Monthly Archives: July 2016

Health & Nutrition #76 by Nutrobalance

July 28, 2016Health & Nutritionpinockio

Edition #76

The Best Fitness Plan is to Do What’s Fun

Often times I’m asked, “What’s the best workout for fat loss?” To which I promptly reply, “45 minutes of vigorous running uphill paired with 30 minutes of lifting weights.” Just kidding. The truth is, there is no one best exercise. Although its not a particularly exciting answer, the very best exercise you can do is continue reading…..

How Eating Less May Prolong Life
Three new studies show that restricting calories, even in non-obese people:
• reduces inflammation (Aging, July 2016)
• helps to prevent cancers (Cancer Research, July 14, 2016)
• increases autophagy (PLoS Genetics, July 14, 2016)What is Autophagy?
Autophagy or cellular recycling extends the lives of many different species. Autophagy means “self-eating.” When a cell dies, the body has a quick way to break down the dead cell’s parts (protein-making, power-generating and transport systems) into small molecules that can be reassembled to be used for making new cell parts and supply the energy to power these processes. That means that the body can use old cells to supply its needs and not depend entirely on food for new energy and new building blocks. “By removing this junk in old cells, autophagy serves as the garbage disposal and recycling system to keep bodies healthy and helps to delay aging and prevent cancers” (Nature, Nov 2015;527(7576):105-9). Poorly-functioning autophagy can cause aging, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, muscular disorders, diabetes and weight gain. Much of the current research on prolonging lives and preventing diseases is aimed at analyzing and improving the autophagy process. read more.…

What is nerve pain?

Nerve pain is a particular type of pain that feels different to other types of pain. It often feels like shooting, stabbing or burning pain. Sometimes it can be as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. It’s often worse at night. It might be mild or it might be severe. Nerve pain can be due to problems in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), or in the nerves that run from there to the muscles and organs. Nerve pain is usually caused by disease (such as diabetes or vitamin B12 deficiency) or an injury to the brain, spinal cords or a nerve. Your doctor will diagnose it by listening to you and examining you, and perhaps doing some tests. There are many ways to treat nerve pain. Treating the underlying cause, if there is one, is the first step. Painkillers and a range of different medicines can help. So can non-drug treatments like exercise, acupuncture and relaxation techniques.

Recipe of the Week: Vegan Chinese Noodles – click here!

Cleansing diets

July 26, 2016Health & Nutritionfasting, therapeutic fastingpinockio

There are three ways of fasting.
Total water fasting.
This type of fasting conserves the same large amount of energy that is normally used to digest food.
Water fasting is too extreme initially, and in any case requires professional supervision, except for very short periods.

Another option is: a fruit juice diet, which is very close to fasting and is more suitable for
the majority of people in this stressful, modern world.

A third option is a diet consisting exclusively fruit or fruit with vegetable salads.

The reason why ‘fasting’ is referred to often here is mainly to make it more understandable.
Therapeutic fasting (water only) is the purest form of cleansing to facilitate healing.
Juice diets and fruit and/or salad diets are milder versions of the same process.

Although the digestive system has little or no work to do during this ‘spring-cleaning’,
there is still much work for the excretory system to do. Initially, the liver works very hard
breaking down stored toxins that are released into circulation to be eliminated by the kidneys.

The well-known phenomenon of hibernation in animals involves fasting. When cats and dogs are sick they won’t eat – it is virtually impossible to make a sick animal to eat.
In the animal kingdom, fasting is a perfectly normal procedure.

Humans are essentially the same as animals. We can fast when appropriate,without harm and also with great benefit. There is a misunderstanding of the difference between fasting and starvation.
Therapeutic fasting is not starving.

In starvation, the life processes are maintained by breaking down tissues. Damage to the brain and other vital organs is likely. This is a destructive process, whereas properly conducted fasting is a constructive process.

During proper fasting the body is nourished adequately from its own reserves.Fat supplies energy,
muscle provides the necessary traces of protein, and toxic wastes are broken down and eliminated, yielding more energy in the process. It is an ingenious trick of nature that the body uses as fuel the very substances that caused the health problems in the first place.

In fact, it is more than a trick – one of the greatest wisdom of nature is displayed in this
process. during self-nourishment tissues are broken down in the reverse order of their usefulness.
Fat and disease growth go first. The body frees itself of benign tumors and other growths by dissolving them. Similarly, retained fluid and deposits of various kinds are reabsorbed, the usable portions being utilized for nourishment and the unusable portions eliminated.

