Every generation has its unique style of music accompanied by a single, chart-topping musician/band. Sinatra ruled the 40’s, The Rolling Stones conquered the 60’s music industry, and nowadays Chicago’s one and only Kanye West has taken the 2000’s by storm; however, all of these performers hold little to no significance once referencing the influence Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had on the history of music. His name is notorious, yet little know what made him the greatest musician of all time. What was it about that little Austrian that grabbed the attention of masses? His flair and exuberance attracted the attention of Europe; however, it wasn’t just personality traits that made Mozart the genius he was.

Ever had an “ear-worm” before? For most, after hearing a catchy song for the first time, the only way one can regurgitate the tune is to whistle it from memory. Well for Mozart, he had absolute pitch which meant he could hear the song once and then immediately replicate it on any instrument he wanted…pretty impressive, eh? According to recent studies conducted by University of California’s professor Diana Deutch, the absolute pitch ability is mostly genetic so, unfortunately, chances are if you don’t think you have it now, you probably will not ever get it. The brain is divides its duties to either the left or right side of the brain; however, scientists aren’t certain that the absolute pitch ability lies within solely one of the brain’s hemispheres. According to Dr. Robert Zatorre, a neuropsychologist at the Montreal Neurological Hospital in Canada, “it’s a leap to say that perfect pitch resides primarily in the left brain. We consistently find that regions of the right auditory cortex seem crucial for listening to melodic patterns or making judgments of pitch going up or down…But I would not go so far as to say that music is all on the right.” In order to gain more information about human’s ability to appreciate music, he conducted an experiment with a man who had suffered a stroke on both sides of his brain. Interestingly, the subject could not differentiate jazz music from rap or classical music. From that, he concluded that if damage is done to just one side of the brain, the musical ability still resides; however, the appreciation for music would be substantially diminished.

To clarify more on to the absolute pitch mystery, Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, a neurologist at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany conducted an experiment in which he compared the brains of people with perfect pitch and people without it. As suspected, the left planum temporal was almost twice as large in perfect pitch people than it was within the others. As a matter of fact, the planum temporale of musicians without absolute pitch was more similar in size to a non-musician’s than to those with perfect pitch.

Hours of practice and conducting coupled with the rare absolute pitch ability launched Mozart’s career and labeled him as one of the greatest of all time. If you think you have what it takes, feel free to try the Perfect Pitch Test and see if you possess the ability that the great Mozart once had.

We have all experienced the pain of banging our funny bone against furniture, and it is the farthest thing from funny. It sends a numbing pain through our whole arm that is certainly not pleasant. So why is it called our funny bone then and why does it hurt so much?

There are a couple of theories for why it is called our funny bone. The first is that the name derived from a play on words. Our upper arm bone between the elbow and shoulder is called the humerus, which sounds like humorous. Makes sense. The other claim is that the tingling sensation sent through your arm is like an odd, “funny” feeling. I am curious as to who came up with that one. Who would hit their funny bone, experience that numbing pain, and say “hey this is kind of funny” so they called it the funny bone. But that’s beside the point. Now, why does it hurt so badly?

The funny bone is not actually a bone but rather a nerve. It is called the ulnar nerve, which runs from our neck all the way down to our hand. This nerve, like most in our body, is mostly protected by bones. Except when it gets to the elbow, it passes through something called the cubital tunnel where it is only skin and fat that protects the nerve. This makes it much more vulnerable to bumping it. When people bump their funny bone, they are actually hitting their nerve and compressing it against the bone. This shoots a weird tingling pain down your whole arm and into your fingers. It numbs your arm and hand for a few seconds and our first reaction is to shake it off or rub it (in addition to yelling in pain) which seems to get rid of the pain, While this sensation may not be funny and hurts at the time, things could actually be worse.

People suffer from something called cubital tunnel syndrome. This is when the ulnar nerve gets irritated and on its trip through the elbow, it gets obstructed and pinched against your bone. People can suffer from this by constantly hitting their funny bone where it keeps irritating that nerve. As you may imagine, this pain is not pleasant. It is as if you were being constantly hit with a tiny mallet on your elbow, bumping your funny one over and over again. In extreme cases, this syndrome impairs people’s usage of their hands. So next time you hit your funny bone, it may hurt at first, but be thankful you do not have to deal with the pain experienced during cubital tunnel syndrome. That certainly is not funny.

Sources:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/21474/what-funny-bone-and-why-does-hitting-it-hurt-so-much

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150827-why-does-it-hurt-so-much-to-hit-your-funny-bone

I think there has been a general misunderstanding with protein bars and how healthy they actually are. Any person trying to be healthy might try to eat a protein bar as a healthy snack choice in their day, but protein bars are not all that good for you. Protein bars usually contain 6-10 grams of protein in them, but can also contain many other ingredients that are not so good for you. It’s important to check the ingredients list and how much sugar the bars contain. Some can contain even more than a candy bar would, so the healthy looking label that makes all sorts of health claims can be a little deceiving. As a person that enjoys working out, I have always wondered when the best time is to eat a protein bar- before or after a workout?

Some people have different opinions on when to eat protein bars, due to what they personally want to get out of their workouts. In “Nutrition Journal”, there was a study done in 2004, where one group ate protein bars daily and participated in resistance training and another trained without eating protein bars. This was done over a nine-week period, and it was proven that the group who ate protein bars gained lean muscle mass, while the other group did not.

Furthermore, we can look into the effects of protein bars when eaten appropriately. Eating a protein bar before a workout can give you energy throughout your workout to keep you going the entire time. Although this sounds like a good thing, you will burn more fat during a workout if you eat a protein bar after your workout.

This is because the energy from the bars is stored in your Glycogen stores, and while you are working out, your body will be taking energy from this rather than your fat stores. In this case, it proves to be more effective to have a protein bar after a workout, if you want to burn fat. There are other positive effects as well. Glycogen is actually necessary for the brain and nervous system to keep functioning normally. So, when eating a protein bar after a workout, you are giving your brain and nervous system the Glycogen they need. Lastly, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, “having protein post-workout encourages muscle gain, reduces soreness and accelerates training recovery.”

It is clear that protein bars are a good source of energy before or after a workout, if you choose the right kind of bar that is not filled with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. Depending on the body you want to build, eating extra protein before or after a workout is a choice you will need to make. Some choose it as a pre-workout energy boost, and some choose it as a post-workout meal replacement. After some research, I have seen clear evidence to it being more useful and effective being eaten after a workout.

Sources: Source 1 , Source 2 , Source 3 , Picture Source

Woo! I feel good! Do you ? Nothing makes me feel better then throwing on my best outfit and stepping out like DANG! I look good. Let’s get serious now… can clothes affect our cognitive ability? can it improve how we perform on task?

