New Research Between Stress and Cancer

April 16th, 2010 By: Brittany

Scientists have discovered that everyday emotional stress is a trigger for the growth of tumours

They discovered that any sort of trauma, emotional or physical, can act as a “pathway” between cancerous mutations bringing them together in a potentially deadly mix.

The findings, published in Nature, seemed to show for the first time that the conditions for developing the disease can be affected by your emotional environment including every day work and family stress.

Until now, scientists believed more than one cancer-causing mutation needed to take place in a single cell in order for tumours to grow.

But Prof Xu and colleagues at Yale University, working with fruit flies, showed mutations can promote cancer even when they are located in different cells. This is because stress opens up “pathways” between them.

Source: Telegraph Jan. 2010

Comment: There has been much research between how stress effects cancer, and even how it contributes to cancer. I believe that is why you hear so much on stress management. It is a big industry that has emerged because the amount of stress the average person carries. It’s important to talk about your stress, exercise, eat food that contribute to stress management, and find an actively that can actually release stress from the body.

Good articles

10 Stress Busters

Let’s Destress

5 Great Ways To Help Your Health

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Food Inc. How Much Do We Know

March 22nd, 2010 By: Brittany

I have been reading reviews on the new documentary, Food Inc. In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.

I have added some clips from the film to give a little insight on what is happening to the quality of food we have been eating from the past ten years. I think this movie is important to see if you are wanting to be conscious about your food and health. How food as changed today, will continue to change how the next generations treats food, as well as how healthy we continue to be or not be.

The Truth About Food, Inc.

Challenges in the Industry

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Foods We Don’t Eat Enough Of

March 20th, 2010 By: Brittany

1.

cherries are packed with anti-inflammatory properties. They contain antioxidants, thought to help the body protect against the damaging effects of free radicals.

2.

blueberries contain antioxidants found to promote heart health. A 2009 study showed that rats fed blueberries lost belly fat, the kind of fat linked to diabetes and heart disease.

3.

Kiwi is full of vitamin C-- 115% of what you need to eat in a day. It's also low in calories--just 45 per fruit sans skin.

4.

Unlike mass-produced cows raised in feedlots, free-range cows nibble grass and avoid the ravages of hormones, steroids and antibiotics. Grass-fed beef is full of omega-3 fatty acids. Go to www.eatwild.com to learn about grass fed meat.

5.

kale contains indoles, a compound found to fight cancer. Kale is also full of sulforaphane, another cancer-prevention agent. Plus, Kale contains calcium, iron and vitamins A, C and K, and two nutrients that are great for the eyes, including zeaxanthin.

6.

The body uses the fat in coconut, called MCT, or Medium-Chain Triglycerides, as energy, like a carbohydrate. Coconuts are also high in lauric acid, a fatty acid that tends to kill pathogens.

source: Forbes

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Recipe To Help Diabetes

February 4th, 2010 By: Brittany

I have several family members who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This is a great recipe that is easy and healthy for those with diabetes.

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Best Foods To Get At A Gas Station?

February 3rd, 2010 By: Brittany

I didn’t know that it really existed at a gas station, but as the story goes you really can stay healthy getting good at the gas stop. I had to include this article I found at MSN Health because I thought as summer approach many of us are going to be taking vacations with our family and friends. I am guilty of buying something to eat on our way to our destination.

Worst Foods Listed:

Lay’s Classic Potato Chips (1 oz)150 calories

Nature Valley Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar ( that surprised me!)

Cheez-It (17 crackers)

Hostess Pudding Pie (1 package)

Planters Trail Mix Nut & Chocolate (3 Tbsp)

Kashi GoLean Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (1 bar, 78 g) (This was listed under worst chocolate snack)

Best foods to eat:

Fried Pork Skins (1 oz)

Applegate Farms Pepperoni Joy Stick (1 oz)

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Cheddar (55 pieces)

Hostess Snoballs (1 snoball) ( Listed under best pastry to eat from the gas station)

Emerald Trail Mix Berry Blend (3 Tbsp)

Larabar Jocalat Chocolate ( Best chocolate choice)

Not to say that the best listed foods are super healthy choices, but if you are in a pinch at the gas stop they are the healthier choices. To read the whole article go to MSN Health.

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What Kind of Alternative Treatments Exist?

February 2nd, 2010 By: Brittany

When it comes to the alternative world of healing there really is no limit. Many techniques used for today’s alternative healing work have been used many many centuries. The best way to tell what your body needs is just following what your body best feels interested in. Usually, there are always signs that are body is in need of something in particular.

Here are four top treatments many people use today as way to get healthy, stay health, and prevent becoming sick.

1. Acupuncture/ Acupressure-  is the procedure of inserting and manipulating needles into points on the body to relieve pain or for healing use. Many people use this in combination with other treatments. Acupressure is also great because it allows you use it at home on your on time.

2. Massage/ Reflexogy- is the action of rubbing or kneading  someone’s body, to help the person relax and heal. Massage is very common in both western and eastern areas of healing. Massage is used because of the benefit it has on our mental and emotional health. It is considered to many to be very relaxing. Both massage and reflexology can be done at home as well. To learn more about self massage click here.

3. Applied Kinesology-  to help diagnosis and treat patients of muscular imbalance, emotional imbalance, and physical imbalance. This is a great tool that many chiropractors and Naturopathsuses to help diagnose and treat illness in the body. It is also something that you can learn to do to test your self at home with. To learn more please go here.

4. Spinal Manipulation/Chiropractics- is manual manipulation of the  musculoskeletal system that emphasizes diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the spine and nervous system. Chiropractics is believed to be good because it helps realign the body in its original state so that it can function more efficiently.

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Exercise Proves Helpful for MS Patients

January 29th, 2010 By: Brittany

Exercise appears to protect the brains of people with multiple sclerosis, new study findings suggest.

Researchers assessed fitness, cognitive function and brain structural changes in 21 women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).

Patients who were classified as being highly fit performed much better on cognitive function tests than less-fit patients. MRI scans also showed that higher levels of fitness were associated with greater volume of gray matter, which is linked to vital brain processing skills, and less damage in parts of the brain where MS-related deterioration occurs.

“We found that aerobic fitness has a protective effect on parts of the brain that are most affected by multiple sclerosis,” study lead author Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University, said in a news release. “As a result, these fitter patients actually show better performance on tasks that measure processing speed.”

The researchers also found that fitter MS patients showed less deterioration of brain white matter, which are fibers that connect gray matter areas.

Source: MSN Health

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