Yoga means “joined together.” The word comes from the ancient Sanskrit root word yug, which means “to unify.” Also means to control and still the swirling currents of thoughts in the mind. If you can control the thoughts that arise, and still them completely, you are able to observe the world clearly and directly without […]
Showing posts with label mind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mind. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
What is Ayurvedic Medicine?
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IntroductionAyurvedic medicineA whole medical system that originated in India. It aims to integrate the body, mind, and spirit to prevent and treat disease. Therapies used include herbs, massage, and yoga. (also called AyurvedaA whole medical system that originated in India. It aims to integrate the body, mind, and spirit to prevent and treat disease. Therapies used include herbs, massage, and yoga.) is one of the world's oldest medical systems.
It originated in India and has evolved there over thousands of years. In the United States, Ayurveda is considered complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)A group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine.--more specifically, a CAM whole medical systemA complete system of theory and practice that has evolved over time in different cultures and apart from conventional medicine. Examples of whole medical systems include traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, and naturopathy.
Many therapies used in Ayurveda are also used on their own as CAM--for example, herbs, massagePressing, rubbing, and moving muscles and other soft tissues of the body, primarily by using the hands and fingers. The aim is to increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the massaged area., and yoga. This Backgrounder will introduce you to Ayurveda's major ideas and practices and provide sources for more information on these and other CAM therapies. To find out more about topics and resources mentioned in this fact sheet.
aCAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is practiced in place of conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D.
(medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. Some health care providers practice both CAM and conventional medicine.
Key Points
The aim of Ayurveda is to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit. This is believed to help prevent illness and promote wellness.
In Ayurvedic philosophy, people, their health, and the universe are all thought to be related. It is believed that health problems can result when these relationships are out of balance.
In Ayurveda, herbs, metals, massage, and other products and techniques are used with the intent of cleansing the body and restoring balance. Some of these products may be harmful when used on their own or when used with conventional medicines.
Before you seek care from an Ayurvedic practitioner, ask about the practitioner's training and experience.
Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.
1. What is Ayurvedic medicine?
Ayurvedic medicine is also called Ayurveda. It is a system of medicine that originated in India several thousand years ago.
The term Ayurveda combines two Sanskrit words--ayur, which means life, and veda, which means science or knowledge. Ayurveda means "the science of life."
In the United States, Ayurveda is considered a type of CAM and a whole medical system. As with other such systems, it is based on theories of health and illness and on ways to prevent, manage, or treat health problems.
Ayurveda aims to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit (thus, some view it as "holistic"). This balance is believed to lead to contentment and health, and to help prevent illness.
However, Ayurveda also proposes treatments for specific health problems, whether they are physical or mental. A chief aim of Ayurvedic practices is to cleanse the body of substances that can cause disease, and this is believed to help reestablish harmony and balance.
more information: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ayurveda
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Daily Stress May Raise Women's Risk of Cervical Cancer
(HealthDay News) -- High levels of daily stress could explain why some women infected with malignancy-linked types of human papillomavirus (HPV) develop cervical cancer, a new study suggests.
Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia tested 74 women, all diagnosed with cervical dysplasia (precancerous cervical lesions), for an immune response to HPV 16, one of the strains of human papillomavirus thought to be a major cause of cervical cancer. The women also completed a questionnaire that assessed stressful life events experienced during the previous six months -- including deaths of family members, loss of a job or divorce -- as well as their perceived daily stress level over the previous month.
The research, published in the February issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, found that slightly more than 55 percent of the women tested positive for one or more types of HPV, a sexually transmitted infection that can cause genital warts as well as cancer.
"We observed that stress was associated with deficits in immune response to HPV 16," said Carolyn Y. Fang, the study's lead investigator.
Most HPV infections in healthy women disappear over time without progressing to precancerous cervical lesions or cancer. "That means HPV infection alone is not sufficient to cause cervical cancer," Fang said. "Our study suggests a potential mechanism by which stress may influence cervical disease progression.
"We were surprised to discover no significant association between the occurrence of major stressful life events and immune response to HPV 16, possibly because of the amount of time that had passed since the event and how the women coped," she added. "However, women with higher perceived levels of daily stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response."
HPV expert Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said, "It is unusual to see psychology and immunology in the same study, and this is very interesting. It is clear that almost all sexually active men and women get infected by HPV but very few have cancer. We already knew that nutrition may play a role. It seems likely that immune responses to HPV are influenced by stress, too."
Dr. Charles Raison, clinical director of Emory University's Mind-Body Program, said the new study adds to the growing evidence that stress can negatively influence health.
"There is data that stress can put the immune system at a disadvantage in dealing with viral infections. Even daily hassles like commuting in bad traffic can impact how the body functions," he said. "If a person with HPV is feeling stressed, it is important to do something positive to reduce the stress load. Exercise is known to help, and psychiatric therapy for any depression is important, too."
Fang added: "We want women to understand that stress does not cause cervical cancer, and feeling stressed out does not mean that one will develop cervical cancer. In this initial study, we observed that stress was associated with deficits in immune response to HPV. Whether stress causes these deficits, however, is unknown, and much more research will need to be done."
To that end, Fang and her research team have launched a five-year randomized trial to examine whether participation in an eight-week stress reduction program can lead to enhanced HPV-specific immune responses in women diagnosed with cervical dysplasia.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show that one in four American women between the ages of 14 and 59 years is infected with HPV. Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against several cancer-causing HPV sub-types, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, the vaccine works best when given to girls before they become sexually active and is not effective in women already infected.
That means the best protection against cervical cancer for sexually active women, whether or not diagnosed with HPV, is to have regular Pap tests and to develop good health habits, Ault said.
More information
For more on HPV and cervical cancer, visit the CDC.
Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia tested 74 women, all diagnosed with cervical dysplasia (precancerous cervical lesions), for an immune response to HPV 16, one of the strains of human papillomavirus thought to be a major cause of cervical cancer. The women also completed a questionnaire that assessed stressful life events experienced during the previous six months -- including deaths of family members, loss of a job or divorce -- as well as their perceived daily stress level over the previous month.
The research, published in the February issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, found that slightly more than 55 percent of the women tested positive for one or more types of HPV, a sexually transmitted infection that can cause genital warts as well as cancer.
"We observed that stress was associated with deficits in immune response to HPV 16," said Carolyn Y. Fang, the study's lead investigator.
Most HPV infections in healthy women disappear over time without progressing to precancerous cervical lesions or cancer. "That means HPV infection alone is not sufficient to cause cervical cancer," Fang said. "Our study suggests a potential mechanism by which stress may influence cervical disease progression.
"We were surprised to discover no significant association between the occurrence of major stressful life events and immune response to HPV 16, possibly because of the amount of time that had passed since the event and how the women coped," she added. "However, women with higher perceived levels of daily stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response."
HPV expert Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said, "It is unusual to see psychology and immunology in the same study, and this is very interesting. It is clear that almost all sexually active men and women get infected by HPV but very few have cancer. We already knew that nutrition may play a role. It seems likely that immune responses to HPV are influenced by stress, too."
Dr. Charles Raison, clinical director of Emory University's Mind-Body Program, said the new study adds to the growing evidence that stress can negatively influence health.
"There is data that stress can put the immune system at a disadvantage in dealing with viral infections. Even daily hassles like commuting in bad traffic can impact how the body functions," he said. "If a person with HPV is feeling stressed, it is important to do something positive to reduce the stress load. Exercise is known to help, and psychiatric therapy for any depression is important, too."
Fang added: "We want women to understand that stress does not cause cervical cancer, and feeling stressed out does not mean that one will develop cervical cancer. In this initial study, we observed that stress was associated with deficits in immune response to HPV. Whether stress causes these deficits, however, is unknown, and much more research will need to be done."
To that end, Fang and her research team have launched a five-year randomized trial to examine whether participation in an eight-week stress reduction program can lead to enhanced HPV-specific immune responses in women diagnosed with cervical dysplasia.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show that one in four American women between the ages of 14 and 59 years is infected with HPV. Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against several cancer-causing HPV sub-types, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, the vaccine works best when given to girls before they become sexually active and is not effective in women already infected.
That means the best protection against cervical cancer for sexually active women, whether or not diagnosed with HPV, is to have regular Pap tests and to develop good health habits, Ault said.
More information
For more on HPV and cervical cancer, visit the CDC.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Kama Yogi
Sexual dysfunction may take many forms. The most common problems are Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (low not allowed drive) and Penile Erectile Dysfunction (difficulties in achieving and maintaining an erection). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the key causes of sexual dysfunction is due to rapid urbanization, increased consumption of energy-dense foods high in saturated fats and sugars and depression.
When a man finds himself unable to get and maintain a sufficient erection due to physical causes, it can cause depression and anxiety. By the same token, when a man finds he suffers ED only in certain circumstances, physiological factors may be the source of the problem.
While psychological factors can play a big role in sexual problems, studies have suggested that 20 - 50% of men with erectile dysfunction have some organic basis for their problem. Sexual dysfunction may range from mild (low not allowed drive, weak erections, lack of energy, slow and weak ejaculation) to severe (total inability to achieve erection and complete lack of sexual desire).
In many cases, sexual dysfunction or sluggish sexual responses may be caused by poor systemic health, stress, the build up of toxins and unhealthy lifestyles.
In a way, sexual health can be seen as a sort of ‘barometer’ of overall systemic and psychological health. Men who are healthy, fit and confident about themselves and about life usually report a vigorous and satisfying not allowed life, no matter what their age.
Practitioners of Ayurveda have many centuries of knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and holistic techniques to treat a wide variety of medical problems and to promote optimum health and functioning. In this respect, certain Yoga techniques practices have been identified as having the ability to improve sexual functioning and overall systemic health. Traditionally, Yoga is the divine science, a gift of God to his creation.
When man has reached a certain stage of evolution, Yoga is "revealed" to a few great saints who are empowered to transmit it to qualified pupils and through them to successive generations. The earliest archaeological evidence for the practice of yoga is afforded by drawings of men in the posture of yogic meditation excavated in the Indus valley - dating from at least 3000 BC!
The earliest literary evidence is found in references to the practice of Yoga in the Vedas, the oldest books in the world, parts of which were composed in Northern India not later the 2500 BC; it is widely believed by scholars that Yoga existed and was handed down orally for thousands of years before that. India Herbs has a seasoned group of Ayurvedic doctors specialized in Vajikarana, one of the eight major specialties of Ayurveda (the ancient science dealing with medicine).
Vajikarana is "a process or a drug, which make a man sexually as strong as a horse and able to copulate for long and frequently with many wives and partners. " India Herbs' Vajikarana scientists have integrated a series of yogic techniques and practices based on millennia old wisdom to reignite inert bodily functions caused by stress and energy deprivation.
The KAMA YOGI eBook contains simple and effective methods, coupled with adherence to simple advice on diet, exercise, mental training, and relaxation that will treat the whole person - the mind , body and spirit in order to create the balance that will address the causes of low libido and male sexual dysfunction as well as ensuring optimum overall health through safe and natural means. Results:
The KAMAYOGI eBook is a clear and step-by-step practical guide with photos to help you to increase your psycho-sexual power and improve your not allowed life. YOGA's healing power is very strong - so powerful that men who are impotent can regain their potency as they realized their overall health potential.
Order the KAMAYOGI eBook today!
more information: http://www.kamayogi.com/index.htm?aff=dreddyclinic
When a man finds himself unable to get and maintain a sufficient erection due to physical causes, it can cause depression and anxiety. By the same token, when a man finds he suffers ED only in certain circumstances, physiological factors may be the source of the problem.
While psychological factors can play a big role in sexual problems, studies have suggested that 20 - 50% of men with erectile dysfunction have some organic basis for their problem. Sexual dysfunction may range from mild (low not allowed drive, weak erections, lack of energy, slow and weak ejaculation) to severe (total inability to achieve erection and complete lack of sexual desire).
In many cases, sexual dysfunction or sluggish sexual responses may be caused by poor systemic health, stress, the build up of toxins and unhealthy lifestyles.
In a way, sexual health can be seen as a sort of ‘barometer’ of overall systemic and psychological health. Men who are healthy, fit and confident about themselves and about life usually report a vigorous and satisfying not allowed life, no matter what their age.
Practitioners of Ayurveda have many centuries of knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and holistic techniques to treat a wide variety of medical problems and to promote optimum health and functioning. In this respect, certain Yoga techniques practices have been identified as having the ability to improve sexual functioning and overall systemic health. Traditionally, Yoga is the divine science, a gift of God to his creation.
When man has reached a certain stage of evolution, Yoga is "revealed" to a few great saints who are empowered to transmit it to qualified pupils and through them to successive generations. The earliest archaeological evidence for the practice of yoga is afforded by drawings of men in the posture of yogic meditation excavated in the Indus valley - dating from at least 3000 BC!
The earliest literary evidence is found in references to the practice of Yoga in the Vedas, the oldest books in the world, parts of which were composed in Northern India not later the 2500 BC; it is widely believed by scholars that Yoga existed and was handed down orally for thousands of years before that. India Herbs has a seasoned group of Ayurvedic doctors specialized in Vajikarana, one of the eight major specialties of Ayurveda (the ancient science dealing with medicine).
Vajikarana is "a process or a drug, which make a man sexually as strong as a horse and able to copulate for long and frequently with many wives and partners. " India Herbs' Vajikarana scientists have integrated a series of yogic techniques and practices based on millennia old wisdom to reignite inert bodily functions caused by stress and energy deprivation.
The KAMA YOGI eBook contains simple and effective methods, coupled with adherence to simple advice on diet, exercise, mental training, and relaxation that will treat the whole person - the mind , body and spirit in order to create the balance that will address the causes of low libido and male sexual dysfunction as well as ensuring optimum overall health through safe and natural means. Results:
The KAMAYOGI eBook is a clear and step-by-step practical guide with photos to help you to increase your psycho-sexual power and improve your not allowed life. YOGA's healing power is very strong - so powerful that men who are impotent can regain their potency as they realized their overall health potential.
Order the KAMAYOGI eBook today!
more information: http://www.kamayogi.com/index.htm?aff=dreddyclinic
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Ayurtox
You are a toxic cesspool of the lifetime accumulation of chemicals from air, food, and water.
These accumulated toxins contribute to nearly every disease, sickness, and malfunction of the body. Your body is like a city where the sanitation units are on strike.
As the garbage bags pile up, the city slows down and if the situation were to continue to crisis proportions, unsanitary conditions would cause widespread illness, disease, and death amongst the population. The sanitation officers in our body that find and eliminate toxins comprise our excretory system (kidneys, intestines, lungs, skin, and liver).
When they are severely overworked, they go on strike. When this occurs, waste and toxins buildup in your body, channeling of nutrients becomes inefficient, the situation compounds itself, and various disease states become inevitable. The largest internal organ in the body is the liver. It performs many functions in addition to body detoxification.
The liver works by both filtering toxins directly and by altering toxins so that they can be removed at other stages of detoxification. The liver filters toxins from about 1 liter of blood every minute. Some of these toxins are endotoxins (produced in the body) and exotoxins (from outside the body). These wastes are eliminated the kidneys or the colon. Other toxins, composed of compounds that are difficult for the liver to filter, must be broken down with enzymes so that they can be removed.
A properly functioning liver is vital to your health. Serious toxin overload can easily occur. Toxins released from the liver must leave the body through the colon. If a person is constipated, the toxins are not eliminated and are instead reabsorbed back into the liver.
This occurs while new exotoxins are continually introduced into the body through medication, pesticides, cigarette smoke, pollution, impurities in food, bacteria, and other problematic substances in the environment; and new endotoxins are created in the body due to stress and lack of exercise.
The road to disease is soon paved with an improperly functioning liver, gummed up excretory system, and a slew of toxins that bind to enzymes at the cellular level and neutralize them, so that cells no longer function optimally. Western medicine relies on aggressive prescription drugs and surgery to deal with many problems related to body toxicity.
Unfortunately, these methods often result in unwanted and even dangerous side effects. Natural pills provide only fleeting, inconsistent results. Ayurveda, the science of life, prevention and longevity, is the oldest and most holistic and comprehensive medical system available.
Its fundamentals can be found in Hindu scriptures called the Vedas - the ancient Indian books of wisdom written over 5,000 years ago. Ayurveda uses the inherent principles of nature to help maintain health in a person by keeping the individual's body, mind, and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature.
India Herbs has a seasoned group of Ayurvedic doctors specialized in Vajikarana. Vajikarana is "a process or a drug, which make a man as healthy as a ox and able to undergo many hours of physical rigors." Vajikarana prescribes the therapeutic use of various herbal and tonic preparations for enhancing the capabilities and vigor of your body's detoxification system while strengthening the body and overall well-being.
