Brain and Hugs, 2

Neurologist Shekar Raman MD reportedly said, ‘A hug, pat on the back, and even a friendly handshake are processed by the reward center in the central nervous system, which is why they can have a powerful impact on the human psyche, making us feel happiness and joy… And it doesn't matter if you're the toucher or touchee. The more you connect positively with others—on even the smallest physical level—the happier your brain will be.  Psychotherapist Virginia Satir posited that you need four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, and twelve hugs a day for growth. Some have suggested that this may represent some type of ‘hug threshold’ that triggers your brain and body to produce ample amounts of oxytocin, the naturally occurring substance released in response to physical touch. How much do you hug? Did your family members routinely share hugs with each other and close friends? Fortunately, hugging is a learned skill that you can develop any time you choose to do so. Hug for your brain-body health. When COVID-19 hit, I had to learn to pull 

Brain and Hugs

Do hugs have any link with health? I’m not particularly a hugger—perhaps I should say I am a very discriminating hugger—but a friend of mine said they were good for a person.

Research on the benefits to the brain from giving and receiving hugs has identified many
positives. Of course, positivity relates to genuine hugs where love and trust are present. When this occurs, hugs trigger your brain to release oxytocin, a ‘bonding’ hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. This substance is designed to enhance ability to handle life's stressors and to decrease the level of stress hormones such as cortisol, lowering blood pressure in response to anxiety-producing events. Neuroeconomist Paul Zak, also known as ‘Dr. Love’, has said that you need at least eight hugs a day to be happier and enjoy better relationships. Some days you may get more than that, some days less, and eight may be a desirable average. According to some, even a 10-second hug a day can lead to biochemical and physiological reactions in your body that can significantly improve your health. More tomorrow.

A Happy Brain, 5

In his TED talk, Dr. Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of the Harvard study of happiness and satisfaction, presented some research results from this 75-year study.

 1.  The quality of your close social relationships matters. Living in conflict may be more detrimental than a divorce. 

2.   Individuals who were the most satisfied with their relationships at age 50 were predictably healthier at age 80.

 3.  Good relationships help protect the brain as well as the body. Study participants who had relationships that they felt they could count on, were more likely to maintain their memory functions. 

4.  Those who were happiest in retirement were those who replaced their ‘work mates’ with ‘play mates’—family, friends, and community

Do you need to give up conflict with friends and family or even actual feuds? They are lethal. Do you need to replace screen time with quality people time? Have you developed close reciprocal and rewarding social relationships, perhaps including family-of-choice friendships? Your level of genuine happiness, health, and longevity may be at stake. 

A Happy Brain, 4

Researchers working with the Harvard 75-year study of adult development that was begun in 1938, have drawn some significant conclusions. Dr. Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of this study of happiness and satisfaction, presented some research results in a TED talk, discussing three specific findings under he general heading of "Good relationships keep us happier and healthier." 

1    1.   Individuals with good social connections are happier, healthier, and live longer.

2    2.   Loneliness is toxic. Those who describe themselves as lonely tend to experience more brain-function decline and tend to live shorter lives.

3.   The human brain is relational.

 Do you have solid, positive, and reciprocal social relationships, and do you regularly connect and interact with those individuals? More tomorrow.

 http://www.npr.org/2016/06/10/481401234/can-a-75-year-old-study-deliver-wisdom-for-all-of-us

A Happy Brain

When I have listened to you speak in person or on a video, my impression is that you are a happy person. I don't mean jumping around and cavorting on stage--that seems so" put on." I mean just calmly happy. Are you happy?

Am I happy? Definitely. Would you like to be happy or happier? If you think, ‘I’d need to know your definition of happiness before I can really answer those questions,’ you’d likely be correct. According to some, happiness is an elusive and ethereal quality that it rarely obtainable and definitely unsustainable. Living that definition tends to involve expectations that some place (the environment) or some thing (what you have) or some one (who you know) creates and gives you happiness. Nothing could be farther from the truth in my brain’s opinion. Coming up with a universal definition is likely elusive. For purposes of this blog, here is my definition:

 Happiness is a mindset that is evidenced by positivity, life satisfaction, and realistic optimism that can range from calm contentment to moments of intense joy. This state of mind involves a decision about how to respond to both desirable and undesirable events in life—a choice that impacts yourself as well as others along with your health and likely your longevity.

 What is your definition? More tomorrow. 

A Happy Brain, 3

Are you familiar with the Harvard 75-year study of adult development? Begun in 1938 and the longest of its type in history, it began with 724 males in two groups:

 ·        Males who were sophomores at Harvard College

       ·        Male from disadvantaged families in Boston’s poorer areas

About 10 years ago, wives were invited to be part of the study. Sixty of those original 724 males (most of whom are in their 90’s) are still alive. Researchers are now also studying the children of these 724 males.

Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger MD is the fourth director of the Harvard study of happiness and satisfaction. What are some of the important findings from this study? More tomorrow.

A Happy Brain, 2

Martin Seligman PhD is director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, Zellerbach family Professor of Psychology in the Penn Department of Psychology, and Director of the Penn master of Applied Positive Psychology Program or MAPP. Commonly known as the founder of Positive Psychology, Seligman is a leading authority in the fields of resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, and pessimism; and a recognized authority on interventions that prevent depression, and build strengths and well-being. He has said that happiness is not solely derived from external and momentary pleasures. He coined the acronym PERMA to outline correlational findings related to happiness. Human beings appear to be happiest when they have:

 
1.   Pleasure (shelter, safety, good food, warm baths, etc.)

2.   Engagement or flow (the absorption in and of an enjoyable yet challenging activity)

3.   Relationships (social ties that are reciprocal, rewarding, and can be counted on)

4.   Meaning (a perceived personal quest or belonging to something bigger than oneself)

5.   Accomplishments (having realized tangible goals)

 

As outlined by PERMA, how happy are you?

A Happy Brain, 1

When I have heard you speak in person or on a video, my impression is that you are a happy person. I don't mean jumping around and cavorting on stage--that seems so "put on." I mean just calmly happy. Are you a happy person?

Am I happy? By my definition, yes. Definitely. Some have asked, “Is there a universal definition. Not that I know of. It you think, ‘I’d need to know your definition of happiness before I can really answer those questions,’ you’d likely be correct. According to some, happiness is an elusive and ethereal quality that it rarely obtainable and definitely unsustainable. Living that definition tends to involve expectations that some place (the environment) or something (what you have) or some one (who you know) creates and gives you happiness. Nothing could be farther from the truth in my brain’s opinion. Coming up with a universal definition is likely elusive. For purposes of this blog, here’s mine:

 Happiness is a mindset that is evidenced by positivity, life satisfaction, and realistic optimism that can range from calm contentment to moments of intense joy. This state of mind involves a decision about how to respond to both desirable and undesirable events in life—a choice that impacts yourself as well as others along with your health and likely your longevity.

Do you have a definition? More tomorrow. 

Telemarketing & Frustration

I realize this is a personal question, but how do you handle telemarketing calls or calls from people you do not recognize? It is so frustrating to run to pick up, and after 3-4 seconds of silence a telemarketer comes on the line. Honestly!

My position is that just as I never have to accept an invitation to an argument, the same applies to telemarking calls. Having neither the time nor energy to deal with telemarketing calls—and choosing to avoid frustration—this is my typical response.

 1.     First, I only answer the phone when I recognize the phone number or the caller. If someone I do not know wishes to speak with me, they need to leave a message with a call-back number.

 2.     Second, when I inadvertently answer, say “hello,” and there is no response for one or two seconds, I hang up and block that number. This is a common telemarketing strategy: place several calls at once and then wait for one of them to answer. That results in the short delay before someone begins their ‘pitch’.

Set boundaries that work for you.

Periaqueductal gray (PAG)

Located in the brainstem, the PAG plays a critical role in autonomic function, motivating behavior and behavioral responses to threatening stimuli. Previous studies have implicated this brainstem region in numerous functions, including fear conditioning, pain modulation, altruistic behaviors, and unconditional love. The PAG is also the primary control center for pain modulation, sending information to the brain’s cerebral cortex about pain. The PAG contains a high density of oxytocin that plays a role in social bonding, and vasopressin that also plays a role in social behaviors—and may be specifically involved in human maternal behavior. Its activity likely reflects one aspect of the pleasant emotions associated with motherly love. The PAG is activated by pleasant, visual, tactile, and olfactory stimuli—depending on pleasantness rather than on intensity of stimulation. Now it appears that the periaqueductal gray plays a role in spirituality.

Brain-Spirituality Location

Consensus seems to be that whatever else the human brain is, it is relational, sexual, and spiritual.

1. Relational because it likes to connect with humans, nature, and a power outside itself
2. Sexual because the brain itself differs whether the person engages in sexual behaviors
3. Spiritual because of the “spirit” with which the brain lives life including relational and sexual parameters

Consensus seems to be that whatever else the human brain is, it is relational, sexual, and spiritual. Reportedly, more than 80 percent of people around the world consider themselves to be spiritual or religious. Research on the neuroscience of spirituality and religiosity—separate functions—has been relatively sparse, however, and often those terms were used interchangeably, which further muddied the waters. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have taken a new approach to mapping spirituality and religiosity. The results of their study, published in Biological Psychiatry, found that spiritual acceptance can be localized to a specific brain circuit. This brain circuit is located in the brain stem in a region known as the periaqueductal gray. Most people have never heard of the periaqueductal gray—also known as the PAG or central gray.

