How to Health
Welcome to How to Health! A podcast about you and your health. From constant sitting, processed foods, interacting with technology to what street you live on, being healthy is harder now than ever. But we’re here to help. Join us, Dr. Scott Lear (lifestyle medicine professor at Simon Fraser University) and Christine Henderson (science communication specialist) to learn how modern science can be your guide to healthy living. You’ll learn how your body works, why diseases happen, and evidence-based tips to stay healthy. Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How important is breakfast? Really.
10/15/2024
How important is breakfast? Really.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Or is it? Most people have some sort of breakfast some of the time. There are also plenty of studies linking breakfast to weight loss, health and even school performance. But is the idea of breakfast based on science or what cereal companies tell us? In this episode, we discuss why people think breakfast is important, how it affects your health and what happens if you don't eat breakfast. References cited in this podcast: The Importance of Breakfast in Atherosclerotic Disease: Insights from the PESA Study: Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials: Omission of a carbohydrate-rich breakfast impairs evening endurance exercise performance despite complete dietary compensation at lunch:
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How Microplastics Affect Your Health
07/29/2024
How Microplastics Affect Your Health
The average person consumes 39 000 to 52 000 microplastic particles per year through food and drink. This number doubles when taking into account how many microplastics we might inhale. Microplastics have been found in blood samples and almost every organ in the human body. In this episode, we discuss what are microplastics, how they get into your body, how they affect your health and how to avoid being exposed to them. References cited in this podcast: Human Consumption of Microplastics: Polypropylene microplastics promote metastatic features in human breast cancer: Microplastics and Nanaoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events:
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How to Counter All that Sitting
06/24/2024
How to Counter All that Sitting
The average person sits for more than 6-8 hours. While we can't avoid sitting (and sometimes it's necessary), most of us do too much and continuous sitting can increase your risk for disases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia, and early death. In this episode we discuss the problems with sitting, how it affects your metabolism, can your exercise counteract sitting and provide you with tips on how to reduce your sitting. References cited in this podcast: Association of Sitting Time with Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in High-Income, Middle-Income and Low-Income Countries: Device-measured physical activity, sedentary time, and risk of all-cause mortality: An individual participant analysis of four prospective cohort studies: Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting Reduces Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Responses:
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How Processed Foods Affect Your Health
04/12/2024
How Processed Foods Affect Your Health
From frozen vegetables to heat-and-serve burritos, processed foods are all around us and make up a large portion of most people’s diet. Ultra-processed foods, such soda pop, frozen meals and soup, have been associated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes and early death, but can all these foods be grouped together, and can processed foods be part of a healthy diet? In this episode, we discuss what makes a food a processed food, how processed foods affect your health and whether you should be concerned if they’re in your diet. Some references cited in the podcast: Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses: NOVA classification of foods: Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413119302487
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How Your Thoughts Affect Your Health
03/12/2024
How Your Thoughts Affect Your Health
Strong body, strong mind, is a common saying, but the reverse can be true too. How you think can affect your physical health because each and every thought you have is the result of a chemical reaction. In this episode, we discuss how certain thoughts affect performance and health, what happens in your body to make this happen and how to shift to a more positive way of thinking. Some references cited in the podcast: Association of Optimism with Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality Become More Optimistic by Imagining a Best Possible Self Interactions of momentary thought content and subjective stress predict cortisol fluctuations in a daily life experience sampling study
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How healthy are artificial sweeteners?
02/10/2024
How healthy are artificial sweeteners?
More than 40% of adults consume artificial sweeteners, with most of this coming from diet pops. But they're also found in yoghurts, chewing gum and cereals, among other foods. Commonly used by people wanting to avoid calories, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended against their use. In this episode, we discuss what artificial sweeteners are, what the WHO is concerned about, and whether you're putting your health at risk by consuming them. Some references cited in the podcast:
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How good (or bad) is alcohol for you?
01/10/2024
How good (or bad) is alcohol for you?
Over 50% of people consume alcohol in Western countries. Many guidelines indicate having 1-2 drinks per day is acceptable and may even be beneficial. However, recent studies and experts have said no amount of alcohol is safe. In this episode we discuss how common alcohol is, what alcohol use disorder means, how your body responds when you have a drink and untangle the conflicting research as to whether alcohol is good or bad for your health.
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How a Good Night's Sleep is Good for You Part 2
11/16/2023
How a Good Night's Sleep is Good for You Part 2
Nearly half of adults report having challenges with sleeping. Getting a good night's sleep is important to maintaining physical and mental health. In this episode we discuss tips to help you get a good night's sleep from setting up your nighttime routine to home remedies to when you might need to speak with your doctor. In Part 1 of this episode, we discussed the health consequences of not enough sleep and the biology of how your body knows when to sleep.
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How a Good Night's Sleep is Good for You Part 1
11/07/2023
How a Good Night's Sleep is Good for You Part 1
Guidelines recommend you get between 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Yet many people don't get enough sleep potentially putting their health at risk. In this episode we discuss how not getting enough sleep, or getting too much, can affect your health, along with the biology of how your body knows when to sleep. In Part 2 of this episode, we discuss strategies for getting a good night's sleep.
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Seven Common Exercise Myths Busted!
