DO PEOPLE WHO SUFFER DEPRESSION HAVE BROKEN BODY CLOCKS?

I'm always looking for suggestions to help people with depression as I feel so many people are ignorant and unsympathetic to sufferers of this ailment as like all mental illnesses there is a general lack of knowledge and understanding and it has a stigma it doesn't deserve. It's a hidden illness, in that it doesn't show physically but sufferers are ill and deserve as much sympathy and understanding as someone with say a broken leg. Often the causes of depression have a physical cause such as someone who has suffered a long term condition such as arthritis and the resulting chronic physical pain. Chemical imbalances in neurotransmitters can result in depression as do certain hormones Melatonin springs to mind as this is produced by the pineal gland deep within the brain and this hormone maintains circadian rhythms and interacts with serotonin a neurotransmitter which a lack of leads to depression. So the article below from the 'Daily Mail' does make sense.

Article from the Daily Mail below

Out of sync with the world: Depressed people suffer with 'broken body clocks'

• There is a link between depression and changes in the body's circadian rhythm, or body clock
• There is a daily rhythm to the activity of many genes across many different areas of the brain
• The pattern of gene activity is so distinctive that it can be used to estimate the hour of someone's death
• In people with depression clock is so disrupted that day pattern of gene activity can look like night pattern

Depressed people are out of synch with the rest of the world because their body clocks are broken

Depressed people are out of sync with the rest of the world because their body clocks are broken, according to a new study.
The discovery of disrupted body clocks in the brains of people with depression is the first link to be found between the condition and changes in the circadian rhythm.
It is hoped that the finding will allow for the development of better treatments.
Every cell in the human body runs on a 24-hour clock, tuned to the night-day, light-dark cycles in nature.
The brain acts as a timekeeper, keeping this cellular clock in sync with the outside world so that it can govern our appetite, sleep and moods.
However, new research shows that the clock may be broken in the brains of people with depression - even at the level of the gene activity inside their brain cells.
The discovery, published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was made by studying differences in the donated brains of people who had been depressed and those who had not.
The research also revealed a previously unknown daily rhythm to the activity of many genes across many areas of the brain - expanding the sense of how crucial the body’s clock is.
In a normal brain, the pattern of gene activity at a given time of the day is so distinctive that the authors could use it to accurately estimate the hour of death of the brain donor.
However, in severely depressed patients, the circadian clock was so disrupted that a patient’s ‘day’ pattern of gene activity could look like a ‘night’ pattern, and vice versa.
Lead author Dr Jun Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Genetics at University of Michigan Medical School, in the U.S., described how the approach allowed the researchers to accurately back-predict the hour of the day when each non-depressed individual died - literally plotting them out on a 24-hour clock by noting which genes were active at the time they died.
They looked at 12,000 gene transcripts isolated from six regions of 55 brains from people who did not have depression. This provided a detailed understanding of how gene activity varied throughout the day in the brain regions studied.

In severely depressed patients, the circadian clock is so disrupted that a patient's 'day' pattern of gene activity could look like a 'night' pattern

However, when the team tried to do the same in the brains of 34 depressed people, the gene activity was off by hours. The cells looked as if it were an entirely different time of day.
Dr Li said: ‘There really was a moment of discovery.
‘It was when we realised that many of the genes that show 24-hour cycles in the normal individuals were well-known circadian rhythm genes - and when we saw that the people with depression were not synchronised to the usual solar day in terms of this gene activity.
‘It’s as if they were living in a different time zone than the one they died in.’
Depression affects one in ten adults in the UK at any one time but it is slightly more common in women.
At any one time one in 20 people in the UK will be experiencing severe depression.
The main symptoms are lasting feelings of sadness and hopelessness, losing interest in things you used to enjoy and feeling tearful.
There can also be physical symptoms such as fatigue, sleeping badly, having no appetite and aches and pains.

EXCERPT FROM "THE JOURNEY TO SPIRIT" (PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT)

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SOUL GROUPS

We each belong to a group of souls we are spiritually connected to, this is a group we are destined to connect within both the spirit world, and on earth. This is our soul group. The group could be you, and one other person, or several people and sometimes we take on different roles in different incarnations sometimes the parent, the lover, the child. Our spirit guides are also part of our soul group. People from our soul group come into our lives at seemingly random times, but in fact these meetings were prearranged between us in spirit before we came here. We planned to connect and enable each other to learn a lesson or many lessons and experiences depending on how long we have arranged to be in each others lifetime. This is why some people are only fleetingly but intensely involved in our lives, then move on.