 

More tomorrow.

Longevity Lifestyle Living

Current research is providing a great deal of encouragement for people who want to live longer. Dieting does not work long term, period. Creating a balanced Longevity Lifestyle, incorporating the key components, and maintaining it for the rest of your life typically results in your weight balancing itself as a byproduct of a healthier lifestyle. Take one tip at a time. Incorporate it into your lifestyle. Stop thinking “deprivation “and “can’t have,” and start thinking “This is fun. I’m purchasing insurance for a healthier aging process.” It’s a gift you give yourself—and the people you love. Imagine how much happier you and they will be when your lifestyle changes—eating nutritional food when you are physiologically hungry, staying hydrated, getting sufficient sleep, managing your emotions and stressors more effectively—help you avoid brain shrinkage and reduce your risk for dementia and chronic diseases. The Longevity Lifestyle Program is available digitally: LLM Online – How to Stay Healthier and Younger for Longer. It is available on Taylor’s website (www.arlenetaylor.org)

"Tend to Your Own Rat-Killing"

I

It is so easy to point to others and feel very self-righteous because one is not “doing what they are doing!” The emerging research on foods with addictive-like behaviors reminds me of hearing my little French grandmother say, “Tend to your own rat-killing.” This phrase would pop out whenever she perceived someone was officiously pointing the proverbial finger of disapproval about what someone else was choosing to do. In adulthood, I asked her about that phrase that had stuck in my memory and she remarked that ‘housekeeping begins at home. My brain's opinion is that emerging research could serve as a wake-up call to brains around the world who rather complacently think: "I have no addictive-like behaviors—it's all those other folks. How dreadful." My guess is that every brain has some type of addictive-like behavior: something it does to trigger the brain reward system and make the person feel better. After all, addictive-like behaviors are addictive-like behaviors be it tobacco, alcohol, street drugs, food, sex, gambling, pornography, anger, or you name it; they all trigger the brain reward system, although they may differ in the type of undesirable consequences. Before we get too vocal about what another brain is doing, it might be a good idea to check first on what one’s own brain is doing.

DSM-5 Manual & Eating Disorders

Although the diagnosis of Food Addiction (FA) is not yet formally recognized in the DSM 5 Manual, it may be coming. Some studies have suggested that the DSM-5 criteria for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) may be transferable to Food Addictions. A food addiction or eating addiction is a behavioral addiction that is characterized by the compulsive consumption of palatable foods which markedly activate the reward system in humans (and even in animals) despite adverse consequences. patients enrolled in an addiction treatment program in Bordeaux, France were evaluated using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for psychiatric disorders adjusted to include criteria for gambling,  eating disorders (ED), and FA criteria based on the DSM-5 Manual criteria for SUD. The study showed that patients with a food addiction, exhibited impairment comparable to that seen in patients with a substance use disorder.

Foods as Addictive Substances

The American Medical Association does not yet have a specific diagnosis for “food addiction.” That may be changing. Neal D. Barnard, M.D. wrote an interesting article about foods as addictive substances. Here is an excerpt: Recently conducted, but previously unpublicized studies suggest that cheese, chocolate, sugar, and meat all spark the release of opiate-like substances that trigger the brain’s pleasure center and seduce us into eating them again and again. Dairy cheese is an especially interesting case. In our own research studies at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, we’ve noticed that participants moving to a vegetarian diet have a harder time giving up dairy cheese than almost any other food. In fact, the popularity of dairy cheeses may have less to do with its meltability and mouth-feel and more to do with its addictive qualities. It contains casomorphins (opiates) to which eaters can develop addictive behaviors.

 More tomorrow. 

Least Likely “Addictive” Foods

Researchers at University of Michigan, using the Yale Food Addiction Scale, reported they found a group of foods least likely to trigger addictive-like behaviors.

 Here are twelve of those foods: 

     1.     Cucumbers

     2.     Carrots
3.     Beans (plain)
4.     Apples
5.     Brown Rice
6.     Broccoli
7.     Bananas
8.     Salmon
9.     Corn (plain)
10. Strawberries
11. Granola Bars
12. Water

 If you are confused about thinking of water as a food, remember that it is a most essential nutrient—the body cannot make it and it must be taken in from the outside.

