Monthly Education

November 2023

When I first learned about Positive Psychology, the (far oversimplified) less-traditional practice of diving into mental health with an eye toward the "upside" like resilience, happiness and growth, instead of the more traditional focus on rehabilitating the negative (disease, disorder and trauma) it felt like a game changer. It was clear that within their profession, at least some psychologists were trying to reorient back toward attaining "health" (flourishing, thriving, etc) rather than "avoiding disease"...something that can seem nuanced at first but is clearly spelled out by authorities like the World Health Organization in their constitution. As funding led to research, we began to understand the difference more fully and where our efforts should be.

As it turned out, gratitude, whether it be a momentary appreciation for something good in life or a cultivated practice of recognizing such things, became one of the most widely studied components. The "what went well" exercise described by one of the profession's giants in the early 2000's, which in the most basic form is writing down 3-5 unique experiences that "went well" each day for a few weeks, showed promise across several of life's domains and across a large portion of the lifespan. Gratitude also shows up near the top in a framework Dr. Paul Conti recently discussed with Andrew Huberman on his podcast - part of a 4 part series and a great listen on mental health. In a review of 19 different studies it even showed a clear benefit on cardiovascular risk, adding more evidence that there is no "physical" or "mental" health...just health with all systems playing a role. However, as is the case with many health practices, knowing the "best" way to do it has not been as clear.

Not surprisingly then, when this study from the University of California came across my feed I was intrigued. The researchers tested a variety of gratitude practices to find out which had the most impact. The punchline? Taking the time to sit down, think through the details and write a letter was most powerful.

And so, in the spirit of the season here's a quick one to you:

To our clients, friends and the employer teams who have invited us into your spaces, stories and lives, I know I speak on behalf of the entire Pro-Activity Family when I say, it is both an honor and a privilege to play a small role in your big thing. We have had the unique fortune to witness up close what it takes to make the components and assemble the structures that become homes and buildings. We've seen the magic that goes into bringing power and water and heat to those structures and to keep them well lit and warm when nature intends otherwise, 24/7, 365. In some places we have seen the effort, nothing short of an act of daily love that goes into making those products that mop up messes while in others those that help fuel and cleanse the bodies doing the mopping. And we have had the great honor to walk with many of you as you journey through life and in health. When we give thanks this month and into the holiday season please know that YOU are among those we are most thankful for.

Now it's your turn - write one for someone you're thankful for and enjoy a health bump.

Have a great month,

Mike E.

September 2023

“Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”
- Ovid (Roman Poet, 43 BC - 18 AD)

120 Million. That's a big number and the approximate number of Americans who are living with hypertension which is, heartbeat by heartbeat, overburdening and eventually wearing to the point of harm, the inside lining of the arterial pipes. It is a patient little health gremlin, lulling us into believing it's not really that big of a deal. After all, many people can't feel it and can still "do" everything without any obvious symptoms. Yet there it is, heartbeat by heartbeat hammering away until irreparable harm is done. If we consider that there are around 35 million heartbeats per year for the average adult, we understand why it doesn't take that long to take its toll.

It's not all bad news though. Hypertension is preventable by most, treatable for many and even little things can add up to big results. If blood pressure (combined with heart rate) acts as a "body tachometer" telling us how "revved up" we are, it stands to reason that it has been associated with stress and pain. It also makes sense then that anything which helps us to slow or otherwise calm down can help. 

We've known for a while for example that some of our greatest levers include exercise which pushes our stress-threshold higher over time, nutritional approaches that lower the inflammatory load and balance the intake of foods that naturally constrict the arterial pipes like highly processed foods with those that relax them (nitric oxide and potassium-containing fruits and veggies especially) and sleep which gives us a chance to relax and repair. These are not the only approaches though. Stress management, breathing exercises, and even social connectedness may have a role in protecting us.

More recently, however, research teams have tried to take the conversation deeper - attempting to find the signal through the noise. Comparing various dietary approaches for example has helped us to contrast what might work (there are many) with what actually does for most.  The DASH which promotes low-process, high-fiber, and naturally occurring foods usually scores at or near the top. Under the header of the exercise, the story has been less clear until recently. This year, 2 cool new studies have made the case for holding still...right where we are...for minutes on end. In exercise-jargon: Isometric exercises.

