Breakfast and heart attacks

For those who always skip breakfast, drink at least a glass of orange juice.stay healthy! :) You've heard many times that "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Now, recent research confirms that one of the worst practices you can develop may be avoiding breakfast. Why?

Because the frequency of heart attack, sudden death, and stroke peaks between 6:00 a.m.and noon,with the highest incidence being between 8:00 a.m.and 10:00 a.m.

What mechanism within the body could account for this significant jump in sudden death in the early morning hours? We may have an answer. Platelets, tiny elements in the blood that keep us from bleeding to death if we get a cut, can clump together inside our arteries due to cholesterol or plaque buildup in the artery lining. It is in the morning hours that platelets become the most activated and tend to form these internal blood clots at the greatest frequency.

However, eating even a very light breakfast prevents the morning platelet activation that is associated with heart attacks and strokes.

Studies performed at MemorialUniversity in St.Johns,Newfoundland found that
eating a light, very low-fat breakfast was critical in modifying the morning platelet activation. Subjects in the study consumed either low-fat or fat-free yogurt, orange juice, fruit, and a source of protein coming from yogurt or fat-free milk).

So if you skip breakfast, it's important that you change this practice immediately in light of this research. Develop a simple plan to eat cereal, such as oatmeal or Bran Flakes, along with six ounces of grape juice or six ounces of orange juice, and perhaps a piece of fruit.

This simple plan will keep your platelets from sticking together, keep blood
clots from forming, and perhaps head off a potential heart attack or stroke.

Senna Leaf

If any of you are taking any weight loss preparation that gives you intense bowel cramps and pain beware. It most likely contains senna leaf, a herbal laxative.

I was offered a product to market and upon finding that it contains senna leaf (though not listed on the label), I turned it down. It has the same trade names as an existing preparation in the market -TC Plus and Maxlim which also contains senna.

Review
Senna is an ingredient that is primarily used to help with constipation.

Extended use of this product has been linked to colon weakness and it has not been recommended for those who have certain abdominal or digestive ailments.

With continued and prolonged use, the bowels get sluggish. You see there are certain receptors that senna stimulate and once it is sensitised to senna, without senna the bowels do not empty, become sluggish. This is called the "lazy gut syndrome".

Curry offers colon cancer treatment

An ingredient of turmeric has been found to block the activity of a hormone that is a cause of bowel cancer.

A team from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) found that, by using cell cultures, curcumin (the active ingredient of turmeric) blocks the production of a protein by the hormone neurotensin that speeds up the growth and spread of cancer cells.

UTMB surgery professor B Mark Evers said: "We found that in colon cancer cells, neurotensin increases not just the rate of growth but also other critical things, including cell migration and metastasis."

The fact that all that can be turned off by this natural product, curcumin, was really remarkable."

The study, published in the current issue of Clinical Cancer Research, shows curcumin works by dampening signals to the neurotensin, so making it less effective.

Professor Evers added: "Our findings suggest that curcumin may be useful for colon cancer treatment, as well as potential colon cancer suppression, in cells that respond to this gastrointestinal hormone, neurotensin."

Short intense exercise as good as endurance training

For all you busy souls out there:

Short bursts of exercise can bring the same results as traditional endurance training, a new study has found.

Researchers from McMaster University monitored two groups of students, one cycling up to two hours a day continuously at a moderate rate and one riding a series of 30 second bursts at to speed.

Over two weeks one group exercised for a total of 10.5 hours and the other just 2.5 hours, but both groups showed similar improvements in exercise performance.

Martin Gibala, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, said: "The most striking finding from our study was the remarkably similar improvements in muscle health and performance induced by two such diverse training strategies."

He added: "Short bursts of intense exercise may be an effective option for individuals who cite 'lack of time' as a major impediment to fitness."

However, the study published in the Journal of Physiology warns this type of training is very demanding and requires a high level of motivation.

Weightlifting 'could cause eyesight loss'

Just as well i don't do heavy weights, just light ones for toning.

