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                 Thanks to Rinux for permission to use this Photo.

A Kaiser Permanente study released today virtually confirms the link between high caffeine intake during the pregnancy period and an increased risk of miscarriage.  This link has often been suspected by researchers, but past studies have proven inconclusive due to a lack of testing control over pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, which made it difficult to directly measure caffeine’s precise impact.  Although the conclusions of this study are troubling, mothers should also feel empowered to make healthier decisions regarding their consumption of caffeine.  Furthermore, the study provides expectant mothers with some practical advice to help balance their need for extra energy, i.e. switch to sources of natural energy such as walks, yoga, and dried fruits.  This is a must read article for all of our mothers to be out there.  Keep your Ashworth Health Care community updated if you begin to make some positive lifestyle changes in this area.  Take care! 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

 
                   Thanks to Akuan for permission to use this Photo.

You’ve probably heard countless times how exercise is “good for you.” But did you know that it can actually help you feel good, too? Getting the right amount of exercise can rev up your energy levels and even help improve your mood.

Rewards and Benefits

Experts recommend that teens get 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Here are some of the reasons:

Exercise benefits every part of the body, including the mind.

Exercising causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person to feel more peaceful and happy. Exercise can help some people sleep better. It can also help some people who have mild depression and low self-esteem. Plus, exercise can give people a real sense of accomplishment and pride at having achieved a certain goal — like beating an old time in the 100-meter dash.

Exercising can help you look better.

People who exercise burn more calories and look more toned than those who don’t. In fact, exercise is one of the most important parts of keeping your body at a healthy weight.

Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases.

Exercising to maintain a healthy weight decreases a person’s risk of developing certain diseases, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases, which used to be found mostly in adults, are becoming more common in teens. (more…)

            Thanks to Anita Bezanzon for permission to use this Photo.

Whether you are having troubles with your weight or health in general or not, healthy eating is one New Year’s resolution that will be beneficial to everyone.  Healthy eating is incredibly important, and necessary if you want to get and stay in shape and feel at your very best. There are many things that you need to think about when it comes to healthy eating, and if you want to get fit and feel great, here are a few things in particular that you are going to want to keep in mind.

Making Healthy Meals Happen

Sure we all want to eat healthy and especially if we have a family, make sure that they are getting the nutrition and vitamins that they need. But this is not always as easy as it sounds. Especially in the crazy hectic and busy world that we live in today it seems as though there is never enough time to get everything we need done, and the same goes for meals. Taking a few minutes each week to plan your meals is really going to help you out here and make things a great deal easier on you.

The first step is to get ready, and this should involve the whole family. After all, everyone is different and so everyone is going to have different food preferences, of which you are going to want to take into consideration when planning your meals. Involve all family members in all aspects of meal planning, and give each person in the family a chance to talk about what they like and dislike, and what recipes they would like to have included here.

Putting this down in writing is also very important, not only to help keep you organized but so that you can remember everything you have gone over. Especially if you have a larger family you are going to find that you have troubles remembering everyone’s opinion. You should always start with the main attraction when you are planning your meals, and so this means that you should decide on the main course for each meal of the week first, before thinking about sides and desserts. This is important because not only is the main course the most important part of the meal, but also by choosing the main dish first you will find it a great deal easier to add on and finish off each meal. (more…)

              Thanks to Gwen Harlow for permission to use this Photo.

Oxidative stress has been identified and proven to be the root cause of more than 70 chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration and other serious ailments, according to Dr Ray D. Strand, an expert on nutritional medicine.

Oxidative stress occurs when free radicals, which are not neutralized by antioxidants, go on to create more volatile free radicals and damage cell walls, vessel walls, proteins, fats and even the DNA nucleus of our cells.

The part of the body which receives the most free radical damage will be the first to wear out and potentially cause a degenerative disease. The type of disease will depend on which part of the body is affected.

