Surviving Christmas

Many people find Christmas stressful and a time for arguments and unhappiness. Peace Direct, a great charity that worksto promote peace throughout the world, has put together a Christmas survival guide.

Keep The Calories Under Control!

Family, fun…and FOOD! It's what the holidays are all about, right? But that doesn't mean you have to pack on the holiday pounds. Start the New Year — and the New You — off right by balancing the calories you consume with the calories you burn, and avoid any holiday weight gain. Here are some ways to help jump start your New Year's resolutions:

Take the Extra Calories Out of Cooking!

•    If you're heading out to a party — holiday, birthday or any sort — eat a light, healthy snack before you go. Broth-based soups, cereal with skim milk, or just plain fruit are all good options! This will help curb your hunger and decrease your visits to the buffet table.
•    Modify recipes to reduce the amount of fat and calories. For example, when making lasagna, use part-skim ricotta cheese instead of whole-milk ricotta cheese. Substitute shredded vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, and spinach for some of the ground meat in lasagna.
•    Bring a low-fat, holiday dish to the party. Need some suggestions? Visit CDC's Healthy Recipes for details.
•    When eating or snacking in front of the TV, put the amount that you plan to eat into a bowl or container instead of eating straight from the package. It's easy to overeat when your attention is focused on something else.

Gum Disease and Diabetes

i've written before about the link between gum disease and heart disease, but studies are also showing a link with diabetes.

Using guidelines established by the American Diabetes Association, new research determined that 93 percent of subjects who had periodontal disease, compared to 63 percent of those without the disease, were considered to be at high risk for diabetes and should be screened for diabetes.

My hygienist tells me that if you improve gum health in diabetic patients they find it easier to manage their diabetes.

Check out our gum disease remedies.

Food Advertising And Children

An interesting new study from the University of Arizona. I think the press release is worth quotingat length:

A report authored by UA communication professor Dale Kunkel says children are still bombarded with television ads for unhealthy food choices.

A new study released Monday in Washington, D.C., criticizes the nation's food and beverage industry for failing to shift their marketing efforts aimed at children. The report said television advertising continues to contribute to epidemic levels of obesity, despite industry promises of reform.

Children Now, a California-based public policy group that advocates for children, commissioned the study, conducted by Dale Kunkel, a professor of communication at the University of Arizona, and UA graduate students Christopher McKinley and Paul Wright. The study can be seen on the Children Now Web site.

The study – "The Impact of Industry Self-Regulation on the Nutritional Quality of Foods Advertised on Television to Children" – analyzes the impact of the 2007 Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. It is the first ever independent, comprehensive evaluation of industry self-regulation on advertising food to children. Kunkel also will present his findings on Tuesday at a Federal Trade Commission hearing in Washington.

The industry initiative was launched three years ago by the U.S. Council of Better Business Bureaus as a voluntary, self-regulatory program designed to shift the mix of advertising messages targeting children. The goal of the initiative is to significantly improve the nutritional quality of food and drink advertised to children.

More than a dozen of the nation's largest food and beverage companies signed on. Together they represent about two-thirds of that industry's advertising budget.

However, Kunkel's study concludes that the industry has failed to meet the principal recommendations from a 2006 Institute of Medicine report to shift marketing away from foods low in nutritional quality and to emphasize advertising strategies promoting healthier food, beverage and meal options.

"My colleague, Dr. Dale Kunkel, and his collaborators at the University of Arizona have demonstrated that advertising of low-nutrient high-density foods continues to be a significant preventable variable in the childhood obesity epidemic," said former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, now the distinguished professor of public health at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

"This new scientific information should be a renewed ‘wake up' call to all elected officials, teachers and parents to take appropriate action to prevent childhood obesity and in doing so improve the quality of life and reduce the cost of care for our children," Carmona said.

Kunkel, who has researched children and media issues for 25 years, served on the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences committee that issued the report concluding that food marketing is a significant contributor to childhood obesity.

The study's key finding is that, despite industry self-regulation, nearly three out of four, 72.5 percent, of the foods advertised on television to children are for products in the poorest nutritional category. Known as "Whoa" foods, these products should be consumed only on special occasions, such as birthdays, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Advertising for truly healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits, known as "Go" foods, is virtually invisible. Commercials for these foods account for only one percent of all food advertising to children.

Kunkel said that in 2005, before the initiative began, 84 percent of ads were for products with the poorest nutrition, based on criteria from the Department of Health and Human Services Go-Slow-Whoa food rating system.

"Four years later, under self-regulation, they have only moved the bar to 72.5 percent," Kunkel said. "We cannot win the battle against childhood obesity as long as we continue to allow industry to bombard children with ads for foods that they really shouldn't eat very often."

Kunkel said it would require watching 10 hours of children's programs to find one healthy food ad. That same amount of viewing time would contain 55 ads for "Whoa" foods, and 20 for "Slow" foods.

The study also criticizes the use of familiar, "licensed" characters to influence children's decisions. While the food industry claims that licensed characters are only used to promote healthy foods to children, Kunkel's research has found that nearly half, 49 percent, of all food ads with licensed characters, such as Spongebob Squarepants, promote foods in the poorest nutritional category.

Because of the failure of industry self-regulation, the report recommends that Congress should step in to regulate advertising to children, a step also advocated by the Institute of Medicine.

Caffeine Does Not Sober You Up

At this time of the year people tend to drink a lot more alcohol and often use coffee to sober themselves up. Resarch has now shown that it doesn't work.

According to new laboratory research. Instead, a cup of coffee may make it harder for people to realize they're drunk.

What's more, popular caffeinated "alcohol-energy" drinks don't neutralize alcohol intoxication, suggest the findings from a mouse study reported in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association. Read more>>

Alcohol And Breast Cancer

Moderate to heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (at least three to four drinks per week) is associated with a 1.3-fold increased risk of breast cancer recurrence. Women who are post-menopausal or overweight may be most susceptible to the effects of alcohol on recurrence. Drinking less than three drinks per week was not associated with an increased risk.

Read more>>

Soya And Breast Cancer

Soy consumption improves breast cancer survival, according to a report in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers found that women diagnosed with breast cancer who consume soy products, such as soymilk, tofu, or edamame, have a 32 percent lower risk of recurrence and a 29 percent decreased risk of death, compared with women who consume little or no soy. The report included 5,042 women in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study, the largest population-based study of breast cancer survival, and followed them for a four-year period.

In the past, soy has been a controversial topic for cancer patients. However, an editorial accompanying this new study suggests that inconsistencies in prior research may be attributable to the comparatively low soy consumption in the United States, making beneficial effects harder to identify. In China, soy intake is higher and diets tend to include traditional food sources of soy, rather than soy supplements.

Shu XO, Zheng Y, Cai H, et al. Soy food intake and breast cancer survival. JAMA. 2009;302:2437-2443.
Ballard-Barbash R, Neuhouser ML. Challenges in design and interpretation of observational research on health behaviors and cancer survival. JAMA. 2009;302:2483-2484.

Source www.pcrm.org/.

Don't expose your children to your smoking

Children exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke have an increased risk of developing lung cancer in adulthood, even if they never smoked.

Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, as part of a special tobacco focus in the December issue.

This year alone, more than 219,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer; more than 159,000 will die from it and some of those may be people who have never smoked. Studies to date have shown that exposure to secondhand smoke in adulthood has detrimental health effects, but data are limited on one's risk of developing lung cancer when exposed as a child.

What makes this study different from previous research is that it was conducted in two independent cohorts and included a molecular analysis of gene variants of innate immunity - the mannose binding lection-2 gene, or MBL2 gene. The MBL2 gene is known to affect susceptibility to respiratory diseases.

Using the ongoing National Cancer Institute-Maryland Lung Cancer study (624 cases; 348 controls), Curtis C. Harris, M.D., chief of the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis at NCI, and colleagues collected information on secondhand smoke history among men and women. They used DNA for genotyping the MBL2 gene. Then, to compare, Harris, Ping Yang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues used results from a Mayo Clinic study (461 never smokers; 172 cases; 289 controls).