India Herbs' Vajikarana scientists combine a proprietary herbal formula based on centuries' old wisdom with advice on diet, exercise, mental training, and relaxation to help men and women reach their peak and overcome their toxicity concerns through safe, natural means.
Results: The precise combination of ingredients in Ayurtox along with a mind-body focus precisely addresses your natural detoxification needs!
more information: http://www.ayurtox.com/index.htm?aff=dreddyclinic
more discussion: Forum
· Addiction Forum · Ask the Doctors Forum · Ayurveda Forum · Ayurvedic & Thai Herbs Forum · Colon Cleansing Forum · Dental Forum · Diabetes Forum · Diet Forum · General Cleansing Forum · Hepatitis A, B. C Forum · Integrated Medicine Forum · Live Blood Analysis Forum · Ozone-Oxygen-Forum · pH - Alkaline - Acidity Forum · Weight Loss Forum
These accumulated toxins contribute to nearly every disease, sickness, and malfunction of the body. Your body is like a city where the sanitation units are on strike.
As the garbage bags pile up, the city slows down and if the situation were to continue to crisis proportions, unsanitary conditions would cause widespread illness, disease, and death amongst the population. The sanitation officers in our body that find and eliminate toxins comprise our excretory system (kidneys, intestines, lungs, skin, and liver).
When they are severely overworked, they go on strike. When this occurs, waste and toxins buildup in your body, channeling of nutrients becomes inefficient, the situation compounds itself, and various disease states become inevitable. The largest internal organ in the body is the liver. It performs many functions in addition to body detoxification.
The liver works by both filtering toxins directly and by altering toxins so that they can be removed at other stages of detoxification. The liver filters toxins from about 1 liter of blood every minute. Some of these toxins are endotoxins (produced in the body) and exotoxins (from outside the body). These wastes are eliminated the kidneys or the colon. Other toxins, composed of compounds that are difficult for the liver to filter, must be broken down with enzymes so that they can be removed.
A properly functioning liver is vital to your health. Serious toxin overload can easily occur. Toxins released from the liver must leave the body through the colon. If a person is constipated, the toxins are not eliminated and are instead reabsorbed back into the liver.
This occurs while new exotoxins are continually introduced into the body through medication, pesticides, cigarette smoke, pollution, impurities in food, bacteria, and other problematic substances in the environment; and new endotoxins are created in the body due to stress and lack of exercise.
The road to disease is soon paved with an improperly functioning liver, gummed up excretory system, and a slew of toxins that bind to enzymes at the cellular level and neutralize them, so that cells no longer function optimally. Western medicine relies on aggressive prescription drugs and surgery to deal with many problems related to body toxicity.
Unfortunately, these methods often result in unwanted and even dangerous side effects. Natural pills provide only fleeting, inconsistent results. Ayurveda, the science of life, prevention and longevity, is the oldest and most holistic and comprehensive medical system available.
Its fundamentals can be found in Hindu scriptures called the Vedas - the ancient Indian books of wisdom written over 5,000 years ago. Ayurveda uses the inherent principles of nature to help maintain health in a person by keeping the individual's body, mind, and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature.
India Herbs has a seasoned group of Ayurvedic doctors specialized in Vajikarana. Vajikarana is "a process or a drug, which make a man as healthy as a ox and able to undergo many hours of physical rigors." Vajikarana prescribes the therapeutic use of various herbal and tonic preparations for enhancing the capabilities and vigor of your body's detoxification system while strengthening the body and overall well-being.
India Herbs' Vajikarana scientists combine a proprietary herbal formula based on centuries' old wisdom with advice on diet, exercise, mental training, and relaxation to help men and women reach their peak and overcome their toxicity concerns through safe, natural means.
Results: The precise combination of ingredients in Ayurtox along with a mind-body focus precisely addresses your natural detoxification needs!
more information: http://www.ayurtox.com/index.htm?aff=dreddyclinic
more discussion: Forum
· Addiction Forum · Ask the Doctors Forum · Ayurveda Forum · Ayurvedic & Thai Herbs Forum · Colon Cleansing Forum · Dental Forum · Diabetes Forum · Diet Forum · General Cleansing Forum · Hepatitis A, B. C Forum · Integrated Medicine Forum · Live Blood Analysis Forum · Ozone-Oxygen-Forum · pH - Alkaline - Acidity Forum · Weight Loss Forum
Monday, August 06, 2007
A Powerful Approach to Prostate Health
Most men hardly know they have a prostate until they reach middle age, when prostate health becomes a serious issue. Prostate enlargement is found in 50 percent of American men in their sixties, and up to 90 percent of men in their seventies and eighties. Worse, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death by cancer in men, with about 80 percent of all cases of prostate cancer occurring in men over sixty-five.
Even though the prostate seems to be an older man's health problem, these imbalances begin much earlier in life. The good news is that most prostate problems can be prevented by making simple lifestyle and dietary changes to restore balance. In this interview, our ayurvedic expert provides an in-depth analysis of prostate health from the perspective of Maharishi Ayurveda, and gives practical and effective advice for keeping the prostate healthy throughout life.
Q: Let's start at the beginning. What exactly is the prostate gland, and what does it do?
A: The prostate is part of the male reproductive system. The interesting thing is that even though it is called a gland, it is actually an organ made up of 70 percent glandular and thirty percent fibro-muscular tissue. About the size and shape of a walnut, it is located directly beneath the bladder and surrounds part of the urethra, the tube that drains the bladder. The prostate secretes a thin, milky substance contained in semen that protects and nourishes the sperm and lubricates the urethra. In ayurvedic terms, the prostate's secretion supports the flow of Shukra Dhatu, the reproductive tissue.
Q: How would you know if you had a prostate problem?
A: One major symptom is prostate enlargement, which is caused by imbalances that accumulate over time but become manifest with age. The initial symptoms include excessive urination at night, a weak urine stream, stopping and starting while urinating, a feeling that the bladder is never empty, difficulty in starting to urinate, and dribbling at the end of urination.
If a man has these symptoms, he should consult his doctor immediately. Often, when the symptoms are mild, the physician will say, "Wait and watch. This is the ideal time to get help from Maharishi Ayurveda, when the problem is mild to moderate. At this point, there is still an opportunity to correct the imbalance that has caused the problem. Of course aging is the main etiological factor, or cause of the problem, but Maharishi Ayurveda also identifies the lifestyle or dietary factors that act as a trigger, and if unchecked, can turn a mild problem into a serious one.
Q: Every man would naturally want to keep the problem from becoming serious. What are some of the causes, or triggers, of prostate problems?
A: There are several. One is overuse of Shukra Dhatu, or overuse of the sexual organs. Another is lack of adequate fluids in the body, due to not drinking enough water during the day. Habitually suppressing the natural urge to urinate also can, over time, cause the urine to become more concentrated and, in turn, irritates the prostate.
Drinking too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages can also cause an imbalance. Alcohol, for instance, creates an abnormal increase in urine production, which aggravates Pitta and Vata doshas. Another cause is taking too many over-the-counter antihistamines and decongestants. These can cause the muscle that controls urine flow to tighten, making urination difficult.
Even your job can be a source of imbalance. If you have to sit for long periods of time without taking a break or stretching, this can create an imbalance in the reproductive area of the body. Not getting daily exercise, or eating a diet that creates impurities (ama) in the body, are other causes of prostate problem. If your diet does not contain spices that purify the urine daily (such as turmeric, cumin and fennel) that can also cause toxins to build up that lead to imbalances or infection.
Finally, if you don't have a healthy daily routine, for instance if you watch TV late at night or for other reasons don't sleep enough, or if you don't eat meals on time or your routine is very irregular, that can also cause ama to build up and disturb the immune system.
Q: It sounds like a wide number of factors can cause prostate problems.
A: Yes, they do sound like they are widely disparate on the surface, but actually there is an underlying principle that ties them all together.
One main factor is ama. Ama refers to the sticky impurities that are created when digestion is weak and food is not digested completely. Now, aging itself can create some weakening of the digestion, but most ama is created by poor dietary and lifestyle habits already mentioned -- eating foods that are old and heavy or eating meals at irregular times of the day.
If this kind of diet becomes a habit, then ama eventually mixes with the nutrient fluid (Rasa Dhatu) and even the blood (Rakta Dhatu). The urine, which is part of the body's purification system, also becomes overloaded with ama and thus more prone to infection. It becomes a fertile ground for bacteria, and can create additional problems of urinary tract infections, and that impacts the prostate. Weakened immunity also creates a problem for the prostate.
If the ama problem is not corrected, and ama reaches the muscle and fat tissue, then it creates an additional factor -- imbalance in cell production. This, compounded with testosterone levels declining due to age (or due to overuse of the sexual organs), is a major factor in prostate enlargement.
If the person also has an imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha (the subdosha of Kapha that governs lubrication of the joints, body fluids, and moisture balance in the skin), and ama is accumulating in the body fluids due to dietary mistakes, then Shleshaka Kapha and ama gets mixed with urine, creating a more irritated situation and further weakening the immune system.
Also, when Shleshaka Kapha is mixed with ama, it creates shleshma (a sticky, toxic mixture of Shleshaka Kapha and ama ). This condition is a common factor in imbalanced cell production. When combined with the problems of ama spreading to the tissues mentioned earlier, then the cell production becomes abnormal, and the prostate grows abnormally large.
Maharishi Ayurveda tries to support health on all fronts: by balancing Apana Vata, the subdosha of Vata related to the downward flow of energy such as occurs with urination, stopping ama from being produced, strengthening the immune system, and cleansing the urine and nutrient fluid, and cleansing the blood, muscle and fat tissues of ama, and cleansing Shleshaka Kapha of amavisha.
Q: It certainly sounds like Maharishi Ayurveda takes a holistic approach to prostate health and functioning. Can you tell us why age is such a critical factor in prostate health?
A: Again, this comes back to the doshas. Vata dosha increases as we age. The later part of life is actually known as the Vata Kala (or Vata time of life) in Maharishi Ayurveda. Because Vata dosha is irregular, dry, and moving by nature, it can cause the digestion to become more irregular. This contributes to more ama being produced and spreading to the tissues.
Also, you have to consider that the prostate is located in the area of the body that is governed by Apana Vata, which includes the colon, lower abdomen, elimination and reproductive areas. Because the prostate is governed by Apana Vata, anything that aggravates Apana Vata creates pressure on the prostate.
Not everyone has to have problems with Apana Vata, of course, and some people will maintain balanced Vata even in old age. But if the person has been keeping an irregular routine, eating foods that are difficult to digest, and sitting for long periods of time at their job, the stage is already set. With the added factor of aging then the downward flow of energy in the body will become obstructed, affecting the organs in the reproductive system, including the prostate. As the flow of energy and nutrients to the area gets blocked by ama, and the flow of impurities out of the area gets obstructed (as found in more concentrated urine), the prostate gets weaker and more and more imbalanced.
Q: So far we've only been talking about enlarged prostate. But is there a connection here to even more serious problems?
A: Yes. You see, initially, the imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha, called amavisha, causes enlargement of the prostate. But if the imbalance becomes more serious, and the person never adopts an ama -reducing diet or makes lifestyle changes to create more balance, then the common kind of amavisha becomes an even more toxic type of ama called amavisha. Then the imbalance has become very serious. In other words, what if ama continues to be created, and mixes with Shleshaka Kapha, blood, muscle and fat tissue, and that occurs conjointly for a long period of time? If the person is not taking corrective measures to dissolve the ama, pacify Apana Vata, and restore balance to the entire area, then amavisha, the most toxic stage ama, spreads and really takes hold. Amavisha breeds free radicals and obstructs the natural flow of intelligence between cells, breaking down the connection between nature's intelligence and that area. This is how cancer tends to begin -- when the cell forgets its own nature and starts to grow uncontrollably.
Q: That is certainly a scenario we all want to avoid. So then an enlarged prostate or prostate imbalance could lead to cancer if the situation is not checked?
A: Yes, and that is why the doctor recommends that you keep checking, and keep testing on a yearly basis once you have an enlarged prostate. It's also why you should see a doctor immediately if you notice any of the symptoms that we mentioned earlier. But as you wait and watch, you can be using the Maharishi Ayurveda approach, which is preventive and holistic in nature.
The role of Maharishi Ayurveda is really prevention -- ideally to prevent a problem from starting in the first place, or to prevent a mild problem from becoming worse.
Q: What about stress, does stress play a role?
A: Stress can also create some problems. Because Vata dosha governs the nervous system, stress has a greater impact on Vata dosha, and therefore on anyone who is entering the Vata time of life. For instance, if you have a job that requires overuse of the mind, or jars the senses, this can aggravate Prana Vata, the subdosha of Vata that governs the brain, head, chest, respiration, sensory perception and the mind. When Prana Vata is out of balance, it easily brings the other aspects of Vata out of balance, including Apana Vata, creating disturbances in the prostate as well as other parts of the body.
Q: What are some dietary and behavioral recommendations to correct these problems?
A: First of all, it's important to understand that the right diet is very necessary to improve the health of the prostate.In choosing the right diet, there are several factors to consider. First of all, it's a good idea to eat Pitta pacifying foods, because the problem involves an imbalance in the blood tissue, which is governed by Pitta dosha. But at the same time, Kapha dosha must also be pacified, because Shleshaka Kapha is involved. And Vata dosha must also be brought into balance because this disease occurs during the Vata stage of life, and the prostate is located in the area governed by Apana Vata.
So prostate problems involve the combination of Pitta, Kapha, and Vata -- as without the Kapha imbalance there would be no abnormal growth, without the Pitta imbalance there would be no inflammation, and without the Vata imbalance there would be no discomfort. So all three doshas are involved, and therefore all the dietary and behavioral recommendations have to take all three doshas into account.
Q: What sort of diet would pacify all three doshas?
A: In balancing the three doshas simultaneously it's important to avoid any extremes. You don't want to eat anything that is too cold, too spicy, too dry, too bitter, too sweet, or too salty, as any taste taken in excess can create an imbalance in one of the doshas. You'll want to eat a diet that is moderate in every way.
To keep from aggravating Vata dosha, don't eat foods that are too dry and lack nourishment, such as too many crackers or dry cereals. Avoid long, leafy greens such as chard or spinach when they are cooked whole, as they are hard to digest and obstruct the natural movement of the intestine. If you chop the chard and spinach into small pieces and cook them well with spices, then they are easy to digest, help elimination and immunity, and do not aggravate Vata dosha. Avoid eating ice-cold drinks or cold foods such as cold salads, as these aggravate Vata dosha.
for Pitta, avoid extremely spicy foods that heat the blood tissue (such as hot chili peppers and cayenne found in some Mexican and Indian foods). Too much horseradish, garlic, onions and mustard seeds are other examples. Vinegar is another food that pollutes the blood tissue, and it is found in mustard, ketchup, salad dressings, and pickles.
To keep from aggravating Kapha dosha, avoid cold and heavy foods such as fried foods, ice cream, and other rich desserts. Aged cheeses and yogurt should also be avoided, as they are heavy and difficult to digest.
Q: That covers the extremes to be avoided. What are some foods to improve prostate health?
A: For prostate health, a diet of warm, cooked, easily digestible, light yet nourishing foods are best. Organic vegetables cooked in mild spices, whole grains, light proteins such as mung dhal soups, and sweet, juicy fruits will nourish the body and pacify all three doshas.
It's important to cook with mild spices that improve digestion, burn away ama, and pacify Vata dosha, but don't create heat in the blood tissue. Include a mixture of fennel, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and small amounts of turmeric (see recipe in box). Small amounts of black pepper and small amounts of fresh ginger also are healthy for maintaining prostate health and balance.
You may think that just adding these spices to your diet may not be that significant, but they are very powerful. Let me just explain a small amount of research on these common spices.
Turmeric is strongly anti-inflammatory, and intensifies the anti-cancer activity of other phyto-nutrients. Ginger and turmeric both have been found to have cancer-preventing qualities.
Turmeric is one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, has more DNA protective qualities than Vitamin E and betacarotene. It helps clear away amavisha, the breeding ground of free radicals, thus supporting the liver in its effort to clear itself of free radicals. By stopping the production of ama and amavisha, it balances Ranjaka Pitta, thus purifying the blood and urine.
Black pepper is another common spice whose effects in the diet have been well documented. Research published in Cancer Letter in the August 16, 1993 issue reported that 20 days after adding black pepper to the diet, the subjects' liver detoxification systems were strengthened, aiding in purification of the blood tissue and enhancing the overall immune system.
The mixture of black pepper, long pepper and ginger (trikatu) is famous in ayurveda, because it is the most effective combination of spices to prevent ama and amavisha, and to clear them away. You can add small amounts of black pepper and ginger to your foods to help clear the channels and micro-channels of the body, which carry away waste and supply oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
Q: That's fascinating, how helpful the right spices are for prostate health. What kinds of vegetables do you recommend?
