Can kindness, love and a strong sense of community actually make you healthier and happier? Research says that it does. A 1978 study looking at the link between high cholesterol and heart health in rabbits determined that kindness made the difference between a healthy heart and a heart attack. Kelli Harding, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, revisits that research and other ground-breaking discoveries in her new book, The Rabbit Effect: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness. She joined the Knowledge@Wharton radio show on Sirius XM to talk about the intangible factors behind good health and how a little kindness can go a long way. (Listen to the podcast at the top of this page.)

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

Knowledge@Wharton: As you were researching your book, what did you find about the role that positive emotional connections play in good health?

Kelli Harding: As a physician, I was completely shocked. Most of us, when we think about health, we think about diet, exercise, sleep, the occasional trip to the doctor. But its really quite striking because there are decades of evidence that show that, in fact, probably the biggest contributor to our health is our relationships.

Its one of those things that, as a doctor, you see every day. The way that I got interested in this is I kept seeing patients who would defy their diagnoses somebody with a really serious illness on paper looks terrible, but then you meet them in person, and theyre doing pretty well. Theyre living their lives to the fullest, and even though they have an illness, theyre still thriving in many respects.

The flip side of that was seeing patients all the time with what are treatable diseases or conditions, but theyre still not doing well. Or people for whom medically everything checks out, but they just feel really lousy or have pain that cant quite be explained. Thats how I got interested in this. The data shows that while quality medical care is absolutely critical, access to it probably only accounts for about 10% to 20% of our health. That made me wonder, what else is out there thats contributing?

Knowledge@Wharton: Theres a lot of territory still to cover, correct?

Harding: Absolutely. Genes definitely play a role, but what was so shocking to me is that theyre not as fixed as you think. Lifestyle is important, but again it comes back to our relationships. What were talking about is how were treated on a day-to-day basis in all the different areas of our lives from our homes to our schools to our communities and neighborhoods, to our workplaces and our broader community.

Everyone knows its important to have a good doctor, but its also important to have a good manager and to give people the skills that they need to be good managers.

Knowledge@Wharton: Do you think most people make this association between good health and positive emotions?

Harding: I would say absolutely not, and I think thats the thing. Weve been defining health very narrowly in this country, which helps explain why were not doing as well as we could. When you step back and look at the big picture, we spend a fortune on medical care in this country far more than other countries per capita. But were not getting the health results we want. Were practically not even on the same graph.

When you look at the decades of public health data, its probably because were really doubling down on the medical care and not investing in our social world the way that we could. That being said, medical care is important, but we also need to rethink about how were supporting people out in the community. As a doctor, you can fix the body, you can fix the leg, you can fix what the problem is and still fail the patient. We need to be talking about a much broader understanding of health that involves these day-to-day interactions.

Just to give you an example because I know that there are probably a lot of CEOs or managers listening to this but studies have shown that the strongest predictor of a mans death from heart disease isnt cholesterol or blood pressure. Its his job. Or her job. Everyone knows its important to have a good doctor, but its also important to have a good manager and to give people the skills that they need to be good managers.

Knowledge@Wharton: Do you think that integrating this approach in medicine could address some of the economic questions of health care?

Harding: Oh, absolutely. Its easy to get sidetracked with the razzle-dazzle of biomedicine, and we need to invest in research and all those good things. The other side of this is there are really low-cost interventions that are community based that can have huge impacts on peoples health down the road. In the book, I joke about how we talk about being tough on crime, but we really need to be gentle on new moms and families. We need to provide support from the beginning of life to try to help people along and also help buffer the stresses that may come.

Knowledge@Wharton: In terms of interventions, youre talking about even at the local level of how government interacts with its citizens, right?

Harding: This is what I find really exciting, because we can all sit around and talk about how wed wish the system would change, but this is something that every person whos listening can do something about. That is incredibly empowering. It comes down to the support that were getting and all these different factors. The hug you give your child or your spouse when you walk out the door makes a difference, and not only with them. Theres this really exciting science of epigenetics and telomere research that shows that loving actions actually change our physiology. The rabbit study that was just the tip of the iceberg, just the beginning of the studies.

Knowledge@Wharton: Can you tell us about the rabbit study?

Harding: The rabbit study was this groundbreaking study. Whats so fun as a scientist is that the most interesting findings are often accidental. This was a true accidental finding. It was back in the late 1970s when there was this question of does a high-fat diet affect your heart health? Robert Nerem was doing this very straightforward experiment involving genetically identical rabbits, giving them all high-fat diets. When it came time to look at the health of the rabbits, he noticed there was one group that was just doing particularly well. He couldnt figure it out and thought they had done something wrong with the study. They looked around and realized what was different about that one group is that there was a researcher that wasnt just giving the rabbits kibbles. She was actually picking them up. She was petting them. She was talking to them. She was giving them love and kindness.

What they did as good researchers was, one, they paid attention. To their credit, that was at the time kind of paradigm-shifting, that they paid attention to social environment. They felt the data was just too striking to ignore, so they replicated it. They got the same findings. They published it in Science, which is a very prestigious journal. And like many studies, it sat on a shelf for many years. Thats why I really felt it was so important to highlight that study because it really embodies so much of the work that has been done subsequently.

