American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine最新文献

Brain health is profoundly influenced by lifestyle factors, offering promising avenues for the prevention and mitigation of various brain health issues, including age-related cognitive decline. This review examines evidence on how key lifestyle modifications, including diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, social engagement, exposure to toxic environmental factors, risky behaviors, and cognitive training, affect brain health. Historical background is provided, but original articles published within the past 6 years that discuss lifestyle medicine are the focus of this review. The main topics covered are how Mediterranean, Nordic, and vegetarian diets support cognitive resilience, how physical exercise (aerobic and anaerobic) enhances neuroplasticity, and explain sleep's role in metabolic clearance. In contrast, persistent stress leads to hippocampal atrophy, and toxic environmental exposures and head injury increase dementia risk. Other lifestyle modifications, such as meditation and social support, can mitigate these impacts. Cognitive reserve, built through lifelong learning and social interaction, provides resilience against neurodegeneration. While these strategies on their own hold value, personalized multimodal interventions have proven to be the most effective approach for promoting overall brain health and attenuating age-related cognitive decline.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1177/15598276251337412.].

Background: While physical activity is associated with improved mental health, many medical students fail to meet recommended exercise guidelines. Understanding how exercise relates to wellness indicators in this population may help guide the development of targeted wellness interventions that promote sustainable health behaviors. Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) assess the prevalence and characteristics of physical activity among medical students; (2) examine associations between exercise behaviors and wellness indicators. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to M.D. students at a U.S. medical school. The survey included validated measures to assess exercise habits, burnout, stress, quality of life, social support, and sleep. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests, Fisher's exact tests, and multiple linear regression. Results: Among 82 respondents, only 34.2% met both aerobic and strength training CDC guidelines. These students reported significantly lower stress, higher quality of life, and greater friend support compared to peers who met neither guideline. Individual exercise was associated with lower stress, less burnout, and higher quality of life than group exercise, despite the latter being linked to greater social support. Conclusions: In advocating for interventions that support student wellbeing and the development of sustainable health habits, medical schools can help contribute to long-term student wellness.

Nutrition is a core pillar of Lifestyle Medicine with growing relevance to mental and behavioral health. While traditionally emphasized for cardiometabolic disease prevention, emerging evidence demonstrates that dietary patterns directly influence mood, cognition, stress resilience, and emotional regulation. This article synthesizes current research on biological pathways linking food and mental health-including the gut-brain axis, microbiome diversity, neurotransmitter synthesis, inflammation, and dietary pattern interventions. A diverse and balanced microbiome, adequate intake of omega-3s, B vitamins, and trace minerals, and diets low in inflammatory foods support healthier brain signaling and improved emotional stability. Clinical trials show that Mediterranean and plant-forward diets reduce depressive symptoms, while micronutrient supplementation enhances attention, emotional regulation, and stress response across the lifespan. Nutrition is also a critical but underutilized component of substance use recovery and child and adolescent behavioral health. Cultural food traditions further shape well-being by reinforcing identity, belonging, and resilience. Integrating nutrition screening, counseling, and food-as-medicine interventions into behavioral health care can strengthen treatment outcomes, especially when aligned with culturally informed practices and community needs. Systems-level approaches-including policies addressing food insecurity and produce prescription programs-demonstrate meaningful improvements in mental health. Overall, nutrition represents a powerful, accessible, and culturally resonant strategy to support emotional, cognitive, and behavioral well-being.

Self-efficacy is an important factor of acquiring new skills as an individual is unlikely to apply a new skill if self-efficacy is low. In lifestyle medicine, health care providers (HCPs) are often trained to provide treatments that may be outside of their original expertise due to the varying and interrelated needs of their patients. Current models in training often do not intentionally incorporate self-efficacy. Additionally, as behavioral health becomes more integrated into lifestyle medicine, practitioners in this arena will need confidence to adapt their approach utilizing new skills and techniques. Literature on elite athletes can provide considerable insight into enhancing self-efficacy through creativity and adaptability for enhanced performance. Overall, this commentary draws from sport science literature that encourages HCPs to incorporate creativity and adaptability when attempting new skills for practice and enhancing their "performance" with patients.

Body image and body appreciation (BA) are often considered a young adult issue, but the importance of body image as a factor contributing to wellness persists across the lifespan. The study's purpose was to examine¹ the association between participation in a 3-month health-and-wellness coaching (HWC) program on BA and² whether baseline measures of physical and mental health were related to changes in BA. 100 women completed a 3-month HWC program where BA and mental and physical health measures were collected pre and post intervention. A stepwise linear regression was conducted using measures of physical and mental health with BA as the outcome. A higher level of baseline depression was linked to more improvement in BA post-intervention (β = 0.033, P < 0.05), while higher baseline muscular endurance was linked to less improvement in BA at post-intervention (β = -0.022, P < 0.01). Results suggest that a 3-month HWC program has potential for improving BA, with stronger results possible among women with higher levels of depression at the start of the intervention, however without a control group, causation cannot be established.

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a chronic public health concern significantly affecting the physical, social and mental well-being of people who are alcohol-dependent. Evidence supports the use of pharmacologic and psychosocial therapy in mild to severe cases. FDA approved medications-acamprosate, naltrexone and disulfiram-are used on a patient-specific basis to limit alcohol intake and assist with abstinence. Recent studies and guidelines show these medications are deemed safe and effective to use in AUD. Additionally, studies have proven that medications such as topiramate and gabapentin are effective treatments, limiting alcohol consumption. Overall, pharmacotherapy may play a role in improving patient health outcomes by reducing withdrawal symptoms, cravings, moods and alcohol relapse alongside behavioral approaches.