Category: Longevity & Health

A review by Natural England of projects which set out to achieve greater involvement by people, in the natural environment, has identified a number of key benefits for participants’ mental health. The review spanned activities such as therapeutic gardening, food growing and environmental conservation work. Groups taking part were drawn from both the general population and those who were already experiencing mental health problems.

Benefits identified included: improvements in depression, anxiety and stress related symptoms; improvements in dementia-related symptoms; improved self-esteem, confidence, happiness, satisfaction, mood and quality of life; increased attention capacity and cognition; sense of peace, calm or relaxation; increased social contact, sense of belonging and personal achievement.

(A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR204, uploaded 9 February 2016.)

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have shown that olive oil exerts protective effects on the heart and circulatory system. The key has been their development of a test which can detect subtle changes in heart health over a period of only a few weeks. The new test is simple to undergo because it is based on changes in the patterns of proteins excreted in the urine.

The BBC television programme “Trust Me I’m a Doctor” exploited the new test in taking the question one step further by asking whether extra virgin olive oil was more beneficial than normal olive oil. Seventy volunteers were split into two groups, and in a double-blind trial, given either extra virgin or normal olive oil at a dose of 20ml per day for six weeks. Urine samples were taken at baseline and again at 3 and 6 weeks. Both oils proved to have a significant and equal effect on reducing markers for coronary artery disease, so the extra plant compounds present in extra virgin oil are probably not key to the cardioprotective effects.

(New perspectives on bioactivity of olive oil: Evidence from animal models, human interventions and the use of urinary proteomic biomarkers. ResearchGate, 22 July 2015.
Trust Me I’m a Doctor, BBC Website, accessed January 2016.)

Research commissioned by the National Trust has found that walking, and coastal walking in particular, can significantly increase sleep quantity and quality.

A total of 109 participants were recruited for the study. Ages ranged from 21 to 82 years. Measures of mood and sleep quality were recorded using a questionnaire, both before and after either a coastal or an inland walk. The coast was walked by 54 participants, whilst 55 walked inland. The average walk across was 7.24 miles long and lasted three hours and 40 minutes.

Across coastal and inland walkers combined, sleep quality significantly improved the night after a walk in comparison to the night before the walk. This did not vary significantly between the two groups, although there was a slight trend towards greater sleep quality amongst coastal walkers. Alertness on waking the next morning displayed the same characteristics, with coastal walking again having a slight advantage. The average number of night time wakings was significantly reduced after a walk, across both groups. As regards sleep quantity, coastal walkers slept on average 47 minutes longer after a walk compared to the previous night, whereas the figure for inland walkers was 12 minutes. Both groups felt significantly happier and more calm after their walks, with a sense of reflection, freedom and escape being commonly reported.

(Sleep, Mood and Coastal Walking: A Report Prepared for the National Trust by Eleanor Ratcliffe, August 2015.)

As we approach the winter solstice and our days are at their shortest, it is timely to report that the Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, this summer published draft recommendations to set a new reference nutrient intake (RNI) for vitamin D. The British weather and indoor work are some of the factors which mean dietary vitamin D alone may be inadequate.

Dietary reference values were set in 1991, mindful of bone health. Now however, the Committee has evaluated more recent work linking low vitamin D levels with all-cause mortality, autoimmune disorders, cancers, infections, high blood pressure, dementia and others. Although data on these other diseases is inconclusive and causality has not been established, on the basis of musculoskeletal health (bones mainly), the Committee is putting forward an RNI of 10 micrograms per day throughout the year.

Good dietary sources are egg yolk and oily fish; the latter can contain 5-10 micrograms per 100g of fish.

(View the full report at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-draft-sacn-vitamin-d-and-health-report.)

Research by the University of Utrecht in Holland, shows that Dutch cyclists live on average six months longer than their non-cycling counterparts. This feeds through into 6500 fewer deaths per annum.

The study made use of a new computational tool developed by the World Health Organisation. It revealed that for every hour spent cycling, people live an average one hour longer. For the average Dutch person, who spends 75 minutes per week on their bike, that equates to living six months longer. Researcher Dr Carlijn Kamphuis says,”This is important information to convince policy makers about the significance of promoting cycling measures. The figures speak for themselves. An investment in better cycle paths, for example, is easily recovered through the enormous health benefits and potential financial savings.”

(Dutch Cycling: Quantifying the Health and Related Economic Benefits. American Journal of Public Health. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302724 and University of Utrecht News.)