Knowledge@Wharton: In the book, you also discuss loneliness, which the medical community is looking at more and more. How does loneliness impact health?

Harding: Loneliness kind of comes in two flavors. Its the number of connections you have, and then its also how connected you feel to others. Elvis used to have this saying that hed feel lonely in a crowded room, which is an example of the second one. The thing is, loneliness is as significant a health risk as well-established factors, such as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, heavy alcohol use, even high blood pressure and obesity.

Its amazing, though, because for most of us, our experience going to see the doctor is that they may ask how many drinks we have, how many cigarettes we have. But how many times do they ask, When did you last call a good friend? When did you meet someone for dinner or coffee? Those connections are quite critical. We need to start talking about them seriously. Thats why it felt so important writing The Rabbit Effect and making sure that information is in the hands of all of us, because were making a difference. Once were empowered with that knowledge that loneliness is not good for our health, we can actually start doing things within our circle of influence to make things better for other people.

Loneliness is as significant a health risk as well-established factors, such as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, heavy alcohol use, even high blood pressure and obesity.

Knowledge@Wharton: What is the impact of the high divorce rate here in the United States?

Harding: Whats happening in our homes is a big piece of this. There are studies that show that being married is health-protective if its a happy marriage. And there are other interesting studies showing that healthy, positive relationships and marriages can reduce pain if the relationship is strong.

I think the challenging part is it sounds all good and nice to say, Well, just be kind, and everything will be fine. But being kind is a practice, and its hard. It involves having to learn to navigate conflict, and conflict comes up many, many times a day. Part of it is also recognizing its a practice and then building our skillset, because we have to be doing a better job of this.

Knowledge@Wharton: How does education play into this?

Harding: The education data for me was mind-boggling on two fronts. The statistics say that for every one life saved by biomedicine, it seems as though education saves eight. Just to put that in perspective, not finishing high school is the equivalent of a lifetime of smoking. We dont talk about that when we talk about education. For all the teachers out there, you dont always think of yourself [as playing] a health role, but youre actually boosting the health of your students.

Another piece of this might be that education is also often linked to what we feel is a purpose or a calling. This is where the data gets super cool, and [shows] how our social world gets under our skin. Theres now increasing evidence that having a life purpose, feeling optimistic all those things actually can prolong telomeres, can help us live longer and help us live better even when illnesses do come.

Being kind is a practice, and its hard.

Knowledge@Wharton: The hope is that youre also reducing stress levels, correct?

Harding: Yes, and I talk about that in the later part of The Rabbit Effect. The interplay between the hidden factors in our lives our physical and mental health is probably mediated by the stress response. Stress is just a natural part of life.

But how can we learn to roll with things better? The really great thing is that its not fixed. We can absolutely use techniques to improve [our response], and we can help offset the stress in other peoples lives like by hugging someone. Positive interactions like that are plenty, and they reduce stress; they boost the immune system.

Spending time in nature boosts the immune system. People in hospitals who are exposed to a garden recover a day faster. They require less pain management, less intervention from staff. There are all these really amazing things that we can do that are low-cost, and that seem to have a really great health boost.

Knowledge@Wharton: Fairness is another element that you tackle in the book. I dont think anybody believes that our society, our culture, is fair 100% of the time.

Harding: Fairness is a major predictor of health. I do go into that because I think as a society there is a lot of conversation around overt unfairnesses. But there are these microaggressions, these things that happen over time. You can even Google microaggressions and just look up examples of them. Theres a great website that was started by somebody at Columbia and managed by students, and it shows these tiny little events that happen during the day, but they have a cumulative health effect. Its pretty fascinating. Its sort of like death by a thousand paper cuts, and it can happen in a variety of ways.

Whats encouraging is that we can all become more aware of our biases and try to be kinder to other people by not adding to those paper cuts, essentially. For instance, we have the medical students at Columbia take an online test where you can look implicit bias. The most important takeaway from those tests is just the idea, Well, maybe I have some assumptions and actions that Im not even aware that Im doing.

You can probably toss out your human [resources] manual and just rewrite it as, Be kind.'

Knowledge@Wharton: You start the book asking an interesting question: What are we missing in medicine? What are the missing components in medicine that could help tackle these issues?

Harding: Thats the million-dollar question thats been driving my career, and I think it comes down to kindness. It really comes down to thinking about how were treating each other, both on an individual level and how were treating each other as a society. Its all those social dimensions of health that we are not talking about in the hospital.

People who work in health care are at high, high [risk] of burnout, and I think part of it is because were aware that were not addressing this. It feels overwhelming to put that responsibility just on the health care system alone. This is really all of us. Its treating each other with dignity and learning to navigate conflict in a way thats about supporting people and not tearing them down.

Its keeping in mind those relationships. Again, going back to the CEOs who are listening, were so focused sometimes on the bottom line, and we need to be looking at the process and the people involved. You can probably toss out your human [resources] manual and just rewrite it as, Be kind. We need to be kind to people in our schools, in our workplaces and all of these different capacities.