“Imagine yourself in front a crackling fireplace. The fire burns safely and beautifully most of the time, but on occasion, out pops a hot cinder that lands on your carpet and burns a little hole in it. One cinder by itself doesn’t pose much of a threat, but if this sparking and popping continues month after month, year after year, you will have a pretty ‘ratty’ carpet in front of your fireplace,” Dr Strand explains.

Referring to his analogy, Strand says that the fireplace represents the furnace of the cell (mitochondria), the cinder is the charged ‘free radical’ and the carpet is one’s body.

The part of the body which receives the most free radical damage will be the first to wear out and potentially cause one of these degenerative diseases. If it is our arteries, one could develop a heart attack or stroke. If it is our brain, one could develop Alzheimer’s dementia or Parkinson’s disease. If it is our joints, one could develop arthritis. (more…)

                 Thanks to Natalie for permission to use this Photo.

We Americans are proud of our work ethic. We work longer hours, and more productively, than any other nation. Our industriousness has long been cited as a source of strength of our economy—but it just might be a source of some of our health care woes as well. 

According to a just-released study from Wake Forest University, professional flexibility is an important contributor to better health. Employees at all levels who have, or feel they have, more job flexibility (e.g. the ability to work from home, choose their hours, etc.) engage in healthier behavior than those that don’t. The study found that employees with flexible schedules exercised more, attended more employer-sponsored health classes, were more likely to describe themselves as living a healthy lifestyle, and reported getting more sleep. When the researchers checked in a year later, they found that as job flexibility improved, so did healthy habits: more flexibility meant more sleep, more health classes, and a healthier lifestyle.

This study deserves attention. Changing behavior is the single most powerful way to prevent health problems. As experts from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation noted in a Health Affairs article earlier this year, “behavioral issues represent the greatest single domain of influence on the health of the U.S. population,” with 40 percent of early deaths in the U.S. due to behavioral patterns. Anything that promotes health behavior needs to be seriously considered as a strategy for making America healthier—and by extension, health care costs lower. 

Obviously, somehow ensuring that everyone in America had more flexible hours wouldn’t cut early deaths by 40 percent. And there’s no guarantee that more flexible hours will translate into better sleep, more exercise, or more education on a national scale. Any movement for universal job flexibility would have to be coupled with a concerted effort to translate free time into healthy time. (more…)

 
                Thanks to Timo for permission to use this Photo.

Two years ago I guest-blogged at the Freakonomics blog about diet and acne. I wrote that the claim of dermatologists that there is no link between diet and acne was absurd, not only because I had seen for myself such a link but also because it was an impossibly broad generalization.

In an article in the Boston Globe, Cynthia Graber, a science journalist, describes quite a bit of evidence that yes, diet affects acne. The research on which the no-link claim was based tested only two foods (chocolate and sugar)! From which committees of dermatologists generalized to all foods.

SO WHY HAVE DOCTORS been taught for so long that there’s no link? The anti-diet hypothesis . . . arose solely from two studies from the late 1960s and early 1970s. . . . One compares real chocolate bars with fake ones and was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with funding from the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. . . . The other study examines sugar in the diet of a small group. (more…)

Here’s a nice essay about the Women’s Health Initiative, a nine-year mega-million-dollar experiment to measure the effect of “healthy eating” especially a low-fat diet.  The results are quite interesting. (more…)

Every fall we look forward to the delightful treat of gaining an hour of sleep during daylight savings time. Wouldn’t it be rejuvenating to sleep like you had an extra hour every night?

Dr. Rubin Naiman, Director of Sleep Programs at the award winning destination spa, Miraval Resort, Tucson, offers expert advice on creating an optimal sleeping sanctuary. Having devoted the last 25 years to promoting sleep health, Dr. Naiman is a distinguished source on approaching the sleep issue comprehensively, from a body, mind and spirit perspective.

