Mindful Moments: Patience
From Lorren- Listening to this was worth 6 minutes of my day!
“Erin Easton is a Colorado native whose wandering spirit took her on a journey all over the globe leading her to the mindful practice that healed her mind, body, and spirit and brought peace into her life. “
Congress must address SNAP’s contribution to poor health
“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country’s largest nutrition assistance program, sending more than 22 million low-income households an average of $490 per month to help them afford healthier diets. Though research shows that SNAP effectively reduces hunger, a more pressing concern has become the quality of food purchased by SNAP households, not the quantity. SNAP lacks nutrition standards, placing essentially no restrictions on the types of foods that households can purchase with benefits. The result? SNAP households use a large share of benefits to purchase unhealthy foods, leading to poor diet quality, disease, and premature deaths among SNAP participants.”
Moderate Drinking Provides No Health Benefits
“Despite previous reports suggesting that moderate alcohol consumption might provide health benefits, a recent analysis of more than 100 alcohol research studies involving nearly 5 million individuals found that moderate drinking provides no significant health benefits and increases one’s risk for death. This is especially true for women, according to a Healthline article about a recent meta-analysis.”
Plasma protein biomarkers are indicative of healthy dietary patterns
“Biomarkers exist for intake of specific nutrients, yet biomarkers of a complex diet pattern are needed to characterize the biological pathways influenced by food intake and to gain an understanding of the mechanisms whereby healthy diets protect against diseases. Du and colleagues conducted a study to determine if protein biomarkers could be developed that are capable of distinguishing between dietary patterns and their results are reported in the January 2023 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.”
More organizations call for FDA to develop mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling
“Momentum for mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling continues to grow as new organizations are joining the effort to encourage the Food and Drug Administration to develop labels that would call attention to high levels of added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat in packaged, processed foods. And a new poll commissioned by CSPI finds strong public support for the proposal.”
New Study Shows Music Therapy’s Positive Impact on ADHD Treatment
““The application of music therapy as an alternative treatment for ADHD children and adolescents showed positive neurophysiological and psychological effects. Therefore, this study would like to propose a new alternative to medicine for preventing and treating depression through various uses of music therapy.””
Study finds regular exercise can help protect against the consequences of significant life stressors
“Recent research published in Mental Health and Physical Activity investigated the relationship between significant life stressors, resulting psychiatric illness, and exercise. The findings indicate that those who consistently exercised were more likely to be resilient in the face of life stressors. Those experiencing improved mental health after a life stressor were moderate exercisers, and those with chronic illness after a stressor had the lowest levels of exercise. The study affirms the positive effects of physical activity on mental health and highlights the importance of promoting regular exercise for overall mental well-being.”
Addressing Racial Disparities in Cancer Pain Management: A Potential Role for Music Therapy
“Guest Editor’s Note: Despite its high prevalence, cancer pain remains undertreated. Racial disparities present further challenges to assessing and managing pain. Music therapy, a nonpharmacologic intervention, has been documented to be effective in controlling cancer pain. In this article, Kevin T. Liou, MD, summarizes findings from a retrospective study in which his group reported that music therapy yielded similar reductions in pain in both Black and White patients with cancer.”
