Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "energy"
Tuesday, Aug 25th, 2009 ↓Daylight Could Help Control Our Weight →
Aug 25, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Exciting research into Brown adipose tissue (BAT) — brown fat, which is found in abundance in hibernating animals and newborn babies — could lead to new ways of preventing obesity.
Studies have already shown that BAT activity in adults is reduced with obesity. Therefore, promoting BAT function could prevent or reduce obesity in some people.
New research, led by Michael Symonds, Professor of Developmental Physiology in the School of Clincal Sciences at The University of Nottingham, has shown — for the first time — that daylight is a major factor in controlling BAT activity.
Professor Symonds said: “Our research has suggested a previously unknown mechanism for controlling BAT function in humans and this could potentially lead to new treatments for the prevention or reversal of obesity.”
Winter was traditionally a time of the year that was accompanied with increased thermal demands and thus energy expenditure, but the body’s requirements for BAT has been reduced in recent times by central heating plus global warming. BAT is capable of producing up to 300 times more heat per unit mass compared with all other tissues.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: nap sleep memory stress longevity behaviour efficiency nerve survival energy metabolic rate protection
10 Reasons Why Exercise is Good for Your Weight →
Aug 20, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A recent Time magazine article, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” is misleading at best. Exercise is critical to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight, especially when paired with healthy eating habits. Countless studies, numerous experts who study exercise, and the millions of people who have lost weight all attest to the fact that working out works.
1. Exercise zaps belly fat
Regular moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise has the greatest impact on reducing abdominal fat — the dangerous fat that increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
2. Exercise controls calories
You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Regular exercise uses up excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
3. Exercise keeps lost pounds MIA
Ninety percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off for a year do about an hour of physical activity a day.
4. Exercise boosts metabolism
You’ll lose fat when you diet without exercising, but you’ll also lose muscle, which means you’ll burn fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you’ll burn.
5. Exercise does more than the scale shows
If you gain 3 pounds of lean muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat, you’ve actually experienced a 7-pound improvement in your body condition, despite the scale only showing 1 pound of weight loss.
6. Exercise curbs emotional eating
Working out has been proven time and time again to help regulate mood, which has a direct effect on people who eat when they’re stressed or upset.
7. Exercise creates a healthy chain reaction
Healthy habits tend to cluster together. When people make positive changes, like getting more exercise, they tend to work on other health improvements as well, such as eating better.
8. Exercise brings on the fun
Rock-climbing is more exciting than eating a celery stick. That’s why it’s sometimes easier to be active to stay slim than to maintain a strict diet.
9. Exercise stops hunger
People who exercise and diet are actually less hungry than those who only diet, according to at least one study.
10. Exercise ups energy
Regular physical activity increases stamina by boosting your body’s production of energy-promoting neurotransmitters. That gives you even more motivation to get moving and shed pounds.
Sources:
Fitness Magazine August 19, 2009Tags: exercise energy hungry eating fun diet nutrition positive change mood emotion body condition fat muscle metabolism weight physical activity calories aerobic abdominal diabetes heart disease thin
5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence →
Aug 12, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Your brain needs exercise just like a muscle. If you use it often and in the right ways, you will become a more skilled thinker and increase your ability to focus. Here are 5 simple techniques to exercise your brain.
1. Minimize Television Watching — Watching television doesn’t use your mental capacity OR allow it to recharge. When you feel like relaxing, try reading a book instead. If you’re too tired, listen to some music. When you’re with your friends or family, leave the tube off and have a conversation.
2. Exercise — Time spent exercising always leads to greater learning because it improves productivity during the time afterwards. Using your body clears your head and creates a wave of energy.
3. Read Challenging Books — If you want to improve your thinking and writing ability you should read books that make you focus. Reading a classic novel can change your view of the world and will make you think in more precise, elegant English.
4. Early to Bed, Early to Rise — Nothing makes it harder to concentrate than sleep deprivation. You’ll be most rejuvenated if you go to bed early and don’t sleep more than 8 hours.
5. Take Time to Reflect — Spending some time alone in reflection gives you a chance organize your thoughts and prioritize your responsibilities. Afterwards, you’ll have a better understanding of what’s important and what isn’t.
Sources:
Pick The Brain February 15, 2007Tags: brain exercise television reading book sleep reflection relax energy productivity thinking writing focus concentration
Poor Sleep Independently Linked to Postpartum Depression →
July 8, 2009 (Medscape.com)—Poor sleep is linked to postpartum depression independently of other risk factors, according to the results of a cross-sectional, population-based study reported in the July issue of Sleep.
“It is important to ask a new mother suffering from tiredness about how poor sleep affects her daytime functioning and whether there are other factors in her life that may contribute to her lack of energy,” lead author Signe Karen Dørheim, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist at Stavanger University Hospital in Stavanger, Norway, said in a news release. “There are also helpful depression screening questionnaires that can be completed during a consultation. Doctors and other health workers should provide an opportunity for postpartum women to discuss difficult feelings.”
The goals of this study were to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for concurrent postpartum maternal sleep problems and depressive symptoms, to identify factors independently associated with either condition, and to examine associations between specific components of postpartum sleep and depression.
For full medical article see link above.
