Weight Loss Drinks For A Successful Diet (1)

Article From Abigail Perez

You’re about to embark on a weight loss journey. You’ve been through your kitchen and thrown all the junk food into the trash. You’ve got a diet plan and you’ve taken those awkward "before" selfies. What is the one thing you might have missed?

Have you made the common mistake of underestimating the caloric content of your favorite drinks?

The majority of beverages consumed by the American public are packed with hidden calories. The drinks you might gulp down could be responsible for weight loss plateaus or lack of progress toward your weight loss goals.

The “healthy” smoothie from the organic store? It contains more calories than a double cheeseburger (a large Strawberry Surf Rider from Jamba Juice has 640 calories, a McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger has 440 calories). The coffee on your morning commute? It has the same amount of calories as two glazed donuts (a Venti Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino has 550 calories, while two Dunkin Donuts Glazed Donut have 520 calories). Having a beer with dinner? That’s more calories than a candy bar (a Lagunita’s IPA has 220 calories, while a Hershey bar has 214 calories).

The calories consumed from beverages may be adding hundreds of calories to your daily intake.

Whether it's juices, flavored coffees, sodas, beers, or even those popular “healthy” smoothies, they all contain high amounts of calories.

Instead of changing your diet, try rethinking your lifestyle. Don’t count calories, make calories count. The importance of getting the best nutrition out of every calorie will help you reach your goals. Here are a few of the best weight loss drinks to help you get there.

Drinking Your Weight

Most diets place emphasis solely on food—neglected is the significant nutritional value of what you drink. It’s vital to be aware of liquid calories and large quantities of sugar in drinks you're consuming.

Beverages do not trigger the same satiation responses compared to their solid food counterparts. Studies have shown that meals with solid foods provide better sensations of fullness compared to liquid meal replacements alone. When dietary calories are drastically reduced to kick-start weight loss, it becomes crucial that satiation is maximized. Every calorie counts when sticking to a healthy diet.

A typical 16oz bottle of soda has around 200 calories; that’s approximately equal to six ounces of chicken breast. An average juice smoothie from a national chain has around 300 calories; that’s the equivalent to four whole eggs. Most beer has at least 150 calories, equivalent to five pieces of turkey bacon. As you can see, choosing the non-beverage option in each of these scenarios will not only provide more nutritional value, but will also help you feel satiated.

There are several drinks that also tout themselves as diet or zero-calorie options. These drinks have a similar taste but are sugarless. Once sugar is removed, artificial sweeteners are often incorporated into the new drink for taste purposes. These added ingredients mimic the taste of sugar without the added calories.

There is controversy surrounding these sweeteners due to their potential side effects.

Studies have shown body weight, fat mass, and blood pressure may all be negatively affected by the consumption of sweeteners. Two of the most commonly added artificial sweeteners are aspartame and saccharin. Some research has indicated that with sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin, there’s a potential risk of adverse metabolic effects and type 2 diabetes. Monitor your intake of artificial sweeteners as they are often used in zero-calorie drinks.

Try to pick natural, non-processed drink choices that contain minimal artificial sweeteners to be safe.

Top 10 hidden sources of carbs

Hidden carbs can sabotage your diet. Subscribe to see where they are lurking.

Everyday Drinks

Losing weight doesn’t have to mean sacrificing all beverage-based enjoyment. There are plenty of lower calorie, healthy options that can satisfy your taste buds and battle the bulge.

Green Tea

Green tea contains valuable antioxidants that supercharge weight loss benefits—extract from green tea is one of the most common ingredients added to fat burning supplements. Tea leaves contain many antioxidants such as catechins, which may help decrease body weight. In research on people drinking green tea along with caffeine, they lost an average of 0.2kg - 3.5kg compared to the control group.5

Matcha is a Japanese green tea with higher concentrations of catechins. It contains up to 137x the amount of catechins compared to standard green tea; this higher dose has the potential to further enhance fat oxidation.Caffeine, also in many green teas, may also help support weight loss. In one study, people who were able to maintain weight loss consumed more caffeine.

So, if you’re feeling "hangry," brew yourself a healthy green tea to help you stay on track.

