All Posts By

Lara Gray

01/07/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Tony Boutagy, Exercise, Sleep

Research Review: Why Sleep is Critical for a Healthy Body Composition

In this article, our expert Dr Tony Boutagy – reviews The effect of acute sleep deprivation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and the hormonal environment by Séverine Lamon et al. 2021, and breaks it down to give us the vital parts we need to know. 

1) What was the high-level summary of the research?

A single night of sleep deprivation can induce considerable effects on, muscle breakdown (catabolism) – by causing a significant reduction in both muscle growth by 18% and the growth (anabolic) hormone testosterone by 24%. Further, the researchers found that the muscle breakdown (catabolic) stress hormone cortisol increased by 21%. 

The findings of this study provide the support for long-term observations that show that a reduction in sleep has negative consequences on body composition.

 

2) What did the study try to measure?

Inadequate sleep duration has been demonstrated in several studies to negatively impact numerous aspects of health, especially metabolism and brain function. 

For example, short sleep impairs how well you can control your blood glucose and increases the risk of developing type II diabetes while also reducing cognitive function and mental performance. 

Research has also demonstrated  poor body composition – increased fat mass and decreased muscle mass – in those individuals who sleep less than 6 hours per night. 

Human muscle is in a constant state of breaking down and rebuilding. If rebuilding occurs to a greater magnitude than the rate of breakdown, then we gain muscle tissue over time. Periods of marked inactivity or bed rest cause breakdown to exceed the rebuilding process, and the loss of muscle mass follows. 

To measure the short-term flux (breakdown vs. rebuilding) of muscle protein balance, researchers can examine the synthesis of new muscle proteins in response to a variety of interventions, such as exercise modes, food types and in this instance, sleep deprivation. 

This study aimed to explore the mechanisms that can cause the negative change in body composition observed in those who experience short duration sleep by investigating the effect of sleep deprivation on muscle mass. 

In addition to measuring the synthesis of muscle proteins in response to sleep deprivation, the researchers also examined the levels of the growth hormone, testosterone and the muscle breakdown (catabolic) stress hormone, cortisol.

 

3) How was the study undertaken?

Thirteen young adults who were sleeping on average 7 hours per night were studied under two conditions: (1) a full, normal night of sleep and (2) complete sleep deprivation. The sleep environment, temperature and provided food were all carefully controlled. The next day after both sleep conditions, small biopsies of muscle were taken, and blood was drawn to examine markers of protein synthesis and hormones.

 

4) What did the study find? 

This study found that one night of complete sleep deprivation resulted in an 18% reduction in muscle protein synthesis and this was accompanied by a decline of 24% in the growth (anabolic) hormone testosterone and a 21% elevation in the break down (catabolic) stress hormone cortisol.

 

5) Is there any other research out there that supports these findings or contradicts it? 

This study provides the actual mechanism behind the well-known observations that short sleep duration results in poor quality body composition. Previous investigations have observed reductions in muscle mass and testosterone and increases in cortisol with sleep restriction, and this study found the same using a model of complete sleep deprivation.

 

6) How much weight should we give this research?

This study used complete sleep deprivation as the intervention. Care should be given when attempting to extrapolate these results directly to those who have slept less than the recommended 7.5 to 9 hours per night. However, the results support previous research that has demonstrated reductions in muscle mass and an increase in fat mass when sleeping less than 6 hours per night. 

The protocols and methods used in this study provide what is considered to be the ‘gold standard’ level of evidence for providing a link between lack of sleep and muscle turnover, along with the hormones involved in this regulation. As such, we should take the results of this study seriously with respect to the lack of sleep and muscle health.

 

7) What does this mean for your work/research/industry? 

Often viewed as unimportant and wasted time, sleep has been demonstrated to play an extremely important role in maintaining our brain, metabolic and cardiovascular health. Studies like this one show how important sleep is to the quality of our muscle mass. 

 

8) What’s the key takeaway for us to take from this research?

Far from being wasted time, sleep duration should be a priority for those who consider muscle mass, and health in general, important. But don’t fear if you go through periods of your life when you are sleep deprived, such as raising small children or working hard to meet project deadlines. Just understand that over the long term in order to maintain a healthy body composition as you age, you must prioritise your sleep.

 

9) Will you be doing anything differently because of this research? 

No! I already knew how important sleep is to every aspect of our health and do my best to maintain a routine of an 8-hour sleep opportunity and a regular sleep-wake cycle every day, or as best as I can with 3 young children!

 

Tony Boutagy holds a PhD in exercise science, where his primary interest is in body composition and human performance. Dr. Boutagy shares his time between hands-on coaching in Sydney and online education on topics which include health, exercise and lifestyle.