Discover the Amazing Benefits of the Olive Leaf →
June 26, 2009 (Naturalnews.com)—Our bodies and immune systems are constantly fighting off foreign things such as pollution, bacteria and viruses. Stress from our fast paced lives is a leading cause of the further weakening of our body’s ability to combat illnesses. Using drug substances, that act as an antibiotic, can actually weaken our immune systems and it is predicted by medical experts, that super viruses will soon occur for which there will be no drug cure. Because we want to do what’s best for our body, we desire to put only natural substances into it. Drugs can cause harmful effects! That is why it is essential that we human beings look to natural health for our health answers. Olive leaf is one such remedy.
For full article see link above.
Tags: olive leaf immunity prevention antioxidant energy infection cholesterol shingles herpes detoxify oleuropein
Children with Epilepsy Helped with Natural Ketogenic Diet →
June 18, 2009(NaturalNews.com)— Epilepsy is a general term used for a group of disorders of the central nervous system that cause a disturbance in electrical signals to the brain. It’s a temporary malfunction of the brain that affects more than two million Americans. Seizures on the other hand are a symptom of epilepsy. Someone who experiences seizures may not necessarily have epilepsy. One third of people with seizure disorder are children.
Fortunately many of them will outgrow seizures as their brains mature. In the meantime, there is a specialized dietary program that benefits the majority of these children and helps them control their seizures. It’s called the ketogenic diet. According to the Mayo Clinic, children with epilepsy have been able to reduce their seizures while maintaining this food protocol. Furthermore, many have been able to stop taking, or reduce, the dosage of their medication. Some children have eventually gone off the diet after a few years and never suffered another seizure.
For full article see link above.
Tags: epilepsy nerve brain seizures ketogenic diet nutrition prevention carbohydrate fat energy
Reiki is a Powerful System of Healing →
June 5, 2009 (NaturalNews.com) —Reiki is an ancient healing method that has been performed in Tibet for thousands of years. It is different from many other natural healing methods because it relies solely on the universal energy or life force that is guided in to the patient through simple touch or the placing of hands. The Reiki we all know today is called Ursui Reiki, and it was actually devised in the late 19th century by a Japanese doctor called Mikao Ursui. Dr Ursui spent 14 years researching Tibetan Buddhism and many other Eastern Philosophies to perfect his methods, which have now spawned at least 1000 different branches of Reiki here in the west, mostly within the last 20 years. This system of healing has been shown to have many powerful effects.
For full article see link above.
Tags: healing reiki prevention energy imbalance natural immunity pain emotion treatment
Cocaine found in Red Bull Cola? - Boing Boing →
May 26 09 (BoingBoing.com) — Six German states have banned Red Bull Cola after lab tests turned up trace amounts of coca leaf extracts in the beverage. According to authorities, the substance requires the beverage to be classified as a narcotic, requiring a license for sale. (Of course, even Coca-Cola didn’t become entirely cocaine-free until 1929.) From BBC News: (Red Bull) said coca leaf extracts were used worldwide as a natural flavouring, and that its own tests had found no traces of cocaine. The illegal cocaine alkaloid - one of 10 found in coca and representing only 0.8% of the plant’s chemical make-up - is chemically removed before use, as mandated by international anti-narcotics agencies. “There is no scientific basis for this ban on Red Bull Cola because the levels of cocaine found are so small,” Fritz Soergel, the head of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg, Bavaria, told Time magazine. “And it’s not even cocaine itself. According to the tests we carried out, it’s a non-active degradation product with no effect on the body. If you start examining lots of other drinks and food so carefully, you’d find a lot of surprising things.” “Germany bans cola after drug test”
Energy Drinks Causing Caffeine Intoxication →
Feb 05 09 (NaturalNews) The way that energy drinks are marketed and used places consumers at significant risk of caffeine intoxication, according to a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
“The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a 10-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are unlabeled and few include warnings about potential health risks of caffeine intoxication,” said study co-author Roland Griffiths.
For full article, see link abve.
Caffeine and Sugar in Commercially Available Energy Drinks a Health Concern →
From Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
Posted 11/24/2008
Objective: To describe benefits and adverse effects associated with the consumption of energy drinks.
Data Sources: Searches were conducted using Medline, IPA (International Pharmaceutical Abstracts), EMBASE, and MANTIS; databases such as Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, Natural Standard, ALTMEDEX, and AltHealthWatch; and Google (range 1980 to September 2007). Search terms included energy drink, Red Bull, caffeine, glucose, ginseng, guarana, taurine, and bitter orange.
Data Synthesis: Most energy drinks contain natural products such as guarana, ginseng, and taurine. As much as 80 to 300 mg of caffeine and 35 grams of processed sugar per 8-ounce serving are commonly present in energy drinks such as Cocaine, Pimp Juice, Red Bull, and Spike Shooter. No reports were identified of negative effects associated with taurine, ginseng, and guarana used in the amounts found in most energy drinks. Commonly reported adverse effects seen with caffeine in the quantities present in most energy drinks are insomnia, nervousness, headache, and tachycardia. Four documented case reports of caffeine-associated deaths were found, as well as four separate cases of seizures associated with the consumption of energy drinks.
Conclusion: The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events. However, caffeine and sugar are present in amounts known to cause a variety of adverse health effects.
For full medical article, see link above.
