Meditation Helps Reduce Heart Disease Deaths

December 28, 2009

Natural News

By E. Huff

The Medical College of Wisconsin in conjunction with Maharishi University in Iowa funded a study about the effects of transcendental meditation on health. Researchers discovered that over the course of nine years, the group assigned to meditate saw a 47 percent reduction in strokes, heart attacks and deaths.

Two groups of African-Americans were assigned either to meditate or to make certain lifestyle changes. The group told to meditate was instructed to do so twice a day for 20 minutes. The other group was given instruction on traditional methods to reduce the risk of heart disease. After nine years, 20 incidences of stroke, heart attack, or death occurred in the meditation group while 31 incidences occurred in the health education group.

Dr. Robert Schneider, lead author of the study and the director of the Centre for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University, stated that the meditation group experienced an overall reduction in blood pressure as well as a significant reduction in psychological stress. Supporters of transcendental meditation claim that the study proves the long-term positive effects of the practice on those who participate in it.

Researchers noted, however, that among those in the health education group, very few followed the instructions and made any sort of significant changes in their lifestyles. Such lifestyle changes may have proven more effective if group participants would have followed the instructions in the same way as those in the meditation group did. For this reason, the study does not accurately capture the positive benefits of lifestyle changes apart from meditation.

Because transcendental meditation involves spiritual practices that conflict with the beliefs of various other faiths, some may wish to pursue other avenues of achieving better health and preventing the onset of heart disease without violating their convictions.

CoQ10, omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamin C, B vitamins, and vitamin D are a few of the many vitamins and nutrients that work to maintain heart health. Blueberries are an excellent source of pterostilebene, a compound identified by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help prevent heart disease and type-2 diabetes.

Resveratrol, another powerful antioxidant found in the skins of both grapes and blueberries has received a lot of attention recently for its powerful effects in bolstering cardiovascular health. A Harvard Medical School study showed that high doses of resveratrol given to obese mice allowed them to live long, healthy lives despite eating diets high in fat.

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Meditation Helps Reduce Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke, and Death

December 3, 2009

NaturalNews

by S. L. Baker

Transcendental Meditation (TM) first became well-known in the U.S. during the 1960s when the Beatles showed interest in studying the stress-reducing technique. But meditation hasn’t gone the way of love beads and flower power since then. In fact, various techniques, including TM, have received serious scientific scrutiny and researchers have documented many health benefits of meditation.

Now a $3.8 million study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has reached a first-ever finding: patients with coronary heart disease who practiced TM had a nearly 50 percent lower rate of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to a matched group that didn’t meditate.

The results of the study, which was conducted at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in collaboration with the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, were presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida. “Previous research on Transcendental Meditation has shown reductions in blood pressure, psychological stress, and other risk factors for heart disease, irrespective of ethnicity,” Robert Schneider, M.D., the study’s lead author and director of the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention, said in a statement to the media. “But this is the first controlled clinical trial to show that long-term practice of this particular stress reduction program reduces the incidence of clinical cardiovascular events, that is heart attacks, strokes and mortality.”

The randomized controlled trial followed 201 African American men and women for nine years. The research subjects had an average age of 59 and all were diagnosed with narrowing of arteries in their hearts. The study participants continued taking their regular medications and continued other usual medical care during the study. But half were randomly assigned to a group that practiced stress reducing TM and the other half were placed in a non-meditating group that received health education classes covering standard cardiovascular risk factors.

In addition to a dramatic reduction in the risk of death, heart attacks, and strokes in the TM group, the researchers found a clinically significant reduction in blood pressure. Mediation also reduced psychological stress in a sub-group of patients who were experiencing high levels of anxiety and other signs of stress.

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How I Stay Warm During the Cold Season…

If you’re wearing a hat and gloves 24/7, there are things you can do to keep warm besides blasting the heater or wearing wool from head to toe.

How to Stay Warm During the Cold Season

Poor circulation may be one reason why hands and feet get cold, however, it could also be caused by thyroid activity level, kidney and heart disease, anemia, hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, and poor diet. See your doctor to be sure you do not have a medical condition. Then, try some of these ways to increase your circulation and to stay warm:

• Eat warming foods such as miso soup, red meat, whole grains, root vegetables, cayenne pepper and ginger; not ice cream or soft drinks.
• Indulge in heavier foods. Use more oils when sautéing, or dribble some ghee onto your rice or vegetables. Eat cooked rather than raw vegetables and fruit.
• Drink hot teas containing spices such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cardamom.
• Take hot baths, which are soothing and warm the body through and through.
• Try acupuncture, which increases circulation by stimulating nerves that relay information to the brain.
• Practice your favorite stress-reduction technique – meditation, yoga, therapy, laughter, and sex….
• Keep moving; your body generates heat as a byproduct when it moves. Get your heart rate up with brisk walks, bicycling or other forms of exercise.
• Use a rebounder or inversion machine to get the blood moving throughout your body. Much of your body heat is circulated via the blood stream, so wiggle those toes and fingers.
• Open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to let in the sun. Bask in it.
• Remember the old water bottle? Pour some boiling water into it, wrap it, and sleep with it at night to stay cozy. For extra warmth, try placing the bottle under your armpits or on the inside of your upper thighs. Your arteries are close to the surface of your skin there, and your blood can gain a little extra heat to circulate. 
• Surprise, surprise – drink plenty of water to keep your machine “well-oiled.” It’s important to keep hydrated, and to use good moisturizing skin products during the cold season as well as the heat of summer. 
• Mix raw, organic honey with some soothing cardamom pods into a cup of hot, boiled milk; light some lovely, natural scented candles; relax and enjoy the warmth.
• Flannel sheets and a thick down comforter make night time extra warm and inviting to snuggle into on even the coldest of nights!

