Fitness And Health

Archive for November, 2008

This is exciting, Dr. Bruce Ames of the University of California, Berkley, has done some ground breaking research in aging. Dr. Ames posted a lecture on the subject and we are pleased to present it here.

Life expectancy went from the 40s in the early 1900’s to nearly 80 now. Thanks to break throughs in healthy aging Dr. Ames expects to blast through that barrier again in this century. In these two videos Dr. Ames talks about studies with aged rats. The rats were lethargic, became fatigued easily, and couldn’t find cheese in a maze.

In the study the rats were given Caratine and alpha-lipolic acid (ALA) (these supplements are available in health food stores). Overnight, the rats became like young rats, running the mazes, finding the cheese, and doing all the things that young rats do. These supplements might be an important factor in longevity and quality of life during old age.

Dr. Ames found the same compounds work to help people get the same type of tune up. Below you’ll find part A and part B of a discussion Dr. Ames did on the experiments.

Together the videos run about 20 minutes.

Bruce Ames Lecture on Aging part A

Bruce Ames Lecture on Aging, Part B

Technorati Tags: aging, aging research, anti-aging, healthy aging, longevity, quality of life

We have several posts now about affirmations and their importance in any area of your life that you are working to improve.

• Affirmations
• Affirmations And Health – Well Being – Success
• How To Write And Record Your Own Affirmations

We are adding a new affirmation to our ITunes Affirmations Podcast and if you subscribe you will automatically get it.

We are pleased to announce a partnership with wwwTheRealMikeGriffin.com (Mike Griffin is the voice on our affirmation recordings) and they have included our affirmations in their tool bar. If you get the tool bar you’ll also get a convenient way to listen to the success classic: “The Science Of Getting Rich” <– download the ebook by clicking the link. With the tool bar you can pick the particular chapter of the book you want to hear and likewise dial up the particular affirmation you’d like. Find our about the tool bar by clicking the Real Mike link above or if you know enough and just want to install it click here –> Get The RMG ToolBar.

The affirmation is: ‘I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy.’ It’s from Charles Haanel’s “Master Key System.” It’s an affirmation he used as a boy to overcome health problems. Here is how he described it:

“I built up an affirmation for myself, taking the qualities I most needed, and affirming for myself over and over again, ‘I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy.’ I kept up this affirmation, always the same, never varying, till I could wake up in the night and find myself repeating, ‘I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious and happy.’ It was the last thing on my lips at night and the first thing in the morning.

“Not only did I affirm it for myself, but for others that I knew needed it. I want to emphasize this point. Whatever you desire for yourself, affirm it for others, and it will help you both. We reap what we sow. If we send out thoughts of love and health, they return to us like bread cast upon the waters; but if we send out thoughts of fear, worry, jealousy, anger, hate, etc., we will reap the results in our own lives.

“It used to be said that man is built completely anew every seven years, but some scientists now declare that we build ourselves entirely over again every eleven months so we are really only eleven months old. if we build the defects back into our bodies year after year, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Technorati Tags: affirmation, Charles Haanel, Master Key System

Just a little late for Thanksgiving, but a story that needs to be shared over and over.

Technorati Tags: hope, inspire, overcome

By Mark Bromson, MD

Many patients come to me seeking pain relief. Whether it is back pain, neck and shoulder pain, or arthritis pain, my patients need solutions. Sometimes, the solution involves treating an underlying condition and putting an end to the pain. Sometimes, it means learning to manage chronic pain over the long term. Often, it simply means offering quick relief so people can get on with daily life. It’s this third solution that we’ll be discussing today.

Pain and Your Nerves

A back injury may be very different from chronic arthritis, but these conditions are similar in one aspect: both trigger a series of exchanges between the three major parts of your nervous system. These exchanges or messages are relayed through the body by neurons, the billions of cells that make up the nervous system. The result is the sensation you know as pain.

Here’s how it works: Pain begins with the peripheral nerves. They extend from your skin, muscles and internal organs to your spinal cord. These nerves may be sensitive to touch, movement and temperature changes. When these nerves are stimulated, they send pain messages in the form of electrical impulses to your spinal cord. In the spinal cord, which is the second major part of the nervous system, chemicals called neurotransmitters are released. These activate yet another group of nerve cells, which relay the message to the brain.

