Alternative Therapies and Health News

Yes, it’s toned milk that can fetch you a healthy heart and hence a longer life. Researchers of this new revelation state that drinking toned milk helps in doing with heart ailments like heart stroke and other heart diseases.

The study further revealed that one serve or cup of low-fat milk or milk products educed the risk of poor kidney function related to heart diseases by 37 percent than those who do not drink regularly.

Infact, magnesium, vitamin D, calcium and milk protein are some of the basic nutrients required for a healthy heart. More than 5000 adults aged between 45 to 84 years were examined for their kidney function which is related to heart diseases.

The researchers also kept a track of the eating patterns of the volunteers and measured the Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR), which if extremely low indicates poor kidney function and an increased risk to cardiovascular diseases.

It was revealed that volunteers who drank more of low fat milk or milk products reported lower ACR, which meant that the kidney functioned well along with reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, it was just low fat milk and milk products that were evaluated to estimate the risks for kidney dysfunction and heart diseases.

Infact, an overall balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low fat milk and milk products showed a lowered ACR by 20 percent that can be related to a healthy kidney and subsequently a healthy heart.

Expert’s advice to the public at large is to eat healthy foods and to ensure a serve or cup of toned milk or low fat milk products everyday to keep the hearty beating healthy.

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Gum or tooth aches can give the most perilous time for people. So your makeup and dressing could go waste if your gum or tooth aches are bothering the hell out of you at a party. Some experts are of the opinion that diet and/or foods play a major role in preventing gum and tooth decay. They also believe that sticky foods, wafers and chips when kept too long can cause cavities. Discover some of the healthiest foods you can treat your teeth to in the article below.

Top 10 Treats for Healthy Teeth and Gums
Listed below are some dietary tips that can result in healthy teeth and gums:

• Water: Water is considered very essential for optimum teeth health and nutrition of the gums and teeth. This is so because water helps in transporting essential nutrients like calcium and others to the cell membranes that restore the strength and health of teeth and gums.
• Cherries, Blueberries and Blackcurrant’s: Cherries and berries have a high concentration of bioflavonoid that can protect the gums against decay.
• Go Easy on Milk and Dairy Foods: Experts opine that calcium is very essential for strong teeth and gums but if you are lactose intolerant, then go for ewe, buffalo or goat milk.
• Tea: Tea is again considered very healthy for the teeth gums because flavonoids present in the tea can both protect the gums from decay and prevent plaque from fusing to the teeth. Tea also helps fight bacteria and/or infection of the teeth and gums.
• Apples: Studies reveal that apples can protect the gums and teeth from decaying due to a high concentration of vitamin C and boron. In addition, apples are also fiber-rich which help in keeping the teeth and gums clean.
• Fish: Proteins are the next most important ingredients for healthy teeth and gums and found abundantly in fish.
• Nuts: Nuts are considered to be rich in calcium and other essential minerals too which is again considered very healthy for the teeth and gums.
• Seeds: Experts are of the opinion that foods with seeds like pumpkin, sesame, sunflower and poppy seeds are all very rich in calcium, vitamins and minerals. As a result, seedy foods can help restore healthy teeth and gums. It is also recommended to look out for crackers and breads that contain seeds for nurturing healthier teeth and gums.
• Pulses: Pulses like chickpeas are said to be high on calcium, magnesium, zinc, proteins and fibers all very important for healthy teeth and gums.
• Sunlight: Experts believe that vitamin D helps in absorbing calcium effectively. That makes sunlight or sunshine the most effective source for vitamin D for healthy bones, teeth and gums.

If you don’t want to keep waking up to an aching tooth or gums, then you should really take care of what you eat. Avoid sugary foods, chips, fizzy drinks, white bread, white wine and processed cereals that are perfect teeth rotters. Stick to the basics of rinsing your mouth before and after meals and always munch on healthy food.

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Come winters and the urge to eat more increases. Infact, chill cold months are just ideal for getting under the quilt or sitting in front of your television screens while you sip away on hot coffee and popcorns. Have you ever realized how quickly you eat while watching your favorite program? Well, experts opine that music and television can just about double the pace at which you eat.

