SportsGeezer

India Pale Ale Builds Strong Bones

Many kinds of beer, it turns out, may be good for bones and connective tissue, but India Pale Ales appear to be the most solid bet. So reports the Los Angeles Times, citing research conducted at UC Davis that measured the dietary silicon content (believed to be important for the growth of bone and connective tissue) of 100 types of beers. And now the findings: India pale ales, which have large amounts of hops and less heat treatment during brewing, had the highest average silicon levels and pale ales were close behind. Non-alcoholic beers had the lowest levels of all.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

What's Best For Health: Aerobic Interval Training or Strength Training?

Finally, science has determined which of three types of exercise is best for our bodies:aerobic interval training, strength training, or a combination. And the answer is: all of the above. It's true. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology took 43 people with metabolic syndrome (central obesity, elevated blood pressure, high fasting glucose and triglyceride levels, and low high-density lipoprotein levels) and put them through three different regimes. Three times a week for 12 weeks, one group did aerobic interval training, one did strength training, and one did a combination of the two. Writing in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the researchers conclude: "There were no changes in body weight, fasting plasma glucose, or high-density lipoprotein levels within or between the groups. Conclusion: All three training regimes have beneficial effects on physiological abnormalities associated with metabolic syndrome."

Read more in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

To Lower Blood Pressure, Cut Back on the Booze

Don't even try to argue that stress reduction lowers blood pressure, and a drink or two or three lowers stress; ergo, a drink or two or three lowers blood pressure. Sadly, biology doesn't work like that. The L.A. Times directs us to a study that tells us how it does work, and the bottom line is this: more alcohol consumption = higher blood pressure.The research, conducted at Tulane University, looked at 15 randomized studies involving more than 2,000 people in which alcohol was the only intervention difference between active and control groups."Overall," the study authors conclude, "alcohol reduction was associated with a significant reduction in mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of -3.31 mm Hg (-2.52 to -4.10 mm Hg) and -2.04 mm Hg (-1.49 to -2.58 mm Hg), respectively. A dose-response relationship was observed between mean percentage of alcohol reduction and mean blood pressure reduction." 

Wait, there's more. The L.A. Times also cites a study indicating that beer and red wine, yes, red wine, also raise blood pressure, contrary to the popular opinion of many red wine drinkers. Read the conclusions of that study here.

This Year's Super Bowl Tip: Skip the Dip

Count on Geezer to spoil the Superbowl party with an instructive report on the dangers of communal party dip. The New York Times reported two years ago on a Clemson University study that explored the likelihood that bacteria would be transferred by double dipping chips or crackers. Researchers at Clemson told volunteers to take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into about a tablespoon of a test dip. They then repeated the process with new crackers, for a total of either three or six double dips per dip sample. The team then analyzed the remaining dip and counted the number of aerobic bacteria in it.  On average, they found, three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip. Because each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip, sporadic double dipping in a cup of dip would transfer at least 50 to 100 bacteria from one mouth to another with every bite. The bottom line, says Clemson food microbiologist Prof. Paul L. Dawson, is this: "Before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here?" Read more in the New York Times.

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Raises Suicide Risk 90 Percent

In matters of health, it seems, as in matters of every other thing on the planet, one bad thing leads to another. Researchers at Harvard Medical School who studied the data on 340,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1979 and 2004 found that just getting the bad news can increase the likelihood that a man will commit suicide by 90 percent in the three months trailing the diagnosis. Wait, there's more bad news. The same researchers found that a prostate cancer finding can double the risk of heart attack in the month immediately following the unfortunate revelation. Scared yet? Try reading an excerpt in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Or read more from HealthDay.

The Super Bowl May Be Bad For Your Health (Especially If Your Team Loses)

Even if you are not on the playing field, the Super Bowl may be bad for your health. Especially if your team loses. Research conducted at The Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles found that that compared with other years, deaths from heart attacks rose in Los Angeles on the day in 1980 that the Rams lost the Super Bowl, but in 1984, when the Raiders won handily, overall mortality fell. Anahad O'Connor reports on that and another study of German soccer fans, which found that during the 2006 World Cup, cardiac emergencies surged on days the German team played, especially after dramatic games. Geezer's solution: adjust team loyalties as required for optimum health.

The Facts Behind Six Healthful-Sounding Food Label Claims

Tara Parker-Pope, writing in the Well column of the New York Times, tells us the real meaning, or lack of meaning of six common healthful-sounding food claims. And the winners are:

Lightly-sweetened
A good source of fiber
Strengthens your immune system
Made with real fruit
Made with whole grains
All natural

To find out what these labels don't tell you, read Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times.

"We" Couples More Likely To Agree

Tired of arguing with your spouse? Maybe it's a language problem. Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that spouses who use "we-ness" language are better able to resolve conflicts than those who don't. A university press release reports that researchers analyzed conversations between 154 middle-aged and older couples about points of disagreement in their marriages and found that those who used pronouns such as "we," "our" and "us" behaved more positively toward one another and showed less physiological stress. In contrast, couples who emphasized their "separateness" by using pronouns such as "I," "me" and "you" were found to be less satisfied in their marriages. This was especially true for older couples.Their use of separateness pronouns was most strongly linked to unhappy marriages. Geezer would write more, but we have to take out the garbage and clean the garage.

Read more from the press office at UC Berkeley.

Tylenol Improves Performance of Cyclists

Tylenol, the over-the-counter drug that Johnson & Johnson loves so much it can't stop recalling it, is good for something other than making people sick: it can improve athletic performance of cyclists-- a little. Researchers at the University of Exeter at Devon, England, put two teams of cyclists to the test, riding ten self-paced miles after taking either Tylenol or a placebo. The scientists found that cyclists who took Tylenol in the double blind study covered the distance in what they call a "significantly faster time": 26 minutes and 15 seconds compared with 26 minutes and 45 seconds for the group that swallowed the placebos. "Using acetaminophen," the researchers write in the Journal of Applied Physiology, "participants cycled at a higher mean power output, with an increased heart rate and blood lactate concentration, but without changes in perceived pain or exertion....These findings support the notion that exercise is regulated by pain perception, and increased pain tolerance can improve exercise capacity."

Read more in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Harvard Study Backs Running Barefoot

It may be important to consider that one source of funding behind a new study suggesting that running barefoot produces a lesser impact on leg bones and joints than running with running shoes is Vibram, the maker of the Five Fingers running shoe. And it may not matter. The Boston Globe reports that researchers at Harvard have been studying the impact of running on the bodies of runners who land first on their heels, as most American, shoe-wearing runners do, and those who land first on the balls or sides of their feet, as many Kenyan runners do.  So far, the Globe reports, the study suggests that running barefoot is less impactful, but it's not yet clear that the lesser impact translates to fewer injuries.

Read more in the Boston Globe.