Vibrations Just Might Boost Your Workout

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This might be fascinating – and productive. Adding a 30 Hertz vibration to an exercise session might actually boost the impact by as much as 100%. This is according to research from the Eindhoven University of Technology.

Researchers Massimo Mischi and Lin Xu tested the effectiveness of vibrations on exercise. They found that people who used 30 Hertz vibration had a 25% more effective workout than did those without. The muscles were found to work harder with the vibration in place and to become exhausted more quickly.

They suspect that using vibrations can help subjects who have become weakened due to illness or accident to rehab more quickly. As Mr Mischi said, “The well-known fitness slogan “no pain, no gain” is thereby somewhat diluted by this.”

With this research in hand, the researchers decided to develop a device that will allow people to become stronger, faster. Called the MaxDFM, it operates through a smartphone or tablet app and has individualized programs.

How Long Should You Wait After Miscarriage to Try Again?

baby-19295_640If you’ve endured pregnancy loss, you probably want to try to have another baby right away. The pain of the loss is great, but will be made less so by a healthy pregnancy. But is this a good idea?

Interestingly, senior researcher Dr. Enrique Schisterman of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has found something surprising.

Many doctors tell women to wait at least three months before they try again. But the research team from the Shriver National Institute found that this may not be the best advice. As Dr. Schisterman said, “Our data suggest that women who try for a new pregnancy within three months can conceive as quickly, if not quicker, than women who wait for three months or more.”

They followed close to 1000 couples after an early pregnancy miscarriage. Of the 100 couples, 765 tried to get pregnant within three months and 77% of them gave birth to a live baby.
In contrast, only 23% of the 233 couples who waited more than three months had another baby.

The researchers didn’t notice any difference in complications in the pregnancies that happened within the three months after miscarriage. Dr. Karen Schliep added, “While we found no physiological reason for delaying attempts at conception following a pregnancy loss, couples may need time to heal emotionally before they try again. For those who are ready, our findings suggest that conventional recommendations for waiting at least three months after a loss may be unwarranted.”

The recent findings were published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

New Body Measurement Tool

belly-2354_960_720BMI, or body mass index, is the most widely used measurement to determine if a person is of normal weight. However, experts have long debated if this is the best measurement tool and if it’s an accurate reflection of obesity.

A new team from West Virginia University has created a new measurement that focuses on surface area. Their index, the SBSI or surface-based body shape index, focuses on the body’s surface area, vertical trunk circumference, height and waist circumference.

The team from WVU analyzed data from more than 11,808 people aged 18 to 85 and developed their new standard. As the scientists said, “The BMI provides a simple coarse measure of the body shape. Two people in the same BMI category could have very different body shapes, and different body sizes. The distribution of body weight, rather than the absolute weight, is a key factor in predicting health risk.”

As they point out, a person whose body weight is centered in their midsection is at much greater risk for disease and premature death than is someone whose weight is more evenly distributed.

They put their new measurement to the test. As they explained, “Applying SBSI initially gives reasonable performance when compared with existing body shape measures.”

Their findings were published in the journal PLOS One.

Can Scientists Really Get Rid of Your Sweet Tooth?

cake-pops-693645_960_720If you have a sweet tooth – there might be hope yet. A new study from the University of Iowa has shown that a hormone produced by the liver can actually suppress our desire for sugar. The hormone is called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and is produced in the liver when there are high carbohydrate levels there. It will then enter the bloodstream and send a signal to the brain to suppress sugar cravings.

As the study co-author Dr Matthew Potthoff said, “This is the first liver-derived hormone we know that regulates sugar intake specifically.” As the co-author Lucas BonDurant said, “We’ve known for a while that FGF21 can enhance insulin sensitivity. Now, there’s this dimension where FGF21 can help people who may not be able to sense when they’ve had enough sugar, which may contribute to diabetes.”

Certainly, the scientists said that they need further research to identify the neural pathways that regulate FGF21’s ability to manage macronutrient preference.


As Dr Potthoff explained, “In addition to identifying these neural pathways, we would like to see if additional hormones exist to regulate appetite for specific macronutrients like fat and protein, comparable to the effects of FGF21 on carbohydrate intake. If so, how do those signals intertwine to regulate the neural sensing of different macronutrients?”

Get more details about the study here.

Deck The Halls with…Sugar?

coffee-770272__180You’re doing your holiday shopping or you’re just out enjoying, and you decide to treat yourself to a coffee. Sounds healthy enough, right? But you might not be able to believe just how much sugar is hidden in many of these coffee drinks today. A recent video from Denplan shows the shocking amount of sugar in many of these drinks.

A caramel fudge hot chocolate has 24 teaspoons of sugar and an eggnog latte has 17 teaspoons. A sticky toffee latte has 18 teaspoons of sugar.

As Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan said: “While most people will probably be aware that their festive drink contains some levels of sugar, they might not be aware of the sheer quantity. Many of the festive coffees, lattes and hot chocolates that we looked at…on average, around 12 to 18 teaspoons of sugar in their largest portion sizes. One caramel fudge hot chocolate from a popular coffee chain even contained a shocking 24 teaspoons of sugar – that’s the equivalent to around two and a half cans of cola.”

For healthier options select tea (without sugar) over coffee, get a plain coffee, or ask for a latte with sugar-free syrup.

This chart shows you the shocking numbers in black and white.

Amazon Says Goodbye Blue Light

ipad-632512_960_720Apparently, many hand-held devices emit blue light that can ruin your internal inner clock. This is true with television screens, laptops and smartphones. Amazon has gotten smart and has just started to roll out a feature called “blue shade” on its Kindle Fire tablets. This feature limits the amount of blue light that gets to the eye and can be turned on and off with a tap.
The Blue Shade will be available for Amazon’s company’s Fire HD 10, Fire HD 8 and Fire tablets as part of a free software update.

The way that it works is as the sun sets and the evening comes, the apps replace the blue overlay with red. As Andy Bett’s indepth report at makeusof.com explains, “Even if you’re skeptical about it improving your sleep, you will immediately notice a reduction in eye strain when using your phone in a dimly lit room.”

Interestingly, scientists at both Penn State and Harvard have found that people who regularly use e-readers before going to bed sleep less hours than do others. They take ten minutes longer than other people to fall asleep after using their devices and their sleep is worse.


The Neuroscientist Dr Anne-Marie Chang, whose research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that the use of screens has an “extremely powerful effect” on the body’s natural sleep pattern.

Some are skeptical, however, of the power of color on the screen. Vincent Gualino, a French ophthalmologist, for instance, warns that the real problem is how much time we spend on our screens – not what color we are using.