In the brain, which is the third area of the nervous system, the message is received by the thalamus. From there, specific messages are sent to the parts of the brain responsible for physical, emotional and intellectual reactions. As a result, you feel the pain in your body, you react emotionally based on your past experience, and you understand the idea of pain and begin, no doubt, to think of ways to alleviate it.

Getting Fast Relief

Now that you know pain begins with the nerves, you can target them directly to get relief. As I mentioned above, your peripheral nerves are responsive to the sensations of hot and cold. If you take advantage of this, you can prevent the pain message from reaching the brain by masking it with a different message.

The key is to use topical treatments with ingredients that can distract your nervous system from the pain you are experiencing. Sometimes called “counterirritants,” these substances are effective at providing temporary relief. Some highly potent ingredients to look for are menthol, camphor, eucalyptus oil, juniper berry oil and pine oil. The active ingredients listed on a product’s label will be present in the largest quantity in the medicine. Ideally, a mix of menthol and camphor should appear on this list.

These pain-masking ingredients can penetrate the skin and trigger a response in the nerves. Menthol, for example, will result in a cooling sensation when the nerve impulses reach the brain. Other substances produce hot sensations. Capsaicin creams, in particular, are made from chile peppers and deprive nerve cells of a substance needed for sending pain messages.

I often recommend topical pain relievers like I described above to my patients. These highly effective counterirritants will not permanently alleviate pain, but they provide temporary relief that is vital to those suffering from chronic conditions. Often, people use these products when they are waiting for other medications to begin working.

There are many ways to deal with pain. Only you and your doctor can determine the best plan to suit your individual needs. If topical counterirritants become part of your treatment plan, they should provide a welcome dose of relief just when you need it most.

Sources

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-management-symptoms-types

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pain/PN00017

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-relievers

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/PN/00041.html

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/brain/2.asp

[Mark Bromson, MD, is a nutritional consultant for Vitalmax Vitamins. He is presently a practicing orthopedic surgeon in South Florida. His extensive medical education includes a biology degree from Harvard College, a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the University of Miami. Dr. Bromson is actively involved in the advancement of alternative medicine and its role in nutrition, exercise and the musculoskeletal system. To learn more, click here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul.

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, alternative therapy, arthritis, back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain

By Kelley Herring

Do you want people to do a double-take when you reveal your real age? Then do this: Eat cinnamon and cloves.

Recent research published in the Journal of Medicinal Food found that these spices – which are often used in holiday goodies – not only provide antioxidants but also significant protection against the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).

And “AGE” is certainly an apt acronym. You see, AGEs trigger the body’s defense arsenal and lead to inflammation and tissue damage. This results in lines on your face, inflexible arteries, and a host of other metabolic consequences.

So, how do you get the most out of these age-defying spices?

The first rule is this: The fresher the flavor, the more benefits. The researchers found a direct correlation between the phenol content in the spices and their ability to block AGEs. And since phenols are destroyed by light, heat, and exposure to air, keep your spices in a cool dark place for maximum potency.

Plus when you bake with these spices, make sure you use a safe sweetener too (i.e., one that does not spike blood sugar and promote AGEs), like erythritol or stevia.

[Ed. Note: Healthy agents don't have to come in a prescription bottle. In fact, you can find plenty of all-natural methods for staying healthy. Now, you can access the latest breakthroughs in weight-loss programs... healthful recipes... and other ideas for achieving optimal health - all from one of the largest integrative-medicine practices in the country. Learn more here.

Survive the holidays with nutrition expert Kelley Herring's brand-new recipe e-books, Guilt-Free Desserts and Healthy Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres. You'll find 60+ healthy recipes you can easily make at home.]

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul.

by Dr. Tim Reynolds 09/16/2008
Part 3 of a five-part series.

Technorati Tags: cholesterol, heart disease, statin, statin drugs

Myth #1: Dieting Will Help You Lose Weight and Make You Healthy

By Tim Reynolds, MD

Every day we are bombarded with medical garbage. It comes from all sources — maybe even your doctor. There are also medical myths that have been passed on from one generation to the next — unfortunately, no one has looked carefully at where the information started and whether it is in fact valid or not.

I hate budgets and I hate diets. I think I hate them for the same reason — they make me want all the things I can’t have even more. Have you ever noticed that the word DIET is a four letter word and that the first three letters are DIE?! That’s how I feel about dieting. So many times we go to the doctor and he/she says “Well you are overweight and you need to start on a diet”. Unfortunately, many health professionals do not know exactly what this means — it is also the wrong approach to take to lose weight.

