The IAA One Minute Blog

Researchers linked diets high in ultraprocessed foods to an increased risk of 32 separate illnesses.

Ultraprocessed Foods and Illness

After working through a review of 45 meta-analyses, researchers said that ultraprocessed foods are strongly linked to risk with:

• Cancer
• Early death
• Heart disease
• Mental health disorders
• Overweight and obesity
• Type 2 diabetes

According to researchers, there was a 50 percent increased risk of heart-related death, a 48 to 53 percent risk of anxiety and common mental health disorders, and a 12 percent risk of type 2 diabetes.

The results showed that the more of these foods people eat, the higher the overall health risk.

The findings were published in “The BMJ” journal.

Well Rounded Plates

Ultraprocessed foods now account for up to 58 percent of total daily energy intake in some high-income countries.

Build a healthy and balanced diet:

1. Make most of your meal vegetables and fruits: Aim for color and variety.
2. Go for whole grains: Whole grains have a milder effect on blood sugar and insulin.
3. Protein power: Fish, poultry, beans, and nuts are all healthy proteins.
4. Healthy plant oils (in moderation): Choose healthy vegetable oils and partially hydrogenated oils.
5. Drink water, coffee, or tea: Skip sugary drinks

It is also important to stay active to help with weight control.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to keep your plate looking healthy! IAA knows you can make it happen.

A new study suggests familiar scents could help unlock memories for those living with depression.

Study on Scent and Depression

Prior studies found that people with depression are less capable of drawing on specific memories from their lives, researchers said.

In the study, people with depression recalled more specific memories when they were exposed to familiar scents, than when they heard the words that corresponded to those scents.

The study included 32 adults with clinical depression. Participants were asked to sniff 24 odor samples from glass jars, which could be pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. Participants were then asked to share a specific memory from their life in response to those cues. The researchers conducted the same exercise using 24 words that described each smell.

Around 68 percent of the participants could recall specific memories in response to the odors, whereas only 52 percent could recall specific memories after hearing the words out loud. Memories triggered by smells were also more vivid than memories triggered by words.

Aromatherapy might be able to help people recover from depression by helping them recall specific, often positive memories, the study showed. This could help individuals shake negative thought cycles and reline their thinking patterns, the researchers said.

The study was published in “JAMA Network Open.”

Signs of Depression

In general, about one out of every six adults will have depression at some time in their life.

Symptoms of depression include:

• Eating more or less than usual or having no appetite
• Experiencing aches, pains, headaches, or stomach problems that do not improve with treatment 
• Feeling guilty, worthless, or helpless
• Feeling irritable, easily frustrated, or restless
• Feeling sad or anxious often or all of the time
• Feeling tired, even after sleeping well
• Having trouble concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions
• Having trouble falling or staying asleep
• Not wanting to do activities that used to be fun
• Waking up too early or sleeping too much

Depression affects about 16 million American adults every year.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America is here to bring you updates on the world of health. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.

People who lower the amount of salt in their diet by using salt substitute may significantly decrease their risk of developing high blood pressure, a study suggests.

Salt Substitute Study

The report analyzed data from hundreds of adults, ages 55 and older. The data came from an earlier, larger study which included 1,612 participants. For the new analysis, researchers focused on 157 women and 454 men who had healthy blood pressure levels and were given food either with the usual amount of salt or with salt substitute.

The researchers found that by cutting salt back by more than a third, by swapping in another mineral supplement, it protected against high blood pressure over a two-year period.   

The research was published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology.”

High Blood Pressure and Health

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can raise the risk for numerous chronic diseases, including:

• Dementia
• Diabetes
• Heart and kidney disease

Most Americans consume too much salt, about 3,500 milligrams a day, according to the American Heart Association.Currently the FDA recommends that healthy adults consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to check your salt intake. IAA know that less salt can mean better health. 

New guidelines from the American Dental Association are cracking down on the use of opioids for tooth pain.

New Guidelines

The guidelines state that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs taken alone or alongside acetaminophen should be the first-line treatment for managing short-term dental pain in teenagers and adults.

Current medical evidence indicates that those medications can effectively manage pain from a toothache or after a tooth removal, an ADA guideline panel concluded.

The guidelines also say that opioid painkillers should be prescribed under limited circumstances, after considering any risk factors for opioid misuse.

Dentists should avoid providing “just in case” opioid prescriptions for patients, guidelines say. Patients should also be educated on proper storage and disposal of opioid drugs.

The new guidelines appeared in the “Journal of the American Dental Association.”

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America is here to keep you up to date on the world of health. Stay tuned for more from IAA!

Writing by hand may seem old school, but according to a new study, typing is less stimulating for the brain.

Writing vs. Typing

After recording the brain activity of 36 university students, researchers determined that handwriting might improve learning and memory.

At the start of the experiment, the students were told to either write words in cursive using a digital pen on a touchscreen, or to type the same words using a keyboard. When the word on the screen appeared in front of them, they had 25 seconds to write or type it over and over.

A cap of sensors on their head measured their brain waves. The cap’s 256 electrodes attached to the scalp and recorded the electrical signals of the students’ brains, including where brain cells were active and how parts of the brain communicated with each other.

The study found that writing by hand required communication between the brain’s visual, sensory and motor cortices. People who wrote with the digital pen had to visualize letters, then use their fine motor skills to control their movement when writing.

By contrast, when typing, the keys look mostly the same, regardless of the letter. As a result, the study found typing required less brain activity in the visual and motor cortices.

Researchers believe that it is the physical forming of letters that improves attention and recall in the brain, rather than the computer screen. This compared to simply pressing a key on a keyboard, quickly forces the brain to engage more in the task at hand.

The research was published in the journal, “Frontiers in Psychology.”

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to find ways to stimulate your brain! IAA knows that even small things, like writing documents out by hand, can make an impact.