Here are some of Dr. Naiman’s unique tips for how to fall back to a healthy sleep this autumn by creating a sleeping sanctuary in your own bedroom:

        Thanks to vieilles_annonces’ for permission to use this Photo.

• Sleep in a warm-colored, darkly painted room to ease into darkness.        
• Awaken to a Circadian Alarm Clock. As it nears the time you has set to wake, the light will slowly grow brighter, starting the body’s natural wake-up process. Once fully awakened to the sunny glow, you will feel refreshed, positive and prepared rather than drowsy and confused as often happens with a blaring, buzzing alarm clock.         
• Replace regular Edison light bulbs with ‘blueblockers’ bulbs. These special light bulbs block the blue components of light allowing melatonin (the sleep inducing hormone) to be produced naturally.         
• Remove the television and all LED lights from the bedroom as these are distractions from falling asleep naturally.         
• Pro Sleep Atmosphere: Use a HEPA Filtration/Humidifier system to circulate the cleanest air which will disseminate allergies and promote healthy breathing.         
• Optimal Bed & Bedding: Dress your bed with organic Pure bedding that is manufactured without dyes and is hypoallergenic that does not contain harmful toxins like cotton sheets.

Now that you’ve made your bedroom, go sleep in it!

Borzack Crave
Creator of Healthy.Lifestyle
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger 

*We are honored to introduce the progressive health perspectives of Borzack Crave to the AU Health Care community.  Borzack’s Healthy.Lifestyle site is one of the most comprehensive resources for health related research, practices, and advice on the Web.  We would like to extend a special thanks to Borzack Crave for giving us the opportunity to share her terrific insights with our student community. 

On the latest episode of the excellent TV show Mad Men, which takes place in 1960, a man who has just had a heart attack says, “Did everything they told me. Drank the cream. Ate the butter.” A humorous comment on how ideas change. Now, of course, many people — possibly including the screenwriter — think eating cream and butter causes heart attacks. After a year studying omega-3s, I’m sure it wasn’t the amount of fat that caused the high-fat diet/heart attack correlation, it was the type of fat (low in omega-3). Cream and butter would have been fine if the cows’ food contained plenty of omega-3.

For decades we’ve been told that cream and butter and other animal fats “clog your arteries”. It’s like a well-known experiment with split-brain patients. The patient chooses a card based on what he sees on a screen. The two hemispheres see different things. In one particular trial, the right hemisphere saw a picture of snow on the screen and picked out a card with a picture of a shovel. The left hemisphere saw a chicken claw. The left hemisphere controls speech. When the patient was asked to explain the choice, he said, “You need a shovel to clean out the chicken coop.” This happened again and again: The left hemisphere did not know why a card had been chosen but rather than saying “I don’t know” it confidently made up an explanation. Keep this in mind the next time you hear an explanation. 

Studies to see if omega-3 supplementation reduces heart attacks have had ambiguous results, as Marion Nestle said. Why am I so sure that lack of omega-3 is the problem? (So sure that I no longer worry about my cholesterol.)

1. There is lots of evidence that heart attacks are due to inflammation.

2. There is lots of evidence that omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory.

3. Eskimos had very low rates of heart disease and ate a diet high in omega-3 fats.

4. Many studies have correlated heart attack risk with gum disease.

5. My self-experimentation showed beyond any doubt that omega-3 supplementation makes the brain work better. It also showed what effective dosages are.

6. When Tyler Cowen took an effective dose, his gum disease quickly disappeared. Everyone — everyone who thinks about this stuff — knows #1-#4. It is #5 and #6 that are new and complete the chain of reasoning. I believe #6 is as meaningful as the observation that scurvy is quickly cured by lime juice.

 
           Thanks to Patrick J. Lynch for permission to use this Photo.