Instead of going on a diet, why not change the way you look at food and the way you approach your health? Why not change your reality and realize that food is nutrition that is good for the body as long as it’s the right kind and eaten in moderation? Food is not the enemy — choosing the wrong foods and overeating is the enemy.

A major problem started with flawed research that was then capitalized upon by food manufacturers. In the 1970s and 80s, it was erroneously determined that our high fat diet was making us all fat.¹ Food manufacturers quickly caught on and soon every product had a label that said “low fat”. Unfortunately, we replaced the fat with sugar. As we all ate our low fat diets, the entire country got fatter.

A variation on the theme is being seen now with carbs. Everyone wants to be on a low carb diet. So now everything at the grocery store is advertised as “low carb”. Once again, most people have no idea what this means. There is more than one type of carbohydrate and not all carbs are bad.

Natural plant fiber is made from carbohydrates. Fruits are carbohydrates but should not be considered the same as carbohydrates from a doughnut. If we only look at the carb count, once again we will be led down the wrong path due to creative advertising.

So what are we to do? How can we figure all this out? I have two simple recommendations that will help. First get back to nature. I do not mean move to the mountains (although that does sound nice) — but start eating natural foods. Think of it this way — if you can’t catch it or pick it, don’t eat it. If you follow this rule, you can have all the fish, fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits you want.

In fact, if your diet consisted of just these foods, you would never be fat. As I write this, I am at a scuba diving resort in Borneo, Malaysia. This island does not have an overweight person on it. Why? Because they only eat what they can catch or pick. They have a natural high protein, low carb diet.

Second, if you are going to eat processed foods, always check the label. You will find protein content in grams, fat in grams, and carbohydrates in grams. Under carbohydrates it will list sugar in grams. If the grams of sugar are higher than 10 (8 if you want to be strict), put it back and choose something else.

You will be amazed at what does and does not have sugar once you start looking. Remember, it is not simply the fat or carbohydrates — as it turns out, the problem is the amount of sugar it contains.

Finally, I have an 85/15 rule. If you eat like I just showed you 85% of the time, you can eat what you like the other 15%. Food is energy — it is good for you. Choose the right foods and they will keep you healthy. Choose the wrong foods and they will make you ill. You are in fact what you eat.

Reference

1. http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2008/02/dr-jamie-bailes-fat-free-fallacy.html

[Ed. Note: Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert. For more information, click here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs which offers alternative health solutions for mind, body and soul.

Technorati Tags: Diet, dieting, lose weight, weight loss

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that’s more productive.”

- Donald Trump

5 Strategies for Living a Simpler, Fuller Life

By Michael Masterson

About eight years ago, I did a little experiment. I wanted to find out if it really is possible to do business from anywhere in the world. So I packed my family off to Rome (one of my favorite cities) for a six-week “working vacation.” I not only learned that, yes, it is possible for me to work in Rome (or just about anywhere else, for that matter), I also learned something that has had a much more profound effect.

In Rome, completely separated from the crazy, stressful routine I was used to back home. I learned how to simplify my life.

If you think simplifying your life will mean making less money, enjoying less success, maybe even being less effective as a businessperson, think again. Simplifying your life is about having more – not less – of the good things. More passion. More meaningful work and relationships. And you can have more of those things by having fewer of the bad things – unsatisfying rituals, self-destructive habits, energy-draining feelings, and so on.

Today, I’d like to talk about one way to simplify your life at work. If you follow my suggestions, you’ll not only achieve more productivity but also gain more inner peace by avoiding emotionally costly conflicts.

We live in a time in which meaningless busyness keeps most people from achieving great things. They mistake being busy for being productive. They let the priorities of other people – their boss, their spouse, maybe even their children – take precedence. As a result, they feel swamped… and out of control.

You’re not going to regain control over your life if you continue to try to deal with too many issues in too little time. As counterintuitive as it may sound, the only way to do it is to learn how to:

• simplify that which is complex

• eliminate that which is superfluous

• know the difference between the two

As an example, let’s take a trap that I used to fall into all the time: getting involved in settling disputes between employees. Is it critical to your business that people get along? Yes. Especially since conflicts often get in the way of their working effectively. Is it up to you to drop what you’re doing and help smooth the waters? No… not unless you want to join them in being unproductive.

