Looking at brain function can be fascinating when it comes to dieting and weight loss. Our mood and emotions can have a tremendous impact on our eating behavior. Many people who experience anger, frustration, anxiety, or depression use eating to regulate their emotions in complex ways.  Choosing nutrient poor foods high in fat and sugar content also reduces the intake of fruits and vegetables and overall dietary quality. This situation is very common for individuals suffering from sadness, loneliness, or concern. Stress and external triggers can lead to anger or frustration which tends to be associated with a lack of control on the quantity of food consumed. Low cognitive restraint, or an inability to restrict food intake in order to control body weight, is common in those who struggle with anxiety. Each of these scenarios can contribute to becoming overweight and obesity.

Dieting and weight loss can be particularly challenging for those who are affected by emotional eating habits. For long term success to occur in changing eating behavior, it often requires a deeper understanding of each individual’s external triggers and specific imbalances of emotional neurotransmitters. For instance, eating a meal may reduce arousal and irritability and increase calmness and positive mood, whereas a small meal portion size may have opposing effects on mood. Sweetness and fatty structure can also improve mood by activating brain opioidergic, dopaminergic, and benzodiazepine/g-amino butyric acid neurotransmission. In fact, dopamine neurotransmission reflects the ‘‘wanting’’ motivational aspect of eating, whereas opioid and benzodiazepine/g-aminobutyric acid are linked to the ‘‘liking’’ hedonic aspect of food-related stimuli. Properly balancing these neurotransmitters can go a long way in positively changing eating behaviors and success in weight loss.

Scientists are learning interesting things about appetite. Most recently they have finding that it is not appetite per say that is the problem with eating disorders and weight control, but rather a fear of appetite associated with possible anomalies in systems related to fear and defense of appetitive behaviors, particularly in relationship to food, shape and weight. Anomalies in these systems can impact attention.

Attention is part of the process of selectively processing information. The allocation of attention is influenced by top-down information (representations of goals and their relevance). These goals are merged with bottom-up priority signals. A balance and synthesis of these inputs determines the allocation of attention. Certain bottom-up signals such as threats have very high importance. Additionally, motivational drives such as hunger can also change attentional processing. Anxiety and fear around eating are thought to be underpinned by maladaptive attentional biases toward threats. In an analysis of 172 studies, patients with a wide variety of anxiety disorders had a small to moderate attentional bias to threat cues. “Fear of fat” and “fear of carbs” are central to the weight control as they relate to body shape or weight with a fear of ingesting fats and carbs. Individuals with weight control problems usually report anxiety in anticipation of a meal, concern about the content of the foods consumed, and fear of the effects of food on health and weight. Thus, both food and fatness are feared.

There’s more good news for pineapple lovers, especially those who suffer from joint pain, pineapples can help with this as well.

Pineapples naturally contain a protein-digesting enzyme called bromelain, which is prevalent in other tropical fruits as well. Bromelain has been found to fight inflammation in the body, making pineapple well suited to decrease joint pain.

Not only is pineapple great for decreasing inflammation and relieving joint pain, part and parcel of bromelain’s benefits is its ability to reduce osteoarthritis pain as well as some common anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen when taken in supplement form.

Another tropical fruit that can treat joint pain is papaya. Like pineapple, papaya is also high in an anti-inflammatory enzyme.

Papaya is not only high in the enzyme papain, it is actually the only source of this enzyme.

Papain has been found to be so effective that it is used in an injectable form to treat back pain, and can be used topically to relieve pain from burns, stings and wounds and help ease post-operative pain.

We’re all familiar with bananas, but next time you’re in the grocery store, give another rich source of potassium a try. Many foods are much more loaded with this essential mineral and can help break the monotony of a banana-centric diet. Make a difference in your blood pressure levels by choosing to use foods as medicine.

The study consisted of 92 participants with type 2 diabetes, each within 9 years of age 60. Half were assigned an exercise regimen consisting of brisk walking for 60 minutes, 3 times per week, and the other half were given a more strenuous exercise program.

After a 12 month period, the participants were measured for diabetes symptoms, including hemoglobin and blood glucose levels, changes in blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations, insulin sensitivity, body composition, physical fitness, program adherence rate and health-related quality of life.

In 12 months, both groups had similar attrition rates, as more than half of the participants dropped out due to physical overuse injuries and lack of motivation, but the interesting outcome is that those who simply walked briskly a few times per week had similar health results as those who worked out more fervently.

