Turn Off Your Television Now!!!!!!!!!!!

watching television

An Australian study recently released a shocking finding: every hour of television a person watches shortens their life by an average of 22 minutes. 

Looking at the behavior of 11,000 participants, the Queensland scientists found that people who watched around 6 hours of TV each day lived an average of almost 5 years less than people who never watched TV. 

This research corroborates another recent study from Harvard. The Harvard team found that TV watchers are at a significantly greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death than people who don’t watch TV.

Perhaps the most sobering statistic cited by the Australian team: if TV didn’t exist, the average life expectancy for women would be 1.5 years longer for women and 1.8 years longer for men.

Before you throw your TV out, consider this aspect of the finding: it’s probably not the TV itself that’s causing the problem- it’s the fact that because you’re watching TV, you’re not doing other, more active things. 

The researchers in both studies agree that watching a lot of TV is strongly correlated with reduced physical activity and poor eating habits. So if the only TV you watch is at the gym while you’re on a treadmill, this finding may not apply to you.

Not sure what to do now that your TV is off? Visit our Shirsa.me to learn quick brain fitness tips and to learn more about how to choose daily activities that boost your brain instead of draining it.

- Team Shirsa

Is your brain is diabetic?

As we all know that high blood sugar levels can effect your brain health. Now a new research suggests that even levels that are only the upper range of the normal level could potentially be detrimental.

The researchers took a group of people whose blood sugars level are high but not high enough to be classified as having diabetes. They found that even at below pre-diabetes level, a high level of blood sugar could create shrinkage in specific areas of the brain when compared with individuals which have a lower or average blood sugars level.

This study demonstrates the link between blood sugar and brain health even when those levels are not that high. It is therefore important not only for important for your physical health but also for your mental health to check carefully your blood sugar levels.

- Team Shirsa