So what should you do when the temptation arises to get involved?

Assure both individuals that they are bright and capable… or they wouldn’t have been hired. Let them know that you have every confidence that they will find a way to settle the matter privately, between the two of them. And make sure they know that while it is uncomfortable for them not to be getting along, it is even less comfortable for the entire team.

Instead of spending hours trying to resolve a problem that has nothing to do with your own priorities, it will take only about 10 minutes of your time to build their confidence, show them that you support them, establish your expectation for a good-faith effort to resolve the conflict – and perhaps make both parties feel slightly embarrassed for making the rest of the group feel uneasy.

As long as you allow your quest for simplicity to be pushed aside – in favor of getting involved in situations where you don’t belong, constantly checking your e-mail, going to pointless meetings, or writing long memos that no one reads – the ability to leverage your time and attention will continue to elude you. So will everything else that you’d like to accomplish in this lifetime.

Here’s what you need in order to regain control – what I call the ETR Simplicity Imperative:

* Solid Vision

Whether you’re managing a project, running a company, or handling your day-to-day schedule, you need a firm grasp of the big picture. Further, you need to be able to articulate your vision to others with clarity and ease and help them find ways to support it… not work against it. When we’re not clear about our vision, we are at our most vulnerable. Our time and attention become diffused, and we start to lose focus.

* Clear Priorities

Your priorities grow naturally out of your vision – out of knowing what’s important and doing only that. Then, when you find yourself behind on reaching your goals, you don’t have to look far to find the problem. Usually, it means you have lost control of your time because you stopped minding your priorities.

* Daily Discipline

Perhaps the most valuable finite resource known to man is time. Squander it, and there’s no way to get it back. Adhering to a daily schedule that is led by your vision and run by your priorities is the surest path to personal freedom. That might sound easy, but it’s not. Most of us resist, and we pay the price. (It’s not surprising that most serious diseases are stress-related.)

When compiling your daily do-do list, ask yourself these three questions:

1. “Is this something I could just as well delegate/eliminate?”

2. “Is there some way I could do this in half the time?”

3. “Is this related to an objective that will truly make my life better/richer/fuller?”

In selecting my priorities each day, I highlight the most important tasks – the ones that that are essential to my long-term personal Master Plan. And because I know I can do only a limited number of things each day, I start by doing those.

If I ever have to choose between two priorities, I ask myself: “Of the two, which one will be more important to me at the end of my life?”

It’s all about economy – doing fewer things overall but making sure that the things you do have more importance.

Two more things that can help you establish priorities:

• Pareto’s Law: Twenty percent of the things we do will achieve 80 percent of what we want. So ask yourself, “Which of the tasks that are before me are among that 20 percent?”

• The Gold, Vapor, and Acid Rule: Just about any activity you choose to do can fit into one of three categories. It can damage you in some way, improve you somehow, or leave you more or less the same. Think of the best choices – the ones that can improve you – as Gold. Think of the neutral choices – the ones that will just help you pass the time – as Vapor. And think of the worst choices – the ones that can hurt you – as Acid.

It’s up to you how much Gold, Vapor, and Acid you are going to have in your life.

To simplify your life, you have to do more of what gives you soulful satisfaction and less of what gives you negative – or no – rewards. Out with the bad. In with the good. In setting your goals and planning your time, keep that in mind.

Giving yourself the power to take control of your time really is the secret to success. And it will even make it possible for you to smell those roses along the way.

[Ed. Note: What if you had an ingenious way to deal with almost any of life's little frustrations or major problems? From gossip to liars to lousy credit ratings... irritating neighbors, IRS audits, and bully bosses... billing errors, back pain, and out-of-control in-laws. We've got quick and effective solutions for these and hundreds more. Get them all for free right here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Technorati Tags: discipline, priorities, simpler life, vision

By James LaValle, R. Ph, ND, CCN

Every fall, hundreds of patients ask us if they should get vaccinated with a flu shot. As with any medical treatment, the risks and benefits always need to be fully considered. Every year I scour the literature for any reports of harm from flu vaccines and also to look at whether the data show that they were effective in preventing the flu.