Maybe you have felt a connection when you met someone for the first time, a feeling like you have known them forever,” an instant rapport? Even the use of the internet has brought soul groups together, so feeling a connection with someone on the other side of the world is not so strange. However, meeting someone on the same path is not quite the same as meeting someone in your soul group, there is a difference in the intensity of feeling.

So how do we recognize someone from our soul group? Well, another soul group member speaks the same language spiritually. We recognize their energy, not their appearance. You just know, you feel it, you sense it. You feel like you met somewhere before (but know you didn’t). You could find yourself finishing each others sentences, or having the same ideas at the same time, on the same subject, out of the blue. Verbal or other forms of communication often overlap, e.g. phone calls, e-mails…You know when they are thinking of you, you sense it.

Quite often you will feel a pull towards that person which surpasses any emotional connection you could possibly have built up in the short time you have known them. It is important to remember it will always be felt reciprocally if they are a truly a member of the same soul group. This is no excuse for fixating on someone who clearly does not want to know! You have an awareness when you are around this person that you are going through something important together that will make you even more spiritually aware when that journey comes to an end. Do you recognize anyone in your life now or in the past who belongs to your soul group? Think about those people who have created these feelings in you, and even if they are no longer in your life today, think about what knowing them this time around taught you.

Whether we have good or bad experiences with them doesn't matter - there is great value in all of the experiences you will have had as a result of knowing each other again in this lifetime! Sometimes these experiences are so profound and so deep you will never forget because of this spiritual bond. Soul mates come into our lives in order that we grow and evolve.

ANIMALS AND THE AFTERLIFE

THE SPIRIT OF THE GREY STALLION

In Spiritualist's beliefs we believe both humans and animals have their own soul groups and we all begin as lower life forms gradually with each incarnation moving up the scale from the lower animal life forms until, more intelligent animals such as horses and elephants etc. until the time comes until the high forms are ready to be incarnated in human form. We then continue reincarnating and growing in human form.

I have many experiences with animal spirits but one very strong memory was when I was teaching. I had a class of mature college students and was in the midst of an anatomy and physiology lesson when the spirit form of a grey stallion with white mane stood next to one of the students. This horse stood very tall and I tried my best to carry on with the lesson but it was very difficult to do so when this horse was trying to attract my attention. To explain when we mediums communicate with animals its not through conventional speaking it's through thoughts and feelings. The students knew about my abilities but I did not talk about such subjects but touched on it in Holistic therapies, such as Aromatherapy and Crystal Healing.

Trying to carry on the lesson this horse conveyed to me about another horse and described its appearance and that it was a brown mare who was very sick. The stallion also conveyed to me how he passed over due to a wound in its leg after he had injured himself on a wire fence. He was a proud beast and quite a character.

I had an overwhelming feeling I should talk to this student about this and spirit always told me never to fear coming forward if I felt the need to. So at break I explained what I had picked up, the student was shocked at first but her family ran stables and indeed they had to put down a grey stallion after its severe injuries. She also told me they hired out horses and ponies to riding clubs and indeed they did have a brown mare of the description given to me but as far as she knew the mare was fine and was hired out to a riding club.

Two days went by and the student excitedly came to find me, the mare had been returned to them indeed very sick, the vet at the riding club didn't know what was wrong and neither did the girl's family's vet, it was obviously a very sick animal. I recalled what the Stallion had conveyed to me but I hadn't told the student how serious the mare was not wishing to alarm her, in actual fact the Stallion had conveyed the mare was to pass over.

One month later we had a fire alarm alert and the college staff and students were all gathered outside, fortunately it was a false alarm but the Stallion appeared standing next to the student, it was a bad feeling and I knew the Stallion had come for the mare to take her spirit to the afterlife. Later on this afternoon the student received a call from her mother to inform her the mare had died.

Now whether you chose to believe this story it is up to you, there were witnesses as I recalled the Stallion right down to where the injury was and how it had happened including the horse's character. I had no idea of this student's background and had no contact with any of her horses, in fact trying to describe their character was difficult and strange to the witnesses how I could communicate with the spirit of a dead horse. This is merely one of the spirit communications I have had with animals.

WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN-WHAT IS DIVINE TIMING?

Recently I had a client, in fact she's been asking for a reading every week with the same question. I don't keep notes as I prefer to rely on my guides to tell me what's happening around a client, anyway as I use tarot cards to begin a reading I began laying them out and every time the same cards turn up and of course I have to give her the same answer, the situation is just the same and the answer is just the same that she will have to be patient for she will get her wish but we are bound by divine timing.

Time and time I hear from clients, when will it happen? can you give me a time? Sometimes I am lucky and I am given dates and timings but more often that not I am just told Divine Timing. It's not a cop out to give to the impatient but firstly there are no clocks nor is there a sense of time as we know it in the spirit realms and secondly it takes time to manifest the optimal times for the best result.

If you want to experience more harmony, happiness and effortless manifestation of your desires in life, you have to let go of all resistance towards whatever that comes your way. The reason why we fight against what comes is because we think that we are being kept from having our way. But the truth is whatever that happens is exactly what is meant to be, and it is all part of the process of the manifestation of our desires. Everything is happening in divine timing and we can flow if we do not limit ourselves.

Sometimes you were expecting to meet someone on a certain day but when that day comes, the person cannot meet you for some valid reason. Flow with it and meet that person on another day. The reason why you might be resisting change of events is because you have been anticipating it and thinking a lot about it. But when it doesn’t happen at the expected time, you don’t know what to do in place of it because you don’t feel like doing anything else other than that which you already had in mind.

If something doesn’t happen at the expect time in the expected way, it means it’s going to happen at a better timing in a better way. Don’t resist what is happening but instead focus on doing something else. You will discover things gone a much better way after the whole event has passed. You did something important which enhanced the meeting with the person that would not have happened otherwise. Hence it is better not to resist what is happening when it isn’t necessary, but to just go with the flow.

Just know everything happens at the RIGHT TIME AND THE BEST POSSIBLE TIME and only spirit knows this and we have to learn to trust, they do know what is best for us because spirit love us. Spirit have the ability to know what is ahead and any complications so they decide what is the best time to manifest our wishes. If we were to rush things before the optimum conditions were reached it could prevent our wishes manifesting, this is why we need to trust and believe in Divine timing.

BEAUTY THIS TIME, SLEEK MAKE-UP

I thought it was time I did a beauty blog so here we are. Now firstly I never advertise nor recommend anything on this site I have not used myself so today I am doing a post on Sleek make-up. I am very impressed by the whole range of colours available both in eyeshadows, blushers and lipsticks but most of all by the colour range of foundations to cover all ethnic groups from the palest Swedish blond to the darkest African lady and everything in between. The products I've used to date are foundation, i divine eyeshadow compacts, blusher, eyeliner and I will be writing more on this fantastic range at a later date. Sleek.com ship worldwide and are inexpensive and are excellent quality

AVAILABLE IN 30 SHADES

 The beauty of Sleek make-up, pardon the pun, they do testers in a range of colours so you can be sure to find a shade and product that suits and there's enough product for two or three applications.

THE TESTERS ARE INEXPENSIVE AT £2.99

 

The eyeshadows are fantastic and very long lasting and each compact in the 'i divine' range contains a carbon black shadow for eye lining. My favourite is the 'au naturel' compact as it's great for everyday and suits everybody and the darker shades take you from day to evening, in fact it's the only eye shadow you'll ever need. I use this myself all the time now, I just love it and Sleek make-up is inexpensive and they have a huge range of single shadows as well as their compacts. The compacts below retail at £7.99.

'Au naturel' matt and shimmering shades

'Show stoppers' Sleek's most popular shades

Make up

THE NEW MOON

The new moon It's a powerful time for sending out your prayer, wishes, desires to the Universe.

According to astrology, the moon's cycle can affect the way we feel about things. In particular, when the moon is full or new, both males and females can experience dramatic changes in their mood and behavior.

When the moon is full, stress becomes a major factor and people become more sensitive to details. An overload of work will add to the frustration and people will deal with their own needs rather than paying attention to others' needs. Often, a lack of assertiveness will be obvious.

