With the Christmas season upon us, chances are good that your stress level has gone up significantly. Purchasing gifts, decorating your home, preparing family events, sending cards and planning for travel only adds to the chaos of year-end reports, increased workloads, social events and other typical December stressors.

Even worse, the holidays are a time when many people start to suffer from anxiety and depression. It’s estimated that around 10 percent of people suffer from seasonal affective disorder, and many more suffer from a milder but still troubling condition colloquially referred to as the “winter blues.” So what could be done to reduce stress during the holiday season? Well, according to an encouraging new study, it may truly be better for your health to give than to receive.

Prosocial Behavior Eases Stress Levels

The study, conducted by researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine and the University of California, Los Angeles, involved 77 participants between the ages of 18 and 44. These test subjects were given a set of questionnaires each evening for a period of two weeks. The first questionnaire dealt with stressful events experienced throughout the day, often related to work, finances, personal relationships and health issues. The second questionnaire asked participants about prosocial behaviors or “random acts of kindness,” such as loaning money to a friend, asking someone if they need help, holding open doors or helping a child with homework. A third survey asked the test subjects to indicate the frequency of negative or positive emotions experienced throughout the day, as well as rating their mental health from 0 to 100 using a well-established form known as the Positive and Negative Affect Scale.

Researchers found that most people averaged one to two acts of kindness per day. However, whenever a person exceeded the average, they were much more likely to report fewer negative emotions and fewer reductions in mental health or positive emotions throughout the day. At the same time, people who reported less prosocial behavior were much more likely to experience higher negative emotions, higher stress levels and lower positive emotions. According to a press release published by the Association for Psychological Science, researchers were surprised by “how strong and uniform the effects were across daily experiences.”

Study Limitations

While the results of this study are intriguing, it is limited in a few ways. First of all, the sample size is quite low. Examining more than 77 people over a period of longer than two weeks may reveal different results if the study happens to be repeated in the future. Also, all of the test subjects happened to be Caucasian, so the results may not necessarily be the same within culturally or ethnically diverse populations. Nevertheless, the study has brought to light a potentially helpful mechanism for improving mood, reducing stress levels and preventing depression relapses that should warrant further investigation and research.

Acts of Kindness and Stress Levels: The Bottom Line

While the study was small and limited in scope, there’s really no harm in increasing your prosocial behavior if you’re searching for a way to de-stress this holiday season. It only takes a few moments to hold a door for a stranger, buy a friend a cup of coffee, loan your neighbor a tool or any other small act of kindness for which the opportunity arrises. Not only is it appropriate for the season, but it may help you feel better throughout the day and enable you to stay focused on all your holiday obligations without getting overwhelmed.

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There are many factors that come into play when considering why you or someone you know may be overweight. Unhealthy lifestyle choices like smoking or not getting enough sleep can contribute to a high body weight, while medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure can enable obesity as well. Of course, the most well-known factors for maintaining a healthy body weight involve getting enough exercise and regularly consuming a healthy diet. Apart from all of these, however, there’s one factor that is often overlooked when it comes to weight loss: the brain. Although it’s not widely understood, mental health issues such as depression have been linked to weight gain. This causes some to ask: could it be possible that the opposite is true as well? In other words, is a positive, in-the-moment mental outlook linked to lower body weight? A new study says it’s possible.

Mindful People Have Lower Body Weights

According to the new study, published last month in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, mindfulness could play a large role in weight loss. Due to the evolutionary history of humans, the researchers conducting the study believe that the brain directs us to eat as much as we can. This is due to a deep concern that we may not know when we’ll be eating next. Because early humans exerted so much energy hunting, our brains are also designed to encourage rest when possible, which causes us to often feel averse to exercise. What this all boils down to, researchers say, is that we must mentally fight our basic instincts in order to eat healthier and exercise more. Mindfulness, living in the moment, and paying close attention to our bodies’ signals can help prevent becoming overweight.

