Archive for October, 2006
October is bringing in autumn to the UK and it hasn’t taken me long to go down with my first cold.
I’ve spent the last week with a moderate cold, which has been more annoying than debilitating. The trouble is, though, that I seem to be susceptible to colds and I can suffer from quite a few during autumn and winter.
One of my colleagues mentioned that she takes a big dose of Echinacea every day from September onwards until about Easter, and she hardly ever goes down with a cold now, even though she works in an air conditioned office and is susceptible to colds also.
When I worked at the hospital, I remember some of my colleagues swearing by Echinacea saying that this miraculous herb protected them from colds, even when working with ill people every day. I started taking it and thought that it was amazing. I don’t think I went down with a cold once that year.
I continued to take a low strength Echinacea tablet during the last two winters, but stopped last year after I went down with a really bad cold and it seemed to be made worse by the “wonder tablets”. I chucked the remaining Echinacea tablets away, thinking they were a waste of time and money.
The big dosage of Echinacea that my colleague takes has got me thinking again though.
She gave me the web address of a firm supplying large dose tablets so I ordered some. They arrived today.
Maybe the high dosage will be more beneficial. I’m going to try them this autumn and winter. If I don’t get any major colds, I’ll be delighted and they’ll be part of my flu and cold protection from now on.
If I do continue to get colds then that’s it. No more Echinacea for me.
October 9th, 2006
Written By: chris
Enzymes are vital to the metabolic processes that take place in your body. They work as catalysts in assisting the chemical processes involved in converting one substance
into another.
For instance, a proteolytic enzyme will convert proteins into peptides and amino acids so that the latter being smaller molecules could be readily absorbed in your intestine.
Dr Jeremy Kaslov, a biochemist and Ellen Cutler have authored a book ‘Micromiracles: Discover the Healing Power of Enzymes.’ In the book they underline that our current diets and lifestyles lead to deficiencies of essential enzymes which in turn result into food cravings, weight gain, premature ageing, lowered immunity and food intolerances.
Being “essential to every bodily function including breathing, circulation and immune response,” says Cutler, “poor diet, digestive stress, metabolic imbalance, illness and medications lower the enzyme levels.”
The authors explain three basic groups of enzymes and their functions. The systemic enzymes maintain blood and tissues, keep your heart beating in the right rhythm and your senses, mood and memory in order. The systemic enzymes are made by your body when you are healthy. Your body faces deficiency of systemic enzymes during stress and sickness. Hence your healing power is affected.
The digestive enzymes help your body absorb food nutrients. Hence, the need for your body to keep producing digestive enzymes to help digestion.
The food enzymes are the enzymes which are present in the food naturally. They are vital supplements to the stock of enzymes present in your body. But if they are deficient in your food your body has to work so much more to make up for the deficiency, thus curtailing the supply of enzymes to some other vital bodily functions.
Your diet therefore needs to be watched for unhealthy attributes.
Since digestion of food starts in your mouth, the authors of the book recommend that you chew your food 30-40 times and not just 3-5 as normally done. This will help the food enzymes to help complete digestion in your mouth.
October 6th, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
I like tea, and in fact I like it even more now that I’ve learnt that black tea can help relieve stress.
Of course as a British person, I’m used to the ritual cup of tea that is offered whenever there is a crisis, and even when there isn’t. Perhaps this is the reason - it helps sooths our fevered brows in time of need.
Actually, according to the research, it seems that drinking black tea helps to reduce cortisol in your blood. Cortisol is one of the stress hormones, so reducing its blood levels could explain how the subjects in the experiment could de-stress more quickly and effectively after a stressful event.
I am intrigued that it was black tea that seems to exhibit these beneficial properties during the experiment and tea with milk doesn’t seem to have been tested - presumably to ensure standardisation of tea “dosage”. It is reassuring, however, that tea can be so beneficial, given the huge quantities that are consumed worldwide.
So for those with busy and stressful lives, we can now prescribe the perfect solution - a session practising yoga followed by a nice cup of tea!
October 5th, 2006
Written By: chris
The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), India’s biggest medical research institution, has conducted a study on the remarkable benefits of Winter Cherry in preventing heart attacks in rats.