A: Squashes cooked with these mild spices are excellent for prostate health. The best squashes for prostate health are the types that are white inside, such as zucchini or loki (for more information on buying and cooking loki, visit the recipe section of our web site). Avoid the dark yellow ones such as pumpkin; however, squashes with a mildly yellow color are fine.
Asparagus is another vegetable that is recommended, because it helps support balanced hormones. Daikon is a mild type of white radish root that purifies the urine. Because it is spicy, it should be cooked with other vegetables more as a seasoning than as the main vegetable.
You could combine it with squashes such as zucchini or shred it and add it to mung dhal soup.
Light dairy products such as milk, lassi (a drink made with one part freshly-made yogurt and three parts water), and occasional fresh cheeses such as panir or cottage cheese should be included in the diet, but avoid the hard-to-digest aged cheeses, such as Monterey Jack, mozzarella, cheddar, brie, blue cheese, and Gruyere.As for grains, quinoa is best because it is rich in zinc. Zinc supports seminal health, and because seminal health and prostate health are connected, zinc also supports prostate health.
Q: That doesn't seem so complicated after all. It seems like the whole idea is to avoid extremes that can aggravate the doshas.
A: Yes, and to eat wholesome, fresh foods that won't create ama. It's important to avoid the foods that create ama or impurities in the body because they are lifeless and hard to digest. These include canned, frozen, packaged and processed foods, as well as leftovers. Buy your fruits and vegetables fresh, and if possible, buy organic foods. Non-organic foods contain pesticide and chemical residues that can irritate the blood tissue and pollute the body with toxins. This, in turn, overloads the elimination systems such as the urine and irritates the prostate. Warm, cooked, light, and mildly spiced foods, on the other hand, are easy to digest and thus help cleanse the body of ama.
Q: What about lifestyle, doesn't that affect the doshas as well?
A: Absolutely. Here, it's the same principle: avoid extremes in lifestyle and routine. Moderate habits and daily routine help remove ama and pacify all three doshas.
Lifestyle habits that aggravate Vata dosha include eating at different times of the day from one day to the next. You'll want to eat your meals at the same time every day, and eat your largest meal at noon, when the sun is at its zenith, as that is when your digestive powers are also the strongest. Take time to eat nourishing, appetizing meals. Avoid staying up late (past ten o'clock), as night wakefulness aggravates all the doshas, but especially Vata. Go to bed at the same time every night, before ten o'clock, and rise before six o'clock in the morning. Sleep is necessary to pacify Apana Vata and all aspects of Vata. It is also important in enhancing the immune hormones, eliminates ama and creates more ojas, the product of good digestion that promotes lightness, bliss, immunity, health, and longevity.
Be sure to exercise regularly, and be sure that the exercise you choose is suitable for your age and body type. Daily ayurvedic massage, called abhyanga, is another important part of the daily routine. You can do it in the morning to help improve circulation and digestion, remove ama from the body, tone the muscles, and increase energy.
Avoid too much mental pressure, such as a job that requires you to work long hours. Take time to enjoy life, and to maintain healthy relationships with your family and friends. Practice a technique to reduce stress, such as the Transcendental Meditation® technique. Dozens of research studies show that it reduces stress, increases inner happiness and creates more balance in the mind, body, and emotions. It is an important part of the daily routine to eliminate mental and physical ama and to balance all three doshas.
Q: This is certainly a holistic plan for improving the health of the prostate. The beautiful thing about such a prevention program is that your overall health and vitality will improve, and you'll start feeling younger. Are there any specific recommendations for men who are already feeling some mild symptoms of prostate problems.
A: Yes, here are some tips, which also summarizes what we just talked about:
Drink lots of water throughout the day, in between meals. This will keep the urine from becoming too concentrated. If you add some herbs to the water, it will flush out toxins, dissolve ama in the blood tissue and help purify the urine. Here's a recipe: Boil two quarts of water and put the water in a thermos flask. Add three leaves of holy basil, 1/3 t. fennel seed, 1/4 t. coriander seed, and six white pumpkin seeds or six fresh cucumber seeds. Keep drinking this water throughout the day, but stop drinking it after 7:00 p.m. Stay away from fluids at night if you have a prostate problem, as a full bladder at night can cause pressure on the prostate and disturb your sleep with the need to get up frequently to urinate.
Each time you urinate, take the necessary time to empty your bladder completely. Because the urethra (the passageway through which the urine drains from the body) is already narrow, when there is some enlargement of the prostate, the urinary channel becomes even narrower. If you are in too much of a hurry, all of the urine might not be drained from the bladder. This is not a good thing, because the urine becomes more concentrated if it is not drained from the bladder each time you urinate. So take the time to empty the bladder completely.
Avoid drinking alcohol, because it creates imbalances in the blood tissue, as does caffeine. Both of these create abnormal urine production and irritate the bladder as well.
If you have to sit all day at your job, take short breaks frequently and try to stretch or take a short walk. This will restore the normal flow of energy, blood, and nutrient fluid to the prostate area.
When the weather is cold, take care to keep your head, neck, and body warm. If your body temperature drops, it leads to urine retention, which aggravates the prostate. So keep your body temperature in a moderate range.
Make sure that your bowel movements are regular. Constipation creates an obstruction in Apana Vata, in turn creating pressure on the prostate, increasing ama in the blood tissues, and creating excessive dryness in the whole area. To help with regular elimination, try having a stewed apple in the morning for breakfast with stewed figs, raisins, or prunes.
Even though the prostate seems to be an older man's health problem, these imbalances begin much earlier in life. The good news is that most prostate problems can be prevented by making simple lifestyle and dietary changes to restore balance. In this interview, our ayurvedic expert provides an in-depth analysis of prostate health from the perspective of Maharishi Ayurveda, and gives practical and effective advice for keeping the prostate healthy throughout life.
Q: Let's start at the beginning. What exactly is the prostate gland, and what does it do?
A: The prostate is part of the male reproductive system. The interesting thing is that even though it is called a gland, it is actually an organ made up of 70 percent glandular and thirty percent fibro-muscular tissue. About the size and shape of a walnut, it is located directly beneath the bladder and surrounds part of the urethra, the tube that drains the bladder. The prostate secretes a thin, milky substance contained in semen that protects and nourishes the sperm and lubricates the urethra. In ayurvedic terms, the prostate's secretion supports the flow of Shukra Dhatu, the reproductive tissue.
Q: How would you know if you had a prostate problem?
A: One major symptom is prostate enlargement, which is caused by imbalances that accumulate over time but become manifest with age. The initial symptoms include excessive urination at night, a weak urine stream, stopping and starting while urinating, a feeling that the bladder is never empty, difficulty in starting to urinate, and dribbling at the end of urination.
If a man has these symptoms, he should consult his doctor immediately. Often, when the symptoms are mild, the physician will say, "Wait and watch. This is the ideal time to get help from Maharishi Ayurveda, when the problem is mild to moderate. At this point, there is still an opportunity to correct the imbalance that has caused the problem. Of course aging is the main etiological factor, or cause of the problem, but Maharishi Ayurveda also identifies the lifestyle or dietary factors that act as a trigger, and if unchecked, can turn a mild problem into a serious one.
Q: Every man would naturally want to keep the problem from becoming serious. What are some of the causes, or triggers, of prostate problems?
A: There are several. One is overuse of Shukra Dhatu, or overuse of the sexual organs. Another is lack of adequate fluids in the body, due to not drinking enough water during the day. Habitually suppressing the natural urge to urinate also can, over time, cause the urine to become more concentrated and, in turn, irritates the prostate.
Drinking too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages can also cause an imbalance. Alcohol, for instance, creates an abnormal increase in urine production, which aggravates Pitta and Vata doshas. Another cause is taking too many over-the-counter antihistamines and decongestants. These can cause the muscle that controls urine flow to tighten, making urination difficult.
Even your job can be a source of imbalance. If you have to sit for long periods of time without taking a break or stretching, this can create an imbalance in the reproductive area of the body. Not getting daily exercise, or eating a diet that creates impurities (ama) in the body, are other causes of prostate problem. If your diet does not contain spices that purify the urine daily (such as turmeric, cumin and fennel) that can also cause toxins to build up that lead to imbalances or infection.
Finally, if you don't have a healthy daily routine, for instance if you watch TV late at night or for other reasons don't sleep enough, or if you don't eat meals on time or your routine is very irregular, that can also cause ama to build up and disturb the immune system.
Q: It sounds like a wide number of factors can cause prostate problems.
A: Yes, they do sound like they are widely disparate on the surface, but actually there is an underlying principle that ties them all together.
One main factor is ama. Ama refers to the sticky impurities that are created when digestion is weak and food is not digested completely. Now, aging itself can create some weakening of the digestion, but most ama is created by poor dietary and lifestyle habits already mentioned -- eating foods that are old and heavy or eating meals at irregular times of the day.
If this kind of diet becomes a habit, then ama eventually mixes with the nutrient fluid (Rasa Dhatu) and even the blood (Rakta Dhatu). The urine, which is part of the body's purification system, also becomes overloaded with ama and thus more prone to infection. It becomes a fertile ground for bacteria, and can create additional problems of urinary tract infections, and that impacts the prostate. Weakened immunity also creates a problem for the prostate.
If the ama problem is not corrected, and ama reaches the muscle and fat tissue, then it creates an additional factor -- imbalance in cell production. This, compounded with testosterone levels declining due to age (or due to overuse of the sexual organs), is a major factor in prostate enlargement.
If the person also has an imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha (the subdosha of Kapha that governs lubrication of the joints, body fluids, and moisture balance in the skin), and ama is accumulating in the body fluids due to dietary mistakes, then Shleshaka Kapha and ama gets mixed with urine, creating a more irritated situation and further weakening the immune system.
Also, when Shleshaka Kapha is mixed with ama, it creates shleshma (a sticky, toxic mixture of Shleshaka Kapha and ama ). This condition is a common factor in imbalanced cell production. When combined with the problems of ama spreading to the tissues mentioned earlier, then the cell production becomes abnormal, and the prostate grows abnormally large.
Maharishi Ayurveda tries to support health on all fronts: by balancing Apana Vata, the subdosha of Vata related to the downward flow of energy such as occurs with urination, stopping ama from being produced, strengthening the immune system, and cleansing the urine and nutrient fluid, and cleansing the blood, muscle and fat tissues of ama, and cleansing Shleshaka Kapha of amavisha.
Q: It certainly sounds like Maharishi Ayurveda takes a holistic approach to prostate health and functioning. Can you tell us why age is such a critical factor in prostate health?
A: Again, this comes back to the doshas. Vata dosha increases as we age. The later part of life is actually known as the Vata Kala (or Vata time of life) in Maharishi Ayurveda. Because Vata dosha is irregular, dry, and moving by nature, it can cause the digestion to become more irregular. This contributes to more ama being produced and spreading to the tissues.
Also, you have to consider that the prostate is located in the area of the body that is governed by Apana Vata, which includes the colon, lower abdomen, elimination and reproductive areas. Because the prostate is governed by Apana Vata, anything that aggravates Apana Vata creates pressure on the prostate.
Not everyone has to have problems with Apana Vata, of course, and some people will maintain balanced Vata even in old age. But if the person has been keeping an irregular routine, eating foods that are difficult to digest, and sitting for long periods of time at their job, the stage is already set. With the added factor of aging then the downward flow of energy in the body will become obstructed, affecting the organs in the reproductive system, including the prostate. As the flow of energy and nutrients to the area gets blocked by ama, and the flow of impurities out of the area gets obstructed (as found in more concentrated urine), the prostate gets weaker and more and more imbalanced.
Q: So far we've only been talking about enlarged prostate. But is there a connection here to even more serious problems?
A: Yes. You see, initially, the imbalance in Shleshaka Kapha, called amavisha, causes enlargement of the prostate. But if the imbalance becomes more serious, and the person never adopts an ama -reducing diet or makes lifestyle changes to create more balance, then the common kind of amavisha becomes an even more toxic type of ama called amavisha. Then the imbalance has become very serious. In other words, what if ama continues to be created, and mixes with Shleshaka Kapha, blood, muscle and fat tissue, and that occurs conjointly for a long period of time? If the person is not taking corrective measures to dissolve the ama, pacify Apana Vata, and restore balance to the entire area, then amavisha, the most toxic stage ama, spreads and really takes hold. Amavisha breeds free radicals and obstructs the natural flow of intelligence between cells, breaking down the connection between nature's intelligence and that area. This is how cancer tends to begin -- when the cell forgets its own nature and starts to grow uncontrollably.
Q: That is certainly a scenario we all want to avoid. So then an enlarged prostate or prostate imbalance could lead to cancer if the situation is not checked?
A: Yes, and that is why the doctor recommends that you keep checking, and keep testing on a yearly basis once you have an enlarged prostate. It's also why you should see a doctor immediately if you notice any of the symptoms that we mentioned earlier. But as you wait and watch, you can be using the Maharishi Ayurveda approach, which is preventive and holistic in nature.
The role of Maharishi Ayurveda is really prevention -- ideally to prevent a problem from starting in the first place, or to prevent a mild problem from becoming worse.
Q: What about stress, does stress play a role?
A: Stress can also create some problems. Because Vata dosha governs the nervous system, stress has a greater impact on Vata dosha, and therefore on anyone who is entering the Vata time of life. For instance, if you have a job that requires overuse of the mind, or jars the senses, this can aggravate Prana Vata, the subdosha of Vata that governs the brain, head, chest, respiration, sensory perception and the mind. When Prana Vata is out of balance, it easily brings the other aspects of Vata out of balance, including Apana Vata, creating disturbances in the prostate as well as other parts of the body.
Q: What are some dietary and behavioral recommendations to correct these problems?
A: First of all, it's important to understand that the right diet is very necessary to improve the health of the prostate.In choosing the right diet, there are several factors to consider. First of all, it's a good idea to eat Pitta pacifying foods, because the problem involves an imbalance in the blood tissue, which is governed by Pitta dosha. But at the same time, Kapha dosha must also be pacified, because Shleshaka Kapha is involved. And Vata dosha must also be brought into balance because this disease occurs during the Vata stage of life, and the prostate is located in the area governed by Apana Vata.
So prostate problems involve the combination of Pitta, Kapha, and Vata -- as without the Kapha imbalance there would be no abnormal growth, without the Pitta imbalance there would be no inflammation, and without the Vata imbalance there would be no discomfort. So all three doshas are involved, and therefore all the dietary and behavioral recommendations have to take all three doshas into account.
Q: What sort of diet would pacify all three doshas?
A: In balancing the three doshas simultaneously it's important to avoid any extremes. You don't want to eat anything that is too cold, too spicy, too dry, too bitter, too sweet, or too salty, as any taste taken in excess can create an imbalance in one of the doshas. You'll want to eat a diet that is moderate in every way.
To keep from aggravating Vata dosha, don't eat foods that are too dry and lack nourishment, such as too many crackers or dry cereals. Avoid long, leafy greens such as chard or spinach when they are cooked whole, as they are hard to digest and obstruct the natural movement of the intestine. If you chop the chard and spinach into small pieces and cook them well with spices, then they are easy to digest, help elimination and immunity, and do not aggravate Vata dosha. Avoid eating ice-cold drinks or cold foods such as cold salads, as these aggravate Vata dosha.
for Pitta, avoid extremely spicy foods that heat the blood tissue (such as hot chili peppers and cayenne found in some Mexican and Indian foods). Too much horseradish, garlic, onions and mustard seeds are other examples. Vinegar is another food that pollutes the blood tissue, and it is found in mustard, ketchup, salad dressings, and pickles.
To keep from aggravating Kapha dosha, avoid cold and heavy foods such as fried foods, ice cream, and other rich desserts. Aged cheeses and yogurt should also be avoided, as they are heavy and difficult to digest.
Q: That covers the extremes to be avoided. What are some foods to improve prostate health?
A: For prostate health, a diet of warm, cooked, easily digestible, light yet nourishing foods are best. Organic vegetables cooked in mild spices, whole grains, light proteins such as mung dhal soups, and sweet, juicy fruits will nourish the body and pacify all three doshas.
It's important to cook with mild spices that improve digestion, burn away ama, and pacify Vata dosha, but don't create heat in the blood tissue. Include a mixture of fennel, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and small amounts of turmeric (see recipe in box). Small amounts of black pepper and small amounts of fresh ginger also are healthy for maintaining prostate health and balance.
You may think that just adding these spices to your diet may not be that significant, but they are very powerful. Let me just explain a small amount of research on these common spices.
Turmeric is strongly anti-inflammatory, and intensifies the anti-cancer activity of other phyto-nutrients. Ginger and turmeric both have been found to have cancer-preventing qualities.
