From eNewsletter 7/8/2019
DID YOU KNOW that you can support healthy skin and protect it from ultraviolet damage from the inside? Scientists publishing in Journal of Travel Medicine have identified several nutrients that have ultraviolet protective activity, reducing your risk of sunburn and related skin damage. Astaxanthin, lycopene, beta carotene, vitamins D, E and epigallocatechin gallate have all been shown to help protect your skin against sun damage.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD = DOPAMINE BOOST
Steve and Bonnie: Can't stop checking your phone, even when you're not expecting any important messages? Blame your brain.
A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences states that information acts on the brain's dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money, food, alcohol, nicotine, and recreational drugs.
To the brain, information is its own reward, above and beyond whether it's useful. And just as our brains like empty calories from junk food, they can overvalue information that makes us feel good but may not be useful, what some may call idle curiosity.
The brain converts information into the same common scale as it does for money. It also lays the groundwork for unraveling the neuroscience behind how we consume information, and digital addiction.
While the research does not directly address overconsumption of digital information, the fact that information engages the brain's reward system is a necessary condition for the addiction cycle, he said. And it explains why we find those alerts saying we've been tagged in a photo so irresistible.
Social media providers have known this for a while. This is why social media is so addictive, especially in young people.
We screen for numerous dopamine gene pathways in our Pure Genomics screening. Don't you think it would be crucial to know not only your addiction risk, but that of your children as well?
EXPLORING HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVES
Steve and Bonnie: Of hormonal contraceptive options, the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP), also known as "the pill" or birth control pill, is the most common choice, with 4 out of 5 sexually active women reporting current or previous pill use. Although OCPs are a highly effective form of birth control and have been revolutionary for women, like other medications, they come with side effects, many of which are rarely discussed...this article is reserved for NCI Well Connect Members. You can get this article by signing up here. You can get our free eNewsletter by signing up at the top of our website.
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