Improve your cardiovascular health

If you are thinking about improving your cardiac health, you need to go for a regular run. This activity is proven to help you strengthen your left ventricle. This is possible because the heart is the main part of the body that benefits from running. When you run, your pulse rate slows down and your body consumes more oxygen as compared to the state when you are just resting. This is a great way to help in normalizing the pumping of the blood.

Since running is considered as an aerobic exercise, another target is to burn the carbohydrates and turn them into energy that the body can use up. With this, you will be able to eliminate unneeded fats in the body, especially in the heart. Studies also show that runners have healthier cardiovascular condition compared to the people who are not exercising at all.

According to a study on the cardiovascular aspects of running, running is an activity that is highly aerobic. It does not only convert carbohydrates but also fatty acids into energy. This is one o the best exercises that you can add to your regular activities. However, you should not think that this exercise can make you completely free from organic heart disease. Even if it involves the cardiovascular system, you still need physical examinations and rest. This is specifically true for older and middle-aged runners. 

Strengthen joints

Is running better than walking? This is one question that can help you realize the importance of leveling up your regular exercise. Most people believe that a person who has a possibility of developing osteoarthritis should not be running. This is one of the myths that you need to debunk. As compared to walking, running can be beneficial to your bones and joints because it can help not only in enhancing flexibility but also in strengthening the joints, the cartilage and the bones. As compared to running and swimming, it can be more beneficial to you. 

A study published by Harvard Medical School concluded that running is not actually a contributory factor to arthritis. For older people who are experiencing this condition, you can be sure that exercises do not add nor worsen it. You are free to exercise regularly. In fact, running can strengthen your leg muscles and your joints. However, you have to make sure that you are not running with an injured leg. If you feel like a part of your leg is painful, you should take a rest and you can also consult your doctor to check if you can still continue running. 

Burns calories

If you are into a weight loss program, you should consider running as one of your daily exercises. If you run, you will be able to lose more calories because it requires you to move most parts of your body. It should be understood that the amount of calorie that you will be able to lose depends on the frequency of your run and the intensity you put into the activity. For people who wish to burn more calories, the terrain and the pressure should be considered. Uphill climb requires more energy and it can be the best way for you to lose more pounds.

A research done by the National Weight Control Registry has proven the connection between regular exercise and weight loss. It has been concluded that ninety percent of their respondents who have lost a considerable part of their weight attribute their success to their regular exercise. One of the weight loss exercises that were mentioned in the study that has a positive effect to weight loss is running. However, you have to do it right in order for it to work positively for your own benefit. Here are some of the things that you need to consider if you are going to start running to lose weight:

• Have a specific goal that you want to achieve. If it is to lose weight, decide about how much you should be shedding.
• Always start with your right foot. Running does not have to be done at a constant fast pace.
• Create a schedule for your run. If you are a beginner, you can consider running every other day. This way, you can give your tissues enough time to rest.
• Add distance and change your pace slowly. You should not push yourself to an activity that will only let you end up tired. You should avoid overtraining and just work at your own pace. 

Help promote weight loss

One of the main ways on how to lose weight is to speed up metabolism. Most people gain weight because their metabolism is not normal and also because of inactivity. Your diet is another reason why you gain weight. But there is a way that can help you control your weight; you just need to engage yourself in activities that will help you lessen the calories and fats. People who do not run or exercises are the ones who are mostly gaining more weight. With the body’s inactivity, the calories are not converted into energy and the body continues to gain more pounds. Regular exercise and daily runs in the park can be very helpful in maintaining your weight. 

Reduce cancer risk

Cancer only starts to manifest when the person’s immune system is no longer capable of protecting the body. This is why people who have a history of cancer in the family are encouraged to engage themselves in activities that will be beneficial to the body. Aside from eating natural and organic food, you need to engage yourself with a daily exercise. Running is effective because it does not only help you lessen fats but will also help in strengthening the body as a whole. A person who is physically active is usually healthier compared to people who are not exercising.

Dr. Anthony Komaroff affirmed that exercises can really help reduce the risk of cancer as posted by Harvard Health Publishing. It has been noted that the higher the physical activity of a person, the lesser the possibility of the risk of cancer to be developed. To relate it to running, it is one of the most common and the most famous exercise that everyone can do. Age does not matter if you really want to run and use it to improve your body condition. 

Boost your memory

There is a very interesting study conducted in 2016 that supports the connection of running and boosting the memory and your creativity. When the body is active, the person is more creative. So if you are experiencing problems that are connected to the memory, you can consider going for a run. This is scientifically proven by the fact that more oxygen is being inhaled by the person when he is running. The brain needs more of this in order for it to function well. Aside from that, it can also help you release yourself from anxiety and other stress. This way, you can easily become more creative and your brain can work more efficiently. Aside from that, another study proves that running can help produce hormones that enable the brain cells to grow. 

