Can Anything Help With Sleep

December 11th, 2009 By: Brittany

Drink some warm milk before bedtime

Decades ago, scientists looked into this folk remedy and posited that tryptophan, an amino acid in milk (and turkey), might be responsible for its supposed sleep-inducing effects. Earlier research had shown that when tryptophan is released into the brain, it produces serotonin—a serenity-boosting neurotransmitter. But when milk (and other tryptophan-rich foods) were tested, they failed to affect sleep patterns. “Tryptophan-containing foods don’t produce the hypnotic effects pure tryptophan does, because other amino acids in those foods compete to get into the brain,” explains Art Spielman, M.D., an insomnia expert and professor of psychology at the City University of New York. Warm milk at bedtime may be comforting, but it won’t boost sleep-promoting serotonin.

Have a bedtime snack.

A light bedtime snack can stave off hunger, a known sleep robber. But eating high-glycemic-index (GI) carbohydrates—hours earlier at dinner—might also help. (High-GI foods cause a greater rise in blood sugar and insulin than do lower-GI foods.) A recent paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when healthy sleepers ate carbohydrate-rich suppers of veggies and tomato sauce over rice, they fell asleep significantly faster at bedtime if the meal included high-GI jasmine rice rather than lower-GI long-grain rice. While the authors aren’t sure how it happened, they speculated that the greater amounts of insulin triggered by the high-GI meals increased the ratio of tryptophan relative to other amino acids in the blood, allowing proportionately more to get into the brain. [ continue reading ]

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Personality Helps Determine Our Stress

December 10th, 2009 By: Brittany

Our ability to withstand stress-related, inflammatory diseases may be associated, not just with our race and sex, but with our personality as well, according to a study published in the July issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Especially in aging women, low levels of the personality trait extraversion may signal that blood levels of a key inflammatory molecule have crossed over a threshold linked to a doubling of risk of death within five years.

An emerging area of medical science examines the mind-body connection, and how personality and stress contribute to disease in the aging body. Long-term exposure to hormones released by the brains of people under stress, for instance, takes a toll on organs. Like any injury, this brings a reaction from the body’s immune system, including the release of immune chemicals that trigger inflammation in an attempt to begin the healing process. The same process goes too far as part of diseases from rheumatoid arthritis to Alzheimer’s disease to atherosclerosis, where inflammation contributes to clogged arteries, heart attacks and strokes. [ continue reading ]

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Budwig Cottage Cheese And Flaxseed Recipe

December 6th, 2009 By: Brittany

The Flaxseed (Linseed) oil diet was originally proposed by Dr. Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist and expert on fats and oils, in 1951.  Dr. Budwig holds a Ph.D. in Natural Science, has undergone medical training, and was schooled in pharmaceutical science, physics, botany and biology. She is best known for her extensive research on the properties and benefits of flaxseed oil combined with sulphurated proteins in the diet, and over the years has published a number of books on the subject, including “Cancer–A Fat Problem,” “The Death of the Tumor,” and “True Health Against Arteriosclerosis, Heart Infarction & Cancer.”

Dr. Budwig found that the blood of seriously ill cancer patients was deficient in certain important essential ingredients which included substances called phosphatides and lipoproteins, while the blood of a healthy person always contains sufficient quantities of these essential ingredients.

She found that when these natural ingredients where replaced over approximately a three month period, tumors gradually receded, weakness and anemia disappeared and life energy was restored. Symptoms of cancer, liver dysfunction and diabetes were alleviated.

Source: Cancer Cure Foundation

I have heard for many years about the Budwig diet, and happen to come across an article recently that was talking about it. I know it has been studied and reviewed for over 40 years with success. I have no personal experience with the diet its self, but I thought it would be interesting to post a video explaining how to make the flaxseed and cottage cheese recipe that Budwig is famous for. Feel free to leave comments if you have further to add about the diet.

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How Our Skin Relates To Our Health

December 3rd, 2009 By: Brittany

Researchers from the universities of Bristol and St. Andrews in the UK have found that the color of a person’s skin affects how healthy and therefore attractive they appear, and have found that diet may be crucial to achieving the most desirable complexion. The work will be published in the December issue of Springer’s International Journal of Primatology.

Using specialist computer software, a total of 54 Caucasian participants of both sexes were asked to manipulate the skin color of male and female Caucasian faces to make them look as healthy as possible. They chose to increase the rosiness, yellowness and brightness of the skin.

“Most previous work on faces has focused on the shape of the face or the texture of the skin, but one of the most variable characteristics of the face is skin color,” said Dr. Ian Stephen who is now at the University of Bristol.

“We knew from our previous work that people who have more blood and more oxygen color in their skins looked healthy, and so we decided to see what other colors affect health perceptions. This has given us some clues as to what other skin pigments may relate to a healthy appearance.”

Skin that is slightly flushed with blood and full of oxygen suggests a strong heart and lungs, supporting the study’s findings that rosier skin appeared healthy. Smokers and people with diabetes or heart disease have fewer blood vessels in their skin, and so skin would appear less rosy.

The preference for more golden or ‘yellow-toned’ skin as healthier might be explained by the ‘carotenoid pigments’ that we get from the fruit and vegetables in our diet. These plant pigments are powerful antioxidants that soak up dangerous compounds produced when the body combats disease. They are also important for our immune and reproductive systems and may help prevent cancer. [ continue reading ]

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What A Burgular Won’t Tell You

December 2nd, 2009 By: Brittany

The information for this comes from crime experts and convicted burglars in North Carolina, Oregon, California, and Kentucky. Here’s what a burglar won’t tell you:

1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.
2. Thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.
3. Love the flowers — they tell me you have taste, and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.
4. I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.
5. If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house.
6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s set.
7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.
8. It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door — understandable. But I don’t take a day off because of bad weather.
9. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters — don’t take me up on it.
10. I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet. [ continue reading ]

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Wireless Health Hazard

December 1st, 2009 By: Brittany

In the video above, ElectromagneticHealth.org founder Camilla Rees presents an overview of an emerging public health issue — excessive exposures to microwave radiation from wireless technologies.

Illness linked to electromagnetic radiation exposure inclufiede many cancers, neurological conditions, ADD, sleep disorders, depression, autism, cognitive problems, cardiovascular irregularities, hormone disruption, immune system disorders, metabolism changes, stress, fertility impairment, increased blood brain barrier permeability, mineral disruption, DNA damage and much, much more.

Source: Electromagnetic Health

This is becoming a highly studied health concern. Cell phones in particular are causing much havoc on peoples health. It’s important to be aware of them, as well as letting other become aware of it. Being conscious to the situation will benefit your health in the long run.

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Yoga For Breast Health

November 29th, 2009 By: Brittany

I found this article in Body and Soul awhile back. It talks about how the therapy of yoga can be beneficial for woman who suffer with breast cancer.

Yoga may help ease pain and replenish energy in women coping with breast cancer, suggests a small study from Duke University Medical Center.

For two months, 13 women with cancer that had spread beyond the breast practiced gentle poses, meditation, and breathing exercises regularly. On the days after they did yoga, the women were remarkably more relaxed and experienced less pain and fatigue.

Yoga’s ability to lessen stress is key to its positive impact on the body, says Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., director of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine Program. “When they’re diagnosed, many women still have to be active mothers and continue to work,” Cohen says. “Doing an activity that lets them focus on themselves is really useful.”

Source: Whole Living

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