Human muscles are plastic. Muscle adapts to what we do. If we don’t use it, we lose it. Researchers, reporting in Cell Metabolism, have found that when healthy but inactive men and women exercise for a matter of minutes, activity produces a rather immediate change to their DNA by ramping up muscle building genes. Perhaps even more tantalizing, […]
Tag Archives: cognition
Caffeine might help your small blood vessels work better, according to a study by researchers from at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. A study of 27 healthy adults showed that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee significantly improved blood flow in a finger, which is a measure of how well the inner […]
It seems that good teamwork starts with everyone being caffeinated. Researchers from the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business found that people gave more positive reviews for their group’s performance on a task — and their own contribution — if they drank caffeinated coffee beforehand. In addition, a second study showed that people talked more in […]
We all know caffeine wakes us up, helps us focus and makes our brain sharp. For athletes, caffeine is known to boost sports performance, which usually is attributed to caffeine’s mental boosting ability. A study by researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) shed additional lights on caffeine’s performance boosting ability – it seems that caffeine […]
Let’s face it – we are what our brain is. Keeping our brain young and sharp is quintessential for a healthy and happy life. Unfortunately, our brain ages. Each year more than six percent of people aged 70 years or older develop mild cognitive impairment, a condition involving memory loss that can progress to dementia and Alzheimer’s […]
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have discovered that drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate ‘brown fat’, the body’s own fat-fighting defense. The research suggests that caffeine could be used to tackle obesity and diabetes. Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is one of two types of fat found in humans and […]
Cocoa flavanols, a class of natural compounds in cocoa bean, have neuroprotective effects, based on a meta study carried out by a group of Italian researchers. In a review article published in Frontiers in Nutrition, the Italian researchers examined the available literature for the effects of administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. In other words: what happens to […]
Moms, you’re busy. You’re a master at juggling the impossible and being in 10 places at once, or at least trying to be. Time and energy are two important things that are hard to find when you’re knee-deep in summer camp registration or answering the middle-of-the-night request for water, book, snack or even a dance […]
Coffee is the world’s most popular beverages. A large population study drawing on data from over half a million Europeans suggests that coffee could have a range of health benefits, by revealing an association between higher coffee consumption and a reduced risk of death from all causes. The research was carried out by scientists from […]