A recent study also showed that regular exercise has a direct and indirect positive effect on the brain. It can benefit the brain in a way that it can reduce inflammation and it also ensures that there is a growth of new blood vessels in the brain. With this, the survival of new brain cells is also being promoted. 

Increases your stamina

Do you ever wonder how seasoned runners were able to strengthen themselves and were able to maintain a strong body? The answer is through running regularly. At the beginning, of course, you will see yourself having difficulty breathing and you will also experience muscle pains. However, if you continue and make this activity a part of your everyday life, you will see the improvements. As you continue to put a little pressure on your routine, you will also witness how your stamina would be strengthened.

Your endurance depends on how many activities you are allowing yourself to do and sometimes, it is also dependent on your weight and body structure. With the connection between running and weight loss, it can be deduced that whenever you run, you are strengthening your body muscles. As you continue with this activity, you will notice how easier for you to do more activities as you become stronger. After a few months, you will also realize that you can do so much more without losing breathe. This is possible if you continue to add running as one of your regular exercises. 

Help you live longer

As a person ages, he also gets exposed to a lot of factors that can cause disease and other unhealthy conditions that can cause early mortality. This is why you also need to think about running as a regular activity because of many reasons. It helps lessen the possibility of developing chronic diseases. It also helps in improving your sleep. With this, the body gets enough rest and the body cells will easily regenerate.

A recent study published in 2017 has affirmed that running is indeed one of the secrets for long life. In this research, they have proven that 25 to 40 percent of runners were able to avoid premature mortality as compared to those who do not run. This is connected to the different results of running that include the prevention of chronic diseases. As you continue an active lifestyle, you will notice how much positive changes are going on to your body. This is also true with running. You should consider this as one of the regular exercises that you should be adding to your health list. 

Decrease cravings for unhealthy foods and substance

There have been a lot of researches that asked participants to engage in running to measure how this activity can help in their diet. After running, it was a recorder that the runners chose to eat healthier food instead of going for some junk food. With this, it was concluded that running can help you lessen your cravings for unhealthy food.

Whenever you run or do other exercises, you will notice how you become more conscious with what you are eating. For the beginners who are not eating the right food, it is noticeable that they easily get tired. This is because of the fact that the body does not have enough energy. If you really want to make running a habit, you have to make sure that you are eating the right food. As you embrace this activity, you will notice how you slowly change some other parts of your lifestyle including your eating habits.

Running for an hour regularly is really helpful to the body. The different benefits enumerated above are just a few of the many benefits you will get from this exercise. If you are planning to embrace a new improved healthy lifestyle, you should consider running as one of your activities. This will not only allow you to lose weight and improve your physical health. Running can also ensure you positive effects to the emotions. So whenever you are feeling down, you can wear your running shoes and get some air as you keep yourself mobile.

In fact, in the US about 8% of adults and 1.6% of children have tried it already.

This is because the health benefits of mindfulness meditation are incredibly impressive… and supported by scientific studies.

This article explores the health conditions and diseases it may help with.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Meditation is the ancient practice of connecting the body and mind to become more self-aware and present (1).

There is a range of different meditation styles, but the most popular are:

• Focused Attention (Vipassana)
• Transcendental
• Mindfulness.

Most techniques emerged from a religious or spiritual context, but most now practice outside of these traditional settings.

Mindfulness is a specific approach that can be used alone or with other meditation techniques.

It’s most commonly defined as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”

Mindfulness meditation is the most well-studied in health research. Scientific literature may also refer to it as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which are types of mindfulness training.

I’ll refer to it as mindfulness in this article from here on.

Summary: Mindfulness is a form of meditation that is the most well-studied in health literature. It’s an ancient practice that emphasizes presence of mind and focus.

Reducing Stress is the Secret Sauce

Mindfulness appears helpful in a wide spectrum of health conditions.

It’s not understood why, but stress reduction appears to be the common link.

Stress is associated with decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, thought to be problematic. Mindfulness allows for conscious thinking in the prefrontal cortex, which may reverse this pattern of brain activity under stress (2).

Under high stress there are high levels of catecholamine release in brain, which weaken prefrontal cortex function. Click to enlarge. Image source.

It makes sense then that those who regularly practice mindfulness tend to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. At least, that’s what early research indicates (3, 4).

For these reasons most experts suspect the ability of mindfulness to reduce stress is the key reason to its benefits.