The first study which was published in March showed that office workers who spent 16 minutes per day (4 rounds of 2-minute "holds" with 2 minutes break in between), 3 times per week, either performing a wall-squat or a sustained gripping exercise at 30% of their maximum could lower their blood pressure in a meaningful way in as little as 3 months. They went on to show that after the initial 3 months, they could maintain the changes by dropping it down to only 1 day per week. While the wall squat out-performed the gripping task, both were effective.

The second, out a couple of months ago, reviewed 270 different studies on the blood pressure lowering impacts of exercise and found that, on average, the isometric exercise outperformed the other modes which included: aerobic, resistance, high-intensity interval, and even combined aerobic & strength. The effect was strongest for systolic blood pressure ("the top number"). Aerobic exercise, specifically running, took the top spot for diastolic ("the bottom number").

It takes effort to control risk factors and ultimately prevent disease but sometimes not as much as we might think. Pretty good terms, not only for those required to meet certain work standards but also for those who look forward to a long healthy life after that phase is over.

Maybe this week try sitting for a few minutes without the chair :)

Have a great month,

Mike E.

July 2023

I'm not shy about the professional crush I have on Finland for their epic disease reversal story which started in the 1970s, an 80+% reduction in cardiovascular disease risk. I figure if you can take a nation from "worst to first", from incredibly high likelihood to having life cut short due to preventable disease in the 70s to, according to the World Happiness Report, the happiest nation on earth in 2022 (and many of the years since the report was first published in 2012), you're doing many things right.

Thankfully, the US doesn't need a worst-to-first type performance in this case and by global standards. According to rankings built on data from the International Diabetes Foundation and the World Bank, we're somewhere around 50 on the list of countries and territories by prevalence (percentage of the population with the condition). Of course, given the size of our population, that still translates to 130+ million Americans who either manage the disease (38 M) or are in the pre-diabetes progression (96 M), the highest risk category of developing the disease, which negatively impacts every tissue in the body, very much including the moving parts like muscles, joints, and connective tissue where nearly 3 of every 5 also have musculoskeletal disorders. 

So what have they learned in Finland? In short, and when it comes to Diabetes, it may be that purple is the new blue...or at the very least "Purple for Prevention."

 One of the really cool details in the Finland health-turnaround story of the 70s was that they had the right conditions to grow berries - lots and lots of berries, with special emphasis on strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. For those that follow this blog, you know we hold those blueberries in high regard. They are packed with anthocyanin (a plant phenol that gives the berry its blue color) which has been shown to have positive impacts on inflammation and therefore, not surprisingly, conditions with a significant inflammation component including heart disease, arthritis, and, yes, even Diabetes.  

Early this year, and thanks to a research team about 2 hours West of the capital of Finland, our understanding has gotten even more nuanced. In a very detailed review, they showed that acylated anthocyanin (a slightly more stable kind that gets through the stomach and deep into the intestines/colon before its relative magic is unlocked by the gut bacteria there) which is found abundantly in purple grapes (concord) and purple sweet potatoes may have an even more impressive impact. The review cites countless studies that have shown this impact for a variety of reasons from blood sugar lowering to inflammation impact. Pretty impressive stuff and more evidence of how much we can do to lower the risks we face.

It's gardening season. If you've got a green thumb, save some space for purple.

Have a great month,

Mike E.

June 2023

Most people over the age of 18 likely know what the word "octane" means. They may not know the exact definition, or that it refers to the fuel's stability, but if they've ever put a petroleum product into a vehicle, it's likely they know that "higher means more expensive" and "most cars run on regular". Wouldn't it be convenient if we had a similar scoring system for the FUEL we use? The public health community thought so too.

After an initial attempt in 2009 was updated in 2014 by a team from South Carolina, the framework was ready. Called the "dietary inflammatory index" (DII), it was an attempt to show that despite our impressive ability to convert just about anything into usable energy, every combination comes with a cost. Not unlike other fuels we use every day, some, as measured by the inflammation spike after consuming them, burn cleaner than others. In particular, foods with high saturated or trans fat content are "pro-inflammatory" (spike inflammation) while those naturally high in fiber, polyphenols, and vitamins (aka plants) are low or even anti-inflammatory. Since that time, hundreds of studies have explored whether the index predicts disease, and for several (heart disease, cancer, and even other inflammatory conditions like asthma and daily pain), the answer is yes.

Of course, at Pro-Activity the relationship with joint pain is particularly important since it can be a risk factor that stops us from work, sport, training, and countless other life functions. So when we saw a recent systematic review of the connection between dietary inflammation and knee osteoarthritis (OA), it caught our eye.