When the Moon is new, the Sun and Moon are aligned in the same sign, and a powerful energy portal is opened. New Moons are a great time to set intentions for things you'd like to create, develop, cultivate, make manifest. There are many ways to initiate this communion with the Universe from lighting a candle to elaborate rituals. What matters is that you're committing yourself to your vision, and open to receiving guidance, healing, support from Spirit. A new moon brings with it the sense of calmness. In this moon cycle, people's emotions get back to normal, their determination will return with the feeling that anything can be accomplished, and there will be more energy and acceptance of other other's ideas.

CURRENT MOON

lunar phase

7 MINUTES EXERCISE ROUTINE THAT'S AS BENEFICIAL AS A LONG RUN AND WEIGHT SESSION

Interesting article I came across today that states it's only seven minutes long and in this day and age when we complain we don't have time to fit in an exercise routine it seems a good idea. The downside is for it to benefit us, it has to done intensively to achieve the benefits, so it won't be pleasant, however the upside is seven minutes and you are done

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THE ARTICLE BELOW IS FROM THE DAILY MAIL

The 7-minute workout that is as beneficial as a long run and a weights session - but you must be in PAIN to reap benefits

• Scientists devised workout that requires just a chair, a wall and 7 minutes
• But in order reap benefits you must exercise so intensely that it is painful
• The 12 exercises are most effective if you carry them out the in correct order with a 10 second break between each

A seven-minute exercise regime devised by scientists has been shown to provide as many health benefits as going for a long run and doing  a session of weight training.
The workout requires no more than a wall, a chair and seven minutes of your time.
However the experts say that you must be in pain when performing the regime in order to benefit.

The Seven Minute Workout: The new exercise regime is very prescriptive in terms of the exercises you should do, the order in which you should do them and the length of time spent between each

The article, entitled High-intensity circuit training using body Weight: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment, is published in the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness.
It outlines 12 exercises that uses the body’s own weight to get the same amount of exercise as doing a long run and session of weight-training in just seven minutes.

Spending hours in the gym may not be needed to reach optimum health with the seven minute workout

‘There’s very good evidence that high-intensity interval training provides many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,’ Chris Jordan, director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, and co-author of the new article, told the New York Times.
Previous research has found that just a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding. 
Interval training, though, requires intervals. The scientists who devised this new workout say that to get the maximum benefits the extremely intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of recovery. 
In the program outlined by Mr. Jordan and his colleagues, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. This rest is extended by alternating the muscles used in each  exercise.
During eat set of exercises, the unexercised muscles have a moment to ‘catch their breath’, which makes the order of the exercises important. 
The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each.
But to get maximum benefits the intensity must hover at around and eight on what they term as the discomfort scale of 1 to 10.
Mr Jordan says that the seven minutes should be unpleasant.
he upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK IS AS IMPORTANT TO YOUR HEALTH AS DIET AND EXERCISE

Having a positive outlook and making new friends could be as important to your health as diet and exercise, scientists have revealed.

People with a positive outlook have more upbeat emotions, which leads them to make more social connections, which in turn leads to an 'upward spiral' to better physical health. This is hardly surprising for those of us who have been advocating holistic therapies and spiritualism for years.

The benefit of positive thinking has been proven through much research.

Affirmations and positive thinking are very powerful tools that can bring about healing and change. However negative thoughts are just as powerful and can be very self-destructive. Although we have no control over all what goes on in the world and certain aspects of our lives, we do have control over the way we interpret and how we deal to it.

"The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences"

You experience your interpretation as an internal dialogue. Thoughts, judgements and feelings are ceaselessly swirling through your mind. Thoughts like: I like this; I don't like that; I am afraid of this; I am unsure about him/her. This internal dialogue is not random, it is generated from a deep level by your beliefs and assumptions which have been formed and accumulated from the time you were born. It is worth remembering that a lot of these assumptions and beliefs were formulated as a child and have never been re-examined and therefore may be highly inappropriate to you as an adult or just simply wrong. When someone's interpretation changes, a change subsequently takes place in their reality. Thus we can make big changes in our lives by changing our thinking.