The human body is able to nourish itself from its reserves for surprisingly long periods of time, if there is a reasonable level of vitality and the necessary conditions are maintained.
Without a doubt,the main reserve,fat, plays an important roll in this.

Self Healing – The Natural Way

July 25, 2016Health & Nutritionpinockio

Healing from both acute and degenerative illnesses involves decreasing the body’s level of toxaemia, its load of metabolic wastes and man-made chemicals.

The only form of healing is self-healing.
Many medications are toxic and often interfere with the process and may suppress it.
Sometimes they change the course of the illness and seems to effect
a cure, but one symptom has merely been replaced by another.

‘Cleansing’ diets, herbs and other natural remedies may promote healing and/or supply some of the necessary raw materials, but it is only living tissue which does the healing.
True healing brings about a genuine improvement in long term health.

With conventional drug therapy, there is none of the restoring and rejuvenating effects that come with natural healing. As a naturopath said many years ago:”A chemical that makes a well person sick (the side effects), can’t make a sick person well”.

Some times there is a place for medication. For instance, antibiotics can prevent death, and some cancer treatments may arrest the cancer growth and give people a few or many more years to live. But the cures don’t provide high level health.

Self healing requires a lot of energy. The same energy that otherwise be consumed in everyday activities, such as walking, working or digesting food. As soon as we cease or greatly reduce our usual activities, and provided the level of vitality is adequate, energy is diverted to self- healing, which commences automatically in the body wherever needed.

The key to self-healing is energy conservation – both physical and mental – that means: complete rest.
Vitality, the other leading factor in healing, is a measure of the ability of the tissues to perform their functions. Their capacity to heal is directly related to vitality.
While we have no direct control over vitality in the short term, we can control the amount of rest.

We normally think of rest as sitting in a char or lying down, but that is only part of the process.
For full healing power to develop, rest must be much broader than this – it must be total.

Total rest has four components.
Physiological Rest: Rest of the digestive organs through a light ‘cleansing’ diet or briefly ceasing food intake entirely.

Physical Rest: Rest of the muscles. This requires being inactive as possible – perhaps bed rest.

Mental Rest: Rest of the mind. This means avoiding intense mental work and not getting involved in arguments. It is best to stay away from people who insists that if you don’t eat normal meals, you’ll harm yourself. Coping with this kind of pressure can be quite exhausting.

Sensory Rest: Rest of the senses and nerves. Avoid straining eyes and ears with too much reading, too much television, or listening to loud rock music. Keep away from cooking aromas which stimulate the flow of saliva and gastric juices, wasting valuable energy.

Health & Nutrition #75 by Nutrobalance

July 22, 2016Health & Nutritionpinockio

Stem cells engineered to grow cartilage, fight inflammation
Technique uses 3-D weaving to grow a living hip replacement

Date:
July 18, 2016
Source:
Washington University School of Medicine

Summary:
With a goal of treating worn, arthritic hips without extensive surgery to replace them, scientists have programmed stem cells to grow new cartilage on a 3-D template shaped like the ball of a hip joint. What’s more, using gene therapy, they have activated the new cartilage to release anti-inflammatory molecules to fend off a return of arthritis. keep reading….

Western-style diet linked to state-dependent memory inhibition Date:: July 12, 2016
Source:: Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior
Summary:: Obesity may ultimately be a disease of the brain, involving a progressive deterioration of various cognitive processes that influence eating. Researchers have now shown that memory inhibition — the useful ability to ‘block out’ memories that are no longer useful, which depends on a brain area called the hippocampus — is linked to dietary excess. read more.…..

Turmeric
Michael Greger M.D. · Last Updated on September 16, 2015
The spice turmeric has long been used to fight inflammation and may be able to improve endothelial function. Consuming turmeric may also be able to help with multiple myeloma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and treat and prevent Alzheimer’s.
Turmeric may be capable of preventing and treating (possibly by reprogramming cancer cell death) certain types of cancer including colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin, mouth, vulva, and ulcerating breast cancer. continue reading.….

Are you Getting Enough Magnesium?
Magnesium may not be a nutrient that you think about very often. But perhaps you should. Dietary surveys suggest that many people aren’t meeting the recommended intake and could be losing out on important health benefits. Magnesium is a mineral that plays an important role in bone health, energy production, protein synthesis and blood glucose…
continue reading.….

