Natural Health

What does it take to improve the quality of your life? Not near as much as you might think.

I once read a study that showed by reaching a moderate level of fitness, an individual could reduce his or her chance of dying from a sickness by almost 60 percent. Studies also show that a moderate level of fitness can significantly reduce the risk of heart failure (the No. 1 killer of Americans).

A new study from researchers in Australia and Finland suggests that a healthy diet can do wonders for your complexion. This confirms what mothers have been saying for ages – don’t eat chocolate, or you’ll break out! At least, don’t eat too much chocolate. Diets that are high in fiber, low-fat proteins, complex carbs like whole grains and whole wheats, are much better for your skin than diets high in sugar and processed food. Good for your body, good for your skin.

By: Rick Schaff

-- an excerpt from my book, MISLED

www.HEALTHandINSPIRATION.com

Health and fitness magazines and radio and television commercial producers often find themselves in precarious situations due to the nature of how they generate revenues; most of their profits are produced by selling advertising space. Unfortunately, that means that they often have little choice but to work with companies that distort the truth. Simply put, even publications and programs that have stated goals to provide beneficial information on health and fitness to their audiences are often forced to sell ad space or time to disingenuous companies to stay in business. In many cases, the articles and programming must frequently support the “fabulous results” their clients’ products claim to provide. My magazine DIVAS was in print for two years; this provided me with firsthand experience about the compromising decisions every magazine owner and/or publisher must face. Jeff Everson, former editor for Muscle & Fitness Magazine and current publisher of Planet Muscle Magazine stated the following about this situation:

“One of the biggest problems that magazines endure is their dependence on supplement ads to pay their bills. If you just tried to publish a magazine about real training, you would never make it. While one naturally tries to improve the industry, it would be suicide to bite the hands that feed you.

Have you ever put yourself in a good mood for no apparent reason at all? Experts from various disciplines now believe that certain foods we eat play a hand in our happiness. Avoid the diet doldrums with these healthy, happy foods:

1. Oily fish – Medical research teams believe that sardines, salmon, and other oily ocean foods can bring you up when you’re feeling down

Our parents have always told us to get eight hours of sleep. But is that really true? Well here is an interesting study published in the January edition of Archives of Internal Medicine that looks to answer this very question.

For years, researchers have studied how men and women react to various foods and their aromas. Using physiological measurements, here are some foods that are guaranteed to spice up your sex life and turn your partner on.

For Him:
Fiber – soluble fiber dynamos like cornflakes, apples, broccoli, legumes, whole grains
Antioxidants – blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, broccoli, sweet potatoes
Baked Goods – especially cinnamon buns, pumpkin pie, and donuts
Black licorice – the aroma gets men going

For Her:
Caffeine – just a small amount can stimulate nerve endings

When it comes to diet and exercise, people have very little patience. Weight loss ads, infomercials and fitness gimmicks feed off our impatience by emphasizing words like “fast” and “easy”.

Infomercials can suck you in and make you buy things you regret you ever wasted your time and money on. The funny thing is, we waste the most time and money trying to save time and money. Would we fall for the same shortcuts and tricks when it comes to your most valuable possession, like a home or car?

Before even thinking about making New Year’s Resolutions and going on a diet, you might need to still get past something we call the “After Christmas Blues”. The blues are easy to get at this time of the year. Presents are unwrapped, credit cards are maxed out, the excitement is over and the needles are falling off the Christmas tree. Who wouldn’t get depressed?! So how do you conquer the “After Christmas Blues” and bounce back for the New Year?

We all know what a nuisance the common cold can be. For over 60 years people have thought that Vitamin C was a great defense. In fact, Vitamin C’s popularity in treating the common cold rose greatly in the 1970’s when the Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling stated its effectiveness based on an earlier trial. But the question remains that whether or not there is any evidence to support the efficacy of Vitamin C?

We’ve discussed the benefits of raw food before, but I’d like to devote a little more time to the raw food movement. The push to eat all-natural, unprocessed, organic foods has taken hold of many dejected dieters. Unlike other fad diets, in which the weight piles back on the second you stop dieting, the raw food diet is a movement and a lifestyle change.

Is your focus on optimum health and performance? If it is, then you are probably on the lookout for options that will help you to work and play better.

I recently met with Dr. Jim Hoven, DC, a practicing Chiropractor with a diploma in Sports Injuries. Dr. Hoven has over 16 years of experience and he has treated people from all walks of life.

During our time together, I asked Dr. Hoven about chiropractic to help the members of MFT get a better understanding of this effective form of health care.

Q: Dr. Hoven, it seems like more and more people are either going to a Chiropractor or are considering trying one. What is it that attracts so many people to chiropractic?

A: Lots of people want to get healthy so that they can do the things that they either want to do or have to do. And many are looking for ways to feel good that are as “natural” as possible. For most, chiropractic can fit the bill as an effective, safe way to meet those goals.

Q: As a Physical Therapist, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many Chiropractors over the years, and I’ve seen many different methods. Can you explain that to our readers?

When people think of detoxing they think of eating no solid food or drinking boiled cabbage water all day, which to some can mean torture rather than cleanse.

One particular individual was documented to have ate no solid food for 10 days and drank a mix of lemon juice, water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper, also a quart of salt water and then a laxative tea. Hence to say she suffered with acne, irritability and headaches. Her goal was to lose some body-fat and cleanse her body of free-radicals.

In this instance, she took the word ‘cleanse’ a little to far as this ultimately ended up doing the reverse of what she originally wanted.

These extreme ways to shed body-fat and detoxify the body have become more common place as of late, particularly with the younger generation due to stories coming to light that some famous celebrities have tried these extremes with great success.

If you don’t want to get breast cancer, don’t think about getting it!

“Clearly,” you say, “he must be mad!” How could a physician who specializes in optimal health make such a ridiculous statement? Here’s how: don’t focus on your fear; visualize vitality.

Aim For Your Desired Destination

When young people are learning to drive, they often swerve a lot at first. Their nail-biting path is due to where they mistakenly place their attention; on avoiding the curb. As they look at the yellow lines they unconsciously drive toward the curb! Young drivers soon learn not to drive to avoid the curb but instead drive toward their destination. In driving, the key is to keep your car tuned up and steer toward your desired destination.

Most of us use herbs and spices within our daily cooking and food preparation to give some flavor to the bland taste that comes with most 'clean' diets, but did you know that most of the commonly used ones such as oregano, thyme, basil, dill, cloves, cinnamon et al. are rich in antioxidants and contain anti-inflammatory properties.

Even more amazing is that in a recent study at Georgia University, a discovery that herbs and spices actually helped inhibit tissue damage and inflammation caused by high blood sugar levels was made. If you look into this in more detail, what scientists are trying to tell us is that herbs and spices can actually help lower blood sugar levels. As you know, high sugar levels in the blood increase our risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. Also, we as athletes are also try to find new ways to manipulate our blood sugar levels so that we can keep our metabolism stoked, and thus we keep burning body fat and retaining or re-building muscle tissue.

Natural fruit and vegetables have been proven time and time again to be good for our overall health. One vegetable in particular is one we may not think twice about when we go for a carrot or tomato instead.

It’s called Beetroot.

Besides the fact that it is low in calories and has an abundance of minerals vital for our overall health, it is also a fabulous source of tryptophan which is the pre-cursor to your feel good and calming hormones. The main benefits we might find more attractive to us as athletes is that the more tryptophan our bodies can produce more productive sleep, which in turn will help overall muscle growth and recovery. Sleep is an often forgotten facet in our lives and something some people take for granted. If we are having regular sessions of deeper sleep, we are giving the body a better opportunity to grow muscle.