Never underestimate the power of positive thinking, but to explain I need to tell you about your Auric field. We are spIrit in a human body whilst we are incarnated on Earth and around us is an electromagnetic field our Aura, this has several layers or subtle bodies, the closest layer around our body is known as the Etheric body and it is a complete blueprint of our physical body but perfect eg. supposing we were unfortunate to have lost a limb, well it would still be present in the Etheric body. If you wish to start and try viewing the aura, the Etheric body is the first one you will see as you start to develop this ability.

Exercise for seeing the Human Energy Field commonly known as the Aura.

You will need a partner and a plain wall, not patterned and for beginners a fairly light coloured one.

Get your partner to stand a few feet away from you against the wall

Now let your eyes go out of focus as you would in day dreaming and stare at your partner until your eyes begin to get very uncomfortable and when you reach this stage when you need to blink you will have a clear view of the Etheric body. (Now I know what colour it is and I'm not going to try and influence you here, please leave a comment on your findings if you do this experiment.)
The other layers *SEE BELOW HERE FOR DETAILS  are comprised of different colours and are constantly moving and changing according to our emotions and mental state and what lies before us. Psychics are able to tap into their client's Aura to give readings for all your past, present and future is contained therein.

OK so that is the background, so what has this to do with positive thinking? well when we think positively our Auras expand, they are directly connected to our Chakras, these are spinning vortices of energy and what gives us our vital life force. If our Chakras are able to work correctly without being impinged in anyway, we will be happier mentally and emotionally and physically a lot healthier.

On the other hand if we think negatively our Aura's shrink in on themselves and this affects how the chakra's work, it restricts the flow of vital energy of the life force and starts to cause us problems both mentally and physically. Take for example the throat Chakra, it governs the thyroid and parathyroid endocrine glands and all the structures surrounding our throat and necks and vocal chords. It also governs communication between ourselves and others. So if we are thinking negatively it can lead to stiff neck muscles, causing tension headaches, make us more prone to sore throats, coughs and colds and can lead us to have communication problems relating to others perhaps causing arguments and an inability to understand others. This of course is just one Chakra.

Exercise for sensing and feeling the Human Energy Field commonly known as the Aura

Again you will need a partner and a chair.

Get your partner to sit on a chair facing away from you with their eyes closed and stand some distance away, several feet if possible.

Rub your hands vigorously together until your palms get warm and with palms facing one another you should feel a sensation like tingling, pulling them apart and bring them together, it should feel like you are bouncing an invisible ball between them, rub them a little more together then pull them apart and bring them together until you feel this.

Now with your palms facing outwards towards your partner ask he/she to think of something positive and happy, something which made them feel really happy.

As they are concentrating on this walk slowly towards them palms outstretched until you feel a sensation like you felt before, you should be able to bounce it like before even pull it a little, this is your partners Aura. Note where you are standing in relation to them.

Now repeat the exercise again, but asking your partner to think of something that made them very sad and miserable and to focus on this as you repeat what you did before. Walk forward again sensing where you detect their aura. Note where you are standing, what do you notice? (Again leave me a comment here of your findings it should be different to your first detection experiment)

Universal Laws The Law of Attraction

One of the Universe's laws is the law of attraction where 'like attracts like' have you noticed how the same type of people tend to group together? So positive energy is attracted to positive energy and like wise with negative energy. Now every time we think we create 'Thoughtforms' these are comprised of an energy so therefore if we think positively we will attract more positive energy and likewise negative thoughts will create more negative energy your way. So no matter what it pays to think positively. For one you will feel better physically and mentally and best of all you will attract more positive and good luck your way. It has to be consistent however you do have to keep it up to make this work, for any negative thinking will undo all the good you have done.

You may still have challenges in your life I can't guarantee life will be plain sailing but I can guarantee you will cope with those challenges a whole lot better than you would have done had you stayed thinking negatively.

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ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MAIL BELOW

Don't bother with the gym today: Positive outlook on life and making friends could be as good for you as diet and exercise

• Study showed a positive attitude caused 'upward spiral' into better health
• People can 'self generate' positive emotions and become healthier

Having a positive outlook and making new friends could be as important to your health as diet and exercise, scientists have revealed.
People with a positive outlook have more upbeat emotions, which leads them to make more social connections, which in turn leads to an 'upward spiral' to better physical health, a study showed.
The research also found it is possible for a person to 'self-generate' positive emotions which can cause them to become physically healthier.
The study was lead by Professor Barbara Fredrickson, of the University of North Carolina, and Doctor Bethany Kok, of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany.