10/05/2023
Seven Common Exercise Myths Busted!
From exercise is good for weight loss to no pain no gain, there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of exercise myths out there. Some myths are so entrenched in society it can put people off exercise altogether. In this episode, we bust seven of the most common myths around to help you get the best out of your exercise program. If you have your own exercise myths you would like us to bust on a future episode, or even ideas for a future episode, send us an email () or DM us on Instagram (@howtohealthpodcast).
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How bad is fat?
09/06/2023
How bad is fat?
For over 50 years, dietary fat has got a bad rep from a small number of early studies indicating eating fat led to heart disease. But these early studies may not have shown the full picture. We now know that not all fats are the same and you may not need to fear having fat in your diet. In this episode we discuss the different types of fats, what recent studies say about eating fat and your health, along with the role the sugar industry had in making fat out to be the health villain.
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How Exercise can Help Your Immune System
06/07/2023
How Exercise can Help Your Immune System
Exercise has long been thought to weaken the immune system and make your body more susceptible to infections. However, recent science challenges this belief and suggests exercise may indeed make you more resistant to infections. In this episode we discuss the basics of the immune system, problems with early studies suggesting exercise weakens the immune system and how exercise works to improve your immune response, resulting in less infections.
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How Everyone can Benefit from Strength Training
05/03/2023
How Everyone can Benefit from Strength Training
Strength training isn't just for bodybuilders. It's for everyone. Muscle mass starts to decline in your 30s and by your 60s, one quarter of muscle is lost. Reductions in strength are even greater. In this episode we discuss how strength training can benefit you at any age, how it can prevent muscle loss and how to set up your own strength training program (no gym required!). Strength training programs you can do at home: Kettlebell (you can use a jug in if you don't have a kettlebell): Resistance band: No equipment:
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How bad is all that sugar?
03/02/2023
How bad is all that sugar?
Sugar. It's all around us. And it's needed to fuel your body and brain. But what happens when you have too much? In this episode we discuss how sugar is used in the body, how much is too much and how you can reduce your sugar intake.
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How Exercise Affects Your DNA
02/03/2023
How Exercise Affects Your DNA
DNA is the blueprint of life. Once thought to go unchanged from birth to death, we now know DNA, and how it's genes are converted to proteins, is far more complex. In this episode we discuss how exercise can affect DNA, and tie that into disease prevention and increased lifespan. Link to article mentioned in episode: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2023/02000/Association_of_Accelerometer_Measured_Physical.13.aspx
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How to Make New Year's Resolutions that Work
01/01/2023
How to Make New Year's Resolutions that Work
Each year up to 80% of people make New Year's resolutions. Most resolutions focus on areas of health such as weight loss, exercising more and improving one's diet. However, by the end of February, nearly 70% of resolutions will be abandoned. In this episode we discuss how to use health behaviour strategies to set you up for success from creating clear and specific resolutions to implementing your resolutions.
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How Lifelong Prevention Can Work for You
12/03/2022
How Lifelong Prevention Can Work for You
Most diseases are only diagnosed at the appearance of symptoms, usually later in one's life. But the disease process begins much earlier, in your 20s, 30s and sometimes teen years. In this podcast we discuss how diseases begin early in life and how lifelong prevention can help you prevent disease. Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How Exercise can Improve Your Mental Health
11/03/2022
How Exercise can Improve Your Mental Health
In any given year 20% of people will experience a mental illness making it a leading chronic disease. Exercise has been known to have great benefits on physical health but its effect on mental well-being is less known. In this episode we discuss how common mental illness is, the biological mechanisms in which exercise affects how you feel and how exercise can improve your mental well-being and prevent mental illness. Mental health resources: -dial 211 in most US and Canadian cities for info on local mental and social health services -World Health Organization (@who) -MentalHealth.gov (US), call 988 then press 1 -Canadian Centre for Mental Health Support 1-833-462-2647 Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How Where You Live Affects Your Health
09/29/2022
How Where You Live Affects Your Health
Whether you live in a downtown core or a sleepy suburb, where you live has a key role in your health. Some features in the environment, such as sidewalks, get people active, while others can be a barrier to healthy living. In this episode, we discuss how things in your community, from streetlights to grocery stores to traffic pollution, affect your behaviours and ultimately your health. To see how walkable your community is, check out walkscore.com Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How to Take Care of Your Heart
09/01/2022
How to Take Care of Your Heart
The heart is the only muscle in your body that never rests. And for good reason. Over the course of your life, your heart will beat over 2.5 billion times. But even with such a vital organ, things can go wrong. In this podcast, we discuss the role of the heart in your body, what happens if things go wrong, and most importantly, how to take care of it. Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How much exercise is enough?
07/25/2022
How much exercise is enough?
Exercise is a great, low-cost (free!) way to increase happiness, give you more energy and prevent many diseases. But how much do you need to do to get all these benefits. In this podcast, we'll discuss what is the smallest amount of exercise that is needed to improve health, how you can benefit from doing more and what type of exercise is beneficial. Follow us on Instagram @howtohealthpodcast, or drop us an email: [email protected]
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How to Health Trailer
07/19/2022
How to Health Trailer
Look for our first episode on July 25, 2022. In the meantime, here's a teaser of what to expect.
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