17/06/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Marianna Szabo, Mental health

Expert Q&A: Introducing Dr Marianna Szabo

1) Could you tell us a little about your career and areas of expertise/interest? 

I have a double BA degree in Psychology and in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of New South Wales. I graduated in 1998 with 1st Class Honours in Psychology, the Australian Psychology Society Prize for best performance in Honours, and the University Medal for Highly Distinguished Academic Merit. 

I continued at UNSW and gained a Master of Clinical Psychology and a PhD degree in 2003. My PhD research investigated worry and anxiety in both adults and children. It established my life-long interest in understanding anxiety disorders and a desire to help those who live with these often disabling conditions.

In 2003 I took up an academic position as a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney. At about this time I also developed an interest in mindfulness and other types of meditative, contemplative practices. My teaching and research have primarily focussed on anxiety, depression, stress, stress-related coping behaviours, and mindfulness. My research has been reported in more than 50 international publications and conference presentations.

In addition to my academic work, I have a private clinical practice in Sydney. My main approach to treatment is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), known to be the ‘gold standard’ for the treatment of most psychological problems. I am also very interested in the practice of Schema Therapy, an approach that seeks to understand a person’s long-term patterns of behaviour and to achieve lasting change via the emotional processing of adverse early experiences. 

 

2) What drew you to this line of work/research in the first place? 

Anxiety is such a common experience, being able to know when it is helpful and when it is harmful is a very important aspect of being able to help people.  In term of therapy, I was naturally drawn to mindfulness and schema therapy, as they both provide an additional depth to working from a CBT background.

 

3) How do you look after your own physical and mental wellbeing?

After I was diagnosed with a chronic pain disorder, I realised that I had not been following the advice I often give to my clients. Since then, I have made a commitment to making my health an absolute priority, working less, spending more time resting, sleeping well, and enjoying a state of calm.

 

4) Do you have a favourite post-workout cafe?

I’m not usually hungry after a workout and have no desire to go to a cafe. I tend to walk home from the gym or the park after my workout and enjoy the feeling of elation I get from physical activity.

 

5) What is one thing you wish people knew about wellbeing? 

Achieving more and more while not caring for yourself will be detrimental for your wellbeing. 

Caring for others more and more while not caring for yourself will be detrimental for your wellbeing. (These are two things, but they tend to be the two main things that lead people to burnout.)

 

6) What is one of the most ridiculous things you’ve read or seen about wellbeing that you know to be untrue? 

Too many to mention. Sadly, the number of conspiracy theories and anti-science messages grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is disheartening to see so many of these on social media.

 

7) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or websites on health or wellbeing that you’d recommend?

I really like listening to anything by Dr Norman Swan.

 

8) What is your top tip for living a healthy and happy life? 

Make your health a priority, and build positive, supportive relationships. Start today.

 

10/06/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Kate Edwards, Nutrition

Research Review: The Impact of Fruit and Vegetable Intake on Perceived Stress

In this article, our expert Dr Kate Edwards – Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney – reviews Fruit and vegetable intake is inversely associated with perceived stress across the adult lifespan by Radavelli-Bagatini et al. 2021, and breaks it down to give us the vital parts we need to know. 

1) What was the high-level summary of the research?

The study found that reported perceived stress levels were associated with fruit and vegetable intake in adult Australians, with those people eating the most fruit and vegetables (>473g/day) reporting lower perceived stress than those eating the least (≤243 g/day). The World Health Organisation recommends eating 400g/day of fruit and vegetables. When looking at the effect across the different age groups,  it was found that the positive associations were greatest in adults between the ages of ≥45-<65 years.

 

2) How was the study undertaken & what was it trying to measure? 

The data came from a large study, the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study. AusDiab is a national population-based survey of Australian adults aged ≥25 years, recruited in 1999–2000 (AusDiab1), they also included data from the 5-year follow up in 2004-2005. This study included 8689 adults at baseline and 5031 at 5 years follow up.

 

3) What did the study find? 

First the study looked at the cross-sectional association (looking at the data at a single time point) and found that fruit and vegetable intake was associated with perceived stress. They then added into their model other factors that might also be associated with stress and that could attenuate the effects, like overall energy intake, physical activity, smoking, age, sex, BMI, relationship status, socio-economic index and chronic disease. Even accounting for all those factors, fruit and vegetable intake was still associated with perceived stress. Interestingly, when they looked at the change in fruit and vegetable intake over time, perceived stress was not associated, which the authors suggest means that fruit and vegetables might reduce perceived stress rather than stress leading to reduced fruit and vegetable intake.

 

4) Is there any other research out there that supports these findings or contradicts it? 