To test this hypothesis, researchers studied 394 people with a median age of 47. These participants were given a survey known as the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, which contains 15 statements such as “I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until some time later,” or “I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time.” Participants answered each statement using a number 1 through 6, where 1 means “almost always” and 6 means “almost never.” After the data was collected, researchers found that people who scored lowly on this test were 34 percent more likely to be obese, in addition to having an average of one pound more belly fat than those who scored highly.

How Can You Become More Mindful?

When it comes to your diet, you can increase your mindfulness by simply taking a moment to listen to your body before indulging in something like cake, candy or fast food. You’ll probably find that, many times, you do indeed want to eat the unhealthy food you’ve been presented. However, taking a second to ask yourself why you’re choosing to eat unhealthily may make you realize that you actually don’t want to consume the cake, candy, soda or whatever the poor diet choice may be. Just taking a brief moment to consider the impetus behind your impulses may go a long way towards helping you become more mindful, regardless of the outcome. And the more mindful you become, the better chances you’ll have of making the right decisions in the future.

The three main tenets of mindfulness are self awareness, emotion regulation and attention control. Improving these aspects may not only help you watch your waistline, but they could also positively affect personal relationships, decision-making, attitude and many other facets of your life. The path toward becoming more mindful can begin by simply starting to meditate every now and then.

Mindfulness: The Bottom Line

While this study was small, it simply makes sense that being more mindful would be linked to eating more healthily. Taking a moment before impulse eating to try controlling your behavior could go a long way toward eliminating the less healthy foods in your diet. Meditating and analyzing the reasons behind poor lifestyle choices could also set you on the path toward correcting them.

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It’s a situation almost everybody has found themselves in at one time or another: you have a stressful day at work, you go home, collapse on the couch, and reach for the ice cream. Or potato chips. Or cookies. You end up eating most – if not all – of the pint/bag/box. If you’re trying to maintain a healthy diet, you’ve just obliterated any chance of meeting your daily goal. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as “stress eating,” “emotional eating” or, more colloquially, “eating your feelings,” is a real issue that’s been fairly widely studied. Most studies have shown that the stress hormone cortisol is responsible for stress eating. However, a new study published in the journal Neuron suggests that the problem is actually quite a bit more complicated. It also suggests that stress can lead to an overall reduction in self-regulatory behavior, which can affect more than just food choices.

The Brain Prefers Immediate Rewards When Stressed

For the new study, researchers from the University of Zurich found 51 young adult males who reported to exercise regularly and eat healthy diets, but also reported to enjoy junk food at times. Women were not included in the study due to cortisol’s tendency to interact with estrogen, which makes the study more difficult for researchers to control. The men were asked to rate images of 180 different food items by taste, healthiness and overall appeal. Twenty-nine men were then selected randomly from the original group to undergo a three-minute “stress induction procedure,” which involved immersing one hand in an ice bath while being monitored and videotaped. Then, all of the men were put in fMRI scanners, which monitors blood flow changes in the brain. Saliva samples were also taken during the course of the study to measure cortisol levels.

All 51 study participants underwent a seven-minute decision trial, in which the men were asked to choose between pairs of foods they had rated earlier. It was found that those who underwent the stress induction were much more likely to choose foods that they had originally deemed tastier rather than a more healthy alternative. Researchers noted that stress seemed to amplify the desire for short-term rewards while simultaneously impairing the influence of a region of the brain that contributes to self-control. Basically, stress can affect the brain in such a way that it becomes more difficult to resist the temptations of your favorite unhealthy foods.

A Vicious Cycle

While this study sheds light on how and why stress eating occurs, most people are well aware of the basic principle that stress can lead to poor diet. But isn’t it also possible that poor diet can lead to stress? Unfortunately, yes. According to the Stress Management Society in the UK, foods that can aggravate stress or anxiety include:

• Sugar
• Coffee
• Tea
• Energy Drinks
• Butter and cheese
• Alcohol
• Soda and other soft drinks
• Fast food
• Shellfish
• Coconut oil
• Almonds, macadamias and other nuts

So, it’s important to remember that your diet can impact your stress levels just as much as your stress levels can impact your diet.