Book Review

The Man Who Lived in Three Centuries

After almost dying of an heart attack at age 34, Australian broker Eric Storm
mended his lifestyle ways to enjoy another 70 years free of illness and full of
accomplishment, with the year 2000 being the final turning point of a legendary
life across three centuries.

Like most Australians, you may believe that illness is a normal part of life, and
that after 40 or 50 years of age, we are inevitable over the hill.

Not so! Eric and thousands of other Australians, along with a number of primitive
populations, have demonstrated beyond any doubt that we can be well for life
if we choose.

A vast amount of research over the last century have explained why many earlier
populations hardly know illness….. until they adopted the Western way of living.
The comparison is graphically illustrated with photographs in this book.

Illness and premature aging are ‘diseases of civilization’, that is: diseases of lifestyle.
This means that we have almost full control over whether our quality of life is
woeful or wonderful.

Author Roger French, when in his twenties, was sick and tired of being tired and sick.
This led him to abandon civil engineering and take up a career in Natural Health,
which has included seven years as manager of the Hopewood Health Retreat at Wallacia
NSW, and the past 19 years as Executive Director and Health Director of the National
Health Society of Australia.

Based on Roger and Eric’s experience, this book spells out a prescription for enjoying
life free of pain and cripling, with tons of vitality and extended youthfulness –
along with relative freedom from the fear of cancer, heart disease, stroke and other
life-threatening conditions.

By applying the guidelines presented in this book, it is possible for most of us to
revel in a quality of health that far exceeds our normal expectations.

Recipe of the Day by Jamie Oliver – Vegetarian – spinach and ricotta cannelloni
click here!

More Health & Nutrition from Nutrobalance
Protection against genetic damage
Toxaemia – hidden Havoc
Boost your Energy Level and soothe the Nerves

Am I still on the right track?

July 19, 2016Self Developmentpinockio

Ask yourself these three questions:

Q1: What do I really want to accomplish?

Q2: If I keep going the way I do, am I really going to get there?

Q3: If I make it, will it really make me feel good?

Protection against genetic damage

July 18, 2016Health & Nutritiongenetic damagepinockio

If genetic damage is minimal, the available evidence suggests that there will be no cancer.
Here follows practical recommendations to minimize genetic damage.

Adopt a varied and balanced diet of unprocessed food.
Avoid deep-fried food and minimize consumption of over cooked and browned food.
Eat no more than required.
Avoid toxic synthetic chemicals as far as possible.

Regarding eating, the Natural Health standpoint would be to adopt the wisdom of Hippocrates : “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food -”

A balanced diet of natural, unprocessed foods – in accordance with Natural Health Dietary
Guidelines – is along the following lines:

Low fat, with the source of fat being plant foods. Avoid animal fats and hydrogenated
oils, including margarine. Include fresh flaxceed oil (or fish oil) for omega-3 fats.
Eat an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables (green, yellow, and red ) at the level of
approximately three quarters of total food intake by weight.
Regularly incude cruciferous vegetables (Cabbage family), carrots, tomatoes and other particularly protective vegetables, and also garlic.
Eat adequate protein and no more. Have the protein all or mostly from plant foods.
Ensure adequate fiber. Sources are: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes,
seeds and ‘fiber’ foods such as psyllium husks, oat brain and rice bran.
Increase natural mineral and vitamin intake with the juices of green, red and yellow
vegetables.

Consider topping up antioxidant vitamins and minerals with naturally deprived
supplements, particulary carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc and selinium.
Also consider extra B vitamins, especially folic acid (Vitamin B9)
Obtain organically grown foods where possible.
Keep calorie/kilojoule intake low overall.
Consume only two meals daily, the third meal being fruit only ( if this is suitable
for the individual.
Avoid or minimize intake of caffeine, alcohol, white sugar, white flour, table salt
(if necessary, use unrefined sea salt), cured meats and smoked foods.

And regarding other aspects of lifestyle:
Minimize exposure to synthetic chemicals, particularly pesticides, other very
toxic chemicals and the chlorine in town water supplies
Also keep well clear of radiation.
Have regular, moderate physical activity in order to keep fit and trrim.
Brisk walking for half an hour daily, which need not be all in one session,
can make the necessary difference to an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.
Develop ways of coping with stress more safely, such as meditation, visualisation,
affirmations, and, most importantly, social support.

