Brain Health – Hybrid Learning https://hybridlearning.pk Online Learning Sat, 08 Feb 2025 07:08:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Your Migraine-Free Vacation Guide https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/31/your-migraine-free-vacation-guide/ https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/31/your-migraine-free-vacation-guide/#respond Sun, 31 Jul 2022 06:04:29 +0000 https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/31/your-migraine-free-vacation-guide/ Your Migraine-Free Vacation Guide Migraine isn’t just limited to a severe headache. You may experience aura, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms that take you out […]

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Migraine isn’t just limited to a severe headache. You may experience aura, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms that take you out for a day or two. The last thing you want is for your migraine symptoms to pop up when you’re trying to enjoy your vacation. From giving yourself a break from sightseeing to keeping your sleep routine on track, there are things you can do to reduce disruptions. Here are some tips to help you avoid triggering your migraine symptoms when on vacation. Migraine attacks aren’t typical headaches. You may experience pounding pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. When a migraine attack or episode occurs, you’ll do almost anything to make it go away. Natural remedies are drug-free methods of reducing migraine symptoms. These at-home treatments may help prevent the onset of migraine attacks or at least help reduce their severity and duration. Keep reading as we take a look at 15 natural remedies that may help you manage migraine symptoms. Note that migraine attacks may require treatment with prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication. Speak with a doctor about a treatment plan that works for you.

1. Avoid certain foods

Diet plays a vital role in preventing migraine attacks. Many foods and beverages may be migraine triggers, such as:

  • foods with nitrates, including hot dogs, deli meats, bacon, and sausage
  • chocolate
  • cheese that contains the naturally occurring compound tyramine, such as blue, feta, cheddar, Parmesan, and Swiss
  • alcohol, especially red wine
  • foods that contain monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer
  • foods that are very cold, such as ice cream or iced drinks
  • processed foods
  • pickled foods
  • beans
  • dried fruits
  • cultured dairy products, such as buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt

A small amount of caffeine may ease migraine pain in some people. Caffeine is also in some migraine medications. But too much caffeine may cause a migraine attack. It may also lead to a severe caffeine withdrawal headache.

To figure out which foods and beverages trigger migraine attacks for you, keep a daily food journal. Record everything you eat and note how you feel afterward.

2. Apply lavender oil

Inhaling lavender essential oil may ease migraine pain. Lavender oil may be inhaled directly or diluted with a carrier oil and applied in small amounts to your temples.

A 2016 randomized controlled study found evidence that 3 months of lavender therapy as a prophylactic therapy, meaning taken before a migraine attack begins, reduced frequency and severity of migraine attacks. However, research is still limited.

A 2020 review of studiesTrusted Source published in the journal Phytotherapy Research examined the ability of various herbal treatments, including lavender therapy for migraine. The authors found mixed or limited evidence to support the use of butterbur and feverfew for treating migraine but didn’t note that current research supports the use of lavender.

3. Try acupuncture

Acupuncture involves injecting very thin needles into certain parts of your skin to stimulate relief from a wide variety of health conditions.

A 2020 randomized controlled studyTrusted Source found that 20 sessions of manual acupuncture along with usual care was more effective at preventing migraine in people with a history of episodic migraine without aura than sham acupuncture along with usual care. Sham acupuncture is a treatment where the needles are not inserted as deeply.

A 2016 review of 22 studiesTrusted Source also found moderate evidence that acupuncture may reduce headache symptoms. In the results summary, the authors explain that if people had 6 days of migraine per month before treatment, it would be expected that they would have:

  • 5 days with usual care
  • 4 days with fake acupuncture or prophylactic medications
  • 3 1/2 days with real acupuncture

4. Look for feverfew

Feverfew is a flowering herb that looks like a daisy. It’s a folk remedy for migraine. It still isn’t well-studied, but there is some evidence that it may be slightly more effective than a placebo for treating migraine.

In a 2015 review of studiesTrusted Source, which is an update of a previous 2004 study, the authors concluded that larger studies are needed to support the use of feverfew for treating migraine.

The authors note that one larger study published since the 2004 review found 0.6 fewer migraine days per month in people who took feverfew versus a placebo. They describe previous studies as low quality or providing mixed evidence.

The 2020 review of studiesTrusted Source published in Phytotherapy Researchalso summarizes the finding on feverfew as “mixed.”

5. Apply peppermint oil

The chemical menthol found in peppermint oil may help prevent migraine episodes, although there’s a very limited amount of research.

