It’s been said that a creative life is a healthy life, but how many people actually achieve that? Pursuing our passions can be difficult, but recent research shows that it’s a worthwhile endeavor because it’s good for our health.

Evidence that creative minds are healthy minds is popping up left and right, saying that the act of creating gives us a sense of happiness, can help lessen anxiety, and even make us more resilient and capable of problem solving.

But one of the greatest obstacles in actually following through with the things we’re passionate about is our jobs.

Studies have shown that work stress is killing us, and not just creatively, but also when it comes to our health. This is because workplace stress doesn’t just stay at work; it follows us home and affects our sleep, causes weight gain and elevated glucose levels, and can even promote upper respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease.
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One thing I noticed on my journey to eating a wheat free/gluten-free diet is that consequences matter. For me, the decision to restrict my diet in this way is mostly about health. I do not have celiac disease, and I don’t believe I have a gluten allergy. For some of my mom friends though if their child got ahold of a single Cheerio or Teddy Graham they could have serious health issues as a result. “Cheating” on the gluten-free diet does not even occur to those moms, even if they are away from their children, but the consequences are less severe for me. We see the same thing on the Biggest Loser over and over when someone is motivated to lose weight after a medical professional tells them their weight is killing them. What are the consequences for you for not sticking to your goal?

If you are good at self-talk and rational (REBT) thinking, you can use the consequences to your advantage. Maybe it won’t hurt me to try the famous sugar cream pie, but how will I ever really track the effects of gluten on my body if I don’t eliminate it entirely for at least two to three weeks? If you are tempted to skip a workout, you probably won’t see a reverse in your progress, but you can remind yourself that you could feel guilty or lethargic or even lose the habit entirely since every time we “cheat” we are practicing the opposite of the habit we want to reinforce.
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The idea that all weight lifters are meat heads, is a lie – at least according to a new study that linked exercise with bulked up brain power.

The study, conducted by the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, was seeking to examine whether changes in muscles induced by exercise may affect and/or improve the brain’s ability to think. And furthermore, whether this reaction starts in the muscles rather than the brain. What they found caused them to think this hypothesis may be correct.

The premise of the study, which was published in the journal Learning and Memory, was that muscles are greatly affected by exercise, as they respond by producing a variety of substances that grow muscles stronger and bigger. But lead scientist Henriette van Praag –  lead investigator at the National Institute on Aging – thinks some of these compounds might be entering the bloodstream and making their way to the brain.
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I’m one of those people who never gets headaches. I know – how annoying.

But though this seems like a good thing -  as it is -  sometimes I wish I knew what a headache felt like. Then I could better sympathize with headache sufferers around me, like my mother and husband, who frequently endure painful migraines. Watching them agonize is almost as painful as having a headache myself.

While much is still unknown about the cause of headaches, progress is being made, especially in the way of why migraines affect three times more woman than men, and why one in four women has experienced a migraine.

In a recent article from NPR, Dr. Andrew Charles of the Headache Research and Treatment Program at UCLA, explained exactly what happens inside a person’s brain when they experience a headache.
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Last week the national news was littered with stories and even a cellphone video of Jet Blue pilot Clayton Osbon having an apparent psychiatric episode mid-flight and having to be detained by passengers while the plane made an emergency landing. As Osbon was formally charged by the courts this week, the mystery behind his actions still remains.

Clayton Frederick Osbon, 49, was charged in the U.S. District court yesterday. He’s charged with interfering with in-flight crew members. If convicted, Osbon could face a 20 year sentence and a $250,000 fine.

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chief of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center, shared his thoughts about what may have taken place last week. Liberman felt Osbon either had a psychotic disorder, a neurological event, or was intoxicated by a substance. From information at the scene, Lieberman suggested that substance influence may have been the culprit.

Because Osbon is a direct marketer for health shakes sold by Visalus Sciences, Liberman made educated speculations from that fact.
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