Turmeric is one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, has more DNA protective qualities than Vitamin E and betacarotene. It helps clear away amavisha, the breeding ground of free radicals, thus supporting the liver in its effort to clear itself of free radicals. By stopping the production of ama and amavisha, it balances Ranjaka Pitta, thus purifying the blood and urine.
Black pepper is another common spice whose effects in the diet have been well documented. Research published in Cancer Letter in the August 16, 1993 issue reported that 20 days after adding black pepper to the diet, the subjects' liver detoxification systems were strengthened, aiding in purification of the blood tissue and enhancing the overall immune system.
The mixture of black pepper, long pepper and ginger (trikatu) is famous in ayurveda, because it is the most effective combination of spices to prevent ama and amavisha, and to clear them away. You can add small amounts of black pepper and ginger to your foods to help clear the channels and micro-channels of the body, which carry away waste and supply oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
Q: That's fascinating, how helpful the right spices are for prostate health. What kinds of vegetables do you recommend?
A: Squashes cooked with these mild spices are excellent for prostate health. The best squashes for prostate health are the types that are white inside, such as zucchini or loki (for more information on buying and cooking loki, visit the recipe section of our web site). Avoid the dark yellow ones such as pumpkin; however, squashes with a mildly yellow color are fine.
Asparagus is another vegetable that is recommended, because it helps support balanced hormones. Daikon is a mild type of white radish root that purifies the urine. Because it is spicy, it should be cooked with other vegetables more as a seasoning than as the main vegetable.
You could combine it with squashes such as zucchini or shred it and add it to mung dhal soup.
Light dairy products such as milk, lassi (a drink made with one part freshly-made yogurt and three parts water), and occasional fresh cheeses such as panir or cottage cheese should be included in the diet, but avoid the hard-to-digest aged cheeses, such as Monterey Jack, mozzarella, cheddar, brie, blue cheese, and Gruyere.As for grains, quinoa is best because it is rich in zinc. Zinc supports seminal health, and because seminal health and prostate health are connected, zinc also supports prostate health.
Q: That doesn't seem so complicated after all. It seems like the whole idea is to avoid extremes that can aggravate the doshas.
A: Yes, and to eat wholesome, fresh foods that won't create ama. It's important to avoid the foods that create ama or impurities in the body because they are lifeless and hard to digest. These include canned, frozen, packaged and processed foods, as well as leftovers. Buy your fruits and vegetables fresh, and if possible, buy organic foods. Non-organic foods contain pesticide and chemical residues that can irritate the blood tissue and pollute the body with toxins. This, in turn, overloads the elimination systems such as the urine and irritates the prostate. Warm, cooked, light, and mildly spiced foods, on the other hand, are easy to digest and thus help cleanse the body of ama.
Q: What about lifestyle, doesn't that affect the doshas as well?
A: Absolutely. Here, it's the same principle: avoid extremes in lifestyle and routine. Moderate habits and daily routine help remove ama and pacify all three doshas.
Lifestyle habits that aggravate Vata dosha include eating at different times of the day from one day to the next. You'll want to eat your meals at the same time every day, and eat your largest meal at noon, when the sun is at its zenith, as that is when your digestive powers are also the strongest. Take time to eat nourishing, appetizing meals. Avoid staying up late (past ten o'clock), as night wakefulness aggravates all the doshas, but especially Vata. Go to bed at the same time every night, before ten o'clock, and rise before six o'clock in the morning. Sleep is necessary to pacify Apana Vata and all aspects of Vata. It is also important in enhancing the immune hormones, eliminates ama and creates more ojas, the product of good digestion that promotes lightness, bliss, immunity, health, and longevity.
Be sure to exercise regularly, and be sure that the exercise you choose is suitable for your age and body type. Daily ayurvedic massage, called abhyanga, is another important part of the daily routine. You can do it in the morning to help improve circulation and digestion, remove ama from the body, tone the muscles, and increase energy.
Avoid too much mental pressure, such as a job that requires you to work long hours. Take time to enjoy life, and to maintain healthy relationships with your family and friends. Practice a technique to reduce stress, such as the Transcendental Meditation® technique. Dozens of research studies show that it reduces stress, increases inner happiness and creates more balance in the mind, body, and emotions. It is an important part of the daily routine to eliminate mental and physical ama and to balance all three doshas.
Q: This is certainly a holistic plan for improving the health of the prostate. The beautiful thing about such a prevention program is that your overall health and vitality will improve, and you'll start feeling younger. Are there any specific recommendations for men who are already feeling some mild symptoms of prostate problems.
A: Yes, here are some tips, which also summarizes what we just talked about:
Drink lots of water throughout the day, in between meals. This will keep the urine from becoming too concentrated. If you add some herbs to the water, it will flush out toxins, dissolve ama in the blood tissue and help purify the urine. Here's a recipe: Boil two quarts of water and put the water in a thermos flask. Add three leaves of holy basil, 1/3 t. fennel seed, 1/4 t. coriander seed, and six white pumpkin seeds or six fresh cucumber seeds. Keep drinking this water throughout the day, but stop drinking it after 7:00 p.m. Stay away from fluids at night if you have a prostate problem, as a full bladder at night can cause pressure on the prostate and disturb your sleep with the need to get up frequently to urinate.
Each time you urinate, take the necessary time to empty your bladder completely. Because the urethra (the passageway through which the urine drains from the body) is already narrow, when there is some enlargement of the prostate, the urinary channel becomes even narrower. If you are in too much of a hurry, all of the urine might not be drained from the bladder. This is not a good thing, because the urine becomes more concentrated if it is not drained from the bladder each time you urinate. So take the time to empty the bladder completely.
Avoid drinking alcohol, because it creates imbalances in the blood tissue, as does caffeine. Both of these create abnormal urine production and irritate the bladder as well.
If you have to sit all day at your job, take short breaks frequently and try to stretch or take a short walk. This will restore the normal flow of energy, blood, and nutrient fluid to the prostate area.
When the weather is cold, take care to keep your head, neck, and body warm. If your body temperature drops, it leads to urine retention, which aggravates the prostate. So keep your body temperature in a moderate range.
Make sure that your bowel movements are regular. Constipation creates an obstruction in Apana Vata, in turn creating pressure on the prostate, increasing ama in the blood tissues, and creating excessive dryness in the whole area. To help with regular elimination, try having a stewed apple in the morning for breakfast with stewed figs, raisins, or prunes.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Doctors 'Awaken' Man 6 Years After Severe Brain Injury
(HealthDay News) -- In a scene reminiscent of Oliver Sacks' book Awakenings, doctors have managed to partially rekindle the mind of a man who had been in a minimally conscious state for six years.
The 38-year-old patient, who was severely brain-damaged, received deep brain stimulation and can now feed himself and communicate, activities that were unthinkable before the therapy.
This is the first time that deep brain stimulation has been used on a person with a traumatic brain injury in a minimally conscious state, and it offers some hope for others in similar situations, the researchers said.
"Hopefully, this will now begin to open doors that were closed up to this point," said Joseph Giacino, study co-investigator and associate director of neuropsychology at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute in Edison, N.J. "There's a very nihilistic view that when a brain is badly damaged there's not much we can do to change that. We have a very tough time getting research funded because of the need to jump higher than most other research. By demonstrating that we did move the bar in this patient this late, we hope that it's going to force people to revisit this somewhat nihilistic view."
Lead study author Dr. Nicholas Schiff, an associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, said: "We set out with a goal to try to identify a set of patients who might, if this was successful, regain functional communication and we thought that was important because being able to communicate is important, even if you remain disabled, because you can reengage with people in your immediate environment, including family and the people taking care of you and give a better idea of your needs. We were able to do this for this patient. Whether this means we'll be able to do this again, we don't know until we do it again but we do think there will be other patients who can respond to this. It's a first step to building a science to do this."
The patient was the first of 12 patients to try deep brain stimulation in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved trial.
Dr. Ali Rezai, senior author of the paper and director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurological Restoration, said, "There's a great period of scientific discovery coming with respect to traumatic brain injury. This had been a great big desert of unknowns. There are 1.5 million new cases of TBI [traumatic brain injury] in the U.S. each year and two-thirds of Iraq war veterans have TBI. This is an exciting time to come."
The finding is published in the Aug. 2 issue of Nature.
People in a minimally conscious state can show sporadic evidence that they are aware of themselves or their environment. The state is not the same as a persistent vegetative state or a coma.
An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 traumatic brain injury patients in the United States are currently diagnosed with minimally conscious state. Most do not receive active rehabilitation and are relegated to long-term facilities.
"These patients are devastated and their families are devastated. They are taken to nursing homes and chronic-care facilities and forgotten about," Rezai said.
But some patients in a minimally conscious state, including the man in the new study, do retain brain activity. In one other recent high-profile case, 39-year-old Terry Wallis of Mountain View, Ark. regained speech and movement two decades after a truck accident left him in a minimally conscious state. Some of the same researchers involved with the new study also documented the Wallis "awakening," proposing that the re-growth of neural networks was responsible.
The patient who is the subject of the new study underwent a 10-hour operation during which electrodes were implanted into his brain and used to stimulate the thalamus on both sides of the brain. The procedure has been used before in Parkinson's disease, dystonia, Obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.
According to Rezai, the procedure required much more precision when used for minimally conscious state. "You have to target specific parts of the brain with millimeter precision using various computer-generated brain maps and physiological mapping," he explained.
The patient also received other forms of rehabilitation.
Within 48 hours, the patient turned his head in response to voices and kept his eyes open for prolonged periods of time. After more time, the patient, who previously could not talk, started naming objects and using objects, such as a hair brush, with his hands.
After an initial "titration" period during which the dosage and timing of the stimulation were fine-tuned, the patient began a six-month period during which periods of stimulation were alternated with periods of no stimulation.
Communication, motor control and feeding were the most improved when the brain was receiving electrical impulses, but were still enhanced even when the device was turned off.
"What we did here was facilitate and augment neural networks that were already in place," said Dr. Joseph J. Fins, study co-investigator and a professor of medicine and public health and chief of the division of medical ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. "This is distinct from permanently vegetative patients like Terri Schiavo. You need an intact set of circuits to work with and he did have an intact set, except he was not able to sustain their activation, as it were."
Giacino added: "We were able to influence this patient's course of recovery very late in the process. No treatment has been proven to accelerate the course of recovery from brain injury or improve outcome at the end of day. At least in one patient, we think we've convincingly shown this is possible."
There are still many unknowns, however, including whether this patient will continue to improve and whether deep brain stimulation will help other brain-injured patients.
"This patient continues to improve outside of the trial with the stimulator in place," Fins said.
"But we're in uncharted territory about what kind of degree of recovery he might ultimately achieve."
"It's very dicey stuff, brain injury, because the next patient we enroll in the study, that brain injury will not be the same because no two are alike," Giacino said. "We need to continue to replicate the findings and figure out who would benefit from this."
Dr. Jonathan Friedman, director of the Texas Brain and Spine Institute, agreed. "This could have huge implications but it's all speculative with just one patient," he said. "Every head injury is very different. It's probably naive to think we could stimulate every patient in the same way, although some might benefit even more."
More information
To learn more, visit the Brain Injury Association of America.
The 38-year-old patient, who was severely brain-damaged, received deep brain stimulation and can now feed himself and communicate, activities that were unthinkable before the therapy.
This is the first time that deep brain stimulation has been used on a person with a traumatic brain injury in a minimally conscious state, and it offers some hope for others in similar situations, the researchers said.
"Hopefully, this will now begin to open doors that were closed up to this point," said Joseph Giacino, study co-investigator and associate director of neuropsychology at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute in Edison, N.J. "There's a very nihilistic view that when a brain is badly damaged there's not much we can do to change that. We have a very tough time getting research funded because of the need to jump higher than most other research. By demonstrating that we did move the bar in this patient this late, we hope that it's going to force people to revisit this somewhat nihilistic view."
Lead study author Dr. Nicholas Schiff, an associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, said: "We set out with a goal to try to identify a set of patients who might, if this was successful, regain functional communication and we thought that was important because being able to communicate is important, even if you remain disabled, because you can reengage with people in your immediate environment, including family and the people taking care of you and give a better idea of your needs. We were able to do this for this patient. Whether this means we'll be able to do this again, we don't know until we do it again but we do think there will be other patients who can respond to this. It's a first step to building a science to do this."
The patient was the first of 12 patients to try deep brain stimulation in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved trial.
Dr. Ali Rezai, senior author of the paper and director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurological Restoration, said, "There's a great period of scientific discovery coming with respect to traumatic brain injury. This had been a great big desert of unknowns. There are 1.5 million new cases of TBI [traumatic brain injury] in the U.S. each year and two-thirds of Iraq war veterans have TBI. This is an exciting time to come."
The finding is published in the Aug. 2 issue of Nature.
People in a minimally conscious state can show sporadic evidence that they are aware of themselves or their environment. The state is not the same as a persistent vegetative state or a coma.
An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 traumatic brain injury patients in the United States are currently diagnosed with minimally conscious state. Most do not receive active rehabilitation and are relegated to long-term facilities.
"These patients are devastated and their families are devastated. They are taken to nursing homes and chronic-care facilities and forgotten about," Rezai said.
But some patients in a minimally conscious state, including the man in the new study, do retain brain activity. In one other recent high-profile case, 39-year-old Terry Wallis of Mountain View, Ark. regained speech and movement two decades after a truck accident left him in a minimally conscious state. Some of the same researchers involved with the new study also documented the Wallis "awakening," proposing that the re-growth of neural networks was responsible.
The patient who is the subject of the new study underwent a 10-hour operation during which electrodes were implanted into his brain and used to stimulate the thalamus on both sides of the brain. The procedure has been used before in Parkinson's disease, dystonia, Obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.
According to Rezai, the procedure required much more precision when used for minimally conscious state. "You have to target specific parts of the brain with millimeter precision using various computer-generated brain maps and physiological mapping," he explained.
The patient also received other forms of rehabilitation.
Within 48 hours, the patient turned his head in response to voices and kept his eyes open for prolonged periods of time. After more time, the patient, who previously could not talk, started naming objects and using objects, such as a hair brush, with his hands.
After an initial "titration" period during which the dosage and timing of the stimulation were fine-tuned, the patient began a six-month period during which periods of stimulation were alternated with periods of no stimulation.
Communication, motor control and feeding were the most improved when the brain was receiving electrical impulses, but were still enhanced even when the device was turned off.
"What we did here was facilitate and augment neural networks that were already in place," said Dr. Joseph J. Fins, study co-investigator and a professor of medicine and public health and chief of the division of medical ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. "This is distinct from permanently vegetative patients like Terri Schiavo. You need an intact set of circuits to work with and he did have an intact set, except he was not able to sustain their activation, as it were."
Giacino added: "We were able to influence this patient's course of recovery very late in the process. No treatment has been proven to accelerate the course of recovery from brain injury or improve outcome at the end of day. At least in one patient, we think we've convincingly shown this is possible."
There are still many unknowns, however, including whether this patient will continue to improve and whether deep brain stimulation will help other brain-injured patients.
"This patient continues to improve outside of the trial with the stimulator in place," Fins said.
"But we're in uncharted territory about what kind of degree of recovery he might ultimately achieve."
"It's very dicey stuff, brain injury, because the next patient we enroll in the study, that brain injury will not be the same because no two are alike," Giacino said. "We need to continue to replicate the findings and figure out who would benefit from this."
Dr. Jonathan Friedman, director of the Texas Brain and Spine Institute, agreed. "This could have huge implications but it's all speculative with just one patient," he said. "Every head injury is very different. It's probably naive to think we could stimulate every patient in the same way, although some might benefit even more."
More information
To learn more, visit the Brain Injury Association of America.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Relaxed But Alert
The subjects in this study and many thousands of people who have taken Worry Free over the past six years have reported that it makes them feel relaxed, but also more alert.
"My job involves a tremendous amount of mental stress and sometimes I feel torn in several directions," says Molly Blackwell, a graphic designer. "Worry Free takes me to a whole new level of calm. It settles me down so I can focus, accomplish and not feel confused." says an ayurvedic expert from The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians says that people feel more alert even though calmer because of the factors already mentioned.
The medhya herbs enhance the capacity of dhi, dhriti, and smriti and improve coordination between them. Other herbs clear the channels. Winter Cherry increases overall alertness.Researchers were so intrigued with this effect that a whole new study is now being conducted to measure how much Worry Free increases the alertness of the mind.
We are confident that the new research will verify the experience of so many thousands of people who have benefited from this traditional Ayurvedic formula.