Researchers concluded that walking “represents an equally effective intervention to modulate glycemic control and cardiovascular risk profile in type 2 diabetes patients when compared with more individualized medical fitness programs.”

It’s easy to imagine why walking, and difficult exercises for that matter, are easy to lose interest in. But studies show that simply put, those who walk frequently tend to live longer, healthier lives.

We’re not meant to be sedentary, and sitting around does much more harm than good, as joints become dry and stiff, and muscles become weak, so it is important to get outside and walk 3 times per week. It can even help relieve symptoms of diabetes.

Modern science has now unveiled that the gastrointestinal tract is inhabited by trillions of microorganisms—collectively called the human microbiome. These organisms interact with the intestinal mucosa as well as the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems. This multisystem web of communication has been termed the “gut-brain axis.” Its mediators include neurotransmitters, hormones, peptides, cytokines, chemokines, and byproducts of bacterial metabolism.

Science has revealed intricate details about the human microbiome and the gut-brain axis, but many questions remain. For instance, how does the microbiome affect a person’s mood? If changes in gut microbes accompany changes in emotions, which comes first? Can we modify the microbiome to support mental and emotional health? Where do probiotic supplements come into play?

Researchers have examined many of these questions in recent years. Results from human clinical trials are beginning to provide practical understanding of the microbiome and the gut-brain axis. Here’s a look at key studies that offer insights into probiotic supplementation to support mood, stress, and cognition.

There are many proposed mechanisms by which probiotics might influence mood. Researchers have found that gut microbiota can modulate serotonin function, support healthy inflammatory pathways, and communicate directly with the brain via the vagus nerve. You can think of the vagus nerve as the gut-brain highway.

Researchers have evaluated whether probiotics offer mood support. In a 2016 study published in Nutrients, 40 participants were randomized to take a daily probiotic capsule or a placebo for eight weeks. The probiotic capsule consisted of three viable and freeze-dried strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium bifidum. Results showed that the subjects taking the multispecies probiotic experienced a healthy mood in contrast to placebo.

Probiotics may also support a person’s cognitive reaction to mood changes. Why is this important?  Cognitive reactivity to mood increases vulnerability to dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors.

In a 2015 study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 40 healthy participants were randomized to take a multispecies probiotic product called Ecologic Barrier, or a placebo. The probiotic delivered 5 billion CFU per day of freeze-dried Bifidobacterium bifidum W23, Bifidobacterium lactis W52, Lactobacillus acidophilus W37, Lactobacillus brevis W63, Lactobacillus casei W56, Lactobacillus salivarius W24, and Lactococcus lactis (W19 and W58). After four weeks of supplementation, those taking the probiotic experienced less cognitive reactivity to their mood.

One new area of research has been whether probiotic supplementation influences the stress response.

In a study published in 2016 in Translational Psychology, researchers evaluated whether consumption of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum 1714 affected stress response or brain-activity patterns in healthy volunteers. Participants completed neurocognitive tests and stress tests before and after taking the probiotic for four weeks. Results showed that consumption of B. longum 1714 was positively associated with support for stress response and memory. In a study published in 2017 in the Journal of Functional Foods, daily intake of Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 supported mental, physical, and sleep quality among Japanese medical students.

As with mood and stress, much study has gone into the potential benefits for using probiotics to improve cognition, which is our ability to think, reason and use our memories.

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is widely used to assess memory. In a 2016 study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, researchers evaluated the effects of probiotic supplementation on the MMSE. Sixty participants were randomized to drink either a placebo or milk containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Lactobacillus fermentum probiotics for 12 weeks. Results showed that the probiotic supplement had a positive effect on MMSE scores.

In 2020, a randomized clinical trial examining the impact of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic supplementation on cognitive functioning in middle-aged and older adults was published in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment.  The outcome showed that supplementation supported healthy cognitive function in older adults.

In 2021, a study on the effects of probiotic supplementation on cognitive health in older adults was published in the The Journals of Gerontology. The goal of this randomized, controlled trial was to evaluate whether a probiotic combination of Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 and Bifidobacterium longum BORI would support cognition and mental health in older men and women. The primary outcomes of interest were healthy changes in cognition and mental health. A validated cognition test revealed a significant difference between the probiotic and placebo groups at week 12, with probiotics supporting mental flexibility.