Summary: Mindfulness appears to reduce stress and markers of stress. This is important as many health conditions are worsened by stress.

Mindfulness Meditation For Anxiety and Depression

Mindfulness has a direct effect on mental health.

Evidence is strongest for anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder) and depression, two of the most common mental health conditions worldwide.

Anxiety

Anxiety causes chronic, excessive, and often uncontrollable worry.

Unfortunately up to 60% of patients do not improve with conventional treatment, such as medications and psychotherapy(5).

Studies show mindfulness can help.

In one clinical trial of 89 patients with anxiety, one group undertook an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR), while the other group received 8 weeks of stress management education.

Members of both groups who participated in just one or more sessions showed symptom improvement, assessed by the Hamilton Anxiety Scale.

However, the MBSR group showed much greater improvement than the stress management group when additional anxiety symptom scales were used (5).

Change in symptom scores for three anxiety measures after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The lower the number the better. Click to enlarge.

Other studies have found similar benefits, particularly when mindfulness is used alongside anxiety medication (6).

Depression

Clinical depression is complex disorder characterized by low mood and avoidance of usual activities.

Conventional care includes medication and psychotherapy. Unfortunately, many patients relapse with this protocol or are do not comply with medication regimens (7).

Research suggests that mindfulness can help prevent relapse for those who do not wish to use maintenance antidepressants.

In one study (7):

• One group of 28 patients with major depressive disorder in remission received maintenance antidepressants
• The second group of 26 patients gradually discontinued antidepressants while receiving an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program
• The third group of 30 patients gradually discontinued medications while receiving placebo pills under clinical supervision.

Compared to the placebo group, the mindfulness and antidepressant groups showed equally reduced likelihood of relapse. Keep in mind the mindfulness group were weaned off antidepressants.

Proportion of unstable remitters who survived without relapse during maintenance/follow up. M-ADM = maintenance antidepressant pharamacotherapy, MBCT = taper + Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and PLA+CLIN = taper + pill placebo and clinical management. Click to enlarge.

Data from several studies suggests mindfulness and antidepressants are comparable for treating mild to moderate symptoms of depression (8).

This certainly does not suggest those with depression should discontinue medications. However, mindfulness does show promise as an alternative, and certainly as therapy alongside antidepressants.

Summary: Studies indicate it’s useful for managing anxiety compared to conventional stress management practices. It may also be an effective alternative to antidepressants for those at risk of depression relapse.

Mindfulness Meditation and Weight Loss

Obesity rates worldwide have more than doubled in the past 36 years.

Research is now heavily focused on prevention and treatment strategies.

Mindfulness is promising as it has been shown to help limit stress and stress-related overeating (10, 11).

It can also increase awareness of hunger and satiety cues, a concept known as mindful eating (12).

A very large observational study showed a relationship between mindfulness and reduced risk of being overweight or obese. Although it was not able to prove that mindfulness causes lower body weight (13).

Results from smaller clinical trials are promising, but we can’t make solid conclusions yet (14, 15).

Average weight change by group condition among overweight versus obese participants. Mindfulness dramatically reduced cortisol awakening response in obese but not overweight subjects. Click to enlarge.

It makes sense that mindful eating is beneficial for weight loss given our modern, fast-paced, fast food lifestyles.

Summary: Research has shown a link between mindfulness and healthy body weight, but more research is needed.

Mindfulness Meditation and Metabolic Risk Factors

Metabolic syndrome is a group of symptoms that raise risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

You are considered to have metabolic syndrome if you have three or more of the following symptoms:

• A waist circumference greater than 102 cm (40 inches) in men and greater than 88 cm (35 inches) in women.
• High triglycerides
• Low HDL cholesterol
• Elevated fasting glucose (sugar)
• High blood pressure.

Observational studies have shown that metabolic syndrome is less common among those who use mind-body practices, including mindfulness (16).

Smaller clinical studies have explored the cause-effect relationships between mindfulness and metabolic risk. Interestingly, improvements to metabolic risk were seen in studies that showed no significant reduction in body weight (15).

In one study of 194 obese adults, the first group received diet and exercise advice, and the second received that same advice plus an all-day mindfulness retreat.

Compared to the first group, the mindfulness group showed significantly improved cholesterol and triglycerides after 12 months, and better fasting glucose levels after 18 months (15).

Changes in weight, fasting glucose, and triglyceride/HDL ratio for mindfulness and control groups from baseline to 18 months. Lower values are better for all 3 measures. Click to enlarge.

Other studies have shown mindfulness may improve blood pressure in those with hypertension, as well as exercise capacity and heart rate in those with heart disease (17, 18).