"My job involves a tremendous amount of mental stress and sometimes I feel torn in several directions," says Molly Blackwell, a graphic designer. "Worry Free takes me to a whole new level of calm. It settles me down so I can focus, accomplish and not feel confused." says an ayurvedic expert from The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians says that people feel more alert even though calmer because of the factors already mentioned.
The medhya herbs enhance the capacity of dhi, dhriti, and smriti and improve coordination between them. Other herbs clear the channels. Winter Cherry increases overall alertness.Researchers were so intrigued with this effect that a whole new study is now being conducted to measure how much Worry Free increases the alertness of the mind.
We are confident that the new research will verify the experience of so many thousands of people who have benefited from this traditional Ayurvedic formula.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Help Your Child Excel! Preventing ADHD
With sharpened pencils and colorful new backpacks, millions of school children have returned to the freshly scrubbed hallways of the nation's schools to begin a new year of learning and development. How can you make sure your child is getting the most out of hours spent in school?One way is to enhance learning ability with the natural techniques of Maharishi Ayurveda. Ayurvedic texts describe three aspects of mental ability: dhi (the power of acquisition or learning), dhriti, (the power of retention), and smriti (the ability to recall).
When the three mental functions are not in balance, either individually or in their coordination with one another, then learning problems can crop up. Children who have learning problems often feel like failures in school, which leads to frustration and low self-esteem.
When these three mental functions are coordinated, then the child's memory is quick and bright. If impurities (ama) are obstructing the channels of communication between these three functions, then not only learning problems but behavioral problems can begin. The high incidence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in this country is a prime example of a learning/behavioral problem for millions of children.
According to a study in Advanced Pediatrics, the frequency of ADHD among school children has been estimated to be as high as 20 percent.
What Maharishi Ayurveda Says What causes some children to thrive on learning while others struggle? According to Maharishi Ayurveda, most learning problems are caused by eating food that is lacking in intelligence. By this we mean food laced with chemicals, junk food, and food that is not fresh. Food lacking in intelligence disturbs the intellect and mind, and it disrupts the intellectual rhythm between dhi, dhriti, and smriti. This is especially true for children, who are naturally more sensitive than adults.
Modern researchers are just discovering the link between learning disorders and harmful food additives such as the chemical food preservatives BHT and BHA, the cake rising agent calcium silicate, and other colorings, flavorings and emulsifiers. Unfortunately, these harmful food additives and preservatives are found in most packaged foods. A rather shocking study showed that the average person consumes 8–10 pounds of additives a year.
Because children have lower body weights and are in the critical developmental years, the harmful effects of these additives are magnified many times. And artificial flavors, colors and preservatives can cause more allergic reactions in children because they are more sensitive than adults.
When children are eating unintelligent food, they are not nourishing the mind with minerals, vitamins, and other aspects of nature's intelligence. And modern researchers confirm ancient ayurvedic wisdom -- that any nutritional deficiency can result in diminished mental function. Another cause of mental deficiency in children includes not getting enough sleep. If children do not go to bed on time, or if they watch violent TV shows or read frightening comics before bed, that can disrupt sleep and aggravate the doshas, which then can be expressed as poor memory and recall in school. But diet is still most important, because diet also affects the quality of sleep. Diet is the primary focus for enhancing mental ability, because even herbal compounds won't work if the child is eating unintelligent food.
Addressing Three Types of Learning Imbalances To understand how Maharishi Ayurveda can help nourish the memory and attention span in children, it's important to understand the three subdoshas involved in memory.
These are Prana Vata, which governs the brain, sensory perception, and the mind; Sadhaka Pitta, which governs the emotions and their effect on the functions of the heart; and Tarpaka Kapha, which governs the spinal fluids, sinus cavities, and sensory organs. In ayurveda, three types of imbalances of the mind are described, and each is associated with a different subdosha.
We can correlate diminished learning ability combined with a hyperactive mind, with a breakdown in Prana Vata. A disturbance in Sadhaka Pitta is associated with a learning imbalance that carries over from childhood into adolescence and young adulthood -- the Pitta time of life. And imbalances in Tarpaka Kapha correlate with problems with learning that occur without hyperactivity involved.
For all three types of learning imbalances, Maharishi Ayurveda recommends fresh, organic foods that are prepared using intelligent cooking methods. This means that they are prepared in a way that does not destroy nature's intelligence, and in a way that creates bliss after eating. Also follow an ayurvedic diet that pacifies the specific subdosha causing the imbalance.
The daily ayurvedic oil massage is also a powerful way to balance the doshas and help enhance learning ability. If time does not permit a daily massage, doing it regularly every weekend will help. At night, Slumber Time aroma oil can be added to an aroma pot by the child's bed to help provide a deeper, more balanced night's sleep.Mind Power with Ayurvedic Herbal Compounds Besides diet and daily routine, Maharishi Ayurveda offers another sophisticated method for addressing imbalances in memory and attention.
These include traditional herbal compounds, called Medhya Rasayanas, that provide powerful nourishment for the mind. Medhya Rasayanas enhance dhi, dhriti, and smriti individually, and they enhance the coordination between these three mental factors. Medhya Rasayanas have also come to the attention of modern researchers. Take Mandook Purni (Centella Asiatica) for instance.
The ancient texts say, 'This Mandook Purni is medhya, giving consciousness and rasayana value. And modern research published in the Journal of Psychiatry shows that this herb produced a significant increase in the mental abilities of 30 mentally disabled children. Brahmi, (Bacopa Monniera and Herpestis Monniera) is another important Medhya Rasayana.
The texts mention that Brahmi is both medhya and hridya, meaning that it supports both the heart and the mind. A study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology shows that Brahmi improved acquisition, retention and delayed extinction of newly acquired behavior in rats.
The third Medhya Rasayana, Shankhapushpi or Aloeweed, appears in the following verse: "Shankapushpi has a specific action as medhya action. It is also being researched as a memory-enhancing herb. Using these Medhya Rasayanas as a base, Maharishi Ayurveda Products International, Inc. has developed several powerful products to help enhance learning and memory. For instance, the Study Power herbal formula is ideal not just for children but students of all ages, because it helps enhance attention span, focus, and the ability to acquire new information and to apply it later.
An impressive 1995 research study published in Free Radical Biology of Medicine found that Study Power helps increase intelligence. The Medhya Rasayanas are also found in Mind Plus Syrup, which is ideal for helping to calm the mind in stressful situations. It is effective in enhancing problem-solving ability, retention and recall. Youthful Mind is especially designed for people over forty, nourishing and revitalizing all three mental functions as the mind ages. These products are ideal for people of all ages who use their minds at school or on the job, and want to feel fresh, creative, and fatigue-free.
Mental performance can be expanded to its full potential. All it requires is going back to the basics -- proper nutrition, quality sleep and the balanced wisdom of herbs that can help nourish the mind in a natural, safe way.Six Keys to Mind Power -- at Any Age
Eat fresh, pure foods -- The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians' advice for kids holds true for everyone -- stay away from foods with chemicals, pesticides or additives. The purer the foods you eat, the more of their intelligence you absorb.
Balanced Nutrition is Essential—A diet rich in healthy proteins, such as from soy, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, is good for enhancing mental potential. Don't count fat out entirely, fat plays some essential roles in the physiology.
The Power of Antioxidants -- Recent research shows that blueberries are powerful food for the brain because of their antioxidant value. The brain is especially vulnerable to free-radical damage. Take Amrit everyday for superior antioxidant protection—it has been shown to have 1,000 times the free-radical scavenging power of vitamin C or E!
Get Your Zzzzs -- Research has confirmed that sleep deprivation leads to diminished mental performance. Ayurveda considers sleep to be a basic building block for good mind/body health, just like diet.
Manage Stress -- High levels of stress negatively impact both mind and body. Practice the Transcendental Meditation technique, or find other ways to relax.
Keep that Brain Working! -- Like the battery in your automobile, you have to keep your mind active to keep it running. So keep those creative juices flowing and exercise your brain regularly!
*To receive your own copy of the Vata, Pitta, and Kapha-pacifying dietary guidelines, please call MAPI at 1-800-ALL-VEDA and we will mail them to you. Ayurvedic recipes are also available at http://www.mapi.com/.
References
B.A. Shaywitz et al "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," Advanced Pediatrics, Vol 44 pp. 331-67 (1997).
T. E. Duormaa, "The adverse effects of food additives on health: a review of the literature with a special emphasis on childhood hyperactivity," Journal of Automolecular Medicine, Vol. 4, pp. 225-38 (1994).
Ann Seingold, Why your child is hyperactive, New York, Random House (1975).
M. Krause, L. Mahan, "Nutritional care and disease of nervous system and behavioral disorders," Food Nutrition and Diet Therapy, pp. 654-670, Philadelphia W.B. Saunders (1984).
R. Dsend et al, "The relationship between nutrition and student achievement, behavior and health," Review of the literature by Sacramento, California, State Department of Education (1980).
Sharma, H. et al, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Vol. 18. No.4, p. 687-697 (1995).
Appa Rao, et al, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 19 p. 54-59 (1977).
Singh H. K. and Dhawan B.N., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 5, p. 205 (1982).
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Happy Holidays, Without the Weight Gain
(HealthDay News) -- From now until New Year's, it's a season of eating, drinking and, well, more eating and drinking.And worrying about how all those extra calories will translate into extra pounds the next time you dare to step on the scale.
Relax. It doesn't have to be another holiday of nail-biting between nibblings, experts say. All you need is the proper attitude and proven strategies that work to keep your calories-in, calories-out equation balanced.
Anyone who's fought with the scale over the holidays (or shoved it under the bed) knows the basic tricks: Drink water or eat an apple before heading out to a party. Or say, "No, thank you," nicely but firmly, when Aunt Hattie offers you a giant piece of pecan pie a la mode for the fifth time.
But other strategies and perspectives may be new to you.
"Perspective is key during the holiday season," said Jeannie Moloo, a registered dietitian in Roseville, Calif., and an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman. "It's not the best time of year for weight loss. Focus instead on maintaining a healthy weight, not on losing."
Keep that focus when you're faced with a huge buffet or Mom's homemade cooking, added Leslie Bonci, a registered dietitian and director of sports medicine nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Don't deprive yourself -- but don't give free rein to your gastronomic impulses, either.
"You can enjoy everything, but cut it by a third," she said. "Instead of having three cookies, have two. Instead of a two-inch slice of pie, try for about a one-and-a-half inch slice. Instead of a big scoop of both stuffing and potatoes, have a half scoop of each."
And don't forget the "calories-out" part of the equation. "Always look for opportunities to move. Make sure getting some daily physical activity during the holidays remains a priority," Moloo said. "It can be challenging with shorter days and hectic schedules to keep physical activity on the calendar, but now is not the time to go sedentary."
If you have young kids, you can build physical activity into your day by suggesting a walk to the park or a snowman-building contest or other winter fun. Or you might buddy up with a co-worker and hit the health club or a walking path at least three times a week, after work or during lunch.
You can manage those holiday parties, too, Bonci said, whether you're the host or the guest. As the hostess, she said, "There don't have to be cookies in every room in your house. Set up 'no eating' zones." Your guests will probably thank you, at least silently. It'll give them a chance to avoid temptation and focus on socializing and friendships.
And not everything has to be sugary to be festive. "Use fresh fruit for edible holiday decorations," said Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Fill large glass bowls or baskets with washed, fresh fruits."
If you know you'll be tempted with endless party buffets or tables full of family favorites, refresh your memory ahead of time about proper portion sizes, Moloo said.
"Portion size is key to managing weight, especially during the holidays," she said. "A few tips to keep in mind: Keep protein servings [such as your meat dish] to the size of the palm of your hand. Your fat choice -- for instance butter, sour cream, salad dressing -- should be no larger than twice your thumbnail. One cupped hand is a serving of rice or pasta, and a baseball is the size of a potato." Any more, and you're overdoing it.
If you'll be traveling during the holidays, Moloo suggests packing healthy snacks that keep. That way, you'll be less tempted by less-than-healthy airline or airport fare or fast-food outlets along the highway.
If all else fails, remember you have the power over the food, not the other way around. "If you have to, physically remove yourself from the food," Bonci said. At a party, you can walk away and find someone interesting to talk to, or admire your host's artwork or interior design. At home, you might decide to rake leaves or play in the snow, she said.
More information
To learn more about healthy holiday eating, visit the American Dietetic Association.
Friday, December 15, 2006
What is the Cause of Cancer and Where Does it Begin?
During Week 2 of our Thursday night teleseminar we answered several questions. The following is an overview of those questons and answers.
1) What is the origin of cancer or where does cancer begin?
Cancerous tissue, above all other consequences of choice, has countless secondary causes.
But even for a cancerous condition there is only ONE PRIME ORIGIN and CAUSE.
I have simply summarized this origin and cause of cancerous tissue in a few words.
The prime origin and cause of cancerous tissue is the over-acidification of the blood then the tissues due to lifestyle and dietary choices.
A cancerous tissue begins with our choices of what we eat, what we drink, what we think and how we live. Cancer is a liquid and this liquid is a toxic waste product of metabolism or energy consumption.In 1966, Dr. Otto Warburg, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1931 for his discovery of the cause of cancer delivered a lecture at an annual meeting of Nobelists at Lindau, Germany.
In his speech he described the primal cause of cancer as follows: "The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation.
All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between nomal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarely picture a greater difference.
Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by an energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms. namely, a fermentation of glucose."The following is a summary of understanding cancerous tissues:
Cancer is not a cell but a poisonous acidic liquid.A cancer cell, is a cell that has been spoiled or poisoned by metabolic or gastrointestinal acids.A tumor is the body's protective mechanism to encapsulate spoiled or poisoned cells from excess acid that has not been properly eliminated through urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration.
The tumor is the body's solution to protect healthy cells and tissues.
Cancer is a systemic acidic condition that settles at the weakest parts of the body -not a localized problem that metastases. Metastases is localized acids spoiling other cells much like a rotten apple spoiling a bushel of healthy apples.There is no such thing as a cancer cell.
A cancer cell was once a healthy cell that has been spoiled from acid.
The tumor is not the problem but the solution to protect healthy cells and tissues from being spoiled from other rotting cells and tissues.
The only solution to the acidic liquids that poison body cells causing the affect that medical savants call cancer is to alkalize and energize the body.
In conclusion, the human body is alkaline by design and acidic by function! If we desire a healthy body we must maintain that alkaline design.
2) Does diet and lifestyle have anything to do with cancer?
Absolutely!
Cancer is not something we get it is something we do as a consequence of daily choice of what we eat, what we drink, what we think and how we live.
We either have an alkaline lifestyle and diet and enjoy a fit and healthy body or we have an acidic lifestyle and diet and experience the aches, pains and suffering from metabolic acids.
The former US Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, had this to say about diet:"YOUR CHOICE OF DIET CAN INFLUENCE YOUR LONG TERM HEALTH PROSPECTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER ACTION YOU MIGHT TAKE."
3) If cancer is preventable how do we prevent it?I have said many times that the cure for cancerous tissue will not be found in its treatment but in its prevention.
That prevention can only be obtained by making healthier lifestyle and dietary choices. A cancerous condition is the consequence of choice.
For example, if you want to reduce your risk for cancereous tissue of the lung by 100%, then stop smoking and stop associating or working around people that do smoke.
Secondary smoke is just as acidic and damaging to the lung tissue. If don't want a cancerous liver then stop drinking alcohol and carbonated drinks.
If you don't want a cancerous pancreas then stop eating the acid sugar. If you don't want a cancerous bowel then stop eating protein.
It is that simple. The following are a few research studies from around the world that substantiate my own findings:
Study: Human study at Harbin Medical College in China
Results: CABBAGE was the most important single food in reducing the risk of stomach cancer
Study: Italian study on SmokersResults: Smokers who consumed GREEN LEAFY and other VEGETABLES had a THREE FOLD REDUCTION in their risk of lung cancer with smokers who rarely ate vegetables.
Study: Hebel Cancer Institute in ChinaResults: GARLIC, ONION AND TOMATO had the ability to INHIBIT the CELL MUTATION caused by common chemotherapeutic drugs... this is based on conclusive evidence that chemotherapy drugs cause cell mutations and lead to other types of cancers later in life.
Study: Mayo Clinic
Results: Cancer patients receiving radiation therapy can benefit dramatically from optimal VEGETABLE based diets.Study: University of Athens School of Medicine in GreeceResults: Women who consumed the LOWEST level of vegetables had 10 TIMES the rate of BREAST CANCER compared to women consuming the HIGHEST level of vegetables.
Study: Human study in AustraliaResults: Consumption of CABBAGE, CARROTS AND GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES substantial protection against COLON CANCER.Study: Aichi Cancer Institute of JapanResults: Eating VEGETABLES reduced the risk of CERVICAL and BREAST CANCER in women.Study: Cancer Control Agency of British ColumbiaResults: Eating VEGETABLES dramatically reduced incidence of BREAST CANCER.
