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Bananas: Very Very Good

connie — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:11:23 +0000

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression “going bananas” is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on: Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet. Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier. PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulatesblood glucose levels, which can affect your mood. Anemia : High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia. Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert. Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives. Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system. Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation. Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips.. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.. Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach. Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a “cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan. Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance.. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack. Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%! Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape! So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, “A banana a day keeps the doctor away!” PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe…polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!

Valuable Information From A Valuable Soloflex Customer

connie — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:32:56 +0000

Hi, I called in and talked to Carly, who was most pleasant. I wanted to let you all know that your WBV board is really helping my son with autism. He’s only been using it for about a week, but he is much calmer and able to focus on his academics more. I was lead to try it on him by an article I saw in an in-flight magazine. Perhaps this info will lead you to new uses for your product. It is a group at U WI that used to work with Paul Bach y Rita who have developed a tongue vibration that is helping reverse some of the symptoms of MS. Its thought that the vibration to the brain stem may be causing the brain to regenerate in areas. http://www.americanwaymag.com/ron-husmann-university-of-wisconsin-kildare-yuri-danilov Sincerely, Susan Wald

The Soloflex Story

connie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:03:32 +0000

This is a story of the man behind Soloflex. He is a visionary on many levels. This book exposes his creative and crazy sides. Jerry Wilson is not the average guy. I suppose most creators and inventors are on the edge but this takes the cake. This book is not for everyone, just those who appreciate the wild side. Wish he would continue to write his stories as they are almost too much to believe. Working for Soloflex has been an amazing opportunity and as much fun as anyone could every have. I am lucky to know the family and to be a part of such a great product. This book, as I mentioned earlier, is more about Jerry than the company but at some point they have become one and the same. Thank you Jerry. The Soloflex team.

A Great Dog and Her Vibration Experiences

connie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:51:20 +0000

Whole Body Vibration and One Dog

0 comments

Posted on 19th July 2010 by microhappen in Schwinn Atlanta

Vibration

The idea of shaking to build better blood and bones made sense with all the science and important authorities touting Vibra Phirm. The contraption arrived with a large yellow truck after being delayed from China. The neighbor who is a Delta mechanic helped, well he actually assembled what I later called a monstrosity with minimal help from anyone else. The directions were odd. A spring washer was called a spring mattress, and there was no part that looked like a mattress to anyone! The mechanic looked at the parts, and it was together in 15 minutes.

Guess, The Dog, was in the garage during this assemblage. When it was plugged in and oscillating/vibrating and resonating, she trembled and headed to the door whining. Not a usual experience for anyone in this household. So for three weeks during rain, cold, or snow, she went outside for the 10 minutes the machine vibrated or the back seat of the truck when it was too miserable for her. Could it be that she thinks there is a tsunami coming? Animals can sense earthquakes, perhaps?

The machine was returned and one person had lost seven pounds while another had gained two, so the physical results were satisfactory for the Chinese made Vibra pHirm. Then, because the Solo Flex Whole Body Vibration was much more versatile, it was ordered as the Vibra pHirm was returned. The price is more affordable, more convenient for travel, and it has the same specs for power/vibration/wattage/hertz. It doesn’t hurt that most of the parts were made in the United States. There is no assembly required, so the Delta mechanic stayed home and was not needed.

The comparison of the vibrations for The Dog were distinct. Her reaction to the Vibra pHirm were more upset than the reaction to the Solo Flex. She is eleven, and has not given me acquiescence that this is a positive change in her life, or her future personal involvement in the use of this exercise machine. Solo Flex has a cute little white dog on the cover of their manual sitting on the platform/bench/step. The Cute Big Dog who lives here will not be sitting on the Solo Flex Whole Body Vibration anytime soon. But there is not the sound of torment from The Dog’s voice compared to the Vibra pHirm. It could be that this exercise equipment is less noisy or more cushioned. As time progresses, perhaps The Dog will begin to be comfortable with the vibration. As indeed was the case. If not, she will be followed without question if there is ever a tsunami or earthquake in Atlanta.

After six months, The Dog likes being petted while I am doing yoga positions on the Solo Flex. My fingers are massaging her, which helps her arthritis and maybe her tumors.

