this, the reported ‘prevention of the ‘health promoting effects of antioxidants’ may be nothing more than an experimental artefact,” ... In addition, Dr Childs said that comments by the authors that antioxidants may block many of the beneficial effects of exercise were a “gross over extrapolation of the experimental findings on two levels”"
• Do Antioxidants Curb an Exercise Benefit? - WebMD, 5/11/09
• Vitamin-exercise study questioned - Nutra USA, 5/12/09 - "The authors noted that biopsies for the ‘early’ time-point were only obtained from five people in the vitamin group, and four in the placebo group. “Yet the authors conclude a “strong induction of PGCl-alpha, PGCl-beta, and PPAR-gamma expression in skeletal muscle following 4 weeks of exercise training in previously untrained, antioxidant naïve individuals” and “markedly reduced exercise-related induction” in those taking antioxidants, based on these limited number of biopsies,” ... “Would it not have made more sense to appropriately increase the intensity and duration of exercise slowly and then see if the subject’s bodies didn’t accommodate handling of ROS without a significant change in induction of these markers?” ... The study reflects a ‘transient’ increase in ROS during ‘limited periods of physical exercise only’, noted Dr Schauss, “whereas the bulk of the literature, including that in non-primate models have not observed these concerns obtained in models of ‘continuous exposure to increased levels of ROS’” ... the authors presented no evidence of adverse effects by any of the individuals from vitamin C and E supplementation"
• Do Antioxidants Curb an Exercise Benefit? - WebMD, 5/11/09 - "Physical activity induced an increase in insulin sensitivity only in the absence of antioxidants"
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevents age associated skeletal muscle loss - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Apr 21 - "using 12 months old C57BL/6 mice fed 10% corn oil (CO) or a diet supplemented with 0.5% c9t11-CLA, t10c12-CLA or c9t11-CLA+t10c12-CLA (CLA-mix) for 6 months. Both t10c12-CLA and CLA-mix groups showed significantly higher muscle mass, as compared to CO and c9t11-CLA groups ... may be a novel dietary supplement that will prevent sarcopenia by maintaining redox balance during aging" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Physical Activity Improves Life Expectancy And Decreases Need Of Care Among Older People - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "people who have been regularly physically active since middle age and have lived long, needed less hospital and institutional care during their last year of life than those people who have been only occasionally or not at all physically active"
• Low Glycemic Breakfast May Increase Benefits Of Working Out - Science Daily, 4/15/09 - "Overall, fat oxidation was higher in the LGI treatment than in the HGI treatment (P < 0.05) during the post-breakfast and exercise periods. Following lunch, fullness scores were higher in the LGI trial than in the HGI trial (P < 0.05). The authors concluded that consuming a LGI breakfast increases fat oxidation during subsequent exercise and improved satiety during recovery in sedentary females. As such, individuals trying to shed fat may consider choosing LGI foods eaten prior to when they exercise"
• Caffeine Reduces Pain During Exercise, Study Shows - Science Daily, 3/30/09 - "What's interesting ... is that when we found that caffeine tolerance doesn't matter ... caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics"
• Building Strong Bones: Running May Provide More Benefits Than Resistance Training, Study Finds - Science Daily, 2/27/09 - "both resistance training and high-impact endurance activities increase bone mineral density. However, high-impact sports, like running, appear to have a greater beneficial effect"
• Vitamin D Tied To Muscle Power In Adolescent Girls - Science Daily, 2/10/09 - "Our study found that vitamin D is positively related to muscle power, force, velocity and jump height in adolescent girls ... Vitamin D affects the various ways muscles work and we've seen from this study that there may be no visible symptoms of vitamin D deficiency" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Arginine Discovery Could Help Fight Human Obesity - Science Daily, 2/12/09 - "arginine, an amino acid, reduces fat mass in diet-induced obese rats and could help fight human obesity ... dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote skeletal-muscle gain ... The findings were published recently in the Journal of Nutrition ... arginine supplementation for a 12-week period decreased the body fat gains of low-fat and high-fat fed rats by 65 percent and 63 percent, respectively. The long-term arginine treatment did not have any adverse effects on either group ... funded by the American Heart Association" - See L-arginine products at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Tied To Muscle Power In Adolescent Girls - Science Daily, 2/3/09 - "Vitamin D is significantly associated with muscle power and force in adolescent girls" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Brief, Rigorous Exercise Cuts Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 1/27/09 - "doing a few intense muscle exercises, each lasting only about 30 seconds, dramatically improves your metabolism in just two weeks"
• Dietary L-Arginine Supplementation Reduces White Fat Gain and Enhances Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat Masses in Diet-Induced Obese Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "l-arginine-HCl ... Despite similar energy intake, absolute weights of white fat pads increased by 98% in control rats over a 12-wk period but only by 35% in arginine-supplemented rats. The arginine treatment reduced the relative weights of white fat pads by 30% and enhanced those of soleus muscle by 13%, extensor digitorum longus muscle by 11%, and brown fat by 34% compared with control rats ... arginine treatment resulted in lower serum concentrations of leptin, glucose, triglycerides, urea, glutamine, and branched-chain amino acids, higher serum concentrations of nitric-oxide metabolites, and improvement in glucose tolerance. Thus, dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote muscle over fat gain and may provide a useful treatment for improving the metabolic profile and reducing body white fat in diet-induced obese rats" - See arginine products at Amazon.com.
• Protein Sports Drinks Proven To Give Best Performance - Science Daily, 12/23/08 - "Both formulas had the same energy content ... Both formulas had the same energy content. After their six-hour rest, the athletes did another virtual cycle race. According to Berardi, "Both groups showed a reduction in performance in the afternoon session. However, the reduction in distance traveled and power output during the afternoon exercise was significantly less among those who had the protein and carbs drink, relative those who just had the carbs ... The subjects' self-reported fatigue levels were lower in the protein group and increases in fat oxidation were also seen"
• Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones - Science Daily, 12/19/08 - "A vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, while 90 minutes of weight lifting affects the level of only ghrelin"
• Exercise Increases Brain Growth Factor And Receptors, Prevents Stem Cell Drop In Middle Age - Science Daily, 11/27/08 - "exercise significantly slows down the loss of new nerve cells in the middle-aged mice. They found that production of neural stem cells improved by approximately 200% compared to the middle-aged mice that did not exercise. In addition, the survival of new nerve cells increased by 170% and growth by 190% compared to the sedentary middle-aged mice. Exercise also significantly enhanced stem cell production and maturation in the young mice. In fact, exercise produced a stronger effect in younger mice compared to the older mice"
• Dietary Sport Supplement Shows Strong Effects In The Elderly - Science Daily, 11/7/08 - "In the treatment group, 67% of the subjects showed an improvement in their fitness levels, compared to 21.5% of the people receiving the placebo treatment" - See beta alanine at Amazon.com.
• Walking Boosts Brainpower - WebMD, 9/2/08 - "Those in the exercise group scored higher on cognitive tests and had better delayed recall. For example, they could more accurately remember a list of words after a certain amount of time had passed than those in the other group ... Unlike medication, which was found to have no significant effect on mild cognitive impairment at 36 months, physical activity has the advantage of health benefits that are not confined to cognitive function alone, as suggested by findings on depression, quality of life, falls, cardiovascular function, and disability"
• Exercise May Prevent Brain Shrinkage In Early Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 7/14/08 - "People with early Alzheimer's disease who were less physically fit had four times more brain shrinkage when compared to normal older adults than those who were more physically fit"
• Interval Training May Beat Mild Exercise at Taming Metabolic Syndrome - WebMD, 7/7/08 - "aerobic interval training -- in which people push their heart rate almost to its limits briefly, followed by a more moderate pace, several times during a workout -- may be even better at reining in metabolic syndrome"
• Post-exercise Caffeine Helps Muscles Refuel - Science Daily, 7/1/08 - "Recipe to recover more quickly from exercise: Finish workout, eat pasta, and wash down with five or six cups of strong coffee ... Athletes who ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone" - Yeah, if you want to fell like crap for the rest of the day.  I drink by caffeine before the workout then again after a power nap. - Ben
• Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance - Science Daily, 6/9/08 - "Getting extra sleep over an extended period of time improves athletic performance, mood and alertness ... The athletes then extended their sleep to 10 hours per day for six to seven weeks ... After obtaining extra sleep, athletes swam a 15-meter meter sprint 0.51 seconds faster, reacted 0.15 seconds quicker off the blocks, improved turn time by 0.10 seconds and increased kick strokes by 5.0 kicks"
• When It Comes To Living Longer, It's Better To Go Hungry Than Go Running, Mouse Study Suggests - Science Daily, 5/14/08 - "at least two studies which examined people who engage in high-volume exercise versus people who restricted their calorie intake, had a similar outcome: caloric restriction has physiological benefits that exercise alone does not ... One theory is that exercise places stress on the body, which can result in damage to the tissues and DNA. Another theory is that caloric restriction leads to physiological changes which benefit the body" - I still think it boils down to the ravages of higher insulin and blood sugar which increase advanced glycation end products a major cause of aging.
• CoQ10 may cut muscle injuries for athletes - Nutra USA, 5/5/08 - "The volunteers had daily training sessions of five and a half hours per day for six days during the intervention period. At day three and five of the six day training period, the researchers report that both groups experienced increased in serum creatine kinase activity and the concentration of myoglobin, but these increases were significantly lower in the group receiving the CoQ10 supplements ... Elevated levels of the enzyme are indicative of muscle damage and injury ... levels of lipid peroxide, a marker of oxidative stress, were also lower in the CoQ10 group after three and five days of training" - [Abstract] - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.
• Reducing exercise-induced muscular injury in kendo athletes with supplementation of coenzyme Q10 - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 20;:1-7 - "Subjects in the CoQ10 group took 300 mg CoQ10 per d for 20 d ... These results indicate that CoQ10 supplementation reduced exercise-induced muscular injury in athletes" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.
• HDL Cholesterol Linked to Lower Extremity Performance in Elderly - Medscape, 5/2/08 - "HDL-C levels were significantly associated with all indices of function ... participants with the highest HDL-C levels having the best physical performance"
• Low plasma carotenoids and skeletal muscle strength decline over 6 years - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008 Apr;63(4):376-83 - "These findings suggest that older community-dwelling adults with lower plasma carotenoids levels, a marker of poor fruit and vegetable intake, are at a higher risk of decline in skeletal muscle strength over time" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.
• Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen Help Build Muscle in Older Resistance Trainers - Medscape, 4/10/08 - "We used 1200 milligrams a day for ibuprofen and 4000 milligrams per day of acetaminophen, which is the maximum over-the-counter daily dose ... Muscle volume increased 11% in the ibuprofen group and 13% in the acetaminophen group, compared with 9% in the placebo. Muscle strength increased 30% in the ibuprofen group and 28% in the acetaminophen, compared with 23% in the placebo group"
• Docosahexaenoic acid-rich fish oil improves heart rate variability and heart rate responses to exercise in overweight adults - Br J Nutr. 2008 Mar 13;:1-7 - "heart rate variability (HRV), a predictor of cardiac death ... 6 g fish oil/d (DHA 1.56 g/d, EPA 0.36 g/d) or sunflower-seed oil (placebo) for 12 weeks ... maximal heart rate (HR) ... Fish oil supplementation improved HRV by increasing high-frequency power, representing parasympathetic activity, compared with placebo (P = 0.01; oil x time interaction). It also reduced HR at rest and during submaximal exercise" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Low-intensity Exercise Reduces Fatigue Symptoms By 65 Percent, Study Finds - Science Daily, 2/28/08 - "Sedentary people who regularly complain of fatigue can increase their energy levels by 20 percent and decrease their fatigue by 65 percent by engaging in regular, low intensity exercise"
• Reducing exercise-induced muscular injury in kendo athletes with supplementation of coenzyme Q10 - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 20;:1-7 - "These results indicate that CoQ10 supplementation reduced exercise-induced muscular injury in athletes" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com or ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.
• Astaxanthin may boost muscle endurance and fat loss - Nutra USA, 2/5/08 - "astaxanthin supplementation "accelerated the decrease of body fat accumulation with exercise training" - [Abstract] - Note:  Astaxanthin is just one of over 600 carotenoids.  The problem with taking large doses of just one carotenoid is that it may cause a deficiency of the others.  I had a study on that but the link went dead.  I tried to find it via http://www.archive.org/web/web.php but it was a .asp web page and it appears that it doesn't work with those extensions. (Click here and see the OnHealth.com, 5/2/00 article).  I take Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.
• Astaxanthin improves muscle lipid metabolism in exercise via inhibitory effect of oxidative CPT I modification - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Feb 22;366(4):892-7 - "Astaxanthin increased fat utilization during exercise compared with mice on a normal diet with prolongation of the running time to exhaustion. Colocalization of fatty acid translocase with carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) in skeletal muscle was increased by astaxanthin. We also found that hexanoyl-lysine modification of CPT I was increased by exercise, while astaxanthin prevented this increase. In additional experiment, we found that astaxanthin treatment accelerated the decrease of body fat accumulation with exercise training"
• Sedentary Lifestyles Associated With Accelerated Aging Process - Science Daily, 1/28/08 - "Telomere length decreased with age, with an average loss of 21 nucleotides (structural units) per year. Men and women who were less physically active in their leisure time had shorter leukocyte telomeres than those who were more active. ... "The mean difference in leukocyte telomere length between the most active [who performed an average of 199 minutes of physical activity per week] and least active [16 minutes of physical activity per week] subjects was 200 nucleotides, which means that the most active subjects had telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals up to 10 years younger, on average."" - I'm must be in fat city on this one.  I must have averaged 60 minutes per day since I've been 18 which comes to 420 minutes per week.  Maybe that's the main reason people claim I look young. Plus I've always taken vitamin D which helps with telomere length also. - Ben
• Fitness Cuts Men's Death Rate - WebMD, 1/22/08 - "Compared to men with a low level of fitness, death rates were 50% lower for highly fit men and 70% lower for men in the "very fit" category"
• Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):142-9 - "The administration of vitamin C significantly (P = 0.014) hampered endurance capacity"
• Moderate Exercise Cuts Rate Of Metabolic Syndrome - Science Daily, 12/17/07 - "a person can lower risk of MetS by walking just 30 minutes a day, six days per week ... Before exercising regularly, 41 percent of the participants met the criteria for MetS. At the end of the 8-month exercise program, only 27 percent did"
• Exercise May Play Role In Reducing Inflammation In Damaged Skin Tissue - Science Daily, 11/28/07 - "moderate exercise sped up how fast wounds heal in old mice ... the improved healing response “may be the result of an exercise-induced anti-inflammatory response in the wound.” ... Cytokines are molecules that signal and direct immune cells, such as macrophages, to the site of an infection ..."
• Study: Stretching Won't Prevent Sore Muscles - WebMD, 10/17/07
• Alpha-tocopherol supplementation prevents the exercise-induced reduction of serum paraoxonase 1/arylesterase activities in healthy individuals - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep 19 - "Alpha-T supplementation may result in protection of the enzyme PON 1/Aryl activities from free radical production"
• Extra Sleep Boosts Athletic Performance - WebMD, 6/13/04
• Exercise May Boost 'Good' Cholesterol - WebMD, 5/29/07 - "Participants who got at least two hours per week of aerobic exercise had a modest rise in their HDL cholesterol level ... the gains in HDL cholesterol levels translate to a 5% drop in men's heart disease risk and more than a 7% drop in women's heart disease risk"
• Drinking Fluids Doesn't Cool Runners - WebMD, 5/10/07
• Maintain Healthy Muscle Mass As You Age - Life Extension Magazine, 1/07 - "By adopting a regimen that includes dietary modifications, hormone replacement therapy as indicated, nutritional supplements, and exercise, it is possible to dramatically improve lean muscle mass at virtually any age"
• Coffee helps douse workout pain - MSNBC, 1/10/06 - "Those who consumed caffeine one hour before the maximum force test had a 48 percent reduction in pain compared with the placebo group"
• Poor Athletic Performance Linked To Vitamin Deficiency - Science Daily, 12/27/06 - "Current national B-vitamin recommendations for active individuals may be inadequate, and athletes who follow the recommended daily allowances set by the U.S. government may be receiving lower amounts of nutrients than there bodies need"
• Red Wine Ingredient Increases Endurance, Study Shows - New York Times, 11/16/06 - "Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training" - See resveratrol at Amazon.com.
• Exercise Important in Reducing Size of Abdominal Fat Cells - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/06 - "The diet-alone group had no changes in abdominal fat cell size. However, both exercise groups had decreases of about 18% in the size of their abdominal fat cells"
• Coenzyme Q10 and exercise training in chronic heart failure - Eur Heart J. 2006 Aug 1 - "CoQ10 main effect was: peak VO2+9%, EDDBA +38%, systolic wall thickening score index (SWTI) - 12%" - See coenzyme Q10 at Amazon.com.
• Exercise in Itself Improves Blood Glucose Control in Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 7/24/06 - "exercise helps regulate blood glucose (sugar) levels, increases the body's sensitivity to insulin, and decreases blood lipids (fats) while also helping to burn body fat ... Participants who exercised had an overall decrease of 0.6% of A1c levels. While that may not sound like much, it represents a 30% improvement towards the goal of attaining an A1c of 7%, and a 20% improvement towards a normal A1c of 6%"
• Exercise: Key to good sex, good sleep - CNN, 6/20/06 - "exercise in the afternoon can help deepen shut-eye and cut the time it takes for you to fall into dreamland ... exercise has also been linked to a better sex life"
• Key Sugar Sweetens Athletic Performance - HealthDay, 1/12/06 - "The women were tracked on how they performed on 2,000-meter rowing time trials over eight weeks ... The women who took the dextrose drink showed a median improvement of 15.2 seconds over eight weeks, compared to a median improvement of 5.2 seconds among the women who took the ribose drink" [WebMD] - See dextrose at Amazon.com.  By my calculations, 10 grams would be 3.125 teaspoons or about a tablespoon and would be 37.5 calories.  It's worth a try to see if it makes my jogging a swimming easier. - Ben
• Exercise could build brain cells in elderly, study suggests - USAToday, 9/20/05 - "Older mice that exercised on a running wheel developed new brain cells and learned a new task more effectively than older mice that took it easy all day"
• Sleep May Be Athletes' Best Performance Booster - Psychiatric News, 8/19/05
• A Few 30 Second Sprints As Beneficial As Hour Long Jog - Science Daily, 6/2/05
• Moderate Exercise Reduces Risk of Colon Cancer Recurrence - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/05 - "disease-free survival was 49% lower in patients who engaged in 18 to 27 MET-hours/week of physical activity, compared with those who exercised less than 3 MET-hours/week. "This is equivalent to a 2 to 3 mph walk a day, 6 days a week, running fast 2 times a week or playing tennis 3 a week,""
• Fighting fat - MSNBC, 5/10/05
• Physical Activity in Old Age Keeps Mind Sharp - WebMD, 12/28/04 - "elderly men who decreased the duration or intensity of their physical activity level over a 10-year period experienced a greater decline in cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, and language skills, than men who maintained the intensity of their physical activity"
• Pre-Exercise Stretching May Not Be Helpful - WebMD, 9/24/04
• What’s the Best Workout? - Dr. Weil, 8/27/04
• Study Shows Vitamins C And E Can Prevent Metabolic Damaage In Extreme Exercise - Science Daily, 7/15/04 - "ultramarathon runners who used supplements of vitamins C and E for six weeks prior to their races totally prevented the increase in lipid oxidation that is otherwise associated with extreme exercise"
• Vitamin E benefits athlete recovery, further antioxidant evidence  - Nutra USA, 6/24/04 - "This study clearly showed that supplementation with these antioxidant vitamins could help prevent the significant levels of lipid oxidation that are associated with intense exercise"
• Is Stretching Useless? - Dr. Weil, 6/24/04
• Got Exercise? Workouts Better for Bone Health - WebMD, 6/11/04
• Study: Stretching Doesn't Prevent Injuries - Intelihealth, 3/29/04
• Fish Oil May Help Elite Athletes - WebMD, 11/14/03 - "Among the athletes with exercise-induced asthma, there was an almost 80% improvement in a lung function test taken 15 minutes after exercise. The athletes also reduced their use of bronchodilators by 20% after exercise"
• Benefits of Exercise Reach Deep in the Brain - Psychiatric News, 11/7/03
• Exercise May Be Better Than Diet for Heart - WebMD, 11/7/03
• Exercise: What A Little Can Do - Time Magazine, 9/22/03 - "Even 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, such as walking, led to a weight loss of 14 lbs. over a year. Women who worked out vigorously for an hour a day lost only 6 lbs. more. The second study, part of the Women's Health Initiative, showed that women who exercised moderately for 75 to 150 minutes a week were 18% less likely than inactive women to develop breast cancer. The more the women exercised, the more their risk declined, but once again the incremental difference was small"
• What’s the Right Time to Exercise? - Dr. Weil, 8/25/03
• Stretching: Is It Optional? - Dr. Weil, 8/4/03
• Vitamin E, Exercise Prevent Aging Damage - WebMD, 7/31/03 - "Whether they exercised or not, those taking vitamin E pills had the same reduction in harmful substances known as free radicals -- unstable molecules that damage cells and are believed to contribute to the development of some 200 different diseases, many of them age-related. The levels of a blood marker that signals free-radical damage were cut in half ... Basically, vitamin E prevents free radicals from bumping into cell walls and destroying them" - See my favorite, Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• Iron Improves Muscle Strength and Endurance - New Hope Natural Media, 4/10/03 - "after six weeks of iron supplementation, the women had 10 to 15% less muscle fatigue after the fourth minute of leg exercises, and leg muscle strength after completion of the exercises was increased by 26.5%" - See iron supplements at Amazon.com.