Harris and colleagues found an association between childhood exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and increased risk of lung cancer in adulthood. Furthermore, MBL2 activity was associated with an even more increased risk among those who were exposed to secondhand smoke in childhood.

Based on the results of this study, Harris said "children should not be exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke due to the long-term health implications they can face in adulthood." He added that these results warrant further investigation in a larger study population.

Smoking ban has not increased secondhand smoke in homes

A new study has shown that the introduction of smoke-free legislation has not led to an increase in children's exposure to secondhand smoke in their own homes.

Before the ban on smoking in public places, many people had voiced concerns that smokers would light up more frequently at home, putting children at an increased risk of the dangers of secondhand smoke.

But a new study in the journal BMC Public Health indicates that this has not been the case.

Researchers at Cardiff University measured the levels of cotinine - a substance formed from the breakdown of nicotine in cigarette smoke - in the saliva of 1,750 Welsh schoolchildren both before and after the ban.

Youngsters were also asked about their exposure to passive smoke.

Analysis revealed that the degree of exposure to secondhand smoke tended to be similar before and after the introduction of smoke-free legislation.

Dr Jo Holliday, from Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences, commented: "Concerns have been expressed regarding the potential displacement of smoking from public places into the home, affecting non-smokers and, in particular, children.

"We found that the smoke-free legislation in Wales did not increase secondhand smoke exposure in homes of children aged ten to 11. Nevertheless, the home did remain the main source of children's exposure."

Does smoking increase cancer risks?

Help With Fear Of Flying

A visitor to my web site sent me this email:

I read your article on Fear of Flying. I have had a fear of flying since 5 years. I enjoyed flying and had no issue with it for the first 22 years of my life but since the past 4 years I am terrified of it. I get very anxious, scared, and very aware when there is even the slightest turbulence and cannot get my self to book flights. I have tried psychiatry and hypno therapy they did work when I went one way but on the flight back I was a wreck again.

I am keen to get over this phobia as it is hindering by life in more ways than one. I have been advised to try kinesiology and was wondering whether you had any suggestions or advise for me.

This was my reply:

I think kinesiology may well be able to help you. My other thought would be to try this self-help technique from kinesiology which really helps if you're stressed.

By the way we now have a travel health products section in our online shop.

Help The Planet By Eating More Veggie Meals

Here's some interesting information from the UK Vegetarian Society:

• According to the United Nations 18% of world global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock production, whereas 13.5% comes from transport.
• A typical diet requires up to 2.5 times the amount of land compared to a veggie diet and 5 times that of a vegan diet. 
• Estimates of the water required to produce a kilo of beef vary, from 13,000 litres right up to 100,000 litres. The water required to produce a kilo of wheat is somewhere between 1,000-2,000 litres.
• By feeding grain and vegetables directly to people (rather than livestock) we can increase the amount of food available to everyone.
• It has been estimated that eating a kilogram of beef represents roughly the same greenhouse emissions, per passenger, as flying 100 kilometers of a flight.

UK Banks And Cluster Bombs

A report released by Cluster Munition Coalition members IKV Pax Christi (Netherlands) and Netwerk Vlaanderen (Belgium) has found that 138 financial institutions worldwide still provide over $20 billion to the producers of cluster bombs.

The report’s findings show that in the UK, 15 banks and financial institutions are investing in cluster bomb producers. Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, between them provide loans and investments to the tune of some £800 million. This means that some of the UK’s most prominent high street banks are providing some form of financial support to these shamefull and indiscriminate weapons.

So if you bank with Barcalys, HSBC or Royal Bank of Scotland email the chairman and ask them to change their policy. Better still bank with the Co-op Bank or its online sister Smile like we do, and tell the chairman why you've changed banks. You do have options to help change the world.

Can thinking of a loved one reduce your pain?

Can the mere thought of your loved one reduce your pain? Yes, according to a study by University Of Claifornia psychologists that underscores the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected.

The study, which asked whether simply looking at a photograph of your significant other can reduce pain, involved 25 women, mostly UCLA students, who had boyfriends with whom they had been in a good relationship for more than six months.

The women received moderately painful heat stimuli to their forearms while they went through a number of different conditions. In one set of conditions, they viewed photographs of their boyfriend, a stranger and a chair.

"When the women were just looking at pictures of their partner, they actually reported less pain to the heat stimuli than when they were looking at pictures of an object or pictures of a stranger," said study co-author Naomi Eisenberger, assistant professor of psychology and director of UCLA's Social and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. "Thus, the mere reminder of one's partner through a simple photograph was capable of reducing pain."

"This changes our notion of how social support influences people," she added. "Typically, we think that in order for social support to make us feel good, it has to be the kind of support that is very responsive to our emotional needs. Here, however, we are seeing that just a photo of one's significant other can have the same effect."

In another set of conditions, each woman held the hand of her boyfriend, the hand of a male stranger and a squeeze ball. The study found that when women were holding their boyfriends' hands, they reported less physical pain than when they were holding a stranger's hand or a ball while receiving the same amount of heat stimulation.

"This study demonstrates how much of an impact our social ties can have on our experience and fits with other work emphasizing the importance of social support for physical and mental health," Eisenberger said.

One practical piece of advice the authors give is that the next time you are going through a stressful or painful experience, if you cannot bring a loved one with you, a photo may do.

The study appears in the November 2009 issue of the journal Psychological Science.

Controlling What You Eat

If you feel like you’re in a losing battle with a triple-chocolate cake, a “mental budget” can help, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

“There are some behaviors that consumers try to limit but have trouble doing so,” write authors Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy (University of Houston) and Sonja Prokopec (ESSEC Business School, France). “Even as one aims to curtail consumption of sugars and fat, one ends up consuming the tiramisu or the triplechocolate
cake. Such discrepancies between one’s goals and actual behaviors represent instances of self-control failure.”

About 70 million Americans are attempting to control their food intake. So, how do consumers rein in overeating? In weight-loss systems like Weight Watchers ®, each food is assigned a point value and members are encouraged to limit their total daily consumption to a pre-specified amount of points. The authors conducted several studies where they encouraged some participants to set mental budgets and compared them to people who did not set budgets. They examined their consumption of sweet treats.
They discovered several patterns.

First, having a mental budget alone was not sufficient. Participants also needed to have an active goal of not wanting to consume sweets. Second, the information about the products needed to match the units of the mental budgets. Third, mental budgets succeeded when consumers followed specific numerical recommendations, like the Weight Watchers® points.

“For those who wish to cut out those desserts, our research suggests some simple tips,” the authors write. “First, it is important to have a mental budget. At the very least, it allows you to keep track of how you are doing with respect to your goal. Second, make sure the budget works as a limit rather than a license for the consumption behavior. To do this, it is important to have an active goal of controlling the consumption.”

Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy and Sonja Prokopec. “Resisting That Triple-Chocolate Cake: Mental Budgets and Self-Control.” Journal of ConsumerResearch: June 2010. A preprint of this article (to be officially published onlinesoon) can be found at http://journals.uchicago.edu/jcr).

Can Magnesium Help Tinnitus?

I recently received an email asking me this question. Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, is an extremely annoying complaint. Although there doesn't seem to be any scientific studies showing that a magnesium supplement is beneficial for this problem, there is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence, so it may well be worth giving it a try.

It definitely won't be a quick cure, so you will need to take it for about 3 months to be certain whether or not it is helping. The magnesium supplement we sell is of a suitable strength and in a form that is well absorbed.

Supplements for urinary tract infection

I rceently received this enquiry:

Can you tell me if you sell any supplements for urinary tract infections please.

 This is my answer:

Yes, we do. Cranberry extract can be very good.This suplement has been shown to stop harmful bacteria  attaching to the ballder wall, so helping the body get rid of them.

and

I’d also think about taking a probiotics formula designed to support your immune system. This particular product contains the strains thta have been shown to be beneficial for the immune system and also antioxidants that help strenthen the immune system. A great product!