Boost your energy level and soothe the nerves

July 12, 2016Health & Nutritiondeep breathingpinockio

Slow, regular deep breathing has the major benefit of massaging all the internal organs
and giving them tone, enhancing digestion, assimilation and elimination.

The greater amount of oxygen purifies the blood and enables it to carry more wastes.
Inside the cells, it enables the combustion of blood sugar and fat to be completed,
producing the ‘clean’ waste carbon dioxide, instead of more toxic intermediate products.

When the bloodstream carries its full complement of oxygen, every cell in the body
comes alive and you have much more energy. The body’s engines, including the heart,
lungs, liver and kidneys, have the potential to operate at peak performance and power
the body and mind along at full strength.

Deep breathing delivers oxygen to air sacs much deeper in the lungs than can occur
with shallow breathing. When the chest is close to full expansion, the microscopic
air tubes are straighter and wider, allowing air to flow more freely. It is less likely
that the mucus coating on their internal surfaces will block these tiny tubes, and this
has major significance for relieving chronic bronchitis and asthma.

Our hearts love deep breathing because it makes their job easier. An expanded chest
provides the heart with more space and alternating pressure within the chest cavity
assists the circulation, especially in the veins. During inhalation, the reduced pressure
within the chest draws blood back towards the heart from other areas of the body.
A revealing study of 153 heart patients in Minnesota hospital showed that all were
shallow breathers.

Even more convincing evidence comes from a Dutch study, described in Conscious Breathing by Gay Hendricks, where two groups of heart attack patients were compared.
The first group was taught simple diaphragmatic breathing, while the other group was given no training in breathing.The trained group had no further heart attacks, while seven out of twelve of the untrained group had second heart attacks during the following two years.

The reason behind these differences, believes Gay Hendricks, is that the human body is
designed to discharge a large amount of toxins through breathing. If your breathing is not
operating at peak efficiency, you are not ridding yourself of toxins properly.

The lymphatic system, which drains the wastes from every cell in the body, multiplies its
effectiveness with deep breathing.A Californian lymphologist conducted a study on the
effects of breathing on the lymphatic system. Using cameras inside the body, he found that
deep diaphragmatic breathing stimulated the cleansing of the lymphatic system by creating a vacuum effect which sucked lymph along its vessels. This increased the rate of toxic elimination by up to 15 times the normal rate.

When bones are used regularly, they function better, which means that the rib-bones –
the biggest collection 0f long bones in the body – produce many more red blood cells,
enabling the blood to carry more oxygen. Deep breathing is the only way that we can work
our rips.

Even elevated blood pressure has been found to decrease when rapid shallow breathing
is changed to slow, deep breathing.

Located at the center of the diaphragm is the solar plexus, a concentration of nerve cells.
he more work we give the diaphragm, the more we stimulates the nerves, thus increasing
the amount of nerve energy going to the vital organs. There is a general calming effect
on the entire nervous system, enabling us to cope with stress and pressure more readily.

Oxygen deprivation is thought to be a factor in many nervous diseases.
Deep breathing is nature’s tranquilizer and calmative. The rhythmical effect of long- slow
breathing facilitates natural and effortless meditation and improved concentration.

Deep breathing helps change our posture from round shouldered with an attitude of defeat to square shouldered with a bearing of pride and confidence – head high, shoulders back and chest forward. As the American Health educator Paul Bragg, put it in his book of the same name – breathe high, wide and handsome

Mushrooms for a long Life

July 8, 2016Health & Nutritionantioxidants, long life, mushroomspinockio

The longest lived people are those following the traditional Mediterranean or Japanese diet, and mushrooms feature and have a place in both diets.

Mushrooms have a range of essential nutrients, such as B vitamins and the antioxidant mineral selenium.
Mushrooms have many other antioxidants. One in particular, ergothioneine, is found mainly in mushrooms among non-animal food sources.

Ergothioneine has its own blood transporter, indicating that it is very important for human health.
To achieve a long and healthy life, mushrooms have a clear role in a balanced healthy diet.