Black Tea

Another type of tea, black tea, may help reduce body weight. Black tea contains polyphenols, which are micronutrients from plant-based foods. Mounting evidence suggests these antioxidants may help prevent obesity.

The polyphenols in black tea promote weight loss through calorie reduction, increased fat breakdown, and increasing friendly gut bacteria.9 Who would have thought the humble cup of tea could be a health drink?

Coffee

Coffee is synonymous with caffeine. Caffeine is the most widely-used nootropic in the world, with millions using coffee as a way to increase energy and potentially increase productivity. At one point people believed coffee was linked to heart disease and high blood pressure, but in fact recent studies have suggested coffee may actually help prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and liver disease.

Coffee may also have positive metabolic effects for both obese individuals and people of healthy weight.

Coffee can boost metabolism. A study found metabolic rate increased significantly three hours after drinking coffee. Furthermore, fat oxidation improved after consumption compared to a control group.

Not only does coffee help with weight loss, it also may help with weight maintenance. Studies have shown caffeine users are able to better maintain weight loss.

Coffee can also reduce energy intake as an appetite suppressant. One study suggests overweight adults who drank coffee were more likely to consume fewer calories. As a result energy expenditure is reduced.

Water

Water—the Earth is made up of it, your body is made up of it, you need it to survive. Puzzlingly, most people do not get the recommended daily amount. Drinking adequate amounts of water will improve overall health.

Besides the health benefits of proper hydration, water can also help with weight loss. Many people mistake thirst for hunger. There’s a chance you may be overeating if not properly hydrated.

A study performed on overweight adults found those drinking seventeen ounces of water before a meal lost 44% more weight compared to a control group. Having a glass of water before each meal can help control appetite resulting in fewer consumed calories.

Drinking water can also increase resting energy expenditure (REE). REE is the amount of calories consumed at rest over the course of a day. In a study performed on overweight children, REE was increased up to 25% for around 40 minutes after the drink. Consuming the daily recommended amount of water may result in weight loss due to increased expenditure. The results may be true in adults as well.

Some people think drinking regular old water is boring. If you need to spice it up a bit, try adding mint leaves or citrus to hot water or cold water to give it a flavor boost.

Out of the Box Options

Outside of those everyday drinks, there's a group of less common beverage options for potential weight loss.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar probably hides out in your condiments cupboard, but you maybe should bring it out more often. Emerging science suggests that it could be a great extra addition to your weight loss regime. It contains acetic acid, a compound linked to decreased belly fat and reduced accumulation of fat in the liver. In a study performed on rats, apple cider vinegar helped prevent obesity in those with type 2 diabetes. In another animal study, it also reduced body weight in obese mice.

The research on apple cider vinegar performed in humans is limited, but some research suggests it may improve metabolic health in humans. Consuming two tablespoons of ACV per day resulted in decreased body weight, waist circumference, and body fat compared to a control group.

Drinking apple cider vinegar on an empty stomach may help improve digestion; consuming it after meals may improve insulin sensitivity and help lower blood sugar levels.

The versatility of apple cider vinegar makes it a valuable tool for overall wellness.

Electrolyte Drinks

You may think athletes are the only ones who need to supplement with electrolytes, but everyone needs them to function properly. Drinking enough electrolytes is important to maintain proper fluid balance throughout the body. Sports drinks often have added electrolytes to counteract their loss in sweat as you workout. Unfortunately, many of these products contain high sugar contents, making them calorically dense. Every calorie counts on a diet. Luckily today, there are low-calorie electrolyte drink options available to provide proper electrolyte balance.

Staying properly hydrated is essential for overall health, and is important for weight loss.

While it seems counter intuitive, the body may retain extra water if not properly hydrated. This water weight can add extra pounds on the scale... (To be concluded on Friday)

This article is from HVMN, an organization that researches and presents articles discussing health, nutrition and diet, among other topics related to human optimization.

Read More

The Best Skin Treatments For Dark Complexions

Article From Penelope Andersan

Skin treatments are not one size fits all. We spoke to Dr. Jason Emer about successful treatments for people with darker complexions and why our skin tone affects the outcome of certain procedures.