Got a problem? Find a natural remedy solution

We often put up with things, thinking nothing can be done about them, but often there are natural remedies - nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, flower remedies, soothing creams, etc. - that can help us feel a lot, lot better.  The problem is how to find them. We've simplified the process with our natural remedy finder - there are now 59 different problems listed with details of the natural remedies that can help:

•    Acne
•    Ageing Support
•    Alcoholism Help
•    Angina Remedies
•    Anxiety Remedies
•    Arthritis Remedies
•    Asthma Remedies
•    Bloating Remedies
•    Blood Sugar Problems
•    Cancer Prevention
•    Catarrh Remedies
•    Cholesterol Problems
•    Cold Remedies
•    Colitis Help
•    Constant Tiredness
•    Constipation Remedies 
•    Cough Remedies
•    Cravings Help
•    Cystitis Remedies
•    Depression Remedies
•    Dermatitis Remedies
•    Diarrhoea Remedies
•    Eczema Remedies
•    Exam Stress Help 
•    Eye Problems
•    Flatulence Remedies
•    Gum Disease 
•    Hair Loss In Women
•    Hay Fever Remedies
•    Headache Remedies
•    Heart Health
•    Indigestion Remedies
•    Insomnia Remedies
•    Irritable Bowel Syndrome Remedies
•    Memory Problems
•    Menopause Remedies
•    Migraine Remedies
•    Mood Swings
•    Mouth Ulcers
•    Oily Skin Remedies
•    Pain Remedies
•    Pregnancy Health
•    Premenstrual Syndrome Treatment
•    Psoriasis Remedies
•    Raynaud's Disease Remedies
•    Rheumatism Relief
•    Rheumatoid Arthritis Remedies
•    Scar Tissue
•    Shingles Remedies
•    Sinusitis Remedies
•    Smoking Help
•    Sore Throat Remedies
•    Stress Incontinence Remedies
•    Stress Remedies
•    Syndrome X
•    Urticaria Remedies
•    Varicose Veins Remedies
•    Water Retention Remedies
•    Weight Loss Help

Do take a look and find the right health remedies for you.

Can Christmas be sustainable?

Can Christmas be sustainable? Tricky one. The average family will produce around one tonne of CO2 over the 12 days of Xmas. All that wrapping paper, twinkling lights, piles of food…
Difficult to make it wholly sustainable and still keep all the relatives happy.

But very possible to make it Greener – through smaller actions which really make a difference. Recycled wrapping paper, solar lights, food with low carbon footprints, and presents that promote sustainable lifestyles.

And then there are all the retrofit energy saving appliances that will lower your bills and reduce CO2 emissions.

Check out products to help at Nigel's Ecostore

International Therapist Listing Relaunched

We have revamped and relaunched our international therapist listing. We have over 4000 therapists listed - practitioners of kinesiology, homeopathy, chiropractic, reiki, Bowen, herbalism and many more practicing in the UK, USA, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and lots of other countries.

You can search our therapy listing or, if you're a therapist you can sign up

We do not sell, exchange or give away your details. This is therapist listing exists because I know complementary and alternative therapies work and can make a big difference to people's lives.

Please pass this on to any therapists that you know - thanks

Eat Fast, Eat More, Gain Weight

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full.  The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating.

“Most of us have heard that eating fast can lead to food overconsumption and obesity, and in fact some observational studies have supported this notion,” said Alexander Kokkinos, MD, PhD, of Laiko General Hospital in Athens Greece and lead author of the study. “Our study provides a possible explanation for the relationship between speed eating and overeating by showing that the rate at which someone eats may impact the release of gut hormones that signal the brain to stop eating.”

In the last few years, research regarding gut hormones, such as peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), has shown that their release after a meal acts on the brain and induces satiety and meal termination. Until now, concentrations of appetite-regulating hormones have not been examined in the context of different rates of eating.

In this study, subjects consumed the same test meal, 300ml of ice-cream, at different rates. Researchers took blood samples for the measurement of glucose, insulin, plasma lipids and gut hormones before the meal and at 30 minute intervals after the beginning of eating, until the end of the session, 210 minutes later. Researchers found that subjects who took the full 30 minutes to finish the ice cream had higher concentrations of PYY and GLP-1 and also tended to have a higher fullness rating.

“Our findings give some insight into an aspect of modern-day food overconsumption, namely the fact that many people, pressed by demanding working and living conditions, eat faster and in greater amounts than in the past,” said Kokkinos. “The warning we were given as children that ‘wolfing down your food will make you fat,’ may in fact have a physiological explanation.”

Other researchers working on the study include Kleopatra Alexiadou, Nicholas Tentolouris, Despoina Kyriaki, Despoina Perrea and Nicholas Katsilambros of Athens University Medical School in Greece; and Carel le Roux, Royce Vincent, Mohammad Ghatei and Stephen Bloom of Imperial College in London, United Kingdom.

help For Internal Scarring

I received this email query today:

I wonder if you can offer me any advice.  My dad has recently finished chemotherapy and radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.  Fortunately it was caught early for this sort of cancer and he is doing extremely well.  However, he has internal pains when he turns - especially in bed and after a large meal.  He has been told that is normal and is the result of scar tissue around the internal area blasted with radiotherapy as scar tissue is less stretchy/ flexible etc than normal tissue.

So, is there anything you could recommend to ease this?  I wonder if there's any product that he could take to improve the stretch or condition of internal scar tissue?

This was my reply:

Sorry to hear about your dad. I’d recommend zinc  and vitamin E. It’s not a quick cure though and he might not see nay improvement for a month, but well worth doing. People are often short of zinc anyway and it helps fight infections etc. etc.

Children And Vitamin D

In this month's Pediatrics researchers suggest that all children in the USA take vitam in D supplements, because of the generally low levels that they found and the potential health benefits of boosting vitamin D to normal levels. Vitamin D improves bone health and prevents rickets in children, and recent studies suggest that it also may prevent a host of common childhood illnesses, including respiratory infections, childhood wheezing, and winter-related eczema.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Skin Cancer

A new study has shown that people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), especially those receiving the thiopurine class of medications to treat IBD, may be at risk of developing non‐melanoma skin cancer (NMSC).

Read more about this >>

Look at the alternative too. We offer Turmeric supplement which has been shown to be very beneficial for IBS.

Avoiding Office Cakes, Biscuits and Candies

Here's a great idea if you work in an office:

"When I worked in a busy office, most of my co-workers kept jars of candy on their desks to enjoy and share with others. Constantly battling the "bulge," I hated these temptations, but neverthless often gave in to them. I decided to put out a jar of my own "feel good" stuff, with no calories. I bought a beautiful jar with a lid and spent one whole weekend at home cutting up colorful strips of paper and writing down inspiring quotes. I filled the jar and put it on my desk. It took a while to catch on, but soon, everyone was stopping by my "food for thought" jar daily to fill up on something much better than empty calories. They would take one out, read it, smile knowingly, and then fold it up and replace it for the next co-worker. It's something that never needed to be replenished unless, I saw a new quote I wanted to add. If you work in an office environment, try this out and see how much everyone loves it."

Source

H1N1 Flu - Can Antioxidnats Help?

In a press release (november 1st 2009) entitled "Scientists discover influenza's Achilles heel: Antioxidants" from the Federation of American Societies For Experimental Biology the scientists say: our research shows that antioxidants may prove beneficial in the treatment of flu. Read more >>

Check out our antioxidant supplement here.

Convenience vegetarian food

More and more people wnat to be vegetarian but feel they don't have time to cook a nut roast, so this year's UK Vegetarain Society awards are a good reminder that there are some excellent convenience products out there.

This year's short list consisted of:

• Macsween Vegetarian Haggis 
• Cauldron Cumberland Sausages
• Tesco Vegetarian Cheese and Leek Sausages
• Goodlife Fairtrade Nut Cutlet 
• Linda McCartney Sausages

The winner was Macsween Vegetarian Haggis.

I've never tried this but I do like the Goodlife Nut Cutlets and our house is definitely a fan of Linda McCartney sausages.