When youre driving on the road, be kind. You never know what somebody else has going on. We can learn to be more empathetic towards one another, and boy, do we need it right now.

Continue reading here:
Why Kindness Is the Key to Improved Well-being - Knowledge@Wharton

TV fans will recognise Jeremy Clarkson for presenting the BBCs Top Gear from 2002 to 2015. He left the show under a cloud of controversy, and now fronts Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour with Top Gear alumni and BFFs Richard Hammond and James May. This year, he returned to TV screens as the host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. While he has an extensive TV career, Jeremy has caught attention for something else recently. The 59-year-old managed to lose an impressive two stone.

How did he do it?

Jeremy revealed that hed managed to slim down by changing his diet, with the TV star crediting one particular food - lettuce.

He said: Speaking to journalists from the Sun he said: I had salad for lunch and water.

But I had a salad nicoise and a glass of water. I lost two stone last year.

Alongside diet, Jeremy upped his fitness regime, and incorporated more exercise into his diet.

By swapping his love for cars for a love of cycling, Jeremy managed to shed the pounds.

"I went on a gap year to Indochina. They just have a better diet out there. Plus I had a bicycle rather than a car, he revealed.

Jeremy cycled three kilometres a day during his trip, which contributed to his slimmer physique.

He continued: Where I was staying was separated from the small town by a mountain.

"It was only three kilometres and I cycled every day.I said, I cant have a drink unless I cycle into town. I wanted to get fit.

However, he revealed that he may have suffered some injuries due to not having the right riding accessories.

Nevertheless, Jeremy doesn't seem too keen about the exercise after plans for cycle lanes in London which were going to destroy many trees.

In his recent YouTube podcast, the motormouth presenter raged: These are trees that the Mayor of London wants to pull down to make way for a cycle lane.:

The man is obviously deranged, you cant pull trees down so you can cycle," he added.

Britains Got Talent star Declan Donnelly might be jumping on the weight loss bandwagon like Jeremy, after being inspired by his pal Simon Cowell.

Simon Cowell recently revealed that hed lost an incredible 1.5 stone after going vegan, and after seeing his incredible results, dad-of-one Dec - to Isla, one - might be following in his footsteps.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Star, Dec said: Simons looking good. Hes gone all vegan.

Vegan shepherds pie, vegan sausages, whats that about?

Is that the secret? Ill have to look into that!

Here is the original post:
Jeremy Clarkson weight loss: How The Grand Tour star lost two stone - what did he eat? - Express

Learn how the nations big-data health research program will enable you to provide more targeted care to your patients.

In the coming years, you may be able to tailor more precisely the care you provide to patients with prediabetes or diabetes, compared to how you practice today. The specific guidance you give to a patientregarding diet, exercise, glucose monitoring, and medicationcould be shaped by that persons genotype, lifestyle, environment, and a wealth of other data points to which you will have access.

This ability to apply precision medicine in diabetes care is one of the many outcomes promised by the National Institute of Healths All of Us Research Program. Targeted management of many diseases, including diabetes, is the ultimate goal of the All of Us Research Program.

All of Us aims to improve health care through big-data science. It is designed to do for all diseases what the Framingham Heart Studyhas done for prevention and treatment of heart disease. Framingham, an ongoing observational study of around 5,200 people begun in 1948, was instrumental in uncovering the cardiovascular risks to heart disease. The study findings have helped contribute to a major decline in the diseases occurrence over the past decades.

All of Us is similar but will be 40 times bigger, with a much more diverse participant community, and with more investigative tools available to researchers. The plan is to recruit 1 million or more people from all walks of life across the United States who will complete surveys, agree to share their electronic health records (EHRs) with the program, and provide physical measurements and biosamples. Some participants also may be asked to complete diet diaries or wear digital electronic devices to provide continuous health data, such as data on physical activity, heart rate, sleep patterns, and more. The information provided by each participating individual in All of Us will become part of the database, with obvious personal identifiers removed to protect privacy, and could potentially contribute to thousands of medical studies and thousands of medical advances.

Already, more than 253,000 people have joined the program, of which 193,000 have completed the first research protocol. Participants will be followed for 10 or more years to provide a longitudinal perspective on health and disease.

Below are answers to questions you may have about All of Us.

What does have to do with diabetes prevention and treatment?

In a May 6 mini-symposium marking the first anniversary of All of Us, NIH Director Francis Collins envisioned the specific, diabetes-related impact of this national research project:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 million Americans, or almost 10 percent of our population, have type 2 diabetes, and another 84 million have prediabetes. With the All of Us dataset of 1 million participants, we may expect about 90,000 of those participants to have diabetes and as many as 300,000 to have evidence of prediabetes.

With access to their electronic health records, researchers may be able to explore early signs and symptoms and compare the effectiveness of various prevention strategies. Since All of Us will also pull in environmental data linking to national databases, researchers can look into the environmental risk factors for diabetes. And with the genomic data available, a better understanding of the genomic factors that confer risk should also emerge.