Top Winter Fattening Foods
Listed below are some of the most fattening foods you maybe consuming in cold and chilly winter months:

• Candy Bars: Blame it all on the Halloween. These candy bars can carry as much as 320 calories. So try not getting tempted towards them as you would be gifted with twice as much weight in the New Year.
• Mash Potatoes: Potatoes twice as fattening when mashed with butter and milk. Experts opine mashed potatoes can contain as much as 200 calories in a half cup serve.
• Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte: Experts are of the opinion that caffeinated drinks are big on calories. Infact, this one can pack up about 510 calories and 20g of fat. So think hard before you get willing to pay for a cup of coffee.
• Apple Pie: The apple pie is like cherry on the cake to a thanksgiving dinner. This desert can accommodate as much as 400 calories with about 20g of fat. Adding ice cream to the apple pie can come up to nearly 530 calories. So you have decide what you want to lose, calories or the apple pie?
• Cider: A warm cup of cider can sound like a comfortable beverage but have you realized how many calories you maybe cashing on? Yes, sugar added to it can cost you heavily with 200 calories.
• Stuffing: Why do you think that they are called “stuffing”? It is because they are stuffed with 358 calories and 18g of fat. The stuffed turkey is very popular in the fall season and has a huge role to play on the Thanksgiving Day. Though difficult try healthier options instead of stuffing yourself with all that fat and calories.
• Candy Apple with Caramel: Apple itself contains nearly 60-100 calories. Dressing apple slices with caramel can add as much as 540 calories to your body. Experts opine that you could make savings on your dental bills and calories if the candy apple is avoided this autumn.
• Turducken: This combination of turkey, duck and chicken is the ultimate treat for the Thanksgiving Day. Just one serving of turducken can weigh as many as 749 calories and 34.5g of fat.

Come fall season and you have all reason to celebrate. So with the Thanksgiving Day, weddings and Christmas coming round the corner of every year, it could be quiet a task for to resist great meals and feasts. Even then, if you wish to start the New Year with a fit and toned body, control your taste buds in the latter half of the year.

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Yes, researchers have made another discovery which claims that boring, regular and/or monotonous tasks can make freeze the brain literally. This happens because the brain gradually shift to the rest mode whether it likes it or not eventually. Researchers also revealed that when they began monitoring the area of the brain, they were also able to tell when the person was about to make a mistake before the person actually committed the mistake.

This study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Tom Eichele from the University of Bergen (Norway) claims that there comes a time when your brain cannot take anymore and wants to stop doing a thing again and again but cannot do anything about it.

This sense of the brain not being able to function properly or as receptively can happen to almost anybody and the best thing about it is that you haven’t done one thing to induce it say experts. In such situations, researchers opine that blood flows to those potions of the brain which are active even during rest.

Tom asserts that since this situation actually comes about 30 seconds prior to a mistake that is committed, it is easy to design an early-warning system that can help the brain not to commit the mistakes and become more focused towards a work or task.

Experts opine that such an early-warning system can help build safe working environment and can also ensure better performance. For instance, better security screening at airports.

The device, Tom explains will obviously situated on top of the head for people to perform tasks better and not numb the brain in such a way to make mistakes. So ultimately, it isn’t going to be the brain which is going to decide whether you are doing right or wrong but the device which is going to the job for you.

Tom claims that there is a wireless mobile and light amplifier that is being designed to prevent the person from making mistakes on account of monotonous work and is expected to be ready in about 10 to 15 years from now.

As it has been confirmed that the brain can actually freeze if people continue doing the same task again and again, it is advisable that people find alternative ways to enrich their brains because it will take a while for the early-warning device to hit the market.

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Yes, a study reveals that when moms eat high-energy foods, they have more chances of conceiving baby boys. Similarly, the researchers also threw light on the fact that those who ate low-energy foods (with fewer vitamins, minerals and nutrients) were more likely to deliver baby girls.

Fiona Mathews from the University of Exeter (Britain) and her colleagues wanted further confirmation on the impact of mother’s diet on her offspring. About 740 first-time mothers with unborn fetuses were observed on the basis of their calorie intake. The women were classified into three categories as per the amount of calories they consumed on each day during the time of conception.

Results from their deliveries revealed that about 56 percent of the women who were loyal to high-energy foods, delivered sons.

Apart from a calorie-rich diet, moms who took more of potassium, vitamin C, E and B12 and calcium were also reported to have baby boys. Such findings, explain why there is a paradigm shift in favor of girls when it comes to evaluating the sex ratios in many countries.

Though obesity epidemic is on the rise in many advanced economies of the world, the intake of energy foods is on the fall. Infact, a number of adults, both boys and girls are famous for skipping their meals and/or breakfast.

Experts like Fiona opine that this could be a clear case of “gender selection”. It also shows how women in advanced countries choose to go for low calorie foods that can discourage the birth of baby boys.