Skin procedures are more than just surface level. Results depend on a variety of factors that extend far beyond skin type and one of those factors we don't often think about is our skin's color. During my first laser hair removal consultation, I was told I’d require additional treatments over a longer period of time due to my darker complexion. I was new to the world of cosmetic procedures and this was the first time I'd heard that my skin color could affect the outcome of my treatment. It turns out that our complexions play a significant role in the outcome of certain procedures, especially lasers.

The issue with lasers and some other technologies in treating different skin colors, and the reason behind adverse outcomes on darker complexions, is the amount of energy absorbed by the skin – darker skin types absorb more energy and are thus prone to developing hyper pigmentation, irregular pigmentation, and hypo pigmentation, whereas lighter skin types don’t absorb energy and respond directly to the treatment.

For a long time the only options were a range of diode and alexandrite lasers, which still carry a risk of pigmentation changes. It’s only within the last ten years that traceless cosmetic treatments have become available for darker complexions. We now have the choice of lasers and micro-needling radio frequency devices that can be used on darker skin types, with little to no side effects.

But even with the increasing amount of available treatments, people with darker complexions still need to search out doctors who know how to accurately treat darker skin tones. Board-certified dermatologist Jason Emer MD, acknowledges some doctors don’t know how to successfully treat darker skin and aren't informed of the side effects certain cosmetic procedures have on dark skin types.

“There are a lot of doctors claiming that Erbium lasers, or what are called ‘cool lasers’, and even CO2 lasers, are safe for darker skin types," he says. "These lasers are ablative and burn the skin - they’re very high risk. All ablative lasers, anything that’s delivering a lot of inflammation in to the skin, should be avoided.”

Some doctors also use IPL hair removal, which should be avoided when treating darker skin types, since it has a chance of developing both hypo and hyper pigmentation. Another laser that is damaging, and used regularly, is Fraxel. If used incorrectly, Fraxel can be extremely dangerous and cause rebound hyper pigmentation, burns and damage the overall skin texture.

When it comes to skin rejuvenation, Dr. Emer suggests people with dark skin avoid energy-based treatments and focus on peels, skincare and at-home dermal rolling. Here are some of his favorites.

Enlighten Face Peel

A signature treatment of Dr. Emer's, Enlighten is a face peel designed to treat darker skin types for pigmentation, dark spots, and pores. It contains retinol, hydroquinone, Kojic acid, Vitamin C, and liquorice root for anti-aging, skin brightening and lightening. The peel can be done every month or two to brighten the skin tone without risk of damaging skin pigment, unlike other chemical peels.

Micro Needling Radio Frequency

For advanced rejuvenation treatments, there are micro needling radio frequency treatments available that work from beneath the surface and act as an alternative to energy-based treatments. Most of these devices use plated needles to penetrate the skin and deliver energy under the surface. These micro needling radio frequency treatments can be used for addressing pigmentation, acne scars and, treating fine wrinkles in darker skin types. Stronger technologies can also help tighten the skin.

Clear and Brilliant®

Clear and Brilliant® is used to treat melasma, hyperpigmentation, burns, or to rectify the results of an improper procedure. The procedure uses a very low energy laser treatment that is safe for darker skin types when used over the course of several sittings. Clear and Brilliant is Dr. Emer’s go-to treatment for Melasma and acne, and for those who have sensitive skin or don’t want a lot of downtime.

Salt Facial

A salt facial uses sea salt to apply pressure to the skin to decrease acne, promote exfoliation and smooth pores and fine lines. It’s a non-energy/non-heat based resurfacing treatment safe for darker skin types. This three-step treatment exfoliates the outer layers of skin, deposits customised serums into the skin, and uses LED therapy to decrease inflammation. It’s an all-in-one treatment that can be done every month to maintain youthful, rejuvenated skin.

YAG Laser

While laser hair removal seems straightforward, a darker complexion can confuse the laser into treating the skin, rather than the hair because it targets dark pigment. The YAG laser treatment is a good alternative to traditional hair removal lasers, as flashes so quickly that the upper surface of the skin does not get affected and the laser only works on the hair follicles. The YAG laser is the ideal hair removal option for dark complexions, such as African or South Asian skin tones.

