According to one recent study, there may be a benefit to being left handed in some sports, mainly one with a time constraint.
I haven’t noticed a real benefit to being a south paw in jiu jitsu, to be honest- just a confused look from my partner when I want to drill something on the left side because it just feels more natural.
Anyway, check out the article and have a great day everyone!
Huh, well this is pretty interesting: so for people that claim gluten sensitivity, it may not be actually the gluten that is making you feel terrible. Instead, this recent study suggests it may be a sugar chain called fructans that may gives people the bloated, awful feeling that they have been associating with gluten. The sugar chain is present in grains such as wheat, barley and rye, which is why if would make sense for people to feel better after they cut those grains out of their diet.
It’s a pretty neat article- check it out and have a great day everyone!
Filed under science
I’m just mentioning this because it involves one of my favorite things in life, coffee.
Not that this study should be taken as indisputable fact, but a recent study claims to have found that people who take their coffee black are more inclined to exhibit psychopathic tendencies:
“Looking at the taste preferences of 500 people, it was found that those who enjoyed bitter flavors over sweet flavors were more likely to exhibit signs of “Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and everyday sadism.” The study, which was published in the journal Appetite, was conducted at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, by psychologists Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer.”
While 500 people may seem like a lot, that’s actually a pretty small sample size. There are a couple other elements to this study that are missing, so I’m really not taking this study seriously. Still, it’s interesting to consider.
Feel free to check it out while I sit here and sip my coffee (with creamer in it), and have a great day everyone!
Stock up on your vitamin D everyone.
According to an article on IFLScience, studies have shown there may be a possible correlation between a vitamin D deficiency and a decline in cognitive function, particularly for individuals over 60. According to one researcher quoted in the article:
“There were some people in the study who had low vitamin D who didn’t decline at all and some people with adequate vitamin D who declined quickly. But on average, people with low vitamin D declined two to three times as fast as those with adequate vitamin D.”
It would be a shame to learn all this jiu jitsu, and then lose it all later in life.
Now if you will all excuse me, I’m going to go sit in the sunshine, drink some milk, and then have some salmon and…something else really high in vitamin D.
Take a look at the article, and have a great day everyone!
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I’m writing about this because I’m a little annoyed, mainly because it shows how infrequently people actually read the source material of a story. And I’m totally guilty of doing the same, but this is a reminder that we should check the source before sharing articles, stories, etc.
I’m sure you’ve seen the article I’m referring to, probably on Facebook:
“The CDC says it’s not chlorine that’s irritating your eyes, it’s pure URINE! Ewwww!”
Ok, slow your roll there, friend.
If you read the actual article posted by the CDC, found here, from what I understand that’s not actually what’s happening: the article actually talks about poor airflow in indoor pools and the buildup of byproduct created when chlorine binds to sweat, urine, etc to destroy them. Your body is irritated by the chlorine doing its job and disinfecting the pool, essentially.
I’m not terribly familiar with exactly how chlorine molecules work, but I’m pretty sure that’s what the CDC is trying to inform everyone of. If there’s a chemist out there in the peanut gallery, please by all means feel free to correct me, but I’m pretty sure that’s what their article is about. The article is also suggesting to reduce this buildup of byproduct and keep indoor pools well ventilated, and hey, maybe actually follow the rules of the pool and rinse off before jumping in (again, not pointing fingers- I’m sure we’ve all ignored that rule at LEAST once).
That’s all for today folks- now go out there and…don’t pee in the pool. Please.
Filed under science
This is definitely interesting: scientists have discovered the neural circuitry involved with hunger, and essentially how to turn off hunger.
According to the article on IFLScience, (which I am now going to poorly summarize) apparently there are a cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus more or less in charge of the regulation of hunger. Scientists then genetically modified mice to a point where they could chemically control these neurons, and through this experiment found they could “switch” hunger on and off for these mice.
The article goes on to state how this can be beneficial to treat people with obesity- I could see grapplers using this. However, I could also see this (very) easily being abused by the same group. It will probably be several years before this information is applied to the public, so I guess we have a while before worrying about that.
Check out the article, and have a great day everyone!
Apparently, according to some of the studies IFLScience has been posting about.
Anyone who knows me IRL is well aware I drink a lot of coffee, and eat a lot of peanuts/peanut butter. In addition to the recent study which showed drinking coffee reduces the breakage in DNA strands, it also seems to benefit your heart, a new study now shows it can also help to reduce the risk of calcium build up in your heart’s arteries, and therefore less of a chance for them to clog and create heart problems down the line.
The second study took place over several years and monitored over 200,000 people, running the whole gamut of demographic groups. Unfortunately over the study about 14,000 people died, however: ” they found that those who consumed peanuts had drastically reduced total mortality, by 17-21 percent. When they examined the cause of death, they realized that eating peanuts was linked to a decrease of a staggering 23-38 percent in death caused by cardiovascular disease.”
While the article definitely clarifies that there is no clear cause and effect, they are pointing out an interesting correlation.
They are pretty interesting articles: check them out and let me know what you think!
Filed under Uncategorized
So, everyone remember when we were all holding our breath waiting to see what happened with the Ebola virus? IFLScience has an article containing an update on the virus, and what scientists anticipate down the road.
Check it out, and have a great day everyone!
Filed under Uncategorized
I usually try to wait until Thursday to post science stuff, but I thought this was pretty interesting: a recent study suggests that meditation can affect the human body on a cellular level. While the study says that the cells (the telomeres, to be exactly) have changed through mindful meditation and yoga, when reading the article it sounds like that portion of the chromosome is actually preserved- when the telomere is gone, the chromosome will degrade, which is bad news for the cell.
As I’ve stated before, you can view jiu jitsu as a sort of unconventional form of meditation- I would be interested to see how it stacked up to these other forms of meditation and exercise.
Check out the article and let me know what you think- otherwise, have a great day everyone!
Well this is exciting, and a great excuse to eat more dark chocolate or cacao nibs as I get older (score!):
Studies have have shown that a diet high in cocoa flavanols increases the neural connections in the dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus, and can reverse age related memory loss.
“In addition to the boost in neuronal connections in the dentate gyrus, memory test scores also improved for those receiving a high level of dietary flavanols… After the three month study, those drinking high levels of flavanols had the working memory of someone decades younger than themselves.”
The article does say that eating a bunch of chocolate is not the best method to ingest these flavanols, and this is kind of how I feel about that news:
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A jiu jitsu black belt student at Ribeiro Philly in Philadelphia, PA who likes to write. Obviously.
A Skirt on the Mat 