Regular weightlifting could result in the loss of eyesight as a result of developing glaucoma, researchers have warned. In a study published in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers from the Institute of Specialised Ophthalmology in Brazil suggest that holding your breath whilst lifting heavy weights temporarily increases the pressure within the eye (Intraocular pressure).

Normal-tension glaucoma, where damage to the optic nerve results in loss of eyesight, is known to occur as a result of frequent changes in intraocular pressure.

In the study, weightlifters aged between 18 and 40 were asked to perform repetitive weightlifting exercises while their eyeball pressures were measured.

It was found that when these exercises were performed and the subjects held their breath, and increase in pressure of 25 per cent was recorded in almost all of them.

A smaller pressure increase was also noted even when subjects did not hold their breath.

Doctors have advised that weightlifters should try continuous breathing throughout to minimise the pressure changes and prevent eye damage.

Health benefits of mandarin oranges revealed

Eating mandarin oranges could significantly reduce the risk of developing serious conditions including liver cancer, heart disease or suffering a stroke, Japanese researchers have claimed. In two separate studies, a high consumption of mandarin oranges or their juice seemed to be associated with lower rates of certain serious conditions.

In the first study carried out by Kyoto's University of Medicine, drinking mandarin orange juice was found to reduce rates of liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, who are usually prone to the disease.

Of 30 patients drinking the juice every day, not one was found to have developed the cancer after a year, compared with nearly nine per cent of those patients who did not receive the juice.

In another study by Japan's National Institute of Fruit Tree Science, an investigation found that those who reported consuming large numbers of mandarin oranges tended to have chemical markers in the blood associated with a lower risk of liver disease, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) can lead to heart disease and blood clots that can cause stokes.

Source:NetDoctor

GoldXlim

I personally lost 6kg in 6 weeks (4kg in the first 4 weeks) taking GoldXlim.

Available at:

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Good Health Pharmacy (Pusat Bandar Puchong); AA Pharmacy (Bangsar); Farmasi Apple Green (Shah Alam); Brightcare Pharmacy (Damansar Utama); Eenaat Pharmacy (Sri Gombak); Farmasi O’Care (Pandan Jaya); Farmasi Segar (Taman Segar); Farmasi Sri Petaling (Sri Petaling); Farmasi Sri Mulia (Tmn Mulia, Tmn Midah); Sihat Pharmacy (Bandar Sri Permaisuri); Green Park Pharmacy (Desa Aman Puri, Saujana Utama II); Unipharm Pharmacy (Subang Jaya); Gerak Utusan Pharmacy (Jln Ipoh); Notss Pharmacy (Kota Kemuning); Farmasi Dinamik (Banting); OUG Pharmacy (OUG); Kok Lian Pharmacy (Tmn Kok Lian); Vycan Pharmacy (Sri Rampai); Healthlane Family Pharmacy (Sentul, Kepong Baru, Tmn Melati, Tmn Melawati, Segambut, Sungai Buloh, Majlis India, Desa Jaya, Shah Alam, Jinjiang, Indah Perdana, Desa Petaling); be pharmacy (Puchong); Farmasi Balakong (Balakong); Life Spring Pharmacy (Klang); Daily Care (Setapak); Farmasi Serdang (Seri Kembangan)

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Megakulim Pharmacy (Kulim); Sri Rambai Pharmacy (Bkt.Mertajam); Healthcare Pharmacy (Komtar); YW Cheah Pharmacy (Pulau Tikus); Vision Pharmacy (Parit Buntar); Vcare Pharmacy (Butterworth); VeCare Pharmacy )Sungai Dua, Prai);

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High protein diet linked with weight loss

Researchers have produced evidence supporting the view that high protein diets reduce hunger and so help people lose weight.

According to a study conducted by nutrition experts at University College London, increased amounts of protein in the diet have the effect of boosting levels of a hormone in the intestine involved in the regulation of hunger.

The hormone, known as PYY, appears to signal fullness to the brain, resulting in a lessening of appetite.

The study conducted tests on both humans and mice, linking protein intake with PYY levels, and PYY to feelings of hunger. It was also found that when low levels of PYY were artificially induced in mice, this tended to lead to obesity.