Stress Eating: The Bottom Line

So how can a person avoid the vicious cycle of stress eating? Well, the researchers for this new study recommend one simple tactic: don’t keep unhealthy foods in your house. If you know that you tend to grab sugary, fatty snacks after a long day at work, you’ll be far less likely to eat them if they simply aren’t in your vicinity. Avoiding stress eating in the workplace can be significantly more difficult, but one of the best overall strategies is to just try reducing stress in your life as much as possible.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are currently living longer than ever. While this is great news, it also signals a need for increased understanding of elderly health issues and resources for dealing with them. In particular, longer life spans necessitate a continued need for research into cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s prevention. As of now, 5.3 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, and it’s the sixth leading cause of death. Plenty of studies suggest different methods for preventing Alzheimer’s, such as learning a second language or making sure you get enough vitamin D. However, not everybody develops Alzheimer’s as they get older – but many elderly people will experience cognitive decline of some sort. What can be done in those cases? A new report from the non-profit Institute of Medicine describes some prevention strategies.

Wide-Reaching Report Analyzed Current Knowledge Base

The extensive new report sought to gather all available scientific knowledge in the area of cognitive decline to clearly define terminology, prevention strategies, education issues, current public awareness, and many other factors. The authors of the report state that the brain is just like any other organ in the body – it changes over time. The way the brain functions regarding memory, learning, processing speed, and decision-making changes as a person gets older. While it isn’t a disease like Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline or cognitive aging can still cause seriously risky behaviors such as poor driving, bad financial decisions, or misunderstanding instructions from doctors.

According to all the data collected, some the best ways to stay mentally sharp as you age involve getting enough exercise, watching out for medications that affect the brain, keeping the brain active, maintaining heart health and getting enough sleep.

#1 – Staying Physically Active

It’s been proven that exercise can help prevent Alzheimer’s, and it goes a long way toward keeping the brain sharp even in people who don’t suffer from the disease. Simply taking a 20-minute walk every day can be very beneficial both physically and mentally. At the same time, some studies suggest that vigorous exercise could be advantageous even for older adults.

#2 – Medication Management

Many medications are known to have a detrimental effect on cognitive function. Prescription antidepressants or antipsychotic medications are especially guilty of impacting brain function, but over-the-counter drugs like Excedrin PM, Benadryl and Dramamine could also have an effect. It’s best to ask a professional about the short- and long-term cognitive effects of any medication before taking it regularly.

#3 – Heart Health

No surprise here – strategies that keep your heart healthy also keep your brain healthy. This means avoiding high blood pressure and diabetes by consistently eating a healthy diet and trying to keep stress levels as low as possible. It also means you shouldn’t smoke.

#4 – Getting Enough Sleep

Sleep is often one of the most overlooked health factors, especially for busy, overworked, middle-aged parents. While it’s easy to sacrifice, the brain needs the proper amount of sleep to function efficiently throughout old age. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 to 9 hours for adults aged 26 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours for adults over the age of 65. The report highly recommends seeking professional help if you have any sleep disorders.

Cognitive Decline: The Bottom Line

While physical activity is perhaps the most important aspect of preserving your mental function into old age, don’t forget about activities that “exercise” the brain itself. Staying socially active and seeking out learning opportunities can help prevent cognitive decline as well. Ingraining all of these prevention habits earlier in life will make it easier to maintain them them as you age.

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Everybody knows that exercise is one of the fundamental aspects of living a fit and healthy lifestyle. Just some of the benefits of exercise include weight control, disease prevention, energy boosting, stress relief and sleep improvements. It’s been proven time and time again that a lack of exercise can lead to poor life quality and early mortality. A sedentary lifestyle can even be more damaging than obesity.

Plenty of research has indicated that exercise can be effective in treating specific conditions as well. It’s been proven to help with depression, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and many others. It also can improve memory and brainpower. Unfortunately, a new study says that many medical schools simply aren’t teaching doctors to use exercise in their treatment plans. The results of the study might be indicative of a problem within the culture of the medical industry.