Given the depth and breadth of data that will emerge through All of Us, researchers may uncover all sorts of valuable information that could be applied to diabetes prevention and treatment. In fact, says Dr. Collins, Im willing to predict that we will be able to demonstrate that what we currently call type 2 diabetes will actually turn out to be made up of several subtypes, each with different factors for vulnerability and resilience, and with different responses to treatment.

How will All of Us benefit participants who have prediabetes and diabetes?

Everyone who participates will have access to their own data. All of Us will make available counselors to help participants make sense of the genomic data. Participants also will be able to see aggregated results from across the program in the newly released Data Browser, such as the collated results of surveys, so they can compare their own status to others like themselves or to the whole population.

All of Us is designed as a learning health system, where research knowledge is put into practice, and vice versa. This means that participants can make use of their own and comparative research data to become more proactive in their own care. For example, they can choose to share this information with their health care professionals to devise a more individualized plan to prevent or manage their diabetes.

Furthermore, participants may be invited into follow-up studies through which clinical researchers test interventions to prevent, detect, and treat diabetes, for example, clinical trials on the artificial pancreas. In this way, participants will obtain the benefits of participating in clinical trials while also advancing scientific knowledge about diabetes.

Will All of Us address disparities in diabetes occurrence and outcomes?

Like most diseases, diabetes disproportionately affects people from racial and ethnic minority groups and people with lower educational status. Furthermore, these same groups historically have not been as involved in clinical research for a number of reasons, including lack of access to the health care system, logistical difficulties in accessing study sites, cultural dissonance between prospective participants and researchers, and distrust stemming from the past abuse of participants in research studies, such as the Tuskegee experiment. Disparities in research involvement mean that results and treatment protocols are skewed toward the groups of people, for example male, white, middle-aged, higher income, higher education, who have received more study.

All of Us has been specifically designed to overcome barriers to clinical trials participation. Through partnerships with more than 100 health provider organizations, pharmacies, and other entities, weve been actively engaging people from historically underrepresented populations. And weve had success. Of the people already enrolled, more than 80 percent are from communities underrepresented in clinical research and more than 50 percent belong to a racial or ethnic minority group.

Were deliberately building a geographically dispersed consortium of partners so that everyone who chooses to participate can be within reasonable traveling distance to a partner center where measurements and samples can be taken. In-home visits, mobile clinics, and other means are also being engaged to make it possible for every willing person to participate.

But one of the most important ways that All of Us is designed to be more inclusive is through the programs transparency. Since the inception, participants have been partners in planning and governance to ensure that everyones involvement is respected and ethically protected. Too often, people participate in studies and never learn what the point was, what was learned, or even what was discovered about their own particular health or disease condition. Thats not the case with All of Us. This isnt research done to participants, its research shaped by participants and fully shared with them.

How will All of Us change diabetes research?

We cant yet predict all the ways in which this project will affect diabetes research. However, it seems certain that the number and variety of projects will increase exponentially, and that more research will emerge from clinicians in the field, like you. For example, through the programs Research Hub, it will be relatively simple for health care professionals to obtain data to apply to research questions that arise in their clinical practice. This is how a learning health system should workthe research will influence your practice, but your practice will also influence the research.

Data will be available in two ways, with multiple protections in place to ensure the privacy and security of individual-level data. The Public Data Browser provides snapshot summaries of participant population characteristics and aggregate data on measurements, medications, and procedures. You can use this overview information to think about a research question youd like to explore. And in a few months, All of Us will launch its Researcher Workbench, which will provide access to actual data sets plus tools that allow for filtering, segmenting, and analyzing this information. Thats when researchers at all levelsacademic scientists, clinicians like yourself, and even the nonprofessional scientists among your patientscan begin to make use of this data to find new ways to prevent and treat diabetes.

An FAQ page provides more information on how youll be able to conduct research using All of Us data. You can also subscribe to get updates.

How can health care professionals support diabetes research through All of Us?

We hope that every health care professional, including those of you in diabetes practice, will encourage your patients to joinAll of Us as participants and as citizen scientists, and that you yourselves engage as both participant and researcher in this amazing national project.

Go here to see the original:
What Health Care Professionals Should Know About the NIH All of Us Program - National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

RELATED: Take care of your mental health by eating these four foods

A marathon is a long-distance race of about 42 kilometres. It originated with the legend of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, who ran 42km to Athens to inform the city of their victory at the Battle of Marathon. And in 1896, it was included in the first Modern Olympics.

Marathons are no easy task! The fastest marathon runners clock in at around two hours. Many experienced runners aim for a three to four-hour run. Beginners may even opt for a half marathon instead. Building your body to handle this challenge will take plenty of time and dedication. And while running and exercise will form the basis of your training, a proper diet is an extremely important aspect to consider.

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Long-distance running requires a different kind of diet compared to other forms of exercise. Diets designed for weight loss like the keto or paleo diet are designed to limit calories by decreasing carbohydrate intake. Diets for bodybuilding focus on high fat and protein intake and calorie management. For a marathon runner, their diet is built to efficiently use carbohydrates as an energy source, while utilising protein to build muscle for stamina.

