15 ways to add mindfulness to your day
Finding moments throughout the day to disconnect from your work and worries, and simply let your mind and body relax, thinking about nothing and everything, having thoughts float in and out of your awareness, observing but not judging — that’s transformative.
Besides regularly doing mindful meditation (No. 1), the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Roxanne B. Sukol suggests the following mindful activities:
2. Get a massage.
3. Do yoga.
4. Eat lunch outside. 5. Take a hike in the woods.
6. Sit by a fire.
7. Walk the dog.
8. Knit or crochet.
9. Take up pottery.
10. Paint.
11. Savor a cup of tea.
12. Keep a daily journal. 13. Watch a sunrise.
14. Float in a pool.
15. Your favorite activity (that makes time melt away).
Their powers are based on contemporary studies and ancient traditions.
To learn how to let your mind relax and detach from the everyday, we advise that working up to 10- or 15-minute mindful meditation sessions daily or a few times a week can be a reasonable goal to begin. F
Type 2 diabetes and gut health
Location can make or break the value of a house or apartment. The same could be said of the microbes in your gastrointestinal tract. If they end up in a bad neighborhood, your health can plummet.
A study in the journal Nature Metabolism reveals that in people with obesity, bacteria or their products might migrate through the gut wall into other tissue — especially in the liver and belly fat. Once there, they trigger inflammation that changes how your metabolism functions and keeps insulin from doing its job of regulating blood glucose levels. That causes Type 2 diabetes.
Another team of international researchers recently set out to discover which gut bacteria protect against diabetes. They found certain forms of bacteria synthesize a molecule called Cresol-4, a metabolite that stimulates insulin-producing beta cell production. Cresol-4 is measurably low in folks with diabetes.
We’re beginning to learn how obesity triggers diabetes. But until then it’s smart to know that Cresol-4 is found in low levels in tomatoes, asparagus, coffee and tea. They’re good foods to eat while you work to maintain a diabetes-defeating, healthy weight.
Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.