The key points are simple enough:

1 - after screening thousands of studies and finding 6 that met the quality standard, there was a significant connection between diet and knee OA pain. 

2 - the Prudent Diet (low in saturated/trans fat, low in processed items, high in fiber, lean meats) and the Mediterranean Diet both slowed the progression of knee OA while the "Western Diet" (highly refined/processed, low in fruits/veggies/whole grains, etc; comparison here) accelerated it.

3 - the results are promising and, given the many other diseases that dietary inflammation is connected to likely worth acting on, but more research is needed.

In the most practical terms, healthy FUEL for most of us continues to be "more and/or less":

More: Foods that are naturally high in nutrients, low in calories, and high in fiber (aka plants) and as close to their natural state as possible - too many studies to include.

Less: Hyper-palatable (high saturated fat, sugar, and/or salt) foods and "food-like" creations (ultra-processed) - review here.

 There's no need to complicate it: FUEL Good to Feel Good. 

Have a great month,

Mike E.

April 2023

Think about your bedtime routine. Is there one? Does it happen at a certain time? Maybe it involves finally taking a minute to relax and enjoy a quiet moment to yourself. Are you a glass of wine or chamomile tea type? Are you a TV & doze off in the recliner or a strict bedtime type? Are you a "asleep before my head hits the pillow" or a "take a few minutes to process" type? Are you none of these ever or all of these on any given day type?

Of course, if the goal is to get to sleep quickly and get the most restful sleep, some strategies ARE better than others, as one of the world's experts on sleep, Matthew Walker, detailed in his TED Talk a couple years back. Up until recently however, one strategy was less widely discussed. This probably wasn't because it was unknown in the strictest sense. After all, the phenomenon had been seen in some well-controlled studies as far back as 25 years ago which may have prompted more researchers to study the connection. 

As is often the case, as a base of small studies of specific populations began to grow, the phenomenon became more universally accepted and our understanding slowly got more specific. Then, in an even more refined study of an even larger group of people for an even longer period of time the results were more conclusive than ever: Resistance Exercise, that is muscle loading (and not necessarily aerobic exercise), improved sleep duration (time asleep), quality (deep and REM stages of sleep) and latency (how fast we fall asleep).

So, along with a fixed and routine bed/wake time, a cooler environment to sleep in, and severely limiting light to let the brain rest, if we are trying to improve our ability to RECOVER by improving our sleep, it may be time to consider walking away from the nap and toward the weights.

Have a great weekend,

Mike E.

January - February 2023

My kids get a laugh any time my wife talks on the phone with her sister. They only hear one side of the conversation of course, but they always know who's on the other side as the tone, tempo, and even word choices my wife uses begin to morph ever-so-slightly and sound, somehow, more midwestern or western US (tones of her childhood) than western Jersey (tones of most of her life).

Of course, in one way or another we all do this with the people around us. The more time we spend around people, the more we seem to merge our mannerisms - to find a cadence and rhythm that works for the situation. When we get around family or close friends we haven't seen in a while it can be like "we never missed a beat" (as the saying sometimes goes). During the early portion of the COVID-19 quarantine, we talked a bit about this 2011 study which seemed to show that under heightened arousal (in this case fire walking) there could even be a synchronization of more automatic functions, like heart rate, among people who were socially close (in this case family).

Over the longer term, it seems this effect might have an impact on our health outcomes. For example, 15 years ago a landmark study showed that across 30 years of observation, bodyweight changes in 12,000 people tended to run along social ties, eventually forming clusters. Said more simply, there was evidence that in the case of body weight (and presumably the actions that influence it), people tended to become more similar to those they had the closest interactions & ties with.

A few months ago, in an interesting twist on the phenomenon, a team showed that future earning potential (as a proxy of financial health) seemed to follow a similar pattern. Individuals who had exposure and close ties with people in high socioeconomic brackets had a significantly higher likelihood of enjoying a higher income over the course of time. More simply, children with fewer finances tended to be higher-earning adults IF they grew up with friends whose parents were already higher-income earners - a phenomenon the researchers called "economic connectedness", which can be explored on www.socialcapital.org.

But what about more classic health behaviors, like whether we MOVE enough during the day to hold off preventable disease?

As it turns out, and as published this week, at the very least, the math modeling says yes. When researchers plugged data into a computational model "Social interactions between sedentary and moderately active populations were the most important social parameter that influenced low active populations to become and remain physically active".

Or in plain English - when sedentary folks became friends with moderately active folks, the sedentary folks started to MOVE more.