A runner training for a marathon must manage their nutrition throughout their training period. Before training even begins, the runner must consider what kind of food theyll be eating all the way up to the run itself. For a long time, carbo-loading or eating a lot of carbohydrates before the race was considered the best way to prep for a marathon. But recently, more runners are emphasising the importance of protein in building muscle stamina.

Preparation for a marathon begins weeks and weeks before the race itself. For experienced runners, this period can be anywhere from 12 to 20 weeks. If youre a beginner going for their first marathon, take it slow and start your plan 10 months in advance. It seems like a really long time, but your body needs to learn how to adjust to running long-distance.

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The food you eat is essential to your performance at a marathon. What you eat and when you eat it will help your body handle the demands of a long run, as well as help you with recovery.

Here is a list of the best food for both beginners and experienced marathon runners alike:

Bananas are essential for runners. Theyre an easy source of carbohydrates and potassium, which prevents cramping. Theyre pretty easy to take around and can be easily incorporated into any diet.

More than just a breakfast staple, eggs are important for any athletes diet. Their high protein content and ease of cooking makes them indispensable for your pre-run training.

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Peanut butter is a good source of fat and protein. Its easy to eat and its a good source of vitamin E. Just make sure to get peanut butter without added salt or sugar.

Oats are a great carbohydrate source during your training. Oats get absorbed over a longer time compared to other carbs, and your blood sugar wont rise as fast. However, oats have a good amount of fibre, so its best to start cutting down on them closer to the day of the marathon.

Its important to have a reliable protein source at the core of your diet. Lean chicken breast provides a lot of protein and can be cooked in tons of different ways. Getting a lot of protein will help you build the muscle you need for your upcoming marathon.

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Youll want carbohydrates for your marathon, but not so much that youre bursting. A concentrated carb like pasta lets you get carbs you need without having to overeat.

Salmon is another excellent and healthy protein source with the added benefit of Omega-3 fatty acid, which is beneficial for your heart.

On the day of the marathon, take into account the food you eat before, during, and after the race. Each of these periods will require different kinds of food to help prepare and repair yourself.

What you eat before the marathon provides your body with the energy youll need to sustain yourself throughout the run. Its recommended that you eat a high carbohydrate, low fibre meal three to four hours before your run. Youll want something easily digestible so your body can quickly absorb it without much issue.

You need to focus on staying hydrated and having energy during your run. If you drink too much water, youll overhydrate which will hurt your performance. As a rule of thumb, try not to consume more than 600 mL of water per hour of running. That comes to around three to four sips every 15 to 20 minutes.

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With food, its good to get 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. What you eat is up to you. A banana is good, but small snacks like raisins or jelly beans can also work and are easier to take with you. There are also gels designed for runners that you can eat during the marathon. If youre going to try something new, start incorporating it into your diet while training.

You did it! Its good to get a substantial meal with high carbs and high protein after your run. Theres a period of 30 to 60 minutes after heavy exercise when your body is most receptive to nutrient absorption. Use this time to get in 15 to 25 grams of protein and 50 to 75 grams of carbs to help your body recover.

RELATED: The pros and cons of a gluten or dairy-free diet

Link:
Marathon Runner Diet: Your Guide to the Best Marathon Food - Better Homes and Gardens

The contraceptive pill changes who you fancy, what you wear and even whether you decide to apply fake tan, a new book claims.

As doctors called for wider availability of birth control to mark World Contraception Day on Thursday, US psychologist Dr Sarah E Hill explained how the daily tablet affects women.

She said for those who are not on the pill, their menstrual cycle is divided into two halves pre-ovulation and post-ovulation.

During the pre-ovulation period the body prepares for conception with the hormone oestrogen dominating.

Afterwards, progesterone dominates, preparing the body for the possibility of embryo implantation.

These hormones mean that before ovulation, oestrogen helps women feels flirtatious, sexier and more interested in attracting a man to make conception possible.

Specifically, women are attracted to tall, symmetrical men with deep voices who exude confidence and ambition.

This is because these qualities indicate high levels of testosterone and good health, which is more likely to result in successful pregnancies, Prof Hills new book, How The Pill Changes Everything said.

In contrast, progesterone dominates after ovulation.

During this time, women are more attracted to men who will be good providers and are more turned on by intelligence and financial stability in a bid to provide for the embryo that might be growing in their bodies.

But being on the pill means hormone levels remain constant, with progesterone dominant throughout the cycle.

This is designed to prevent pregnancy but also means that women on the pill are often not interested in sex and are more attracted to stable providers throughout the cycle.

Being on the pill also means women are less interested in making themselves look attractive.

This means it can change her preference in clothes, diet, exercise, beauty products and even whether she wants to apply fake tan.

But in the last decade, a number of other Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) options have become available. These include implants, hormone-based coils and copper [non-hormonal] coils.

A number of advocacy groups have been lobbying Health Minister Simon Harris to make LARCs easily accessible.

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A national doctors group called on the Health Minister to ensure all options are available, as his department develops a new State scheme.