The vibration of http://www.Petpause2000.com harp music did not change the reaction of The Dog to either exercise vibration machine. Imagine a horrible thunderstorm. The Dog will calm down with harp music during thunderstorms, but not with vibrations of a whole body vibration machine. The time limit for the machines is 10 minutes. Over time, perhaps she will become The Cute Black Dog sitting on the bench.

Author Bio: Born in Bethesda Naval Hospital, Charlotte Fairchild traveled as a Navy child, She is a writer and speaker of kudzu, fertility, roses, and teaches auto harp. Fertile Prayers is her first published book. Kudzu Kwestions will help find her several blogs and contact information.

Baby B

Working Out at Home Could Save Your Life

connie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:04:29 +0000

Gym germs: why common diseases flourish in your gym and what you can do to avoid them

by Bridget Coila | Nov-Dec, 2004

Putting in time at the gym is supposed to make you healthier, but if you aren’t careful, it could cause an unexpected illness. If fungi or bacteria wanted to find the ideal place to grow, your gym might offer one of the best sites around. Fungi and bacteria thrive in warm, moist places, such as hot tubs, pools, shower stalls and sweaty clothes. According to Brian Adams, M.D., “There are a bunch of things people can pick up at their gym if they aren’t careful.”

Inside the Locker Room

One of the most common diseases lurking in gyms is tinea pedis or athlete’s foot (i.e., a fungal skin infection). Its symptoms include cracked, blistered skin along with an itching or burning sensation. Onychomycosis is another infectious fungal disease hiding on shower and locker room floors. Its symptoms include yellow, brittle toe- and fingernails. Both of these diseases can be treated with over-the-counter medications, but for persistent infections you may need to consult a dermatologist.

The human papillomavirus (i.e., the virus that causes plantar warts) is another disease-causing organism commonly found in health clubs. These warts appear alone or in clusters on the bottom of the feet. Even in a seemingly immaculate gym, these organisms can dwell in unexpected places. “The most common place people pick up warts and athlete’s foot is in the locker room. It doesn’t matter if it has a carpeted or tile floor. The second place is in shower stalls. Another place most people don’t suspect is alongside indoor pools, but a lot of foot fungus is found there,” Adams says.

Being careful while changing or showering can easily prevent most of these diseases. “When I go to the gym, not for one minute does my foot hit the ground barefoot,” says Adams. “Always keep a barrier between you and the floor. Even a brisk walk between the locker and shower stall can allow foot fungus to take hold.”

The following are other ways to avoid fungi and viruses from invading your feet.

* Wear flip-flops in the shower.

* Wash and dry your feet thoroughly.

* Use antifungal powder in your shoes.

* Wear synthetic socks.

* Change your socks often, since sweaty socks are a prime breeding ground for fungi.

* Change out of your gym shoes after exercising and wash them occasionally in the hot water cycle.

Since fungal infections can spread, don’t dry sensitive areas, such as your underarms, with a towel used on your feet or dropped on the locker room floor. “Be especially careful if you have breaks in the skin,” Adams suggests. “Cuts are the perfect opportunity for microorganisms to make their way into the skin. Even microscopic cracks you can’t see can be an entry point.” If you cut yourself or otherwise cause a break in the skin while at the gym, clean the open wound with an iodine antibacterial solution and cover it securely before continuing your workout.

Outside the Locker Room

You also need to be vigilant about avoiding disease outside the locker room. The treadmill or weights you are about to use could have been infected by someone with a cold or worse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a bacteria called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was recently found in recreational athletes. Although, MRSA is a version of the common staph bacteria, it is resistant to the methicillin antibiotic, which makes it especially hard to treat. While “normal” staphylococcus aureus is a microbial skin infection easily treated with antibiotics, MRSA is more difficult to treat and can infect the blood and bones–a potentially life threatening complication. MRSA’s antibiotic resistance also makes it more likely to spread, since the normal course of treatment does not eliminate it and the infected person remains a carrier. The CDC cites close physical contact and equipment sharing as reasons for outbreaks. Researchers have also found E. coli, strep-bacteria and the influenza virus in gyms and on athletic equipment.

The easiest way to protect yourself is by wiping equipment before use. Gyms usually provide disinfectant spray, but some people prefer to carry their own wipes. Always use a towel to cover the seat of your exercise bike and bench in the locker room. When you’re done with your workout, don’t forget to clean your water bottle in order to prevent bacterial buildup there, too.

