Portrait on the Mantel

According to a group of scientist published in the Journal of Adolescent Health; the US still regulates advertising to children and teens based on studies conducted in the 70’s oh how TV influences young minds. Teens are severely affected by internet marketing in way yet to be understood by the scientific community or government regulations. Advertisers specifically target teens with internet marketing, especially junk food.

We will need to continue observing how this plays out in light of recent revelations of the connection between junk food and addiction.

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Pregnant women who take select serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during their 2nd or 3rd trimesters are 5 time more likely to have premature births as oppose those who do not. This study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, where they research the effects of antidepressant drugs like Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac on women who are pregnant.

Women who take benzodiazepines a psychoactive anti anxiety drug during pregnancies are at risk of premature birth, babies born underweight and with respiratory problems. Researchers seem to be unclear if the benefits from taking the drugs is worth the increase risk of birth complications.

SSRIs has been sighted as the cause of numerous mental complications; including psychosis, paranoia just to name a few of the side effects. Withdrawal from SSRIs has been demonstrated to be more hazardous than taking them.

Over 200,000 people in 2001 were admitted to hospitals for antidepressant associated mania, psychosis; shootings, murders, suicides and all sore of violent behaviors from people taking SSRIs. Benzodiazepines have serious side effect and is extremely addictive. They can cause seizures and hallucination.

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Research published in the American Journal of Medicine states that 30 minutes of cardio per day 3 times per week can reduce risk of heart disease related death by 60%. This study proves that exercise has psychological and physical benefits for patients with heart disease.

Patients who participated in this exercise study were 60% less likely to have died from heart disease related causes. The risk was reduced further by patients who stated they were stressed out. Stress can increase the risk of death 4 fold.  Exercise also reduced mortality in patients with coronary artery disease due to what the researchers called the psycho social stress.

These result occurred even without much body weight lost, which demonstrate that exercise was beneficial without weight lost.

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Recent study suggest that high blood pressure may cause dementia later in life. Dementia causes memory loss, inability to problem solve and emotional instability. Over time high blood pressure causes a type of scarring in the brain that after years can lead to dementia.

It’s known that lowering blood pressure has beneficial effects on the heart and kidney but this new research suggest brain health may need to be added to the concerns of higher blood pressure. Current studies are looking at whether lowering blood pressure from 140 to 120 is more beneficial.

One more reason to get off the couch and into a pick up game of basketball.

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Have you heard of the Superfood called Chlorella? Well those in the U. K. are singing its praise as studies continue to demonstrate this algae’s link to improvements in diabetes, high blood pressure, immune function and digestive problem.

Chlorella is a single celled algae that grows naturally in freshwater rivers and ponds in Eastern Asia. It is gathered up dried, crushed into powder made into tablets and sold as a dietary supplement. It has 2 times the amount of protein as spinach, 38 times that of soy beans and 55 times that of rice, they provide 9 essential amino acids and vitamins and minerals.

This algae has shown to improve symptoms of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol and possibly obesity. According to researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University, chlorella seems to turn on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body. They caution it is not a magic remedy rather another preventive thing one can do like exercise and diet.

Other studies are showing chlorella encourages growth of good bacteria, which absorbs toxins in the intestines, help digestion and ease irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia. Studies have shown chlorella supplement to reduce blood pressure in 50% of hypertension patients and significantly reduce body fat, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels. One caution chlorella is high in vitamin K1 and can interfere with blood thinning medications.

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Ok this one is depressing. We need to crack ourselves. The health ministry of South Korea has announced that advertisements of foods which are high in sugar, fat and salt must be limited during prime time TV hours (5-7 pm) and during children programming. Apparently South Korea recognizes that these types of foods is contributing to their childhood obesity problem. They’re limiting food like hamburgers, pizza, chocolate candy and ice cream.

Officials expressed that the goal of the ban is to encourage food manufacturers to improve the nutritional quality of their products.

Something wrong with this when South Korea can do what we know we need to do in this country. Oh Yeah, this would lead to TOO much government interference which would lead to what…

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Apitherapy, a traditional folk remedy that has been around for centuries uses honey bee venom to alleviate serious conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and lupus. Bee venom contains about 40 different healing components; melittin is an anti-inflammatory and has anti-arthritic elements, according to a 2009 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts study.

Roughly 2% of the U.S. population is allergic to bee stings but most people could benefit from this type of treatment. Participants report that aside from the initial sting there are no other side effect, unlike pharmaceutical drugs.

Of course the medical community does not acknowledge this as a beneficial form of treatment. Now I’m not saying everyone who has arthritis should go out be stung by a bee, but I did think there maybe something here for you those of us who have some precursors of this disease. If nothing else more information will hurt you and you can make a more informed decision.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri has studied the digestive tract of fat in non overweight people. This study has revealed that the amount and type of bactieria in our gut can reduce obesity and improve digestion.

There are over 5,000 different species of bacteria in the human gut, some have been identified and many other have not. Our gut has bacteria that improves our health and energy. There are 3 major groups of bacteria; Firmicutes, Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria. Research has already showed that a proper ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteriodetes is important for good health. However as we age the ratio changes and could be a factor in some adults becoming overweight or even obese. Now I know what some maybe thinking; it’s not that you’re big boned and/or you have a thyroid problem. It’s your gut bacteria

Discoveries from this research show that obese people have greater Firmicutes, while leaner people have a higher concentration of Bacteriodetes. When the overweight person restrict their calories, their ratio of bacteria change to match that of those who are leaner.

Want to improve your bacteria increase your probiotics in your diet. Foods high in probiotics; yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut and sourdough bread. Eating raw foods and drinking plenty of water. will be concocting a pill for you very soon. And for those of you who still refuse to eat your fruits and veggies, I”m sure Big Pharma

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75% of obese adults don’t believe they’re obesely overweight, I could have saved these pollsters some time. We’ve all seen people wearing clothes that somebody should have told them No No.

The pollsters believe that as more and more of the population become overweight, people’s perception of what is a normal weight changes. It’s also believed that when you see a picture in the media of a really large person, those who are smaller than the depicted obese image see themselves as not that bad. And the really large person depicted in the media picture is the standard of obesity.

Complicating the problem is the lingering stigma associated with being overweight and/or obese. Parents also tend to underestimate the obesity of their children. Because of the negativity associated with being overweight parent avoid discussing this topic with their kids.

Ok as you know the 1st step is recognizing there is a problem, before you can do something about the problem.

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A new study conducted by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that irregular sleep patterns can lead to increased around your internal organs. The type of fat  is the most dangerous type of fat, because it accumulates around your midsection.

This research revealed that people under 40 years of age who average less than 5 hours per night had an increase in fat around the midsection. Hispanic men and Black women were the highest among the studied groups who showed consistent lack of sleep. The research not only demonstrated that not only was a lack of sleep bad for our health, excessive sleep can also lead to similar results.

Although the research showed that sleeping over 8 hours per night was better for health than sleeping less than 5 both were linked to negative results. Hispanic women of all ages, seemed to sleep more than 8 hours regardless of age and people over 40 show no effects of fat build up around the midsection.

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