– See more at: http://www.powerofmushrooms.com.au/health-nutrition/health-nutrition/long-life/#sthash.l30ukV1E.dpuf

Health & Nutrition #74 by Nutrobalance

July 8, 2016Health & Nutritionhealth issues, healthier pizza, healthy weight losspinockio

Edition #74

Top 10 Most Common Health Issues

1. Physical Activity and Nutrition
2. Overweight and Obesity
3. Tobacco
4. Substance Abuse
5. HIV/AIDS
6. Mental Health
7. Injury and Violence
8. Environmental Quality
9. Immunization
10. Access to Health Care
click here !

6 Steps to a Healthier Pizza

When working towards health goals many food items just seem taboo. It is true some foods are higher in saturated fat, sugar, and calories than other foods but you don’t have to omit them if it’s something you love. People can maintain their weight loss and health goals more effectively with a plan that includes…
Read More »

The 4 Tips to Healthy Weight Loss that have Nothing to do with Diet and Exercise

Weight loss plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fad diets that are too restrictive to follow more than a couple of weeks, while others provide professional interaction with customized plans. All of them provide you guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t eat to ultimately reach your weight loss goals. No matter…

Improve your mental health naturally!

July 8, 2016Health & Nutritionmental healthpinockio

Mental health problems, like depression and anxiety are experienced by more people worldwide than any other physical disorder. According to predictions from the World Health Organisation, by 2020 depression will cause greater disability than any other mental or physical disorder.

This is a severe problem and it is common sense that we find effective solutions for these problems.
To-day most mental health problems are treated with psychological and pharmacological interventions.
The most common psychological treatments are known as cognitive-behavioural therapies (CBT), while antidepressants are the most common class of medication used to treat both depression and anxiety.

Other interventions are also effective, although not promoted as much as the previous mentioned treatments, including exercise, relaxation/ meditation, and sleep-based interventions.
Herbs and nutrients are also often used to treet mental health problems, but there is doubt whether they actually work.

The following more commonly used natural supplements will be reviewed to see if there is actually any evidence to support their efficacy.

1. Omega-3 fish oils.
There has been a substantial amount of research on the effects of fish oil, mostly in the   area of    depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD ).
The overall evidence suggests that fish oil is moderate effective for these conditions.
In several meta-analyses it had been confirmed that fish oil can improve depressive symptoms that    occur in major depressive disorders and bipolar disorder.
The most effective fish oils for mental health are those ones that contain greater concentration of    EPA ( a type of omega-3 fat)

2. St John’s wort
This herb has always been very popular for the treatment of depression and there has been many good quality studies in several meta-analyses. St John’s wort has been shown to be effective for the treatment of depression. However, research on stress, ADHD and other mental health problems have not been so convincing. The major problem with St John’s wort is that it interacts with many medications.

3. Saffron
Positive studies on its effect on depression has increased over the last decade. Follow up studies    have all confirmed that saffron is effective for the treatment of depression.
In comparison with antidepressants such as Prozac and Trofanil, Saffron has proven to be as effective,    but with less side effects. Although it is the most expensive spice in the world, only a small amount    is needed, which make the cost quite affordable (approx $30 – $40 a month).
Another advantage is that in combination with pharmaceutical antidepressants, it was more effective    than the antidepressant alone.

4. Rhodiola rosea
This herb was originally used in Russia to enhance athletic performance. It was later discovered to be effective for stress, feelings of burnout, and depression. A few good quality European studies have indicated that rhodiola is helpful for improving mood and seems to be particularly helpful for people with stress related fatigue.
People who feel run-down, find it hard getting out of bed in the morning, lack motivation/drive, experience energy slumps in the afternoon, and feel quite flat, may also benefit from rhodiola.
Natural practitioners often refer to this condition as ‘adrenal fatigue’.

5. Theanine
This is an amino acid derived from green tea and is claimed to help people experience a relaxed and calm state. Some good studies indicate that it can reduce levels of stress hormones in the body (e.g. cortisol) and can move people’s brain waves into ‘alpha’ states. Alpha brain waves are associated with relaxation and meditation.
People with a mind that is constantly racing report positive effects from theanine. It has also shown to improve sleep in children with ADHD, and was even helpful for people with schizophrenia.

This is just a selection of herbs and nutrients with goodresearch-based support for their mental health benefits. There are other options available, including s-adenosyl-methionine (SAME) for depression.
Kava for anxiety, B-vitamins for stress, and glycine/magnesium for sleep.

If you are interested in using natural supplements, make sure you purchase them from a reputable company.
Preferably an Australian one because Australia has the most rigorous testing for natural supplements in the world.

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