Sunday Duo: The Top Two from the Wellness-verse this week are:
Here are the two “Bests” of what I’ve read/watched/heard this week in the field of wellness, to help you stop surviving and start thriving.
I filter, so you don’t have to. Need help applying this info? Drop me a line!
1. Long working hours and change in body weight: analysis of individual-participant data from 19 cohort studies
A study published Nov 25 in the International Journal of Obesity showed healthy-weight individuals have a small but “robust” increased risk of becoming overweight when working long hours. Long working hours were categorized starting at 41 hours per week, upwards of 55 hours per week.
The association existed after adjusting for lifestyle factors, chronic diseases, and “psychological distress”.
Factors behind the association, the researchers said, may be: excess sitting, too little exercise, and/or an unhealthy diet.
2. We love coffee, tea, chocolate and soft drinks so much, caffeine is literally in our blood
Scientists at Oregon State University were studying supposedly non-contaminated blood. In doing so, they found that all 18 batches were contaminated with caffeine. They also found that
8 batches contained dextromethorphan, an over-the-counter cough suppressant.
13 batches contained alprazolam, an anti-anxiety medicine (aka Xanax).
“[P]ossibly meaning that if you ever need a blood transfusion, your odds of also receiving caffeine, cough medicine and an anti-anxiety drug are pretty good,” the scientists said.
“Leisure is only possible when we are at one with ourselves. We tend to overwork as a means of self-escape, as a way of trying to justify our existence.”
― Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture