A recent study published in The Journal of Pain found both raw and heat treated ginger reduced the pain associated with muscle injury when compared with a placebo. “The primary novel finding was that supplementation with both raw and heat-treated ginger attenuated muscle pain intensity 24 hours after eccentric exercise,” wrote the researchers, led by Chris Black, PhD, from Georgia College and State University. The researchers also added, “Consumption of raw ginger resulted in a 25 percent reduction while heat-treated ginger resulted in a 23 percent reduction in muscle-pain intensity 24 hours postexercise.” It is believed ginger may have anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain killing) properties, similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category
Natural Pain Relief Ginger Supplements May Reduce Post Exercise Pain
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010Morning Coffee May Not Be Giving You The Boost You Think It Does!
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010Think coffee helps you wake up and gives you more energy? Recent research from British scientists says just the opposite. Bristol University researchers found coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to both the anxiety-producing and the stimulating effects of caffeine. In other words, drinking coffee only brings you back to where you should be without coffee – not better or more stimulated. “Although frequent consumers feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning tea, coffee, or other caffeine-containing drinks, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal,” wrote the scientists led by Peter Rogers of Bristol’s Department of Experimental Psychology.
Heart Surgeons Get Wake-Up Call On Common Procedure
Monday, August 9th, 2010On May 15th, 2007, the Commonwealth Fund issued a report entitled, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care.”
The results were not good. In fact, here’s what the first sentence of the report had to say: “Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries. Are you Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Why? This is because this is nothing new at all.
According to the report: “Among the six nations studied—Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the U.S. ranks last, as it did in the 2006 and 2004 editions of Mirror, Mirror. Most troubling, the U.S. fails to achieve better health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions, the U.S. is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, efficiency, and equity. The 2007 edition includes data from the six countries and incorporates patients’ and physicians’ survey results on care experiences and ratings on various dimensions of care.”
Overall, Germany and the UK topped the list, with Canada and the United States bringing up the rear. Also worth noting here is that America spends close to three times as much for its mediocre approach to health per capita ($6,102) annually than does New Zealand ($2,083), and almost twice as much as Canada ($3,165). Even worse, American doctors are the slowest to change when it comes to technology, again, with the lowest numbers in relation to using electronic medical records or keeping up with the latest treatments via the Internet.
Now here is something that you will probably find interesting, even puzzling. According to the report, “the area where the U.S. health care system performs best is preventive care, an area that has been monitored closely for over a decade by managed care plans.”
It’s always been abundantly clear that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. For example, the May 9th edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) had an article entitled: “Cardiologists Get Wake-up Call on Stents.” According to the article, “Patients with stable coronary artery disease treated with stents and optimal medical therapy fare no better than those who receive optimal medical therapy alone, according to new findings from a large clinical trial.”
For many cardiologists, the results serve as a wake-up call that they need to reevaluate how frequently they offer stenting (which has slight risks associated with the intervention itself, as well as stent-associated thrombotic events) as a first option for relief of stable angina. The data comes from the Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation (COURAGE) Trial, reported here in March at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology.
It seems like research is simply confirming what many thought to be true all along. Prevention is far superior to invasive “crisis” procedures after years and years of neglect. It is abundantly clear you cannot abuse or neglect your body and health and have the wonders of modern medicine save you.
Key Steps On Losing The Pounds Forever
Saturday, July 24th, 2010Successful weight loss is not just a matter of losing pounds. The emphasis needs to be on abandoning body fat and avoiding loss of lean body tissue, primarily muscle mass. Why is this the key to long-term success? Because muscle requires 15 times the energy compared to fat to survive (7.5 Calories per day for muscle versus 0.5 calories per day for fat). The more lean tissue, the more calories one can consume once desirable body weight is achieved. Overall, a moderate diet of at least 1000 calories of high quality food per day and exercise is clearly the best approach because 80% of the weight lost is fat. This plan protects lean body mass, which is critical to keep from gaining the weight back again.
Exercise in moderation is essential. It burns calories, which promotes weight loss. And it makes a body look good, inside and out: the payoff is a leaner, more attractive body, with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. However, physical activity by itself may not be enough to lose weight. For best results, it should be combined with a reduced caloric plan, calculated to match an individual’s new physical activity level.
Rapid weight loss can be encouraging at first, but long term results are disappointing. The lost weight (mostly water) rapidly returns, besides diets too low in calories quickly lower the body’s metabolic rule. This makes it even harder to lose weight and much easier to gain it back, creating a “yo-yo” dieting syndrome. More fat is lost when the rate of weight loss is about 2 pounds per week. The number of calories needed to achieve this varies for each person and should be determined on an individual basis.