The Southern Task Group on Abortion and Reproductive Topics said failure to introduce an initiative that delivers full choice of easily accessible and affordable contraception as part of Budget 2020 would represent a significant setback to the recent progress in womens healthcare.

Spokeswoman Dr Liz Barry said: It is becoming very clear to us that cost is proving a substantial barrier to accessing contraception, leading to the initial crisis pregnancy and inadequate follow-up contraception afterwards.

We feel it is anachronous that the State is providing free termination of pregnancy care and not free contraception.

See the article here:
The contraceptive pill can influence who you fancy and what you wear, new book claims - Irish Mirror

Strictly Come Dancing's new series kicked off in style last night as the the starry line-up performed their routines for the first time.

Among them was athlete and double Olympic gold medalist James Cracknell .

James, 47, is no stranger to physical challenges, and continues to challenge himself beyond his distinguished rowing career. Ahead of Strictly, he's shown a remarkable weight loss as he'll hope to triumph in the show's 17th series.

He's rowed the Atlantic with pal Ben Fogle , run the London Marathon in three hours and became the highest-placed Briton to complete the gruelling Marathon des Sables across the Moroccan desert.

In 2010, he suffered a devastating turn of events as he was almost killed by a truck in Arizona. James was attempting to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York in 16 days.

James puts his survival down to the helmet he was wearing, as a truck's wing mirror had hit him on the back of the head.

It left him brain-damaged, and he quickly coined the term "James Mark Two" because of the subsequent personality shifts.

He wrote: "The brain had acted like a bell's hammer, swinging forward and damaging the frontal lobes.

"This area controls personality, decision-making, planning, concentration and motivation."

The dad of three became aggressive and easily riled - his Beverley, who he's now split from, once described how he had almost throttled her.

He admitted to The Mail On Sunday that his son Croyde, 11, was reluctant to spend time with his dad.

James said: "He didn't want to be alone with me, which I understand.

"He did know his dad had been through a horrendous situation. But why would you want to spend time with someone who is like I was?"

Part of the problem was the damage caused to his pituitary gland, which produces the hormone testosterone. Now James has injections to help him.

He revealed: "Now I have to have testosterone injections every 12 weeks for the rest of my life, to get me up to normal level.

"I joked with the doctor, 'Does this mean I'll grow a big beard?' He reassured me and said, 'We're just bringing you up to normal.'"

James continued: "Apart from the physical side, low testosterone does affect mood, and confidence. I wasn't aware that my testosterone count was low - I thought my symptoms were all part of the brain injury - but since the injections, I am absolutely aware that I have increased energy levels, which is great and I'm more confident, so they have definitely been worthwhile."

Remarkably, James hasn't let the brain damage slow him down. He's still incredibly active, which could bode well for him on the Strictly dance floor.

In an interview with Your Healthy Living , he dished on his exercise and diet secrets that keep him in tip top shape.

When asked what the secret behind his high energy levels and motivation is, James replied: "Having a good breakfast is absolutely vital to keep you full and to maintain your energy levels.

"I always make sure that I start the day with porridge and some Oatein."

Since the accident, he's had to make some switch ups in his diet: "I take extra omega-3 now as well as acai berry and a beetroot supplement. I also take glutamine and potassium but I used to take those before the accident.

"I discovered acai berries when I was in Brazil and I think they're great. In terms of sports nutrition I like the ActiVeman range, which is why I'm one of their ambassadors."

Being active continuously isn't an issue for James, though his training has cut down. Most of his exercise now is running or cycling, or even hitting the gym.

On motivation, he likes to set goals in every physical challenge he undertakes: "I would recommend choosing a goal, whether that be an event that you want to take part in or a weight you would like to achieve."

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How Strictly's James Cracknell overcame brain damage with injections, exercise and beetroot pills - Mirror Online

With over 64percentof Britons looking at different and quick ways to trim down and become slimmer its always hard to decide what diet plan to trust.But lookingto those who have already gone through the transformation could be a great way to find a diet that is successful and it can also give you the boost of encouragement to get you started. Reddit user ExNihi10, has recordedanincredible 15st 6lb weight loss transformation online for everyone to keep track of.

Starting with a simple change in lifestyle, ExNihi10 followed a low 20g daily carb Ketofood planand incorporated light exercise into his daily routine to achieve a fantastic, life-changing transformation in one year.

With a starting weight of 25st 7lb, ExNihi10 managed to transform into a whole new, healthier person with an end weight of 9st 3lb.

In the post, The Reddit user explained that it was a low carb diet plan and change in lifestyle that helped him change his life for the better.

He said: On the 27 September [2018] I decided to change my life for thebetter.

I was shown the Keto way and it was difficult at first but the best lifestyle change Ive ever made!

I went from size 44 jeans that were [too] tight to currently wearing a loose size34.

"By changing my [work] shift pattern, getting on the Keto diet plan and incorporating walking into my dailyroutine, Ihave changed my life for thebetter.

Several other Reddit users commented on ExNihi10s progress with one claiming [He] looks like a different person, awesome progress!

What is the Keto diet?

The Keto, or also known as the Ketogenic Diet, is a low-carb, high-fat diet that shares many similarities with the Atkins and other low-carb diets.