A 2019 randomized controlled studyTrusted Source compared the effects of nasal 4 percent lidocaine with 1.5 percent peppermint essential oil and a placebo for managing migraine symptoms.

The researchers found that 40 percent of people in the lidocaine and peppermint oil groups experienced considerable improvements in their symptoms, compared with only 4.9 percent of people in the placebo group.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative HealthTrusted Source notes that very little research has examined peppermint leaf, but a limited amount of evidence suggests topical peppermint oil may benefit tension headaches.

6. Ginger

Ginger is known to ease nausea caused by many conditions, including migraine. It may have pain-relieving benefits for migraine attacks. According to a 2020 review of studiesTrusted Source, one randomized controlled study found evidence that ginger may have beneficial activity.

More research is needed to understand the extent and usefulness of ginger for treating migraine-related pain.

7. Sign up for yoga

Yoga uses breathing, meditation, and body postures to promote health and well-being. A 2015 studyTrusted Source found yoga may relieve the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraine attacks. It’s thought to improve anxiety, release tension in migraine-trigger areas, and improve vascular health.

The researchers concluded that yoga could be beneficial as a complementary therapy for treating migraine.

8. Try biofeedback

Biofeedback is a relaxation method. It teaches you to control autonomic reactions to stress. During this therapy, electrodes are applied to your skin to monitor physiologic processes that change with stress, such as your heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

During a biofeedback session, you work with a therapist to manage stress using changes in your physiologic processes as feedback.

According to a 2019 studyTrusted Source, there’s good evidence to support the use of mind-body interventions such as biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy for treating migraine. These therapies are effectively free of side effects and may make a good alternative for medication for some people.

9. Add magnesium to your diet

Magnesium deficiency is linked to headaches and migraine. Magnesium oxide supplementation may help prevent migraine with aura. It may also prevent menstrual migraine (hormone headaches).

A 2021 studyTrusted Source found that 500 milligrams of magnesium oxide taken twice a day for 8 weeks was as effective as the medication valproate sodium for preventing migraine without significant side effects.

You can get magnesium from foods that include:

  • almonds
  • sesame seeds
  • sunflower seeds
  • Brazil nuts
  • cashews
  • peanut butter
  • oatmeal
  • eggs
  • milk

10. Book a massage

Massage may reduce migraine frequency. Migraine is associated with low serotonin in the brain, and massage has been shown to increase serotonin. There’s limited evidence to support the use of massage for migraine relief, but it’s generally safe and has a low risk of side effects.

11. Try acupressure for migraine-related nausea

Acupressure is the practice of applying pressure with the fingers and hands to specific points on the body to relieve pain and other symptoms.

A 2017 studyTrusted Source found evidence that acupuncture may help manage migraine-related nausea during treatment, but that it doesn’t improve pain or quality of life.

12. Apply stress management techniques

According to the American Headache Society, more than 80 percent of people with migraine report stress being a migraine trigger. Learning how to better manage your stress may help you decrease migraine frequency.

Some commonly used stress management techniques include:

  • deep breathing exercises
  • mental imagery
  • music therapy or listening to relaxing music
  • counseling or therapy
  • meditating
  • progressive muscle relaxation
  • improving time management
  • scheduling more time for relaxing activities

13. Staying hydrated

According to the American Migraine Foundation, about a third of people with migraine report dehydration as a migraine trigger.

To prevent dehydration, make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially when exercising. On hot days, you may need to drink more water than usual.

14. Try to get a good night’s sleep

The connection between sleep and migraine still isn’t entirely clear. Research from 2016Trusted Source has found a correlation between high migraine frequency and poor sleep quality. This association is true in people with migraine with and without aura.

Going to bed at the same time each night, avoiding caffeine late in the day, and avoiding stimulating activities before bed are some of the ways you can improve your sleep.

15. Butterbur

Butterbur is a plant that grows throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Up until 2012Trusted Source, the American Academy of Neurology recommended using it for preventing migraine attacks. In 2015, they stopped their recommendation due to the possibility of liver toxicity.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative HealthTrusted Source recommends only using pyrrolizidine alkaloid-free butterbur products, as this chemical can damage the liver, lungs, and circulation. Speak with a doctor before taking butterbur.

sources

]]> https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/31/your-migraine-free-vacation-guide/feed/ 0 The Complexity of Nutritional Guidelines for Trans People https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/21/the-complexity-of-nutritional-guidelines-for-trans-people/ https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/21/the-complexity-of-nutritional-guidelines-for-trans-people/#respond Thu, 21 Jul 2022 07:15:23 +0000 https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/21/the-complexity-of-nutritional-guidelines-for-trans-people/ Nutrition guidelines ask us to consider the food we consume under the guidance of quantity, quality, and serving sizes generalized for the entire population. Similarly, […]

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Nutrition guidelines ask us to consider the food we consume under the guidance of quantity, quality, and serving sizes generalized for the entire population.