Overweight And Old Age

A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers has found that, among a large study population of women who lived until at least age 70, being overweight in mid-life was associated with having more health problems later in life, including multiple chronic diseases, and impaired cognitive function, physical function and mental health. Women who were lean at age 18 and maintained a healthy weight through mid-life had the best odds of achieving optimal health later in life. It is the first study to show the role adiposity may play in the overall health of women who survive to older ages.

Read more on this research>>

Check out our weight loss remedies - 60-day money-back guarantee

Cough Remedies - The Natural Approach

Coughs can vary from dry, tickling coughs to what are known as productive coughs, where you produce lots of mucus. Any unexplained cough that goes on and on should be investigated by properly qualified health professionals, but here are remedies and nutrition supplements for those irritating coughs that can make you feel miserable and unhappy.

•    Zinc lozenges with Vitamin C and propolis can soothe a tickly cough caused by a dry throat.
•    Lobelia Herbal compound works to loosen mucus and help get rid of it from your chest, sinuses and throat.
•  A nervous cough may be helped by magnesium - this mineral can be helpful for stress and anxiety.
•  The Australian Flower remedy Calm And Clear can also help you relax and feel more confident.

Check out these cough remedies here.

What Happens If You Don't Get Enough Vitamin D

Here's a neat summary of all the health problems of being short of Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. There is also some evidence that the vitamin may reduce the incidence of several types of cancer and type 1 diabetes.

Buy a vitamin D supplement >>

Sit Up Straight For Confidence

Sitting up straight in your chair isn’t just good for your posture – it also gives you more confidence in your own thoughts, according to a new study.

Researchers found that people who were told to sit up straight were more likely to believe thoughts they wrote down while in that posture concerning whether they were qualified for a job.

Read more about this research >>

What It Means to Be Adopted

Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted.


A little girl said, 'I know all about adoption, I was adopted..'

'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child.

'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!'

Guided Imagery Can help Children

Children with functional abdominal pain who used audio recordings of guided imagery at home in addition to standard medical treatment were almost three times as likely to improve their pain problem, compared to children who received standard treatment alone.

Read more about this research >>

Buy a Guided Imagery CD for your child>>

Meat And Cancer

Red and Processed Meat Increases Risk of Prostate Cancer
Meat consumption increases the risk of prostate cancer, according to a recent study looking at more than 175,000 men as part of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. The men who consumed the most red meat had a 30 percent increased risk of cancer, compared with those who consumed the least. Processed red meat was associated with a 10 percent increased risk of prostate cancer with every 10 grams (about one-third of an ounce) of increased intake. Researchers also investigated cooking method and content of heme iron and nitrites and nitrates for the various types of meat consumed. Heme iron intake, nitrite and nitrate consumption, and grilling and barbecuing all were associated with higher risk.
Sinha R, Park Y, Graubard BI, et al. Meat and meat-related compounds and risk of prostate cancer in a large prospective cohort study in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. Advance access published October 6, 2009. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp280.

For information about nutrition and health, please visit www.pcrm.org/.

Improve Your Brain - Learn to Juggle

Learning to juggle leads to changes in the white matter of the brain, an Oxford University study has shown.


The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council and published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, appears to show improved connectivity in parts of the brain involved in making movements necessary to catch the balls.

‘We tend to think of the brain as being static, or even beginning to degenerate, once we reach adulthood,’ says Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg of the Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, who led the work. ‘In fact we find the structure of the brain is ripe for change. We’ve shown that it is possible for the brain to condition its own wiring system to operate more efficiently.’

Continue reading this research >>

As the article points out, you don't need to juggle to attain the benefits, but you do need to do new things and challenge your brain.

Read about other ways to improve your brain >>

Theatre For The Destitute

It's interesting to see the many unconventional ways in which people are trying to help those lessfortunate than themselves. Here's an example. I received this email from Mark Wentworth:

I'm writing to you to see if you are able to help promote awareness for a project I am heading to take a team of people to Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2010. We will be sharing Dynamic Theatre with abandoned children and destitute women to offer hope and encouragement. We have just started our fundraising and would really appreciate any help to promote and raise awareness with the desire to raise funds for our project called "The Dynamic Heart Project"

learn more >>

Getting Ready For Skiing

Here's some advice from Kristoph Thompson:

In addition to using the machines in the gym you can perform some exercises that require your body to move in the same way as when skiing. First try side lunges. Standing upright, take a large step to the right, bend your hips and knees slightly and push off with right foot and stand feet together again. Try the same only stepping the left, alternate sides and repeat 12-15 times.

Visit Kristoph's web site.

More advice about skiing preparation exercises.

Concerned about city pollution?

Some really simple measures - as simple as moving to the other side of the street - can help reduce your exposure to traffic pollution in cities:

Research, led by Professor of Environmental Modelling Alison Tomlin from Leeds University's Faculty of Engineering, has shown that air pollution levels change dramatically within small geographical areas dependent on wind patterns, the location of traffic queues and the position and shapes of the surrounding buildings.

The findings showed that pollution hotspots tend to accumulate on the leeward side of the street, (the sheltered side) in relation to the wind's direction at roof-top level.

They also revealed that that carbon monoxide levels were up to four times lower in parallel side streets compared to the main road.

Read more >>

Selenium A,C and E have been shown to be protective against pollution.

Green Tea Health Benefits

A study in Japan published in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition (September 30th 2009) has shown that drinking green tea may help psychological distress.

Green tea compounds are also believed to increase the metabolic rate and act as a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger. It may also be protective against some stomach cancers for women (but not for men).

If you don’t fancy tea we sell green tea tablets.

Vitamin D And Breast Cancer Treatment

there just seems to be more and more research on the importance of vitamin D.

Women with breast cancer should be given high doses of vitamin D because a majority of them are likely to have low levels of vitamin D, which could contribute to decreased bone mass and greater risk of fractures, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“Vitamin D is essential to maintaining bone health and women with breast cancer have accelerated bone loss due to the nature of hormone therapy and chemotherapy. It’s important for women and their doctors to work together to boost their vitamin D intake,” said Luke Peppone, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, at Rochester’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. He is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Community Clinical Oncology Program research base in Rochester.

Buy vitamin D >>

Winter Immunity

Here are some simple ways to boost your immune system and have you sailing through winter unscathed courtesy of There's A Remedy for That

1. Avoid extreme and sudden temperature changes. Wrap up warmly when you go outside as prolonged exposure to wet and cold weather lowers your resistance and increases your risk of infection.

2. Get your heart going. Get in your three workouts a week for optimal immune system health. Regular exercise boosts the immune system and increases oxygen in the blood which helps fight antigens more effectively. If necessary, put your gym dates in your diary to make sure you don't miss out!

3. Boost your body’s resistance to disease by using natural alternatives like homeopathy and herbal medicine. These come from nature, have been around since the beginning of time and really help to boost your health and vitality.

4. Get enough rest. Sleep has been linked to balanced hormone levels (including the stress hormone, cortisol), keeping weight down, clear thinking and reasoning, improved mood, and vibrant, healthy skin. So don't skimp on the shut-eye.

5. Reduce stress. A relaxed mind and positive mental attitude makes a big difference to how your body fights disease. In dealing with stress find a daily relaxation technique to help you unwind such as breathing techniques, listening to calming music, yoga, Pilates, or simply enjoying time with your family.

CoCa Cola Ads

The UK Advertising Standards Authority has found against Coca Cola this week. The findings are in relation to 3 posters and a leaflet featuring Coca Cola's Vitaminwater range of soft drinks. You can see the full judgement here, but below is an exerpt

"We noted Coca-Cola's assertion that the product could be defined as "low calorie"; however, we also noted from the ingredient breakdown supplied that the products contained 4.6 g sugar per 100 ml or 23 g per 500 ml serving which constituted 26% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) based on 2000 calories per day. We considered that the appearance of the product, its colour, and the fact that it was fortified with vitamins made it clear to consumers that they were not "pure" water without calories or sugar. However, because we considered the ads made claims that were likely to be understood as referring to the nutritional and health benefits of the drinks, it was likely that, in conjunction with these claims, readers would infer that the range of drinks were "healthy". Because the drinks contained a significant proportion of a consumers RDA for sugar we concluded the ads were likely to mislead."

