Eight-week supplementation of Aronia berry extract promoted the glutathione defence system against acute aerobic exercise-induced oxidative load immediately and 30 min post-exercise in healthy adults: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Food antioxidants have received prompt attention for controlling oxidative stress encountered in daily life. This study aimed to examine the protective effects of Aronia berry extract (ABE) supplementation on acute aerobic exercise (AAE)-induced oxidative stress in healthy subjects. METHODS: We assessed a battery of antioxidant defence and oxidative stress parameters at pre-exercise, immediately post-exercise and 30 min post-exercise in healthy middle-aged adults with habitually low intakes of fruit and vegetables in an 8-week, double-blind, randomised, controlled clinical trial with two arms (n = 70). The AAE challenge model, characterised as a treadmill exercise for 30 min at 60% VO2 maximum, was applied to load oxidative stress at the end of the study. Pearson's correlation analysis assessed the association between the changes in antioxidant defence capacities and oxidative stress levels. RESULTS: The time-course-dependent oxidative stress was well observed in the placebo group regarding the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and the reduced glutathione (GSH) availability for antioxidant defence and erythrocyte malondialdehyde, interleukin-6 and lactate levels for oxidative damage. Meanwhile, the ABE supplementation effectively strengthened the glutathione defence system by increasing GSH availability and GPx activity immediately post-exercise and 30 min post-exercise. In addition, the scatter plot and linear regression analysis revealed strong negative correlations of GSH availability with oxidised low-density lipoprotein and plasma malonaldehyde levels. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that daily supplementation of 300 mg ABE might help boost GSH levels and an adaptive antioxidant enzyme defence system of erythrocytes in healthy adults with habitually low fruit and vegetable intakes.

The Effect of Mind Subtraction Meditation Intervention on Smartphone Addiction and the Psychological Wellbeing among Adolescents.

As the smartphone has become an indispensable device in modern lives, consequential psychosocial problems such as smartphone addiction have been getting attention worldwide, especially regarding adolescents. Based on its positive effect on young individuals' mental health, mind subtraction meditation has been widely applied to many school-based programs in South Korea. This study aims to identify the effects of a school program based on mind subtraction on the smartphone addiction of adolescents. A total of 49 high school sophomores, 24 from the experimental group (mean age = 16), and 25 from the control group (mean age = 16) are included in this case-control study. The experimental group is given the meditation program sessions in the morning, two times a week for 20 min per session, for a total of 12 weeks. The experimental group shows improvements regarding the 'smartphone addiction' section (p < 0.001), for instant satisfaction (p < 0.001) and long-term satisfaction (p < 0.001). Concerning the 'self-control' section and decreasing stress (p < 0.001), problem focusing (p < 0.001), and social support navigation (p = 0.018), there are improvements in these 'stress coping strategies' sections. This study directly shows the positive effect of mind subtraction meditation on smartphone addiction in adolescents and, thus, provides guidance to the future development of smartphone addiction prevention programs for young individuals.

The Effects of Mind Subtraction Meditation on Depression, Social Anxiety, Aggression, and Salivary Cortisol Levels of Elementary School Children in South Korea.

This study analyzed the effects of a school-based mind subtraction meditation program on depression, social anxiety, aggression, and salivary cortisol levels of 42 elementary school children in South Korea. The research design was a nonequivalent group comparison with pretest and post-test. The experimental group was given 8weeks of the meditation program. The results showed social anxiety, aggression, and salivary cortisol levels were significantly lowered in the experimental group. This demonstrated that the school-based mind subtraction meditation program could be effective in improving psychosocial and behavioral aspects of mental health in elementary school children.