The Diabetes Drugs That Can Cut Asthma Attacks By 70%
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Asthma, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are closely linked, with the latter two greatly increasing asthma attack risk.
While bronchodilators / corticosteroids can have immediate adverse effects due to sympathetic nervous system activation, and lasting adverse effects due to the damage it does to metabolic health, diabetes drugs, on the other hand, can improve things with (for most people) fewer unwanted side effects.
Great! Which drugs?
Metformin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs).
Specifically, researchers have found:
- Metformin is associated with a 30% reduction in asthma attacks
- GLP-1RAs are associated with a 40% reduction in asthma attacks
…and yes, they stack, making for a 70% reduction in the case of people taking both. Furthermore, the results are independent of weight, glycemic control, or asthma phenotype.
In terms of what was counted, the primary outcome was asthma attacks at 12-month follow-up, defined by oral corticosteroid use, emergency visits, hospitalizations, or death.
The effect of metformin on asthma attacks was not affected by BMI, HbA1c levels, eosinophil count, asthma severity, or sex.
Of the various extra antidiabetic drugs trialled in this study, only GLP-1 receptor agonists showed a further and sustained reduction in asthma attacks.
Here’s the study itself, hot off the press, published on Monday:
JAMA Int. Med. | Antidiabetic Medication and Asthma Attacks
“But what if I’m not diabetic?”
Good news:
More than half of all US adults are eligible for semaglutide therapy ← this is because they’ve expanded the things that semaglutide (the widely-used GLP-1 receptor agonist drug) can be prescribed for, now going beyond just diabetes and/or weight loss 😎
And metformin, of course, is more readily available than semaglutide, so by all means speak with your doctor/pharmacist about that, if it’s of interest to you.
Take care!
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Beetroot Juice & Caffeine Work Better Than Either Alone
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Beetroot has many beneficial properties, which we’ve written about before:
Beetroot For More Than Just Your Blood Pressure
…and as for caffeine, it’s a mixed bag but for most people, the benefits of moderate caffeine use outweigh the risks:
Caffeine: Cognitive Enhancer Or Brain-Wrecker?
Now, caffeine’s less desirable effects can be mitigated somewhat by pairing it with l-theanine, as we’ve also discussed before:
L-Theanine: What’s The Tea? ← l-theanine also has many wonderful properties of its own, aside from its complementary effects when taken alongside caffeine
So, what’s the deal with caffeine and beetroot juice?
A performance-enhancing balancing act
Caffeine raises blood pressure, while beetroot lowers it, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
Researchers looked into the effects of caffeine and beetroot juice, together or separately, on athletic performance (in a 1000m run) in non-athletes.
They found:
- Caffeine alone enhanced second-run performance but not the first.
- Beetroot juice alone improved first-run performance but led to a performance decline after recovery.
- The caffeine + BJ combo resulted in the best initial and repeated 1000m run performances.
Specifically, they also noted:
- Caffeine alone caused higher blood lactate levels post-exercise.
- Beetroot juice increased muscle oxygenation by 25% during runs.
- The caffeine + BJ combo led to the highest post-exercise heart rate improvements.
You can read the paper in full here:
Caffeine and Beetroot Juice Optimize 1,000-m Performance: Shapley Additive Explanations Analysis
Now, maybe you don’t have a 1000m run to do, let alone multiple ones back-to-back, but most of us could sometimes do with an energy boost during the day, and this seems like an excellent way to get it.
That said, caffeine timing can be important too; midday is generally the best time for it, because:
- of course it should not be too late in the day, because the elimination half-life of caffeine (4–8 hours to eliminate just half of the caffeine, depending on genes, call it 6 hours as an average though honestly for most people it will either be 4 or 8, not 6) is such that it can easily interfere with sleep for most people
- because caffeine is an adenosine blocker, not an adenosine inhibitor, taking caffeine in the morning means either there’s no adenosine to block, or it’ll just “save” that adenosine for later, i.e. when the caffeine is eliminated, then the adenosine will kick in, meaning that your morning sleepiness has now been deferred to the afternoon, rather than eliminated.
Another reminder that caffeine is the “payday loan” of energy. So, midday it is. No morning sleepiness to defer, and yet also not so late as to interfere with sleep.
See also: Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep
Want to learn more?
Check out:
The Best Form Of Sugar For Energy During Exercise
Enjoy!
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11 Minutes to Pain-Free Hips – by Melinda Wright
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If hips don’t lie, what are yours saying to you? If what they’re saying to you sounds like a cry for help sometimes, this is the book to get you onto a better track.
The hip is the largest joint in your body, and it bears a lot of weight. So it’s little wonder if sometimes they’d like a word with the boss. The question is: what will you do about it? Melinda Wright has suggestions to keep your hips—and you—happy.