Although the research provides an explanation for why high protein diets such as the Atkins diet can be effective in reducing weight, the researchers instead suggest that smaller increases in the amount of protein consumed might be a healthier alternative.

Currently, it is estimated that around 16 per cent of the average diet is protein, with the researchers suggesting that increasing this to 20 per cent could aid weight management.

Antioxidants in fruits

An Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) score is a test tube analysis that measures the antioxidant levels of food and other chemical substances. If a food has a high ORAC score, then it means the food is high in antioxidants. The antioxidant’s strength is its ability to eliminate oxygen free radicals. With the ORAC score, a higher score means the food is better at helping us fight diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Foods with a high ORAC score may be able to protect cells and their components from oxidative damage. Oxygen radicals are chemicals that form naturally inside the body through the process of oxidation. Everyday functions such as digestion and physical activity produce oxygen radicals. Daily exposure to polluted air, rancid food and oxidizing radiation from the sun and electrical appliances also contribute.

Orange juice 'effective for kidney stones'

Orange juice is more effective as a treatment for kidney stones than other citrus drinks, researchers have claimed.

Previous research has shown drinks such as orange juice and lemonade, which contain sour-tasting citric acid, are effective in reducing the rate at which new stones develop in patients suffering recurrent kidney stones.

However, a new study, published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, suggests that orange juice is significantly more effective than other drinks.

Orange juice was found to increase levels of citrate in the urine, preventing the crystallization of uric acid and calcium oxalate, which are common ingredients in kidney stones.

However, lemonade was not found to have the same citrate-boosting effect despite containing citric acid.

The researchers suggest that other constituents of the drinks could have an impact of the effectiveness of citric acid.

Kidney stones develop as a result of over-concentrated urine, which is filtered through the kidneys, depositing minerals. Over a long period of time, these minerals may bind together to create stones which cause great discomfort.

Losing weight

Bananas

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.
But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit.

It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so
helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature. Seasonal

Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Interesting

What is all the fuss with placenta injections?

Dr.Paul Niehan, who discovered the benefits of live cell therapy quite by accident, propagated modern day live cell therapy. In 1931, Niehans was consulted by a medical colleague who had accidentally removed a patient’s parathyroid glands during the course of thyroid surgery. So vital are the parathyroid glands to life that the woman was unlikely to survive the day without them. A successful transplant was the only chance the surgeon had of saving her. So Niehans, who had a reputation for therapeutically transplanting organs and glands, was called in.

On his way to the hospital, Niehans stopped off at the abattoir, where animals he used in his revitalization experiments was slaughtered. He obtained fresh parathyroid glands from a steer and proceeded to the hospital, fully intending to perform a parathyroid transplant.

However, when Niehans arrived, one look at the patients – who was violently convulsing – told him that there was simply not enough time to perform the operation. The woman would not survive long enough.

But Niehan had an idea. He sliced up the parathyroid glands and suspended it in a saline solution and injected it into the fatally ill woman. Immediately, her convulsions ceased. Her condition improved and recovered to live another 30 years, well into her 90’s.

Many years later Niehan wrote, “I thought the effect would be short-lived, just like the effect of an injection of hormones, and that I should have to repeat the injection. But to my great surprise, the injection of fresh cells not only failed to provoke a reaction but the effect lasted, and longer than any synthetic hormone, any implant or any surgical graft.”

Thus cell therapy was born and thousands have received live cell injections at his Clinic La Prairie in Montreaux, Switzerland.

Eating yellow vegetables 'protects eye sight'

Yellow and green vegetables rich in certain compounds could be beneficial in preventing blindness in later life, new research suggests.

In a study published in the Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers report that women who ate diets rich in vegetables containing the yellow plant pigments lutein and zeaxanthin had a reduced risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness.

The compounds are found in various vegetables, including peas, sweetcorn and broccoli, and are thought to offer protection to retina from the damage that causes AMD.