While the true reason for this mechanism is not yet ascertained, the study clearly brings to light that higher level of sugar and/or glucose encourages the growth of male embryos than female embryos in an expecting mother’s womb.

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Experts have found links between video game addicts and Asperger. The typical symptoms of the Asperger’s disorder are to do with language delays quiet close to autism. It has also been reported the language and cognitive skills are mildly affected with the Asperger’s disorder.

In addition, researchers are also of the opinion that video game addicts are more likely to suffer a sense of alienation or isolation which gives rise to potential mental problems in the long run.

A team of researchers from the University of Bolton (England) examined 400 gamers, mostly male. Though the researchers did not study the gamers on the basis of the Asperger’s syndrome, they reflected traits of the disorder. The team led by John Charlton only sought to question the volunteers on how often they played the video games.

The researchers found that more the gamers engaged in video games, the more likely they were to possess 3 distinct traits of the Aperger’s syndrome. The 3 traits of the Asperger’s syndrome being:

• Neuroticism
• Lack of extraversion
• Lack of agreeableness

John Charlton also emphasized that people suffering from the Asperger’s syndrome were more likely to become video game addicts as it gives them the opportunity to escape into a world that doesn’t require face-to-face interaction with people.

Charlton however does not confirm that avid gamers are more likely to develop the Asperger’s syndrome. However, he says that the reverse can happen because children suffering from the Asperger’ syndrome cannot make eye to eye contact, cannot perceive social cues like boredom in others and in that sense suffer from alienation or loneliness that can cause depression. Researchers opine that video gaming aggravate the loneliness and depression in already emotionally and mentally affected kids.

Though the actual cause of the Asperger’s Disorder is not arrived at, researchers opine that it could be a genetic component. Treatments for the disorder include – improving social skills and breaking the repetitiveness which experts opine video games discourage.

Experts opine that when kids in their growing years are still exploring this world, video games come as a HUGE hurdle in weakening their abilities to interact with people thereby shutting them out from life much before their time!

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Experts opine that humans taste with their brains. This implies that the ability to “taste” involves a complicated process which calls for the interaction of tongue, psychological signs, nose and exposure to different kinds of foods. This indirectly implies that your sense of smell can actually determine the taste of the foods you eat.

How Do You Taste With Your Brains?
Researchers explain that “taste” does not begin when the foods touch the tongue but much before that. Infact, more important than sniffing is the act of “chewing” which sends the flavors to the back of the nose. Now, we feel that we are tasting the flavor but we are actually smelling the flavor. Now this sense of smelling flavor signals the brain through a more sensitive path than sniffing communicates with the brain.

Whereas the brain is trying to meet the conflicting wants of the stomach which is either saying “I am full” with the yum factor. That is when you brain identifies a food to be good and we say that the food tastes good.

When Does Food Taste Good?
Dr Linda Bartoshuk from the University of Florida points out that foods taste good to us when the brain is programmed to see it as good. Researchers from the University of Michigan also claim that when humans eat something tasty, the brain cells get fired up.

Researchers further opine that the intensity with which people smell different kinds of foods influences their health and well-being.

In addition, the association of a food with its taste an also hamper one’s health. For example, superstars who avoid vegetables because they find it bitter as compared to others are more often than not at an increased risk of developing colon cancer reports a study.

Can You Train Your Taste Buds?
Dr Bartoshuk is of the opinion that you can train your taste buds to like a food. For instance, he claims that the foods you ate as a child and the emotional connections you have with certain foods can all help in determining food preferences than biology itself.

Can You Trick Your Taste Buds?
Experts opine that you can also trick your taste buds. For instance, the traditional menu for the Thanksgiving Day includes sweetened vegetables. The caramelizing or sweetened flavor can to do the trick for your taste buds after all. Experts opine that taste buds also fade with age. So something like Brussels sprouts which may not appeal to your taste buds at 20 may appeal at 50 years.

Thereby confirming that taste is a result of brain signals, researchers and psychologists opine claim that the initial part of a meal, that is when you sit down to eat and start eating is when the brain cells are most fired up. That’s when you find the foods to be very delicious than you would otherwise feel after consuming them. So would you believe now that you taste with your brains and not tongue alone?

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If you’re wondering whether you’re reading right, then let us confirm that you are. Researchers are here to state that a sudden whiff of air carrying fragrance when brought close to a sleeping person during a particular sleep state helps in boosting the memory levels of the person. Now, this is not to say that any odor at anytime during the sleeping hours can help in boosting the memories of people.

German scientists conducted a test on medical students to confirm the same. The students were made to play a computer memory game of cards where they wee supposed to find the match.