Winter Cherry or Withania somnifera has been known to Ayurveda for centuries for its effectiveness in arthritis and respiratory and nervous disorders. The heart protective properties of the herb, which came to be known only recently, are now the subject of the study.
The AIIMS study, having completed its first stage of pre-clinical animal investigations, demonstrates that the Winter Cherry has strengthening effect on heart muscles. The herb is effective in preventing heart attacks and boosting the endurance of heart muscles.
The herb extract has been demonstrated to reduced necrosis. Necrosis is the death of living cells and tissues during a heart attack. The herb is also effective in reducing the release of the chemical agents from the necrotic cells which damage other cells.
In the study, heart failure was induced in the rats after they were put on a monthly dose of the herb. The animals which were fed the herb extract survived longer than those who were not. The rats fed on the herb extract had intact heart muscles while the others suffered damage.
A couple of years back I had a rich crop of Winter Cherry growing at my farm. The roots of the herb are commonly used as a tonic to improve general health, for which it was grown. A number of local doctors, I was told by my manager, visited the farm to collect their raw material for heart patients. I came to know that although Ayurveda does not specifically prescribe the herb for heart patients, the doctors of traditional medicine knew its additional usage through practice.
The AIIMS researchers are preparing to take their investigations to the first human trial very soon.
This is good news for those with heart conditions.
October 4th, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
It looks like I’m not the only one who tries to keep fit and healthy, as apparently the British are spending £1.4 billion pounds (close to $2bn) each year on gym memberships and eating healthily.
I find it encouraging that so many people are taking their health and fitness seriously, however there seems to be a polarity developing in the UK society, at least, if not elsewhere.
On the one hand, we have this level of spending on health clubs and good diet and on the other hand we have increased obesity followed by increases in related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Of course many people cannot afford expensive gym fees and costly healthy foods, however if we could only find a way to raise the general levels of health and fitness, then I’m sure that a wave of other benefits would follow.
Our range of articles and blogs about how Yoga can dramatically improve some people’s conditions, some quite serious, and how it makes you feel less stressed, show that this is a way of improving health without incurring high costs.
The trouble is it takes time, determination and commitment, and thats at the root of the problem.
It makes me smile when I park in the car park at my gym. There are parking spaces available now, however in January and February all those new year resolutions materialise in an overflowing car park.
Perhaps that 1.4 billion pounds is mostly spent in those few months directly after Christmas when resolutions are at their strongest.
October 3rd, 2006
Written By: chris
It is not often one hears of a President taking an exceptional interest in a health related issue.
The President of India Abdul Kalam has visited Global Hospital Research Centre in Mount Abu in India to update himself on a nine-year study on coronary heart disease (CAD). Called Abu Healthy Heart Trial, the study is the largest and longest ever to examine how changes in lifestyle can help regress coronary artery disease.
Financed by the Ministry of Health’s Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy, the study was commissioned by the President in his earlier official position on the Defense Research Development Organisation, co-conducting the CAD research.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when the arteries or the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed to restrict the flow of blood. The hardening and narrowing of the arteries take place due to deposition of a substance known as plaque on their inner walls.
Among the various heart disorders CAD is the most common. The incidence of CAD in India increased from 1% in 1960 to 11% in 2001. It is the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women.
The study had 516 patients divided into two groups. While one group was on conventional treatment like bypass surgery and angioplasty the other group was put on lifestyle changes. The latter included a low-fat, high-fibre vegetarian diet, yoga and a daily hour-long walk.
The study records that the lifestyle change improved regression in CAD by 11.82% and improved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) by over 30%. LVEF is the pumping of oxygenated blood into the main artery supplying blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The lifestyle change also helped reduce cholesterol by 24%. Cholesterol is mainly responsible for narrowing of the blood vessels.
The study proves that yoga, vegetarian diet and walking reduces CAD by 12%. Yoga reduces angina, the chest pain and improves pumping of oxygenated blood into the main artery by 30%. The lifestyle change checked production of stress hormones like epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol and helped increase the production of happy hormones like serotonin and beta endorphins.
The President advises healthy heart lifestyle right from childhood “to bypass the need for a bypass surgery and curb rising CAD.”
October 2nd, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
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