• How much physical activity is enough to prevent unhealthy weight gain? - Obes Rev 2003 May;4(2):101-14 - "The following consensus statement was accepted unanimously. 'The current physical activity guideline for adults of 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity daily, preferably all days of the week, is of importance for limiting health risks for a number of chronic diseases including coronary heart disease and diabetes. However for preventing weight gain or regain this guideline is likely to be insufficient for many individuals in the current environment. There is compelling evidence that prevention of weight regain in formerly obese individuals requires 60-90 minutes of moderate intensity activity or lesser amounts of vigorous intensity activity. Although definitive data are lacking, it seems likely that moderate intensity activity of approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day, or 1.7 PAL (Physical Activity Level) is required to prevent the transition to overweight or obesity. For children, even more activity time is recommended. A good approach for many individuals to obtain the recommended level of physical activity is to reduce sedentary behaviour by incorporating more incidental and leisure-time activity into the daily routine"
• Best Remedies for Tendonitis? - Dr. Weil, 10/24/02

News & Research:

• Bodybuilding myth debunked: Growth-promoting hormones don't stimulate strength - Science Daily, 6/14/12 - "anabolic hormones -- long thought to be essential for building a muscular frame -- do not influence muscle protein synthesis, the process that leads to bigger muscles ... In the first study, researchers examined the responses of both male and female participants to intense leg exercise. Despite a 45-fold difference in testosterone increase, men and women were able to make new muscle protein at exactly the same rate ... In the second study ... The men experienced gains in muscle mass that ranged from virtually nothing to more than 12 pounds, yet their levels of testosterone and growth hormone after exercise showed no relationship to muscle growth or strength gain ... Surprisingly, the researchers noted that cortisol -- considered to have the opposite effect of anabolic hormones because it reduces protein synthesis and breaks down tissue -- was related to the gain in muscle mass" - Note:  That may be true about cortisol but looking at it another way, cortisol could be an indicator of how much you're working out.
• Habitual physical exercise has beneficial effects on telomere length in postmenopausal women - Menopause. 2012 Jun 4 - "Habitual physical exercise was defined as combined aerobic and resistance exercise performed for at least 60 minutes per session more than three times a week for more than 12 months ... The mean age of all participants was 58.11 +/- 6.84 years, and participants in the habitual exercise group had been exercising more than three times per week for an average of 19.23 +/- 5.15 months. Serum triglyceride levels (P = 0.01), fasting insulin concentrations (P < 0.01), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (P < 0.01) were significantly lower and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (P < 0.01), circulating adiponectin (P < 0.01), mitochondrial DNA copy number (P < 0.01), and telomere length (P < 0.01) were significantly higher in the habitual exercise group than in the sedentary group. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, habitual exercise (β = 0.522, P < 0.01) and adiponectin levels (β = 0.139, P = 0.03) were the independent factors associated with the telomere length of PBMCs in postmenopausal women"
• Excessive endurance training can be too much of a good thing, research suggests - Science Daily, 6/4/12 - "True would run as far as 100 miles in a day. On autopsy his heart was enlarged and scarred; he died of a lethal arrhythmia (irregularity of the heart rhythm). Although speculative, the pathologic changes in the heart of this 58 year-old veteran extreme endurance athlete may have been manifestations of "Phidippides cardiomyopathy," a condition caused by chronic excessive endurance exercise ... recent research suggests that chronic training for, and competing in, extreme endurance exercise such as marathons, iron man distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races may cause structural changes to the heart and large arteries, leading to myocardial injury ... In one study, approximately 12% of apparently healthy marathon runners showed evidence for patchy myocardial scarring, and the coronary heart disease event rate during a two-year follow up was significantly higher in marathon runners than in controls ... Endurance sports such as ultramarathon running or professional cycling have been associated with as much as a 5-fold increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation ... Chronic excessive sustained exercise may also be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, and large-artery wall stiffening"
• More physical education in schools leads to better grades, study suggests - Science Daily, 5/23/12 - "96 percent of the intervention group compared to 89 percent in the control group achieved the goals of compulsory school and were eligible to go on to upper-secondary school. It is primarily the boys' achievements -- with 96 percent vs. 83 percent -- that lies behind this outcome. Moreover, the boys in the intervention group had significantly higher grades in Swedish, English, Mathematics, and PE and health than the boys in the control group ... In grade 9, 93 percent of the students in the intervention group evinced good motor skills compared to 53 percent in the control group ... The study is unique. There are no previous findings that statistically show the effects and impact of an intervention over so many years. The reliability of the findings is further enhanced by the homogenity in the groups under investigation: the children are the same age, go to the same school, and have parents with comparable education, income, and interest in physical activity"
• Fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and mortality in older community-dwelling women - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 May;60(5):862-8 - "During 5 years of follow-up, 82 (11.5%) participants died. Measured continuously, physical activity improved survival (HR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.41-0.66, P < .001). The most active women were more likely to survive than the least physically active women (HR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.13-0.59, P < .001). Continuous measures of carotenoids improved survival (HR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.51-0.89, P = .01). Women in the highest tertile of total carotenoids were more likely to survive those in the lowest (HR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.27-0.91, P = .03). When examined in the same model, continuous measures of physical activity (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.42-0.68, P < .001) and carotenoids (HR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.59-0.98, P = .04) predicted survival during follow-up" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com.
• Exercise slows muscle wasting from age and heart failure - Science Daily, 5/7/12 - "Exercise can counteract muscle breakdown, increase strength and reduce inflammation caused by aging and heart failure ... Many physicians -- and insurance companies -- still believe that cardiac rehabilitation does not really help in old age. This study clearly falsifies this belief ... Half the participants in each age group were randomly assigned to four weeks of supervised aerobic training or no exercise. Researchers took muscle biopsies of all participants before and after the intervention ... In both age groups, four training sessions of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise per day, five days a week plus one 60 minute group exercise session was associated with increased muscle force endurance and oxygen uptake. Heart failure patients 55 and under increased their peak oxygen uptake by 25 percent, while those 65 and over increased it by 27 percent ... Exercise switches off the muscle-wasting pathways and switches on pathways involved in muscle growth, counteracting muscle loss and exercise intolerance in heart failure patients"
• Regular jogging shows dramatic increase in life expectancy - Science Daily, 5/3/12 - "Results show that in the follow-up period involving a maximum of 35 years, 10,158 deaths were registered among the non-joggers and 122 deaths among the joggers. Analysis showed that risk of death was reduced by 44% for male joggers (age-adjusted hazard ratio 0.56) and 44% for female joggers (age-adjusted hazard ratio 0.56) ... Furthermore the data showed jogging produced an age adjusted survival benefit of 6.2 years in men and 5.6 years in women. Further analysis exploring the amounts of exercise undertaken by joggers in the study has revealed a U-shaped curve for the relationship between the time spent exercising and mortality. The investigators found that between one hour and two and a half hours a week, undertaken over two to three sessions, delivered the optimum benefits, especially when performed at a slow or average pace ... The ideal pace can be achieved by striving to feel a little breathless. "You should aim to feel a little breathless, but not very breathless," ... It improves oxygen uptake, increases insulin sensitivity, improves lipid profiles (raising HDL and lowering triglycerides), lowers blood pressure, reduces platelet aggregation, increases fibrinolytic activity, improves cardiac function, bone density, immune function, reduces inflammation markers, prevents obesity, and improves psychological function"
• A Simple Way to Preserve Cognitive Function - Medscape, 4/3/12 - "The investigators found significantly reduced rates of cognitive decline with increasing energy expenditure. The equivalent of a daily 30-minute walk at a brisk pace led to rates of cognitive decline similar to those of women 5-7 years younger"
• Good aerobic capacity promotes learning - Science Daily, 2/13/12 - "It was found that rats with intrinsically high aerobic capacity clearly outperformed those with intrinsically low aerobic capacity. It must be emphasized that the animals were not given any physical exercise before the learning test. Thus, the results suggest that it is the aerobic capacity and not physical activity alone that is related to flexible cognition"
• Effects of Swimming Training on Blood Pressure and Vascular Function in Adults >50 Years of Age - Am J Cardiol. 2012 Jan 11 - "Forty-three otherwise healthy adults >50 years old (60 +/- 2) with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension and not on any medication were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of swimming exercise or attention time control ... Casual systolic BP decreased significantly from 131 +/- 3 to 122 +/- 4 mm Hg in the swimming training group. Significant decreases in systolic BP were also observed in ambulatory (daytime) and central (carotid) BP measurements. Swimming exercise produced a 21% increase in carotid artery compliance (p <0.05). Flow-mediated dilation and cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity improved after the swim training program"
• Pool Chlorine Tied to Lung Damage in Elite Swimmers - Medscape, 1/12/12 - "samples taken from swimmers' lungs had nearly six times as many immune cells associated with asthma and allergies as the lung tissue of healthy subjects - and a similar amount to what was found in the group with mild asthma"
• School performance may be linked to physical activity - Science Daily, 1/2/12 - "According to the best-evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance. The findings of one high-quality intervention study and one high-quality observational study suggest that being more physically active is positively related to improved academic performance in children ... exercise may help cognition by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing levels of norepinephrine and endorphins to decrease stress and improve mood, and increasing growth factors that help create new nerve cells and support synaptic plasticity"
• Increased Fitness, Not Weight Loss, Improves Mortality - Medscape, 12/5/11 - "Fitness appears to trump weight loss when it comes to reducing all-cause and cardiovascular mortality [1]. Data from a large longitudinal study show that maintaining and improving physical-fitness levels were associated with lower risks of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas changes in body-mass index (BMI) were not ... Cardiorespiratory fitness, expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs), is a strong independent predictor of mortality ... men who maintained their physical-fitness levels had a 30% and 27% lower risk of death and cardiovascular death, respectively, when compared with men who lost fitness. Those who got into better shape from baseline had a 39% and 42% lower risk of death and cardiovascular mortality, respectively, when compared with those who lost fitness over the years. Every 1-MET improvement resulted in a significant 15% reduction in the risk of death and a 19% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality ... BMI changes, on the other hand, were not significantly associated with all-cause mortality"