Most Medical Schools Don’t Require Exercise Training

Oregon State University researchers published their new findings in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. Their study methods involved analyzing the websites of all accessible and accredited institutions that offer doctor of medicine and doctor of osteopathic medicine coursework. Among the 118 schools studied, 51 percent offered no classes whatsoever related to exercise. Twenty-one percent offered only one class. Also, a whopping 82 percent of schools do not require students to take courses regarding physical activity. Of course, it’s possible that medical schools are providing more exercise education than is shown in their published curriculums, but health experts seem to agree that the requirements are far too low in general.

The accompanying press release also points out that a lack of exercise training in medical schools could be detrimental to the Healthy People 2020 plan, which is the U.S. government’s initiative to improve the health of the nation in the coming years. The plan stresses the importance of exercise for preventing diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, stroke and many other conditions. At the same time, the initiative emphasizes the importance of doctors educating their patients and recommending exercise as part of treatment plans.

Doctors Too Quick to Prescribe?

Medical schools failing to teach future doctors about exercise could potentially be seen as part of a bigger issue: physicians being too quick to prescribe drugs. While prescription drugs are an incredibly important part of modern medicine and help millions of people deal with medical conditions every day, they’re also just one option when it comes to treatment of certain diseases. For example, studies have shown that depression is often over-diagnosed and antidepressants are often over-prescribed. In cases where symptoms do not meet the criteria for major depression, exercise can be a very effective part of a treatment plan that also helps avoid some of the nasty side effects of antidepressants.

But it’s not just depression medication. Studies have shown all sorts of over-prescribing tendencies, including unnecessary antibiotics for children.

Medical Schools and Exercise: The Bottom Line

This study shows that doctors might not be suggesting exercise as a go-to treatment plan in cases where it could be greatly beneficial. So, patients may need to take the initiative and ask doctors how exercise could benefit their lifestyle or help treat their condition. If you think your doctor may be prescribing an unnecessary medication instead of a comprehensive treatment plan that could involve exercise, it might be worthwhile to get a second opinion.

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When it comes to early mortality, preventable risk factors such as obesity and smoking are widely discussed. For example, one study from 2012 claims that otherwise healthy, non-smoking adults could be hastening mortality by 9.44 years if they’re obese. Information on smoking may be even more prevalent. According to the CDC, smokers have a life expectancy that’s a full 10 years shorter than nonsmokers. Also, quitting smoking before turning 40 can lower a person’s risk of death due to a smoking-related disease by an astonishing 90 percent.

But while these risk factors are fairly well understood, there may still be many under-recognized causes of early mortality. Case in point, a new study from Brigham Young University claims that loneliness could actually shorten a person’s life. It’s a big problem, and it could be getting much worse in the near future.

Researchers Stress Loneliness is a Serious Public Health Issue

The new study, appearing this week in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, analyzed data from 70 independent studies involving a total of over 3.4 million people. The studies occurred between 1980 and 2014, and each participant was followed for an average of seven years. Researchers found that simply feeling lonely, regardless of how much an individual actually interacts with other people, can increase the risk of early mortality by 26 percent. Social isolation, in which a person lacks social contact, increased the risk of death by 29 percent. Finally, it was found that living alone increases early mortality risk by 32 percent.

Interestingly, researchers noted that the effect was actually higher for middle-age people than it was for those over the age of 65. This could be due to the fact that middle-aged adults who’ve experienced extended loneliness might be less likely to pay attention to their health, seek medical attention when needed, or avoid risky behaviors. Another possible explanation is that older people who are alone might have more recently suffered the loss of a spouse rather than experiencing isolation for long periods of time.

Is There a Loneliness Trend?

Researchers noted that while living alone can be convenient, it’s not necessarily beneficial for health. At the same time, affluent nations have the highest rates of people living alone. Combine that fact with the continuing advancements of technology such as social media and texting, and it could be argued that loneliness is becoming a trend. So much so that researchers claim isolation could be an epidemic within the next twenty years. While isolation rates may certainly be growing, there’s really no way to measure if more and more people are simply feeling lonely regardless of their actual situation. If that’s also a growing trend, we could be seeing an even worse situation in the years ahead.

