Having touched on both our aches & pains and the body beautiful in earlier columns I feel it has to be said that a quick treatment may be the start of the cure but it sure ain't the whole story. You may need to continue with original treatment & you've certainly got some work of your own to do too. You need to continue taking the right steps to strengthen muscles & restore natural posture, just as important for any sustained improvement as initial bodywork. And, as for the body beautiful, us 'endos' will be glad to learn that there are ways other than starvation to obtain a healthier, stronger, leaner & more supple bod.
One of the most targeted & effective means for this is Pilates. You won't find a Pilates studio just anywhere, usually only in a major cultural & population centre of over 8 million plus people. It requires special equipment & highly trained professionals to run it. Bali is therefore more blessed than perhaps it knows for such a small market to have it's own Pilates expert in Katia Ainslie from London via Hong Kong, who has newly opened the Bodaya Studio for Pilates on the By-Pass in Sanur.
Now, not only can you work on those aches & pains but you can work on rehab with a true professional & get to look real good too. For those of you who've not heard of Pilates, it's the exercise of choice for all those who for professional reasons need their bodies to both look good & be strong. For decades it remained the preserve of professional dancers but a few years ago Hollywood got onto it with spectacular results. Pretty soon the rest of us took note & wanted some of the same for ourselves & Pilates had arrived. From what I've seen the results both remedially & in appearance are impressive. I mean, if you've gone to all that trouble to get a healthy bod you might as well have a great looking bod too! If you've had half a mind to check it out - go do it.
Vitamins Reduce Cataracts by 60%
A new study showed that people who took a multivitamin or supplement that contained vitamin C or E for more than 10 years had a 60% less chance of developing a cataract. Not many realise that poor vision from cataracts affects 85% of people 75 years and older, but the damage starts a lot younger than that. For most people the question is not whether you will suffer from cataracts but when? In America cataract surgery costs Medicare more money than any other medical procedure. As the American population ages, the incidence of cataracts is projected to triple in the next 50 years.
The study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology examined over 3000 people aged 43 to 86 years. It showed that the relationship between supplement use & lower cataract incidence remained regardless of other known risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, diabetes, age, weight & physical activity. Taking multis for less than 10 years, however, did not lower the risk of developing a cataract. The fact that short term vitamin supplementation did not reduce cataracts is not surprising since eye lens protein degradation develops over an extended period. The survey concludes that vitamins & minerals involved in protection against oxidative stress help prevent or slow cataract development. Other supplements that have been shown to prevent cataracts are: maintaining high levels of glutathione (500mg p/day) & Bilberry extract (150mg p/day).
More Fish Means Lower Stroke Risk for Women
According to recent findings, a higher dietary intake of fish or Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can significantly decrease the risk of the most common form of stroke among middle-aged women. The study, published earlier this year by JAMA, tracked 79,839 women aged 34 to 59 over a 14-year period showed that eating fish regularly reduced the risk of thrombosis (a blood clot that has built up on the side of a brain artery), which causes 40% to 50% of strokes.
Women who ate fish 1-3 times a month had a 7% lower risk of stroke than women who did not. Stroke risk declined relative to how often the women consumed fish, dropping by 22% when eating fish once a week and 27% when dining on it 2 - 4 times a week. The risk of total stroke was reduced 52% for those who ate fish 5 or more times a week. If that sounds like a lot of fish to you it probably is. Consider getting your Omega 3 fatty acids in supplemental form of 1,200mg p/day. To put it in perspective for you, strokes are the 3rd biggest cause of death in the world after heart disease & cancer. It is a major cause of incapacity; about 25% of sufferers die as a result of a stroke, 50% have moderate to severe disability & only 26% recover most or all normal health & function. Few of us don't know someone whose life has not been suddenly & devastatingly circumscribed by stroke.
Vitamin K - A New Sensation!
Vitamin K may be the answer to one of the most vexing problems of aging: hardening blood vessels. The older a person gets, the more likely it is that their blood vessels will harden up at the same time as their bones go soft. Does one have to do with the other? The answer is yes. They both share a common, underlying mechanism that controls calcium. And that mechanism depends on the vitamin known as vitamin K.