Similarly, transgender people starting hormone replacement therapy (HRT)Trusted Source as part of our transitions are told to expect certain bodily changes in weight, measurements, and muscle mass. What, then, happens in the crossroads of nutrition and HRT?

Although there are general sets of expectations for trans people on HRT, results are individualistic based on genetics, dosage, age, and more.

But if HRT finds difficulty in providing a guideline for most people to follow, how can we expect nutrition — which in itself is more vast and extensive than taking hormones — to do the same for us?

Nutrition information geared toward trans people is limited

Traditionally, methods of assessing nutrition are gender-specific, with one set of guidelines for men and one for women.

According to the National Academy of Medicine, the Dietary Reference Intake — which was released in 1977 and serves as a systemic guideline for recommended nutritional intake — also categorizes people as male and female.

In these cases, “male” and “female,” although “gender-specific,” refer to sex characteristics as opposed to gender.

A 2020 studyTrusted Source by Dr. Whitney Linsenmeyer, Dr. Theresa Drallmeier, and Dr. Michael Thomure found that “no standards of care exist to inform clinicians on nutrition assessment methods for transgender and gender non-conforming patients.”

“Clinicians may opt to use the values related to a patient’s gender identity, may individualize nutrition care based on the patient’s stage of medical transition, or may utilize a range of values where appropriate,” the authors wrote.

My first nutrition lesson was in health class in eighth grade. I learned that the “appropriate” serving of poultry should be the size of a palm (whose palm, anyway?). I also learned to fear white rice, which conveniently was a household staple of our Indonesian family.

My first lesson on HRT was in tenth grade, watching Julie Vu and other brown trans women on YouTube document their transitions.

By the time I started HRT, I had learned to expect breast growth and curving of the hips — among other things solely based on cisnormative standards that not all cis women even attain.

Trans forums online even told me to expect bouts of what would be my occasional “period.” And although I saw how menstruating as a trans woman could feel validating in its proximity to most cisgender women (and therefore feel more legitimate), a voice in the back of my mind told me this was all wishful thinking.

Zachari Breeding’s “Nutrition Considerations for the Transgender Community” attests that “calorie, protein and fluid requirements are not significantly different than they are for cisgender individuals […] [And] because the time it takes for hormone therapy to produce results varies from person to person, it is sometimes difficult to tell where [a trans] individual is in the process.”

When I learned this, relief washed through me. I thought that if I had metrics and measurements of progress to base myself off of, then at least everyone else was held to the same bar too.

Nevertheless, I relied on the theoreticals, the maybes, the shoulds in order to keep going, but I ultimately had no comprehension of how to approach my nutrition — and if it would change at all.

Based on the research by Linsenmeyer, Drallmeier, and Thomure, not only are clinicians’ resources for nutrition solely based on binary sex organs, but clinicians don’t even have tools for nutritional care to give their trans patients — let alone trans patients who are on HRT.

Another study by Linsenmeyer, along with Dr. Rabia Rahman notes that because gender-affirming healthcare for trans and nonbinary people is limited, our communities often feel severely discouraged from speaking with healthcare professionals.

“One-third of respondents to the US Transgender Survey reported having at least one negative experience with a health care provider in the past year, including denial of care; verbal, physical, or sexual harassment; and the need to educate the provider about transgender health issues in order to receive appropriate care,” Linsenmeyer and Rahman note.

“In addition, 23% of respondents avoided necessary medical care because of fear of discrimination and mistreatment, as compared with 28% of respondents to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey.”

College threw me into multiple crossroads — emotionally eating amid the daily throes of being a college student, overeating as a compensation tactic learned from being raised by parents who grew up poor and malnourished, and obsessing over morning workouts on campus as a way to feel reassured in my girlhood by needing myself to be small.

School put me on the edge, and being one of the few openly trans women at school pushed me over. My confusion toward food, my gradually changing hormone dosage, and my feelings about my body begged me one collective question:

When will I feel full, and when will I feel whole?