Social connections: Making friends and being positive can be as important for your health as diet and exercise, say researchers

Prof Fredrickson said: 'People tend to liken their emotions to the weather, viewing them as uncontrollable.
'This research shows not only that our emotions are controllable, but also that we can take the reins of our daily emotions and steer ourselves toward better physical health.'

Researchers: The study was led by Professor Barbara Fredrickson, of the University of North Carolina, and Doctor Bethany Kok, of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany

To study the bodily effects of up-regulating positive emotions, the researchers studied 'vagal tone' - the body's control over the vagal nerve which is linked to organs and helps regulate heart rate.
People who have higher vagal tone tend to be better at regulating their emotions, so the researchers studied whether this might lead people to experience more positive emotions.
Scientists also considered whether having more social connections would increase vagal tone, and therefore improving physical health.
To see whether people might be able to harness this upward spiral to steer themselves toward better health, the researchers conducted a field experiment.
Half of the study participants were randomly assigned to attend a six-week loving-kindness meditation (LKM) course where they learned how to cultivate positive feelings of love, compassion, and goodwill toward themselves and others.

Positive outlook: Being happy means people are more likely to make friends and feel healthier

The other half of the participants remained on a waiting list for the course.
Participants in both groups had their vagal tone assessed at the beginning and at the end of the study.
The results provided clear evidence to support the hypothesised upward spiral, with perceived social connections serving as the link between positive emotions and health.
Participants in the LKM group who entered the study with higher vagal tone showed steeper increases in positive emotions over the course of the study.
As participants' positive emotions increased, so did their reported social connections. And, as social connections increased, so did vagal tone. 
In contrast, participants in the waiting-list group showed virtually no change in vagal tone over the course of the study.
Prof Fredrickson said: 'The findings add another piece to the physical health puzzle, suggesting that positive emotions may be an essential psychological nutrient that builds health, just like getting enough exercise and eating fruit and veg.'
The findings were published in the journal Psychological Science.

WHY DIETING IS DIFFICULT

 I can see why this is foods obviously higher in sugar do produce a sugar surge in the blood as when we have low blood sugar we do crave more, and foods that are higher in fat generally have a nice mouth feel.

However to get over this problem the solution is to eat complex carbohydrates, such as whole meal flour and grains as the body takes longer to break these down and the sugars are released slowly at a steady pace and thus avoids the sugar peaks, highs and lows associated with junk food.

In the food pyramid complex carbs should be at the bottom, i.e. the bulk of our diet should be from complex carbs. These also contain by nature a lot of fibre thus they are filling and provide us with roughage to maintain a healthy gut.

ARTICLE BELOW IS FROM THE DAILY MAIL

Now we know why diets are difficult: Even if low-calorie food tastes better than junk the brain is still turned off

• High-calorie foods cause greater brain reactions
• When people eat, two different brain circuits fire - one in response to flavour and the other to blood sugar
• The response to blood sugar is stronger so high calorie foods are more satisfying

The brain prefers high-calorie foods even if they taste worse than the low-calorie alternatives, according to new research.
Scientists at Yale University found that calorie-dense foods cause greater responses in the brain than lower calorie foods.
Interestingly, they also discovered that this applies even if the calorie-free food tastes nicer.

Cake v cucumber: Foods which are high in calories cause greater responses in the brain than lower energy foods

Popular Science reported that the researchers discovered that there are two different brain circuits that fire when people eat.
One of the circuits relates to fluctuations in blood sugar levels, while the other one responds based on whether or not we think the food tastes nice.
Dana Small, a Yale University psychologist, told Popular Science: ‘The thing the brain really cares about are the calories.’
The team asked a group of volunteers to try a range of artificially flavoured drinks some of which contained calories and others of which were calorie-free.
Over a period of three weeks, they found that the group grew to prefer the one with calories even thought they could not taste the added calories.
The researchers looked at MRI scans of the volunteers’ brains as they tried the different drinks to try and establish why this happens.

