Archive for category: Lifestyle

Contains compounds that may promote weight loss

Many of olive oil’s benefits have been observed in the context of following a Mediterranean diet.

This eating pattern is characterized by a high consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, potatoes, legumes, nuts, and seeds. While the diet often incorporates fish, the main fat source is olive oil, and it also limits red meat and sweets.

Olive oil contains monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which have one unsaturated carbon bond in their chemical composition. MUFAs are typically liquid at room temperature.

One older 4-week study found men with overweight or obesity who replaced saturated fat with monounsaturated fats in their diets experienced small but significant weight loss, compared with a saturated-fat-rich diet, despite no major change in total fat or calorie intake.

More recent research agrees that unsaturated fatty acids are likely more beneficial than saturated fats when it comes to healthy weight maintenance.

Diets rich in monounsaturated fats have also been shown to prevent weight gain and the accumulation of fat in animal studies.

Furthermore, olive oil is a rich source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which have been long studied for their ability to play a role in healthy weight loss and maintenance.

MCTs are triglycerides that contain fatty acids comprising 6–12 carbon atoms. They’re broken down quickly and absorbed by your liver, where they can be used for energy.

While some studies have found a positive effect of MCTs on weight loss, others have found no effect.

Still, one study compared MCTs with long-chain triglycerides, finding that MCTs resulted in greater production of certain appetite-regulating hormones like peptide YY, which promotes feelings of fullness.

Other research indicates that MCTs may encourage weight loss by increasing calorie- and fat-burning in the body.

How to use olive oil for weight loss

Olive oil may be useful for weight loss, but it appears to be most beneficial when used in certain ways and amounts.

While some people claim that olive oil massages could help promote weight loss, there’s no research to support this idea. That said, studies have found that such massages can help preterm babies gain weight.

Another popular claim is that a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice can promote rapid weight loss. However, this is likely because it’s often used as a cleanse that usually results in very low calorie intake and consequently both fat and muscle loss.

Still, olive oil incorporated into an overall healthy diet is a different story.

There are 119 calories and 13.5 grams of fat in 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of olive oil. This can quickly add up on a calorie-restricted diet, so it’s best to incorporate olive oil in limited quantities as not to promote weight gain.

One systematic review of 11 randomized controlled studies found that following an olive-oil-enriched diet for at least 12 weeks reduced weight more than following a control diet.

Olive oil can be used as a salad dressing, mixed into pasta or soups, drizzled onto pizza or vegetables, or incorporated into baked goods.

What is crisis fatigue?

According to Dr. Petros Levounis, professor and chair, department of psychiatry, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, we go through four stages in response to a crisis.

First, there is the heroic phase. “Here, everybody gets together and there is a lot of action of people trying to respond by doing what needs to be done during the crisis,” said Levounis.

Next, there is the honeymoon phase, where people feel good about being a part of the community.

“Invariably after that is the disillusionment phase,” said Levounis, “which is where we’re entering now… and that is when we face crisis fatigue.”

This phase can last several months, he added, with people feeling very bad during this time until they begin to work on recovering and rebuilding after the crisis passes.

As to why crisis fatigue occurs, Firdaus S. Dhabhar, PhD, professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said, “The fight-or-flight response, or short-term stress, is our friend.

“The biological stress response can protect us during challenging situations or crises.

“However, when stress becomes chronic and persists for weeks, months, or years, it can have harmful effects, and in particularly repetitive or severe conditions, could lead to crisis fatigue.”

Adding to this, Levounis further explained that people invest a lot of energy in the early phases, but the human body can’t sustain a high adrenaline state for a long time, making a crash inevitable.

What are the symptoms of crisis fatigue?

Levounis said that the symptoms could go in one of two directions.

“One is the hyperarousal, or high anxiety, state where people are irritable and any little thing may get them triggered,” he said.

“Even a reminder of the crisis could result in a disproportionate emotional response from the person.

“The other side,” said Levounis, “which is more severe and more significant, and also less easy to diagnose, is when people are withdrawn.

“Instead of high anxiety, they show no anxiety or they resign to the crisis and don’t seem concerned about the crisis or situation.