• Physical fitness could have a positive effect on eye health - Science Daily, 10/24/11 - "low ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), an important risk factor for glaucoma ... From 2006 to 2010, study participants were examined for eye pressure -- medically termed intraocular pressure (IOP ) -- and systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements. The results showed that moderate physical exercise performed approximately 15 years previously is associated with a 25% reduced risk of low OPP"
• A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of aerobic vs. resistance exercise training on visceral fat - Obes Rev. 2011 Sep 26 - "systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy of exercise interventions on VAT content/volume in overweight and obese adults ... These data suggest that aerobic exercise is central for exercise programmes aimed at reducing VAT, and that aerobic exercise below current recommendations for overweight/obesity management may be sufficient for beneficial VAT modification"
• Cycling fast: Vigorous daily exercise recommended for a longer life - Science Daily, 8/28/11
• Aerobic exercise bests resistance training at burning belly fat - Science Daily, 8/25/11 - "Belly or abdominal fat -- known in scientific communities as visceral fat and liver fat -- is located deep within the abdominal cavity and fills the spaces between internal organs. It's been associated with increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and certain kinds of cancer ... The Duke study showed aerobic training significantly reduced visceral fat and liver fat, the culprit in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Aerobic exercise also did a better job than resistance training at improving fasting insulin resistance, and reducing liver enzymes and fasting triglyceride levels. All are known risk factors for diabetes and heart disease ... Resistance training achieved no significant reductions in visceral fat, liver fat, liver enzyme levels or improvements in insulin resistance. The combination of aerobic with resistance ... What really counts is how much exercise you do, how many miles you walk and how many calories you burn ... If you choose to work at a lower aerobic intensity, it will simply take longer to burn the same amount of unhealthy fat"
• Arthritis sufferers are not engaging in physical activity critical to their health - Science Daily, 8/10/11 - "Being physically active is one of best ways people with arthritis can improve their health ... more than half of women and 40 percent of men with arthritis are virtually couch potatoes ... fewer than one in seven men and one in 12 women met those guidelines when we had this objective measure, using the accelerometer ... The fact that so many people with arthritis are inactive should be a wake-up call to physicians"
• Some exercise is better than none: More is better to reduce heart disease risk - Science Daily, 8/1/11 - "150 minutes of exercise per week is beneficial, 300 minutes per week will give even more benefits ... researchers examined more than 3,000 studies of physical activity and heart disease, and included 33 of them in their analysis. Among those, nine measured leisure activity quantitatively"
• Increased muscle mass may lower risk of pre-diabetes: Study shows building muscle can lower person's risk of insulin resistance - Science Daily, 7/28/11 - "the greater an individual's total muscle mass, the lower the person's risk of having insulin resistance, the major precursor of type 2 diabetes"
• How Exercise Can Keep the Brain Fit - NYTimes.com, 7/27/11 - "While the wholly sedentary volunteers, and there were many of these, scored significantly worse over the years on tests of cognitive function, the most active group showed little decline. About 90 percent of those with the greatest daily energy expenditure could think and remember just about as well, year after year ... The same message emerged from another study published last week in the same journal. In it, women, most in their 70s, with vascular disease or multiple risk factors for developing that condition completed cognitive tests and surveys of their activities over a period of five years. Again, they were not spry. There were no marathon runners among them. The most active walked. But there was “a decreasing rate of cognitive decline” among the active group, the authors wrote. Their ability to remember and think did still diminish, but not as rapidly as among the sedentary ...scientists from the Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of British Columbia and other institutions have shown, for the first time, that light-duty weight training changes how well older women think and how blood flows within their brains. After 12 months of lifting weights twice a week, the women performed significantly better on tests of mental processing ability than a control group of women who completed a balance and toning program, while functional M.R.I. scans showed that portions of the brain that control such thinking were considerably more active in the weight trainers"
• Humans Alone See Brains Shrink With Age, Researchers Find - WSJ, 7/26/11 - "they found the human brains lost significant volume over time, while the chimpanzees didn't ... Stress can affect brain size. So can depression, research shows. Diet can be a factor, too. More broadly, though, humanity's unusual shrinking brain just may be the price our species pays for living so much longer than other primates ... During those extra decades of life, natural cell-repair mechanisms may wear out and neural circuits wither, the researchers said. As the brain normally ages, it acquires the neural equivalent of sore knees and stiff fingers. Natural grooves in the brain widen. Healthy swellings subside. And tangles of damaged neurons become dense thickets of dysfunctional synapses"
• Exercise Sharpens Older Minds - WebMD, 7/20/11 - "Two new studies add to growing evidence that physical activity helps to keep older people's brains sharp ... women in the highest two-fifths of physical activity had substantially lower rates of cognitive decline than women in the lowest exercise bracket ... In the second study, researchers used a more objective measure of energy expended during physical activity, employing the so-called doubly labeled water technique to determine how much water a person loses ... Over the next two to five years, those in the highest third of energy expenditure were substantially less likely to develop clinical cognitive impairment than those in the lowest third ... About 2% of people in the highest third suffered declines in cognitive function, compared with 5% in the middle third and 17% in the lowest third"
• Going Swimming? Guard Your Teeth - ABC News, 7/15/11 - "39 percent of competitive swimmers suffered from dental enamel erosion. In this recent paper, dentists from the New York University College of Dentistry analyzed the case of a 52-year-old man who complained of sensitive teeth, dark tooth staining, and enamel loss that came on quickly and had lasted for just five months. The only logical explanation for these sudden changes the researchers could pinpoint was his newly adopted, 90-minutes-per-day swimming routine ... Damage to tooth enamel occurs when the pH balance of swimming pool water drops too low, or becomes too acidic"
• Sport performance follows a physiological law; Study suggests peak at 20-30 years of age, then irreversible decline - Science Daily, 7/1/11 - "The evolution of the performances of an individual throughout his life follows an exponential growth curve to a peak before declining irreversibly, following another negative exponential curve. This peak is reached at the age of 26.1 years for the disciplines studied: athletics (26.0 years), swimming (21.0 years) and chess (31.4 years). For each data set, the evolution curve is representative of a range of 91.7% of the variance at the individual level and 98.5% of the variance in terms of sport events. Moreover, these cycles are observable in other physiological parameters such as the development of lung function or cognitive skills, but also at the level of cells, organisms and populations, reflecting the fractal properties of such a law"
• Phys Ed: To Stretch or Not to Stretch - nytimes.com, 6/22/11 - "So there you have the state of the science on stretching. Hockey goalies, gymnasts, cheerleaders and dancers should be stretching before workouts or performances. The rest of us are unlikely, the latest findings show, to sustain any harm from brief spurts of static stretching — but equally unlikely to gain much advantage" - So lets see, if you stretch for less than 30 seconds, its not going to harm you but you're not getting any benefit.  If you stretch for more than that it does more harm then good.  So what's the point in stretching?  They've been saying that since the '70's but people still do it.
• Swimmer's Ear Costs U.S. Half a Billion Yearly - WebMD, 5/19/11 - "Swimmer's ear, known to doctors as acute otitis externa, is an inflammation of the external ear canal. Bacterial infection is the typical cause. The symptoms include pain, tenderness, redness, and swelling of the ear canal. There can also be discharge from the ear" - Tell me about it.  I run three times per week and swim another three times per week.  I just had this.  I get it about every year and a half.
• Erectile dysfunction association with physical activity level and physical fitness in men aged 40-75 years - Int J Impot Res. 2011 May 12 - "This study showed that younger men with higher physical activity and better physical fitness are less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction. Multivariable analysis through logistic regression showed that age (odds ratio (OD)=1.15; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=1.07-1.23), physical activity (OD=10.38; 95% CI=3.94-27.39) and physical fitness (OD=4.62; 95% CI=1.75-12.25) were independent variables associated with erectile dysfunction. This study reinforces the concept that healthy habits have a direct effect on erectile function"
• Exercise protects the heart via nitric oxide, researchers discover - Science Daily, 5/4/11 - "Nitric oxide, a short-lived gas generated within the body, turns on chemical pathways that relax blood vessels to increase blood flow and activate survival pathways. Both the chemical nitrite and nitrosothiols, where nitric oxide is attached to proteins via sulfur, appear to act as convertible reservoirs for nitric oxide in situations where the body needs it, such as a lack of blood flow or oxygen ... Our study provides new evidence that nitric oxide generated during physical exercise is actually stored in the bloodstream and heart in the form of nitrite and nitrosothiols. These more stable nitric oxide intermediates appear to be critical for the cardioprotection against a subsequent heart attack ... voluntary exercise boosted levels of an enzyme that produces nitric oxide (eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase). Moreover, the levels of eNOS in heart tissue, and nitrite and nitrosothiols in the blood as well as heart tissue, stayed high for a week after exercise ceased, unlike other heart enzymes stimulated by exercise. The protective effects of exercise did not extend beyond four weeks after the exercise period was over, when nitrite and nitrosothiols in the heart returned to baseline"
• Aerobic exercise may improve non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "A study of 15 obese people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease revealed that the daily walks not only increase insulin sensitivity, but improve the liver's polyunsaturated lipid index (PUI), which is thought to be a marker of liver health ... The improvements are linked to an increase in the hormone adiponectin ... Adiponectin influences the body's response to insulin and is associated with a reduced risk of heart attack because of its anti-inflammatory properties"
• Put Those Shoes On: Running Won't Kill Your Knees - NPR, 3/28/11 - "We know from many long-term studies that running doesn't appear to cause much damage to the knees ... When we look at people with knee arthritis, we don't find much of a previous history of running, and when we look at runners and follow them over time, we don't find that their risk of developing osteoarthritis is any more than expected ... exercise, including jogging, may even be beneficial ... exercise appears to stimulate cartilage to repair to minor damage. It could be that the impact of body weight when the foot hits the ground increases production of certain proteins in the cartilage that make it stronger, he says" - Note:  I run six miles per day three times per week and swim three times per week.  I've never had knee problems.  Even my doc seems confused that I don't.