Well , well, well, have the no fear. The answers to all your questions are here, and it’s called Enclothed cognition:the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes. To make it simple the term describes the emotions a person feels when their wearing certain items of clothing. It is scientifically proven that clothing not only affects how others perceive us but how we perceive ourselves. Researchers from Northwestern University, Hago Adam and Adam Galinsky, conducted  two experiments, in which they tested the affects of wearing a doctor’s lab coat versus a painters lab coat versus no lab coat

In the first experiment that Adam and Galinsky conducted there were 58 undergraduates (41 females , 19 males) the age average was 20.29 years. “They were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: wearing a lab coat vs. not wearing a lab coat.” As Andrew mentioned in class the x-variable is the predictor or independent variable, so in this case that would be the lab coat. Anyways, The task participants were asked to perform is called the  Stroop task. Stroop effect (which it’s often referred to as) is defined as: “an outcome of our mental (attentional) vitality and flexibility. The effect is related to the ability of most people to read words more quickly and automatically than they can name colors. If a word is displayed in a color different from the color it actually names So the participants were directed to perform this task as quickly and as accurately as they could. There were 50 trials. The scientist measured whether the participant indicated the right color as well as the length of time they took to complete the trial. The results are shown on the graph below:

The result showed: Participants in the wearing-a-lab-coat condition made around half as many errors as participants in the not-wearing-a-lab-coat condition.

Experiment 2: The importance of symbolic meaning. The goal of experiment two is to show that both wearing the clothes and knowing the symbolic meaning are two components thats are necessary in order for enclothed cognition to occur. To test this  the scientist again manipulated the predictor which was the lab coat by either associating  it with medical doctors or painters.

For this experiment they got seventy-four undergrad students .  They were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: wearing a doctor’s coat vs. wearing a painters coat .

In order to test these conditions the participants were asked to perform a task. The task was kind of like an i-spy game. Participants had to look at a side by side of a picture and quickly spot and write down the difference between the two pictures. They were told that their were four differences in the pictures. The scientist measured the number of different participants found as well as the time it took them to complete the task.

Results are in!! In the case of the symbolic meaning of the lab coat being essential. Scientist found DING! DING! DING! Their hypothesis is consistent with the results. “Participants in the wearing-a-doctor’s-coat condition found more differences than participants in the wearing-a-painter’s-coat condition. Due to heightened attentiveness while wearing the doctors lab coat.

So, now you know what you wear can affect how well you perform. My advice dress the part at all times and your performance will match it !

I have been cracking my neck for years, numerous times a day. At some times while cracking my neck I feel relief while other times I feel pain. I also notice the need to crack my neck coincides with how I’m feeling and if I’m sick I feel the need to crack my neck more. Over the years I have seen horrified faces upon cracking my neck among the various worried comments. At one point during my freshman year of high school, my friends older sister, who is a massage therapist told me my spine will slowly misalign. As a stubborn 15 year old I didn’t buy it so here I am 4 years later still cracking my neck. My neck cracking has not only become a relief for me but also  a terrible habit. So I’m curious as to if cracking your neck is truly detrimental.

Along with my curiosity as to if neck cracking is bad I wonder about how neck cracking occurs. I know what happens in the knuckles but I am unsure of how it works with the neck. To get a better understand in regards to if neck cracking is bad or not I feel I should know how the cracking occurs. In a NY Times article that I found neck cracking is similar to the cracking of fingers. The article interviewed a director of sports medicine and he stated that the joints “boil when stretched”. This means that when someone bends or cracks their neck they stretch out the capsule that surrounds the joint and the pressure of the fluid in the joint decreases. If the fluid of a joint is decreased enough gas is released and voila there’s the sound of the neck cracking. The director of sports medicine also stated that usually the cracking of joints isn’t harmful but overtime irritation can occur within the cartilage and soft tissue.

One of the questions that also occurred to me is that there is that if cracking your neck is so bad, then why are there 18-38 million cervical spine manipulations performed yearly by chiropractors as stated in a research article. Although later in the research article, it discussed that manipulation of the spine can be related to possible worsening of the cervical spine and also possible herniated discs. Although similar to what we learned in class, there are possible third variables that could account for the negative impact on the neck.

Along with the direct physical complications that can occur with neck cracking such as tissue and cartilage irritation, there is an idea that neck cracking can raise the risk for a stroke. Although in a systematic review that assessed the risk of stroke and neck cracking, It concluded that there is a lack of conclusive evidence to prove that cracking your neck is directly correlated to the increase but the idea is not being eliminated.

Overall, I can conclude, with the help of the Huffington Post, that amateur neck cracking can pose problems, but if done by a professional the risk is very low. Although orthopedic surgeons would beg to differ. There is a lot of different opinions in regard to neck cracking. But the risk of getting a serious injury, a stroke, and nerve damage is extremely rare. But I am curious as to if research will progress in the future and conclude that longterm damage could occur.

We’ve known for a very long time that cigarette smoking is bad for our health.  This is an undisputed scientific fact.  Have you ever considered what effect smoking would have on our family pets?

Some research suggests that dogs who live with a family where there is a smoker, may more than likely suffer from asthma, or bronchitis or other respiratory diseases.  The statistics for cats is even more alarming.  Studies show that cats with exposure to “environmental tobacco smoke-ETS” actually showed an increase in lymphoma.

Now the ASPCA/American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals say they have evidence that supports the view shown another studies.  The ASPCA’s hope is that if you won’t stop smoking for yourself, maybe you’ll stop for your beloved pet.  The USA Today article goes onto to say that a veterinary oncologist says he believes an “animal in an environment with content exposure to a toxin, and that would include cigarette smoke, could be at greater risk of developing tumors”.

Researches highlighted on the PETA website: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also sited studies from the University of Mass and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine also support the concerns of cancer in cats and dogs.  The website goes on to say that this seems to have a positive incentive for smokers to change their behavior.  Maybe they care more about their  pets then about their own possibility of getting cancer.

A new trend is developing.  Adults are meeting in groups, socially, or at work with crayons.  Yes, you read that correctly, they are meeting to color.  It turns out that sales of adult coloring books are exploding, and some doctors are making the case that coloring can actually help to relieve stress and anxiety in adults.

Sales of adult coloring books are skyrocketing.  Johanna Ashford’s “Secret Garden” sold 1.4 million copies worldwide.  Take a look at Amazons Top 10 list of books sold includes several adult coloring books.

Some of the fans of adult coloring books say they meet in groups, or color regularly on their own.  The common effect is that they say it helps people to forget their concerns (temporarily).  They are not looking at an electronic device, not trying to ‘keep up’ on Facebook or instagram.