Of course, this doesn't mean moderately active folks are immune to the effect. It seems the effect can run both ways. Said more eloquently by the researchers, "On the other hand, social interactions encouraging moderately active individuals to become sedentary drove exercise persistence to extinction".

There is most certainly more to come, but the main point seems to continue to become more clear - our actions, from mannerisms to health behaviors and beyond - are not solely our own; the people we interface with regularly and get close to having a clear impact on our future selves, choose wisely.

Have a great month,

Mike E.

November 2022

My refrigerator has ratted me out. OK, that's probably a little sensational. In truth, it has "raised my awareness" of a nasty little habit I've developed. No, it's not some type of smart tech that is designed to keep me mindful...at least I don't think it is...but it seems to work that way for me. See, this 2-door refrigerator (a recent replacement), has a feature where it cannot dispense water when the opposite door is open. Now, this probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal; in truth, it's not. But it was a VERY effective way to point out that I had developed a mindless fridge-trolling habit every time I got up to fill a glass of water. And I do mean EVERY time. 

It used to be a simple loop of: start filling the glass (left hand), open the fridge (right hand), and mindlessly scan for a snack - whether hungry or not - at least until the glass was full. I didn't always find something, but I always looked. That is until the loop became: start filling a glass (left hand), open the fridge (right hand), notice the water had frustratingly shut off, close the fridge and get back to work, feeling like something was missing. It was literally a wake-up call. 

I wasn't really hungry nor was I craving anything in particular and yet my behavior (once it was made so glaringly obvious), suggested I was always open to the idea of eating. So where does this mindless snacking habit come from? If we could solve this riddle, we might better understand some of why most of us are at risk of steady weight gain by middle age, despite the ever-increasing certainty that over-consumption of particular foods, especially those that are sugar-sweetened or fatty, seem to add both pounds and risk for injury/illness/disease and even dying prematurely. Well, thanks to a team of researchers at Columbia University we have more clues and, as it turns out, it's NOT just as simple as "because they taste so good" (aka hyper-palatability).

This time they found, much like their 2020 work on sugar, fat consumption is driven not only by lighting up the brain by way of taste (i.e. receptors on the tongue) but ALSO by circuits that monitor nutrient absorption in the intestine. Said more simply, even when the subjects (mice) were unable to taste the food (bred without the ability to taste), they learned to prefer foods that were able to provide usable fuel (sugar and now fat) over tasty but unusable fuel (artificial sweetener) within 48 hours. The connection between their gut and their brain (aka the gut-brain axis), although much slower than taste receptors, which helped prove it wasn't the tongue driving the behavior, was still driving them to go back to the source of the sugar and fat....not that unlike my fridge habit.

It may even help us understand why individuals who habitually ingest artificial sweeteners (i.e. tasty but not usable nutrients) may actually have an increased risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes and decreasing consumption of diet sodas (even those with no calories) can improve weight and associated risks ...because we don't only forage for flavor...we forage for FUEL; and since one without the other won't satisfy our needs, we are left craving more.

It is officially Fall. Here's to finding some recipes that are both flavorful AND satisfying; perhaps a little less pumpkin spice and a bit more pumpkin! Definitely let us know if you've got a good one.

Have a great month,

Mike E.

September 2022

It's the kind of thing that we think we know when we see it (or feel it). If you ask people to rate the most important things in their life it's often near the top of the list. There are timeless quotes that suggest it is the most important asset we have or can accrue and according to Merriam-Webster it is defined as "a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well : WELL-BEING" - but when it comes to the details, the level that allows for measuring it, we are faced with a tricky endeavor because it has physical, mental, social, financial and even metaphysical (or perhaps spiritual) component parts. It is influenced not only by our present actions and personal experiences, but like the formation of a riverbed, grooved and etched by the choices made and circumstances lived by family members from generations past; people we have never met. In something that resembles a "mushy middle", enjoying good "health" is simple to understand when we zoom way out (we know it when we see it) or way in (the formula to achieve it, if consistently applied is pretty straight forward), it gets complex as we get toward the "gooey center" of what it actually means. 

The American Heart Association, over the course of its nearly 100 years, has tried. With an expected emphasis on Cardiovascular Health (CVH) it has helped to decipher many specifics on what it means to be healthy. Although never perfect and always evolving, they have contributed heaps and continue to do so. In July, the group published newly refined guidance on how to define CVH and, tucked into an article in their scientific journal, explained how to score our own health. They call it "Life's Essential 8", which refers to the 8 measurable factors that they suggest lie at the roots, and provide a reasonably easy to follow 0-100 scoring system for each. 