Loneliness and Health: The Bottom Line

Even if you never really think about it, you’ve almost certainly felt the value of maintaining in-person relationships for health reasons. Having real connections with other people can help you manage stress and can ensure you get medical attention when you need it. If nothing else, this study may serve as a good reminder to stay in touch with old friends, visit family members that live alone, and foster in-person connections as much as possible.

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It’s not uncommon for any generation to think that younger people are more selfish or entitled. Nearly 40 years ago, respected author Tom Wolfe famously declared the 1970s to be the “Me” Decade. But it seems as if there’s an especially high amount of concern about narcissistic children and young adults now. In 2013, Time Magazine declared millennials to be the Me Me Me Generation, calling them lazy, entitled, selfish, shallow and narcissistic (to be fair, it also said millennials will “save us all”). Articles such as these point to studies like this one from 2008, which claimed narcissism in college students has skyrocketed since the 1970s. This study, also from 2008, says that 9.4 percent of people aged 20 to 29 are extreme narcissists, while only 3.2 percent of people older than 65 exhibit narcissism. The continued prominence of social media doesn’t help either. Selfies and Facebook only seem to fuel the fire for a narcissistic generation.

Rather than just complain, however, adults might want to consider the findings of the newest study on narcissistic children to see how their own actions could be causing these trends. We already know that helicopter parenting can be damaging, but what about parenting that over-encourages a child to believe they are intrinsically superior to other people?

Two Potential Theories

The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that Western countries have higher rates of narcissistic children – and the amount of them is increasing. More importantly, however, it examines why children end up exhibiting narcissistic behavior. One theory, known as “social learning,” suggests that children learn narcissistic behavior when parents treat them as if they are fundamentally more deserving and special than others. Alternatively, the “psychoanalytic theory” suggests that children end up putting themselves on pedestals because their parents withhold attention and warmth. While the social learning theory might seem obvious, it’s actually the psychoanalytic theory that has most commonly been thought to explain narcissistic behavior.

Researchers were careful to point out that narcissism is different from self-esteem. Put simply, children with high self esteem believe they are just as valuable as other people. However, narcissistic children believe they are better than others.

“Overvaluing” Leads to Narcissism

For a period of one year and six months, researchers analyzed children in the Netherlands whose ages ranged from 7 to 11. The children’s parents were also studied. Every six months, both the children and parents would fill out a questionnaire. The children would be asked to agree or disagree with statements such as, “Kids like me deserve something extra,” which would indicate narcissistic behavior. Agreeing with a statement like “Kids like me are happy with themselves as a person” would indicate high-self esteem but not necessarily narcissism.

Parents would agree or disagree with statements like “My child is a great example for other children to follow” or “I let my child know I love him/her,” indicating overvaluation and self-esteem boosting, respectively. Over time, it was found that parents who overvalued and over-praised their children were more likely to have narcissistic children. Interestingly, overvaluation did not typically lead to high self-esteem.

Narcissistic Children: The Bottom Line

It may seem obvious, but it hasn’t actually been widely proven until now that treating children as if they are far more special than everyone else can lead to narcissistic behavior. It’s debatable whether or not the current generation of young people is any more narcissistic than children of any other generation. Besides being learned, narcissistic behavior is also partly genetic. However, if parents want to prevent having a narcissistic child, this study suggests that they must first take a serious look at their parenting style.

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Americans watch a lot of television. According to TV measurement firm Nielsen, the average American watches five hours of TV every day, and we end up watching more and more TV as we get older. While it’s possible to watch a lot of TV and still be generally healthy, too much television has been linked with higher risks of cancer and early mortality. This is likely due to the physical inactivity associated with TV watching.

A relatively new concept, binge-watching, presents additional challenges. Streaming television services such as Netflix and Hulu allow users to spend hours watching episode after episode of shows like Orange Is The New Black or House Of Cards. Often, these services have an autoplay feature that loads the next episode immediately after finishing the last one. According to a new report, this type of TV watching is related to depression.