One preschool teacher said coloring actually improved her high blood pressure by including nightly coloring sessions after walking each day.  Another woman who has epilepsy says coloring helps her to use her hands and not ‘jerk’ they way they would with normal daily tasks.

Psychologists including Antoni Martinez says it helps people to focus on coloring the image instead of their worries.  Psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala says “This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills.  The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, the basic part of the brain involved in controlling emotion that is effected by stress.”  She also says it may be effective because it was something you did as a child, which for most was a care-free, happy period in your life.

Understanding the positive link in our brains, along with demonstrated health benefits; combined with the fact that adult coloring book sales are exploding; we can conclude that adult coloring really does relieve stress and anxiety.  Why not try it yourself- check out this free download.

If you have already spent a winter up at Penn State you know that not a lot goes on. Football games are over, walking to class gets a lot colder, and you spend a lot more time stuck in your dorm room.

Over the years studies have proven that SAD or seasonal affective disorder exists. SAD is a type of depression brought on usually by cold weather. The facts are that when you stay inside for too long and are not exposed to sun light your serotonin and melatonin levels drop.   Both of these drops are caused by the change in your biological clock. Serotonin is a chemical in your brain which mainly controls your mood. If this chemical drops below normal you may being to feel anxiety and insomnia.  Melatonin is in charger of your sleep patterns. It is a chemical that anticipates your daily darkness. When both of these chemicals drop below normal it can become harmful to your health.

A new study shows that if you are feeling sad you ability to see the colors yellow and blue may be compromised. A study published in Psychological Science showed that this is true. In this study 300 college students were shown a short film that was either funny or sad. After the film was over the college students were shown pictures of colors that were mostly grey on a computer screen. The students who were shown the sad film reported seeing  saw mostly red and green colors while the students who were shown the happy film were very likely to see all of the colors correctly. So why can the sad students not see yellow and blue? Again it comes back to a chemical  deficiency. This time it has to do with dopamine in the brain. When a student feels sad or sees something sad dopamine levels drop causing the students to be unable to see the colors yellow and blue in a clear light.

When it is cold outside you spend less time in the sunlight and by doing this your body seems to always think that is night time. Chemical levels in your brain drop and you become tired all the time which in turn leads to feelings of depression.

Avoiding this can be really hard. I know of myself in the winter all you want to do is eat at Wings Over and watch Netflix but this can only put you in a greater risk for becoming depressed. Last year I even became sick a lot more in the winter because I always stuck inside. When the spring came around it felt like I had been in a tomb for a thousand years.

The best ways to combat this are to get outside. Play in the snow, try to exercise, eat healthy food, and try to get outside every day even if you have to wear 27 coats.

Have you ever come from a long day of school or work and the first person to greet you is your loving dog. After being away from my dog for so long it got me wondering if she could recognize my face from a picture?

After doing some research on this topic much to my surprise I was not the only human being to ever think of this. Last March a study was published in the journal Animal Cognition about an experiment that had happened at the University of Helsinki in Finland. The main goal of this research was to see if domesticated dogs were able to recognize human faces from a computer screen. The study consisted of a variety of different breeds and upbringings of dogs (dogs that had an owner and dogs that grew up in a shelter).  In this study they used eye tracking technology to the study the eye movement of dogs when looking at strangers and their owners. This research found that dogs stared longer at familiar faces then they did at strange ones. This study like many others that have been done come up with the same conclusion. Yes, dogs can recognize the faces of their owners from photograph but only to a certain point. This study also turned up an interesting fact, dogs are more interested in the faces of other dogs then they are with human faces.

Another study was done in the Journal of Vision where 12 pure- breed beagles and 12 cats were given certain humans to work with everyday over the period of 6 months. After this period of time each animal was shown a picture of their handlers. The results were astonishing, the dogs recognized the faces of their humans they worked with 88.2% of the time while the cats only recognized their human friends 54.5% of the time.

In a recent study done by Beth Stickler this questions can be answered in two parts. Yes, your dog can recognize a picture of you but only if you look like you in the picture. For example, if the picture is from when you were a child or if you have a different hairstyle they may not be able to recognize who you are. This study also came to the conclusion that dogs are able to recognize other dogs and animals that they live with.

So if you are ever away from your dogs for a long time just know that they will not forget you.  In conclusion, dogs are very capable of identifying your face from a picture.

Throughout the past six years of my life, I have struggled with concussions from soccer.  After suffering a third concussion during my sophomore year, my parents decided it was time for me to call it quits with any contact sport, causing me to have to quit both soccer and lacrosse.  Ever since my first concussion, I have wondered why I have been more susceptible to concussions than my teammates.

A study for The Journal of Primary Prevention found information that had my mom convinced that the cause of my concussions was my lack of neck strength.  While the study does show that smaller neck circumference is usually directly proportional to neck strength, I wasn’t exactly convinced.  Maybe that had to do with getting my first concussion, but what about my second and third?  And why did I get them all in a matter of three years?

An NPR interview with concussion specialist from NYU Steven Flanagan talks about how just one concussion can cause long lasting effects.  It has been six years since my first concussion and three years since my last concussion. To this day, I still suffer from frequent headaches and trouble remembering both long term and short term.  Another issue Dr. Flanagan brings up is how hard it is to diagnose a concussion.  Because it is not always easy, people mistake concussions for less serious injuries or for not being injuries at all. These are the ways to diagnose concussions, and they are all very broad and not always trustworthy.  If concussions aren’t diagnosed right away, the concussion can be even more detrimental to the brain.

So after all this research, what is the answer to my question? I understand why I got the concussion, but why do I have so many headaches 3 years later? According to Doctor Seymour Solomon, headaches after concussions are called “post-traumatic” headaches,  and can last anywhere from months to years after a initial injury.  According to Dr. Solomon, the nerves are disrupted from the trauma, which is most likely why I still have these headaches.

Hopefully someday someone will come up with a treatment for my longterm side effects, but for now I’ll just have to continue to push through them myself.  I wish that I would’ve taken the time to strengthen my neck, but I still think I would’ve suffered from the concussions anyway.

Throughout my educational career, I noticed that when I like a teacher as a person, I do not mind the course load, and I wind up getting better grades.  I like teachers who are supportive towards my educational career.  Oppositely, when I do not like the teacher because they are distant or unsupportive I dread the class and everything about it, even if its a subject I enjoy.  Do platonic student-teacher relationships actually affect school performances? 

A study was conducted by Gwen Dewar, Ph.D. in 2013.  Dewar and a team of researchers experimented on 120, six year olds.  Each child was given a test to measure how their teacher relationships affected their abilities.  By doing so, before each question a picture of the student’s teacher would flash; the picture went too quickly for the eyes to recognize, but stayed long enough for the brain to connect with it.  The results showed, “the kids who have close, affectionate teacher relationships – as opposed to distant ones — end up solving many problems faster” (Ahnert et al 2012).  This begins to prove that when students have a friendly connection with their teacher, they are prone to do better.  