With that in mind, we will break down 2 components of the "Essential 8" and provide both the scoring mechanism and some insights that you might not otherwise get if you only read the headline. The 2 components we will focus on are the first 2: FUEL and MOVE...or as the AHA calls them Diet and Physical Activity respectively.

Take a look at the descriptions below and start to estimate your score.

Essential number 1 is Diet. On near-continuous and ever-detailed review of the literature, the AHA agrees with US News & World Report who ranks the DASH and Mediterranean diets as the top diets for health. The AHA believes that at the individual level, the modified Mediterranean Eating Pattern for Americans (MEPA) scoring, where a 1 point is given for each of 16 areas and a higher score is better, is the best way to assess diet quality. 

Generally speaking, the MEPA gives points for including/increasing the consumption of olive oil, leafy greens, other veggies, berries, fruit, nuts/seeds, beans and fish (as the preferred animal-based protein source). It also gives points for (as compared to the standard American diet) reduced consumption of red-meat, chicken, sweets and processed foods while moderate consumption of dairy products (cheese/butter) and alcohol as depicted on a Mediterranean Diet food pyramid here is acceptable. Those who score the max points on the MEPA (15-16) get the full 100 points on the AHA Essential 8 with reductions in points as MEPA scores fall (12-14 on MEPA = 80 on AHA8, 8-11 = 50, 4-7 = 25, <3 = 0 points).

Category 2 is Physical Activity; specifically the number of moderate (or greater) intensity minutes of physical activity per week, where 150 or more minutes at a heart rate of >50% of maximum (loosely defined as 220-age) gets the full 100 AHA8 points. As moderate-minutes fall, so do points: 120-149 minutes = 90 points, 90-119 = 80, 60-89 = 60, 30-59 = 40, 1-29 = 20 and 0 minutes = 0 points. 

One insight worth noting is that even ONE MINUTE of physical activity gives 20% of the benefit (20 points). This is one way that the AHA speaks to something we point out whenever we can - some physical activity (any!) is WAY better than nothing.

There's more to come on this story, but for now, the takeaway should be pretty clear: According to the latest guidance from the American Heart Association, ELEMENTS 1 and 2 (MOVE & FUEL) account for as much as 25% of cardiovascular health and are critical ways to combat the risks of the number one killer in America. Big rocks.

Get out there and break a sweat this month. Even better if it's while picking fresh stuff from the garden for eating later!

Have a great month,

Mike E.

July 2022

They call it the "silent killer" for a reason. Despite common beliefs related to symptoms like headache, blurred vision, etc (which might but doesn't always happen even in severe cases), most of the time the slow and steady harm is asymptomatic; we simply cannot feel it.

For as much as we might hear about high blood pressure (aka hypertension) given how common it is, affecting as many as 50% of American adults, most folks only partially understand what "it" is, why and when we should care and what we can do to stay on the right side of risk or get back there if need be.

First, the basics, admittedly oversimplified - we are made of soft/flexible pipes.

The human body is under constant pressure. Not of the "stress" variety (although that could be), but rather physical forces acting on us. Gravity is of course the most obvious, but since we are essentially built to be a mostly closed canister, every time we move, cough, strain or sneeze - the force on our tissues and organs changes. Since this is the case, we are built with a pressurized system to make sure blood and nutrients get where we want it to go uninterrupted under various conditions; that is, hoses don't get easily crimped.

According to American College of Cardiology guidelines, the pressure required at complete rest is less than 80 millimeters of Mercury (abbreviated mmHg, the common unit of pressure) to keep the pipes open - this happens during "diastole" when the heart is refilling with blood and is the second (typically lower) of the 2 numbers we get in a blood pressure number. Since this happens during "diastole", we call it "diastolic" blood pressure. The "top number" (usually larger), called "systolic" and best if less than 120 mmHg, refers to the temporary spike in pressure that happens when the heart forcefully contracts to push blood all the way through the pipes to the end reaches of our system (fingers and toes).

But what happens if we need more pressure to keep the pipes open and blood flowing than is healthy? This is where "hypertension" (abbreviated HTN and referring to higher than normal pressure) comes in. Since our vessels are soft & flexible, when the pressure on the inside gets too high it can damage the inner lining, causing our bodies to attempt a repair before more serious harm is done. If this is a one time small event, like many things that challenge us, the repair is made and we go about our business. If, however, we get a micro-injury 60-80 times per minute (every time the heart beats and spikes a pressure), it doesn't take long before we are in a constant state of inflammation and doing irreparable harm.

