Celebrating 10 Years in great health
Since Prevention launched 10 years ago, we’ve been sharing with you the latest news and science breakthroughs from the world’s leading health experts – so you can live your healthiest life. Here’s a snapshot of some of the discoveries that have changed our lives during the past decade.
It seems like only yesterday that our first Australian issue hit the stands. That year, Beyoncé was singing about all the Single Ladies, Avatar was a huge box-office hit and Modern Family made its TV debut. Gladiator sandals and plaid were trending, and bob hairstyles were the “it” look of celebs like Victoria Beckham. On the fitness front, Zumba, weight training and boot camps were big news. And in health? More people were growing their own vegies, cutting back on sugar and going Paleo. Over the past 10 years, we’ve kept you in the loop with the latest research and emerging insights into the most effective ways to de-stress, boost your diet, stay fit, nourish your skin and maximise the quality of your sleep. Here’s a look at what the biggest game-changing trends and breakthroughs have meant for your health.
GUT FEELING
Our powerful microbiome Most of us are clued up now on the amazing ecosystem of good and bad bacteria in our bellies. Having the right balance of good bacteria has a powerful sway on all aspects of our physical and emotional wellbeing. What else have we learned? Processed food, stress and being a couch potato can all upset your microbiome. To give digestive balance a helping hand, you can now pop a pill containing probiotics – live bacteria that help boost the good belly bugs. We’re also eating more probiotic foods, such as yoghurt, miso and sauerkraut, and sipping on fermented drinks, like kombucha. More recently, we’ve become savvy about prebiotics – the natural plant-based elements in foods like rye, bananas, beetroot, asparagus, lentils and garlic that feed the good bacteria in our gut. The next frontier? Balancing the microbiome in our mouths, eyes and skin.
TORCH KJs FASTER
High-intensity workouts
At first, it seemed too good to be true: could you really get the same benefit as an hour-long workout in only five or 10 minutes? Yes, the science shouted in one study after another. So we started to road-test High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Instantly, it got our hearts racing! A typical workout involves around eight different activities, like star jumps and jogging on the spot. These are carried out with maximum effort for around 20 seconds, with a 10-second rest between each interval. The payoff? In “warp time”, you can now build muscle strength, tone and flexibility, while revving up your metabolism. Studies show that HIIT helps you quickly use up your glycogen stores so your body burns more fat for fuel. Best of all, the workouts are so short they can be squeezed into most days, no matter how busy you are. Find a step-by-step HIIT workout on our website, preventionaus.com.au.
MASTERING METABOLISM
Intermittent fasting
In 2015, a ground-breaking US study was released that had tracked contestants on TV’s The Biggest Loser for six years after the show. It found that many experienced a 25 per cent drop in their metabolism. In other words, eating a normal diet meant they now actually put on weight. This confirmed what many of us had long suspected – that crash diets can switch your metabolism to slow-mo, making you more prone to gain weight. What to do? A new approach called intermittent fasting (IF) hit the spotlight. Called the 5:2 diet, it has since been championed by health guru Dr Michael Mosley. And its rules are simple to follow. On five days, you eat normally and on two “fasting” days, you eat only around 2100kJ (approx 500 cals), piling your plate with low-starch vegies like broccoli and a little lean protein. Mixing up your food intake this way keeps your metabolism stable while helping you shed kilos.
STOP THE BURN
Inflammation
Put simply, inflammation is your body’s attempt to protect itself. It can happen on your skin, causing redness, when you get sunburnt. It can also happen inside your body, creating a hidden fire. What health researchers have noticed is that unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, having a poor diet and being overweight, lead to ongoing low-level inflammation throughout the body. Ten years ago, the link between inflammation and conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer started to become evident. Since then, we’ve learned more: skimping on sleep and chronic stress can also increase inflammation. The take-home message? Beating inflammation involves making healthy changes to your lifestyle. And it’s another reason why developing healthy habits can help you live longer.