• Physical activity decreases salt's effect on blood pressure, study finds - Science Daily, 3/23/11 - "Investigators compared study participants' blood pressure on two one-week diets, one low in sodium (3,000 mg/day) and the other high in sodium (18,000 mg/day) ... The American Heart Association recommends consuming less than 1,500 mg/day of sodium ... Compared with the sedentary group, the odds of being salt-sensitive, adjusted for age and gender, fell: 10 percent in the next-to-lowest activity group ... 17 percent in the next-to-highest activity group ... 38 percent in the most active group"
• Exercise Reduces Risk for Colon Polyps, Resulting in Less Colon Cancer - Medscape, 3/9/11 - "reanalyzed data collected in 20 clinical trials that reported on physical activity levels (obtained mainly from questionnaires) in individuals who had undergone sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy (both symptomatic and screening). Most studies did not specify the reason for undergoing the procedure ... Together, these trials involved more than 250,000 individuals ... Overall, there was a significant inverse association between physical activity and colon polyps (fixed-effect relative risk [RR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 0.91; random-effects RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77 to 0.92) ... "Our meta-analysis found the effect was stronger, though not significantly so, for large or advanced adenomas than for the overall effect," they add ... The risk reduction (RR, 0.83) was "largely unchanged" when the analysis was restricted to the 18 studies in which the results for adenomatous polyps were separated from all polyps (i.e., hyperplastic, malignant polyps), they report"
• Can Exercise Keep You Young? - NYTimes.com, 3/2/11 - "in heartening new research published last week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, exercise reduced or eliminated almost every detrimental effect of aging in mice that had been genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace ... mitochondria can accumulate small genetic mutations, which under normal circumstances are corrected by specialized repair systems within the cell. Over time, as we age, the number of mutations begins to outstrip the system’s ability to make repairs, and mitochondria start malfunctioning and dying ... Half of the mice were allowed to run on a wheel for 45 minutes three times a week, beginning at 3 months ... At 8 months, when their sedentary lab mates were bald, frail and dying, the running rats remained youthful. They had full pelts of dark fur, no salt-and-pepper shadings. They also had maintained almost all of their muscle mass and brain volume. Their gonads were normal, as were their hearts. They could balance on narrow rods, the showoffs ... But perhaps most remarkable, although they still harbored the mutation that should have affected mitochondrial repair, they had more mitochondria over all and far fewer with mutations than the sedentary mice had"
• Stretching before a run does not prevent injury, study finds - Science Daily, 2/18/11 - "This study included 2,729 runners who run 10 or more miles per week. Of these runners, 1,366 were randomized to a stretch group, and 1,363 were randomized to a non-stretch group before running. Runners in the stretch group stretched their quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius/soleus muscle groups. The entire routine took 3 to 5 minutes and was performed immediately before running ... The study found that stretching before running neither prevents nor causes injury ... There was no significant difference in injury rates between the runners who stretched and the runners who didn't for any specific injury location or diagnosis" - Note:  I've read studies going as far back as the '70's saying the same thing but people still do it.  I remember showing fellow runners in the '70's a study published in "Time" (I believe) showing that stretching actually increased injuries.
• Exercise helps overweight children think better, do better in math - Science Daily, 2/10/11 - "Regular exercise improves the ability of overweight, previously inactive children to think, plan and even do math ... MRIs showed those who exercised experienced increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex -- an area associated with complex thinking, decision making and correct social behavior -- and decreased activity in an area of the brain that sits behind it. The shift forward appears consistent with more rapidly developing cognitive skills ... And the more they exercised, the better the result. Intelligence scores increased an average 3.8 points in those exercising 40 minutes per day after school for three months with a smaller benefit in those exercising 20 minutes daily ... Animal studies have shown that aerobic activity increases growth factors so the brain gets more blood vessels, more neurons and more connections between neurons. Studies in older adults have shown exercise benefits the brain and Davis's study extends the science to children and their ability to learn in school"
• Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jan 31 - "Here we show, in a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, that aerobic exercise training increases the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by 1 to 2 y. We also demonstrate that increased hippocampal volume is associated with greater serum levels of BDNF, a mediator of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Hippocampal volume declined in the control group, but higher preintervention fitness partially attenuated the decline, suggesting that fitness protects against volume loss. Caudate nucleus and thalamus volumes were unaffected by the intervention. These theoretically important findings indicate that aerobic exercise training is effective at reversing hippocampal volume loss in late adulthood, which is accompanied by improved memory function"
• Exercise May Slow Age-Related Memory Loss - Science Daily, 1/31/11 - "A new study suggests moderate aerobic exercise may slow or even reverse age-related memory loss in older adults by increasing the size of the hippocampus ... one year of moderate aerobic exercise, like walking, in a group of older adults increased the volume of hippocampus by 2%, which effectively reversed the age-associated shrinkage by one to two years ... Brain scans taken at the start of the study and again one year later showed that the right and left sides of the hippocampus increased by 2.12% and 1.97%, respectively, in the aerobic exercise group ... these regions decreased in volume in the comparison group by 1.40% and 1.43%, respectively"
• Comparison of Central Artery Elasticity in Swimmers, Runners, and the Sedentary - Am J Cardiol. 2011 Jan 17 - "Brachial systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure were higher (p <0.05) in swimmers than in sedentary controls and runners. Runners and swimmers had lower (p <0.05) carotid systolic blood pressure and carotid pulse pressure than sedentary controls. Carotid arterial compliance was higher (p <0.05) and β-stiffness index was lower (p <0.05) in runners and swimmers than in sedentary controls. There were no significant group differences between runners and swimmers. Cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity was greater (p <0.05) in runners than in sedentary controls and swimmers and baroreflex sensitivity tended to be higher in swimmers than in sedentary controls (p = 0.07). Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation was significant greater (p <0.05) in runners compared with sedentary controls and swimmers. In conclusion, our present findings are consistent with the notion that habitual swimming exercise may be an effective endurance exercise for preventing loss in central arterial compliance"
• Exercise may lower risk of death for men with prostate cancer - Science Daily, 1/5/11 - "Compared with men who walked less than 90 minutes per week at an easy pace, those who walked 90 or more minutes per week at a normal to very brisk pace had a 46% lower risk of dying from any cause ... Only vigorous activity -- defined as more than three hours per week -- was associated with reduced prostate cancer mortality. Men who did vigorous activity had a 61% lower risk of prostate cancer-specific death compared with men who did less than one hour per week of vigorous activity"
• The Benefits of Exercising Before Breakfast - NYTimes.com, 12/15/10 - "One of the groups ate a hefty, carbohydrate-rich breakfast before exercising and continued to ingest carbohydrates, in the form of something like a sports drink, throughout their workouts. The second group worked out without eating first and drank only water during the training. They made up for their abstinence with breakfast later that morning, comparable in calories to the other group’s trencherman portions ... Only the group that exercised before breakfast gained almost no weight and showed no signs of insulin resistance. They also burned the fat they were taking in more efficiently"
• Even kids who play sports don't exercise enough - MSNBC, 12/7/10 - "Practices sometimes lasted more than three hours, but much of that time is likely spent improving skills and strategy, during which kids are often standing in line. In baseball, hitting, catching and other skills require little activity, he added. "So, time spent on skills can compete for active time.""
