Blueberries May Be Good For Your Mind And Body Health.

Memory loss with aging is normal most of the time. However when the loss interferes with your day to day function, then it becomes a problem. A study by a group of physicians from the University of Reading and the Peninsula medical School in England found that foods such as blueberries are effective at reversing age-related memory lapses.

Adding blueberries to the diet of the study participants for 12 weeks showed improvements in memory tasks after 3 weeks and continued throughout the study period. Although the authors did not know the precise mechanism of the blueberries on the brain, they postulate that the chemicals involved may pass through the blood to the brain and boost the existing nerve connections by improving cellular communications and improving cell growth.

"This study not only adds science to the claim that eating blueberries are good for you, it also provides support to a diet-based approach that could potentially be used to increase memory capacity and performance in the future."

-Dr Whiteman


Reference:The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (2008, April 12). Getting Forgetful? Then Blueberries May Hold The Key. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 8, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/04/080410115405.htm

Manage Stress In Pregnancy For Your Baby's Mind And Body Health.

If you are pregnant, think twice before taking on an extra project at work. Severe stress, even in the short term, may almost double the risk of having a stillbirth - although stillbirths are rare.

Nora Schultz-The New Scientist

A study conducted in Denmark on pregnant women by Kristen Wisborg and colleagues followed a group of pregnant women in their pregnancy and found that the women who were stressed had more stillbirths than those with less stress.

The results of this study are even more significant since women with problems like high blood pressure, premature labor and other significant health problems were excluded from the study.

Studies in monkeys show that stress hormones such as adrenalin reduce the flow of blood supply to the placenta. Although the effect is small, if the baby has any other problems, stress can cause more damage to the placenta and cause fetal death.

Other studies show that stress in pregnant rats in the last 3 months of their pregnancy impaired the growth of their offspring's brain. The babies developed fewer nerve cells in the areas of the brain that are involved with emotions (the cingular cortex and the orbito frontal cortex and other parts of the brain.

The nerves in the babies' brain showed abnormal branching pattern with different effects on boys than girls. Boys were more likely to develop attention deficit disorder while the girls tended to develop depression which is known to be due to shrinkage of the hippocampus.

“Early experiences, especially emotional experiences, shape brain circuits for later life. The susceptibility to stress continues after birth, with different types of stress and trauma leading to different brain effects, she adds." Braun.

The take home message of these studies is that we are connected to our outer and inner worlds. Babies, whether they are in their mothers' womb or outside, are influenced by their surroundings. If the environment is hostile, stress hormones are produced that have detrimental effects on them. Thus we owe it to our children that we provide them with a peaceful stress free environment for their proper growth while they are inside the womb and after birth..

Technorati Tags: sprituality, stress and children, mind and body health, healthy mind, healthy body, depression

References:

1. Stress in pregnancy hits offspring's emotional brain. The New Scientist 12:02. 12th July 2006
2. Stress increases risks of still births. The New Scientist. 30th May, 2008

Having Faith In Yourself Will Give You A Healthy Mind And A Healthy Body.

"You may not see the end of the path. You may wonder if you have it in you to accomplish it. But, with each step forward, you build your skills for the journey. Doors open. Possibilities are uncovered. You draw in new ideas. Inspiration and intuition grow stronger."

Annie Robinson

In order to move beyond the ordinary in your life, you have to keep on developing yourself. You can only do that if you believe in yourself and have an open mind. A mind that is open is ready to look at the other side of the mountain, ready to taste the unfamiliar food and ready to try new ideas. Amy ( not the real name) is a cleaner at the Community Health Partners in Lorain, OH. I was in my on-call room this morning when she came to clean the room and change the bedding. She asked for the combination to the bathroom door so she could clean the bathroom.

She started talking to me about going back to school at age 45. She wants a carrier in the medical field. However, her husband does not want her to go back to school. The response she got from talking to her coworkers at the hospital was "cleaning is not that bad." She and her husband earn about $50,000 a year. She wants to elevate herself above her current status but nobody seems to encourage her. They are rather discouraging her.