Some of these medical students were made to play the game in a rose-scented room. That night, while the students were in deep sleep state called the “slow wave sleep”, researchers gave them a whiff of the rose again.

Next morning, it was seen that the rose-scented sleepers who received the whiff of the roses at night remembered the locations of the cards better than those who did not get the whiff of rose at night. It was also observed that the rose-scented sleepers answered correctly almost 97% of the time as compared to the rest who answered correctly only 86% of the time.

It was also observed that students exposed to the odor during a lighter state of sleep known as the REM (Rapid Eye Movement), there was no boost in the memory power.

Neurobiologists from the University of Lubek also confirmed that other tricks also didn’t help in aiding the memory levels of the students. For instance, neither did any finger tapping sequence help or any scent to remember the location of cards.

When later, a numerical finger tapping test was conducted to observe memory skills while the brain rested and consolidated the cards according to their locations, the odor didn’t help enough to remember the card locations.

So anyone, say experts, who gets the whiff of a particular odor that dates back to a particular event like Grandma’s apple pie, knows exactly how the whiff of scented air and memory are connected.

As numerous studies have revealed earlier that how essential sleep is for memory, this one suggests how essential it is for a whiff of scented air to enhance your memory power. So wish you always have a scented night’s dream from now on!

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A World Health Organization (WHO) report suggests that about 25% of the diseases worldwide are a result of toxic environmental exposure. So whether it is about feeling lethargic, devoid energy or battling with the bulge, blame it all to the toxic lifestyles we lead and are exposed to both consciously and unconsciously.

If you want to lead a toxic-free life, there are some strategies suggested by the nutritionist, Brenda Watson. Her basic guidelines to leading a healthier life are to do with identifying and eliminating toxic choices from our lives, be it in solid, liquid or gaseous states.

Steps to Detoxify Your Lifestyle
Listed below are some strategies for detoxifying your lifestyle suggested by the nutritionist Brenda Watson:

• Reduce Exposure to Toxins: Brenda claims that the first step to detoxifying your lives is to reduce your exposure to toxic substances. For instance, ensure that you are drinking purified water that s chemical-free. She claims that organic veggies and fruits can also prevent one’s exposure to harmful chemicals and/or pesticides.
• Eliminate Toxins from Your Body: Next, Brenda Watson goes onto explain how necessary it is for us to eliminate toxins from our body. One way to eliminate toxins from your body is through a regular process of internal cleansing. For instance, colon therapy or internal massage procedures can help squeeze out the gas, mucus and other toxins from your colon.
• Nourishment: The next important step to detoxifying yourself, says Brenda is to keep your body well nourished. For example, Watson is of the opinion that more than 60% of Americans are suffering from significant deficiencies in vitamins, water, proteins, minerals and/or carbohydrates. Watson claims that detox diets can help contribute to good health and efficiency levels. For instance, Watson recommends the Summer Smoothie Diet and the Diced Diet for reducing extra calories, reducing blood pressure levels, increasing energy, encouraging mental calm and rejuvenating moods.
• Increase Your Energy Levels: Brenda claims that is it as important to build on your energy levels by sticking to a healthy workout schedule or through meditation that helps take a control of your nerves and mind. Watson suggests that activities like brisk walking, yoga or cardio vascular exercises all help in flushing the toxins out of your body by increasing the blood flow.
• Wellness: The last most important part of detoxifying your lifestyle Brenda claims is to do with implementing the above 4 steps that contribute towards better health and wellness of a person. She explains that you have to make a conscious choice of committing or dedicating your entire life to “wellness” that can both revive and cleanse the mind and body off all toxins.

Brenda Watson very neatly has integrated some very practical strategies that can help us all lead a much detoxified life than we are currently leading. So don’t disappoint yourself when you decide to do away with all toxins that are affecting not just your life but everyone around you. Remember what you do is picked easily by your kids. So encourage your kids towards healthy living choices so that they wake up to a better tomorrow!

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Scientists are of the opinion that men and women differ from each other when it comes to fructose metabolization. Fructose is a sugar which is meant to sweeten foods and drinks. Researchers revealed that high level of fructose taken within a short span of time in men can raise the levels of triglycerides or fats in the body and at the same time decrease the level of insulin resistance. Such conditions have been linked with an increased risk to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

For women, the excess sugar is lost in a less dramatic way. Hence, researchers opine that there is a marked difference in the way men and women metabolize fructose in their bodies thereby suggesting that gender plays an important role in nutrition and metabolic disorders.