In my experience, when I have a close relationship with a teacher, I work twice as hard in fear of disappointing them.  Other reasons could be that when the student likes the teacher, they open their minds and allow the knowledge to enter their heads.  Oppositely, when students dislike the teacher, they do not pay attention and barely learn in that class.  When teachers connect with their students on a deeper level, and show that they care about their students, the students are willing to work harder to make their teachers proud.

Another study was conducted in 105 German students to explore how student-teacher relationships affect stress hormones.  The group experimented on by the Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria, were all first graders.  In the experiment, “saliva was taken from students on Monday and again on Friday to display diurnal cortisol profiles“. The students who “had unsupportive classroom settings, teacher, had flatter cortisol profiles at the beginning and end of the week.  Comparably, students with healthy student-teacher relationships showed optimal cortisol profiles.”

Not only is this relationship affecting the students grades and ability to learn, it is also affecting their mental health.  This relationship is significant and can alter a child’s perspective on life.  For instance, a child in a “bad” neighborhood may feel pressured into joining a gang or dealing drugs because that is what they were raised in.  All it takes is one teacher to encourage and inspire you to fight for a better life.  We have all heard those stories of people who achieve the impossible and go from troubled neighborhoods to becoming company CEO’s or doctors.

Additionally, another study was conducted with 657 at risk students  showing that distance from one teacher, during a young age, has a lasting impression.  This lasting impact proved to affect children’s development and academic achievement.  On the other hand, students who were given support from their teachers had positive effects on their development. 

We have all had that one teacher that changed our lives in some way; the teacher that inspired us to apply to our dream schools, become engineers or just accept who we are.  I took a gamble on this relationship being science, but everything really is science.

We cannot ignore the facts and the studies that proves that student teacher relationships are beneficial. 

Maybe if we all had supportive and better relationships with our science teachers, we may be science majors today, or actually like science.

When my 14 year old brother and sister were first brought home after being adopted from Russia, our neighbors threw a party for their return. Everyone brought things like toys, puzzles, and diapers, and some people came with Baby Einstein videos, claiming that they used them on their kids, and it really quickened their early learning development. My mom, however, wasn’t so quick to believe that the videos actually did anything, so she decided to do some research. She wasn’t too happy with what she found, so needless to say, the videos didn’t last in our house for too much longer.

The  American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) conducted a study in 1999, which produced results showing that a child age 2 or younger should not be allowed any screen time. That includes TV shows, movies, games on screens, etc. The recommendation from the study added, “Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents…for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional and cognitive skills” (Guernsey). This wasn’t the only study conducted to show the negative side effects of plopping your baby in front of the TV and turning on the videos.

A study at the University of Washington, led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis showed that “with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs…infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos.” Christakis then said that the babies who watched the videos “Scored about 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not” (Park). These videos are not helping the child’s language development, but actually doing the opposite by delaying it. Not only this, but additional research showed that Baby Einstein videos could even cause a baby to develop asbergers, autism, or ADHD.

A different study from the AAP showed that showing you baby videos such as Baby Einstein may lead to ADHD. The reason for this is that “watching TV,” according to Christakis, “rewires an infant’s brain” (Lotus). It overstimulates the brain, since the speed of television is much faster in comparison to real life. This causes the child to become easily irritated and cause them to have extremely short attention spans. The damage usually becomes apparent around the age of 7 when the child has trouble focusing in school. The autism comes out of the social interaction part of it. If a child is simply staring at a screen, and doesn’t get face to face interaction with people, the child doesn’t develop appropriate social skills, causing problems later in life.

Based off the research, I think it’s time my brother and sister start thanking our parents for not allowing those videos to ever make it onto our television screen. Just remember, never judge a book by it’s cover, nor trust movie by its title, even if it does have the name of a theoretical physicist on it.

Girls we all know when there is a formal party, we love to strap on those super cute high heels.  This is an essential for any short girl, at least for me because I am 5’2.  Heels tend to make our feet hurt after wearing them for a long period of time, but we still wear them anyway.  So what is the science behind high heels?  Is wearing high heels affecting our health?

High Heels pay a toll on women’s spine, hips, knees, ankles, feet, posture, and gait. A study was conducted showing the affects of heels on your body.  First, lets get some facts straight:

The Spine Health Institute (Florida Hospital Medical Group) claims,

• Percentage of women who wore heels at some point: 72%
• 77% of women wear heels for special occasions
• 50% wear them for parties
• 33% wear them for dancing
• 31% wear them to work

(picture by the Spine Center Altamonte)

Researchers discovered that high heels actually “alter the natural position of the foot-ankle complex, and thereby produce a chain reaction of effects that travel up the lower limb at least as far as the spine.” heels create acute and chronic effects that impact women’s balance.  

Another study was conducted with women in school to be flight attendants, in South Korea.  If you have ever been on a plane, you probably have seen female flight attendants in some sort of heel.  This is a four year school, thus, ten women from each grade level participated in this experiment.  The students were tested on “balance boards and computerized exercise machines”. Jee Yong-Seok, the professor of exercise physiology at Hanseo University, led this study.  The freshman, were the control so to speak because they have just began wearing heels; therefore, they did not have any change in their feet or balance.  Moving on to the sophomores and juniors who were wearing heels for a longer time, their feet showed that “wearing high heeled shoes may at first lead to adaptation and increased strength,….upperclass women had worse balance than the freshmen, even as some of their muscles were strengthening. (Yong-Seok 2015). You may think, if wearing heels make your feet and ankle stronger, then we should wear them more often.  You are actually wrong to think this way because the study does not end there.  Finally, the seniors were tested and the results showed weakening in their joints and muscles around the ankle.  Dr. Yong-Seok claims,”the ratio of strength between the muscles on the sides of the ankles and those at the front and back became increasingly unbalanced over years of wearing heels, contributing to ankle instability and balance problems and eventually to a decline in the strength even of those muscles that had been stronger for awhile.”

This study, as compelling as it is, lacks a large group of randomized women.  More than forty women should be tested to make conclusive results.  Also, women all over the world should be tested, to eliminate a third variable.  What if the shoes are not causal to the muscles and ankles worsening, but an environmental factor is present?

With the facts presented we can assume, 99%, that the shoes are a direct causation to the worsening balance and the muscle changes.  High Heels do affect women, after long periods of time, so do not be discouraged from wearing heels once in awhile.  If you wear heels everyday, you may want to rethink that decision if your concerned with your health. 

But do not worry, science has not abandoned us, there are solutions to help ease or limit the pain. 