• Light exercise may prevent osteoarthritis, study suggests - Science Daily, 11/29/10 - "participating in a high-impact activity, such as running, more than one hour per day at least three times a week appears associated with more degenerated cartilage and potentially a higher risk for development of osteoarthritis ... On the other hand, engaging in light exercise and refraining from frequent knee-bending activities may protect against the onset of the disease"
• Effects of aerobic and resistance training on hemoglobin A1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial - JAMA. 2010 Nov 24;304(20):2253-62 - "The mean changes in HbA(1c) were not statistically significant in either the resistance training (-0.16%; 95% CI, -0.46% to 0.15%; P = .32) or the aerobic (-0.24%; 95% CI, -0.55% to 0.07%; P = .14) groups compared with the control group. Only the combination exercise group improved maximum oxygen consumption (mean, 1.0 mL/kg per min; 95% CI, 0.5-1.5, P < .05) compared with the control group. All exercise groups reduced waist circumference from -1.9 to -2.8 cm compared with the control group. The resistance training group lost a mean of -1.4 kg fat mass (95% CI, -2.0 to -0.7 kg; P < .05) and combination training group lost a mean of -1.7 (-2.3 to -1.1 kg; P < .05) compared with the control group ... Among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a combination of aerobic and resistance training compared with the nonexercise control group improved HbA(1c) levels. This was not achieved by aerobic or resistance training alone"
• Regular exercise reduces large number of health risks including dementia and some cancers, study finds - Science Daily, 11/15/10 - "Regular exercise can reduce around two dozen physical and mental health conditions and slow down how quickly the body ages ... Health conditions covered by the review include: cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure"
• Exercise may reduce risk of endometrial cancer - Science Daily, 11/9/10 - "Those who exercised for 150 minutes a week or more had a 34 percent reduced risk of endometrial cancer compared with those women who were inactive"
• Professional athletes should drink more water, Spanish research finds - Science Daily, 10/21/10 - "91% of professional basketball, volleyball, handball and football players are dehydrated when they begin their training sessions"
• Exercise counteracts fatty liver disease in rats fed on fructose-rich diet - Lipids Health Dis. 2010 Oct 14;9(1):116 - "The fructose-fed rats showed decreased insulin sensitivity, and the late-exercise training protocol counteracted this alteration. There was no difference between the groups in levels of serum ALT, whereas AST and liver lipids increased in the fructose-fed sedentary group when compared with the other groups. Serum triglycerides concentrations were higher in the fructose-fed trained groups when compared with the corresponding control group"
• Walk much? It may protect your memory down the road - Science Daily, 10/13/10 - "walking at least six miles per week may protect brain size and in turn, preserve memory in old age ... people who walked at least 72 blocks per week, or roughly six to nine miles, had greater gray matter volume than people who didn't walk as much, when measured at the nine-year time point after their recorded activity. Walking more than 72 blocks did not appear to increase gray matter volume any further ... those who walked the most cut their risk of developing memory problems in half"
• Exercise-induced changes in metabolic intermediates, hormones, and inflammatory markers associated with improvements in insulin sensitivity - Diabetes Care. 2010 Oct 4 - "exercise training (ET) ... With ET, improvements in S(I) were associated with reductions in by-products of fatty acid oxidation and increases in glycine and proline (P<0.05, R(2)=0.59); these relationships were retained 15 days after cessation of ET (P<0.05, R(2)=0.34). Conclusions: These observations support prior observations in animal models that ET promotes more efficient mitochondrial beta oxidation and challenges current hypotheses regarding ET and glycine metabolism"
• Phys Ed: Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter? - NYTimes.com, 9/15/10 - "among more than a million 18-year-old boys who joined the army, better fitness was correlated with higher I.Q.’s, even among identical twins. The fitter the twin, the higher his I.Q. The fittest of them were also more likely to go on to lucrative careers than the least fit, rendering them less likely, you would hope, to live in their parents’ basements. No correlation was found between muscular strength and I.Q. scores. There’s no evidence that exercise leads to a higher I.Q., but the researchers suspect that aerobic exercise, not strength training, produces specific growth factors and proteins that stimulate the brain"
• Aerobic exercise relieves insomnia - Science Daily, 9/15/10 - "Exercise improved the participants' self-reported sleep quality, elevating them from a diagnosis of poor sleeper to good sleeper. They also reported fewer depressive symptoms, more vitality and less daytime sleepiness"
• Ultra-endurance running may not be good for the heart, study suggests - Science Daily, 8/31/10
• More time spent sitting linked to higher risk of death; Risk found to be independent of physical activity level - Science Daily, 7/22/10 - "more leisure time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of mortality, particularly in women. Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting were 37 percent more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat fewer than 3 hours a day. Men who sat more than 6 hours a day were 18 percent more likely to die than those who sat fewer than 3 hours per day. The association remained virtually unchanged after adjusting for physical activity level. Associations were stronger for cardiovascular disease mortality than for cancer mortality"
• Moderate Physical Activity Linked to Lower Dementia Risk - Medscape, 7/12/10 - "Compared with those with lower levels of activity, participants reporting moderate to heavy physical activity had a 45% lower risk for dementia over time"
• Aerobic fitness and multidomain cognitive function in advanced age - Int Psychogeriatr. 2010 Jun 22:1-11 - "The moderately-fit group achieved significantly better scores on the global cognitive score (U = 97, p = 0.04), and a significant correlation was found between peak VO2 and attention, executive function, and global cognitive score (rs = .37, .39, .38 respectively). The trend for superior cognitive scores in the moderate-fitness compared to the low-fitness groups was unequivocal, both in terms of accuracy and reaction time.  Conclusion: Maintenance of higher levels of cardiovascular fitness may help protect against cognitive deterioration, even at an advanced age"
• Is Exercise the Best Drug for Depression - Time Magazine, 6/19/10 - "depressed adults who participated in an aerobic exercise plan improved as much as those treated with sertraline, the drug that was marketed as Zoloft ... Subsequent trials have repeated these results, showing again and again that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication, and that both groups do better than patients given only a placebo ... exercise may alter brain chemistry in much the same way that antidepressant drugs do — regulating the key neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine"
• Getting extra sleep improves the athletic performance of collegiate football players - Science Daily, 6/8/10 - "football players' sprint times improved significantly after seven to eight weeks of sleep extension. Average sprint time in the 20-yard shuttle improved from 4.71 seconds to 4.61 seconds, and the average 40-yard dash time decreased from 4.99 seconds to 4.89 seconds. Daytime sleepiness and fatigue also decreased significantly, while vigor scores significantly improved"
• To burn more fat, don’t eat before workout - MSNBC, 6/3/10 - "cyclists who trained without eating burned significantly more fat than their counterparts who ate ... When you exercise (after fasting), your adrenaline is high and your insulin is low ... That ratio is favorable for your muscles to oxidize (break down) more fatty acids"
• Brief exercise reduces impact of stress on cell aging, study shows - Science Daily, 5/27/10 - "A growing body of research suggests that short telomeres are linked to a range of health problems, including coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as early death ... In the study, 62 post-menopausal women -- many of whom were caring for spouses or parents with dementia ... when participants were divided into groups -- an inactive group, and an active group (i.e., they met federal recommendations for 75 minutes of weekly physical activity) -- only the inactive high stress group had shorter telomeres. The active high stress group did not have shorter telomeres. In other words, stress predicted shorter telomeres in the sedentary group, but not in the active group"
• Those who exercise when young have stronger bones when they grow old - 5/3/10 - "those who actively did sports, and also those who used to do sports, had greater bone density than those who had never done sports ... men who had stopped training more than six years ago still had larger and thicker bones in the lower leg than those who had never done sport ... The bones respond best when you're young, and if you train and load them with your own bodyweight during these years, it has a stimulating effect on their development"
• Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflections in Marathon Runners - Am J Hypertens. 2010 May 20 - "Marathon runners had significantly higher systolic, diastolic, pulse (both aortic and brachial), and mean pressures compared to controls (P < 0.05 for all). Marathon runners had significantly higher PWV (6.89 m/s vs. 6.33 m/s, P < 0.01), whereas there was no difference in AIx and AIx corrected for heart rate (AIx@75) compared to controls (13.8% vs. 13.9%, P = 0.985 and 8.2% vs. 10.3%, P = 0.340, respectively). Marathon race caused a significant fall in both AIx (12.2% vs. -5.8%, P < 0.001) and AIx@75 (7.0% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.01), whereas PWV did not change significantly (6.66 m/s vs. 6.74 m/s, P = 0.690). Aortic and brachial systolic, diastolic, and mean pressures were also decreased (P < 0.05).Conclusions A significant fall in wave reflections was observed after marathon race, whereas aortic stiffness was not altered. Moreover, marathon runners have increased aortic stiffness and pressures, whereas wave reflections indexes do not differ compared to controls"
• Regular aerobic exercise is good for the brain - Science Daily, 4/26/10 - "Regular exercise speeds learning and improves blood flow to the brain ... monkeys who exercised regularly at an intensity that would improve fitness in middle-aged people learned to do tests of cognitive function faster and had greater blood volume in the brain's motor cortex than their sedentary counterparts ... This suggests people who exercise are getting similar benefits ... When the researchers examined tissue samples from the brain's motor cortex, they found that mature monkeys that ran had greater vascular volume than middle-aged runners or sedentary animals. But those blood flow changes reversed in monkeys that were sedentary after exercising for five months"
• Long-Term Marathon Running Linked With Increased Coronary Calcification - Medscape, 3/22/10 - "Compared with controls, marathoners had significantly more calcified plaque volume--274 mm3 for the marathoners and 169 mm3 for the controls--and higher calcium scores and noncalcified plaque volumes, although the latter two measures did not reach statistical significance"
• High-intensity interval training is time-efficient and effective, study suggests - Science Daily, 3/12/10 - "Doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, three times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less strenuously ... less extreme HIT method may work well for people (the older, less fit, and slightly overweight among us) whose doctors might have worries about them exercising "all-out.""
• Physical activity associated with healthier aging: Links between exercise and cognitive function, bone density and overall health - Science Daily, 1/25/10 - "After one year, women in both resistance training groups significantly improved their scores on tests of selective attention (maintaining mental focus) and conflict resolution. The program simultaneously improved muscular function in the women ... Moderate or high physical activity appears to be associated with a lower the risk of developing cognitive impairment in older adults after a two-year period ... The incidence of new cognitive impairment among participants with no, moderate and high activity at baseline was 13.9 percent, 6.7 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively," the authors write ... Fractures due to falls were twice as common in the controls vs. the exercise group"
• Running Boosts Brainpower - WebMD, 1/19/10 - "Running may do more than improve your cardiovascular fitness and overall physique. It might actually make you smarter ... Scientists reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences say that running has a profound impact on the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory"
• Young adults who exercise get higher IQ Scores - Science Daily, 12/2/09 - "The study shows a clear link between good physical fitness and better results for the IQ test. The strongest links are for logical thinking and verbal comprehension ... Being fit means that you also have good heart and lung capacity and that your brain gets plenty of oxygen ... This may be one of the reasons why we can see a clear link with fitness, but not with muscular strength. We are also seeing that there are growth factors that are important"