In the 1930s, a dentist named Weston Price went all over the world looking at people’s gums. He wanted to compare modern diets with traditional diets. When his subjects ate a modern diet, he found gum disease. When they ate a traditional diet, their gums were fine even when they never brushed their teeth. In a few cases, such as an isolated group of Swiss mountain people, the traditional diets contained lots of butter and cream — from grass-fed cows. My gums vastly improved after I started taking good amounts of omega-3 (via flaxseed oil). After I reread Weston Price recently, I stopped being so careful about flossing and brushing. It hasn’t made a difference. In the past, my gums would bleed when I flossed unless I flossed daily. Now I floss rarely but they don’t bleed. I’m sure my whole circulatory system is in better shape.  

Uffe Ravnskov, a Swedish doctor, wrote a paper titled “Is atherosclerosis caused by high cholesterol?” (An admirably clear title.) His answer was no. He submitted it to a medical journal. One of his empirical points was that there was no relationship between cholesterol level and atherosclerosis growth. One reviewer commented:

“Lack of relationship can be explained by more factors that only absence of it: small numbers, incorrect or indirect measurements of variables of interest, imprecision in measurement, confounding factors, etc.”

To which Ravnskov replied:

“If it is impossible to find exposure-response between changes of blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis growth in 22 studies including almost 2500 individuals a relationship between the two, if any, must be trivial.”

Which sounds reasonable. But an even larger number of clinical trials failed to find clear evidence that omega-3 supplementation reduces heart disease. Yet I am sure that, with a large enough dose, it does.

Most people believe clinical trials, which are usually double-blind when possible and placebo-controlled. “The gold standard,” they are called. Science writer Gary Taubes, for example, believes them: When the results of a clinical trial contradicted a survey result, he believed the clinical trial. His recent NY Times magazine article was based on the assumption that clinical trials are trustworthy. This is such an article of faith that he gave no evidence for it.

That the heart disease clinical trials failed to clearly show benefits of omega-3 supplementation had large and unfortunate consequences. Not only because heart disease is the leading cause of death in many places, including America, but also because I am sure proper omega-3 supplementation would reduce many other problems, including falls, memory loss, gum disease, and other diseases of too much inflammation.

I don’t know why the big clinical trials failed to point clearly in the right direction. I can think of several possibilities:

1. Too large. Hard to control quality — verify data, for example. People near the bottom doing the work have little stake in accuracy of the outcome.

2. Poor compliance. If you are taking the placebo, why bother? And the odds are fifty-fifty you are. Lots of people have trouble following SLD, which obviously works.

3. Degradation. My belief that omega-3 is powerful comes from experiments (mine) and examples involving flaxseed oil. Flax grows at room temperature. The heart disease studies used fish oil; fish live in cold water. The omega-3 fats in fish oil may degrade at room temperature. The omega-3 fat in flaxseed oil may be far more stable at room temperature.

4. Wrong dose. Self-experimentation made it easy for me to figure out the correct dosage. People studying heart disease had no similar data to guide them. They could not realistically expect people to consume as much fish oil as the Eskimos whose rate of heart disease was so low.

5. Too sure. Self-experimentation encourages skepticism about one’s results because new experiments are easy to do. If I can think of reasons to doubt my results so far, that’s a good excuse for a new experiment. The more experiments the better. Each one is easy; I just need a good story line, a good reason for each one. Whereas if you are doing an experiment that cannot be repeated, any skepticism about it — e.g., about accuracy of measurements — is discouraged: It would cast doubt on the whole enterprise.

Dr. Seth Roberts
Author of The Shangri-La Diet
AU Special Guest Blogger

*Dr. Seth Roberts is a renowned psychologist and author of the critically acclaimed book, The Shangri-La Diet.  Mr. Roberts is one of those rare types of innovative thinkers that change the way you perceive the world.  We’re honored that Seth Roberts has provided us with the opportunity to share his dynamic perspectives with the AU student community.  Seth’s dedication to scientific inquiry and experimental analysis serves as an inspiration to all those interested in the mysteries of the body and mind.  Visit Seth’s blog to learn more about Seth Roberts’ life and work.  Thanks Seth!