Loneliness, Depression and Netflix

The new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, involved 316 people with ages ranging from 18 to 29. Participants were surveyed with questions about their TV watching habits and potential depression indicators such as, “How often do you feel alone?” It was found that 75 percent of those surveyed have binge-watched television at some point. They also found that those who binge-watch are more likely to feel lonely or depressed. Binge watchers tended to have self-regulation deficiencies and were less able to control compulsions as well.

Researchers state that spending hours watching a whole season of a TV series is a way for lonely or depressed people to escape negative feelings. Indeed, the most popular television genres for binge-watching include comedy and romance. Interestingly, the researchers in the study admitted to having binge-watched some shows themselves.

Should This Be Treated Like Other Addictions?

It’s well-known that depression can go hand-in-hand with other addictive behaviors such as binge drinking and binge eating. While it might not seem like binge-watching could be as immediately harmful, it has been scientifically determined that long periods of physical inactivity can be incredibly dangerous. Sedentary lifestyles raise a persons risk of many conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. On the other hand, no research has yet been conducted regarding whether or not binge-watching itself can cause negative psychological issues. If a person also exercises regularly, binge-watching could possibly be considered a relatively harmless indicator of potential mental issues.

Binge-Watching and Depression: The Bottom Line

Again, the research only determines that there’s a relationship between binge-watching and depression, not that one causes the other. However, while researchers claim that binge-watching might be a symptom of depression, it could be argued that the reverse is true as well. Too much binge-watching can lead to long stretches of indoor isolation and physical inactivity – factors that certainly don’t help prevent depression. At this point, all anybody can really do is take a hard, honest look at their TV-watching habits and ask themselves if their behavior does or does not warrant an examination of their mental state.

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Between all the dieting and exercise, people who are trying to get healthy may be overlooking one crucial lifestyle element: sleep. Most people know that sleep is essential for concentration, memory, productivity and overall brain function. However, some might not know that insufficient sleep can raise the risk of serious conditions such as diabetes, obesity, depression, hypertension and even cancer. And it’s not just health-conscious people who should be concerned. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a full 30 percent of civilian employed adults in the U.S. get less than six hours of sleep each night. This means that almost one-third of Americans are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep. Typical sleep recommendations state that eight hours a night is best, but new research from the National Sleep Foundation has changed the guidelines a bit.

Recommended Hours Have Changed Slightly

The new sleep recommendations are a slight departure from older sleep guidelines. According to the official press release, the National Sleep Foundation worked with experts in the field of sleep, pediatrics, neurology, anatomy and physiology, gynecology and gerontology to come to a consensus about each age group’s sleep recommendations. According to one researcher from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, this is the first time that a professional organization has conducted a rigorous, systematic review of the available sleep literature to form healthy guidelines based on age. The new sleep recommendations are as follows:

• Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours (previous guideline: 12-18 hours)
• Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours (previous guideline: 14-15 hours)
• Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours (previous guideline: 12-14 hours)
• Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10-13 hours (previous guideline: 11-13 hours)
• School-age children (6-13 years): 9-11 hours (previous guideline: 10-11 hours)
• Teens (14-17 years): 8-10 hours (previous guideline: 8.5-9.5 hours)
• Young adults (18-25 years): 7-9 hours (new age category)
• Adults (26-64 years): 7-9 hours (no change from previous guideline)
• Older adults (65+ years): 7-8 hours (new age category)

The new sleep recommendations also contain a category labeled “may be appropriate,” which expands the guidelines to include the sleep habits of some healthy individuals who have atypical sleep patterns. For example, the “may be appropriate” category for adults states that 6 hours and 10 hours each night might indeed be healthy for some people. Nevertheless, getting less than six hours is “not recommended” for any adult.