DINING IN THE MED
The Mediterranean diet
We’ve become wise to the many benefits of eating as though kicking back on a Greek island or in a southern Italian or Spanish village. The health benefits of this kind of food were confirmed by the world’s largest dietary intervention study, The 2013 PREDIMED, which tracked more than 7,000 people over four years. The study found that the risk of type 2 diabetes dropped by a huge 52 per cent, while heart disease and stroke went down by 30 per cent when people followed a Mediterranean diet, with less meat and more fresh vegies than a traditional Western diet. Study participants also had smaller waistlines without counting kilojoules or doing extra exercise. And there’s more good news: the Med diet is also high in antioxidants, so it reduces the risk of dementia and cancer. (For ways you can adapt the Med into your diet, see page 24.)
KEEPING TABS ON HEALTH
Fitness trackers
That old-school pocket pedometer was kicked to the kerb by a new generation of wearable devices, like the Fitbit, which have changed how we monitor our health. Suddenly, you could track everything from your activity levels and kilojoules burned, to your heart rate and sleep quality. Meanwhile, other kinds of health trackers have emerged, such as mattress/bedside sleep monitors and UV monitors to help protect your skin. There’s also been an explosion of incredible free health apps, whether you want to make smarter grocery choices, ( FoodSwitch) track your menstrual cycle, ( iPeriod) or monitor your moles and protect against skin cancer, ( UMSkinCheck). Yep, there’s an app for almost anything.
SLOWING DOWN
Mindfulness
Not so long ago, the idea that being “mindful” could lead to a happier, calmer life was regarded right out there on the fringe of wacky science. But a global groundswell of credible evidence now shows that practising mindfulness can help reduce blood pressure, risk of heart attack and stroke, ease sleep problems and soothe headache pain. The approach is simple: during your day, whether walking to the bus stop or eating lunch, you get out of your distracted brain and bring your attention back to your five senses. This approach can turn a simple cup of coffee into an energy reboot. As you drink, notice the rising steam, the feel of the cup, the strong aroma and warmth and taste on your tongue. The attention to the “now” can help leave you clear-headed and calm. Mindfulness is now so widely accepted that doctors prescribe it for stress and anxiety. There are online programs to teach the practice, such as mindlifeproject.com or the free app, Stop, Breathe & Think.
STAVING OFF AGEING
Cosmeceutıcals
This new generation of skincare products marries pharmaceutical benefits to moisturisers and face serums. Studies show that cosmeceuticals can help to reduce wrinkles, even out pigmentation, refine skin texture and combat sun damage. These products, now widely available at all major beauty counters, contain smaller molecules that penetrate more deeply into the layers of the skin, and stimulate production of proteins, such as collagen and elastin, which are central to youthful healthy skin development. Their potency is increased with biologically active ingredients, including AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) and BHAs (beta hydroxy acids), such as glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids. These new products are also packed with antioxidants, vitamins C, A, and E and Coenzyme Q10, which protect your skin from free radicals and ageing.
SMARTER MEALS
Cooking revolution
Since the first series of MasterChef Australia launched in 2009, we’ve been captivated by TV cooking shows like
My Kitchen Rules, The Great Australian Bake Off and even the ABC’s hilarious send-up, The Katering Show. They’ve put terms like “plating up” into our meal-time vocabulary. Yet many of us still suffer food-prep fatigue at the end of a busy day. Enter home delivery meal boxes – a healthy alternative to takeaway from companies like Marley Spoon and HelloFresh, which provide tasty recipes and all the ingredients so you simply have to throw them together – and voila – dinner is served! How did we ever live without them?
TRACING YOUR ROOTS
Genetic testing
Ten years ago, DNA testing still seemed the stuff of sci-fi films like Gattaca. Now, there’s a slew of services offering to map your DNA to reveal your inherited health risks. You can even have your gut microbiome mapped at Microba to measure your gut health. Meanwhile, the science has gone from something once prohibitively expensive to something your sister or girlfriend might do via a DIY online testing kit through services like Ancestry.com.au that help you track your family tree. Our genetic inheritance, with all of its health insights, has never been more available for us to see.