The connection between probiotic levels existing in the gut and improved mental health is quite intuitive at its most basic. Bacteria in the gut helps break down food so that our bodies can absorb it more effectively. Thus, poor nutrient absorption, like that in a gut lacking sufficient probiotic presence, can lead to malnourishment and vitamin deficiencies. Some vitamin deficiencies, like folate deficiency, can result in depression, apathy, fatigue, poor sleep, and poor concentration.

Stress has been deemed at least partly responsible for increased risk of ailments like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, memory loss, and diabetes.

The short term effects of high stress levels are headaches, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, decrease in sex drive, and many other less severe, yet still impactful symptoms.

Change what you can in your own environment to help reduce stress.  However, you must accept that life is complicated and some amount of stress will always be present.  This means that you will also need to have stress reduction techniques in your self care tool belt to help you manage the experience of stress.  Laughter may be an easy, and fun, tool to consider.  This may cause you to laugh due to its simplicity, though scientific studies back this up. Laughter is a primitive behavior.  Laughter is a primitive form of medicine.

As stress levels increase, the body responds by producing higher levels of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, growth hormone, and 3, 4-dihydrophenylacetic acid. If stress is not resolved, depression can ensue due to neurotransmitters in the brain, including norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, becoming significantly reduced.

The research revealed that laughter therapy can alter dopamine and serotonin activity in the body, effectively creating a more pleasurable, less depressed mood.

In this way, laughter therapy can affect mental health by increasing important chemicals in the brain and lowering harmful chemicals created during stressful situations. Laughter increases social connectedness. We know that social connectedness increases longevity. Laughter represents just one easy important tool to help you deal with stress.

What makes you laugh?  Think about it.  A funny book, a funny TV show or movie, hearing a joke, watching a funny event or situation occur?  Did you know that laughter yoga exists? Being tickled or tickling someone else almost always works. What any one individual considers funny is elusive. The bottom line tends to be that humor results when a person simultaneously recognizes both that a norm has been breached and that the breach is benign.  You may spend hours online researching how to improve your health.  Spend a few minutes to consider what you find to be funny and try to create more of it in your life:)

Erectile dysfunction affects more than 30 million men in the United States alone. For those dealing with this depressing disorder, there are many more issues at hand than simply being unable to attain a suitable erection.

Most men suffering from erectile dysfunction will struggle with significantly reduced self-esteem, frustration, and in severe cases, serious depression. Research estimates that as many as one in five failed marriages is a result of ED.

Adding to their long list of health benefits, this study concludes that “a higher intake of flavanones, anthocyanins, and flavones was significantly associated with a reduction in risk of ED only in men less than 70 years old and not older men.”

The data suggests that higher intake of flavonoid, which would be a diet high in fruits and vegetables can help prevent, and even reverse erectile dysfunction, as data suggests that “a higher habitual intake of specific flavonoid-rich foods is associated with reduced ED incidence.”

As with a surprisingly long list of ailments, diet and nutrition play an enormous role in health, and erectile dysfunction seems to be no different. A diet rich in fruits and veggies benefits much more than the penis, it leads to complete bodily health.

When it comes to getting well, we all want the latest and greatest treatments. But with some illnesses, sometimes the best overall treatment option is something that’s been tried and true.

Many doctors treat erectile dysfunction not by adding things, but by removing things from the patient’s life. Most often, lifestyle choices cause ED, so eliminating things like excessive drinking, smoking tobacco, and promoting techniques to lower blood pressure can help treat ED without medication.

Erectile dysfunction is one such type of disorder that doctors and researchers are looking to the past for new treatment options.

The proliferation of pharmaceutical designed treatment options for ED, including medications like phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (Viagra, Cialis, Levitra), has led many to abandon traditional treatments; yet, traditional methods have been used with great success, especially in eastern medicine.

Certain plants and plant extracts, specifically those containing polyphenols, have displayed promising effects for ED. Among the useful polyphenols, a specific class called kraussianones have been found to be most effective for erectile dysfunction.

If you’re hesitant to try prescription medication for erectile dysfunction, certain ancient remedies, found in common foods, can be used as a first treatment option.

Saffron is one such food that has been found to help with ED. One study shows that treatments of 200mg of saffron can significantly increase “tip rigidity and tip tumescence as well as base rigidity and base tumescence” in as little as 10 days.

While there isn’t a lot of information on kraussianones, foods high in polyphenols are currently being used effectively to treat ED.