More than Addictive-like Behaviors

University of Michigan researchers, using the Yale Food Addiction Scale, found that top scoring foods with addictive-like behaviors included pizza, chocolate, and French fries. While these foods aren’t much of a surprise, the reasons (according to the researchers) are shocking and unexpected. These foods tended to lead to physical discomfort and mental distress, plus addictive-like behavior. This distinctive trend pointed to processed foods—high in added sugars, fats, and composed of refined carbohydrates. The high scoring foods on the list usually lead to high glycemic levels, meaning people’s blood sugar levels are likely to rise as a result of eating such foods. High glycemic spikes are not good for the brain! They tend to be followed by a drop in blood sugar levels. The roller-coaster impact of high spikes followed by lows is not good for the brain, either. In addition, they discovered that dairy cheese contains casomorphins, (an opiate) to which a person can become addicted. 

Yale Food Addiction Scale

Studies have shown that some foods make you want to eat them over and over again. So what types of foods have addictive-like behaviors? University of Michigan researchers have investigated the way in which some foods can produce addictive-like behavior. Using the Yale Food Addiction Scale, they ranked foods from “most problematic” to “least problematic” in terms of foods with addictive-like behavior. They plotted these foods on a scale of 1 (least) to 7 (most). 

The top 12 foods with Addictive-Like Behaviors were:

1.  Pizza
2. Chocolate
3. Chips
4. Cookies
5. Ice Cream
6. French Fries
7. Cheeseburgers
8. Sodas
9. Cake
10. Cheese
11. Bacon
12. Chicken 

http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/
addiction/FoodAddictionScale09.pdf

Brain Eating Centers

Eating begins in the brain. Eating is controlled in the brain. For more than half a century, researchers have known that basic motivated behaviors, such as eating, drinking, and sleeping, are controlled within the lateral hypothalamus, which is similar in all mammals. But have you ever wondered what part of the brain pushes you to eat or not to eat? Studies have shown that within the lateral hypothalamus (LH) there are distinct groups of cells, living right next door to each other, if you will. There is the Orexin cell population, the MCH, and the Vgat, to name a few. There are also the LH GABA activation cells that push you to consume food and get a reward, and the LH GABA inhibition cells that encourage you not to eat any more. Although these cell groups appear to live right next door to each other in the brain, each primarily appears to be responsible for one or the other of these behaviors (eating or not eating) but rarely both. This points out yet again the complexity of the brain. More tomorrow. 

Obesity linked with the BRS

Obesity is associated with hyperactivation of the Brain Reward System for high-calorie (HC) versus low-calorie (LC) food cues, which encourages unhealthy food selection and overeating. It is triggered by seeing, smelling, thinking about, and picturing (visualizing) the HC food. The good news is that this learned behavior can be changed and the brain can rewire itself to activate when it sees healthier food choices. The bottom line?
It comes down to personal choice. Do you prefer a short-term food and beverage reward or long-term healthier heart and brain? A Longevity Lifestyle recommends giving your heart and brain a break today. Overweight and obesity happens an ounce at a time—so does weight loss and prevention. 

Obesity & Brain Reward System (BRS)

What does obesity have to do with the Brain Reward System, whatever that is?

The Brain Reward System is one of the most important functional systems in the brain. It drives human behavior towards pleasurable stimuli such as food, sex, relationships, etc., and away from painful ones (conflict, homework, etc.) that require more energy or effort. Make no mistake, obesity represents a highjacked brain—associated with hyperactivation of the Brain Reward System for high-calorie (HC) versus low-calorie (LC) food cues. This encourages unhealthy food selection and overeating. It is triggered by seeing, smelling, thinking about, and picturing (visualizing) the HC food. The good news is that this learned behavior can be changed and the brain can rewire itself to activate when it sees healthier food choices. The bottom line? It comes down to personal choice. Do you prefer a short-term food and beverage reward or long-term healthier heart and brain? A Longevity Lifestyle recommends giving your heart and brain a break today. Overweight and obesity happens an ounce at a time—so does weight loss and prevention. 

Obesity & the Heart

I cannot believe that excess weight requires the heart to work harder. Really? How?

Obesity doesn’t just impact the brain, it impacts your heart, as well. For example, those with increased belly fat had a 30 percent higher risk of AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm)

 Overweight and obesity puts you at a higher risk for high blood pressure, increased blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and heart disease. As your BMI rises, so does your risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

Estimates are the body contains from 60,000 to 100,000 miles of blood vessels—each pound of excess fat requires 5 miles of new blood vessels. Do the math: 50 pounds of excess fat translates into 250 miles of blood vessels through which the heart must pump blood. No wonder obesity and heart disease go hand in hand, your heart must work harder to pump blood through extra miles of blood vessels.