Sleep, Salt or just company. Find out what is good for your health.
Do You Sleep With Your Socks On?
If you answered yes, it is good for you. Recent studies have found that wearing socks to bed could aid sleep as it helps regulate temperature, which is a necessary part of the sleep cycle. Our body temperature is affected by the biological clock, or the circadian rhythm. It is the circadian rhythm that controls the timing of sleep, making you feel sleepy at night. On an average, body temperature gradually rises during the day, peaking in the late afternoon when you feel most awake and alert; it decreases during the night, making you feel sleepy. And when you begin to fall asleep, the temperature of your body decreases by a couple of degrees. So, if you sleep with your socks on, it might help with your temperature regulation cycles.
Salt Is Bad!
Salt is bad even if your diet is packed with healthy foods, say researchers who found that salt-induced high blood pressure cannot be offset by an otherwise healthful diet. The study, which covered more than 4,000 adults, found that a diet rich in foods such as fruits and vegetables that are linked to lower blood pressure, did not alter the blood-pressure increasing effects of consuming too much salt. While fruits and vegetables were found to lower blood pressure, they were not enough to counteract the effect of high salt intake. The results of the study revealed that participants who had a high amount of sodium in their diet were more likely to have hypertension than those with low dietary sodium, regardless of their intake of fruits and vegetables.
Do Not Expose Preschoolers To Night-Time Light
A new study has found that preschoolers who were exposed to bright light at bedtime had an 88 percent reduction in melatonin levels. Anatomical differences in their young eyes is said to make them more vulnerable to adverse impacts of bright light. According to the study, exposing preschoolers to an hour of bright light before bedtime almost completely shuts down their production of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin and keeps it suppressed for at least 50 minutes after lights out.
Holding Hands Can Ease Pain
Holding hands, which is seen as a demonstration of support and liking for the other person, has several health benefits too. For a new study has found that when a romantic partner holds hands with a partner in pain, their brain waves sync and his/her pain subsides. “Reach for the hand of a loved one in pain and not only will your breathing and heart rate synchronize with theirs, your brain wave patterns will couple up too,” states the study, which was published recently in a medical journal. Researchers also found that the more empathy a comforting partner feels for a partner in pain, the more their brainwaves fall into sync. And the more those brain waves sync, the more the pain goes away. How exactly this happens is still under study, but researchers feel that empathetic touch can make one feel understood and thus activate the pain-killing reward mechanisms in the brain.