To prevent spreading disease to others, avoid exercising at the gym when you’re sick. Although conventional wisdom says you can work out if your symptoms are above the neck, keep in mind you may expose others. Consider exercising at home when you feel under the weather and avoid having your own germs passed back when your workout partner comes to the gym sick with the cold you gave him or her.

With a little bit of care, even the worst of these diseases can be treated or avoided, allowing you to enjoy your workout without worrying about bringing anything but a healthier body home.

Bridget Coila is a biologist and freelance writer based in Seattle, Washington. She has written for a variety of publications on health and science topics.

MoneyWatch Talkback

Bradley Cooper and Soloflex

connie — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:39:37 +0000

“As the movie progressed, I got in increasingly better shape,” he tells Details. “There’s this one fight scene with Liam Neeson toward the end, where it’s, like, the apex of the work … I swear to God, it looked like my head was digitally superimposed onto someone else’s body. I was like, ‘This cannot be me—that’s the way I look?’ … ‘Cause as a kid I only fantasized about looking that way. Remember Soloflex commercials? That was huge when I was a kid. It was like, ‘I wanna be the Soloflex guy. Mom, can we get the Soloflex?’”

Vibration Physical Exercises as the Rehabilitation in Gerontology

connie — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:39:21 +0000

Vibration biomechanical stimulation as the physiological basis of vibration physical exercises (whole body vibration) causes reflecting muscle contractions like tonic vibration reflex. This type of intervention leads to high intensive stimulation of proprioceptors as called muscle spindles which result in alteration in parameters of activity and developments of human physiological functions. This type of training has broad positive influence on organism. Acceleration physical exercises improve muscle performance, flexibility, nervous function, significantly increase bone mineral density, physiological secretion of anabolic hormones, growth and anti-aging factors; normalize/decrease cortisol as anti-stress effect and are beneficial for balance and mobility as well. It is showed acceleration training caused by vibration stimulus is beneficial for people suffering from osteoporosis and obesity, for rehabilitation of nervous and motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke. PMID: 19947400 [PubMed - in process]

Pub Med. Gov

U.S. National Library of Medicine

National Institutes of Health

Dr. Mercola’s Hidden Benefits of Exercise

connie — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:43:47 +0000

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

The WSJ article touches on just a few of the amazing health benefits of exercise I’ve been talking and writing about for nearly three decades, including that exercise can:

Reduce your cancer risk

Slow the aging process in your body

Boost your immune system

How Exercise Helps You Fight Cancer

Cancer thrives on sugar.

Regular exercise reduces your insulin levels, which creates a low sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells. Controlling your insulin levels is one of the most powerful steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk.

Physically active adults experience about half the incidence of colon cancer as their sedentary counterparts. Exercise has a beneficial influence on insulin, prostaglandins and bile acids, all of which are thought to encourage the growth and spread of cancer cells in your colon. Exercise also improves bowel transit time, which means your body’s waste is spending less time in contact with the mucosal lining of your colon.

As the Wall Street Journal article points out, women who exercise regularly can reduce their breast cancer risk by 20 to 30 percent over their inactive counterparts. This is likely due to a lowering of estrogen levels.

The article cites a study in which women being treated for breast cancer were 50 percent less likely to die of the disease if they walked at an average pace for three to five hours a week.

Think about it. If just three to five hours of walking per week can so drastically improve your chances of surviving a hormone-responsive breast cancer tumor, imagine what a few more hours a week of exercise could do for you.

If you’re male, be aware that athletes have lower levels of circulating testosterone than non-athletes, and similar to the association between estrogen levels and breast cancer in women, testosterone is known to influence the development of prostate cancer in men.

Physical activity can reduce your risk.

A Cure for Aging?

Have you heard the news about telomeres?

Telomeres are strands of DNA at the ends of your chromosomes which protect them from damage. Gradual erosion of telomeres leads to aging on a cellular level –think of them as a kind of biological clock.

As telomeres shorten more, cell death occurs. These cell deaths are associated with serious disease and premature aging

There is no question that the leading edge of anti aging research is on how to prevent telomere shortening and actually develop therapies to lengthen telomeres. Many experts believe that lengthening telomeres could actually turn the biological clock backwards.

