Stay Healthy this Winter!

Blood sugar control is so important 🙌

It’s still cold & flu season, and we know that diabetes makes people more susceptible to developing serious lung problems from common viruses.

A new study just published in Nature tells us WHY but also gives hope and actionable info.

The study found that elevated blood sugar levels disrupted immune cells in the lungs and prevented them from activating the immune response.

But the good news is….

Tight control of blood sugar levels prompted those immune cells to regain their function and mount a protective response.

This is more evidence that metabolic health affects overall health.

It’s also evidence that we are not powerless.

Reference

Nobs SP, Kolodziejczyk AA, Adler L, et al. Lung dendritic-cell metabolism underlies susceptibility to viral infection in diabetes. Nature. 2023;624(7992):645-652. [link]

New Study Shows HOW the Microbiome Protects Us!

How do good gut bacteria protect against harmful ones?

📢 New research alert!!

The gut microbiome consists of hundreds of different bacterial species and strains. One health benefit is that these bacteria can protect against the invasion of harmful bacteria.

But until now, there have been unanswered questions about how this works and whether some strains are more important than others.

A new study published in Science found that it was NOT any single bacterial strain that was protective but instead the combined effect of at least 50+ strains together.

Also, the WAY the collective bacterial communities protected against harmful invaders was by consuming nutrients those invaders might need.

The takeaway?

An optimal microbiome is a diverse microbiome.

Gut health is always something we look at as part of the bigger picture of our patient’s health.

Reference

Spragge F, Bakkeren E, Jahn MT, et al. Microbiome diversity protects against pathogens by nutrient blocking. Science. 2023;382(6676):eadj3502. [link]

[New Study] Couples & Blood Pressure

New research shows blood pressure in couples is often similar 😮

Most of us would think that blood pressure is an individual thing, but this was a fascinating study that showed it could be linked to your partner!

The study (published in the Journal of the American Heart Association) looked at blood pressure data from thousands of couples in the US, England, China, and India.

Overall, they found that if your partner has high blood pressure, you are more likely to have it too.

For example, wives whose husbands had high blood pressure were 9% more likely to also have high blood pressure in the US & England, 19% in India, and 26% in China.

The study didn’t look at WHY, but maybe it’s worth committing to some heart-healthy activities with your partner ❤️

Reference

Varghese JS, Lu P, Choi D, et al. Spousal Concordance of Hypertension Among Middle-Aged and Older Heterosexual Couples Around the World: Evidence From Studies of Aging in the United States, England, China, and India. J Am Heart Assoc. 2023;12(24):e030765. [link]

12 Indoor Exercises for Winter

12 Indoor Exercises to Avoid the Cold 🥶

Movement is essential to health! If you don’t want to brave the cold and don’t have a gym membership, here are some things that anybody can do in their own living room:

🔹 Jump Rope

🔹 Push-Ups

🔹 Jumping Jacks

🔹 Squats

🔹 Run in Place

🔹 Free Weights

🔹 Skip

🔹 Dance

🔹 Stretch

🔹 Shake

🔹 Yoga

🔹 Push-Ups

Health is not hard. You just have to commit.

You've got this! 🙌

How to Eat in Season This Month!

What’s in season?

There are lots of benefits to eating seasonal produce—the most important being that it tastes better!

It’s easy to eat local produce through the summer months, but the winter gets a bit trickier. Here are some produce options that are in season in parts of the US and Canada in February & March:

▪️Broccoli: Roast it in the air-fryer with some olive oil and salt or stir-fry with garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes!

▪️Brussels sprouts: So good when roasted in the oven and topped with a sauce of peanut butter, tamari, and hot sauce 🌶️

▪️Cauliflower: There are so many things you can do with this veg, from simply roasting and topping with parmesan cheese to making gluten-free breadsticks 🥖

▪️Kale: People like to slam kale, but it’s so versatile that you can make it into chips, stir-fry, or even smoothies.

Another bonus of this seasonal produce is that they are all cruciferous vegetables, which means they support healthy detoxification and even hormone health 👏

Other produce in season includes citrus fruits, squash, sweet potatoes, fennel, radishes, and potatoes 🥔