African Organic Cotton

Thousands of African smallholder farmers grow organic cotton, used in clothing sold in Europe and North America. Organic cotton cultivation has brought these farming families significant benefits in health, welfare and income but global cotton prices are notoriously unstable, even for organic cotton. So farmers are anxious not be dependent on cotton alone for their cash income and keen to find better markets for the food crops they grow. But selling for local markets is not always an attractive option as prices are often low and local demand for organic versions of their food crops is limited.

Farmers in organic cotton projects in Senegal and Benin are therefore exploring opportunities for exporting selected food crops.

Read more>>

What Makes Us Happy?

In the last few years the field of positive psychology has started to produce significant results to this important question.

Positive psychology researcher Dr. Nansook Park and her colleagues Dr. Christopher Peterson and Dr. Martin Seligman have looked at precisely this question. A study with more than 4000 participants revealed that five significant factors --gratitude, optimism, zest, curiosity, and the ability to love and be loved--are more closely and consistently related to life satisfaction . In other words it's not money or business success that makes us happy, but good old fashioned virtues of being in the community and being interested and excited by life.

Martin Seligman, commenting on this research, writes: “In my opinion, the most compelling reason to give special attention to these five key strengths is that each strength on the list is, by definition, mutable. We can all become more grateful, optimistic, zestful, curious, and loving if we are willing to make a concerted effort to do so.”

Martin Seligman has written an interesting book on this topic called Authentic Happiness.

Breast Milk And Sleeping Babies

The levels of the components in breast milk change every 24 hours in response to the needs of the baby. A new study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience shows, for example, how this milk could help newborn babies to sleep.

Breast milk contains various ingredients, such as nucleotides, which perform a very important role in regulating babies' sleep. The new study confirms that the composition of breast milk changes quite markedly throughout the day.

Isn't nature wonderful? Why are we so arrogant that we think we can replace it easily?

Read more >>

The Benefits Of Selenium

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) has concluded that selenium could offer “protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage, normal function of the immune system, normal thyroid function and normal spermatogenesis." DNA damage has been implicated in cancers and spermatogenesis is the process by which mature sperm are produced.

Read more about senium supplements >>

new organic baby wash launched.

Green People have launched a new Certified Organic Baby Wash. It's fragrance free and is suitable for washing body, hair and nappy area. It can also be used by children and adunlts who suffer from eczema and psoriasis. as it protects delicate skin from dryness and irritation.

Green People do a great range of skin care products - do take a look.

Are Drugs The Answer?

Since the drug companies began using their power for profit, health care has gone spiraling down the tubes, and so has the general population's well being. Prior to the 1930's the only available medicines were picked from plants. Since the 1950's and television, the rate of drug use in the U.S. is out of control. Too many people rely on drugs made from chemicals, and those chemicals have dangerous side effects, often creating more health problems in other areas of the body.

Read more about this and watch the video >>

Green Tea And Stomach Cancer

Researchers have studied green tea in cancer prevention because they suspect that the drink's antioxidants may protect against the disease. In particular, it may include compounds that fight bacteria that have been linked to stomach cancer. A new study by Dr. M. Inoue, at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, examined six older studies.

Together, these studies involved more than 219,000 men and women 40 years and older, who were followed from about 7 years to more than 11 years. Overall, about four in five of the participants reported drinking green tea daily, with about a third drinking five or more cups per day.

During follow-up, about 2500 of the approximately 100,000 men, and about 1000 of the more than 118,000 women in the studies developed stomach cancer.

The researchers found no link between more tea drinking and reduced stomach cancer risk among men.

The 20 percent reduced stomach cancer risk they saw among women drinking 5 or more, versus 1 or less, cups of green tea daily remained true even after the researchers took smoking into account.

Read more about this study >>

Don't fancy drinking green tea? then take a green tea supplement instead.

laptops wanted for community workers in Zambia

I have just returned from a trip with the charity Village Water to Zambia.

I’ve seen the charity pics but actually being taken by a villager to be shown the scoop hole they use for their drinking water is a whole different experience.

Village Water works in western Zambia providing safe water and hygiene and sanitation education for rural villages.

Three amazing ladies run the Mongu office – Clare, Precious and Albertina. I’m in awe of their strength, energy, optimism and dedication. They often work for 6-7 days a week. They think nothing of working long days going out to remote villages miles from electricity, mobile phone coverage or even tarmac roads.

They work with the villagers cajoling and teaching them, so that the villagers really own the wells put in by Village Water – they make a financial contribution to the cost of the well, someone in the village is trained to make repairs, and a village water committee (5 men and 5 women) ensures that the villagers put a little aside each month so they have the money to repair the pump when they need it. They build latrines and install simple hand washing facilities. Construct high tables so that pots and pans can be kept out of the reach of animals.

Since Village Water worked with them, many of the villages have started growing additional vegetables for sale and for consumption. One village got so excited by the water pump project they’ve now built a village community school and persuaded the Zambian government to provide them with a teacher. Another village has started pressing the government to provide a rural health centre close to them. All the villages reported that diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases had been virtually eliminated. Women are clearly empowered by the whole process.

Village Water funds are naturally concentrated on the water, sanitation and hygiene program, but at the end I asked the ladies what they needed to make their work easier. They said more office furniture and two more laptops. They already have one.

So here’s my questions: does anyone have a laptop they could donate (not more than 3 years old) or would like to buy a new one for these amazing ladies? Can anyone help with shipping them out to Western Province, Zambia?

If a laptop is beyond your means, you can still donate to the work of this amazing charity http://www.villagewater.org/home.html

I’m attaching a pic so you can see the ladies who would use it – Albertina on the left of the pic and Precious on the right of the pic.

Thanks

Jane Thurnell-Read

High-Fiber Diets Prevent Polyps

High-fiber diets may help prevent colon cancer, according to new results from the Polyp Prevention Trial. Previous studies yielded ambiguous findings about whether fiber could reduce the recurrence of colon polyps, which are often a first indication of colon cancer. The new report looked at participants who were the most compliant to a high-fruit-and-vegetable diet, finding that the diet reduced their odds of polyp recurrence by up to 35 percent and reduced their odds of advanced polyp recurrence almost 50 percent. The 1,905 participants were at least 35 years old and had at least one confirmed colorectal polyp. The test diet limited fat to 20 percent of calories, with 18 grams of fiber and 3.5 servings of fruits and vegetables per 1,000 calories.
In previous studies, plant-based and vegetarian diets have been associated with a much lower incidence of colon cancer.

Sansbury LB, Wanke K, Albert PS, et al. The effect of strict adherence to a high-fiber, high-fruit and-vegetable, and low-fat eating pattern on adenoma recurrence. Am J Epidemiol. 200;170:576-584.

Fraser GE. Associations between diet and cancer, ischemic heart disease, and all-cause mortality in non-Hispanic white California Seventh-day Adventists. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;70(suppl 3):532S-538S.

Source: www.pcrm.org/

Smoking And Surgery

People who start nicotine replacement therapy at least four weeks before surgery can halve their risk of poor wound healing. This is what the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) concludes in information published on www.informedhealthonline.org.

"It is not easy to quit smoking just before an operation," appreciates Professor Peter Sawicki, the Institute's Director. "But people who smoke are more likely to have complications after surgery than people who do not smoke," he adds.

IQWiG has now analysed current research results that show that nicotine replacement therapy can help people quit smoking and avoid complications after surgery. Nicotine replacement therapy helps reduce withdrawal symptoms when people stop smoking by giving them nicotine through a patch or chewing gum. Trials showed that only 14 percent of the patients who smoked had problems with wound healing if they had nicotine replacement therapy at least four weeks before surgery, compared to 28 percent of the patients who did not have nicotine replacement therapy. Poor wound healing is one of the most common complications after surgery.

Read more >>

Use hypnotherapy to help you overcome addictions >>

Wheat Sensitivity And Type 1 Diabetes

here is some very interesting information on type 1 diabetes ( not mature onset diabetes, but the type that often strikes young people) may involve an abnormal reaction to wheat:

Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes.