There are immediate benefits to consuming the right number of calories. First of all, it helps to avoid the hunger, fatigue and grouchiness that so often accompany deprivation of food. It supplies the energy needed to exercise. Trying to exercise on a very low caloric diet is like starving yourself twice – it leads to further loss of lean body tissue. It helps ensure that nutritional needs are met. This is especially important over an extended period of time.
Another important thing to consider is to choose the right foods. Many weight loss diets encourage avoiding carbohydrates (starchy foods), the body’s primary source of fuel. Such diets promote rapid loss of body water for a few weeks. But this can lead to a discouraging weight plateau, followed by weight gain from water and sodium retention once carbohydrates are eaten again. A healthy mix of foods, high in complex carbohydrates and low in fat, sugar and alcohol gives the individual the most for their calories plus a higher energy level and better nutrition.
Lifelong weight control requires more than a simple diet. A plan is needed that focuses on making changes in behaviors that have contributed to the weight problem, changes that are realistic and fit each person’s unique lifestyle. The best program for most people includes: a personal plan of action with specific solutions for permanent change, a program with the right balance of calories and physical activity to lose weight at an optimal rate, and the personal support they need to succeed. Doing it right helps ensure that the weight loss is not just temporary, but lifelong.
Possibly The Simplest And Easiest Way To Lose Weight Ever.
Monday, June 14th, 2010Here’s a quick riddle for you…It’s everywhere because almost everyone wants it. Yet, most never achieve it. What is it? It is weight loss. You can’t flip through the pages of a magazine or the channels on cable TV without being bombarded by advertisements for a new breakthrough miracle weight loss solution. It seems like everyone has the answer yet there are so many people that are still overweight.
Maybe you’ve tried some of these “quick and easy” solutions, and maybe one word sums up the way you feel. That one word is frustrated. So, is there anything out there that actually works? The first thing to understand is that there are no overnight “miracles.” The hard truth is that the real secret to weight loss is doing the right things consistently for the rest of your life. Doing the right things will cause you to lose weight but as soon as you stop and go back to your old ways, the weight will come back, and come back with a vengeance. And along with that so will the frustration. Sometimes it’s referred to as yo-yo dieting.
That’s why the best way to lose weight is to become well educated on the subject. The internet has a frightening amount of information, some good and a lot bad. That’s why your best option is to talk to a healthcare professional that has already helped many others and can short-cut the process for you.
That being said, researchers have found when people eat quickly, they end up consuming more calories than they would have if they ate more slowly. In fact, according to a new study referenced in a February 10, 2010 New York Times article, “scientists found that when a group of subjects were given an identical serving of ice cream on different occasions, they released more hormones that made them feel full when they ate it in 30 minutes instead of 5. The scientists took blood samples and measured insulin and gut hormones before, during and after eating. They found that two hormones that signal feelings of satiety, or fullness – glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY – showed a more pronounced response in the slow condition.” This means you eat less. The New York Times article also mentioned a study done by the American Dietetic Association in 2008 that reported subjects felt more full and consumed 10% less calories when they ate slowly as opposed to “wolfing” down their food. And, a study in The British Medical Journal stated those who ate quickly and until full had tripled the rate of being overweight compared with others.
What does all this mean for you? This research simply suggests if you eat slowly you are likely to feel fuller and consume fewer calories. This of course is not a weight loss miracle. But, feeling full is nice, and eating fewer calories over the long run will lead to weight loss and greater health. If you think this isn’t a big deal, please remember that little hinges open big doors. It’s the accumulation of small things done consistently over time that leads to great success. In other words, stop looking for the big home run and start hitting singles. And, educate yourself as much as you possibly can. There is tons of information available for weight loss and health education. For more information, you can visit www.BackCareTreatment.com to read some of the latest health information.
Osteoarthritis Knee Surgery of the Knee May Be Of No Value!
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Cited in the past New York Times July 11, 2002, Arthroscopic surgery on the knee for the symptoms due to osteoarthritis is performed on over 200,000 middle-aged and older Americans each year at a cost of more than a billion dollars to Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs and private insurers. When medical conservative treatment does not help osteoarthritic knee pain, procedures such as arthroscopic lavage or debridement are often used. Over 650,000 such procedures are performed every year at a cost of about $5,000 each. As more and more people search for alternative therapies such as physical therapy and chiropractic care, this research has much importance. Some of the latest treatment options can be found at www.BackCareTreatment.com.
