Portrait on the Mantel

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to, well the study of Telomeres. Apparently Telomeres hold a key to aging and/or its prevention. If you could keep the length of telomeres from changing, it might halt the aging process. Well research shows there i a natural way to do just that; long term physical activity.

According very recent research (journal Circulation), intensive exercise can prevent a shortening of telomeres. Scientist are excited to find this protective effect to aging at the cellular level. Sorry to report, plastic surgery will make you look younger, but committing to a long term physical activity program will not only help you look younger, it alters your age at the cellular level. And I might add it probably a lot less expensive. Now stop procrastinating, get out and go for a walk.

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According to a study conducted by the Louis Bolk Institute, young kids who consume organic dairy products exclusively are less likely to develop allergies and asthma. Carlo Leifert, one of the researchers says “this is the 1st definite health impact of organic food consumption published in a peer reviewed journal”.

This different was significant but only for kids consuming organic dairy products exclusively. There was a different finding for kids who consumed both organic and conventional dairy products.

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Researchers have discovered that participants in a 9 year study reduced the number of strokes, heart attacks and deaths by 47%. The College of medicine in Wisconsin and Maharishi University in Iowa conducted this joint study on Meditation.

Dr Schneider, lead researcher reports that participants who meditated saw and overall reduction in blood pressure and psychological stress. Supporters of meditation claim that the study adds credence to their beliefs of the positive benefits of long term meditative practices.

The meditation group for this study was ask to meditate for 20 minutes twice a day.

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Studies show that kids raised on farms are less likely to develop allergies than those who grow up in cities. Apparently, kids immune system need practice recognizing bacteria and viruses like they would from growing up on farm. Conversely kids who grow up in cities immune system can attack pollen, mold, dust and other particles that aren’t bacteria and cause allergies.

There is a hypothesis of cleanliness which goes something like this; when germs enter the body your immune system antibodies attack all the germs which are different from your own in an attempt kill the foreign germs. The hypothesis states that if if you’re exposed to  lots of germs when you’re young, your immune system gets lots of practice recognizing and battling foreign germs. This repeated action prevents your own system from attacking itself or non germs like mold, dust or pollen.

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New research has found that the Western Diet; high in sugar and fat is responsible for activating genes that tell the body to become fatter. This gene triggers the body systems to increase its storage of fat cells, when a diet of calorie rich foods are eaten over time.

Now that researchers better understand this process towards obesity, they’re beginning their search for therapeutic methods to deactivate the genes receptors. Of course there is a more simpler way; help people learn to eat better. If we remember this is a modern phenom and study the mechanism which causes this phenom, we’d have a much better angle on successful outcomes. We don’t need another pill to solve this issue.

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The World Health Organization predicts that depression will become the 2nd highest global disease by 2020. This is due in large part because too many consume high fat diets, fried, refined and sugary foods. Research shows this type of eating contributes to depression. Fact is eating more fruits, veggies and fish help prevent depression.

Nutritional science demonstrates that food consumption can control the levels of brain chemicals such as neurotransmitters, which regulate behavior and mood. Study have shown that neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and nor epinephrine are associated with mood. When the brain produces serotonin, tension is eased and a person may feel happy. When it produces dopamine or nor epinephrine people tend to be more alert and tend to think better.

Fruits and veggies raise the level of trytophan in the brain increasing serotonin production which has a calming effect. Fresh fish promote the production of dopamine and nor epinephrine with increases alertness.

Conversely, a high fat, sugary and refined food diet reduces these hormone levels in the brain increasing stress and tension.

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A new study published in the November 2009 issue of Archives of Neurology demonstrated that the greater muscle strength a person has the more likely that person is to maintaining cognitive function over time. The study revealed that physical exercise, cognitive activity and social participation all contribute to healthy brain function. The researchers believe a multidisciplinary approach helps people age and retain strong mental health.

The study examined 970 men and women and found that those who ranked in the top 10% of muscle strength were 61% less likely to develop progressive cognitive degeneration when compared to those in the bottom 10%.

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Prescription drugs ads are banned in every industrialized country except New Zealand and the USA. Most countries have some form of Universal medical coverage, which keep cost from soaring. The FDA changed this in 1997 when they allowed prescription drug advertising in the USA.

Several panel of experts have studied the effect of prescription drug ads on consumers and whether they are effective in educating the public. All but one panel decided that commercial ads of prescription drugs were in fact harmful and either should be banned or restricted. One lone dissenter claimed that TV ads for prescription drugs educate or empower the public.

This premise was disputed by all and they cited that people in countries who banned prescription drug ads are better educated about matters of health, excluding Americans. The general consensus of the panel was that drug ads, especially TV commercials tend to create a pill popping public rather than health conscious citizens. Patients demand advertised drugs from their doctors, Big Pharma’s annual advertising budget had doubled the FDA’s budget.

The cost of advertising is included in price of prescription drugs. But the Big Pharma insist that their high advertising budgets create more sales thus enabling prices to drop.

A recent study seems to disprove that assertion, The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia studied the connection between advertising and product costs. Their study which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that product costs went up, yet there was no increase in sales to help lower costs. The study concluded that pharmaceutical advertising expenses contribute to the soaring costs of medical care while encouraging the public to pop pills for every symptom imaginable.

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According to a study by the Yale University’s Rudd Center for food policy, marketing trumps nutrition when it comes to selling sugar laden, empty calorie cereals to America’s children. The author of the study charged that 1 of the culprits behind America’s escalating childhood obesity epidemic is the high sugar content of these cereals.

As it turns out the least of the nutritious cereals are the one most advertised to children. The Yale study found that the average American preschooler sees 642 entertaining cereal ads per year. Advertising is tailored to fit its audience. The cereals with the most sugar and least nutrition are aimed at impressionable children, while more nutritious cereals with high fiber and low sugar content are aimed at adults.

The cereal manufactures claim they’re making their cereal more nutritious while reducing their advertising to children. However, the study reveals a different scenario. Cereals marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 60% more sodium and 65% less fiber than those aimed at adults.

Researchers at Children’s Hospital in Boston have discovered other health issues associated with diets high in sugar and starches. There are ways to train children to eat healthier food, its about what they’re exposed. High glycemic index diets cause blood sugar spikes commonly associated with diabetes. The researchers also determined high Glycemic diets create more oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been implicated in a growing number of diseases and health issues. To combat oxidative stress the USDA recommends a diets complete with whole foods which are high in antioxidants.

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Recent study found that aerobic exercise had a greater determinant on intelligence, even above genetic factors. Physically fit teens had an increased chance of obtaining a college education than those less fit. Apparently, the increased flow of oxygen to the brain a benefit of aerobic exercise actually increases brain function.

Exercise also helps the body detox, improve circulation also aiding the ridding the body of toxins and when toxin flow properly they’re less likely to gather in the liver and colon. Exercise benefits the lymphatic system which primary function is to eliminate toxins. When the lymphatic system becomes impure with waste, toxicity throughout the body is the result. But by keeping the system moving, toxic laden areas are less likely to become infected or inflammed.

Aerobic exercise also increases bowel movement in a more timely fashion. Exercise encourages sweating and sweating causes toxins to be removed through the skin.  So get you and kids should get moving and keep moving.

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