Pink: It’s the new white noise

In the 2005 thriller “White Noise,” Michael Keaton plays a man who comes to believe that his recently deceased wife is contacting him through the static, or white noise, on untuned radios and televisions.

Well, it turns out that there’s more than one myth about the powers of white noise: According to a new small study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, white noise isn’t the best way to tune out nighttime distractions and sounds so that you can sleep better. You want pink noise!

Tracking 13 older adults over two nights, researchers from Northwestern University found that a “pink noise” mixture of high and low frequencies, which sound less random than white noise, created more slow-wave brain activity. And slow-wave sleep has been linked to brain restoration.

Not only did the researchers find that folks listening to pink noise slept more soundly, it turns out the next day their brains were supercharged. Those study participants did nearly 27 percent better on memory tests compared with folks who didn’t sleep with pink noise.

This finding matches with past studies done in younger adults that have also uncovered an improved memory the morning after sleeping with pink noise. Studies on pink noise have been small, and we don’t know how much benefit it provides over time, but it can’t hurt to give this lullaby a try. You can download a pink noise generator from several sites online or purchase a pink-sound machine.

Hormone therapy reconsidered – again

In one episode of “That ’70s Show,” mom Kitty is going through menopause. So Dad and his son, Eric, decide to look up menopause in the encyclopedia. “Oh, no! Look at the symptoms,” says Eric. “Temperamental behavior, mood swings, facial hair. ... Dad, I think you have menopause!”

Menopause symptoms may be fodder for comedy, but they’re not funny when you experience them. That’s why by the late 1980s, many post-menopausal women were prescribed long-term hormone therapy. Several studies had shown it protects against post-menopausal heart disease, cools hot flashes and eases vaginal dryness.

Then in 2002, a study found that HT boosted the risk of breast cancer, deep vein thrombosis and stroke, outweighing benefits. That left women looking for other solutions.

But we’ve long said that using HT for five years or less right after menopause and always taking it with 81-162 mg of aspirin daily with a half glass of warm water before and after is safe for most women.

Now a large study by Cedars-Sinai has found that women who received HT averaged 20 percent less arterial plaque buildup and were 30 percent less likely to die from all causes during the study. A recent Cochrane Review confirmed that short-term use of low-dose HT may override the “small absolute risk of harm” if not contraindicated. Our calculations show that, when taken with aspirin, HT confers substantial benefit, not small harm.

Ramen and TBHQ

One hundred billion units of instant ramen noodles were sold worldwide in 2012. That’s a lot of ramen!

Unfortunately, this meal-in-a-minute fuels a roster of health problems from metabolic syndrome to digestive woes. A recent Harvard study found that women who ate instant noodles at least twice a week had a 68 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of maladies including obesity and high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.

Earlier studies by Dr. Braden Kuo, director of the GI Motility Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, may reveal why. He put a tiny camera in the stomach of noodle-eating volunteers and could see the stomach contracting back and forth as it struggled to digest the noodles — it took hours. A synthetic preservative called TBHQ in ramen may be the culprit, though highly processed carbs and sodium in the noodle also contribute to metabolic syndrome. TBHQ is used to prevent discoloration, and flavor and odor changes, and to extend shelf life. And if TBHQ weren’t bad enough, ramen noodles are “dried” in saturated fat.

So we say stay away from instant ramen and check packaged food labels for TBHQ. It’s in everything from frozen waffles to croutons, sweet snacks and commercial cooking oil.

Meditation diet

Buddha may have been a vegetarian or, say some disciples, he may have eaten whatever he was offered, including vegetables, fruit and meats. But his eating style is not what we mean when we talk about the power of the “meditation diet.”

A study in the journal Obesity reveals that folks who have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their hair (yup, stress even gets in there!) suffer from chronic stress, have larger waist circumferences, weigh more and have a higher body mass index.

Whether stress comes first followed by weight gain, or extra pounds fuel your body’s stress responses doesn’t matter. We bet it’s both. In studies at Dr. Mike’s Cleveland Clinic, taking an online stress-busting course resulted in a three-quarter-pound weight loss each week for the eight weeks of the course.

So, if you’re struggling to achieve a healthy weight, it’s time to try the stress-busting meditation diet. Bonus: You’ll also have a noticeably sharper memory and a clearer brain.

Set aside times in your schedule to meditate. Find a quiet environment; turn off cellphones and disconnect from the internet. Then ...

1. Sit in a comfortable position with good posture. Breathe in through your nose slowly for four seconds and exhale slowly through an open mouth, saying, “Om.” Repeat. Over time, build up to an eight-second exhale.

2. Let your mind drift. Recognize thoughts as they float by; let them drift away. You’ll be dispelling stress and the cortisol that packs on pounds.

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Pink: It’s the new white noise."