4) If I have cancer, such as colon, lung, or prostate cancer can I reverse it naturally?The answer to this question is absolutely! Once you understand the cause of ALL cancerous tissues as latent tissue acidosis you can then begin the process of reversing, regenerating and preventing the consequences of acidic choices by making healthier alkaline choices.
The protocol for a healthier and energetic body, free from all sickness and dis-ease, is found in Chapter Eleven of our latest book, "The pH Miracle for Weight Loss."In closing, I would like to share with you my vision of medicine in the 21st century.
My vision of the relative purpose of medicine is to include prevention of illness and promotion of health and fitness rather than focusing all our attention on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. I believe the ultimate purpose of medicine is to help people discover something fundamental within themselves.
And that is the awareness that the true source of well-being, joy, and contentment that we all seek lies within one's mind and heart - the emotions and the spirit - not in the physical world. This is important, so we can all begin to be freed from the process of grasping for happiness in this physical world.
To support this approach, I believe we must begin to embrace a more spiritual vision of ourselves and of humanity as a whole. While providing great love, care and attention to the physical body, medicine can then and only then can we help people discover the nonphysical, spiritual dimensions of themselves.
When this happens, we can all live and work with less fear, stress, grasping to preserve the physical body at all costs - we can truly be free.
For more information on pH Miracle Living
1) What is the origin of cancer or where does cancer begin?
Cancerous tissue, above all other consequences of choice, has countless secondary causes.
But even for a cancerous condition there is only ONE PRIME ORIGIN and CAUSE.
I have simply summarized this origin and cause of cancerous tissue in a few words.
The prime origin and cause of cancerous tissue is the over-acidification of the blood then the tissues due to lifestyle and dietary choices.
A cancerous tissue begins with our choices of what we eat, what we drink, what we think and how we live. Cancer is a liquid and this liquid is a toxic waste product of metabolism or energy consumption.In 1966, Dr. Otto Warburg, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1931 for his discovery of the cause of cancer delivered a lecture at an annual meeting of Nobelists at Lindau, Germany.
In his speech he described the primal cause of cancer as follows: "The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation.
All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between nomal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarely picture a greater difference.
Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by an energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms. namely, a fermentation of glucose."The following is a summary of understanding cancerous tissues:
Cancer is not a cell but a poisonous acidic liquid.A cancer cell, is a cell that has been spoiled or poisoned by metabolic or gastrointestinal acids.A tumor is the body's protective mechanism to encapsulate spoiled or poisoned cells from excess acid that has not been properly eliminated through urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration.
The tumor is the body's solution to protect healthy cells and tissues.
Cancer is a systemic acidic condition that settles at the weakest parts of the body -not a localized problem that metastases. Metastases is localized acids spoiling other cells much like a rotten apple spoiling a bushel of healthy apples.There is no such thing as a cancer cell.
A cancer cell was once a healthy cell that has been spoiled from acid.
The tumor is not the problem but the solution to protect healthy cells and tissues from being spoiled from other rotting cells and tissues.
The only solution to the acidic liquids that poison body cells causing the affect that medical savants call cancer is to alkalize and energize the body.
In conclusion, the human body is alkaline by design and acidic by function! If we desire a healthy body we must maintain that alkaline design.
2) Does diet and lifestyle have anything to do with cancer?
Absolutely!
Cancer is not something we get it is something we do as a consequence of daily choice of what we eat, what we drink, what we think and how we live.
We either have an alkaline lifestyle and diet and enjoy a fit and healthy body or we have an acidic lifestyle and diet and experience the aches, pains and suffering from metabolic acids.
The former US Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, had this to say about diet:"YOUR CHOICE OF DIET CAN INFLUENCE YOUR LONG TERM HEALTH PROSPECTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER ACTION YOU MIGHT TAKE."
3) If cancer is preventable how do we prevent it?I have said many times that the cure for cancerous tissue will not be found in its treatment but in its prevention.
That prevention can only be obtained by making healthier lifestyle and dietary choices. A cancerous condition is the consequence of choice.
For example, if you want to reduce your risk for cancereous tissue of the lung by 100%, then stop smoking and stop associating or working around people that do smoke.
Secondary smoke is just as acidic and damaging to the lung tissue. If don't want a cancerous liver then stop drinking alcohol and carbonated drinks.
If you don't want a cancerous pancreas then stop eating the acid sugar. If you don't want a cancerous bowel then stop eating protein.
It is that simple. The following are a few research studies from around the world that substantiate my own findings:
Study: Human study at Harbin Medical College in China
Results: CABBAGE was the most important single food in reducing the risk of stomach cancer
Study: Italian study on SmokersResults: Smokers who consumed GREEN LEAFY and other VEGETABLES had a THREE FOLD REDUCTION in their risk of lung cancer with smokers who rarely ate vegetables.
Study: Hebel Cancer Institute in ChinaResults: GARLIC, ONION AND TOMATO had the ability to INHIBIT the CELL MUTATION caused by common chemotherapeutic drugs... this is based on conclusive evidence that chemotherapy drugs cause cell mutations and lead to other types of cancers later in life.
Study: Mayo Clinic
Results: Cancer patients receiving radiation therapy can benefit dramatically from optimal VEGETABLE based diets.Study: University of Athens School of Medicine in GreeceResults: Women who consumed the LOWEST level of vegetables had 10 TIMES the rate of BREAST CANCER compared to women consuming the HIGHEST level of vegetables.
Study: Human study in AustraliaResults: Consumption of CABBAGE, CARROTS AND GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES substantial protection against COLON CANCER.Study: Aichi Cancer Institute of JapanResults: Eating VEGETABLES reduced the risk of CERVICAL and BREAST CANCER in women.Study: Cancer Control Agency of British ColumbiaResults: Eating VEGETABLES dramatically reduced incidence of BREAST CANCER.
4) If I have cancer, such as colon, lung, or prostate cancer can I reverse it naturally?The answer to this question is absolutely! Once you understand the cause of ALL cancerous tissues as latent tissue acidosis you can then begin the process of reversing, regenerating and preventing the consequences of acidic choices by making healthier alkaline choices.
The protocol for a healthier and energetic body, free from all sickness and dis-ease, is found in Chapter Eleven of our latest book, "The pH Miracle for Weight Loss."In closing, I would like to share with you my vision of medicine in the 21st century.
My vision of the relative purpose of medicine is to include prevention of illness and promotion of health and fitness rather than focusing all our attention on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. I believe the ultimate purpose of medicine is to help people discover something fundamental within themselves.
And that is the awareness that the true source of well-being, joy, and contentment that we all seek lies within one's mind and heart - the emotions and the spirit - not in the physical world. This is important, so we can all begin to be freed from the process of grasping for happiness in this physical world.
To support this approach, I believe we must begin to embrace a more spiritual vision of ourselves and of humanity as a whole. While providing great love, care and attention to the physical body, medicine can then and only then can we help people discover the nonphysical, spiritual dimensions of themselves.
When this happens, we can all live and work with less fear, stress, grasping to preserve the physical body at all costs - we can truly be free.
For more information on pH Miracle Living
The pH Miracle for Cancer Week 3
During Week 3 of our Thursday night teleseminar on the pH Miracle for Cancer we answered several questions on emotions and their impact on our health.
The following is an overview of those questons and answers.
1) What impact do your emotions have on preventing, causing or reversing cancerous tissue?
Emotions are energy in motion - "E" motion. NO "E" motion can take place without energy and when energy is being consumed acids are produced as a by-product.
Just like a car when it consumes gasoline for "E" motion, an acidic waste product is produced - carbon monoxide.
It is common knowledge that carbon monoxide is a toxic acid and if not eliminated through the exhaust system of the car the car would immediately shut down. And so it is with us.
Our thoughts, our "E"motions require energy and energy consumed produces metabolic acids. If acids from our thoughts are not eliminated through urination, perspiration, respiration or defication (our exhaust systems) they will make us sick, tired and cancerous.
Since you know that cancer is an acidic liquid you now know that you can cause cancerous tissue with your thoughts, or should we say your "E" motions.
When you are constantly in your thoughts - negative thoughts - they give rise to feelings like hatred, revenge or anger. These thought provoked negative feelings can lower the pH of your urine (the urine pH indicates tissue pH) by over 100 times.
This can cause the body to go into preservation mode 24/7, using up your alkaline buffering reserves. Once the alkaline reserves are used up the body goes into body wasting from all the acids.
Your body is being tenderized and fermented by your own acidic waste products generated from "E" motions.The "E" motion formula is as follows: thoughts = feelings or "E" motions = acids or negative thoughts = negative feelings or negative "E" motions = excessive acids which can effect the alkaline design of your body.
Your alkaline or healthy thoughts create less acid then your acidic or negative thoughts.If you want to stop the pain; if you want to stop the degeneration; if you want to stop the fermenting from your own acidic waste products you have to slow down or even stop the "e" motions, especially the negative "e" motions.
Your negative thoughts could be killing you. When you are continually in your thoughts you are having a "thought attack."
And "thought attacks" can lead to heart attacks and cancerous tissue.In the case with your thoughts or "E" motions, less is more and more is less.
To prevent or reverse cancerous tissue you must turn off the negative thoughts, the stories, the movies running in your head.
When you turn off the thoughts you reduce acidity, and when you reduce acidity you prevent or reverse sickness, disease and even cancerous tissue.
2) How do your thoughts impact the success for the treatment of cancerous tissue?
It has been said that out of 20 people diagnosed and treated for cancer, 90% of them will die from the fear of the cancer rather than the dis-ease. F.E.A.R. is an acronym that stands for, False Evidence Appearing Real.
Many of us live our lives in F.E.A.R. rather than in F.A.I.T.H. - the First Attribute IN Thoughtful Health. When your thoughts move away from F.E.A.R. and move towards F.A.I.T.H., your tissue alkalinity increases and your tissue acidity decreases making your treatments for cancerous tissue more effective.When you are living your life in F.A.I.T.H. you are living in the present, or in the NOW.
Living in the NOW is alkalizing, energizing and healthful.
YOU are not concerned with the past nor are you concerned with the future.
Living your life in the past or in the future is a F.E.A.R. based life and is highly acidic.
Living in the past or the future creates "e" motions that lead to the feelings of regret, worry, and anxiety that can make you more sick, tired and cancerous.
Your treatments for cancerous tissue will not be effective, or as effective when you are thinking in the past or future living in a state of "E" motions of F.E.A.R. rather than the "E" motions of F.A.I.T.H. - hope, love and charity.Cancerous tissue is not something we get.
It is something we do as a consequence of daily choice of what we eat, what we drink, what we THINK, and how we live. We either have an alkaline lifestyle and diet and enjoy a fit and healthy body, or we have an acidic lifestyle and diet and experience the aches, pains and suffering from metabolic acids.
3) Can you cause cancerous tissue with your thoughts?Absolutely! Our thoughts require energy and energy metabolized creates acid. If the acidic waste products from your thoughts are not eliminated through urination, perspriation, respiration or defication they will be absorbed into your tissues to protect and maintain the delicate pH of the blood at 7.365.
Acids absorbed into the tissues will burn, ferment, spoil and even rot any cell and tissue they come into contact with. Therefore, metabolic acids when absorbed into the tissues will cause cancerous tissues.
4) How does my personal relationship with friends, family and/or spouse prevent or cause cancerous tissue?
Eckhart Tolle had this to say about our thoughts which I believe can affect your personal relationships that in turn will either prevent or cause cancerous tissues:"The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not "the thinker"The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.
You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter- beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace, arise from beyond the mind..
You begin to awaken."I believe that this awakening comes through a process of making alkaline lifestyle and dietary choices. When you become more alkaline in your thoughts, words and deeds, you begin to reconnect to your true self - you are less acidic or less cancerous.
When you are reconnected physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually you will begin to awaken. When awake, your "e" motions turn to feelings of joy, hope, love and charity for self, and then for your neighbors, friends, family and spouse.
You realize that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience rather than a physical being have a spiritual experience. You are whole! You are alkaline! You are healthy! You are alive! You are a peaceful and loving SOL.Once again in closing, I would like to share with you my vision of medicine in the 21st century.
My vision of the relative purpose of medicine is to include prevention of illness and promotion of health and fitness rather than focusing all our attention on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. I believe the ultimate purpose of medicine is to help people discover something fundamental within themselves.
And that is the awareness that the true source of well-being, joy, and contentment that we all seek lies within one's mind and heart - the emotions and the spirit - not in the physical world. This is important so we can all begin to be freed from the process of grasping for happiness in this physical world.
To support this approach, I believe we must begin to embrace a more spiritual vision of ourselves and of humanity as a whole. While providing great love, care and attention to the physical body, medicine can then, and only then help people discover the nonphysical, spiritual dimensions of themselves.
When this happens, we can all live and work with less fear andstress, grasping to preserve the physical body at all costs - we can truly be free.
For more information on pH Miracle Living visit our website at: www.phmiracleliving.com or read The pH Miracle Bookph Miracle Center
The following is an overview of those questons and answers.
1) What impact do your emotions have on preventing, causing or reversing cancerous tissue?
Emotions are energy in motion - "E" motion. NO "E" motion can take place without energy and when energy is being consumed acids are produced as a by-product.
Just like a car when it consumes gasoline for "E" motion, an acidic waste product is produced - carbon monoxide.
It is common knowledge that carbon monoxide is a toxic acid and if not eliminated through the exhaust system of the car the car would immediately shut down. And so it is with us.
Our thoughts, our "E"motions require energy and energy consumed produces metabolic acids. If acids from our thoughts are not eliminated through urination, perspiration, respiration or defication (our exhaust systems) they will make us sick, tired and cancerous.
Since you know that cancer is an acidic liquid you now know that you can cause cancerous tissue with your thoughts, or should we say your "E" motions.
When you are constantly in your thoughts - negative thoughts - they give rise to feelings like hatred, revenge or anger. These thought provoked negative feelings can lower the pH of your urine (the urine pH indicates tissue pH) by over 100 times.
This can cause the body to go into preservation mode 24/7, using up your alkaline buffering reserves. Once the alkaline reserves are used up the body goes into body wasting from all the acids.
Your body is being tenderized and fermented by your own acidic waste products generated from "E" motions.The "E" motion formula is as follows: thoughts = feelings or "E" motions = acids or negative thoughts = negative feelings or negative "E" motions = excessive acids which can effect the alkaline design of your body.
Your alkaline or healthy thoughts create less acid then your acidic or negative thoughts.If you want to stop the pain; if you want to stop the degeneration; if you want to stop the fermenting from your own acidic waste products you have to slow down or even stop the "e" motions, especially the negative "e" motions.
Your negative thoughts could be killing you. When you are continually in your thoughts you are having a "thought attack."
And "thought attacks" can lead to heart attacks and cancerous tissue.In the case with your thoughts or "E" motions, less is more and more is less.
To prevent or reverse cancerous tissue you must turn off the negative thoughts, the stories, the movies running in your head.
When you turn off the thoughts you reduce acidity, and when you reduce acidity you prevent or reverse sickness, disease and even cancerous tissue.
2) How do your thoughts impact the success for the treatment of cancerous tissue?
It has been said that out of 20 people diagnosed and treated for cancer, 90% of them will die from the fear of the cancer rather than the dis-ease. F.E.A.R. is an acronym that stands for, False Evidence Appearing Real.
Many of us live our lives in F.E.A.R. rather than in F.A.I.T.H. - the First Attribute IN Thoughtful Health. When your thoughts move away from F.E.A.R. and move towards F.A.I.T.H., your tissue alkalinity increases and your tissue acidity decreases making your treatments for cancerous tissue more effective.When you are living your life in F.A.I.T.H. you are living in the present, or in the NOW.
Living in the NOW is alkalizing, energizing and healthful.
YOU are not concerned with the past nor are you concerned with the future.
Living your life in the past or in the future is a F.E.A.R. based life and is highly acidic.
Living in the past or the future creates "e" motions that lead to the feelings of regret, worry, and anxiety that can make you more sick, tired and cancerous.
Your treatments for cancerous tissue will not be effective, or as effective when you are thinking in the past or future living in a state of "E" motions of F.E.A.R. rather than the "E" motions of F.A.I.T.H. - hope, love and charity.Cancerous tissue is not something we get.
It is something we do as a consequence of daily choice of what we eat, what we drink, what we THINK, and how we live. We either have an alkaline lifestyle and diet and enjoy a fit and healthy body, or we have an acidic lifestyle and diet and experience the aches, pains and suffering from metabolic acids.