Regardless of the procedure, to achieve the best results you’ll need to combine your treatment with Vitamin C and glycolic creams to reduce inflammation in the skin and promote exfoliation, further reducing any risk of pigmentation.

While there was a time where cosmetic procedures weren’t designed for darker skin types, we’ve thankfully reached a point where cosmetic treatments are accessible to all. So if you’ve ever doubted whether your darker complexion was the right type for a certain procedure, you can feel rest assured that it is now your skin’s time to shine. Just make sure to always consult with your practitioner first.

Penelope Andersan is from the Content Partnerships Team of The AEDITION, an online publication created by new, aesthetic enhancement platform AEDIT. AEDIT is a next-generation, go-to source for anyone looking to continue or begin their medial aesthetic journey.

Read More

4 Key Reasons To Use Hemp Oil On Your Skin

Article By Justine Lopez

Hemp oil is an incredibly beneficial skin-care ingredient that packs powerful, long-lasting hydration. It’s amazing for all skin types. Here are 4 key reasons why you should start using hemp oil for skin care today.

1. Hemp is an incredible moisturizer

If you experience problems of dry and dehydrated skin, hemp oil may be all that you have been missing to nourish your skin and keep it looking rejuvenated. Hemp oil contains fats or lipids that are similar to those occurring naturally in our skin. This makes hemp an effective moisturizer and protector of the skin. It increases the skin elasticity hence bringing to life dehydrated and tired-looking skin.

2. Hemp oil benefits for skin are nothing to shrug at

Taking hemp oil as a nutritional supplement helps to promote overall wellness. There are compounds found in hemp oil (known as phytocannabinoids) that interact with our endocannabinoid system for benefits like calming stress and inflammation. By helping you to feel good, hemp oil is a powerful tool for inner and outer beauty.

Hemp oil is a perfect skin care product ingredient for everyone. It moisturizes the skin and brings more oxygen to it, great for dehydrated, itchy skin. Hemp oil is especially ideal for sensitive skin because it is a natural product with no known negative side-effects.

Hemp oil absorbs quickly into the skin, doesn’t block skin pores, and actually helps the skin to balance oil production.

3. Hemp has vitamins and minerals vital for healthy skin

Hemp oil contains a wide array of supplements necessary for healthy living such as Vitamins A and E, as well as minerals like magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron, zinc and calcium. Although these essential body minerals are in trace amounts, ingesting hemp oil is great for overall wellness. Hemp oil also has plenty of antioxidants. Because of this property, many users of the oil believe that it helps slow skin aging.

4. Hemp oil lotions and cosmetics are going mainstream

Hemp oil is a common ingredient in shampoos, lotions, sunscreens, and other products for skin care. Why? Because hemp’s moisturizing properties are incredible. Plus it adds vitamin D to the skin; necessary for keeping it smooth and soft throughout.

All in all, whether applied directly to the skin or consumed as a supplement, hemp oil offers your skin plenty of nourishment, keeping it looking healthy, fresh and attractive.

This article was originally published at madebyhemp.com

Read More

Why Eating Pepper Soup Can Boost Libido

Food and sex have a long, complicated history. For years people have talked about some foods that work on both psychosomatic and physiological levels. Supported in part by mythological beliefs and in part by actual science, pepper soup garnished with scent leaf can help boost sex drive.

Researchers show that many condiments of pepper soup such as scent leaf, nutmeg and African black pepper can significantly impact sex drive.

Extracts of these spices have been shown to enhance libido in animal trials, which offers promise for humans, too. In a new study, researchers said scent leaf reduces the key enzymes relevant to poor libido in penile and testicular tissues of rats.

For the study, the researchers tested water extracts of scent leaf on penile and testicular tissues of rats under laboratory conditions and said it has similar effect to sildenafil, a conventional sex-enhancing drug, although with a less effectiveness.

They declared that scent leaves work by boosting smooth muscle relaxation leading to penile erection. In addition, its chemical constituents are, also scavengers for free radicals in the body. Free radicals are involved in the development of several disorders including erectile dysfunction.

This 2019 study involved researchers at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria) in conjunction with others at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. It was published in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine journal.