Early in life, the immune system is supposed to learn to attack foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, while leaving the body’s own tissues and harmless molecules in the environment alone (including food in the gut). When this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases and allergies can develop. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar. Dr. Scott’s research is the first to clearly show that immune cells called T cells from people with type 1 diabetes are also more likely to over-react to wheat. His research also shows that the over-reaction is linked to genes associated with type 1 diabetes.

Learn more about this >>

Exercise helps prevent weight regain after dieting by reducing appetite and by burning fat before burning carbohydrates, according to a new study with rats. Burning fat first and storing carbohydrates for use later in the day slows weight regain and may minimize overeating by signaling a feeling of fullness to the brain.

The University of Colorado Denver study also found that exercise prevents the increase in the number of fat cells that occurs during weight regain, challenging the conventional wisdom that the number of fat cells is set and cannot be altered by dietary or lifestyle changes.

Read more ..

Take Probiotics When You take Antibiotics

Up to one in five people on antibiotics stop taking their full course of antibiotic therapy due to diarrhea. Physicians could help patients avoid this problem by prescribing probiotics, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University published in American Family Physician.

The Einstein scientists reviewed the medical literature and found seven, high-quality studies in which probiotics were administered to people. The researchers concluded that the studies support the use of probiotics for avoiding diarrhea resulting from antibiotic use or from gastrointestinal viral or bacterial infections. In addition, the probiotics used in these studies were found to rarely cause adverse effects, even in children.

Read more >>

Water For Health For Everyone

Water is really important for our health. the UK charity WaterAid has launched a fun new campaign with a purpose.

The charity is collecting photos of toilets with a purpose. You can add your own. To find out more go to the WaterAid site and

• show the UK Prime Minister you are watching his progress as a "sanitation champion"
• urge him to talk toilets at the Annual High-Level Meeting on Sanitation and Water in April 2010

Vegetarian Nutrition

the UK Vegetarian Society web site is full of information and recipes for new and long-standing vegetarians. You will also find the resorces useful if you have a vegetarian coming to eat or stay.

people often worry about nutrition and whether they can live healthily on a vegetarian diet. I know from personal experince that the answer is 'yes', but if you're in any doubt check out what the Vegetarian Society has to say about nutrition and the vegetarian.

Travelling With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

I recently had a query about our travel probiotics. This is a product you start taking before you go on holiday and continue while on holiday. It uses special probiotic strains. The probiotics help to maintain a coating of friendly bacteria in the intestines to support natural immunity and digestive health. This means that unfriendly bugs find it difficult to get attached to the intestinal wall and multiply. Instead they are likely to be flushed away.

This was the query:

I am soon to travel to the Maldives and am an IBS sufferer and also have an intolerance to yeast. Can you tell me if this would be a good product for me please.

This was my answer:

I would expect the Travel probiotics to be very good for you. Check out my recommendations for irritable bowel syndrome too.

Antioxidants Not Associated With Increased Melanoma Risk

There has been a rceent study suggesting that taking supplements can have alarming results - leading to a four-fold increase in melanoma risk in women. This is scary stuff as melanomas are a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer.

Even more recent researhc contradicts these findings:

Maryam M. Asgari, M.D., M.P.H., of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and colleagues examined the association between antioxidants and melanoma among 69,671 women and men who were participating in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study, designed to examine supplement use and cancer risk. At the beginning of the study, between 2000 and 2002, participants completed a 24-page questionnaire about lifestyle factors, health history, diet, supplement use and other cancer risk factors.

Intake of multivitamins and supplements during the previous 10 years, including selenium and beta carotene, was not associated with melanoma risk in either women or men. The researchers also examined the risk of melanoma associated with long-term use of supplemental beta carotene and selenium at doses comparable to the previous study and found no association.

Read more about this ..

Are Children Working Too Hard?

It's very clear that a lot of people don't get enough rest, relaxation and sleep. Now a a large study of third-graders conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has shown this applies to children to!

The study showed that school children who receive more recess behave better and are likely to learn more.

Since the 1970s, children have lost about 12 hours per week in free time, including a 25 percent decrease in play and a 50 percent decrease in unstructured outdoor activities.

Dr Barros one of the researchers says: "When we restructure our education system, we have to think about the important role of recess in childhood development... Even if schools don't have the space, they could give students 15 minutes of indoor activity. All that they need is some unstructured time."

Read more>>

A remedy for children's stress >>

PCOS Remedies

Here's an email I had from a customer:

i'm 20 and have just been diagnosed with PCOS, i suffer from almost all the classic syptoms, but im not over weight. The doctor told me that all they can do is put me on the contraceptive pill, but that hasn't releived my symptoms, except for my irregulatr periods.

I've read in a number of places that herbal supplements can help, but there are so many i got confused, i was just wondering if you could give me any advice?

Also, this will probably seem like a stupid question but can you take a vit.B complex tablet and a mutlivitamin tablet at the same time?

Thank you

Here's my reply:

Herbs may help (such as Vitex or Black Cohosh), but if I were you I'd probably try taking a good quality Vitamin B complex first and seeing how that goes. I'd also use our Wild Yam and Soya Cream.

I wouldn't recommend taking B complex and a multi vit - it's not a stupid question. It's a good question. High doses of vitamin B6 can lead to problems with nerve damage, so if you take a B complex and a multivit you could exceed the safe levels of B6. I wouldn't take more than 50 mg of B6 in total per day except under the supervision of a properly qualified heath or nutrition professional.

The Secret Language of Money

McGraw Hill have published David Krueger's book, The Secret Language of Money.

The Secret Language of Money is a guided tour to the subconscious meanings we give money, the conflicted ways our brain deals with money, the reasons we tend to make the same money mistakes over and over – and most importantly, how you can change all that.

I think you’ll find the book useful professionally and personally as an exploration of understanding our relationship with money and how to change our money stories.

David is having “An Evening with the Author” (September 21 or 22, 7:00 PM Eastern US time)
to discuss the book. When you sign up, you’ll get Chapter 1, a download of Excerpts from Your New Money Story™ Workbook as well as information about the discussion. To sign up + purchase the book, please go to this page of the book site:
www.TheSecretLanguageofMoney.com/Evening

At the book site, you’ll find an audio interview, brief video and Blog relating to the book.

You can read a piece David wrote for our site entitled Your Money Attitude.

Health & Goodness has been revamped

Our health web site has gone through a major overhaul and has completely new clothes. I'm really delighted with it - navigation is easier and I like the new more bibrant colour scheme. Laoding time is fast as well. I hope you like it too.

Some of the old internal links from within articles won't work at the moment, and we will be updating those as fast as we can. The site has over 1000 article pages so it's going to take a while as they all have to be done manually.

In the mean time you can use the search facility to find the page you want.

Gum Health And Disease

There's some great information on gum and teeth health and it's relation to gum disease and disease in other parts of the body.

It’s a question and answer session with Dr George Meinig, D.D.S. In the interview he talks about some amazing research by Dr. Weston Price, D.D.S.

Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite:

“Dr. Price's first case is very well documented. He removed an infected tooth from a woman who suffered from severe arthritis. As soon as he finished with the patient, he implanted the tooth beneath the skin of a healthy rabbit. Within 48 hours the rabbit was crippled with arthritis!

Further, once the tooth was removed the patient's arthritis improved dramatically. This clearly suggested that the presence of the infected tooth was a causative agent for both that patient's and the rabbit's - arthritis.

In the years that followed, he repeated this procedure many hundreds of times. He later implanted only a portion of the tooth to see if that produced the same results. It did. He then dried the tooth, ground it into powder and injected a tiny bit into several rabbits. Same results, this time producing the same symptoms in multiple animals.”

In general I'm not in favour of animal research, but this is an amazing piece of research. The research was, in fact, done many years ago and ought to be much better known.

Read more of this article >>

Check out our gum health products >>

Learn More About You

Learn more about your body and your psychological well being in this interactive section of the BBC web site.