• To keep muscles strong, the 'garbage' has to go - Science Daily, 12/1/09
• Molecular Proof: Exercise Keeps You Young - WebMD, 12/1/09 - "Compared to people who did not exercise, elite runners in the study had cells that looked much younger under a microscope ... Just as the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces keep the laces from fraying, telomeres protect the chromosomes that carry genes during cell division ... Each time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die ... Researchers now believe telomere shortening is critical to aging, making people more vulnerable to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer ... That study suggested exercise might trump genes when it comes to keeping people young"
• Cardiovascular Fitness May Sharpen Mind - WebMD, 11/30/09 - "A large new study links cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood to increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement later in life ... When researchers looked at twins, they found that environmental factors rather than genetics appeared to play the largest role in these associations. Non-shared environmental influences accounted for 80% or more of differences in academic achievement, whereas genetics accounted for less than 15% of these differences"
• Too much physical activity may lead to arthritis - Science Daily, 11/30/09 - "Middle-aged men and women who engage in high levels of physical activity may be unknowingly causing damage to their knees and increasing their risk for osteoarthritis"
• Exercise Keeps Dangerous Visceral Fat Away A Year After Weight Loss, Study Finds - Science Daily, 10/29/09 - "as little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or resistance training helps not only to prevent weight gain, but also to inhibit a regain of harmful visceral fat one year after weight loss"
• Exercise Minimizes Weight Regain By Reducing Appetite And Burning Fat First, Carbs Later - Science Daily, 9/4/09
• Sedentary Lives Can Be Deadly: Physical Inactivity Poses Greatest Health Risk To Americans, Expert Says - Science Daily, 8/10/09 - "Blair is a professor of exercise science and epidemiology at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health. He is one of the world's premier experts on exercise and its health benefits and was the senior scientific editor of the 1996 U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health ... approximately 25 percent to 35 percent of American adults are inactive ... meaning that they have sedentary jobs, no regular physical activity program and are generally inactive around the house or yard ... these individuals are doubling their risk of developing numerous health conditions compared with those who are even moderately active and fit ... moderately fit men lived six years longer than unfit men ... Blair also highlighted the benefits of exercise on the mind, referring to recent emerging evidence that activity delays the mind's decline and is good for brain health overall"
• Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin - Time Magazine, 8/9/09 - "Many obesity researchers now believe that very frequent, low-level physical activity — the kind humans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented — may actually work better for us than the occasional bouts of exercise you get as a gym rat ... You cannot sit still all day long and then have 30 minutes of exercise without producing stress on the muscles ... The muscles will ache, and you may not want to move after. But to burn calories, the muscle movements don't have to be extreme. It would be better to distribute the movements throughout the day"
• Aerobic Activity May Keep The Brain Young - Science Daily, 6/29/09 - "The brain’s blood vessels naturally narrow and become more tortuous with advancing age, but the study showed the cerebrovascular patterns of active patients appeared “younger” than those of relatively inactive subjects. The brains of these less active patients had increased tortuosity produced by vessel elongation and wider expansion curves"
• High Levels Of Cycling Training Damage Sperm: What Can Be Done To Protect Triathletes From Infertility? - Science Daily, 6/29/09 - "While all triathletes had less than 10% of normal-looking sperm, the men with less than 4% – at which percentage they would generally be considered to have significant fertility problems – were systematically covering over 300km per week on their bicycles"
• Regular Daily Exercise Does Not Increase Total Sleep Time - Science Daily, 6/8/09
• 24 Hours of Fat Burning From Exercise? - WebMD, 5/28/09
• Only Exercise Effective In Preventing Low-back Problems, Review Suggests - Science Daily, 3/1/09 - "Strong and consistent evidence finds many popular prevention methods to fail while exercise has a significant impact, both in terms of preventing symptoms and reducing back pain-related work loss"
• People Who Exercise Lower Their Risk Of Colon Cancer - Science Daily, 2/12/09 - "people who exercised the most were 24 percent less likely to develop the disease than those who exercised the least"
• Physically Fit Kids Do Better In School - Science Daily, 1/28/09 - "physically fit kids scored better on standardized math and English tests than their less fit peers"
• Exercise No Danger For Joints, Review Suggests - Science Daily, 1/27/09 - "There is no good evidence supporting a harmful effect of exercise on joints in the setting of normal joints and regular exercise"
• Physical Activity Improves Mood For People Serious Mental Illness - Science Daily, 1/14/09 - "even meager levels of physical activity can improve the mood of people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) such as bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia"
• Prospective cohort study of lifetime physical activity and breast cancer survival - Int J Cancer. 2008 Nov 17 - "A decreased risk of breast cancer death and all deaths was observed among women in the highest versus the lowest quartiles of recreational activity"
• Physical Exercise Keeps Brain Young - WebMD, 11/19/08 - "The brain-boosting effects of exercise diminish rapidly after early middle age ... mice that worked out every day grew 2.5 times more new brain cells than couch potato mice. And in the exercising mice, far more of these new neurons survived, grew, and integrated into existing brain networks"
• Physical Activity, Sleep May Cut Cancer Risk - WebMD, 11/17/08 - "Among the most physically active women younger than 65 -- women who reported getting about an hour a day of moderate physical activity -- cancer was 47% rarer for those who got at least seven hours of nightly sleep. Those findings held regardless of other cancer risk factors"
• Heart Rate-lowering Drug Improves Exercise Capacity In Patients With Stable Angina - Science Daily, 11/4/08 - "adding ivabradine over and above the standard of care achieves increases exercise tolerance"
• Vigorous Exercise Cuts Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 10/30/08 - "When we evaluated the relation of vigorous activity to breast cancer among women who were of normal weight ... the risk among women reporting the highest amount of vigorous activity decreased by about 30% compared with women with no vigorous activity"
• Running Slows the Effects of Aging - WebMD, 8/11/08 - "Older runners have fewer disabilities, remain more active as they get into their 70s and 80s, and are half as likely as non-runners to die early deaths, the study shows ... If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise ... The researchers used national death records to learn which participants died and why. Nineteen years into the study, 34% of the non-runners had died, compared with only 15% of the runners"
• 'Exercise Pill' Is No Replacement For Real Exercise, Expert Cautions - Science Daily, 8/5/08 - "Media reports have described this substance as an “exercise pill,” potentially eliminating the need for exercise ... A complete list of the 26 benefits not tested in the paper is included below"
• Exercise Could Be The Heart's Fountain Of Youth - Science Daily, 7/23/08 - "Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but endurance exercise seems to make it younger ... older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts ... after endurance exercise training -- which involved walking, running or cycling exercises three to five days a week for about an hour per session -- the participants' hearts doubled their glucose uptake during high-energy demand"
• Exercise May Cut Risk of Dementia - WebMD, 6/3/08 - "In a study of more than 1,400 adults, those who were physically active in their free time during middle age were 52% less likely to develop dementia 21 years later than their sedentary counterparts. Their chance of developing Alzheimer's disease was slashed even more, by 62%"
• Stay Fit, Avoid Breast Cancer? - WebMD, 5/12/08 - "the women whose activity equaled 13 walking hours a week or 3.25 running hours per week had a 23% lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer compared with the less active women. The strongest association was seen with increased exercise during adolescent and young adult years (ages 12-22)"
• Regular Exercise Through Middle Age May Delay Biological Aging - Medscape, 4/29/08 - "Review of the available evidence suggests that a regular program of aerobic exercise can slow or reverse functional deterioration, lowering biological age by at least 10 years, and potentially prolonging independence by a similar amount"
• Tailored Workouts for Heart Disease? - WebMD, 4/22/08 - "Endurance training involved one- to three-hour sessions of rowing on the water or on gym equipment. Strength training involved weight training and drills designed to improve muscle strength and reaction time ... Both the right and left ventricles of the endurance athletes expanded, while the heart muscle in the left ventricle tended to thicken (but did not expand) among the strength athletes. The ventricles are the principal pumping chambers of the heart and are responsible for sending blood to the body and to the lungs ... The heart relaxed more in the endurance athletes, but less well in the strength athletes, though still remaining within normal ranges. In general, better heart muscle relaxation is considered advantageous"
• Veggies, Exercise May Cut Cancer Risk - WebMD, 4/15/08 - "Overall, women who engaged in recreational exercise 30 to 150 minutes per week were 50% less likely to have breast cancer than women who exercised less than a half hour per week"
• Men Who Are Continually Active At Work May Have Decreased Prostate Cancer Risk, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 2/13/08 - "The message from this study for today is that if you’re more active, you may be able to prevent this cancer from happening"
• Recreational Physical Activity and Cancer Risk in Subsites of the Colon (the Nord-Trondelag Health Study) - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Jan;17(1):183-8 - "Overall, we found an inverse association between recreational physical activity and colon cancer risk, but subsite analyses showed that the association was confined to cancer in the transverse and sigmoid colon. The adjusted HR, comparing people who reported high versus no physical activity, was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.25-0.78) for cancer in the transverse colon and 0.48 (95% CI, 0.31-0.75) for cancer in the sigmoid colon. The corresponding HR for cancer mortality was 0.33 (95% CI, 0.14-0.76) for the transverse colon and 0.29 (95% CI, 0.15-0.56) for the sigmoid colon. For rectal cancer, there was no association with physical activity in these data"
• Surprise -- Cholesterol May Actually Pose Benefits, Study Shows - Science Daily, 1/10/08 - "Three days a week for 12 weeks, participants performed several exercises, including stretching, stationary bike riding and vigorous weight lifting ... At the conclusion of the study, the researchers found that there was a significant association of dietary cholesterol and change in strength. In general, those with higher cholesterol intake also had the highest muscle strength gain ... One possible explanation is through cholesterol’s important role in the inflammation process"
• Marathon Runners Beware Of Drinking Too Much Water - Science Daily, 1/9/08
• Staying Active And Drinking Moderately Is The Key To A Long Life, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 1/9/08 - "ischaemic heart disease ... People who drank at least one drink a week and were physically active had a 44-50 per cent lower risk of IHD compared to physically inactive non-drinkers"
• Moderate Exercise May Cut Dementia Risk - WebMD,12/19/07- "Moderate physical activity (such as walking and climbing stairs) may help prevent dementia in people aged 65 and older"
