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healthbriefs


BRIEF BOUTS OF YOGA BOLSTER THE BRAIN


ust 20 minutes of yoga postures, breathing and meditation are valuable tools for bolstering mental functioning. A study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reports that a single, 20-minute hatha yoga session significantly improved participants’ speed and accuracy on tests of working memory, focus, retention and ability to absorb and use new information. Study participants didn’t get the


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same positive brain buzz from 20 min- utes of aerobics. The study appeared in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health.


SWEETS SOUR BRAIN POWER


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inging on sweets and soda in an effort to bone up for exams or presentations probably has the opposite effect, according to a new ani- mal study from the Uni- versity of California, Los


Angeles. Researchers found that eating or quaffing too much fructose, like that found in cane sugar and the high-fructose corn syrups permeating many processed foods, can cause unclear thinking, poor learning and impaired memory. Scientists have long known that high-fructose diets increase the risk for diabetes, obesity and fatty liver. Now the UCLA team has discovered that only six weeks of a high-fructose diet slowed the animals’ brains. The good news is that eating omega-3 fatty acids like those found in cold water fish appear to coun- teract the negative effects of fructose, en- abling the animals to think more clearly.


22 Collier/Lee Counties swfl.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com


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