Getting Better Sleep

Again, all your exercise and dieting efforts could be in vain if you’re not getting enough sleep. Try some of these tips to help you get the quality of sleep you need:

1. Keep a regular schedule – Set a regular bedtime every night and stick with it. Then, wake up at the same time every day – even on weekends. Setting these times can help put your body into a rhythm that allows you to fall asleep easily and get high-quality rest.
2. Be smart about naps – Experts are divided on whether or not napping is good for you. In general, a short nap during the day could be incredibly beneficial for making up some lost sleep and improving cognitive function. However, napping to the point where it’s hard to fall asleep at night is doing you more harm than good.
3. Regulate light exposure – If possible, get some sunlight during the day by keeping curtains open and spending some time outside. At night, turn off your TV or computer well before going to bed.
4. Watch your diet – It’s common sense to avoid caffeine before bed. However, many people might not know that alcohol and big meals should also be avoided. Alcohol can cause you to fall asleep faster, but it will reduce your quality of sleep throughout the night. Also, big meals and alcohol can necessitate waking up and using the bathroom several times.
5. Work on relaxation techniques – Simple techniques like deep breathing, reading a book and meditating can allow you to slip into a restful sleep.

If you simply don’t have time to get more than six hours of sleep, it may come down to time management. Adjusting your schedule to get a couple more hours of sleep each night can make a huge difference in your health and quality of life.

New Sleep Recommendations: The Bottom Line

The new recommendations don’t really present anything too far outside of common sense. If you feel like you aren’t getting enough sleep, you’re probably right. Just don’t allow sleep deprivation to trump all your hard work – get that eight hours if at all possible.

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Social media allows people to express their thoughts and feelings on a massive scale. Information can now be shared with huge audiences at unprecedented speeds. Like it or not, however, just about anything you share on social media contributes to a huge database of information that can be analyzed by researchers and marketers. The idea is known as “big data,” and it’s allowing research to be performed using new, unique methods on a scale that’s larger than just about any data set used in the past. One of the most noble uses of big data might be to better understand risk factors for major health problems. For example, anything that researchers can do to shed some light on the causes of heart disease could be worthwhile. Heart disease is still the leading cause of death for both women and men in America. As it turns out, data provided by Twitter is a great heart disease predictor.

Thousands of Public Tweets Analyzed

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania looked at geo-tagged tweets originating from users in 1,300 counties in the U.S. between 2009 and 2010. Algorithms and word filters were used to categorize tweets by topic and to delineate those that expressed stressful emotions such as hostility, anger, anxiety, boredom or hatred. The research showed that negative tweets correlated very highly with heart disease rates in the counties studied. In fact, Twitter proved to be a better predictor of heart disease than lifestyle factors such as education level, smoking, income, obesity and diabetes. At the same time, counties that showed lower rates of negative tweets also had lower heart disease rates.

It’s important to note, however, that the people sending out the negative tweets weren’t necessarily the same ones contracting heart disease. Indeed, the average Twitter user is younger than the typical heart disease patient. Researchers claim that negative tweets can serve as a representation of the overall negativity within a community. In other words, the environmental factors that cause a Twitter user to be stressed are likely also affecting the people around them. Not to mention, negative tweets themselves could proliferate and contribute to an overall sense of negativity within a community.

Stress and Heart Disease

Twitter may prove to be an excellent heart disease predictor, but the relationship between stress and heart disease is nothing new. Past research has shown that anger and hostility can be serious contributing factors when it comes to cardiovascular disease. Excessive anger and stress can lead to increased blood pressure, high cholesterol, overeating and physical inactivity. Reaching for a cigarette when stressed out only increases these risks. Stress can also cause your body and heart to go into “fight or flight” mode. Having your heart go into “high gear” for long periods of time can definitely contribute to heart disease risk.

Twitter and Heart Disease: The Bottom Line

Because angry tweets can contribute to a sense of negativity, you might think that the solution would be to avoid Twitter altogether. However, studies have shown that social media use can actually help some people cope with stress. On the other hand, some research indicates that social media can be a major cause of stress. Until there’s a definitive answer, the best option would likely be to try following some daily stress-reduction tips to lower your heart disease risk.

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