Harnessing anger, learning from sadness
If you type “angriest” into Google search, you get: “Angriest Man in Brooklyn” (a 2014 Robin Williams movie); “Angriest Dog in the World” (a comic strip by David Lynch, creator/ writer of “Twin Peaks”); and Angriest Whopper (a fast-food burger with a bright-red bun).
Clearly, people spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to do about (and with) anger. That’s not surprising, since it’s an intense emotion, unleashing a cascade of hormones, like epinephrine and cortisol, that can both stimulate action and, if chronic, cause disease-promoting inflammation.
Recently, researchers wanted to find out how anger and its sort-of opposite, sadness, affect the health of folks ages 59 to 79 and those who are 80-plus. Their study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, found that if you’re chronically angry at 80 or older, you’re setting yourself up for serious health woes.
But anger in 59- to 79-yearolds could serve as fuel for positive changes in habits or circumstances (although sometimes not). Sadness didn’t stimulate inflammation (they measured it) and they conjecture that it lets folks recognize and deal with what they’ve lost over time.
Our takeaway? At any age, you want to manage anger so that it fuels smart action (not nastiness or rage) by doing mindful meditation, angerdispersing exercise and finding someone to talk with about your feelings. Sadness may be justified, but if it fuels depression, then it too should be addressed with therapy and by helping others through volunteering.
Taking a bite out of your cancer risk
The Cleveland Browns are a bit defensive about their recent record — even though it improved last year, they’ve won only eight games in the past three seasons! But coach Freddie Kitchens is confident that Cleveland’s new players, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, defensive end Olivier Vernon and safety Morgan Burnette, will make a difference this season.
A good defense is also essential when it comes to your health, and a new study published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum lays out just what you can do to defend yourself from cancer: Clean up your plate!
In 2015, researchers found that a poor diet was responsible for over 52,000 cases of colorectal cancer, 14,400 cases of cancer of the mouth, pharynx and larynx; 3,165 cases of uterine cancer; 3,050 postmenopausal breast cancer cases; 2,017 cases of kidney cancer, 1,564 of stomach cancer and 1,000 of liver cancer, in the U.S.
What blows your defenses? If you skip whole grains, fruits, veggies and (low-fat) dairy and gobble up processed and red meats, you’re losing the game. Add sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity? That’s linked to an increased risk for 13 types of cancer!
So, one more time, you have a lot of control over your health. Your first (but far from last) step is to avoid highly processed and sugar-added foods and beverages; skip red and processed meats; eat seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies and two servings of whole grains daily. Make every meal a super bowl of goodness! Maybe the Browns can do that, too!