Since exercise has been associated with preventing telomere shortening, it is clearly a very powerful anti aging strategy.

Research indicates physically active people have significantly less erosion of telomeres than even healthy, non-smoking, but sedentary folks. Exercise activates the enzyme telomerase which stabilizes telomeres, producing an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.

Other equally important factors in slowing the aging process include:

A healthy diet based on your individual nutritional type

Reducing or eliminating grains and sugar from your diet

Sufficient, high quality sleep

A method to address your emotional challenges and daily stressors

Exercise Boosts Your Immune System

Exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The job of these cells is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body.

The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and diseases trying to attack your body.

Your immune system is your first line of defense against everything from minor illnesses like a cold or the flu right up through devastating, life-threatening diseases like cancer. It’s not possible to be optimally healthy if your immune system is weak or compromised.

Prescribing Exercise

I wasn’t surprised to read in the WSJ article that only four out of 10 medical doctors ever mention the importance of exercise to their patients, despite its proven health benefits.

According to Dr. Robert Sallis, co-director of sports medicine at Fontana Medical Center in California:

“Exercise can be used like a vaccine to prevent disease and a medication to treat disease. If there were a drug with the same benefits as exercise, it would instantly be the standard of care.”

Typical of conventional medical thinking, somehow a vaccine or other drug with the same benefits as exercise would be preferable to exercise itself.

No, it would not.

But it’s at least encouraging to see recognition of this type for exercise as both prevention and cure.

If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter and my website, you know I’ve long touted the importance of viewing exercise as a drug.

Actually writing out a prescription for exercise is an excellent way to take a proactive approach to your health. A great tool for creating your own exercise prescription is my Daily Exercise Table.

The Time is Now

No matter your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your health.

If you happen to be over 40 it’s especially important to either start or step up your exercise program. This is the time of life when your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility start to decline.

I can’t stress enough the importance of using precision to develop your individual workout program. You need to make sure you’re getting enough exercise to achieve all the benefits, but not so much that you injure yourself, and you need variety to condition and build your entire body and prevent boredom.

Your program should include aerobic exercise, anaerobic (interval) training, weight strength training, and core exercises to build, strengthen and improve the flexibility of all the muscles of your body, like yoga, Pilates or active isolated stretching

If you’ve been sedentary for any length of time or you’re out of shape for some other reason, it is vitally important to get started with an exercise program – but start small. One of the main reasons people don’t stick with a workout program is because they go too hard, too fast and wind up with an injury, illness or simple exhaustion.

Write your own exercise prescription based on factors including:

your current physical condition

your fitness goals

your health concerns

activities you enjoy

best time of day for you to workout

Your ultimate goal if you are overweight or have other health concerns should be an hour to 90 minutes of exercise every day.

Once you reach a normal weight, you can drop back to 45 minutes at least four times a week and still reap the incredible health benefits of regular exercise.

Soloflex on Parks and Recreation

carlie — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:44:16 +0000

Our episode of Parks and Recreation aired last night on NBC! In case you missed it, you can watch it above. We’re psyched that we got to share our scene (around the 10:40 mark) with DJ Roomba.

Vibration Therapy: Shriners Hospital

connie — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:52:33 +0000

Shriners Hospital for Children, Montreal, QC, Canada. frauch@shriners.mcgill.ca

Whole-body vibration training is a method for muscle strengthening that is increasingly used in a variety of clinical situations. Key descriptors of vibration devices include the frequency, the amplitude, and the direction of the vibration movement. In a typical vibration session, the user stands on the device in a static position or performs dynamic movements. Most authors hypothesize that vibrations stimulate muscle spindles and alpha-motoneurons, which initiate a muscle contraction. An immediate effect of a non-exhausting vibration session is an increase in muscle power. Most studies of the longer term use of vibration treatment in various disorders have pursued three therapeutic aims: increasing muscle strength, improving balance, and increasing bone mass. In a small pilot trial in children we noted improvements in standing function, lumbar spine bone mineral density, tibial bone mass, and calf muscle cross-sectional area.

PMID: 19740225 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Pub Med. Gov

U.S. National Library of Medicine

National Institutes of Health