From eNewsletter 2/11/2019
DID YOU KNOW that a study from last month's JAMA lauds hypnotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) relief?
Subjects with IBS received either 6 sessions of individual or group hypnotherapy, or education and supportive care. Psychologists trained as hypnotherapists made suggestions to patients about gaining control over their digestive system, and patients practiced self-hypnosis exercises at home daily.
41 percent of patients who received individual hypnotherapy reported relief of IBS symptoms after 3 months compared with 33 percent in group hypnotherapy and 17 percent in the educated or supportive care group.
Benefits persisted at 12 months in 41 percent of the individual hypnotherapy group, 60 percent in group hypnotherapy, and 23 percent in the educated or supportive care group.
BREAKFAST BODY BLOW
Steve and Bonnie: You may have seen or heard a lot about breakfast lately.
Last week, a review from BMJ blasted into our consciousness by stating that breakfast had no effect for losing body mass. Here is yet another example where "meta-analysis," a way researchers can cherry-pick past studies to meet their needs, is doing the public a major disservice. For starters, using breakfast as a tool to lose body mass is misguided. Breakfast is, and will continue to be, THE most important meal of the day. Breakfast is the tone setter. Breakfast reduces cravings and overeating. Breakfast promotes concentration and provides essential nourishment to our most important organ, the brain! Just last week, a study in The Journal of Nutrition showed that access to the school breakfast program is associated with higher attendance and test scores among elementary school students. Benefits such as this are not limited to children. Breakfast is crucial for adults as well. We could have promoted a "meta-analysis" that was published last month in The Journal of Nutrition, providing evidence that skipping breakfast was associated with an INCREASED risk of type 2 diabetes. However, we did not feel this particular review met our qualifications.
Why can studies be so easily misconstrued? Talk shows, news outlets, and discussion at the water cooler don't include the disclaimers made by the researchers themselves. For example, you won't hear that the researchers doubted the quality and validity of the studies they used to make their conclusion. Compared to the usual meta-analysis, theirs was tiny, only using 13 studies. The average follow-up period of these studies was painfully short, averaging only 7 weeks. You need to look at years, not weeks. You won't hear The Today Show espousing that regular breakfast consumption still is reflective of a wider healthy lifestyle, and conclusions should be made about the numerous other asserted health benefits of breakfast. The study's authors emphatically stated this in their review. The only thing we can take away from this fruitless exercise is the authors conclusion that metabolism may simply be more of an individualized concept than has previously been realized, and a "one size fits all" approach may be futile.
WHAT IS TEA AND HOW IS IT MADE?
Steve: Tea, which was probably first brewed as a beverage in China around 2700 BCE, is one of the....This article is reserved for NCI Well Connect Members. You can get this article by signing up here.
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