After reading these articles, I will be wearing heels only when I need to: during a party, wedding, or my future career. Let’s save our feet from short term aching and long term effects by reducing our heel wearing today.  

. 

(picture by the Spine Center Altamonte)

Coffee the New Coke?

Do you ever find yourself running on three cups of coffee before it even hits noon? Or better yet getting impulsive head aches when you forget to have it (let’s be real though, you probably couldn’t forget…) Is coffee a legitimate addiction? For those of us who survive on coffee whether it be warm or iced, there is in fact a scientific reason behind our severe reliance.

While some may argue that coffee drinking is “just a habit” or “part of a routine”, it triggers many affects that can make it highly addictive when consumed on a regular basis. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Caffeine has a very similar structure to another molecule in the human brain, known as adenosine. Within the brain are receptors whose job is to take in the adenosine. caffeine, with its similar structure, slides freely through these receptive holes and in doing so blocks off the adenosine that should be in its place. Now keep in mind, the adenosine that would usually be where the caffein molecules are, produce a sensation of tiredness or fatigue. Once the caffeine molecules are present, they stop this fatigue sensation by preventing the adenosine from reaching its home base. As the fatigue sensation is blocked, a sense of urgency is met and gives humans that awake feeling that they must receive in order to take their 8 am Soul Cycle class before there work day takes off (Stromberg 1). Eventually, over time our brains adjust and alter as the physical components within it begin to adapt to the caffeinated molecules it is being fed, “The most notable change is that brain cells grow more adenosine receptors, which is the brain’s attempt to maintain equilibrium in the face of a constant onslaught of caffeine, with its adenosine receptors so regularly plugged (studies indicate that the brain also responds by decreasing the number of receptors for norepinephrine, a stimulant)” (Stromberg 2). This demonstrates a direct correlation, in that the more coffee you consume, the more adenosine receptors are grown. These receptors become more and more powerful as your coffee consumption prolongs.

“Coffee is a diuretic, it must be good for you”, think again… Although some may think that coffee is a natural diuretic, and prevents chronic disease such as diabetes, recent studies have proven the opposite… In a recent article published in Daily Mail’s newspaper, researcher Kate Whighton tells, “Australian researchers suggested a chemical in coffee called chlorogenic acid may increase the risk of diabetes and even lead to the body storing excess fat.

The study, published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, showed that when mice were given high amounts of this compound, the equivalent of drinking five or six cups a day, their bodies struggled to control blood sugar and they developed insulin resistance. They were also less likely to lose weight” (Wighton 1). A quick chlorogenic consumption from coffee could be the reason why you aren’t losing weight from your flywheel, soulcycle, or barrys bootcamp class… Personally, I feel that this is such a small impact and can’t be the only reason why we are less likely to lose weight. There must be other third variables involved that the scientists maybe just did not pick up on.

Now, coming from a coffee lover like myself, I wouldn’t say to rule out coffee for the rest of your life. Because you know what, studies have proven that limited consumption, or better yet “anything in moderation” can’t hurt. Coffee remains one of the most controversial addictions out there and its health benefits and flaws are still to be determined. 

We can relate almost any topic back to science. This being that there are numerous forms of science. Let’s talk about something that is barely discussed. Fall is approaching, which gets people excited for autumn activities. This is the perfect season in my opinion. Football is one of the biggest excitements that tend to start off the season. The majority of us follow a specific professional or collegiate team. Me? My heart is set on hockey.

Not many people enjoy watching hockey. Maybe it is too fast paced or maybe because people just do not understand it. Could even be due to the fact that this sport does not have a game for the games. What I mean by this is most people don’t play fantasy hockey or form a bracket for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But let’s get back to the main point. Most of us do not relate sports to science. That’s where we are wrong my friends. How? Well you could say the injuries are connected to Neuroscience or getting into other players heads is a form of psychological thinking. Although we need to talk about what is below the brain… the ice!

I think we all have the basic idea of ice… just frozen water. But is it that easy? Preparing a rink is more than just pouring gallons of water into a floor and cranking the air conditioning. There is a proper method of layering. Each layer contains a specific amount of water. Too little of an amount of water placed on the area will cause a thin layer of ice. This would make it easier for players to slice the ice open. Not good. In hockey, there are two ways to talk about ice. These terms are fast ice and slow ice. Fast ice is what players love to skate on. There is a significant less amount of ‘slush’ on the surface; i.e. it is more slippery. One would assume that the terms ‘slush’ and ‘slippery’ are the same concepts because we slip on sloshy snow

Slippery ice makes it ten times easier for skates, sticks and pucks to freely slide. It’s a logical thought to think the water on top of ice is formed by any type of friction or pressure from the weight of each player. It has been determined that this water substance accumulates from a layer of ice. A more water-like layer is put into effect during the ice process. This layer is said to be about “one molecule thick”. Technically the ability to skate is done by vibrating molecules.The water molecules needed on the ice vibrate so rapidly that it is unseen by the naked eye. These molecules are only able to move up and down. Too much liquid would form if the molecules were moving from side to side.

So now we know that vibrating molecules help the players to skate, but how does one truly skate? Sure, there are your basic skills of skating. How does this action occur? They work with gravity of course! The gravity will pull on a players center mass which causes them to lean. The gravity puts more force on the bottom half of their body. Note that if the players use this technique while they are not accelerating it will result in falling over. As for the the ability to move, that is represented by initial momentum. That would lead us into an entirely different type of science.

Just like hockey players we all have very fast past lives. On most given days the majority of us do not stop to smell the roses. Before taking this class I sometimes thought in depth on certain topics but not to this extent. To think there is science behind almost everything is quite intriguing. Let us see what else we can discover!

http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/skating1.html

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink4.htm

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always fallen for the “latest and greatest” in boy band music. From my elementary/middle school years crushing on the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber, to my present day obsessions with One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer. It had always occurred to me that something set me apart from the other girls I knew. We all listened to the same music, but it would affect me differently. I got noticeably more excited: my heart would race, my hands would shake, sometimes tears and squeals of joy followed. It was so overwhelming. I seemed to be much more invested in these musical artists than anyone else was. I’ve always wondered, is my brain wired differently? Why do these bands evoke more emotions from me than the average person? That’s what I decided to research.

Firstly, let me give a clear definition to the term “fangirling”. On my favorite satirical dictionary site, Urban Dictionary, one of the many definitions of fangirling is “going totally insane over a famous person. Usually happens when you find out something about your idol, which makes you freak out.” (You can read many more of the amusing definitions here) To sum it up, fangirling makes a girl look completely crazy – except to another fangirl who will 100% understand you. Many others and myself would agree that we use fangirling as a sort of escape from reality, or as this article explains, “an act of displacement or temporary relief from psychological distress.”