Some dietitians are redefining nutrition for (trans) people

“People are given a moral value in terms of how we see food and how we see our weight. And we put that on people. [One of the] important things with an eating disorder is [the] connection of body size [and] the way a person evaluates their self-worth,” Sam Tryon, RD (they/them), tells me.

They are a registered dietitian based in Maryland who works with their clients — trans and nonbinary folks included — to challenge beliefs of inadequacy toward food and eating disorders.

“This isn’t about [a person’s] pants size, this is about whether or not they [feel] worthy enough to show up, whether it’s work, or dating, or general existing.”

 

— Sam Tryon, RD (they/them)

I thought about how lucky Sam’s clients must be to work with them, but Sam tells me that luck, for any client of theirs, starts much earlier.

“By nature of being able to see me, there’s a certain amount of health literacy [and privilege] because they would already have access to other healthcare providers, trans-affirming healthcare providers, and then found their way to me,” they say.

My university gave each student a maximum of 10 therapy sessions over the course of their 4 years. My residential building’s director prohibited me from using the women’s restroom, even after a floor-wide survey to grant permission revealed that only two women were uncomfortable.

I was catching up to my changing body.

On top of my work-study job, classes were demanding enough. For students with meal plans, the unlimited access to our three dining halls thrilled us. We ate because we could, and it served as a meaningful time to express these feelings with each other over meals.

Nutrition was an afterthought, an extra-credit campus event to attend. Nutrition, in my experience, was made to be an option.

Jana Spindler (she/her), a licensed registered dietitian and online nutrition educator, works with Health Stand Nutrition, a practice based in Calgary, Canada. Health Stand Nutrition’s goal is to help people “live healthfully and soulfully,” according to Jana.

Her role, she says, is “to make food easier for the person, but [also] really to individualize nutrition. [My] approach is to look at where the person is right now, how [I] can make as few changes as possible, and make it the most livable as possible to get them to their goals.”

In reference to her trans and nonbinary clients, Jana says, “The risk of eating disorders is really, really high.”

In Sam’s experience, “Restricting is [seen as] really gender-affirming for both transmasculine and transfemme folks.”

“It’s really feminine in our society to be very tiny and waiflike,” Sam explains. “For transmasculine folks, restricting is going to decrease chest tissue. You’re going to have smaller hips. For transfemme folks, [restriction means] you’re not gonna have abdominal weight that [is seen as] really masculine.”

The insidious truth about being trans or nonbinary is that eating disorders, for some, minimize gender dysphoria, notwithstanding the bodily neglect that occurs in these situations.

The breakdown

When it comes to nutrition as a trans person, I found it disconcerting to understand whether it was the voice of gender euphoria or the voice of a soul-fulfilling approach to food I wanted to listen to.

After all, white supremacy and capitalism, in practice, value discipline, willpower, and control. In the realms of both nutrition and gender, I felt it was necessary not only to choose one over the other, but to choose one over the other like my livelihood depended on the obsession, the discipline, willpower, and control.

“[Trans or nonbinary people on HRT might say,] ‘OK, well, this energy that I have to show up as queer [and trans] is not the same energy of somebody who’s engaging in diet culture,’” Sam says.

“And at the same time, some people may be coming from another end of ‘I’m already counterculture in one way, right? [So] I need to really fit in in all of the other ways.’”

Giving in to the control and willpower of internalized fatphobia and transphobia declares white supremacy and capitalism victorious.

It becomes easy to see money and price tags in everything — in buying a new dress with the hopes of fitting into it one day. The expenses of hormones. Purchasing a meal plan guide. Yes, even consulting with registered dietitians and nutritionists.

The journey toward healing has a price to pay, and it looks different for everybody.

Embracing the absence of clear nutritional guidelines

For Jana, building a “brag list” can alleviate tension between body and food.

“Every day, I want us to have something that we can name: I’m really proud of,” she says. “And that might be actually drinking all the water that was in my water bottle. That might be remembering to eat breakfast today. That might be walking by a mirror and fearing feeling neutral about my body instead of negative.”

To her, adding daily bragging points permits the addition of more quality into life.

According to Sam, we can alleviate tension by clarifying values. At the core of this practice is a nonjudgmental reminder: The ways people intentionally shape their bodies are not a testament to who they are but a testament to the people who influenced their ideas of what their bodies should look like.

At its most incendiary, clarifying values already happens within trans and nonbinary communities by default.

“Because by nature of being queer [and trans], if we’re lucky, we have a chance to really just break it all down,” Sam says.