Scent leaf is thought to originate from Asia and Africa. In Nigeria and other parts of the world, it is used as a traditional vegetable condiment and oral care products.

Previously in a study, rats fed with scent leaf supplemented diet over a six months period experienced an increased number of spermatozoa, suggesting its capacity to enhance reproductive ability.

Also, another study revealed that extract of scent leaf significantly increased the sexual behaviours of normal male albino mice in a dose-dependent ratio, without causing an ulcer or adverse effects of conventional sex-enhancing drugs like nasal congestion, headache and visual aberrations.

Moreover, a healthy blood flow can do wonders for a man’s libido by increasing circulation to the sexual organs. Foods that increase circulation include garlic, chilli peppers, African black pepper and ginger. They contain allicin, which dilates blood vessels and thins the blood.

In certain parts of Eastern Nigeria, men would usually request “ofe-n’gwere” (emergency soup), which contain spices like African black pepper in the night to get charged or induce sexual desire. Thus, the inclusion of African black pepper in the diet may help prevent poor erection and low libido.

Some studies show that nutmeg is one spice that has the ability to increase a person’s sexual desire. It awakens the senses and the brain clamours for something pleasurable such as sex.

Researchers in the 2005 edition of the BMC Complement Alternative Medicine said the resultant significant and sustained increase in the sexual activity of male rats, without any conspicuous adverse effects and toxicity, suggests that nutmeg possesses clinically applicable aphrodisiac activity, and also lends support to the claims for its traditional usage as sexual function-enhancing medicine.

Furthermore, another 2008 study of the School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, NMIMS University, of Mumbai at Ethnopharmacology revealed that the extract is safe and thus provides a scientific rationale for the traditional use of nutmeg in the management of male sexual disorders.

Even in ancient times, the spice is well known for its ability to increase erotic sensation in both men and women. It works its magic by mimicking the effects of the popular feel-good hormone, serotonin, hence playing a crucial role in setting the mood right.

Capsaicin, the spicy chemical that gives hot peppers their eye-watering kick, has been linked with improved vascular health and increased testosterone in men, both of which could indirectly improve sex drive and function.

Also, several studies have linked a variety of African ginger to improved sexual function and desire in men. One of these studies, published in 2010, concluded that ginger might activate a family of enzymes—known collectively as nitric oxide synthase—that support sexual function. Another study from South Africa also linked ginger to increased arousal and sexual stimulation in rats.

So, to keep a high libido, gravitating towards spicy foods to ensure higher levels of testosterone is the way to go.

Read More

Is Honey Really Better Than Sugar?

By Sade Oguntola

Regardless of the argument as to whether honey has many health benefits over table sugar, many consumers are being misled by claims about honey. Unfortunately, its consumers are also adding it in excessive quantities to foods and drinks in the mistaken belief that it is healthy.

But swapping sugar for honey is not a healthy diet choice. Analysis on 223 kinds of honey, sugars and syrups, all widely available in United Kingdom supermarkets, by Action on Sugar found that honey can be up to 86 per cent free sugars, while maple syrup can be made of 88 per cent free sugars.

It found that adding a 7gm teaspoon of honey to a cup of tea added about 6gm of free sugar, while adding a teaspoon of table sugar would add 4gm.  Also, a portion (15mls) of maple syrup added to porridge contained 13.1gm of total sugars, only a little less than 15gm of table sugar.

Honey, the sweet liquid produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera), is composed of about 40 per cent fructose, in contrast to the 50 per cent fructose in table sugar and between 40 and 90 per cent fructose in high-fructose corn syrup.

Although honey is often promoted as a healthier option to table sugar because it is natural, Mrs Taibat Oduneye, a dietitian at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, stated that its use in excess could have an adverse effect in the long run.

Mrs Oduneye said honey, like table sugar, is a form of carbohydrate, adding that its intake can also make blood sugar level to increase.

According to her, “Honey is safe to use, but an excess of it can have a bad effect on the body or blood glucose level, as is applicable to a diabetes patient. So, it is not something to be used freely. For diabetic patients, we do not encourage its use as an alternative to sugar, no matter how natural it may be.”