So what is going on in my brain? In psychologytoday.com’s article, Stephanie Booth states “The brain’s mesolimbic system functions as a reinforcement circuit between the opiodergic system (which controls liking) and the dopaminergic system (which governs wanting)… These mechanics evolved to steer us toward things like food, but other factors can trip the circuit.” Basically, these bands and their music make me feel good, and in response my brain is telling me to keep going back for more and more. Thus, the obsession forms. Later in the article, Stephanie Booth explains that “Actively listening to a beloved tune stokes the brain’s pleasure center and feels extremely arousing. “It’s like a temporary roller coaster of emotions, with no severe consequences,” says Valorie Salimpoor, a researcher at McGill University. “The intensity of the feelings the music evokes is highly reinforcing.”” Looking at this from the socialcultural psychological perspective, I grew up in an affluent area where kids were always able to afford whatever concert tickets they wanted. Seeing how much fun other kids were having definitely had an affect on my decisions and what I was interested in.

So now that we understand how the brain processes things we extremely like, why are some people more obsessed with certain things than other people? Why are boy bands so appealing to some girls and not at all to others? Unfortunately, this is where I came up empty handed, which is extremely disappointing considering how badly I wanted to write about this subject. Its completely understandable considering this is a slightly new phenomenon being heightened by today’s excessive use of social media, basically allowing fans to keep track of their idol’s every move. I look forward to future studies on this interesting topic.

The Jamaican Olympic sprinter has taken the sports world by storm with his blazing speed. Usain Bolt has set the world record for the 100m and 200m sprint and has already accumulated 6 Olympic gold medals. Bolt is an 11-time world champion and has become a household name throughout the world. Watch how fast Bolt is when racing against other runners. Warning: don’t blink or you might miss it.

Usain will go down as one of the fastest sprinters in the world but how fast is he really? Let’s find out:

Usain Bolt’s record breaking 100m time in Berlin was 9.58s which is insane. He ran at an average speed of 23.35mph! It gets even better; Bolt reached a top speed of 27.44 mph! That is absurd for a human being. His 200m time is just as impressive running it in 19.19s with an average speed of 23.31 mph. This is extremely fast without a doubt and most humans cannot come close to these speeds. But how fast is Bolt compared to land animals? Surprisingly, not very.

An elephant’s top speed is roughly 25 mph which is just about two mph less than Bolt’s top speed of 27 mph. It’s crazy to think that an elephant can run that fast given their superstition and size. But what’s even harder to grasp is the fact that an elephant is almost as fast as the fastest man in the world. A domestic cat is faster than Bolt reaching top speeds of 30 mph. Here is a representation of his speed compared to other land animals:

So to humans Bolt is extremely fast, but when compared to animals Bolt does not look so fast anymore. I’m not discrediting Bolt in any way, shape, or form. He is still a hell of an athlete and one of the most naturally gifted athletes and the fastest runner in the world. However it’s mind blowing when you compare his speed to other animals and see how much slower Bolt looks compared to these animals.

It’s 7 a.m and the alarm starts buzzing for the dreaded 8 a.m that I need to go to. I am literally so tired I don’t know how I am going to function, so I go to my only solution: coffee. A nice cup of vanilla coffee to get my day started makes the 8 a.m a little less dreadful and wakes me up for the day. Or the occasional Starbucks Caramel Macchiato that is just oh so good. Coffee has been my saving grace since freshman year of high school, so I have started to question if this habit is good or bad for me. I gave up pop in high school (sorry I am from the midwest, so it’s pop), but found a new addiction to coffee which is still pure caffeine.  It is a common thing to know that coffee has a bad rap, and is said to be “harmful” to our bodies.  There are claims that coffee has pesticides, causes insomnia, induces anxiety, or could lead to heart disease. Am I really doing that much harm to my body by having a cup of coffee a day? That is the real question.

Since I wanted to see if coffee was as harmful as people want me to believe, I dived into some research. Yes, coffee is a drug that could lead to severe addiction, but not strong enough to cause much harm. There isn’t enough caffeine in coffee to do severe damage to the neural structures in our brains and the tolerance to it isn’t as big of a deal as cocaine or some other extreme drug. To stray away from addiction I also looked into other health effects and in a recent study in South Korea they found that people who drink more coffee have a decreased risk risk for coronary artery calcium. CAC is something that helps predict future heart problems, and of the 25,000 people tested the ones who drank 3-5 cups of coffee a day seemed to have a healthier CAC. A lot of other studies have also found coffee to help with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, a reduction in the risk of Melanoma,  and MS. Those are so many amazing benefits that are being researched that why should I be so afraid of coffee?

On the other hand, sometimes the coffee addiction can do harm. You have to limit yourself or coffee consumption could go overboard. Some people work so hard for their next cup of coffee it’s crazy. Some people have found that they knew it was time to stop when their trembling was uncontrollable (after 20 cups of coffee, which is way too much). This is an extreme level of addiction that is rare and is beyond the simple stimulation of a neurotransmitter. A recent study saw coffee as similar to marijuana in the way it stimulates neurotransmitters, which eventually leads to more and more intake of the certain stimulant for it to become just as invigorating.

Here is a Ted Talk on the benefits of coffee.

Based on my research I am going to continue drinking my coffee and enjoy it. I just would encourage people and myself not to let my addiction become extremely extreme. There are some benefits from it that totally outweigh the negatives, because the negatives all come from people going overboard. So go out to the creamery or to the HUB and grab a cup of coffee, it will be an invigorating experience and keep you awake in class.

Hi my name is Julia Hall, and I am a freshman. I am from Ridgefield, CT which is about 4 hours away from PSU. I traveled a lot this summer and went to a few concerts and a music festival because there is not much to do where I live.

I am currently in DUS but I hope to get a degree in marketing. I decided to take this class because it fulfilled some of the gen ed requirements and I didn’t want to take a Chemistry or a Physics class. I do not intend on being a science major because I am very bad at math and science requires a lot of math equations. This class really interested me because of the questions we focus on and the way we approach learning about them. I like how we explore simple questions that end up having multiple aspects to them.

Here is a link to the music festival I went to in New York city this past summer. 

Recently, I have heard from multiple people that drinking alcohol can make sleep less restorative. Before hearing this, I had the conception that it was a sleep aid and that it helped sleep. For this blog, I decided to research this debate and choose a side in the process. After reading through all the sources, every article that I found favored the side that backs alcohol’s negative effect on sleep and now I do, too. Almost all of these sources cite the findings of the peer-reviewed journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

They all also focus on the two major parts of sleep. The first is called SWS (slow wave sleep) because in this type of sleep brain waves move slowly and the second is called REM (rapid eye movement) for the opposite reason (Gordis). SWS “is physiologically restorative and produces, releases, or balances important hormones, blood sugar, metabolism, and energy” while “REM sleep is cognitively restorative and assists in the consolidation of memories and stabilizing of mood and temperament” (sleepsomatics.com). Alcohol has been found to disrupt sleep in the second half of the night and to negatively affect REM, which is essential to health (Mann).