Research in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of arthroscopy for osteoarthritis of the knee. 180 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to receive arthroscopic debridement, arthroscopic lavage or placebo surgery. The placebo group received a short-acting intravenous tranquilizer while the surgical group received the standard general anesthesia. The patients that received the placebo were kept in the operating room for the same amount of time as the surgical patients, and spent the night after the procedure in the hospital being cared for by nurses who “were unaware of the treatment-group assignment.” The placebo group received only skin incisions and underwent a simulated arthroscopic surgery but the arthroscope was never inserted. The patients in the study were informed that they might not receive actual surgery.
All the patients received the same medical walking aids, graduated exercise and analgesics. For the placebo patients, during the “operation” the doctor asked for all instruments and manipulated the knee as if arthroscopy were being performed. To simulate the treatment, saline was splashed to simulate the sounds of lavage in case the patient was partly conscious during the operation. The surgical patients were lavaged with at least ten liters of fluid to flush and cleanse the knee of painful debris and inflammatory enzymes. Torn portions of meniscus were removed, and the remaining meniscus was smoothed to a firm, stable rim. Rough articular cartilage was shaved, loose debris was removed, and any bone spurs on the tibial spine that blocked full extension were also shaved smooth.
Only one doctor was used for the surgery, who did not know the procedure until he opened an envelope at the time of the operation. The surgeon was board-certified and trained in arthroscopy and sports medicine in practice for 10 years in an academic medical center. He was a well trained physician for the men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic basketball teams in 1996.
The patients were assessed regularly during and after the procedure. The authors of the study even determined whether there may have been some clinically important benefits they may have missed in the surgical group due to their small sample size. For the comparisons they questioned, the 95 percent confidence intervals did not contain any important differences, indicating that there was not a clinically important improvement the study had simply failed to detect. The final conclusion of the study was “the outcomes after arthroscopic lavage or arthroscopic debridement were no better than those after a placebo procedure.”
A growing number of people are looking for alternative therapies for their knee problems and back pain. New Century Spine Centers in San Diego 92108 regularly treats sports injuries and back problems. Some common injuries are meniscal injuries, sports injuries, muscle spasms, sciatica, and more. Some of the newest treatments options include active release therapy, cold laser therapy, activator methods, palmer technique, spinal decompression and chiropractic care by chiropractors.
“Here’s One For All You Chocolate Lovers…Maybe.”
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010When I first heard about this study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, I was jumping for joy. Why? It says eating small doses of dark chocolate over a two week period have been found to help blood vessels become more flexible.
More specifically, 11 of 21 patients eat 1.6 ounces of flavonoid rich chocolate every day for two weeks. The remaining patients ate another chocolate with low flavonoid levels. At the end of the study, the group who ate the flavonoid-rich chocolate had greater flow mediated dilation. Basically… more flexibility in their arteries. Flow-mediated dilation is also used as a marker for determining heart disease risks. Researchers also found increased levels of an antioxidant that inhibits platelet clumping called epicatechin. As a side note: Cholesterol levels did NOT increase. The conclusion of the research was: Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate may improve artery flexibility while increasing epicatechin levels that may prevent blood clots. Now you can see why I was jumping for joy.
But the sad thing is… my celebration didn’t last more than a day. Here’s why: The very next day, with chocolate bar in hand, I opened and read an email from the Health Science Institute that warned of a few “flaws” in this study. In particular, the author of the email, Jenny Thompson wrote how the focus of the study was all wrong. The truth of the matter is…Chocolate Was NOT Responsible For The Positive Health Claims In The Study! Not even close. It was the flavonoids found IN the dark chocolate that caused all the benefit.
These same flavonoids can be found in fruits such as apples, blueberries, grapes and most all vegetables… without all the processing and added sugar. And green tea contains flavonoids AND epicatechin. An important note is: Adding milk to the process (the milk chocolate bars you get at the store) destroys the beneficial antioxidant effects found naturally in the chocolate. But here’s the real kicker: Why do you think the study would seem to focus on chocolate as the “doer of good” and not the flavonoids that are readily available in obviously much healthier food (especially if you are diabetic or overweight)?
Answer: The study was funded by the Mars candy company… a huge manufacturer of chocolate. Don’t need to say anymore about that.
So what’s my advice? Sorry to say… it’s to stick with the flavonoid-rich natural foods above. And, if you are going to eat chocolate: Eat it only if you are healthy and find companies that reduce heat and alkalization while processing. This can preserve as much as 70-95% of the chocolate flavonoids.