If your house is just too cold, there are new space heating technologies such as convection heat and radiant heat that are worth looking into. A portable radiator-type oil heater uses a lot of power, but not nearly as much as a furnace. Tightening up the house by stopping air leaks, having insulated interior coverings on all windows, putting plastic up on the outside of windows, and putting a “jacket” on the hot water heater, all help. Close the heater vents and shut the doors to unused rooms in your home. Warning: electrical emissions from electric blankets and similar warming devices may be hazardous to your health.

Have a great week,
KT

Alternative Medicine Use on the Rise

October 21, 2009

Natural News

By S. L. Baker

Acupuncture, biofeedback, herbs, meditation, yoga, massage therapy and other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are not routinely used by conventional Western medicine. In fact, they are often dismissed as worthless and unproven or attacked as downright quackery. But an increasing number of Americans apparently disagree.

Here’s proof: a just released report from the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) concludes people in the U.S. are using natural, non-medical healing methods more frequently than ever.

The researchers analyzed data collected in 2007 and compared it to the last time this information was collected, back in 2002. In all, the 2007 National Health Interview Survey found approximately four out of 10 Americans used some form of CAM during the year. Clearly, people want to use these modalities and are willing to pay for the help they provide because alternative and complementary therapies are rarely covered by health insurance. Overall, CAM now accounts for 11.2 percent of total out-of-pocket health care expenses — and that adds up to a whopping $33.9 billion spent yearly.

Acupuncture, naturopathy, biofeedback, guided imagery, meditation, deep breathing exercises and yoga are among the alternative approaches to health that have particularly grown in popularity over the last few years, according to the survey. In a statement to the media, the researchers noted: “It is clear from this data that Americans are utilizing CAM treatments — and psychophysiological interventions (i.e., treatments that affect both the mind and the body such as biofeedback and various forms of relaxation therapies) — with increasing frequency.”

Following on the heels of the 2007 National Health Interview Survey results comes another study documenting the popularity of CAM. Research just released at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting held in San Diego suggests that a growing number of people with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are turning to complementary and alternative medical therapies for help.

CRS involves inflammation in one or more of the paranasal sinuses and can cause nasal discharge, facial pain, decreased sense of smell, cough, fever and other symptoms that continue for at least 12 weeks. The condition results in around 22 million office visits to doctors and more than 500,000 emergency department visits in the U.S. annually, according to some estimates.

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Yoga: Research Finds Natural Way to Control Weight, Beat Middle-Age Spread

August 19, 2009

Natural News

By Sherry Baker

The origin of the word “yoga” is the Sanskrit word yuj, meaning “yoke or union.” And practitioners of this ancient discipline, which combines physical postures, meditation, breathing exercises and a philosophy of mindfulness, aim for a union between the mind and the body. Now western science is backing up this basic tenet of yoga. It appears yoga does help link the mind to the body. What’s more it can link appetite control to weight loss.

According to a new study headed by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, people who practice yoga regularly are less likely to be obese. The reason isn’t necessarily the exercise part of yoga but the mindfulness part that promotes a slim body. Simply put, practicing yoga makes people mindful of what and how they eat — and that, the scientists say, can help prevent the dread phenomenon of middle-age spread in normal-weight people. In addition, it may promote weight loss in those who are overweight.

The new research, just published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, was inspired by a previous study by the same team of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists. Four years ago, Dr. Alan Kristal and his colleagues first found that regular yoga practice seemed to promote weight loss. The researchers theorized that the weight-loss effect might have more to do with increased body awareness than the actual increased physical activity of yoga practice.

Specifically, the scientists suspected that people who practice yoga and mindfulness become more sensitive to feelings of real hunger and also real satiety. Bottom line: yoga practice makes you less likely to eat except when you are actually hungry and more likely to stop eating when you are full. The result? A slimmer body, controlled appetite and a healthy BMI.

In a statement to the media, Dr. Kristal explained the new study confirms his research team’s initial ideas about yoga’s connection to weight control and weight loss. “In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a ten year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness — a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga — could affect eating behavior,” said Dr. Kristal, who heads the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.

The researchers discovered that people who ate mindfully, meaning they were aware of why they were eating and did not engage in binge eating or munching even though they weren’t truly hungry, weighed less than those who ate mindlessly and in response to anxiety or depression. The scientists did not find a similar association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating.

“These findings fit with our hypothesis that yoga increases mindfulness in eating and leads to less weight gain over time, independent of the physical activity aspect of yoga practice,” said Kristal, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health. “Mindful eating is a skill that augments the usual approaches to weight loss, such as dieting, counting calories and limiting portion sizes. Adding yoga practice to a standard weight-loss program may make it more effective.”

Dr. Kristal, who has practiced yoga himself for 15 years, explained in the press statement that yoga leads to mindfulness in a variety of ways, such as being able to hold a challenging physical pose by observing the discomfort in a non-judgmental way while accepting these feelings with a calm mind and by focusing on breathing. “This ability to be calm and observant during physical discomfort teaches how to maintain calm in other challenging situations, such as not eating more even when the food tastes good and not eating when you’re not hungry,” he said.

Other yoga research is being actively pursued by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), too. According to the NCCAM’s web site, studies are underway to see how yoga might help a variety of medical conditions including high blood pressure, chronic low-back pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV and multiple sclerosis.

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