Dr. Christian Nicholas, a scientist at the University of Melbourne, tested 24 people of ages 18-21 to learn how the brain reacts to alcohol while sleeping (Park). Nicholas and his team tested these young adults by giving them either orange juice with vodka or a placebo (orange juice with a straw dipped in vodka) before they went to bed and used electrodes to measure their sleeping brainwave patterns on an electroencephalogram (Park). The study concluded that alcohol heightened the activity of alpha wave patterns.  “Alpha activity tends to occur when the brain is awake but quietly resting, in metabolic break mode” and an increase in it leads to disrupted sleeping (Park).

Besides the fact that alcohol can intensify sleeping disorders like sleep apnea, there is an unsettling amount of other undesirable effects (Gordis). Alcohol shortening REM sleeping and increasing alpha wave patters makes sleep less restorative, which can lead to weight gain, muscle loss, low testosterone in males, poor energy, fatigue, and reduced quality of life and satisfaction (sleepsomatics.com). Other effects include psychiatric or mood disorders such as depression, mood swings, and anxiety (sleepsomatics.com). Also, studies have paired non-restorative sleep with increased risk of impaired breathing, heart disease, memory deficits, impaired social and occupational function, and car crashes (Gordis).

All of this research does not mean that drinking before bed once will end your life. If “somebody is doing this night after night after night, the effects can be cumulative, not only for alcohol use but on sleep disruption as well,” says Nicholas. With that in mind, it seems that moderation is the healthiest way to approach this issue (Szalavitz).

Everyone knows the feeling of brain freeze. Maybe you took too big of a bite of ice cream or scarfed down that smoothie in under 30 seconds. No matter the way, something always happens: you get brain freeze. Why? What is brain freeze? And how can we stop it?

First off, let’s define brain freeze. According to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, brain freeze (scientifically known as sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia) is the rapid onset of a headache that usually lasts around 15-20 seconds. It comes on after the intake of something very cold a little too quickly. Brain freeze is your brain’s way of telling you to slow down with whatever you’re eating and that bad things could happen if you keep at the pace you are at.

So why do we get brain freeze?

It turns out blood flow in the brain increases during the brain freeze. In a study done by scientist Jorge Serrador of Harvard Medical School, it was found that the anterior cerebral artery, which is a major supplier of oxygenated blood for the brain, dilates when the subjects drank ice water. This would lead to more blood flow to the brain, and consequently, pain. Serrador had 13 healthy adult’s brain arteries monitored through a transcranial doppler. Subjects had to raise their hand when they felt the pain of the brain freeze and again when it stopped, and it corresponded with the same times the anterior cerebral artery was dilated. Serrador concluded that the pressure from the increased blood flow was the cause of the brain freeze.

Now that we know the science behind a brain freeze, we can figure out how to stop brain freeze from occurring. Serrador’s team noted that warm water constricted the anterior cerebral artery back to normal size, and therefore stopped the brain freeze.  Using that information, scientists have been able to pinpoint some solid ways to get rid of brain freeze. Dr. Micheal Sinkin, particularly, came up with 7 ways to stop brain freeze effectively.

To stop a brain freeze, you should:

1. Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm the area
2. Tilt your head back to help stop the flow of blood to your brain
3. Drink a warm liquid
4. Cover your mouth and nose with your hands and breath heavily
5. Hold the cold object to the roof of your mouth BEFORE you swallow it
6. Press your thumb to the roof of your mouth to warm the area (my favorite)
7. Take small bites of whatever you are eating

So now  you’ll know whats going on and how to stop it the next time you eat your ice cream just a little too quickly. Happy eating!

On a typical day, I listen to several genres of music, based on the mood I’m in and the activity I’m doing at the time. You could say I have an eclectic taste in music, but I know what genres help me focus and others that entertain me. I normally listen to classical music when studying, epic film scores when writing and pop/rock to let loose. There are so many genres of music for us to choose from, but studies have shown that certain genres affect the brain in a variety of ways.

To fully understand how different genres of music make you feel and how your brain reacts to it, we need to understand what is going on inside your brain. There are four major parts of the lobe of the brain, and each part is engaged when music enters. There is not a set path that music travels in the brain, because in many songs, so many factors are changing all the time, so it is more like a tennis match. The cerebellum and auditory cortex work together at the beginning when music first enters the brain; breaking down the basics; pitch and volume. The amygdala controls the emotions that we feel when we listen to music, causing a reaction. The cerebellum connects the basic information to the amygdala and then that leads to a dopamine rush. The dopamine rush is when we feel pleasure from a song and get chills during a particular section of a song. The caudate, a subregion of the striatum is what controls this emotional response. What your brain’s feeling. Now that you have a basic understanding of what is going on inside your brain, let’s look a little closer a specific genres.

In 1993, a study called the Mozart Effect came to the public, stating that listening to classical music can make a child smarter. Mozart makes babies smarter. The BBC reported on a story about the potential greater intelligence when listening to classical music. In several adults, the study found them to have the “ability to manipulate shapes,” but the benefits were short-lived. BBC study. Back to the dopamine rush in the brain, a Prezi presentation stated that while listening to classical music stress hormones were released because there was a calm

pleasure felt when listening to it. So classical must make people more calm and that is why maybe they are found to be more intelligent. Prezi’s Take.

On a completely different spectrum, pop music gets the blood pumping and makes you less calm. The auditory cortex sends messages to the brain, relaying that the music has rhythmic beat and makes the person want to dance and sing. Therefore being a distraction, and probably not that helpful when studying. Prezi Pop.  Most pop music is repetitive and catchy, making it easier to get in your head and bother you. While on the other hand, classical music is more complex with different sections and coming up with new ideas.

People are different, their brains don’t all work the same way, different music makes people feel different things. I may be able to study with intense film scores in the background and someone may be able to study with Katy Perry on. Everyone is different. So there is a definite correlation between classical music and having a little better grades. But honestly it just comes to the person’s preferences of what they like. BBC. So don’t think that by listening to classical music you will instantly be smarter. Find the music that makes you less distracted and able to concentrate. I have found mine and it is classical, so find yours.