She declared that in Nigeria, a lot of adulterated or diluted honey is on sale, despite marketing gimmicks like people testing it with flame, checking if ants would hover around it or it will dissolve in water.

Mrs Oduneye stated that honey is not to be used freely or in excess but she recommended for a cup of tea, say about 250 mls, a teaspoon of honey or a tablespoon at the maximum.

Professor Soji Fasanmade, a consultant endocrinologist at the UCH, Ibadan, stated that many people assume honey a good alternative to sugar because the sucrose in honey is converted slowly to glucose.

However, Professor Fasanmade declared “I will not recommend honey as an alternative to sugar because when you do, people now take it in large amounts. And we should not encourage diabetes patients to take a lot of honey.

“If you want to take honey, maybe just in a little quantity to mildly sweeten the food. But they must remember that when taking honey, they are also taking sugar in an indirect way.

“Some people believe that honey has antioxidant properties, but research findings on it are not consistent. Antioxidants reduce oxidative stress in cells of the body, thus helping to protect these cells from damage.”

Professor Fasanmade added, “If you have to take honey, do not take more than half a teaspoon maximum three times a day. This small quantity of honey should not cause any problem.”

Although studies in animals show that honey raises blood sugar very slowly, the medical expert said this does not translate to this sweetener doing exactly the same in humans, particularly in diabetics.

Fasanmade stated: “When we induce diabetes in rats at our laboratory and we give them honey, it did not worsen their diabetes state, unlike when you give them food. That is why some people believe that honey is good.

“But it is unethical to induce diabetes in an individual just to substantiate this. For diabetes, so many factors like genetics and lifestyle need to be taken into consideration.

“But if you want to do such study in an animal, you can control all the other factors and just pick only one factor, but you cannot do that successfully in humans.”

Meanwhile, researchers’ investigation found that some products which are billed as containing honey actually have more table sugar in them. Too many calories from all types of sugars contribute to increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, various cancers, liver disease and tooth decay, all of which have devastating effects on health and well-being.

So, the notion that honey can be used as a sugar substitute in recipes is a fallacy since honey is sugar in itself and, therefore, is not technically a substitute for sugar.

Read More

Why Mental Disorders Is Becoming More Common

A new study has concluded that living alone is linked to common mental disorders. The authors have also identified the main driver of this worrying relationship.

Some common mental disorders (CMDs) include mood disorders, anxiety, and substance use disorders.

According to some studies, almost one-third of people will experience a CMD in their lifetime.

These conditions can have a significant impact on the individual, of course, but due to their high prevalence, they also affect society at large. Due to the widespread influence of CMDs, scientists are keen to understand the full range of risk factors that feed into mental health.

In recent years, scientists have investigated whether living alone might be one such risk factor.

A new study, the results of which now appear in the journal PLOS ONE, takes a fresh look at this question. The study authors conclude that there is a link between living alone and CMDs. They also find that it affects all age groups and sexes, and that primarily, loneliness is the driver.

The number of people living alone is steadily growing throughout much of the Western world; this is due to a number of reasons, including the aging population, people tending to get married at an older age, and increased divorce rates.

Researchers have already looked at the relationship between CMDs and living alone, but most have focused on older adults, so their findings may not apply to other age groups.

A recent study has confirmed that loneliness is linked to a higher risk of developing dementia.

Also, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), United States, study has found evidence that children under three years old are most the vulnerable to the effects of adversity – experiences including poverty, family and financial instability, and abuse – on their epigenetic profiles, chemical tags that alter gene expression and may have consequences for future mental health. Their report appearing in the May 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, which has been published online, finds that the timing of adverse experiences has more powerful effects than the number of such experiences or whether they took place recently.

“One of the major unanswered questions in child psychiatry has been ‘How do the stressors children experience in the world make them more vulnerable to mental health problems in the future?’,” says Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH, of the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit in the MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, corresponding author of the report.

“These findings suggest that the first three years of life may be an especially important period for shaping biological processes that ultimately give rise to mental health conditions. If these results are replicated, they imply that prioritizing policies and interventions to children who experienced adversity during those years may help reduce the long-term risk for problems like depression.”