This data is similar in findings to other studies but is much more representative of the whole population. Prior studies have found similar associations in pregnant women and students and have included smaller numbers of people. The data is 20 years old, but Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests there has been little change in fruit and vegetable intake between 2007-2018.

 

5) What’s the key takeaway for us to take from this research?

Public health messaging about fruit and vegetable consumption might be well targeted to middle-aged adults, as the association between perceived stress and fruit and vegetable intake was strongest in that group, and if the effect can be confirmed the messaging of anti-stress effects could be powerful.

 

6) Will you be doing anything differently because of this research? 

This study suggests accounting for diet and in particular fruit and vegetable intake in stress research is important, and suggests that work examining the effect of diet interventions should be considered.

31/05/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Tony Boutagy, Exercise, Nutrition

Expert Q&A: Introducing Dr Tony Boutagy

1) Could you tell us a little about your career and areas of expertise/interest? 

I started working in the fitness and health industry in 1995. Over the years I have worked in a number of related roles, but primarily as a trainer, strength coach and lecturer. My areas of interest are all things body composition, which covers nutrition, strength training, cardiovascular exercise and lifestyle.

 

2) What drew you to this line of work/research in the first place? 

I started work as a trainer while I was studying sports science at university, I immediately found the human body and the way it functioned incredibly fascinating, especially in its application to training and exercise, so my interest was captured and I’ve never looked back.

 

3) How do you look after your own physical and mental wellbeing?

I make exercise and sleep a non-negotiable priority. This means that most other things, other than family, are subordinate to the time I allocate to exercise and keeping regular sleep rhythms. I also cross train over the week, lifting weights, swimming, cycling, running and stretching. This keeps the stimulus and impact diverse and the exercise enjoyable.

 

4) Do you have a favourite post-workout cafe?

In Mosman, The Source Cafe in Raglan St and in the city, Mecca.

 

5) What is one thing you wish people knew about wellbeing? 

Small behaviours which become habits have profound impact on our health and well being. Sleeping 7-9 hours a night. Lifting weights and getting up a sweat with some intervals or a long run. This actions do not require a lot of time or motivation, but when done with consistency, improve our health in a remarkable way.

 

6) What is one of the most ridiculous things you’ve read or seen about wellbeing that you know to be untrue? 

Can I give three?

You can sleep less than 6 hours a night and be healthy.

Carbohydrates make you fat.

Strength training will make me bulky.

 

7) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or websites on health or wellbeing that you’d recommend?

For a higher level discussion, Peter Attia’s podcast the Drive and Andrew Huberman‘s Lab are extremely good. For practical sports nutrition, I love From Paper to Podium. Matthew Walker’s book Why We Sleep is very good and Michael Hutchinson’s Endure is a great read on endurance exercise.

 

8) What is your top tip for living a healthy and happy life? 

Don’t spend time with boring people.

 

27/05/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Kate Edwards, Exercise, Mental health

Research Review: Mental Health’s Impact on Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this article, our expert Dr Kate Edwards – Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney – reviews A mental health paradox: Mental health was both a motivator and barrier to physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic by Marashi et al. 2021 and breaks it down to give us the vital parts we need to know. 

1) What was the high-level summary of the research? 

This study from Canada found worsening of mental health and reduced physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The proportion of respondents reporting feeling stressed ‘Fairly often’, ‘Often’, or ‘Very often’ increased from 45% pre-pandemic to 67% during the pandemic. Aerobic activity decreased by 22 minutes, and strength -based activity decreased by 32minutes. The authors found that barriers to physical activity shifted from primarily time (from 42% reporting as a barrier down to 16%), to lack of access/equipment (from 5% up to 46%). But results showed an interesting paradox with mental health being both a motivator and barrier to physical activity. People wanted to be active to improve their mental health but found it difficult to be active due to their poor mental health. For example, anxiety relief as a motivation to exercise was reported at greater frequency during the pandemic (+14%), but increased anxiety was also reported as a barrier at greater frequency (+8%).

 

2) How was the study undertaken & what was it trying to measure? 

This simple internet survey was completed by 1669 people, mostly women (82%), and mostly 18-65 years (90.8%). Questionnaires asked about current (during the pandemic) and past (per-pandemic) mental health, stress, physical activity habits and barriers and motivators to physical activity as well as demographics.

 

3) Is there any other research out there that supports these findings or contradicts it? 

Many other studies have shown reductions in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic across many countries with different lockdown timing and severity, and across all age groups. The relationship between physical activity and mental health is very well established, with studies showing that regular exercise is often more effective than medication at relieving depression symptoms. 

 

4) What’s the key takeaway for us to take from this research?

