Category Archives: Lifestyle

The Healing Power of Touch

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Did you know that YOU have healing power, literally at your fingertips? The simple act of touching – not necessarily in a romantic manner – is so powerful that it can reduce pain, lower your heart rate, decrease your blood pressure, and strengthen your immune system! The simple act of holding hands with a loving partner can significantly reduce physical pain, a new study suggests. Researchers asked 22 heterosexual couples who had been together for at least a year to under go brain scans as they participated in different scenarios. The women either sat holding hands with their partners, sat nearby but did not touch them, or were in a different room. The scenarios were then repeated, but this time the women were subjected to mild pain. Overall, the women found that holding hands reduced the intensity of their pain by an average of 34 percent. The brain scans showed that (Read More)

Health Benefits of Church

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People who attend religious services a couple of times a week may live longer, a new study suggests. Harvard University researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study, a survey of 74,534 healthy, primarily Christian women. At the start of the study in 1992, participants were all asked how often they went to church; the researchers then tracked them for 20 years. By 2012, 13,537 of the women had died. After adjusting for other risk factors, it turned out that the ones who attended services more than once a week were 33 percent less likely to have died of any cause than those who never went at all. Overall, going to church at least once a week was associated with a lifespan increase of about five months. “There is evidence that it provides social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and promotes optimism or hope,” study author Tyler VanderWeele tells MedicalDaily.com. (Read More)

Vitamin D V.S. Colorectal Cancer

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Scientists have long known that vitamin D can strengthen teeth and bones by helping the body absorb calcium. Now researchers believe that high concentrations of this key micronutrient could also help prevent colorectal cancer—the third most common cancer in the U.S., killing more than 50,000 people a year. Dietary guidelines currently recommend that most adults get at least 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day for bone health, which can be done by eating fatty fish like salmon or trout and taking supplements or getting a judicious amount of sun exposure. But after analyzing data on more than 12,000 people in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, scientists at the American Cancer Society and other groups found that people with higher-than-recommended blood levels of vitamin D had a 22 percent lower risk of developing colorectal cancer. Those with lower-than-recommended levels, meanwhile, had a 30 percent higher risk for the (Read More)

Helicopter Parenting Takes a Toll

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Overbearing “helicopter parents” who micromanage kids’ play can end up stunting their little ones’ emotional well-being, according to a new international study. Researchers in the U.S. and Switzerland observed more than 400 2-year-olds as they played and tidied up with their mothers, and then tracked those kids over the next eight years. Toddlers who were told what toy to play with or how to play with it by their moms were less able to regulate their emotions and impulses at 5 years old. By age 10, these kids were more likely than children without helicopter parents to be struggling academically and showing a poorer attitude at school. When a parent over-interferes and doesn’t let his or her child “experience a range of emotions and practice managing them, the child loses out on an important learning opportunity,” lead researcher Nicole Perry tells The Times(U.K.). Researchers suggest that hovering parents give their toddlers (Read More)

Less Sleep, Bigger Belly

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People who don’t get enough sleep could be adding inches to their waistline, a new study has shown. Researchers at the University of Lees in the U.K. examined the association between sleep, diet, weight, and overall metabolic health among more than 1,600 adults, who tracked their diet and how long they slept each night. The researchers measured each person’s waist  circumference; factored in variables including age, ethnicity, smoking, and income; and checked the participants’ blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid function. They found that the waistlines of those who slept an average of six hours each night were about 1.2 inches larger than the waistlines of those who managed nine hours. The participants who slept less also had lower levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol that helps reduce the risk for heart disease, reports ScienceDaily.com. The importance of sleep should not be underestimated, researcher Laura Hardie said, adding, (Read More)

Germs Lurking in Hotel Pools

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As summer gets under way, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a stark warning for travelers: Beware of the hotel pool. Between 2000 and 2014, nearly a third of the disease outbreaks linked to recreational water facilities occurred at hotels, inns, and lodges, the CDC reports. Cryptosporidium, or crypto, was the culprit behind 58 percent of the outbreaks with a confirmed source. This parasite, which wreaks havoc on the digestive system, is highly tolerant of chlorine and can survive for days in well-maintained pools and hot tubs. “Swallowing just a mouthful of water with crypto in it can make otherwise healthy kids and adults sick for weeks with watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting,” the CDC’s Michele Hlavsa tells CBSNews.com. Legionella bacteria, which can cause pneumonia, accounted for 16 percent of the reported outbreaks; 13 percent involved Pseudomonas, a group of bacteria responsible for “hot tub rash” and “swimmers’ ear.” The (Read More)

Sluggish? Tired? Foggy? Iodine May Hold The Key

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Maybe it’s time to rejuvenate your thyroid – that master of metabolism. When your thyroid is functioning at less than optimum, you can bet that you will feel sluggish, tired and foggy. It is estimated that as high as twenty percent of all adults have hypothyroidism that has not been clinically diagnosed. And when the condition is diagnosed, the drugs used to combat it often yield little or no results. You see, the thyroid produces four different hormones and the drug addresses only one of these by replacing it. If you had four bad tires on your car, would you only replace one? Even worse, the “hormone replacement” drug actually depresses the thyroid from producing any hormones because it begins to feel as if “someone else” is doing its job, so why work?

Critical Vitamin C Absorption Facts

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Did you know that vitamin C intravenous infusions range in price from $125 to $160 per treatment? Yes, you read that right. There is a reason that many people desire to maximize the absorption of vitamin C for general health or when battling a chronic disease. The sad truth is, even the best liquid or capsule form of vitamin C is only absorbed at 19-22%. Liposomal delivery allows you to have the best of both worlds – High absorption of vitamin C in the bloodstream without the expense of IV infusions.  Plus you can determine how often and how much vitamin c you take without needing to set an appointment (not to mention – a needle stick) every time you get an infusion. The liposome protects the vitamin C as it goes through the digestive tract so that it is intact as it enters the blood stream.  In addition, because (Read More)

Night Owls May Live Shorter Lives

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People who habitually stay up late are more likely to die early, a new study has found, perhaps because their internal body clock is out of sync with a society that favors early risers. Researchers tracked about 430,000 adults between 38 and 73 years old for 6.5 years. They found that night owls had a 10 percent greater risk of early death than those who prefer to wake up early, Vox.com reports. Those who burned the midnight oil were more likely to have chronic health issues, such as diabetes, neurological disorders, and respiratory disease. One possible reason, says study author Kristen Knutson, is that the pressure to conform to other people’s work and social schedules leaves late risers anxious, sleep deprived, and feeling as if they live in a perpetual state of jet lag. “There’s a problem for the night owl who’s trying to live in the morning-lark world,” Knutson (Read More)

A Deeper Look Into Vitamin C

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Vitamin C, it’s everywhere. Daily vitamins, cold remedies and orange juice are all full of this ingredient, and most people accept that it’s good for them. But how many people realize the full potential of vitamin C in multiple areas of their health and life? Who takes the time to research the wondrous effects that this vitamin really has? By Any Other Name Vitamin C is sometimes known by another name: ascorbic acid. Of course, no matter what you call it, vitamin C is still beneficial. It’s been the case for hundreds of years. Sailors, for instance, would fight of scurvy with a healthy dose of the stuff. Scientists now realize that ascorbic acid helps create collagen in the skin. This protein is necessary to give strength and blood vessels strength and firmness, while vitamin C helps skin create scar tissue. It might not be pretty, but it does help (Read More)