A consistently high intake over a 15-year period was found to be necessary to significantly reduce the risk.

"This exploratory observation is consistent with a broad body of evidence from observational and experimental studies that suggests that these carotenoids may protect against AMD," the researchers, lead by Dr Suzen Moeller wrote.

"More conclusive evidence from long-term prospective studies and clinical trials is needed to determine whether the intake of macular carotenoids themselves, or as markers of broader dietary patterns, can protect against intermediate AMD or delay progression in individuals who have early stages of the disease."

Scientists link testosterone shortage to early death

Thought this was interesting as just bought a bottle of testosterone for dad - it is topical - nanotechnology so it can be absorbed via the skin supposedly. First pass metabolism (liver) is high with hormones so oral testosterone is virtually useless.

US scientists believe they have identified a connection between low levels of testosterone with cases of premature death in men.

Research published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine performed jointly by the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington shows that men with low testosterone levels could be up to 88 per cent more likely to die in their middle-age compared to counterparts with normal amounts of the sex hormone.

In a study involving 858 men aged over 40-years-old between 1994 and 1999, scientists found that 19 per cent of males had low levels of testosterone, 28 displayed equivocal levels (both low and normal signs), while 53 per cent showed normal amounts of the sex hormone.

During the test period, which culminated in 2002, the research team discovered that one-fifth of the men who displayed normal levels of the hormone had died, compared to 24.6 per cent of males with equivocal amounts and 34.9 per cent of those with low levels of testosterone.

The scientists explained that the results were consistent even when other factors such as age, other illnesses and body mass index (BMI) were taken into consideration.

"The persistence of elevated mortality risk after excluding early deaths suggests that the association between low testosterone and mortality is not simply due to acute illness. Large prospective studies are needed to clarify the association between low testosterone levels and mortality," they write.

Testosterone levels decrease by about 1.5 per cent annually once a man reaches 30, with lower concentrations of the hormone indicated by decreased muscle and bone density, a faltering sex drive and higher levels of depression and irritability.

Qi Gong

Qi Gong balances the body’s Qi with an inner force via mental and breathing exercises. Qi Gong is claimed to be beneficial in a wide variety of disease such as allergy, asthma, cancer, circulatory problems, deafness, headache, hypertension, injuries, kidney, liver disease, lung problems and stroke.

There are two ways qigong is practised. The patient can try to balance his own Qi through deep breathing and relaxation. Alternatively, a qigong master does it for them by transferring his or her Qi to the patient after having developed it within his own system.


THE BREATH OF LIFE
“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being1. ” There is a very close connection between breath and spirit. Both breath and spirit comes from one word in the Greek as well as Hebrew. When our breath is gone from our bodies, so is our spirit. “Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath2. ” So let’s be careful to breathe in the breath of God, rather than the contaminated spirit of the world. God is the Great Physician as it was He who created all the bones, tissues and organs in your body.

1. Genesis 2:7
2. Psalms 62:9

The Tao in Taoism

Lao Zi

According to Taoism, the Tao is the “way of the universe “and is the first cause or cosmic force behind nature’s order. It implies an impersonal force rather than a personal Creator.

A careful look at the “Tao Te Jing” or “Book of the Way” in English, believed to be written by Lao Zi, has this confession: “I do not know His name. Name Him ‘ Tao’ possibly. For the lack of a better word, I call Him the Almighty”1. Lao Zi clearly refers the Tao as a person. Although Lao Zi is regarded as the founder of Taoism, he really had nothing to do with many of its religious doctrines and practices. He has even been misrepresented as being the Tao himself. But clearly he acted only as the messenger of the Tao1.

What is this Tao? The book states that the Tao is the “very progenitor of all things in the world”2. In the opening chapter, Lao Zi wrote that the “Tao can be told but is not the ordinary Tao. The name [of the Tao] can also be given, but that is not the ordinary name as well1.” Thus the Tao is not an ordinary Tao way or wisdom.