Research statistics have revealed that most women live longer than men. One of the varying biological reasons is that estrogen, the female hormone, serves as a protection from heart diseases. It lowers the harmful cholesterol and increases the ‘good’ cholesterol in women. Therefore, without this hormone, men are five times more at risk of suffering from heart diseases than women.

However after menopause, women’s risk of getting heart diseases becomes similar to that of men - unless they practice healthy lifestyle from young. With exercise, a proper diet and regular medical checkups, most women should be able to live to become centenarians.

In fact, the present statistics indicate that female centenarians outnumber male centenarians by nine to ten. Therefore, to live a long, healthy and active life, women have to resort to ’strategy of healthy living’

20’s to 30’s - Building Your Health Foundation

Calcium and Vitamin D

These are ‘health foundation’ building years especially to prevent osteoporosis at later years. Your body reaches its peak bone mass by the age of 30. After that your bone mass will deplete gradually. Asian women are at greater risk of osteoporosis due to their smaller body frames and lower bone-mineral density. Therefore it is crucial for them to take foods high in bone-building minerals such as calcium and vitamin D.

Daily intake of 800mg of calcium and 5ug of vitamin D is recommended. You should also include in your diet more milk and milk derivatives, dark green leafy vegetables and especially wholegrain as well as legumes and lentils.

Folate / Folic Acid

Women are created to be at the reproduction peak in their 20’s and 30’s. If you were pregnant, your gynecologist or nutritionist would have advised you to include sufficient amount of folate in your diet. Folate or folic acid is crucial in helping the healthy production of DNA and RNA, the building blocks of new cells, in your unborn baby. It is critical especially in the second and third trimester of your pregnancy because your baby’s cells are dividing and growing at a rapid rate.

For normal women, 400ug of folic acid is recommended and during pregnancy, to increase it to 600ug. The folate-rich foods include spinach, ladies’ fingers (okra), asparagus, lentils, kidney beans, oatmeal, tomato juice, sunflower seeds, dark green vegetables, wholegrain produce and liver.

Iron-rich Foods

You would want to take more iron since it helps to facilitate blood to the tissues and more importantly to your womb where your baby resides. This is the time that you cannot afford to become anemic because that would make your body physically fatigued. Your baby’s growth would also be adversely affected and there might be complications during delivery.

We suggest 29mg of iron for a healthy woman. During pregnancy, the woman should increase her iron intake to 100mg. Iron supplements may not be as effective as iron-rich foods such as eggs, soybeans, lentils, kidney beans, navy beans, tofu, spinach, raisins and enriched grains, but they are sufficient.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Zinc

Another important nutrient for mother-to-be is omega-3 fatty acids which are vital for your baby’s brain development. A good source of omega-3 fatty acids is oily fish such as salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, herring and mackerel. If you are afraid of the high mercury level in fish, you may consume flaxseed oil or borage oil instead.

Acne, a common malady during your teenage years, may return when you reach adulthood. Your skin cells would not be readily renewed and pores would get easily clogged with microorganisms. Your face would have blackheads or whiteheads and some pores may become inflamed and filled with pus. To help heal and repair your damaged cells caused by acne, take Clearpores, or more zinc which is known as the ‘clean-up enzyme’.

Zinc also inhibits sebum production which causes acne flare-up. Oysters, red meats, poultry, beans, nuts and certain seafood contain good amount of zinc. Vitamin A will help reduce the production of sebum too. This vitamin can be found in carrots, mangoes, spinach, dried apricots, egg yolks and liver. Nevertheless, drink at least eight glasses of water daily to keep your cells hydrated.

         Thanks to Laura “Glyphin” for permission to use this Photo.