3) Can you cause cancerous tissue with your thoughts?Absolutely! Our thoughts require energy and energy metabolized creates acid. If the acidic waste products from your thoughts are not eliminated through urination, perspriation, respiration or defication they will be absorbed into your tissues to protect and maintain the delicate pH of the blood at 7.365.
Acids absorbed into the tissues will burn, ferment, spoil and even rot any cell and tissue they come into contact with. Therefore, metabolic acids when absorbed into the tissues will cause cancerous tissues.
4) How does my personal relationship with friends, family and/or spouse prevent or cause cancerous tissue?
Eckhart Tolle had this to say about our thoughts which I believe can affect your personal relationships that in turn will either prevent or cause cancerous tissues:"The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not "the thinker"The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.
You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter- beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace, arise from beyond the mind..
You begin to awaken."I believe that this awakening comes through a process of making alkaline lifestyle and dietary choices. When you become more alkaline in your thoughts, words and deeds, you begin to reconnect to your true self - you are less acidic or less cancerous.
When you are reconnected physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually you will begin to awaken. When awake, your "e" motions turn to feelings of joy, hope, love and charity for self, and then for your neighbors, friends, family and spouse.
You realize that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience rather than a physical being have a spiritual experience. You are whole! You are alkaline! You are healthy! You are alive! You are a peaceful and loving SOL.Once again in closing, I would like to share with you my vision of medicine in the 21st century.
My vision of the relative purpose of medicine is to include prevention of illness and promotion of health and fitness rather than focusing all our attention on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. I believe the ultimate purpose of medicine is to help people discover something fundamental within themselves.
And that is the awareness that the true source of well-being, joy, and contentment that we all seek lies within one's mind and heart - the emotions and the spirit - not in the physical world. This is important so we can all begin to be freed from the process of grasping for happiness in this physical world.
To support this approach, I believe we must begin to embrace a more spiritual vision of ourselves and of humanity as a whole. While providing great love, care and attention to the physical body, medicine can then, and only then help people discover the nonphysical, spiritual dimensions of themselves.
When this happens, we can all live and work with less fear andstress, grasping to preserve the physical body at all costs - we can truly be free.
For more information on pH Miracle Living visit our website at: www.phmiracleliving.com or read The pH Miracle Bookph Miracle Center
Traveler's Acidic Consequence and Holiday Season Influenza
Here are two non-contagious lifestyle and dietary conditions (called diseases by allopathic medicine) for which I have given new names:
1) Traveler's Acidic Consequence is a result of the sum total consumption and behaviors of a traveler during their more unusual or somewhat different from normal lifestyle than when they were not traveling.
A typical traveler's day will upset one's normal metabolism and digestive habits.
They eat and drink different foods at different times and different volumes than usual, which creates an over-acid state and a need for more alkaline buffers (bicarbonates) leading to indigestion, constipation, dehydration and further problems of acidity, depending on the degree of irregularity.
Traveler's Acidic Consequence is commonly blamed by allopathic medical science on a particular site on the traveler's path as if he caught something.
This current medical ideology is based on Pasteur's germ theory and is a scientific illusion.
The true cause of this condition is the result of the traveler's acidic dietary choices and the lack of alkaline hydration, nutrition and hygiene that can result in this over-acidic condition.
2) Holiday Season Influenza (The Flu) is a result of the sum total consumption and behaviors of a person during so-called holiday acidic feasting.
They will consume acidic foods and drinks that they know are not healthy or alkalizing, i.e., more sugar or sugar substitutes than normal, alcohol, meats and much of this at greater volumes than normal.
They become detrimentally influenced physically and emotionally by holiday acidic foods. Holiday Season Influenza is commonly blamed on a particular virus contracted from another person(s) and not from acidic lifestyle and dietary choices of that person.
Like the acidic traveler, a person chooses to consume on their own as many acidic foods and drinks during the holiday season and as a result are suffering from the consequences of their poor dietary choices -- not from some phantom flu virus!
The flu is nothing more than the body increasing temperature to improve circulation to remove excess acidity through perspiration, respiration, defication and urination.
Also, please keep in mind it doesn't take either traveling or holidays for someone to express the symptoms of Traveler's Acidic Consequence and/or Holiday Season Influenza.
All you need to do is consume excessive amounts of acidic meats, chocolate, ice cream, cake, alcohol or other thrillers. This can happen in the middle of a warm summer.
This coming Holiday Season may you resolve not to succumb to the acidic choices that lead to Traveler's Acidic Consequence and/or Holiday Season Influenza.
In love and healing Alkaline light,
Dr. Robert O. Young
1) Traveler's Acidic Consequence is a result of the sum total consumption and behaviors of a traveler during their more unusual or somewhat different from normal lifestyle than when they were not traveling.
A typical traveler's day will upset one's normal metabolism and digestive habits.
They eat and drink different foods at different times and different volumes than usual, which creates an over-acid state and a need for more alkaline buffers (bicarbonates) leading to indigestion, constipation, dehydration and further problems of acidity, depending on the degree of irregularity.
Traveler's Acidic Consequence is commonly blamed by allopathic medical science on a particular site on the traveler's path as if he caught something.
This current medical ideology is based on Pasteur's germ theory and is a scientific illusion.
The true cause of this condition is the result of the traveler's acidic dietary choices and the lack of alkaline hydration, nutrition and hygiene that can result in this over-acidic condition.
2) Holiday Season Influenza (The Flu) is a result of the sum total consumption and behaviors of a person during so-called holiday acidic feasting.
They will consume acidic foods and drinks that they know are not healthy or alkalizing, i.e., more sugar or sugar substitutes than normal, alcohol, meats and much of this at greater volumes than normal.
They become detrimentally influenced physically and emotionally by holiday acidic foods. Holiday Season Influenza is commonly blamed on a particular virus contracted from another person(s) and not from acidic lifestyle and dietary choices of that person.
Like the acidic traveler, a person chooses to consume on their own as many acidic foods and drinks during the holiday season and as a result are suffering from the consequences of their poor dietary choices -- not from some phantom flu virus!
The flu is nothing more than the body increasing temperature to improve circulation to remove excess acidity through perspiration, respiration, defication and urination.
Also, please keep in mind it doesn't take either traveling or holidays for someone to express the symptoms of Traveler's Acidic Consequence and/or Holiday Season Influenza.
All you need to do is consume excessive amounts of acidic meats, chocolate, ice cream, cake, alcohol or other thrillers. This can happen in the middle of a warm summer.
This coming Holiday Season may you resolve not to succumb to the acidic choices that lead to Traveler's Acidic Consequence and/or Holiday Season Influenza.
In love and healing Alkaline light,
Dr. Robert O. Young
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Aromatherapy: The Scent of Dispute
(HealthDay News) -- Aromatherapy is an affordable, accessible natural path to relief for a variety of health problems, ranging from arthritis pain to nausea to drowsiness, supporters insist.
But skeptics dismiss any claims that the use of essential oils from flowers, herbs and trees can promote health in any way.
And both sides are unlikely to relinquish their positions anytime soon.
Aromatherapy "works for so many different things, it is amazing," said Kelly Holland Azzaro, a registered aromatherapist in Banner Elk, N.C., and vice president of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), an industry trade group. "You can experience aromatherapy by inhalation by putting one drop of an essential oil on a tissue and inhaling," she said.
According to the NAHA, aromatherapy is the "art and science of utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind and spirit." These essences are then distilled into "essential oils" -- highly concentrated aromatic extracts -- that are derived from a "variety of aromatic plant material, including grasses, leaves, flowers, needles and twigs, peels of fruit, wood and roots."
Among the most popular essential oils, which are widely sold at health-food stores and over the Internet, are eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and tea tree, and according to the NAHA.
"Uplifting scents such as citrus can keep you awake at work," Azarro said. "To help increase alertness, use rosemary and lemon." And to combat nausea, try essence of peppermint, ginger and orange, she added.
While research into aromatherapy's benefits is limited, there are some studies that suggest certain treatments can help ease some symptoms.
For instance, in a 2005 study published in the journal Chronobiology International, researchers reported that lavender aromatherapy helped all 31 men and women feel more "vigor" the next morning, compared to the night they breathed in distilled water, an exercise that served as the control setting.
A study in the March-April 2006 issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health said that aromatherapy, combined with massage, helped new mothers feel less "blue" and anxious, compared to mothers of newborns who didn't get the treatment.
And a review published in Holistic Nurse Practitioner found that patients with postoperative nausea and vomiting can be helped by aromatherapy as well as acupressure and acupuncture.
But critics find little of value with scent therapy -- or even label it as therapy.
"It's not a therapy, it's a set of products with odors," said Dr. Stephen Barrett, board chairman of Quackwatch Inc., an Allentown, Pa.-based organization that says it fights health fraud and quackery.
"If people like the odors and want to pay for them, I would have no objection," Barrett said. However, he added, don't expect much. "There is no evidence that aromatherapy can alter the course of any disease. There is no logical reason to believe that any such evidence will ever be found," he said.
As for potential risks, Barrett said: "Some people find certain odors irritating. People who use aromatherapy with the hope that it will cure what ails them will waste money."
Azzaro said that, currently, aromatherapy is unregulated in the United States. "And that's part of the issue," she said. People don't understand exactly what it is, either. "People think it's potpourri or a smelly candle."
There's also no state licensing for aromatherapists in the United States. Most practitioners incorporate their training with another profession, such as licensed acupuncturist or registered nurse, according to the NAHA.
If you're interested in pursuing aromatherapy, Azzaro said it's best to ask a practitioner about his or her specific training. "And when you purchase oil, such as from a health-food store, hopefully some educational materials are with the product," she said.
Be aware, too, there can be the possibility of allergic reactions to some treatments.
More information
To learn more about aromatherapy, visit the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy.
But skeptics dismiss any claims that the use of essential oils from flowers, herbs and trees can promote health in any way.
And both sides are unlikely to relinquish their positions anytime soon.
Aromatherapy "works for so many different things, it is amazing," said Kelly Holland Azzaro, a registered aromatherapist in Banner Elk, N.C., and vice president of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), an industry trade group. "You can experience aromatherapy by inhalation by putting one drop of an essential oil on a tissue and inhaling," she said.
According to the NAHA, aromatherapy is the "art and science of utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind and spirit." These essences are then distilled into "essential oils" -- highly concentrated aromatic extracts -- that are derived from a "variety of aromatic plant material, including grasses, leaves, flowers, needles and twigs, peels of fruit, wood and roots."
Among the most popular essential oils, which are widely sold at health-food stores and over the Internet, are eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, lemon, peppermint, rosemary, and tea tree, and according to the NAHA.
"Uplifting scents such as citrus can keep you awake at work," Azarro said. "To help increase alertness, use rosemary and lemon." And to combat nausea, try essence of peppermint, ginger and orange, she added.
While research into aromatherapy's benefits is limited, there are some studies that suggest certain treatments can help ease some symptoms.
For instance, in a 2005 study published in the journal Chronobiology International, researchers reported that lavender aromatherapy helped all 31 men and women feel more "vigor" the next morning, compared to the night they breathed in distilled water, an exercise that served as the control setting.
A study in the March-April 2006 issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health said that aromatherapy, combined with massage, helped new mothers feel less "blue" and anxious, compared to mothers of newborns who didn't get the treatment.
And a review published in Holistic Nurse Practitioner found that patients with postoperative nausea and vomiting can be helped by aromatherapy as well as acupressure and acupuncture.
But critics find little of value with scent therapy -- or even label it as therapy.
"It's not a therapy, it's a set of products with odors," said Dr. Stephen Barrett, board chairman of Quackwatch Inc., an Allentown, Pa.-based organization that says it fights health fraud and quackery.
"If people like the odors and want to pay for them, I would have no objection," Barrett said. However, he added, don't expect much. "There is no evidence that aromatherapy can alter the course of any disease. There is no logical reason to believe that any such evidence will ever be found," he said.
As for potential risks, Barrett said: "Some people find certain odors irritating. People who use aromatherapy with the hope that it will cure what ails them will waste money."
Azzaro said that, currently, aromatherapy is unregulated in the United States. "And that's part of the issue," she said. People don't understand exactly what it is, either. "People think it's potpourri or a smelly candle."
There's also no state licensing for aromatherapists in the United States. Most practitioners incorporate their training with another profession, such as licensed acupuncturist or registered nurse, according to the NAHA.
If you're interested in pursuing aromatherapy, Azzaro said it's best to ask a practitioner about his or her specific training. "And when you purchase oil, such as from a health-food store, hopefully some educational materials are with the product," she said.
Be aware, too, there can be the possibility of allergic reactions to some treatments.
More information
To learn more about aromatherapy, visit the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease
By Ron Rosedale, MD
Cholesterol is not the major culprit in heart disease or any disease. If it becomes oxidized it can irritate/inflame tissues in which it is lodged in, such as the endothelium (lining of the arteries). This would be one of numerous causes of chronic inflammation that can injure the lining of arteries. However, many good fats are easily oxidized such as omega-3 fatty acids, but it does not mean that you should avoid it at all costs.
Common sense would indicate that we should avoid the oxidation (rancidity) of cholesterol and fatty acids and not get rid of important life-giving molecules. Using the same conventional medical thinking that is being used for cholesterol would lead one to believe that doctors should reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by taking out everybody's brain.
In fact, cholesterol is being transported to tissues as part of an inflammatory response that is there to repair damage.
The fixation on cholesterol as a major cause of heart disease defies the last 15 years of science and deflects from real causes such as the damage (via glycation) that sugars such as glucose and fructose inflict on tissues, including the lining of arteries, causing chronic inflammation and resultant plaque.
Insulin & Leptin Resistance
Hundreds of excellent scientific articles have linked insulin resistance and more recently leptin resistance to cardiovascular disease much more strongly than cholesterol, and they are in fact at least partially responsible for cholesterol abnormalities. For instance, insulin and leptin resistance result in "small dense" LDL particles and a greater number of particles.
This is much more important than the total cholesterol number. Because of particle size shift to small and dense, the total LDL cholesterol could still be low even though the number of particles and the density of the particles is greater.
Small, dense LDL particles can squeeze between the cells lining the inside of the arteries, the "gap junction" of the endothelium, where they can get stuck and potentially oxidize, turn rancid, and cause inflammation of the lining of the arteries and plaque formation.
Importantly, many solid scientific studies have shown a mechanistic, causal effect of elevated insulin and leptin on heart and vascular disease, whereas almost all studies with cholesterol misleadingly only show an association. Association does not imply cause. For instance, something else may be causing lipid abnormalities such as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, and also causing heart disease.
This "something else" is improper insulin and leptin signaling. Similarly, sugar does not cause diabetes; sugar is just listening to orders. Improper insulin and leptin signaling is the cause of diabetes. Likewise, cholesterol does not cause heart disease, but improper metabolic signals including improper signals to cholesterol (causing it to oxidize) and perhaps to the liver that manufactures the cholesterol, will cause heart and vascular disease and hypertension.
Removing cholesterol will do nothing to improve the underlying problems, the real roots of chronic disease, which will always have to do with improper communication, and the generals of metabolic communication are insulin and leptin.
They are really what must be treated to reverse heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and to some extent aging itself.
Cholesterol; Wrongly Accused?
Before we can begin to talk about the real cause and effective treatment for heart and blood vessel disease, we must first look at what is known, or I should say what we think we know.
The first thing that comes to mind when one hears about heart disease is almost always cholesterol.
Cholesterol and heart disease has been almost synonymous for the last half-century.
Cholesterol has been portrayed as the Darth Vader to our arteries and our heart.
The latest recommendation given by a so-called panel of "experts" recommends that a person's cholesterol be as low as possible, in fact to a level so low they say it cannot be achieved by diet, exercise, or any known lifestyle modification.
Therefore, they say cholesterol-lowering drugs; particularly the so-called "statins" need to be given to anyone at high risk of heart disease.
Since heart disease is the number one killer in this country that would include most adults and even many children. The fact that this might add to the $26 billion in sales of statin drugs last year I'm sure played no role in their recommendations.
Or did it?
Expert Conflict of Interests
Major consumer groups think so. They found out that eight of the nine "experts" that made the recommendations were on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture those drugs. Major scientific organizations have chastised medical journals for allowing the pharmaceutical industry to publish misleading results and half-truths.
There is a major push under way to force the pharmaceutical industry (and others) to publish results of all of their studies, and not just the ones that appear positive. The studies that showed negative results would be forced to be published also.
It could be that lowering cholesterol might not be as healthy as we are being told. More and more studies are coming out showing just how unhealthy lowering cholesterol might be, particularly by the use of statin drugs. In particular, statin drugs have been shown to be harmful to muscles causing considerable damage. A common symptom of this damage is muscular aches and pains that many patients experience on cholesterol-lowering drugs, however most do not realize that these drugs are to blame.
Hmm...isn't the heart a muscle?