“They show no concern regarding the things that need to be done or consequences that may result from the crisis.”

Other symptoms could include changes in sleep patterns, changes in appetite, and disruption in a person’s normal routines.

Seek out information

Experts say if you’re going to pay to stay somewhere, make sure your host is taking the pandemic seriously.

The first step is to check websites for what steps hotels and other facilities are taking to protect guests.

“I think that as long as the hotels and Airbnbs are transparent about what measures they are taking to make sure that it is safe for people to come and stay with them, it should be OK,” said Dr. Gabriela M. Andujar Vazquez, an infectious disease physician and associate hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts.

“It depends on what state we’re talking about, but the recommendations that the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] put out for hospitality and opening would be something to look at to make sure that there’s a guidance,” she said.

Andujar Vazquez recommends looking at the local guidelines and contacting the hotel or Airbnb you’re interested in beforehand to see what exactly they’re implementing.

Decreased occupancy, frequent disinfecting, digital keys, 24-hour vacancy between guest departures, and digital check-in are some measures now available at many hotels.

The CDC recommendations released last week on how to safely travel include a lengthy list of tips.

They include wearing masks in the lobby or other common areas, taking the stairs instead of riding elevators with strangers, and minimizing your time in areas where you might be closer than 6 feet to other people. These include dining rooms, fitness centers, or lounging areas.

If you have your sights set on an Airbnb, be aware of their changes.

Every host who commits to their Enhanced Cleaning Protocol will receive a special callout on their listing in the coming days, a spokesperson told Healthline.

The protocol is a signal to guests that they’re committed to a stepped-up cleaning and sanitization routine.

Hosts who are unable to commit to that protocol can opt into something called Booking Buffer to create a longer vacancy period between stays.

A buffer between guests is something Dr. Patrick Hughes, DO, director of the emergency medicine simulation program at Florida Atlantic University, encourages.

“If you have 3 days between visitors, that basically is the end of the shelf life for the virus at that point in time, so all surfaces should be safe by then,” Hughes told Healthline.

Dr. Stacey Rizza, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, which advised Hilton Hotels on their cleaning and disinfection protocols, says customers should look for COVID-19 safety measures in hotels and wherever else they go.

“Particularly whether or not they are regularly disinfecting high-touch surfaces, whether public spaces and private rooms are being cleaned and disinfected frequently, whether the staff are wearing appropriate protective equipment and following the rules of social distancing, and acknowledge that they’ve put these measures in place and are adhering to them,” Rizza told Healthline.

Look for cleaning in action

The reality today is that many of the activities we enjoy now involve some risk due to COVID-19.

Hotels are no different.

“Anytime you, whether it’s board an airplane or stay in a hotel, or go to a gym, or somewhere where there’s public space and crowds of people, there’s an increased risk for getting COVID-19,” Hughes said.

Being aware of the areas of potential risk in a hotel or Airbnb is important.

Those would include high-contact surfaces, such as light switches, remote controls, and doorknobs.

Areas where people congregate, such as the public hotel bathrooms, gyms, or buffets (which remain closed in many hotels), are places where the virus could potentially spread.

Staying away from home can be safe “as long as people are aware of high-contact surfaces and making sure to clean those, or making sure the hotel has their staff aware that all those spaces and surfaces need to be cleaned,” Hughes said.

The presence of employees who are actively cleaning and disinfecting is a good sign.

“Staff members that are cleaning throughout the day — you’ve seen that instituted in grocery stores, where common surfaces, such as the handles on the freezer section or whatever else, are continuously being wiped down during the day by staff members to try and decrease the risk of contact spread,” Hughes said.

Andujar Vazquez notes that you may notice cleaning personnel becoming increasingly more visible.

“In hospitality, they typically had this mantra before the pandemic where you don’t need to see the cleaning but cleaning happens magically,” she said.

“Now it’s turning into, ‘We are going to make it visible so that people know that we are actually doing it.’ So I’m thinking that we are going to start seeing more and more of these visible cleaning people are around, cleaning public spaces. That’s probably what I (would) look for,” Andujar Vazquez said.