“Crumble it all and pick and choose and DIY what’s important to us, what we want to be, how we want to live, what we want our community to look like, what our values are — which is really a privilege,” they continue. “And this goes along with that a lot when we’re looking at somebody being focused on food and their body, and how that actually doesn’t really fit the person who they want to be.”

I graduated from college and then graduate school more than a year later. The people who mean most to me still see me for who I am, no matter how big or small a role my gender plays in that.

I still inject estrogen intramuscularly on a weekly basis. My parents still pack me a bag of home-cooked dishes to bring home whenever I visit them.

Like the resident director of my dorm freshman year, like the fatphobic culture we are in, like my birth certificate, so much of showing up as myself has asked me to go against the current.

I don’t always need or want to eat the slice of the pie. But it helps to know I will always be worthy of one, regardless of who I am and what it has taken for me to be here — nutritionally and medically.

]]> https://hybridlearning.pk/2022/07/21/the-complexity-of-nutritional-guidelines-for-trans-people/feed/ 0 Eat Your Way to Brain Health https://hybridlearning.pk/2019/10/28/eat-your-way-to-brain-health/ https://hybridlearning.pk/2019/10/28/eat-your-way-to-brain-health/#respond Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:33:52 +0000 https://hybridlearning.pk/2019/10/28/eat-your-way-to-brain-health/ The research is clear: What you eat has a big impact on your brain. In fact, the right foods — and combinations of foods — […]

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The research is clear: What you eat has a big impact on your brain. In fact, the right foods — and combinations of foods — can enhance memory, build new brain cells and even help ward off Alzheimer’s.

Scientists are increasingly examining whole food groups — and diets — to determine which ones contribute to better cognition and which seem to hinder it. They’ve found that certain eating plans — including the Mediterranean diet, the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and a hybrid of the two, dubbed the MIND diet — can help stave off cognitive decline and protect the brain against disease. The MIND diet, developed by researchers at Rush University in Chicago, slashed the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by as much as 53 percent. (MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.) Even those who followed the diet moderately had a 35 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s

Why the MIND advantage? Like the Mediterranean and DASH diets, the MIND diet emphasizes fish, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, beans and a daily glass of wine. But MIND goes one step further, specifying brain-boosting produce such as berries and leafy greens. According to study author Martha Clare Morris, professor of nutritional epidemiology at Rush, people who ate one to two servings of green leafy vegetables a day were cognitively 11 years younger than those who ate fewer greens. Blueberries may have the best cognitive perks.

“The common denominator in all three diets is a plant-based eating pattern that is low in saturated and trans fats and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats,” says Morris — and experts agree fat composition is a key player in cognition.

A recent Spanish study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that supplementing the already brain-healthy Mediterranean diet with additional servings of olive oil and nuts — both of which boast inflammation-fighting unsaturated fats — enhances memory and information processing. On the flip side, a study published in PLOS One earlier this year linked higher trans fat intake with poorer performance on memory tests.

“Follow the Mediterranean or the MIND diets and your mind will be sharper in six months — and less susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease decades later,” agrees Majid Fotuhi, M.D., medical director of NeuroGrow Brain Fitness Center and affiliate staff at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. What makes these diets so powerful? Key foods within them have different brain-boosting benefits, Fotuhi says. Emphasize even a few of these and your brain will thank you for years to come.

1. Olive oil, green tea and leafy greens (broccoli, spinach and kale)

Each of these antioxidant superfoods helps fight inflammation. And while inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury, uncontrolled inflammation over time can damage the brain. Intervene with these anti-inflammatory foods before neurons die, and you may be able to restore normal brain function, says Paula C. Bickford, professor of neurosurgery and brain repair at the University of South Florida.

2. Beets, tomatoes and avocados

These three darkly-hued foods help ensure that your brain receives the blood it needs to stay sharp. Studies suggest increased blood flow to the brain promotes neuron growth in the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with learning and memory.

3. Nuts (especially walnuts), curcumin and pomegranates

These foods work deep in the brain to fight amyloid plaques. While amyloid is required for brain cells to communicate, when it accumulates several thousand times beyond normal levels, it forms plaques. These plaques kill neurons while creating inflammation, which kills even more neurons.

4. Fish, blueberries, grapes, coffee and dark chocolate

These nutrient powerhouses have been shown to increase the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth of new neurons. “It’s like Miracle-Gro for the brain,” says Fotuhi. “Stimulating the release of BDNF not only reverses the effects of aging, but also triggers the brain to make more neurons.”

Amy Paturel is a health and science writer in California.

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