Does the Tao foreshadow Christ? In chapter 4, verse 4 Lao Zi writes that the Tao looks like Someone’s Son. He said, “I do not know whose son He is, He was before any king [born into the world] 1. ” “I am the Way (Tao), the truth and the life”3 is similarly found in another classical book.

The Tao has two faces, yin and yang, which oppose each other, but yet are one. The book On I-Ching reads, “In the I-Ching, there is Grand Terminus, which produced the two elementary Forms. One is Yin, and one is Yang. ” In I-Ching, Yin means the Earth, dark; and Yang means the Heaven, bright. Genesis 1:2 reads, “And God saw the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ”

1. Wang, S & Nelson, E. God and the Ancient Chinese. Published by Sinim Bible Institute 1998; page 61-65
2. Laozi. Revised and Annotated by Fu Huisheng. Translated into English by Arthur Wesley. Hunan People’s Publishing House 1999; Chapter 4 verse 4: page 9.
3. John 14:6

TCM- accupuncture

There are many forms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) available these days such as acupuncture and acupressure. The principles that underlie TCM take their roots from Taoism which originated around 300 B.C.

ACUPUNCTURE is just one treatment in the broader system of TCM and is based on the concept of an energy flow called Qi through the body. According to Taoism, the Qi flows between man and the universe. The Qi is believed to be the life force that pervades the body and regulates most physiological functions to maintain health and vitality. It circulates around the body along pathways known as meridians.

It is believed that if the flow of Qi is blocked, imbalances occur leading to health problems. Acupuncturists then use needles to unblock the flow at specific points along the meridians. These points correspond to the various organs in the body. When needles are applied to the points, organ function is stimulated.

CONDITIONS TREATED BY ACUPUNCTURISTS
Headaches, migraine and dizziness
Anxiety and depression
Addictions such as smoking
Insomnia
High/low blood pressure, poor circulation
Digestive problems
Kidney and bladder problems
Liver and gallbladder problems
Hormonal problems
Respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis
Skin conditions such as acne and eczema
Arthritis

Types of Acupuncture
Other than using needles, treatment techniques can include moxibustion, cupping, electro-acupuncture and laser acupuncture which are beyond the scope of this book.

ACUPRESSURE is based on the same concepts as acupuncture but instead of needles, pressure is applied to meridian points with fingertips, knuckles or even the elbows and feet. The process begins as apply pressure-then release, apply pressure-then release and develops to a deep and constant pressure. In other cases only one kind of pressure is used.

Obesity 'due to processed food'

The ever increasing rate of obesity among children in developed nations is due to a hormone imbalance caused by processed food, a health expert has claimed.

According to Dr Robert Lustig, a paediatrician at the University of California, processed food now commonly contains added sugar and has fibre removed from it, which can result in an imbalance in the hormones insulin and leptin. This is important for weight management as the hormones involved play a crucial role in regulating blood sugar levels and food intake, causing people to eat more but take less exercise.

"Our current western food environment has become highly insulinogenic, as demonstrated by its increased energy density, high-fat content, high glycaemic index, increased fructose composition, decreased fibre, and decreased dairy content," stated Dr Lustig, writing in the journal Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology and Metabolism.

It is now widely accepted that children are getting fatter, with around a quarter of children in the UK now classified as clinically obese, making them more likely to suffer from heart problems and diabetes in later life.

Third-hand smoke

Parents who choose to protect their baby's health by only smoking outdoors are still causing them harm through 'third-hand smoke', a new study has found.

According researchers from San Diego State University, harmful chemicals contained in cigarette smoke are capable of sticking to carpets, soft furnishings and walls, where they can be absorbed through the skin of children.

These chemicals can have the same harmful effects as passive smoking, although lack of awareness about third-hand smoke means that this could pose a greater risk, particularly to children forced to live with smoker parents.

The research found unusually high traces of cotinine, a nicotine by-product, in the urine and hair cells of children living with smoker parents, despite their efforts to smoke away from the child.

The study looked at a total of 49 babies under 13 months old, comparing the children of smokers with those of non-smokers.

Children's charities have expressed concern over the findings, saying that they represent yet another reason for parents to kick the habit.