This is oversimplifying very complex physiology, but, with any luck, these basics can give us a nudge to answer the following questions - and keep us on a healthy track:

1 - What is my blood pressure? This can be read at any number of free kiosks in many pharmacies. HOWEVER, if the numbers seem odd, it's best to rest a full 3-5 minutes and retake. Even if they come up higher than seems right, it's also best to NOT just write it off as inaccurate (they sometimes are) but rather find someone who can get you a better (more accurate) reading. This can include our team! Reply back to this email and we can get the convo going ANY TIME.

2 - What specifically drives high blood pressure? As many people know and have felt, physical/mental/social/emotional loads (aka "stress") can rev us up, tire us out and increase our blood pressure as a result. This of course is not the only thing, but it's real. Other important drivers include inadequate sleep (quality, quantity or both), high-inflammatory diets and/or low fiber diets and, on the other end of the spectrum from over-stressing our system, under-stressing our systems by not getting enough physical activity or having poor fitness.

3. How can I make it better? In addition to more medically oriented treatment (medication), a variety of more conservative approaches can yield good results. Although high-level it's probably reasonable to simply say "the opposite of what was listed above", more specifically - achieving a standard sleep/wake cycle, consuming more plants and the healthy compounds they are packed with (fiber, antioxidants, poly-phenols, etc) and getting out there and breaking a sweat with leisure time physical activity (considered a "first line treatment" in an American Heart Association scientific statement, a benefit that has also been seen in children), these get even better when combined. For example, eating 7 servings of fruit/veggies a day and getting adequate physical activity can cut the risk of high blood pressure IN HALF.

None of this makes blood pressure management easy. Preventing Hypertension takes a good plan and effort. But in many (and perhaps even most) cases, it can be done.

As we draw into the Summer, now is a fantastic time to pause, get a reading and have a plan. We can help.

Have a great month,

Mike E.

May 2022

Humans are diurnal - the "up and moving" part of the 24 hour day is counterbalanced by a "rest" stage. For most, the sunlight of dawn is the natural cue to get going, while dusk signals our bodies to slow toward sleep. It doesn't always follow this pattern perfectly. For example, "Night owls" do exist; some by nature (genetic predisposition) and others by physiological-training, such as years of working at night and sleeping during the day. For most of us however, it is the rise and fall of the sun that we set our internal clocks by....natural light, in technical terms is our "zeitgeber". 

But what if you can't follow the sun? What if your internal clock and the world around you are on different schedules?

This topic has been a source of debate for a long time. Daylight savings time, when the natural rhythm is thrown off to conserve hours of light, has often been referred to as one of largest and longest standing social experiments in US history. It has been linked with a variety of injury and health risks. However the debate has more recently heated up as congress considers making Daylight Savings Time permanent. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine disagrees with some of the approach, citing a variety of concerns and phenomena associated with these changes. 

But what is really going on? Why, for one of the most adaptable creatures on the planet (us), is an hour here or there such a big deal? 2 new studies last month give us clues.

The "eyes" have it.

The human eye is amazing. Not only does it provide the large majority of the information we use to make the day to day decisions, it is a window directly into our central nervous system via the "hardwired" optic nerve. This means that when the sensors of the eye are turned "on" (stimulated), the brain revs up to deal with the information pouring in. Of course, it also stands to reason then that all of the systems that support the brain, including the energy management system known as "metabolism" must also be on. Although this may in part explain why sunlight is such a great cue to set our internal clocks by, it also says in places where some level of light is always on, such as more and more of the earth, the eye, brain and therefore entire human system has a hard time shutting down for rest.

In fact, as the first of two independent research papers pointed to last month, stimulating the sensors of the eye with even partial/low light for 1 night revs up the nervous system enough to reduce the body's ability to process blood sugar the next morning. Unfortunately if a pattern of interrupted sleep and subsequent metabolic changes is extended over the course of 2 weeks , as was the case in study 2, we will not only begin to crave significantly more protein and fat (as might be expected to keep the "machine running"), we will store it around the vital organs in the middle (visceral fat), the least healthy place to do so.

Protecting our future health includes but is not limited to eating right and exercising. One of the most straight forward ways to do so might just be to protect our bedtime and buy some blackout shades.

Have a great month,

Mike E. of Pro-Activity