This study is interesting as it hints that there are divergent effects of the pandemic, for some people the pandemic increased motivators /reduced barriers and they became more active, and their mental health improved. But for others the reverse occurred, physical activity reduced as barriers increased and motivators decreased, and with that their mental health suffered. What we don’t know is why those different effects were seen, and that’s important, because as practitioners we want to know who it’s most important to support.

The research on physical activity effects of the current pandemic are often this style of internet based questionnaire, but they often bring bias. As here, often women are the predominant responders, they are usually highly educated and younger than the general population. This means we are missing a lot of information about other groups in society and need to consider ways to reach those in our work to understand and to support.

18/05/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Nick Chartres, Mental health, Sleep

Research Review: Long Working Hours – The Leading Cause of Death in Workers

In this article, our expert Dr Nick Chartres – Director, Science & Policy, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, at the University of  California San Francisco – reviews new research by The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the impact of long working hours, and breaks it down to give us the vital parts we need to know. 

 

Background

Preventing exposures to occupational risk factors, such as long working hours is critical to the health and safety of workers and should be a priority of governments and the private sector. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are developing joint estimates (WHO/ILO Joint Estimates) of the work-related burden of disease and injury for ten different exposures and outcomes (e.g. long working hours and stroke). 

What did the study measure?

The first step of developing these estimates involved conducting systematic reviews (think gold standard reviews) of ALL of the evidence examining the relationship (level of risk) between working hours (a standard, 35-40 hours/week and long, three categories: 41–48, 49–54 and ≥55 h/week) and risk of heart disease and stroke. 

They then calculated the exposed global population by modelling data from more than 2300 surveys collected in 154 countries from 1970-2018. 

Finally they calculated the population-attributable fractions from estimates of the population exposed to long working hours with the risks on the diseases from the systematic reviews. 

What did the study find?

  • A 17% increase in risk of heart disease and a 35% increase in risk of stroke from working more than 55 hours/week when compared to a 35-40 hours/(standard) week.
  • About 9% of the world’s population works more than 55 hours/week.
  • 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease were attributed to long working hours.
  • 72% of deaths occurred among males.
  • Most deaths recorded were among people dying aged 60-79 years, who had worked for > 55 hours/week between the ages of 45-74 years.
  • People living in the Western Pacific (China, South Korea, Australia and Japan among other countries) and Southeast Asia regions were most at risk.

How much weight should we give this research?

A LOT. This is the most rigorous evaluation of the evidence on this topic and cutting edge scientific methods were used to develop the Joint Estimates.

What’s the key takeaway from this research?

With approximately 9% of the world’s population working more than 55 hours/week it makes long working hours the occupational risk factor with the largest estimated burden. Long working hours are killing more people than cancer.

What does this mean for your work/research/industry? 

Governments must introduce and enforce maximum limits on working time. Working hours must become more flexible. The private sector must take collective action to protect the health of its workers.

 

13/05/2021
Lara Gray
In All Articles, Dr Kate Edwards, Exercise, Mental health, Sleep

Research Review: The Mixed Benefits of a Stressor-Free Life

In this article, our expert Dr Kate Edwards – Lecturer in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney – reviews the mixed benefits of a stressor-free life at Emotion 2021 Charles et al. and breaks it down to give us the vital parts we need to know. 

Background

A life with no stress, that might sound idyllic to some, but new research has shown it comes with some downsides too.

Most stress research has focussed on the effects of lots of stress, and mostly we find that high levels of stress have negative effects on physical and psychological heath. 

But what about no stress at all, would that be the healthiest possible option?

What did the study measure?

In this study researchers asked 2,804 people about their experience every day for a week and identified a group (10% of the whole) who reported no stress events at all. Then they looked at their health. 

What did the study find?

These people were pretty healthy, they reported higher levels of daily well-being (i.e., higher positive affect and lower negative affect) and fewer chronic illnesses than those who reported stressors. 

But they also had less active daily lives and lower levels of cognitive function. So why might a stress-fee life not be the greatest thing? 

Well, in this study the people identified as stress-free had less activity and less social connection. They both offered and received emotional support less often from others and they reported fewer daily positive experiences. 

So, it might be that life was stress free, but also more boring!

It’s not surprising that those with no stressors were less socially active, because it’s known that social interactions are the most common source of daily stress or uplifts. 

How much weight should we give this research?

What this study didn’t measure was participants social network size and they only measured over a one-week period, so more data is needed to generalise the findings further.

What’s the key takeaway from this research?

The finding that cognitive function was lower in stress free people might be related to the lower levels of activity and interaction, the old adage says ‘use it or lose it’ and that could be what’s being found here. If we don’t experience events (both positive and negative) we don’t get to solve problems, resolve an argument or think through the best options, and doing all those things help keep our brains functioning well.