Did You Know? …
Wednesday, April 14th, 20101. If you heat up water in a microwave to boil it, make sure you stir it up before you place anything in it. If you don’t stir the water up and break up the surface tension, when you put in anything like a tea bag or powdered hot chocolate, the water can splatter and possibly burn you! It sounds like such a simple thing, but many people get burned this way from simply not stirring the hot water before putting the food into it!
2. Prepaying a funeral may not be the best way to go now-a-days. The way they are written can be far too inflexible and cause you to lock in certain decisions now, which may not be applicable in the future. For example, you may end up with a different spouse down the road, or wish to be buried in a location that’s different than the one you think you’d opt for now. Plus, the funeral industry is making some sweeping changes to the way they charge clients, which may substantially lower the costs in the future. If you prepay now, you may end up overpaying for the eventual costs. Keep this in mind if you are thinking along the lines of prepaying for burial expenses!
3. You’ll get more out of walking if you take MORE steps as opposed to longer ones. Longer strides have been shown to cause all kinds of leg and joint problems. Going faster, and using a smoother rhythm will get you better results and be much easier on your body!
4. Optimistic people who have suffered a heart attack are less likely to have a recurrence of the heart problems. A study of 300 people who were treated for blockage to the coronary arteries and had been through an angioplasty procedure found an amazing fact. The optimistic people were more than three times less likely to have another blockage requiring an angioplasty within six months of the first procedure! Your attitude DOES make a big difference in your health!
5. The idea that exercise before going to bed will cause you to have trouble falling asleep isn’t true, according to a study done at a major university. In the study, non-exercisers worked out for an hour at different times of the day. The group who exercised before they went to bed fell asleep two to three times as quickly as people who exercised earlier in the day. Plus, not only did they fall asleep faster, they reported enjoying their night’s sleep much better than the people who worked out in the morning or afternoon.
6. Tea is a great food for health! Did you know: * Tea without sugar or honey only has two calories per cup? * Steeping tea for three to five minutes produces the most antioxidants? * Milk in your tea doesn’t reduce the health benefits the tea contains? * The maximum amount of antioxidants contained in tea comes from brewing loose leaves or from tea bags? (Tea in powders or bottles has little or no helpful antioxidants!) * Tea in products applied to the skin has little or no health enhancing properties?
What we know about… Easing Back Pain? More Exercise Or Less? Weights Or Aerobics? New Studies Shed Light On These Questions And More… How top athletes trigger anti-aging effects at the cellular level, and can the Wii Fit® video game help your family get fit?
Monday, March 29th, 2010Let’s start this article with an amazing display of some incredible psychic powers. How, you ask? I’ll tell you something about yourself, even if we have never met. Are you ready? Ok, here it goes: You have suffered from back pain. And, not only have you suffered from back pain, your back pain has been a problem for quite a while and you are afraid it will stick with you for the rest of your life.
Pretty accurate statement… isn’t it? Of course it’s accurate – but it has nothing to do with psychic powers. Although “psychics” use this very technique to…
Fool People Every Day!
What you have just read is a truism. A truism is something that is true for a majority of people. In this case, statistics show 80% of people in North America will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Not only that, for 85% of these back pain sufferers, the pain will be chronic. That being said, there are things you can do to ease and possibly relieve back pain so you are not just another statistic.
One thing, of course, is Chiropractic care. Studies have shown Chiropractic care to be effective (and cost effective) in the treatment of many cases of back pain and it is clearly a great option for many back pain sufferers.
It is wise for back pain sufferers to consult a Chiropractor to find out if Chiropractic care can help and to see what their options are. Besides Chiropractic, recent research reveals some important things about easing back pain you probably do not know – but should you use…
Weights Or Aerobics To Ease Back Pain?
“People who use weight training to ease their low back pain are better off than those who choose other forms of exercise such as jogging, according to a University of Alberta study”, as reported in a December 16, 2009 article in Science Daily. “The study, done in conjunction with the
University of Regina, showed a 60 percent improvement in pain and function levels for people with chronic backaches who took part in a 16-week exercise program of resistance training using dumbbells, barbells and other load-bearing exercise equipment. “In contrast, people who chose aerobic training such as jogging, walking on a treadmill, or using an elliptical machine to ease their back pain only experienced a 12 percent improvement, said RobertnKell, an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus.” Researchers believe they achieve better pain management results with resistance training because they are using a whole body approach. On the contrary, aerobics training generally works just the lower body.
More Exercise Or Less?
