health briefs Plant-Based Meals Reduce Severe
COVID-19 Risks Eating more plants than meat is not only good for the planet, it might also be protective against COVID-19 severity, reports a new study in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Researchers from Johns Hopkins and other universities analyzed web-based responses from almost 2,900 frontline doctors and nurses in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK that
had been significantly exposed to COVID-19, 95 percent of which were doctors and 70 percent males. Those that ate a plant-based diet, described as high in vegetables, legumes and nuts, and low in poultry and meats, were 73 percent less likely to contract moderate to severe COVID-19. Those with pescatarian diets allowing fish were 59 percent less likely. However, those following low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets had 48 percent greater odds of moderate to severe COVID-19. “Our results suggest that a healthy diet rich in nutrient-dense foods may be considered for protection against severe COVID-19,” researchers concluded.
Healthy Choices Mitigate
Cognitive Health Reduction
A Chinese study of 6,160 adults 80 or older found that a healthy lifestyle cuts the risk of cognitive impairment by half, even if a person carries the APOE ε4 gene that is linked to cognitive loss and Alzheimer’s. Researchers used data from the ongoing Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey to determine the eating, exercising and smoking habits of subjects.
They found that those with healthy lifestyles were 55 percent less likely to be cognitively impaired and those with intermediately healthy lifestyles lowered their risk 28 percent. This reduction was greater than the increased risk of cognitive impairment resulting from the APOE ε4 gene, which was 17 percent.
Stay in Tune with Our Body Clock to
Sidestep the Blues Being an early bird or night owl is more than a matter of preference: A person’s
natural rhythms are dictated by 351 genetic variants, scientists have found. New research
published in Molecular
Psychiatry shows that sleeping out of sync with that inborn body clock makes a person more likely to experience depression, anxiety and reduced well-being. Researchers from the UK University of Exeter used genetic data on more than 450,000 people to determine their natural body clocks, including whether they identified themselves as a morning or evening person. Data from the digital wrist devices of 85,000 people was also used to measure the “social jet lag” of variations in sleep patterns between work and free days—when early birds stay up late to socialize on weekends or night owls wake up early for work. The researchers found that being genetically programmed to be an early riser protects against major depression and improves well-being, perhaps because society’s 9-to-5 working pattern coincides with early risers. Generally, morning people had a lower BMI and were older, more likely to be female, of higher socioeconomic status and less likely to be current smokers than evening people.
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