Here are two songs to compare how your brain reacts to each one:

My name is Zack Whoriskey and I recently just added SC200. I am a junior here at Penn State and my major is RPTM. Even though I am going into my third year of college I am relatively new to Penn State. I spent the last two years attending Penn State Altoona and anxiously waiting my arrival to Main Campus. To be honest, the only reason I added this course was because my academic adviser recommended it and said most students in the past loved it. I also needed a couple more credits to satisfy my natural science gen ed requirements. My true passion is sports and I can’t see myself working in any other industry. I have been playing basketball since I was a toddler and it took me until 1 year ago to realize what i really wanted to do with my life. And that is to be a basketball scout whether its at the college or professional level. I am looking forward to this semester and everything it entails. Here’s a picture of my favorite NBA player who’s currently in the league, Kevin Durant.

What in the world gives cats the ability to land on their feet, no matter how high the object they are jumping from/falling out of? Cat owner or not, we have all witnessed this happen at some point in our lives. So how exactly do they do it?

https://lostinscience.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/cat_falling_turning_over.jpg?w=500&h=224

According to AnimalPlanet.com, a falling cat begins to shift its balance from the second its flight begins. The cats body determines which side should be up, and then begins rotating its head, directed by its eyes and ears, until its facing that way. Next, its spine follows as it arches its back; then its front feet, followed by its hind legs with his front paws placed close to his face to spare it from the ground’s impact.  As the cat lands, its leg joints bear the impact of its weight. A falling cat is less like an airplane and more like a parachute. As its body orients itself to the falling motion, it relaxes and spreads out for the landing ahead. Check out this video of a very obese cat being dropped and ultimately landing on all four feet.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/10/13/7_2.jpg

Sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com recently posted that “in a 1987 study of 132 cats brought to a New York City emergency veterinary clinic after falls from high-rise buildings, 90% of treated cats survived and only 37% needed emergency treatment to keep them alive. One that fell 32 stories onto concrete suffered only a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung and was released after 48 hours”.

A recent study on PhysLink.com reported that cats surviving falls of several stories in height have coined the expression of cats having “high rise syndrome.” Like many small animals, cats are said to have a non-fatal terminal falling velocity. That is, because of their very low body volume-to-weight ratio these animals are able to slow their decent by spreading out – flying squirrel style. Simply put, animals with these characteristics are fluffy and have a high drag coefficient giving them a greater chance of surviving these falls. Heres a short documentary showing and explaining how cats always land on their feet.

Maybe it really is true that cats have 9 lives!

http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/cat-falling.jpg

As a retired high school track and field athlete, it was physically impossible to go a day without drinking water.  Let alone all 64 ounces, eight 8-ounces (8 x 8) of it.  One coach after another would entail the same basic instruction in their pre-race speeches, “Remember drink half of your body weight in ounces.”  All this time it wasn’t because I was an athlete that I needed to drink this much water.  Rather a worldwide rule.

click here for source

To this day, I still find myself drinking practically just as much water as I have been for the last 4 years, minus the competitive sport participation. It made me think.  Everyone’s actually supposed to drink this much?  Is the eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day recommendation somehow mean that water, in general, is good/healthy for you?

First and most commonly known fact is that more than half of the human adult body is water.  This goes to say that water will remain the most recommend beverage to consume, but it doesn’t have to mean it’s the only source of hydration.  BMJ’s authors, Aaron E. Carroll and Rachel C. Vreeman, of two paperbacks on medical myths wrote about the statement that people should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.  The myth busters went to seek the science contradicting correlation to causation of water to our human body.

They claimed that many people have been following this recommendation from the 1945 Food and Nutrition Board.  However, easily ignored what read, “Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.”  In fact, Frederick Stare, a nutritionist, referred to the same 8×8 recommendation of water by pin pointing it “in the form of coffee, tea, milk, soft drinks, beer”, fruits, vegetables, etc.  Besides, contrary of many stories told, drinking extra water doesn’t mean extra health benefits.  A number of failed studies concluded that “drinking more water doesn’t keep skin hydrated, healthy, or wrinkle free”.  But hey, if you still have that mentally engraved into your healthy lifestyle at least there’s one clear benefit of water: it’s calorie-free.

click here for source

To make sure this wasn’t an outlier study merely made off two authors’ book, I searched through a bit more and found two studies.  In one of Heinz Valtin’s articles from his American Journal of Physiology, cited professional journals even state “by the time a person is thirsty that person is already dehydrated”.  Having regretfully experienced this time after time, wishing I would’ve drank more water as it made the scorching sun feel more painful than those countless laps around the track.

click here for source

However, the data above consists of “normal aging, illness-associated of dehydration in elderly, and diagnostic/therapeutic interventions”.  It’s important to consider “the amount of water differs considering what people eat, where they live, how big they are, and what they’re doing”.  This graph furthers that point, as “the threshold for release of vasopressin (promote kidney’s retention of water and increase blood pressure) is lower than thirst and constant needs for water balance are met by changes in plasma vasopressin and changes in creatinine flow”.  Disappointedly, as “evolutionarily” developed as we are, we’re intaking fluid to “compensate for a chronic water deficit we don’t even have”.  Within a prospective study on daily fluid intake, a longitudinal analysis in kidney function and long-term mortality measured 3858 men and women aged 49 years and older residing in Australia through a food frequency questionnaire.  “In about 13 years, 1127 deaths, 580 of which cardiovascular deaths, occurred and repeated creatinine measurements from fluid intake to never have been correlated with the all-cause or cardiovascular mortality”.   Both studies’ results demonstrate again that there is no formal recommendation of water for more benefits.  Not only that, but the recommendation could be harmful, both in dangerous low sodium levels, exposure to pollutants, and simply making many feel guilty for not drinking enough.

Therefore, there are some randomized controlled trial studies to find benefits as well,  accepting a few specific cases.  For instance, in a 10-year study of 48,000 men, Michaud and his coworkers concluded “the incidence of urinary bladder cancer was significantly reduced by high fluid intake”.  The authors calculated within the range to conclude “the risk of bladder cancer decreased by 7% for every additional 240 ml of fluid”.  Similar correlations have been reported for “colorectal cancer“, many known “risk factors for tumors”, and preventing the recurrence of “some kinds of kidney stones“.

In evaluation, here’s another part to consider: possible effects driven by confounding variables would mean that not all of these studies were randomized trials.  Either those who drink water, opposed to those who don’t, or not even be due to water at all.  Keeping in mind the studies that found these effects, “the threshold was significantly below eight 8-ounces of water”.

About now is when the wondering begins again: If there’s any evidence at all, that more or less water is better, given that there doesn’t seem to be any downside to or not to hydrate?  Back in Arizona, every summer we’re swamped with news media reports warning that dehydration is dangerous and also worldwide.  Attaching these claims under scrutiny leads to the evidence that obsessing about reaching some water goal to be healthy every day is unproductive.  As long as the people in this country live longer than ever before, with arguably “more access to beverages than any other time in history”, it’s hard to say that all this water is customarily good for you.