The mechanism for these changes is still unknown, but it’s suspected that mindfulness can alter the autonomic nervous system, which regulates blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate (17).

Summary: Mindfulness appears to improve certain metabolic risk factors, even without weight loss. In particular triglycerides, cholesterol ratios, blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

Mindfulness Meditation and the Gut Microbiome

The human body is full of bacteria.

These bacteria make up the human microbiome, mostly located in the large intestine or “gut”.

Alterations and imbalances in the microbiome may contribute to inflammation, weakened immunity, and maybe even weight gain(19).

Very small, early studies on humans have shown a correlation between psychological stress, stress hormones, and changes in microbial composition (20).

In theory then, mindfulness based stress reduction could be a way to help prevent negative changes in the microbiome.

This has so far been tested in rodent studies designed to place mice in stressful situations (19, 21).

Increased stress seems to dramatically alter the types of bacteria in a mouse’s gut, which has been observed multiple times.

Interestingly, this shift in bacteria does indeed increase inflammatory marker levels in the blood, which has huge implications for many common health conditions.

Summary: Research has linked psychological stress to changes in the microbiome, which could theoretically contribute to illness. But more human studies are needed to determine if mindfulness can help maintain a healthy microbiome.

Mindfulness Meditation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common health problem, affecting 7-10% of the world population (22).

The exact causes of IBS are unknown, but it’s likely multifactorial. Gut microbiome imbalance, stress and other psychological issues are suspected triggers (19, 23, 24, 25).

Considering the potential benefits of mindfulness on each of those triggers, it makes sense it helps with IBS management.

In one study of 43 IBS patients, the group who received mindfulness training showed significantly greater reductions in IBS symptoms than the group who received standard medical care (26).

These benefits were still noticeable after 6-months.

Other small studies have shown 30 minutes of mindfulness activity per day to help with IBS symptoms, although these weren’t well-designed (27, 28).

Summary: Small studies indicate that mindfulness may help relieve IBS symptoms. This makes sense given the suspected triggers of IBS are stress and psychological-related.

Mindfulness Meditation and Pregnancy

Stress during pregnancy has been associated with negative health outcomes, including preeclampsia, hypertension, and low birth weight (29, 30, 31).

Small studies have shown that mindfulness may lessen pregnancy-related stress.

In one study of 74 pregnant Indian women, participants who received twice-weekly mindfulness sessions for 5 weeks showed significantly reduced perceived stress than the control group (32).

This suggests mindfulness could very well be beneficial in reducing day-to-day perceived stress during pregnancy, but much more research is needed.

Summary: A small study shows that mindfulness reduces perceived stress in pregnant moms at 12 weeks gestation. More research is needed though.

Mindfulness Meditation and Cancer

In 2012, there were 14.1 million new cases of cancer worldwide.

The number of new cases per year is expected to increase 68% by 2030.

Mindfulness has been shown to significantly improve symptoms and side effects from cancer and its treatment. This includes stress, anxiety, depression, vitality, fatigue, and sleep levels (33, 34, 35, 36, 37).

Newer studies suspect that mindfulness may also help to treat cancer progression in the first place. In particular, markers of cancer activity in breast cancer.

The mechanism for this is still under investigation, but stress reduction appears to play a key role (38, 39).

In one study of 128 stage I to III breast cancer patients who had completed standard medical treatment:

• One group of 53 patients attended eight, 90-minute mindfulness-based educational sessions, plus a 6-hour mindfulness retreat.
• The second group of 49 patients attended a 90-minute group supportive-expressive therapy (SET) sessions once a week for 12 weeks.
• The third control group of 26 patients attended single 6-hour stress management session.

Compared to the mindfulness and SET groups, the control group had significantly shorter telomeres following the intervention.

Telomeres protect the structure of DNA. Shorter telomeres have been linked to disease progression and mortality in breast cancer and leukemia (39, 40).

Although it could have exciting implications for cancer treatment, it’s important to remember this is an emerging area of research. Mindfulness should not replace standard cancer care, but instead be used alongside it.

Summary: There is potential that mindfulness can positively influence cancer progression, or at least breast cancer. At a minimum, mindfulness appears to improve certain cancer symptoms and treatment side effects.

Mindfulness Meditation For Beginners

The potential health benefits of mindfulness meditation are very impressive.

It’s a harmless practice that can only be good for us.

If you are a beginner looking to explore the benefits of mindfulness, many free resources are available online.

I personally use Headspace, which is a guided meditation app for beginners available on iphone and android. It’s free for 10 sessions, and is a great way to understand what it’s all about.

Featured image credit: Medscape

Article submitted and used here with permission from the author at DietvsDisease.org.