Blood Pressure

New research shows blood pressure in couples is often similar. Most of us would think that blood pressure is an individual thing, but this was a fascinating study that showed it could be linked to your partner!

The study (published in the Journal of the American Heart Association) looked at blood pressure data from thousands of couples in the U.S., England, China, and India.

Overall, they found that if your partner has high blood pressure, you are more likely to have it, too.

For example, wives whose husbands had high blood pressure were 9% more likely to also have high blood pressure in the U.S. and England, 19% in India, and 26% in China.

The study didn’t look at WHY, but maybe it’s worth committing to some heart-healthy activities with your partner.

Microbiome

How do good gut bacteria protect against harmful ones?

New research alert!!

The gut microbiome consists of hundreds of different bacterial species and strains. One health benefit is that these bacteria can protect against the invasion of harmful bacteria.

But, until now, there have been unanswered questions about how this works and whether some strains are more important than others.

A new study published in Science found that it was NOT any single bacterial strain that was protective but instead the combined effect of at least 50+ strains together.

Also, the WAY the collective bacterial communities protected against harmful invaders was by consuming nutrients those invaders might need.

The takeaway?

An optimal microbiome is a diverse microbiome. Gut health is always important to the bigger picture of overall health.

Blood Sugar

Blood sugar control is so important. It’s still cold and flu season, and we know that diabetes makes people more susceptible to developing serious lung problems from common viruses.

A new study just published in Nature tells us WHY but also gives hope and actionable info. The study found that elevated blood sugar levels disrupted immune cells in the lungs and prevented them from activating the immune response.

The good news is: tight control of blood sugar levels prompted those immune cells to regain their function and mount a protective response. This is more evidence that metabolic health affects overall health. It’s also evidence that we are not powerless.

Exercise

Want a bigger brain?

A new study out of Washington University School of Medicine found that more physical activity correlated with larger brain size in healthy adults.

This was based on MRI brain scans of 10,125 men and women (average age 53). The more days they exercised, the larger their brains were in key areas.

Most of the study participants exercised 4 days per week, but the researchers said that even small amounts of exercise (like walking 4000 steps per day) were beneficial.

We don’t always see the results of our efforts immediately, but taking care of our health will pay off in the long run.