I congratulated her for her burning desire to improve herself and have a better future. We also talked about various 2 year degree options in the medical field. She agreed to take a look at Nursing as a career. She walked out of my room, elated and ready to go and conquer the world. People who make things happen have these characteristics:

• They act on their dreams even when the odds against them are immense.
• They believe in themselves. They are their own pilot. If they cannot pilot their life, who can do it for them.
• They seek ideas from other people. They have the common sense to know which ideas are better and which are not.
• They are willing to go the extra mile to achieve their goals.
• They have their own inner compass directing them to their destination.
• They are like Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull who went against all odds to achieve perfection and freedom.

"Listen, everybody! There's no limit to how high we can fly! We can dive for fish and never have to live on garbage again!."

"You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now - and nothing can stand in your way! "The only true law is that which sets us free."

“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have And step into the darkness of the unknown Believe that one of the two will happen to you Either you'll find something solid to stand on Or you'll be taught how to fly!”

Bach

Meditation Can Help Your Mind And Body Health

"Plant the seed of meditation and reap the fruit of peace of mind."


"Meditate daily, and soon your inner strength and mind power will grow."

By Remez Sasson

Every human invention was created by the mind. Thus the mind is a powerful creative machine. However, it works well when it is in its creative state. This state is the mindset when the mind is as calm as a pool of quite water. It is at its best when it is not making waves. This is when it is able to be the inventor and creator.

The daily hustle and bustle make it difficult to focus the mind to be at its best. How then can you tame and focus the mind to be able to continue to be creative to contribute to the communal and personal effort to improve the world and your personal fortune?

Research done at the University of Pennsylvania and supported by the National Institute of Health found that even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. Meditation calms the mind and changes the way the brain works.

They found that meditation may modify the three components of attention, namely:

• The ability to prioritize and manage tasks and goals.
• The ability to voluntarily focus on specific information.
• The ability to stay alert to the environment.

The value of the above findings to practitioners of meditation is that even the practice of meditation for as little as 30 minutes a day is enough to have a great impact on their life. The take home message is that however busy you're, devote some time to recharge your mind to perform better when it is most needed.


Reference:Sciencedaily.com

Laughter Is Good For Your Mind And Body Health

"The best blush to use is laughter: It puts roses in your cheeks and in your soul."

- Linda Knight

"He who laughs, lasts."

-Victor Borge

There are times in your life that clouds form around you, making you loose your way. These occasions can be challenging. Your motivation and enjoyment well dry up. Your life becomes barren like an arid soil.

The result of this stress is that your stress hormone, cortisol, increases and attacks your immune system. The effect of cortisol is counteracted by another hormone called DHEAS. DHEAS, however starts declining at age 30, dropping to less than 20% of their maximum value by the time we reach 70.

Additionally, cortisol has effects on the heart and the brain. Studies from the University of Edinburgh, UK, showed that older men with high levels of cortisol have smaller anterior cingular cortices. Shrinkage of this brain area is linked with Alzheimer's disease and depression in older people. The researchers think these effects are caused by stress.

Stress is part of our existence, however, you should at all times find ways of walking away from stress. These are some suggestions:

• Laugh often. Laughter reduces stress and hence lowers the levels of the steroids in your body.
• Have a positive attitude and a sunny disposition. Optimism helps you roll with the punches so you can take one day at a time.
• Learn from your problems and find ways to avoid stressful triggers in your life.
• Be spiritual. Spirituality gives you hope. Hope gives you the assurance that you can live and fight another time.
• Don't be lonely unless it is self imposed for a particular project or purpose. Social interactions provide you with the necessary support in your time of need and hence can decrease your stress levels
  

"If taking vitamins don't keep you healthy enough, try more laughter:

The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed."

- Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort

Reference:The New Scientist