The study found that people prefer high-calorie foods even if they do not know that they contain more calories because the brain detects the sugar content of it

The scans revealed that people’s brain reactions to the drinks were greatest when their blood sugar levels were highest – this brain reaction gives a sense of satisfaction from the food.
In contrast, the brain response was not linked to how much people enjoyed each of the drinks.
Therefore, Ms Small believes that some people who overeat may do so, not because they prefer high-calories foods, but because their blood sugar levels react more strongly than other people’s do.

HYPOTHALAMUS IS THIS THE KEY TO ANTI-AGEING?

An interesting article in the 'DAILY MAIL' today about the hypothalamus, I've written quite a bit on here on this amazing area of the brain. The Hypothalamus is our most primitive area of the brain and the home of our moods and emotions, it is also the area of the brain that controls homoeostasis in the body, in other words, it regulates every thing that goes on in the body, balances body chemistry, hormone levels etc. so it stands to reason how it could be involved in ageing. It will be interesting to see further research on this amazing area of the brain.

Is this the key to eternal youth? Scientists find the brain region that controls ageing - paving the way to turn back the clock

• Signal pathway in the hypothalamus controls ageing throughout the body
• Signalling can be altered to slow ageing process and increase longevity
• Hormone made in the hypothalamus also slows ageing so injecting it into mice increases their lifespan

Scientists are a step closer to finding the key to eternal youth after discovering a single region of the brain may control the ageing process

For generations, we have tried, and failed, to find the key to eternal youth.
But scientists think they may now be one step closer to unlocking the secret.
New research has found that a single region of the brain may control the ageing process.
Researchers believe that the hypothalamus – the area of the brain which controls hunger, thirst, body temperature and fatigue - may be the ‘fountain of ageing’, controlling how the body declines over time.
They say they have discovered a specific age-related signalling pathway which opens up new strategies for combating diseases of old age and extending lifespan.
Senior author Professor Dongsheng Cai, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the United States, said: ‘Scientists have long wondered whether ageing occurs independently in the body's various tissues or if it could be actively regulated by an organ in the body.
‘It's clear from our study that many aspects of ageing are controlled by the hypothalamus.
‘What's exciting is that it's possible - at least in mice - to alter signalling within the hypothalamus to slow down the ageing process and increase longevity.’
The hypothalamus, located deep within the brain, is known to play fundamental roles in growth, development, reproduction and metabolism.

 

Professor Cai suspected that the hypothalamus might also play a key role in ageing through the influence it exerts throughout the body.
He said: ‘As people age you can detect inflammatory changes in various tissues.
‘Inflammation is also involved in various age-related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease and many types of cancer.’

Researchers believe that the hypothalamus - the area of the brain which controls hunger, thirst, body temperature and fatigue - may be the 'fountain of ageing'

Over several years, Professor Cai and his research colleagues showed that inflammatory changes in the hypothalamus can give rise to various components of metabolic syndrome - a combination of health problems that can lead to heart disease and diabetes.
To find out how the hypothalamus might affect ageing, they decided to study hypothalamic inflammation by focusing on one protein complex.
Professor Cai said: ‘Inflammation involves hundreds of molecules, and this one sits right at the centre of that regulatory map.’
In the latest study, the team showed that activating the protein complex pathway in the hypothalamus of mice significantly accelerated the development of ageing, as shown by various physiological, cognitive and behavioural tests.
He said: ‘The mice showed a decrease in muscle strength and size, in skin thickness, and in their ability to learn - all indicators of ageing.
‘Activating this pathway promoted systemic ageing that shortened the lifespan.’

Researchers found that blocking a pathway in the hypothalamus (shown in red) increased longevity in mice by about 20 per cent

However, they also found that blocking the pathway in the hypothalamus of mouse brains slowed ageing and increased longevity by about 20 per cent.
The researchers also found that activating the pathway in the hypothalamus caused declines in levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is made in the hypothalamus.
Suspecting that reduced release of GnRH from the brain might contribute to whole-body ageing, the researchers injected the hormone into aged mice and made the striking observation that the hormone injections protected them from the impaired neurogenesis – creation of new neurons - associated with ageing.
When aged mice received daily GnRH injections for a prolonged period, the therapy exerted benefits that included the slowing of age-related cognitive decline, probably the result of neurogenesis.
Professor Cai said preventing the hypothalamus from causing inflammation and increasing neurogenesis via GnRH therapy are two potential strategies for increasing lifespan and treating age-related diseases.