Dr Luc Tappy and his colleagues from the Lausanne University School of Biology and Medicine, Switzerland conducted a survey on about 16 healthy men and women who were non-smokers, of normal weight and aged 23 years.

They were put on two 6-day diets separated by a 4 weeks period. The enlisted people did not perform any exercise or sports activities and remained on the control diet. Their control diet also included lemon drink containing 3.5gof fructose.

The results were quiet clear with men showing a 5% increase in fasting glucose and 71% increase in triglycerides. Women on the other hand showed a 4% increase in fasting glucose and a mere 16% increase in triglycerides or fats. Thus confirming that men responded to an increase to 11 out of the 12 fasting metabolic factors or parameters as against women who responded to a mere 4 out of the 12 factors.

Dr Luc Tappy concluded on the note that it was yet to be confirmed whether fructose had harmful effects on people with a higher risk of metabolic disorders.

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A new study claims that different seasons can influence fats to shift from one location to others in the body. This results in an altered shape of the body which is influenced by weather or seasonal changes.

The study suggests that varied levels of “testosterone” causes the body to change its shape. The hormone which is usually associated with the fierceness and brawns seems to fluctuate with time and different seasons say experts.

Experts opine that the waist and the hips are the most affected regions. For instance, it was observed that with the rise of testosterone levels in women, they became less curvy and their fats shifted to the waist.

Scientists conducted their study on about 220 women and 127 men. In order to confirm the seasonal fluctuations in testosterone, the saliva of men and women were studied as samples. The waists and hips of women were also measured during the course of the investigation.

Results of the study confirmed that testosterone levels were high in summer for women. On the other hand, the testosterone levels in men were lowest in spring. The study thereby suggests that women remain more curvaceous in spring and winter, whereas men appear manlier in spring.

Scientists are not sure that the changes in body shape and size happens on a conscious or subconscious level because the changes happen over a duration of time and are not apparent on the face.

Scientists are also not to sure as to how and why seasonal changes influence the levels of testosterone in people which causes the shifting of fats in their bodies, though earlier studies have proved that seasonal changes have a big hand in affecting the time of conception and cognitive performance as well.

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Did you know that you could paint your migraines away? Yes, experts are here claiming that migraines sufferers find much refuge in artistic expression like paintings. Tiffany Slayburgh, a migraine sufferer who stood first at a Migraine Masterpiece Art Contest funded by the National Headache Foundation confirms that painting is a powerful tool in expressing one’s emotions.

Slayburgh who was bearing up with severe headaches and nauseatic tendencies since the past 5 years says that it was a relieving experience to paint her headaches away.

Art Heals
Art has found its place as a therapy with Randy Vick, MS from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago claiming that art has the “healing power” which is not experienced by trained artists alone but by anyone who strokes the freshly dipped brushes on a lonely and white canvas.

Vick explains that art as a therapy helps people to recognize themselves and their significance and/or contribution to the piece of work being done by them. Art being a total act of self expression helps one explore his or her mental state of mind through the use of colors and with the gentle strokes of the paint brushes thereby giving the nerves a sense of calm and control over their pain or suffering.

Art Frees
Experts further opine that the art therapy is all about bringing the various body parts in absolute unison with the other with the heads, eyes, hands all moving towards one aim, that of relief. Therefore, artistic expression gives people a sense of being freed and illuminated. Art or painting to migraine sufferers is thereby a productive feeling that frees them from the clutches of headaches and vomiting bouts.

It was also brought to light that psychological stress played a major role in migraines. Evidence collected also revealed that reduced stress can help treating a migraine.

To confirm the connection between art and migraine, Vicks conducted a survey through the contest on about 150 entrants. A whopping 40% were ready to participate which itself is a revelation of how desperate the migraine sufferers were to get rid of their headaches through any and every means.

“Making” art as the therapy is much called seemed to have relived most of the participants who said that painting was much like a “miracle” that healed them from their unbearable headaches.

Though some migraine sufferers felt that their headaches were aggravated with the smell of paint, with the pressure of time limit and due to insufficient light, the survey was much of a success story for Vick.

The art therapy has been tried on cancer patients who are inflicted with chronic pain but not as yet with migraines. However, this could be a step in realizing that the art therapy helps migraine sufferers too. Ask the migraine sufferers themselves and you’ll know what artistic expression means to them.

For instance, the runner-up of the contest, Thomas C. Lolan, a photographer from Cincinnati claims that he is in optimum control when he does his work and that is when he holds the camera in his hands.

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