Vitamin K has special powers over calcium, a mineral that leaves bones & builds up in arteries with age. Researchers have discovered over a hundred special proteins that chaperone calcium. Vitamin K makes them all work by enabling them to latch onto the mineral. Once they've gotten hold of it, they either escort it out or, in the case of bone, deposit it like mortar where it's needed. To be clear, arteries want calcium out; bones want it in. Researchers looking at data from 72,327 nurses have reported that people getting the most vitamin K have a 30% lower risk of hip fracture than those getting the least. Other studies back up this data for other parts of the skeleton. Research from Japan has shown the need for vitamin K in preventing heart disease. Other properties include regulating blood sugars, helping prevent certain cancers & Alzheimer's disease.
Vitamin K has been virtually ignored by everyone, including multi-vitamin manufacturers. Most supplements do not contain vitamin K at all; almost none contain enough to do any good. Even food does not contain as much as everyone thought. A good intake of vitamin K would be 10mg p/day. Anyone taking anti-coagulant drugs should avoid supplemental vitamin K.
Artichoke Extract Lowers Cholesterol
Artichoke has long been held in esteem for its effects as a natural digestive aid. Now new research has found other vital benefits that artichoke compounds can perform, not only for the gastrointestinal system but also to the liver & heart. The connection is that artichokes contain powerful compounds recognised for their anti-lipid and choleretic (increasing bile) effects. As such, artichoke extract has a dual benefit for cholesterol metabolism, first by decreasing cholesterol output from the liver &, secondarily, by increasing the conversion of cholesterol into bile acids, which helps mobilise toxins & cholesterol out of the liver. Recent research in Germany showed the effect of one of the plant's compounds, Cynarin. Researchers asked 142 patients with elevated cholesterol to take 1,800 mg of dry artichoke extract (using 450mg tablets) or a placebo for 6 weeks. At the beginning of the study participants had total cholesterol levels over 280 mg/dl. by the end of the study subjects artichoke extract had an 18.5% reduction compared to 8.6% for the controls; LDL fell by 22.9% compared to 6.3% LDL/HDL ratio showed a 20.2% decrease to 7.2% for those not treated. The study concludes that artichoke extract can be a potent aid in the treatment of high cholesterol & in the prevention of atherosclerosis & coronary heart disease.
As for the merits of artichoke extract as an effective digestive aid, these have already been well established. A study of 553 patients with various chronic digestive disorders had subjects take 320mg capsules of artichoke extract 2 times per day for six weeks. Results showed a decrease in symptoms by 70.5% overall, while vomiting decreased by 88.3%, nausea 82.4 %, abdominal pain 72.8%, loss of appetite 72.3%, constipation 71.0%, flatulence 68,2% and fat intolerance by 58.8%. Interestingly, blood cholesterol levels had also decreased significantly. In addition to its benefits artichoke extract has little if any toxicity when compared to many of the lipid-lowering drugs currently available. For therapeutic purposes effective dosage is 300mg 2 to 3 times p/day with meals.
SAMe Works when other Anti-depressants Fail
A review of the scientific literature shows that SAMe (pronounced Sammy, or S-adenosylmethionine to you) is the safest & most effective anti-depressant therapy in the world. Unlike FDA-approved drugs, which can have dangerous side effects, SAMe is an amino acid & a natural substance with little or no known side effects on its own. Not only does SAMe work magic with depression but it has significant antiaging properties and is often used for the prevention of liver disease and in the cure of cirrhosis, as well as osteoporosis & other degenerative diseases. In a recent survey SAMe was administered to 13 depressed patients with Parkinson's disease. All patients had previously been treated with anti-depressant drugs and had experienced no significant benefit or had intolerable side effects. SAMe was administered in doses of 800mg to 3,600mg per day for a period of 10 weeks. The mean improvement in depression scores from before to after treatment was 64%.
For general disease prevention, antiaging & mood elevation a dose of 200mg a day is sufficient. For those who are depressed a dose of 800mg p/day to start up to 1,600mg is appropriate. Those seeking to use SAMe for other serious diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver should start with 2 to 4 x 200mg tabs a day. Anyone taking SAMe should also make sure they are getting sufficient B6, B12 and Folic acid. If you already take a multi you would be covered. Those who are already taking prescribed drug medication for depression or liver disease should always check with their doctor before taking SAMe.
If you live to be old you will almost certainly develop cataracts. 80% of people do. It's not a question of if, but when? It doesn't happen overnight & is easily prevented. Eyes just need a few of the right nutrients is all. If over a period of 20 to 30 years it doesn't get them you will inevitably start to lose your sight."