She spends the first couple of chapters introducing key concepts, and some anatomy and physiology that’ll be good to know.
Then we’re into resistance stretching, basic hip exercises, all the way through to more advanced stuff. There are very clear photos for each. One thing that stands out about this book is each exercise is not just explained simply and clearly, but also offers “easing oneself in” exercises. After all, we’re not all at the same starting point.
The book finishes off with some more holistic advice about chronic pain management, based on her personal experience with scoliosis, and some dietary tips to reduce joint pain and inflammation too.
All in all, a very helpful book!
Pick up 11 “Minutes to Pain-Free Hips” at Amazon today!
^You will also see options for pain-free back, and pain-free neck, by the same author
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Kiwi vs Passion Fruit – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing kiwi to passion fruit, we picked the passion fruit.
Why?
This fruit is so passionate about delivery nutrient-dense goodness, that at time of writing, nothing has beaten it yet!
In terms of macros, passion fruit has a little more protein, as well as 50% more carbs, and/but more than 3x the fiber. That last stat is particularly impressive, and also results in passion fruit having a much lower glycemic index, too. In short, a clear win for passion fruit in the macros category.
In the category of vitamins, kiwi has more of vitamins B9, C, E, and K, while passion fruit has more of vitamins A, B2, B3, and B6, making for a tie this time.
As for minerals, kiwi has more calcium, copper, manganese, and zinc, while passion fruit has more iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, resulting in a modest, marginal win for passion fruit in this category.
Adding up the categories gives a convincing win for passion fruit, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good! And kiwi has its merits too (for example, it’s particularly high in vitamin K, appropriately enough).
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer
Enjoy!
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Vision for Life, Revised Edition – by Dr. Meir Schneider
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The “ten steps” would be better called “ten exercises”, as they’re ten things that one can (and should) continue to do on an ongoing basis, rather than steps to progress through and then forget about.
We can’t claim to have tested the ten exercises for improvement (this reviewer has excellent eyesight and merely hopes to maintain such as she gets older) but the rationale is compelling, and the public testimonials abundant.
Dr. Schneider also talks about improving and correcting errors of refraction—in other words, doing the job of any corrective lenses you may currently be using. While he doesn’t claim miracles, it turns out there is a lot that can be done for common issues such as near-sightedness and far-sightedness, amongst others.
There’s a large section on managing more chronic pathological eye conditions than this reviewer previously knew existed; in some cases it’s a matter of making sure things don’t get worse, but in many others, there’s a recurring of theme of “and here’s an exercise for correcting that”.
The writing style is a little more “narrative prose” than we’d have liked, but the quality of the content more than makes up for any style preference issues.
Bottom line: the human body is a highly adaptive organism, and sometimes it just needs a little help to correct itself. This book can help with that.
Click here to check out Vision for Life, and take good care of yours!
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Pajama Pilates – by Maria Mankin
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If The Science Of Pilates was a bit more information than you wanted to get up and running with Pilates at home, then this book offers a much easier way in.
As the name suggests, it’s all about convenience, and making things as easy as possible while enjoying the gradual cumulative gains that come when one practises even just a little every day instead of thinking “well I would, but I have to read all this technical stuff and get changed and clear a space and…”, and thus results in meaningful improvements to mobility and strength over time.
The 40 exercises promised by the subtitle are demonstrate via cute illustrations, of which the cover art is a good representative example. There’s nothing unduly technical here, and yet everything is quite clear. There are also simple practical explanations for each, as well as an initial overview of Pilates as a whole, its principles and necessary knowledge and so forth.
Bottom line: if you’d like to get into Pilates but it has seemed sufficiently taxing that you’ve never quite got started, or if you did then it didn’t stick, then this book can make things easier.
Click here to check out Pajama Pilates, and get ready to pajama Pilates party!
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Body Sculpting with Kettlebells for Women – by Lorna Kleidman
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For those of us who are more often lifting groceries or pots and pans than bodybuilding trophies, kettlebells provide a way of training functional strength. This book does (as per the title) offer both sides of things—the body sculpting, and thebody maintenance free from pain and injury.
Kleidman first explains the basics of kettlebell training, and how to get the most from one’s workouts, before discussing what kinds of exercises are best for which benefits, and finally moving on to provide full exercise programs.
The exercise programs themselves are fairly comprehensive without being unduly detailed, and give a week-by-week plan for getting your body to where you want it to be.
The style is fairly personal and relaxed, while keeping things quite clear—the photographs are also clear, though if there’s a weakness here, it’s that we don’t get to see which muscles are being worked in the same as we do when there’s an illustration with a different-colored part to show that.
Bottom line: if you’re looking for an introductory course for kettlebell training that’ll take you from beginner through to the “I now know what I’m doing and can take it from here, thanks” stage.
Click here to check out Body Sculpting With Kettlebells For Women, and get sculpting!
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