Here's things you can do:

• Build a skeleton, stretch some muscles and organise the organs in the interactive body.
• Discover how the body changes during puberty. And put your senses to the test in the senses challenge.
• Explore your memory
• Learn more about personality types
• Spot the fake smile.
• Take a personality test.
  

Acid Alkaline Balance

Almost all foods that we eat, after being digested, absorbed, and metabolised, release either an acid or an alkaline base (bicarbonate) into blood. Grains, fish, meat, poultry, shellfish, cheese, milk, and salt all produce acid. The mass consumption of these foods have caused our bodies to become overly acidic, which strips it of minerals. Over the long haul, those who do not balance their diet with alkaline foods (vegetables and fruits, primarily) become prone to weak bones, joints and muscles, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and a host of other health problems. In other words, long-term health and longevity have everything to do with acid-alkaline balance.
Read more>>

Don’t take health advice from unhealthy people

I gave a friend some health advice. Then she discussed her problem with another friend. Later she told me that she’d been given very different advice by this mutual friend. In theory the other friend was slightly more knowledgeable on this subject than I am.

She was obviously uncertain what to do. I told her to look at him and look at me and decide who was healthier.

I told her: “Don’t take health advice from unhealthy people.”

She laughed and said: “In that case it’s clear whose advice I should follow.”

Fruit is even better for you than previously thought

We know eating fruit is good for us, but some recent research suggests it's even more beneficial than previously thought:

An international team of scientists has found that the polyphenol content of fruits has been underestimated.

Polyphenol content in fruits usually refers to extractable polyphenols, but a Spanish scientist working at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich analysed apple, peach and nectarine. She found that nonextractable polyphenol content is up to five times higher than extractable compounds. This work has been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

“These polyphenols need to be treated with acid to extract them from the cell walls of fruit in the lab,” said Sara Arranz from the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in Madrid. “If non-extractable polyphenols are not considered, the levels of beneficial polyphenols such as proanthocyanidins, ellagic acid and catechin are substantially underestimated.”

Dr Paul Kroon from IFR explains: “In the human body these compounds will be fermented by bacteria in the colon, creating metabolites that may be beneficial, for example with antioxidant activity.”

The Spanish research group, led by Professor Fulgencio Saura-Calixto, has been working to show that nonextractable polyphenols, which mostly escape analysis and are not usually considered in nutritional studies, are a major part of bioactive compounds in the diet.

“These polyphenols are major constituents of the human diet with important health properties. To consider them in nutritional and epidemiological research may be useful for a better understanding of the effects of plant foods in health,” says Professor Saura-Calixto.

The study was funded by a scholarship to Dr Arranz from the Spanish Ministry of Science and through the Institute Of Food Reaerch's core strategic grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Fish oils and diabetes

I recently added some research gighlighted by the Physicians For Responsible Medicine on a possible link between fish oils and diabetes.

Lyn who follows this blog made a comment:

"Interesting...There are so many benefits to fish and fish oil that are not mentioned here. Wonder if the benefits of eating once or twice a week along with an otherwise healthy diet wouldn't outweigh the possible risk discussed here."

I've only just started allowing comments and I inadvertently rejected the comment! More haste less speed. Unlike other aspects of computers, I can't find an undo button. (Sad that life doesn't have an undo button either!)

So, I decided the easiest thing was to print it in the blog itself.

My comment on Lyn's comment is:

Yes, there are well documented benefits of fish oils, but this research and concern about heavy metal contamination of oily fish and fish supplements suggests a degree of caution may be appropriate. Flax seed oil can give similar benefits without having to kill fish either. Better for the fish and possibly better for us too.

Fish and Fish Oil Linked to Diabetes Risk

A new Harvard study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition links fish and omega-3 oil consumption to type 2 diabetes. Following 195,204 adults for 14 to18 years, researchers found that the more fish or omega-3 fatty acids participants consumed, the higher their risk of developing diabetes. The risk increase was modest for occasional fish eaters, but rose to a 22 percent increased risk for women consuming five or more fish servings per week.

Prior studies have suggested that fat accumulation within muscle cells can lead to insulin resistance which, in turn, contributes to diabetes. People who eat no animal products have less fat in their cells and much less risk of developing diabetes. A low-fat vegan diet has been shown to improve type 2 diabetes.

Kaushik M, Mozaffarian D, Spiegelman D, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, fish intake, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Goff LM, Bell JD, So PW, Dornhorst A, Frost GS. Veganism and its relationship with insulin resistance and intramyocellular lipid. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005;59:291-298.

Barnard ND, Cohen J, Jenkins DJ, Turner-McGrievy G, Gloede L, Green A, Ferdowsian H. A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-week clinical trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1588S-1596S.

For information about nutrition and health, please visit www.pcrm.org/.

Fo alternatives to fish oils check out flax seed oil supplements.

How to kill bacteria without harsh chemicals

We are being told to wash hands regularly with soap and water and to keep hard surfaces (door handles, telephones, remotes, etc) clean.

If soap and water are not readily available, then use Green People’s lathering Organic Foaming Hand Sanitizer (made with over 95% certified organic ingredients)

This organic breakthrough product is designed to kill germs using natural anti-microbial activity from combining the extracts of Australian Tea Tree and New Zealand Manuka.
These ingredients create a natural alternative to conventional alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Studies have shown that at the level used in this product this ingredient combination kills bacteria E. coli, S. aureus, S. faecalis and S. pyogenes instantly, and kills S. typnimurium, and P. aeruginosa within 10 minutes of contact.

Keep one in your car, gymbag or handbag, and one by your sink so you can stay “bacteria free” all day long. Why not also give your child one when they go back to school?

Chunky Nut & Vegetable Roast

I am a long term vegetarian and love nut roasts but very rarely make them. The Vegetarian Society give this recipe for an easy chunky nut and vegetable roast:

Ingredients

1 carrot, scraped
1 onion, peeled
1 stick celery
200g mixed nuts (e.g. almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts)
2tsp Marmite
2 free range eggs
1 or 2 tsp mixed herbs
salt & pepper
Dried breadcrumbs (for coating tin)

Method

1. Set oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and process until vegetables and nuts are chopped into chunky pieces.
Put into a bowl and mix with remaining ingredients.

2. Line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with a strip of non-stick paper, grease well and sprinkle with dry breadcrumbs.
Spoon mixture into tin and level the top.

3. Bake uncovered for 45 mins until set.

Serves 4.

Haven't made this yet but looks so easy I'm going to give it a go. The Vegetarian Society list it as a recipe for new vegetarians but us oldies can learn a thing or two too.

31 Ways to Jump Start the Local Economy

There's some great ideas in an article with this title on the web site Yes!

Here's just two of them:

Tip 3
Take your money out of predator banks and put it into a credit union, local bank, or an institution like Shorebank Pacific that supports sustainable businesses.

Tip 18
Do home work parties. Each month, go to a different household to do major home greening, a garden upgrade, or some deferred maintenance.

Read the rest of these thought-provoking tips here >>

Swallowing Big Tablets

We sell nutritional supplements in our online health store and from time to time I get questions about how big the tablets are. This sort of query comes from someone who has difficulty taking tablets.

Of course, it is possible to cut most tablets in half, but that’s a bit laborious and you can end up with bits of tablet flying all over your kitchen.

A different approach is looking at it from a psychological angle. Most people who say they cannot swallow big tablets can swallow a large piece of pizza crust (for example), so I tell them to think about that when they are attempting to swallow a tablet – to tell themselves it is no different from swallowing a large piece of food. Some people find this trick really helps.

Help With Remembering To Take Your Meds

Many older people find it difficult to remember if they've taken their tablets. Here's a great idea from researchers to help seniors do just that:

Doing something unusual, like knocking on wood or patting yourself on the head, while taking a daily dose of medicine may be an effective strategy to help seniors remember whether they've already taken their daily medications, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Read more about this>>

Children short of vitamin D

Seven out of ten U.S. children have low levels of vitamin D, raising their risk of bone and heart disease, according to a study of over 6,000 children by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The striking findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency could place millions of children at risk for high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.