The Keto diet is an eating plan that drives your body into ketosis, a state where the body uses fat as a primary fuel source (instead of carbohydrates), says Stacy Mattinson, a motivational nutrition guru and healthy lifestyle blogger.

Many on the plan will eat less than 25 grams net carbs a day in order for their body to enter the fat burning ketosis state.

It is thought that once the body has reached ketosis,it burnsmore fat andhelpspeople get in shape much quicker.

On the plan the main foods you should be eatinginclude meat,fatty fish, eggs, butter and cream, cheese, nuts and seeds, healthy oils (such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut and avocado oil), avocados and low-carb veggies.

User ExNihi10stated that: "Determination and resilience is what will bring you success, [so] keepgoing.

"It's difficult at times, but worth it in the end."

More:
Keto weight loss: Man drops 15 stone in a year with a change in diet - what did he do? - Express

Heart attack happens when a blockage in your coronary artery causes part of a persons heart muscle to be starved of blood and oxygen. It requires immediate medical attention to limit the amount of permanent damage to a persons heart muscle. Fortunately, precautionary measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a heart attack happening in the first place. New results presented at a meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) in Chicago, make a strong case for taking fish oil pills.

Scientists today have revealed that taking fish oil pills halves the risk of dying from a heart attacks.

Significantly, it slashes the risk of suffering one by almost a third, said Dr JoAnn Manson.

The findings are based on a study of 25,871 over 50s in the US who were tracked for an average of more than five years.

Those taking the supplements were 50 per cent less likely to die from a heart attack over the follow up period.

They were also 28 per cent less likely to have one.

The Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL) found the fish oil pills were particularly effective for people who do not regularly eat fish.

It also found those who took vitamin D supplements slashed their risk of dying from cancer by up to a quarter.

Lead author Dr Manson, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said: "Whether vitamin D or omega-3 supplementation is beneficial for the prevention of cancer or cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general populations is a subject of ongoing debate.

"VITAL was designed to fill these knowledge gaps."

Fish oil pills were "associated with significant reductions" in total and fatal heart attacks of 50 and 28 per cent respectively, she said.

Dr Manson added: "Vitamin D was associated with a suggestive 17 per cent reduction in

cancer mortality, which strengthened to a statistically significant 25 per cent reduction in analyses excluding early follow-up."

However, this only applied to participants of normal weight with a BMI (body mass index) below 25 - and not in those who were overweight or obese.

Dr Manson said: "The pattern of findings suggests a complex balance of benefits and risks for each intervention.

"Additional research is needed to determine which individuals may be most likely to derive a net benefit from these supplements.

The participants were randomly assigned to take one gram of fish oil or 2,000 IUs (International Units) of vitamin D daily, or a placebo.

According to the NHS, the three main ways to prevent a heart attack are:

To lower blood pressure, the NHS recommends staying active: Regular exercise can also help you lose weight, which will help lower your blood pressure.

Find out the key symptoms of a heart attack here.

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Heart attack: Taking this supplement could stave off the life-threatening condition - Express

Become an alchemist. Transmute base metal into gold, suffering into consciousness, disaster into enlightenment.Eckhart Tolle

Bo may know football, but Heather Younger knows adversity. Family adversity. Professional adversity. Life adversity.

In her TEDxColoradoSprings talk, Transforming Adversity into Opportunity, she takes us on an intimate and personal journey filled with failure, doubt, self-reflection, and ultimately triumph through transformation.

It didnt have to be this way, though. Things could have turned out much, much worse. Heres the thing. Even with the circumstances and facts remaining exactly the same, Heather could have slid into resentment and failure. How so?

The adversity she encountered contained specific challenges like familial racism and being laid off, but it doesnt matter if your challenges look and feel different. The approach she reveals that helped her overcome is based on a universal principle that will work for anyone living through challenges, whatever their nature. Heather says it best.

What I learned from that experience is that rather than being a barrier to my success, my adversities and challenges can actually help me achieve great things.Heather Younger, J.D.

Here is my summary of her approach. To get the full nuances, Id recommend watching her TEDx talk or even better, reach out to Heather yourself. Shes very approachable!

Adversity Alchemy, by Heather Younger, J.D.

I know this works.

Not just because Ive met and know Heather, but also because Ive lived this principle in my Aikido training. One day I was doing a technique and attempting to pin a senior instructor when he resisted just a teeny-tiny bit to test me. I stopped in my tracks and he reversed the technique. Thats an F in Aikido.

He asked me,

Why did you stop, Joe? You had me. You just had to keep going.

We did the technique several more times and for more times than Id care to admit, I still gave up as soon as he resisted until I finally got it. The funny thing is I was in a superior position each and every time and would have been able to complete the technique regardless of his resistance.

Why did I fail? Because I gave up. I folded, like a deck of cards at the first sign of resistance or in Heathers lingo, adversity.

All I had to do was reframe the adversity. So instead of thinking, oh no this wont work, (irrational thought) stopping my momentum and losing my advantage, I could have thought, isnt that cute, he thinks he can resist (rational thought) and completed the technique.

