When you finally get to hit the sheets at the end of a long day, the position you doze off in is probably the last thing you’re thinking about. However, there’s actually a major plus to falling asleep on your side. New research published in The Journal of Neuroscience found that sleeping in a side position is better than resting on your back or stomach for eliminating brain waste – which results from chemicals building up over time, potentially causing cognitive health problems, such as Alzhe
imer’s. “We knew that that the brain’s waste removal system is best at night, but it was a surprise to find that sleeping in a lateral position is most effective,” says study co-author Helene Benveniste, PhD. Dr. Robbins cautions that more studies need to be done to substantiate this research.
“Hold The Honey”
Honey has long been a golden child of sweeteners, touted as an all-natural, antioxidant-rich alternative to sugar. However, it may not be any better for you than high-fructose corn syrup and cane sugar, new research suggests. People’s blood sugar, insulin, body weight, cholesterol and blood pressure responded the same way to all 3 substances in a recent study partially funded by the honey industry and published in The Journal of Nutrition. “We thought that honey would result in improvements to glycemia and insulin sensitivity, compared with the other two sweeteners, but it defied our hypothesis,” says lead author Susan Raatz, PhD, a research nutritionist at the USDA. In other words, sugar is sugar, so don’t eat a lot of it, no matter what the source.
January/February 2016