Read more about this study.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which recently updated its vitamin D guidelines, now recommends that infants, children, and teens should take 400 IU per day in supplement form.

Improve Your Digestive Health

Heather Caruso has a new book out - Your Drug Free Guide To Digestive Health

Heather has written articles for my web site www.healthandgoodness.com such as;

What Is detoxification?

and

Colon Cleansing

Check out Heather's book for lots more information on digestive health.

The Benefits Of Water

One of my favourite health supplements is water!

It's free and does great things for us - models swear by drinking lots of water to ensure a clear, radiant skin. Constipation sufferers often find increasing wtare intake makes stools easier to pass.

Here's an easy-to-read summary of the benefits of water.

How green is your medicine?

I like this quote from Genie Rowson:

Green medicine stimulates the body's own healing mechanisms to repair and rebuild itself, and help reverse illness and encourage healing. This approach differs considerably from the more conventional medicine we know so well, which suppresses our symptoms (which are actually the body's healing mechanisms). But does green medicine really work? The answer is yes. Absolutely! Greener systems of medicine such as acupuncture, Chinese medicine and homeopathy are gaining new converts every day, because they really do work! Millions of people worldwide have been healed through these gentler, safer, non-toxic alternatives. There is a wordwide movement towards greener options in every aspect of life.

If you're into homeopathy, check out Genie's web site - There's A Remedy For That. She has a great ailments page with suggestions for homeopathic remedies for a whiole host of complaints.

Herbs for health

We are currently trying to grow Goji berries in our garden. I like an Alara muesli that has dry goji berries in it, but it would be fantastic to be able to pick fresh ones and add them to my breakfast muesli.

I've just come across an article which lists 50 herbs and gives some indication about how to grow them. This is what it says about Goji berries:

These all function berries can help the liver, improve fertility, and help you live longer. They grow best in temperate regions.

Not sure about improving fertility (I'm 61), but living longer and helping my liver - definitely.

help for baby colic

having a baby with colic is distressing both for the mum and for the baby.

A recent study suggests that bacteria in the gut cause inflammation and the distress associated with colic.

Probiotics are known to increase the number of good bacteria and reduce the number of bad bacteria in the gut, but you need to be careful about giving young children probiotics willy-nilly.

Fortunately among all the other great probiotic formulae we sell there's a probiotic formula specifically for children (over 6 months of age). It comes in sachets and so can be added to food.

It's also great for pregnant mums, helping them to give the right strains of bacteria to their baby as it comes down the birth canal.

Avoid Dying Before Your Time

Smoking, high blood pressure and being overweight are the leading preventable risk factors for premature mortality in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), with collaborators from the University of Toronto and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The researchers found that smoking is responsible for 467,000 premature deaths each year, high blood pressure for 395,000, and being overweight for 216,000. The effects of smoking work out to be about one in five deaths in American adults, while high blood pressure is responsible for one in six deaths.

It is the most comprehensive study yet to look at how diet, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors for chronic disease contribute to mortality in the U.S. The study appears in the April 28, 2009 edition of the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.

"The large magnitude of the numbers for many of these risks made us pause," said Goodarz Danaei, a doctoral student at HSPH and the lead author of the study. "To have hundreds of thousands of premature deaths caused by these modifiable risk factors is shocking and should motivate a serious look at whether our public health system has sufficient capacity to implement interventions and whether it is currently focusing on the right set of interventions." Majid Ezzati, associate professor of international health at HSPH, is the study's senior author.

The researchers also found large effects from a series of other preventable dietary and lifestyle risk factors. Below are the numbers of deaths in the U.S. due annually to each of the individual risk factors examined:

Smoking: 467,000
High blood pressure: 395,000
Overweight-obesity: 216,000
Inadequate physical activity and inactivity: 191,000
High blood sugar: 190,000
High LDL cholesterol: 113,000
High dietary salt: 102,000
Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000
High dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000
Alcohol use: 64,000 (alcohol use averted a balance of 26,000 deaths from heart disease, stroke and diabetes, because moderate drinking reduces risk of these diseases. But these deaths were outweighed by 90,000 alcohol-related deaths from traffic and other injuries, violence, cancers and a range of other diseases).
Low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000
Low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000

All of the deaths calculated in the study were considered premature or preventable in that the victims would not have died when they did if they had not been subject to the behaviors or activities linked to their deaths.

Swine Flu Prevention And Treatment

Here's some great advice from Grace DaSilva-Hill, a homeopathic practitioner:

The best way to keep well is to not connect with the type of fear and alarm that we sometimes hear in the news; eat well with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, drink a lot of good quality water, and supplement with good quality Vitamin C if you feel you need it; many people are taking the herb Astragalus which is what I normally recommend in the winter months to boost the immune system.

Several of my patients (adults and children) have now had swine flu, and I am pleased to say that they have all recovered with the use of homeopathic remedies.

Another way to keep well is to take your constitutional homeopathic remedy; I advise that people take this at least once a year to strengthen the immune system; this way you can cope with anything that may come your way.

There is also a combination of 3 hom. remedies that I have been recommending to people to take as prophylaxis (twice weekly) to avoid getting the flu.

Visit Grace's web site.

Making Changes

I love this article by Marshall Goldsmith in which he talks about why some people just don't get things done and what they need to do about it.

He says:

At the end of my sessions, I ask leaders (who have received 360-degree feedback) to follow up with their co-workers and ask for ongoing ideas about how they can continue to become more effective. A year later, about 70% do some version of this recommended follow-up (as reported by their co-workers, not by them); 30% do absolutely nothing.

He then goes on to explain why he thinks those people do nothing and what they can do to make the ecessary shift. Do read the article.

Travelling Abroad? Don't Get An Upset Tummy

The dreaded tummy upset spoils many holidays, but it can be largely avoided by taking probiotics (preferably starting before you go).

The probiotics help to maintain a coating of friendly bacteria in the intestines to
support natural immunity and digestive health. This means that unfriendly bugs find it difficult to get attached to the intestinal wall and so are more likely to be flushed away.

There are lots of probiotic drinks and supplements out there, but not all of them will work for this very specialised situation.

You need:

• Probiotic strains that can survive hot conditions and do not need to be refrigerated.
• Probiotic strains that are particularly good at coating the wall of the intestine.

Our Travel Probiotic Formula contain 4 important probiotic strains that can do just that:

• Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175 colonises primarily in the large intestine (or colon). In this region it promotes the production of antibodies, supports the body against toxins and inhibits the development of undesirable bacteria by competitively excluding their attachment to the intestinal wall lining. In addition, a healthy balance of bifidobacteria supports the intestines in assisting transit and optimising a healthy frequency and regularity of bowel movements.

• Saccharomyces boulardii – a unique probiotic yeast which is sold widely in the US, Scandinavia, Germany & France. S. boulardii has undergone extensive clinical research proving its ability to flush out pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella (responsible for 70% of Traveller’s Diarrhoea) and to have therapeutic benefits against diarrhoea.

• Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11 – a natural component of the friendly bacteria in the intestines; the species is one of the most studied in the probiotic world. L. rhamnosus Rosell-11 has been proven to resist bile and gastric acidity over pH 3 – therefore if taken at mealtimes (when pH is around 4), it will pass through the stomach without being damaged. L. rhamnosus Rosell-11 is able to bind strongly to the intestinal cells and helps maintain a strong immune system.

• Lactobacillus acidophilus Rosell-52 – a natural resident of the intestinal microflora; this strain of friendly bacteria has been well studied.

Directions
As a food supplement For travelling abroad can be given to adults and children (over 3 years) with the following recommendations: take one capsule daily with food (ideally with breakfast), preferably starting 3-5 days before departure, continuing during travel abroad and for a few days upon return or as professionally directed.

For young children (under 8 years) or any patient unable to swallow capsules, the content of the capsules may be mixed with a cold meal or beverage.

Safety
It is not recommended to give probiotics to severely immunosuppressed patients, post cardiac surgery patients, patients with pancreatitis, patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or patients with blood in the stool unless under a doctor’s care.

Buy travel probiotics here.