Also, a survey of thousands of people suggests that mystical experiences positively affect a person’s mental health, regardless of whether they are naturally occurring or a result of psychedelic drugs.

Religion may have a wide range of health benefits, research suggests.

For instance, a study that appeared last year found that religious believers tend to live four years longer, on average, while another study found that attending religious ceremonies slashes the risk of premature death among seniors.

Emerging research is also looking into the mental health benefits of various psychedelic substances.

For example, several studies have shown that psilocybin — the psychoactive compound in so-called magic mushrooms — has the potential to treat severe depression without the side effects of conventional antidepressants.

Now, a new study is bringing these research topics together, as a team of psychologists sets out to examine the effects of naturally occurring and drug-induced mystical experiences on mental health.

Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, led the team to look at the effects of spontaneous and chemically induced religious experiences among thousands of participants.

Prof. Griffiths and colleagues published their findings in the journal PLOS One.

Also, earlier studies generally focused on just one mental condition: depression. This might not provide the full picture.

Previous work has also not quantified how other factors influence this relationship; for instance, people who live alone are more likely to be overweight, smoke, use drugs, and lack social support. So which of these, if any, is the main driver of CMDs?

The authors of the new study aimed to fill in some of these gaps. They looked for links between living alone and CMDs in general, and they investigated which factors seemed to be influencing the relationship.

To investigate, scientists from the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France analyzed data from 20,503 adults, ages 16–74, living in England. The data came from three National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys that experts conducted in 1993, 2000, and 2007.

Participants completed Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised questionnaires, which assessed whether they had experienced neurotic symptoms during the previous week.

The surveys also collated data on a range of variables, including height and weight, level of education, employment status, alcohol and drug use, social support, and feelings of loneliness.

As expected, the authors found that the number of people living alone has steadily grown. In 1993, 8.8 per cent lived alone. This is compared with 9.8 per cent in 2000 and 10.7 per cent in 2007.

Their analysis also showed that across all age groups and sexes, there was a significant association between living alone and having a CMD. The size of this relationship was fairly similar across the three surveys.

CMDs were more common in those living alone than those not living alone.

When the scientists delved deeper into the relationship between CMDs and living alone, they found that loneliness explained 84 per cent of the association.

Earlier studies had shown that loneliness is linked with depression and anxiety. Others still had investigated whether loneliness might increase mortality risk.

During what some experts call a “loneliness epidemic,” this finding is particularly important. Similarly, because ill mental health is a growing concern, understanding the risk factors associated with CMDs might help turn the tide.

Of course, not everyone who lives alone is lonely. However, for those who are, interventions to tackle loneliness are available. These may include talking therapies, social care provisions, and animal-based interventions.

The next and most challenging step is to find ways to ensure that people in need get access to these tools.

The researchers acknowledge certain limitations to the study. For instance, this was a cross-sectional study, meaning that it looked at a snapshot of people at one point in time. The authors call for longitudinal studies to ascertain how this relationship might play out over time.

As with any study of this nature, assessing cause and effect is not possible: Did a person develop a CMD because they lived alone, or did they develop a CMD and then decide to live alone?

Or, perhaps, someone with a predisposition for CMDs is more likely to want to live alone. As ever, scientists will need to carry out more work to fill in the gaps.

Earlier findings back up these results, but the new findings also go a few steps further; they show that the relationship between mental health and living alone is stable across time, that the link is not restricted to older adults, and that loneliness plays a pivotal role.

Meanwhile, studies conducted in both animals and humans have found that adverse experiences early in life can have lasting effects on epigenetics, the process by which chemical tags added to a Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material sequence control whether or not a gene is expressed. These studies reported differences in DNA methylation, which can either silence or enhance gene expression, between individuals who were and were not exposed to early-life stressors.

The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are sensitive periods during which adversity is associated with even greater changes in DNA methylation.

The investigators also compared that model to an accumulation hypothesis, in which the effects of adversity increase with the number of events, and a recent hypothesis, that the effects of adversity are stronger when events happened more recently.

They gathered data from participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a U.K.-based study that has been following a group of families since the early 1990s.

Participating parents report regularly on many aspects of the health and life experiences of their children, who were enrolled in the study before they were born.