Let’s start with the risks. The manufacturers of flu vaccines combine three strains of inactivated (dead) flu viruses, along with preservatives. Most of the controversy surrounding vaccines has to do with whether the preservatives are safe. In some cases, they clearly are not. Mercury as part of the preservative thimerosol has received the most attention since it is a known neurotoxin, and it is still in some vaccines.¹ At the very least, I recommend requesting thimerosol-free vaccines.

Some of the risks from vaccines however, may be due to the immune activation itself, or the long-term effects of live viruses that are sometimes used. For instance, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a neurological condition that can develop after having a bacterial or viral infection. It occurs when something goes wrong in the immune system and your protective nerve coatings known as myelin get attacked. There is a very low risk (something like one in a million) of getting GBS after receiving a flu vaccine.²

Some experts suspect that we will eventually find that vaccines greatly increase one’s risks of neurological problems, but currently the risks are not known. Finally, there is a risk of serious allergic reactions; with flu vaccines, the rates of severe immediate reactions have been very rare.

As to the benefits, we have to first ask: Is the treatment effective? The answer is, not very. The three flu strains that go into the vaccine are chosen almost a year before flu season hits. Because the viruses mutate rapidly, the strains in the vaccines often don’t match the actual viruses that come to your town each season.

For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted that last year’s flu shot was a good match for only about 40% of that year’s flu viruses.³ That’s why last year’s flu outbreak was one of the worst in a long time — despite the widespread use of flu vaccines.

In 2006, the esteemed British Medical Journal looked at all the research behind flu shots and came up with some interesting conclusions:⁴

• The evidence shows that flu vaccines have little or no effect.
• There is little comparative evidence that the vaccines are safe.
• The authors noted a “gap” between guidelines that call for mass vaccination and the evidence to support those guidelines.

Those considered to be at highest risk from flu are the elderly and young children. In those over age 70, flu vaccines did not reduce the number of deaths, but it is thought that it did reduce hospitalizations. A 2008 study of children aged 6 months to 5 years old found that the flu vaccine was not effective in any kids, regardless of age, where they live, or when they got vaccinated — and the most likely reason was because the vaccines didn’t match the strains that actually hit.⁵

While everyone has to make their own decision, I can tell you that personally I do not take flu vaccines because I have serious reservations about the long-term neurological effects. Medical literature states that just because you get a flu vaccine doesn’t mean you won’t get the flu.

So regardless of whether you decide to vaccinate or not, it’s a good idea to know other ways to protect yourself. First, make sure that you are taking measures to build a strong immune system. Vitamin C, vitamin A, and zinc all play important roles in the immune system. Zinc for instance causes your T killer cells to come to full maturity. So make sure you are taking in adequate amounts of these nutrients, via good food sources and a multivitamin.

If you do come down with the flu, here are the top flu remedies we use at Lavalle Metabolic Institute:

• Oscillococcinum. This homeopathic preparation is one of the world’s most popular for flu, particularly in France, where it has been in production for over 65 years. Though the key to this remedy is having it handy at the earliest signs of getting the flu, our patients report high effectiveness. One published study showed it prevented the onset of flu in 19.2% of users and improved symptoms in 43.7%.⁶

• Black Elderberry Extract. We carry an elderberry syrup for cold and flu called Sambucol. Elderberries are rich in immune supporting anthocyanins, and in two studies, the Sambucol product showed much more rapid recovery from the flu compared to a placebo.^7-8

So good luck, and next time I will be talking about the best ways to protect yourself from colds this winter.

References

1. “Influenza Virus Vaccine Fluzone 2005-2006 Formula,” package insert, Aventis Pasteur. (Company name has since changed to Sanofi Pasteur MSD.) Update Feb. 14 2006
2. Haber P, et al. JAMA 2004;292:2478-2481.
3. Associated Press, Feb. 15, 2008.
4. Brit Med J, Oct. 28, 2006;333:912-915.
5. Szilagyi PG, et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008;162(10):943-51.
6. Br J Homeopathy 1998.
7. Zakay-Rones Z, et al. J Alt Comp Med 1995;1(4): 361-369.
8. Zakay-Rones Z, et al. J Internat Med Res 2004;32:132-140.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of the bestselling book Cracking the Metabolic Code: 9 Keys to Optimal Health and is the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription. To learn more, click here.]

“This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com“

Technorati Tags: flu, flu vaccine, thimerosol