We do this in life whether we realize it or not. We often give up and allow adversity to stop us. Heres the thing. There will always be adversity. The technique Heather shares reveals an important principle its not the absence of adversity, its how we approach it that matters.

You may be wondering: Why do we stop? Why do we give up?

Its fear. Not fear of physical danger or death, though your body may not be able to tell the difference. Its the fear of not being enough or not being worthy. Ironically, that is the same fear that ruined my Aikido technique. I had zero fear that my instructor would hurt me. It was a fear that I could not be any good at Aikido.

Im grateful to my good friend Heather for reminding me of this principle of dealing with adversity and sharing her useful, practical technique to succeed because of adversity, instead of in spite of adversity.

P.S. If youd like to read the #LinkedIn article Heather wrote after she was laid off that jump-started her career in employee engagement, you can find it here: How to Leave Employees with Their Dignity After a Layoff

Heather R. Younger, J.D. is the founder and CEO of Customer Fanatix, an organization that helps organizational leaders and their employees find their truth through executive coaching, leadership roundtables, culture team facilitation and scouring employee engagement survey comments.

As a best-selling author, international speaker, focus group facilitator, podcast host, and Forbes Coaches Council coach, she has earned her reputation as The Employee Whisperer. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

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Adversity Alchemy - Thrive Global

According to Isaac the Syrian, a famous 7th-century bishop and theologian, a person whos genuinely humble gives off a certain scent that other people will sense and that even animals will pick up, so that wild animals, including snakes, will fall under its spell and never harm that person.

Heres his logic: A humble person, he believes, has recovered the smell of paradise and in the presence of such a person one does not feel judged and has nothing to fear, and this holds true even for animals. They feel safe around a humble person and are drawn to him or her. No wonder people like St. Francis of Assisi could talk to birds and befriend wolves.

But, beautiful as this all sounds, is this a pious fairytale or is it a rich, archetypal metaphor? I like to think its the latter, that this is a rich metaphor, and perhaps even something more. Humility, indeed, does have a smell, the smell of the earth, of the soil, and of paradise.

But how? How can a spiritual quality give off a physical scent?

Well, were psychosomatic, creatures of both body and soul. Thus, in us, the physical and the spiritual are so much part of one and the same substance that its impossible to separate them out from each other.

To say that were body and soul is like saying sugar is white and sweet and that whiteness and sweetness can never be put into separate piles. Theyre both inside the sugar. Were one substance, inseparable, body and soul, and so were always both physical and spiritual.

So, in fact, we dofeelphysical things spiritually, just as wesmellspiritual things through our physical senses. If this is true, and it is, then, yes, humility does give off a scent that can be sensed physically, and Isaac the Syrians concept is more than just a metaphor.

But its also a metaphor: The wordhumilitytakes its root in the Latin word,humus,meaning soil, ground, and earth. If one goes with this definition then the most humble person you know is the most earthy and most grounded person you know.

To be humble is to have ones feet firmly planted on the ground, to be in touch with the earth, and to carry the smell of the earth. Further still, to be humble is to take ones rightful place as a piece of the earth and not as someone or something separate from it.

The renowned mystic and scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, expressed this sometimes in his prayers. During the years when, as a paleontologist he worked for long stretches in the isolated deserts of China, he would sometimes compose prayers to God in a form he called,A Mass for the World.

Speaking to God as a priest, he would identify his voice with that of the earth itself, as that place within physical creation where the earth itself, the soil of the earth, could open itself and speak to God. As a priest, he didnt speakforthe earth; he spokeasthe earth, giving it voice, in words to this effect:

Lord, God, I stand before you as a microcosm of the earth itself, to give it voice: See in my openness, the worlds openness, in my infidelity, the worlds infidelity; in my sincerity, the worlds sincerity, in my hypocrisy, the worlds hypocrisy; in my generosity, the worlds generosity; in my attentiveness, the worlds attentiveness; in my distraction, the worlds distraction; in my desire to praise you, the worlds desire to praise you; and in my self-preoccupation, the worlds forgetfulness of you. For I am of the earth, a piece of earth, and the earth opens or closes to you through my body, my soul, and my voice.

This is humility, an expression of genuine humility. Humility should never be confused, as it often is, with a wounded self-image, with an excessive reticence, with timidity and fear, or with an overly sensitive self-awareness.

Too common is the notion that a humble person is one who is self-effacing to a fault, who deflects praise (even when its deserved), who is too shy to trust opening himself or herself in intimacy, or who is so fearful or self-conscious and worried about being shamed so as to never step forward and offer his or her gifts to the community.

These can make for a gentle and self-effacing person, but because we are denigrating ourselves when to deny our own giftedness, our humility is false, and deep down we know it, and so this often makes for someone who nurses some not-so-hidden angers and is prone to being passive-aggressive.

The most humble person you know is the person whos the most grounded, that is, the person who knows shes not the center of the earth but also knows that she isnt a second-rate piece of dirt either. And that person will give off a scent that carries both the fragrance of paradise (of divine gift) as well as the smell of the earth.

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The scent of humility - Angelus News