The current investigation analyzed data from a subgroup of more than 1,000 randomly selected mother/child pairs from which DNA methylation profiles had been run for the children at birth and at age seven.

The children’s exposure to adversity before the age of seven was based on whether parents reported their child’s repeated experience of seven stressors: abuse by a parent or other caregiver, abuse by anyone, a mother’s mental illness, living in a single-adult household, family instability, family financial stress, and neighborhood disadvantage or poverty.

The investigators recorded the number of exposures to each adversity, whether or not they were experienced at specific developmental stages and how close they occurred to the age at which blood samples were taken for the second methylation profile.

The analysis identified 38 DNA methylation sites at which adverse experiences were associated with changes in methylation, most of which were associated with when the stressful experience had taken place.

Adversity before the age of three had a significantly greater impact on methylation than did adversity at ages three to five or five to seven.

Exposure to adversity was typically associated with increased methylation, which would reduce the expression of specific genes; and neighborhood disadvantage appeared to have the greatest impact, followed by family financial stress, sexual or physical abuse, and single-adult households.

Although early-childhood experiences had the greatest effects, adversity at older ages was not without an impact. And while the results provide the strongest evidence for the sensitive or “vulnerable” period model, they do not totally rule out any effect related to the accumulation or recency hypotheses. In fact, two of the sites at which methylation appeared to be changed by adversity were associated with either the number of adverse experiences or how recent they had been.

“These additive effects may work together with the timing of exposure, so it would be interesting to examine more complex mechanisms in future studies with larger groups of participants,” says Dunn, an assistant professor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry.

“Our results need to be replicated by other investigators, and we also need to determine whether these changes in DNA methylation patterns are associated with subsequent mental health problems. Only then will we be able to really understand the links between childhood adversity, DNA methylation and the risk of mental health problems; and that understanding could guide us to better ways of preventing those problems from developing.”

Meanwhile, studying religious and mystical experience, researchers asked 4,285 study participants to answer a survey in which they had to describe their “God encounter experiences and mystical experiences.”

The surveys asked the participants about their experiences with the “God of [their] understanding,” a “Higher Power, Ultimate Reality, or an Aspect or Emissary of God (example, an angel).” The survey also inquired about how the participants felt after the experience and how it changed their lives, if at all.

Approximately 69 per cent of the participants were male, aged 38 years on average, and the vast majority of the respondents were white. The study looked at mystical experiences that occurred both naturally and as a result of taking psychedelics, using two different surveys.

A total of 3,476 participants answered the psychedelics survey, and 809 answered the non-drug survey.

Specifically, in the former group, 1,184 participants took “magic mushrooms,” 1,251 took lysergic acid (LSD), 435 took ayahuasca, and 606 reported taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

“Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing,” report the researchers.

Overall, the study found that most participants who had “God encounter experiences” reported positive effects on their mental health.

Namely, the mystical experiences improved their life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning, and these positive changes lasted for decades after the experience.

In fact, about 75 per cent of all respondents (in both the drugs and no-drugs groups) said the experience was “among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes” to their mental health.

Furthermore, 70 per cent of participants in the drugs group said they had a decreased fear of death as a result of the experiences, whereas 57 per cent of the non-drug participants reported the same feeling.

Approximately 15 per cent of the participants in both groups said the experience was “the single most psychologically challenging experience of their lifetime.”

In the non-drug group, 59 per cent of the respondents described their experience as meeting “God” or “an emissary of God,” whereas 55 per cent of the psychedelics users chose to describe it as an “ultimate reality.”

The lead researcher comments on the findings, saying, “Experiences that people describe as encounters with God or a representative of God have been reported for thousands of years, and they likely form the basis of many of the world’s religions.

“Although modern Western medicine doesn’t typically consider ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ experiences as one of the tools in the arsenal against sickness, our findings suggest that these encounters often lead to improvements in mental health.”

The researcher stresses the fact that their research says nothing about the existence of a higher being. “We want to be clear that our study looks at personal experiences and says nothing about the existence or nonexistence of God.”

Furthermore, the scientists caution that people should not use psychedelic drugs without professional guidance, as there are various psychological dangers to misusing these substances, in addition to legal risks.

Read More