Refined grains lead to coarse results

Eating refined carbohydrates not only fuels depression and some cancers (prostate and breast, for example), it lowers the quality of your life — and shortens it.

Researchers looked at data from the PURE study to evaluate the association between intakes of refined grains, whole grains and white rice with cardiovascular disease, total mortality, blood lipids and blood pressure. Their results published in the BMJ found that eating around 12 ounces of refined grains a day (seven servings) was associated with a 27 percent higher risk of death and a 33 percent higher risk of serious cardiovascular events and higher blood pressure compared with folks who had the lowest intake of refined grains — about 1.7 ounces or what’s in 6 ounces of pasta. (White rice wasn’t heart-damaging.)

How easy is it to eat 12 ounces of refined carbs in a day? That’s what’s in a large serving of Mcdonald’s fries, four slices of hearty white bread, one baked potato, two scoops of chocolate ice cream and three Oreos.

VR can be a real hazard

Exergaming can be exergasmic — distracting you from the discomforts of exercise and motivating you to repeat the workout day after day, because you’re engaged in a virtual reality video game that thrills you. There are programs for strength-building and aerobics that get you into a jump-rope challenge, a spacey dance routine, sword-fighting, fitness boxing and cycling.

VR sickness is a real phenomenon that can make you feel lousy after even a brief encounter with the fantasy world within your head-mounted VR device. It’s a form of motion sickness that can trigger a headache, nausea, vomiting and disorientation.

A study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research reveals that exergames, like the wildly popular “Beat Saber,” leave many people feeling slightly queasy and unsteady even 40 minutes after removing their VR device. FYI: “Beat Saber” puts you in a fantastic neon environment where you slice up blocks in sync with musical rhythms using two sabers of contrasting colors.

There’s not much you can do to dodge VR sickness until game designers create environments that aren’t so disorienting. So allow yourself time to recover before going on about your day. Or, hey, tune in to an exercise class on your computer or TV, or head outdoors for a 10,000-step walk — no side effects except muscle tone, energy and a younger Realage.