40’s - Journey To Menopause

Omega 3, 6 and 9

Some women start to experience pre-menopausal symptoms when they reach beyond 35 years old. At this stage, your ovulation may not be frequent and the declining estrogen level may produce all kinds of frustrating symptoms such as mood swings, sleep problems, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, breast tenderness and other complications. Make sure that you consume a wide variety of nutrients and supporting herbs to help you sail through this transition smoothly. One of the nutrients you want to consume more is Omega-3 fatty acids or better still, a healthy oil blend of Omega-3, 6 and 9.

Eat In Smaller Amount and Exercise

Experts say that if you take good care during these transitional years, you will reap the benefits for years to come. As the metabolism rate of women decreases between two to eight percent every ten years, you should be careful with your diet. Your muscles would reduce in size and you will easily gain more fat.

Cut down your calories intake by about ten percent especially if you are desk-bound and have little opportunities for physical activities. Avoid eating too much carbohydrates and junk foods. Eat smaller but regular holistic meal portions. If you must have these, consider taking Proactol after your meal. It is an organic fiber product that is clinically proven to bind over 27% of dietary fat intake. Do find time to exercise so as to tone up your muscles. 

Folic Acid

You may want to ensure adequate supply of folic acid (400ug daily) as it is helpful in regulating the levels of homocysteine, an amino acid produced by the body to prevent heart disease. Multivitamin or B-complex vitamins will also be beneficial. Continue to take enough calcium (800mg) and vitamin D (5ug) from food sources daily. You must also monitor that you have at least 25g of dietary fibers daily to prevent constipation. Some good recommendations are psyllium husks, oatmeal and definitely more fibrous vegetables and fruits with high levels of pectins.

50’s - A New Journey After Menopause

Most women reach menopause in their 50’s and this is the moment of celebration! At this age, you do not ovulate any more and you are free from the monthly hassle of menstruation. You are now more matured and revered for your knowledge and wisdom. However, health wise, you will have to be more vigilant. You can do much to prevent heart diseases, osteoporosis and many other chronic degenerative diseases that come without the protective female hormone.

Stop Taking Iron Supplements

You should stop taking iron supplements and depend only on your regular meals for iron intake. Your daily intake of iron should be reduced to 11mg. For maintenance of your bone mass, increase your calcium intake to 10oomg daily and Vitamin D to 10ug.

Omega-3 and Magnesium

Sodium may increase the chances of getting heart diseases. Consume foods high in omega-3 fatty acids as they support the function of prostaglandins which are the center of all cellular activities. Omega-3 also helps to lower the cholesterol level and reduce pain in joints. It will rejuvenate your skin which may have become drier and flakier. Your aging body needs magnesium for more than 300 biochemical reactions. Magnesium also help prevents and manages disorder such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Eat banana, pearled barley, buckwheat, oat bran, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and dark green leafy vegetables for your supply of magnesium.

60’s - Healthy Prime Timer

The secret of aging gracefully and beautifully is to continue your positive lifestyle habits. When you reach 60, you will continue to experience various physiological and psychological changes. You may suffer from loss of teeth, reduced sensory inputs and may be affected by moods of depression and anxiety.

Colorful Diet

Load your body with wide variety of wholesome food of different colors that are packed with enzymes and nutrients. Meal time should be exciting.

Eat Healthy and Exercise

The healthy regime of healthy food intake and regular exercise should continue. Join yoga, tai chi, line dancing or ballroom dancing classes. Do brisk walking or even gardening. Make life enjoyable by widening your social contacts. Get involved, eat well, rest enough, exercise and live a healthy and happy life. 

Borzack Crave
Creator of Healthy.Lifestyle
AU Contributing Blogger

*We are honored to introduce the progressive health perspectives of Borzack Crave to the AU Health Care community.  Borzack’s Healthy.Lifestyle site is one of the most comprehensive resources for health related research, practices, and advice on the Web.  We would like to extend a special thanks to Borzack Crave for giving us the opportunity to share her terrific insights with our student community.