I love the first few months of the new year as there always seems to be a full plate of health & wellness summits, webinars, and challenges to help get your year off to a good start! Another wellness virtual event coming up in February is the Reclaim Your Health: Energy, Weight & Longevity Summit, a free 7-day summit running February 18-24 featuring 45 health professionals participating in a “…transformative opportunity to uncover the root causes of common health challenges and gain the tools to reclaim your energy, manage your weight, and build a foundation for lifelong vitality.”

The Anticancer Lifestyle Program is presenting Breast Cancer Risk Factors: Reducing Exposure to Harmful Chemicals, a free webinar on February 11th at 11am PT/2pm ET. You’ll learn key environmental risk factors, including exposure to harmful chemicals plus simple, actionable steps to reduce personal exposure.

Looking for an option for a Superbowl Sunday healthier dip? Check out the recipe for a Garlicky Green Tahini Dip from Chef Megan McCarthy over at fruitsandveggies.org.

What I’m watching…
Plant-based chef and Author, Chef AJ, recently hosted a month-long YouTube series, Thriving in the Face of Cancer, where she interviewed top healthcare professionals as well as cancer survivors on how to thrive with cancer after disclosing her own personal journey with Lung Cancer. You can catch all the episodes on her YouTube channel - @CHEFAJ.

A recent study I love …
A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - Eating dark chocolate linked with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes!

Jan. 21, 2025 - Muscular strength and good physical fitness linked to lower risk of death in people with cancer - British Journal of Sports Medicine
”The pooled data analysis of the study results showed that both muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness were significantly associated with the risk of death from any cause and specifically from cancer.
Compared with those with poor muscle strength and low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, those at the other end of the spectrum were 31%-46% less likely to die from any cause.”

Jan. 23, 2025 - Inactive today, forgetful tomorrow: Mizzou researchers discover a link between lack of physical activity and a decline in brain health - University of Missouri
”In a recent study, Booth and Kerr found — for the first time — that just 10 days of physical inactivity leads to both insulin resistance and an increase in reactive oxygen species production in the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in memory and learning.”

Jan. 21, 2025 - A Rutgers-led study confirms positive effects of exercise on insulin signaling proteins from the brain - Rutgers University
”A study led by scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick has shown that specialized cells involved in how the body responds to insulin are activated in the brain after exercise, suggesting that physical activity may directly improve brain function.” Lead study author Steve Malin stated “We believe this work is important because it suggests exercise may work to improve cognition and memory by improving the abilities of insulin to act on the brain,...” 

Jan. 17. 2025 - Qigong Significantly Decreases Chronic Low Back Pain in U.S. Veterans - Florida Atlantic University
"The research team designed a novel qigong program for this research specifically applicable to managing chronic low back pain in veterans. The purpose of the eight-week longitudinal study was to evaluate the effects of the qigong intervention on biological, psychological and social measures outcomes in veterans with chronic low back pain compared to a wait-list control group."
Researchers found study results “…published in the journal Pain Management Nursing, indicate that all pain-related outcomes (pain intensity, low back pain-related disability, and pain interference) decreased significantly in the qigong group compared to the control group. In addition to chronic pain, sleep disturbance was significantly improved in the qigong group compared to the control group.”

Jan. 6, 2025 - Study: Mediterranean diet changes gut bacteria, boosting memory and cognition - Tulane University
"In a study published in Gut Microbes Reports, researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine found that subjects following a Mediterranean diet developed distinctly different gut bacteria patterns compared to those eating a typical Western diet. These bacterial changes correlated with better memory and cognitive performance."

Jan. 3, 2025 - Loneliness linked to higher risk of heart disease and stroke and susceptibility to infection - University of Cambridge, UK
”A team led by scientists at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Fudan University, China, examined the ‘proteomes’ – the suite of proteins – in blood samples donated by over 42,000 adults aged 40-69 years who are taking part in the UK Biobank. This allowed them to see which proteins were present in higher levels among people who were socially isolated or lonely, and how these proteins were connected to poorer health.”

Jan. 2, 2025 - Get moving! UI study finds physical activity reduces chronic disease risk - University of Iowa
”The study, led by Lucas Carr, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Physiology, examined responses from more than 7,000 patients at University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center who noted their level of physical activity in a questionnaire.
From patients’ answers to the questionnaire, the researchers found that those who reported the highest level of physical activity — meaning they exercised moderately to vigorously at least 150 minutes per week — were at statistically significant lower risk of having 19 chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes.”

Dec. 13, 2024 - A low omega-6, omega-3 rich diet and fish oil may slow prostate cancer growth, UCLA study finds - Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Men on active surveillance who followed a low omega-6, high omega-3 diet with fish oil supplements had significantly lower levels of cancer cell proliferation after one year.

Dec. 2, 2024 - Higher ratio of plant protein to animal protein may improve heart health - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
After adjusting for participants’ health history and sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, the study found that eating a higher ratio of plant to animal protein was associated with lower risks of CVD [cardiovascular disease] and CHD [coronary heart disease].