• Physical activity recommendations and decreased risk of mortality - Arch Intern Med. 2007 Dec 10;167(22):2453-60 - "During 1 265 347 person-years of follow-up, 7900 participants died. Compared with being inactive, achievement of activity levels that approximate the recommendations for moderate activity (at least 30 minutes on most days of the week) or vigorous exercise (at least 20 minutes 3 times per week) was associated with a 27% (relative risk [RR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.78) and 32% (RR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.64-0.73) decreased mortality risk, respectively. Physical activity reflective of meeting both recommendations was related to substantially decreased mortality risk overall (RR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.46-0.54) and in subgroups, including smokers (RR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.44-0.53) and nonsmokers (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.45-0.64), normal weight (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.39-0.52) and overweight or obese individuals (RR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.44-0.54), and those with 2 h/d (RR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.44-0.63) and more than 2 h/d of television or video watching (RR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.45-0.55). Engaging in physical activity at less than recommended levels was also related to reduced mortality risk (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.76-0.86)"
• Fit Beats Fat for a Longer Life - WebMD, 12/4/07 - "Fitness was found to be a strong predictor of longevity in the study, which involved adults ages 60 and older, while obesity had little influence on death risk"
• Use It Or Lose It: Physical Activity In Middle Age - Science Daily, 11/28/07 - "Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK, have concluded a study that proves a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life -- regardless of body weight"
• Exercise Helps Repair Muscle Damage In Heart Failure Patients - Science Daily, 11/7/07
• Just 30 Minutes Vigorous Exercise A Day Can Stabilize Body Mass Index - Science Daily, 11/5/07
• Expensive Trainer Running Shoes Are A Waste Of Money - Science Daily, 10/10/07
• Exercise When Young May Reduce Risk Of Fractures Later In Life - Science Daily, 12/7/06 - "Even though the best time to gain lifetime bone health benefits is while people are young, exercising when people are older is essential to maintain bone mass and balance, as well as maintain aerobic fitness, all of which aid in reducing the risk of low-trauma (osteoporotic) fractures associated with aging"
• Fasting Blood Glucose Levels Are Related to Exercise Capacity in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease - Medscape, 12/5/06 - "The VO2max values were lower in subjects with FBG levels between 126 and 140 and ≥140 mg/dL ... The lower exercise capacity of patients with CAD with higher FBG levels could theoretically be attributed to differences in left ventricular dimensions and pump function, ischemia, or differences in baseline and exercise-induced hemodynamics, compared with patients with normoglycemia"
• Walking Not Enough For Significant Exercise Benefits - Science Daily, 9/22/06 - "low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely going to give anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate the intensity"
• Ear Drops Best for Swimmer's Ear - WebMD, 3/31/06
• First Clinical Guidelines Issued For Treatment Of 'Swimmer's Ear' - Science Daily, 3/29/06
• Study: Lifting weights attacks belly fat - USA Today, 3/3/06 - "Women who did the weight-training for two years had only a 7% increase in intra-abdominal fat, compared to a 21% increase in the group given exercise advice"
• Working out may help prevent colds, flu - MSNBC, 1/17/06 - "moderate amounts of aerobic exercise such as jogging, brisk walking and cycling during the cold and flu season boost the body’s defenses against viruses and bacteria"
• Research shows exercise protects against Parkinson's - USA Today, 1/17/06 - "men who said they jogged, played basketball or did some other sweat-breaking activity at least twice a week as young adults reduced their risk of getting Parkinson's later by 60%"
• Staying active helps keep the mind sharp - MSNBC, 1/16/06 - "healthy people who reported exercising regularly had a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of dementia"
• Seeking Long Life? Researchers Get Clues - WebMD, 11/14/05 - "Compared to those with low levels of physical activity, highly active men in the study lived 3.7 years longer and moderately active men lived 1.3 years longer. In women, the figures were 3.5 and 1.5 years"
• Regular Exercise Keeps Brain Young - WebMD, 11/14/05 - "In people, that translates to a daily 30-minute walk or a light 1-mile run ... The DNA for these animals after two years looked as if it were from their younger counterparts of only about 6 months of age"
• Don't Run Away From Jogging - WashingtonPost.com, 10/4/05 - "regular runners reported about 25 percent less musculoskeletal pain than the controls. The benefit was seen in participants through the age of 76"
• Exercise Fights 'Hidden' Body Fat - WebMD, 9/14/05 - "Higher amounts of exercise cut deep belly fat and fat around the waist ... Deep belly fat (technically called "visceral fat" or fat surrounding organs within the abdomen) has been linked to health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors that greatly increase the chance of developing these diseases"
• Studies Link Bike Seats, Erectile Dysfunction - WebMD, 8/25/05 - "three new studies in The Journal of Sexual Medicine ... when erectile dysfunction is related to bicycling, it's linked to pressure on the perineum (the area between the anus and scrotum where nerves and arteries pass). The pressure, which comes from sitting on a bicycle seat with a nose extension, restricts blood flow to the penis"
• Is exercising at night really so bad? - MSNBC, 8/23/05
• Level of Activity Key to Cutting Stroke Risk - WebMD, 8/4/05 - "Being moderately to highly active during leisure time can slash stroke risk ... This means vigorous activity (like running, swimming, or heavy gardening) for more than three hours a week"
• Fitness Level Predicts Likelihood of Death - WebMD, 8/3/05 - "Having a good fitness level for one's age predicts better survival ... If you are below the fitness level for your age, you are more likely to die ... women double their risk of death if they can't exercise at 85% of the level normal for their age"
• Fitness Level Declines Dramatically With Age - WebMD, 7/25/05 - "By participating in a training program, you can raise your aerobic capacity 15% to 25%, which in our study would be equivalent to being 10-20 years younger"
• Exercise May Boost Performance on the Job - WebMD, 6/8/05
• Fitness in 6 Minutes a Week - WebMD, 6/3/05
• Aerobic Exercise, Weights Boost Bone Strength - WebMD, 4/4/05
• Type 2 Diabetes: The More Exercise, the Better - WebMD, 3/25/05
• Less exercise is 'just as good' - BBC News, 3/24/05
• Exercise Away Risk of Early Death - WebMD, 12/29/04 - "After six months, 18% of exercisers and 15% of the comparison group no longer had metabolic syndrome. However, 8% of volunteers in the comparison group had developed the syndrome ... Older people can benefit greatly from exercise, especially to reduce their risk for developing metabolic syndrome"
• Exercising More Cuts Need for Doctor Visits - WebMD, 12/9/04 - "Fit men, as well as those who become fit, may reduce health care costs by more than 50%"
• Exercise Increases Bone Mass: Start Early For Long-Lasting Effects - Science Daily, 10/7/04 - "Mechanical loading through exercise builds bone strength and this effect is most pronounced during skeletal growth and development"
• Beginners Take Weightlifting Too Easily - WebMD, 9/17/04
• Study: Weightlifters Don't Lift Enough - Intelihealth, 9/15/04
• Olympian Today, Couch Potato Tomorrow? - WebMD, 9/3/04
• Muscles Are Smarter Than You Think: Acidity Helps Prevent Muscle Fatigue - Science Daily, 8/23/04
• The Downside to Stretching Muscles - WebMD, 8/19/04
• Intermittent Exercise Better Than Continuous - Doctor's Guide, 8/17/04
• Regardless of Weight, Physical Activity Lowers Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 9/25/03 - "A new study shows a brisk 30-minute walk every day can substantially lower a person's risk of diabetes, no matter how much they weigh"
• Lack of Physical Fitness Hurts Women More - WebMD, 9/15/03
• A Little Exercise Lowers Blood Pressure - WebMD, 8/29/03 - "The ability to lower blood pressure was greatest among those who exercised 61-90 minutes per week -- an average of 12 point drop in systolic and eight points in diastolic. But there were no further reductions in systolic blood pressure among those who exercised more than 90 minutes a week ... The researchers also found that how many times the participants exercised per week had no obvious effect on blood pressure -- just the total amount of time"
• Stress Incontinence: Exercise Works Best - WebMD, 7/15/03
• How much exercise is enough? - MSNBC, 5/14/03
• It's Never Too Late to Start Exercise - WebMD, 5/13/03
• Exercise Can Help Dissolve Blood Clots - WebMD, 5/8/03
• Staying in the Game - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 5/03
• Walking Won't Prevent Heart Disease - WebMD, 4/15/03 - "only more strenuous exercise and physical activity, such as jogging, swimming, and climbing stairs, on a regular basis can significantly reduce the risk of early death due to heart disease"
• Textured Shoe Insoles Prevent Sports Injuries - WebMD, 4/9/03
• Exercise Training, Without Weight Loss, Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Postheparin Plasma Lipase Activity in Previously Sedentary Adults - Medscape, 3/19/03 - "Exercise, without weight loss, increases SI [insulin sensitivity] and PHPL activity in previously sedentary adults, without changing K2 or fasting lipid levels. Furthermore, increased LPL is associated with a decreased total:HDL ratio, and an increased LPL:HL ratio is associated with a decreased waist circumference. Therefore, even modest amounts of exercise in the absence of weight loss positively affect markers of glucose and fat metabolism in previously sedentary, middle-aged adults" - I threw this out because I didn't know that "decreased total:HDL ratio ... is associated with a decreased waist circumference".  This might be a long shot but that sounds like increasing insulin sensitivity via such methods as metformin and increasing HDL via supplements such as niacin might decrease pot bellies. - Ben
• Heart Failure Patients Benefit From Exercise - WebMD, 3/3/03 - "Exercise may be the best medicine for even those with the weakest hearts, such as people with heart failure who are awaiting a heart transplant"
• Exercise Cuts Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/10/03 - "women who reported high levels of physical activity from as young as age 16 in some cases cut their risk of developing breast cancer after menopause in half, compared to women who reported no strenuous activity ... The study has a drawback, though, that all such studies face, which is what's called a "healthy patient bias." In this case, women who exercise often might be more apt to take care of themselves in other ways, so that a decrease in breast cancer later in life may not be due to the exercise itself, but rather some other associated factor. The researchers accounted for this by factoring in subjects such as smoking history and weight. "After adjusting for all these factors we're pretty confident that what we see is the effect of exercise,""
• Long distance Women Runners Risk Low Bone Mineral Density - Doctor's Guide, 1/29/03
• Exercise Saves Brain Cells - WebMD, 1/29/03 - "aerobic exercise can help protect brain tissue from age-related damage and mental decline ... the brain loses an average of 15% to 25% of its tissue between the ages of 30 and 90 ... exercise decreased the amount of brain-tissue loss associated with aging"
• Physical Activity Helps Even Sick Lungs - WebMD, 1/28/03
• Ex-Athletes Prone to Joint Problems - WebMD, 1/27/03
• Long-Distance Runners Risk Bone Loss - WebMD, 1/27/03
• Exercise Alone Trims Tummy, Health Risks - WebMD, 1/14/03 - "173 sedentary, overweight menopausal women between the ages of 50 and 75 were randomly assigned ... Women in the exercise group participated in moderate exercise, such as brisk walking or riding a stationary bike for an average total of about 171 minutes a week ... After 12 months, researchers found that weight loss among the exercisers was modest, but the loss of intra-abdominal fat was considerable and increased with the amount of exercise. Women who exercised for more than 195 minutes a week lost almost 7% of intra-abdominal fat compared to a loss of about 4% among those who exercised between 136 to 195 minutes per week"
• Exercise Capacity Predicts Overall Mortality in Healthy Women - Doctor's Guide, 11/22/02
• Daily Exercise Training As Effective As Stent Angioplasty In Stable Coronary Artery Disease - Doctor's Guide, 11/19/02
• Aerobic Exercise Improves Insulin Sensitivity Without Affecting Plasma Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha - Doctor's Guide, 11/19/02
• Exercise Cuts Risk Of Hip Fractures - Intelihealth, 11/13/02
• Older Runners Delay Disability, Death - WebMD, 11/12/02
• Dose-Response Relationship Between Exercise, Heart Disease In Men - Doctor's Guide, 10/23/02 - "There is a significant inverse, dose-response relationship between total physical activity and risk of myocardial infarction (MI), and coronary heart disease (CHD) in men"
• 1 Hour of Exercise Daily Put to Question - WebMD, 9/18/02
• How Much Exercise Is Enough? - Intelihealth, 9/16/02
• Heart's Autonomic Responsiveness Preserved By Fitness - Doctor's Guide, 9/5/02
• Walking Is As Heart-Protective As Heavy Exercise For All Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/5/02
• Walking Lowers Women's Heart Risk - WebMD, 9/4/02 - "women who either walked briskly or exercised vigorously at least two and a half hours per week had a 30% lower risk of heart-related problems, such as heart attack, stroke, the need for heart bypass surgery, heart failure, or death. And the heart-healthy benefits extended to all women in the study, regardless of race or ethnic group, age, or weight"