According to a University of Alberta study, if you suffer with low back pain, you should exercise MORE, not less. In the study, 240 men and women with chronic back pain who exercised four days a week had 28% less pain and 36% less disability, while those who exercised two or three days a week did not see this change.
Amazing what a day or two in the gym can do, isn’t it? The study showed working with WEIGHTS four days a week provided the greatest amount of pain relief and quality of life improvement. An important note: “Working with weights” is a very relative term. Before you start any exercise program, you should see a qualified doctor for a preworkout examination. And, all workouts should be designed to suite your individual case and needs. (We are trained to assist you in this.)
Now for some great benefits of exercise, besides your aching back…
How Athletes Stimulate An Anti-Aging Effect on The Cellular Level!
According to the Journal of the American Heart Association, new research shows exercise by professional athletes triggers anti-aging in heart muscle cells – which has a protective effect against aging of the cardiovascular system. In technical terms: Telomeres are DNA that protect the two ends of chromosomes from damage. Imagine the ends of a shoelace. The telomere is like the end of the shoelace that protects the lace from fraying; the end caps Telomeres have a shortening mechanism that limit the number of divisions a cell can undergo. This basically defines the life of the cell. Telomeres gradually shorten from cell division and this shortening leads to aging on the cellular level. The study found physical exercise by professional athletes leads to the activation of the enzyme telomerase.
Telomerase is important because it stabilizes telomere. Author of the study, Ulrich Laufs, says, “This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise. Physical exercise could prevent the aging of the cardiovascular system, reflecting this molecular principle.”
The study examined 32 professional runners from the German National Track and Field Team. Their average age was 20 and their average running distance was 45 miles per week. The study also examined 51 year olds who had a history of continuous endurance exercise since youth, with an average running distance of 50 miles per week.
Will The Wii Fit® Video Game make your family “fit?”
Wii Fit® may be a lot of fun… but according to a newstudy – just having “fit” in the title doesn’t mean it has anything to do with actual fitness… at least for the entire family. A University of Mississippi study shows the game has little effect on family fitness. The study analyzed 8 families who had a Wii Fit for 3 months. The data showed the children had a significant increase in aerobic fitness, but none of the other fitness factors were increased and fitness was not increased for the family as a whole.
7 Steps To A Healthy Heart – American Heart Association Identifies Important Factors Leading To A Healthy Heart.
Friday, March 12th, 2010Heart disease is the number one killer in America. The American Heart Association (AHA) says they have identified 7 steps to achieving a healthy heart. And, just like so many other important things in life – these “steps” may be “simple”… but they will not always be easy. Published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the AHA says ideal cardiovascular health for adults is defined by these health measures:
1) Never smoked or quit more than a year ago
2) A healthy body mass index (BMI), an estimate of body fat determined by a formula using weight and height
3) Physical activity, and more is better. (The new measure says at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise is necessary for ideal health, or 75 minutes weekly of vigorous physical activity)
4) Blood pressure below 120/80
5) Fasting blood glucose less than 100 milligrams/deciliter, a fasting measure of blood sugar level
6) Total cholesterol of less than 200 milligrams/deciliter
7) Eating a healthy diet. Healthy factors in a 2,000-calorie diet include: at least 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day; at least two 3.5 oz. servings of fish per week, preferably oily fish; at least three 1-ounce servings of fiber-rich whole grains per day; limiting sodium to less than 1,500 milligrams a day; and drinking no more than 36 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages weekly.
The American Heart Association hopes a couple of great things happen if people follow these 7 steps: By 2020, Americans could have improved their cardiovascular health by 20%, and also reduce deaths from cardiovascular-related diseases and strokes by 20%. This would not only add many years to countless lives, it would dramatically alter the QUALITY of life. Here’s the amazing thing about the AHA’s “new” finding…It Is NOTHING NEW! I’m sure this is not the first time you been advised to eat a healthy diet, exercise, don’t smoke, don’t eat too much salt, and stay away from sugar. Barring abnormal genetics, it’s incredible how simple living a healthy life can be. The key is living up to your genetic potential. And living up to your genetic potential is NOT about fancy technology, wonder drugs or surgeries. All of these advancements may save lives ONCE YOU ARE SICK, but they have nothing to do with staying healthy. The key to living up to your genetic potential is doing all of these simple things consistently for the rest of your life. That’s where it gets a little tricky. It is easy to eat right, exercise, etc. for a few weeks or months. What is difficult is doing all the right things for years and years and years. But, it all starts with a decision. The decision to take charge of your health and life. And when you do that – anything is possible. Make your decision and take your first steps to true health today.