Not Enough Sleep Could Lead to This!

Hi and welcome to this week’s look at headlines in natural health on ihealthtube dot com.

How did you sleep last night?  If you’ve been struggling to get good sleep lately… it could be showing up on your waist line. 

A recent study out of England revealed that people who were sleeping on average around 6 hours a night… had a waist measurement that was 3 centimeters greater than those who averaged 9 hours.  Those who slept shorter amounts of time were also heavier.  The study, which involved more than 16 hundred adults… also found that shorter sleep was also  connected to lower levels of HDL or the ‘good’ cholesterol.  The surprising part of the study did not show a relationship between shortened sleep and a less healthy diet as predicted.

The leader of the study said the results indicates while sleep needs differ between individuals, it appears that between 7 to 9 hours is best for most adults.

Could adding just a few walnuts to your diet improve your health?  Well… new research is showing they may have a bigger impact than you think.

Walnuts have long been known for their health benefits… but now a study our of Louisiana is adding another benefit to that list… Using rodent models… researchers added walnuts to the diet of one group… while the other contained no walnuts.  The results showed two distinct communities of gut bacteria between the two.  Those who ate walnuts showed a significant increase in a kind of beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus… suggesting walnuts may act as a prebiotic.

Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-linoleic acid and researchers now conclude they may help reshape the gut community may help improve health.

And there might be yet another way to help boost your gut health… by adding something we hear about around Thanksgiving time….

A study out of St. Louis is showing the benefits of tryptophan… one of the building blocks of proteins and commonly associated with turkey… and how that can help boost gut health.  The rodent study showed that the more tryptophan mice had in their diets… the more immune cells they had in their gut.  Those immune cells help balance the gut… when it’s out of balance… inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease can result.

The findings lead researchers to hope that a tryptophan-rich diet may help improve inflammation  in the gut, which could lead to relief for millions who suffer from related conditions…  Outside of turkey… tryptophan can also be found in nuts… eggs… seeds and beans among other foods.

That’s a look at headlines in natural health this week.  Stay connected to the latest in natural health by going to iHealthTube dot com and signing up for our free email newsletter!