Statin Drugs Actually Increase Heart Disease
Indeed, low cholesterol levels have been shown to worsen patients with congestive heart failure, a life-threatening condition where the heart becomes too weak to effectively pump blood. Statin drugs have been shown to also cause nerve damage and to greatly impair memory. One reason that statin drugs have these various serious side effects is that they work by inhibiting a vital enzyme that manufactures cholesterol in the liver.
However, the same enzyme is used to manufacture coenzyme Q10, which is a biochemical needed to transfer energy from food to our cells to be used for the work of staying alive and healthy.
Statin drugs are known to inhibit our very important production of coenzyme Q10.
Importantly, while many cardiologists insist that lowering cholesterol is correlated with a reduction in the risk of heart attacks; few can say that there is a reduction in the risk of mortality (death).
That has been much harder to show. In other words it has never been conclusively shown that lowering cholesterol saves lives. In fact, several large studies have shown that lowering cholesterol into the range currently recommended is correlated with an increased risk of dying, especially of cancer.
No Such Thing as Good and Bad Cholesterol
Because the correlation of total cholesterol with heart disease is so weak, many years ago a stronger correlation was sought. It was found that there is so-called "good cholesterol" called HDL, and that the so-called "bad cholesterol" was LDL. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein.
Notice please that LDL and HDL are lipoproteins -- fats combined with proteins. There is only one cholesterol. There is no such thing as a good or a bad cholesterol.
Cholesterol is just cholesterol. It combines with other fats and proteins to be carried through the bloodstream, since fat and our watery blood do not mix very well.
Fatty substances therefore must be shuttled to and from our tissues and cells using proteins. LDL and HDL are forms of proteins and are far from being just cholesterol. In fact we now know there are many types of these fat and protein particles.
LDL particles come in many sizes and large LDL particles are not a problem. Only the so-called small dense LDL particles can potentially be a problem, because they can squeeze through the lining of the arteries and if they oxidize, otherwise known as turning rancid, they can cause damage and inflammation.
Thus, you might say that there is "good LDL" and "bad LDL." Also, some HDL particles are better than others. Knowing just your total cholesterol tells you very little. Even knowing your LDL and HDL levels do not tell you very much.
A mistake that is rarely made in the hard-core sciences such as physics seems to be frequently made in medicine. This is confusing correlation with cause. There may be a weak correlation of elevated cholesterol with heart attacks, however this does not mean it is the cholesterol that caused the heart attack. Certainly gray hair is correlated with getting older;
however one could hardly say that the gray hair caused one to get old. Using hair dye to reduce the gray hair would not really make you any younger. Neither it appears would just lowering your cholesterol.
Perhaps something else is causing both the gray hair and aging. Even if elevated cholesterol were significant and heart disease (which I question) perhaps something else is causing the elevated cholesterol and also causing the heart disease.
Let's look little more at cholesterol or, as Paul Harvey was fond of saying, "the rest of the story." First and foremost, cholesterol is a vital component of every cell membrane on Earth. In other words, there is no life on Earth they can live without cholesterol. They will automatically tell you that, in of itself, it cannot be evil. In fact it is one of our best friends.
We would not be here without it. No wonder lowering cholesterol too much increases one's risk of dying. Cholesterol also is a precursor to all of the steroid hormones. You cannot make estrogen, testosterone, cortisone, and a host of other vital hormones without cholesterol.
Cholesterol Is The Hero, Not The Villain.
It was determined many years ago that the majority of cholesterol in your bloodstream comes from what your liver is manufacturing and distributing. The amount of cholesterol that one eats plays little role in determining your cholesterol levels.
It is also known that HDL shuttles cholesterol away from tissues, and away from your arteries, back to your liver. That is why HDL is called the "good cholesterol;" because it is supposedly taking cholesterol away from your arteries. But let's think about that.
Why does your liver make sure that you have plenty of cholesterol?
Why is HDL taking cholesterol back to your liver?
Why not take it right to your kidneys, or your intestines to get rid of it?
It is taking it back to your liver so that your liver can recycle it; put it back into other particles to be taken to tissues and cells that need it. Your body is trying to make and conserve the cholesterol for the precise reason that it is so important, indeed vital, for health.
One function of cholesterol is to keep your cell membranes from falling apart. As such, you might consider cholesterol your cells "superglue." It is a necessary ingredient in any sort of cellular repair. The coronary disease associated with heart attacks is now known to be caused from damage to the lining of those arteries. That damage causes inflammation. The coronary disease that causes heart attacks is now considered to be caused mostly from chronic inflammation.
What Is Inflammation?
Think of what happens if you were to cut your hand. Within a fraction of a second, chemicals are released by the damaged tissue to initiate the process known as inflammation. Inflammation will allow that little cut to heal, and indeed to keep you from dying.
The cut blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding too much. Blood becomes "thicker" so that it can clot. Cells and chemicals from the immune system are alerted to come to the area to keep intruders such as viruses and bacteria from invading the cut.
Other cells are told to multiply to repair the damage so that you can heal. When the repair is completed, you have lived to be careless another day, though you may have a small scar to show for your troubles.
We now know that similar events take place within the lining of our arteries. When damage occurs to the lining of our arteries (or even elsewhere) chemicals are released to initiate the process of inflammation. Arteries constrict, blood becomes more prone to clot, white blood cells are called to the area to gobble up damaged debris, and cells adjacent to those damaged are told to multiply. Ultimately, scars form, however inside our arteries we call it plaque. And the constriction of our arteries and the "thickening" of our blood further predisposes us to high blood pressure and heart attacks.
So Where Might Cholesterol Fit Into All Of This?
When damage is occurring and inflammation is being initiated, chemicals are being released so that that damage can be repaired. One could speculate that to replace damaged, old and worn-out cells the liver needs to be notified to either recycle or manufacture cholesterol since no cell, human or otherwise, can be made without it. In this case, cholesterol is being manufactured and distributed in your bloodstream to help you repair damaged tissue and in fact to keep you alive.
If excessive damage is occurring such that it is necessary to distribute extra cholesterol through the bloodstream, it would not seem very wise to merely lower the cholesterol and forget about why it is there in the first place. It would seem much smarter to reduce the extra need for the cholesterol -- the excessive damage that is occurring, the reason for the chronic inflammation.
So Why Take Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs?
The pharmaceutical companies thought that you might think that. They went back to the drawing board. They did more "research" and found (coincidentally) that statin drugs had anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore we're currently being told to stay on our cholesterol-lowering drugs because now they work by reducing inflammation and perhaps not even by reducing cholesterol, and in fact perhaps in spite of it. Aspirin reduces inflammation for a lot less money. So does vitamin E, and fish oil, and dietary changes without the dangers of drugs and having many other benefits instead.
What About Triglycerides?
Triglycerides are just medical terminology for fat. A person with high triglycerides has a lot of fat in the bloodstream. Triglycerides are generally measured when a person has fasted overnight. High fasting triglycerides are either from manufacturing too much, or using (burning) too little. In other words, what high triglycerides are telling you is that you are making too much fat and you are unable to burn it. This indeed is a major problem. The inability to burn fat underlies virtually all of the chronic diseases of aging, and in fact may contribute to the rate of aging itself.
As such, one might think that the control of fat burning and storage might be very important in heart disease, and the other diseases of aging such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Indeed, this appears to very much be the case. The two hormones that to a major extent control our ability to burn and store fat, insulin and leptin, appear to play a major role in all of the chronic diseases of aging. I would call them the most important hormones, indeed chemicals in the entire body. But that is a story for next time.
Cholesterol is not the major culprit in heart disease or any disease. If it becomes oxidized it can irritate/inflame tissues in which it is lodged in, such as the endothelium (lining of the arteries). This would be one of numerous causes of chronic inflammation that can injure the lining of arteries. However, many good fats are easily oxidized such as omega-3 fatty acids, but it does not mean that you should avoid it at all costs.
Common sense would indicate that we should avoid the oxidation (rancidity) of cholesterol and fatty acids and not get rid of important life-giving molecules. Using the same conventional medical thinking that is being used for cholesterol would lead one to believe that doctors should reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by taking out everybody's brain.
In fact, cholesterol is being transported to tissues as part of an inflammatory response that is there to repair damage.
The fixation on cholesterol as a major cause of heart disease defies the last 15 years of science and deflects from real causes such as the damage (via glycation) that sugars such as glucose and fructose inflict on tissues, including the lining of arteries, causing chronic inflammation and resultant plaque.
Insulin & Leptin Resistance
Hundreds of excellent scientific articles have linked insulin resistance and more recently leptin resistance to cardiovascular disease much more strongly than cholesterol, and they are in fact at least partially responsible for cholesterol abnormalities. For instance, insulin and leptin resistance result in "small dense" LDL particles and a greater number of particles.
This is much more important than the total cholesterol number. Because of particle size shift to small and dense, the total LDL cholesterol could still be low even though the number of particles and the density of the particles is greater.
Small, dense LDL particles can squeeze between the cells lining the inside of the arteries, the "gap junction" of the endothelium, where they can get stuck and potentially oxidize, turn rancid, and cause inflammation of the lining of the arteries and plaque formation.
Importantly, many solid scientific studies have shown a mechanistic, causal effect of elevated insulin and leptin on heart and vascular disease, whereas almost all studies with cholesterol misleadingly only show an association. Association does not imply cause. For instance, something else may be causing lipid abnormalities such as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, and also causing heart disease.
This "something else" is improper insulin and leptin signaling. Similarly, sugar does not cause diabetes; sugar is just listening to orders. Improper insulin and leptin signaling is the cause of diabetes. Likewise, cholesterol does not cause heart disease, but improper metabolic signals including improper signals to cholesterol (causing it to oxidize) and perhaps to the liver that manufactures the cholesterol, will cause heart and vascular disease and hypertension.
Removing cholesterol will do nothing to improve the underlying problems, the real roots of chronic disease, which will always have to do with improper communication, and the generals of metabolic communication are insulin and leptin.
They are really what must be treated to reverse heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and to some extent aging itself.
Cholesterol; Wrongly Accused?
Before we can begin to talk about the real cause and effective treatment for heart and blood vessel disease, we must first look at what is known, or I should say what we think we know.
The first thing that comes to mind when one hears about heart disease is almost always cholesterol.
Cholesterol and heart disease has been almost synonymous for the last half-century.
Cholesterol has been portrayed as the Darth Vader to our arteries and our heart.
The latest recommendation given by a so-called panel of "experts" recommends that a person's cholesterol be as low as possible, in fact to a level so low they say it cannot be achieved by diet, exercise, or any known lifestyle modification.
Therefore, they say cholesterol-lowering drugs; particularly the so-called "statins" need to be given to anyone at high risk of heart disease.
Since heart disease is the number one killer in this country that would include most adults and even many children. The fact that this might add to the $26 billion in sales of statin drugs last year I'm sure played no role in their recommendations.
Or did it?
Expert Conflict of Interests
Major consumer groups think so. They found out that eight of the nine "experts" that made the recommendations were on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture those drugs. Major scientific organizations have chastised medical journals for allowing the pharmaceutical industry to publish misleading results and half-truths.
There is a major push under way to force the pharmaceutical industry (and others) to publish results of all of their studies, and not just the ones that appear positive. The studies that showed negative results would be forced to be published also.
It could be that lowering cholesterol might not be as healthy as we are being told. More and more studies are coming out showing just how unhealthy lowering cholesterol might be, particularly by the use of statin drugs. In particular, statin drugs have been shown to be harmful to muscles causing considerable damage. A common symptom of this damage is muscular aches and pains that many patients experience on cholesterol-lowering drugs, however most do not realize that these drugs are to blame.
Hmm...isn't the heart a muscle?
Statin Drugs Actually Increase Heart Disease
Indeed, low cholesterol levels have been shown to worsen patients with congestive heart failure, a life-threatening condition where the heart becomes too weak to effectively pump blood. Statin drugs have been shown to also cause nerve damage and to greatly impair memory. One reason that statin drugs have these various serious side effects is that they work by inhibiting a vital enzyme that manufactures cholesterol in the liver.
However, the same enzyme is used to manufacture coenzyme Q10, which is a biochemical needed to transfer energy from food to our cells to be used for the work of staying alive and healthy.
Statin drugs are known to inhibit our very important production of coenzyme Q10.
Importantly, while many cardiologists insist that lowering cholesterol is correlated with a reduction in the risk of heart attacks; few can say that there is a reduction in the risk of mortality (death).
That has been much harder to show. In other words it has never been conclusively shown that lowering cholesterol saves lives. In fact, several large studies have shown that lowering cholesterol into the range currently recommended is correlated with an increased risk of dying, especially of cancer.
No Such Thing as Good and Bad Cholesterol
Because the correlation of total cholesterol with heart disease is so weak, many years ago a stronger correlation was sought. It was found that there is so-called "good cholesterol" called HDL, and that the so-called "bad cholesterol" was LDL. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein.
Notice please that LDL and HDL are lipoproteins -- fats combined with proteins. There is only one cholesterol. There is no such thing as a good or a bad cholesterol.
Cholesterol is just cholesterol. It combines with other fats and proteins to be carried through the bloodstream, since fat and our watery blood do not mix very well.
Fatty substances therefore must be shuttled to and from our tissues and cells using proteins. LDL and HDL are forms of proteins and are far from being just cholesterol. In fact we now know there are many types of these fat and protein particles.
LDL particles come in many sizes and large LDL particles are not a problem. Only the so-called small dense LDL particles can potentially be a problem, because they can squeeze through the lining of the arteries and if they oxidize, otherwise known as turning rancid, they can cause damage and inflammation.
Thus, you might say that there is "good LDL" and "bad LDL." Also, some HDL particles are better than others. Knowing just your total cholesterol tells you very little. Even knowing your LDL and HDL levels do not tell you very much.
A mistake that is rarely made in the hard-core sciences such as physics seems to be frequently made in medicine. This is confusing correlation with cause. There may be a weak correlation of elevated cholesterol with heart attacks, however this does not mean it is the cholesterol that caused the heart attack. Certainly gray hair is correlated with getting older;
however one could hardly say that the gray hair caused one to get old. Using hair dye to reduce the gray hair would not really make you any younger. Neither it appears would just lowering your cholesterol.
Perhaps something else is causing both the gray hair and aging. Even if elevated cholesterol were significant and heart disease (which I question) perhaps something else is causing the elevated cholesterol and also causing the heart disease.
Let's look little more at cholesterol or, as Paul Harvey was fond of saying, "the rest of the story." First and foremost, cholesterol is a vital component of every cell membrane on Earth. In other words, there is no life on Earth they can live without cholesterol. They will automatically tell you that, in of itself, it cannot be evil. In fact it is one of our best friends.
We would not be here without it. No wonder lowering cholesterol too much increases one's risk of dying. Cholesterol also is a precursor to all of the steroid hormones. You cannot make estrogen, testosterone, cortisone, and a host of other vital hormones without cholesterol.
Cholesterol Is The Hero, Not The Villain.
It was determined many years ago that the majority of cholesterol in your bloodstream comes from what your liver is manufacturing and distributing. The amount of cholesterol that one eats plays little role in determining your cholesterol levels.
It is also known that HDL shuttles cholesterol away from tissues, and away from your arteries, back to your liver. That is why HDL is called the "good cholesterol;" because it is supposedly taking cholesterol away from your arteries. But let's think about that.
Why does your liver make sure that you have plenty of cholesterol?
Why is HDL taking cholesterol back to your liver?
Why not take it right to your kidneys, or your intestines to get rid of it?
It is taking it back to your liver so that your liver can recycle it; put it back into other particles to be taken to tissues and cells that need it. Your body is trying to make and conserve the cholesterol for the precise reason that it is so important, indeed vital, for health.
One function of cholesterol is to keep your cell membranes from falling apart. As such, you might consider cholesterol your cells "superglue." It is a necessary ingredient in any sort of cellular repair. The coronary disease associated with heart attacks is now known to be caused from damage to the lining of those arteries. That damage causes inflammation. The coronary disease that causes heart attacks is now considered to be caused mostly from chronic inflammation.
What Is Inflammation?
Think of what happens if you were to cut your hand. Within a fraction of a second, chemicals are released by the damaged tissue to initiate the process known as inflammation. Inflammation will allow that little cut to heal, and indeed to keep you from dying.
The cut blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding too much. Blood becomes "thicker" so that it can clot. Cells and chemicals from the immune system are alerted to come to the area to keep intruders such as viruses and bacteria from invading the cut.
Other cells are told to multiply to repair the damage so that you can heal. When the repair is completed, you have lived to be careless another day, though you may have a small scar to show for your troubles.
We now know that similar events take place within the lining of our arteries. When damage occurs to the lining of our arteries (or even elsewhere) chemicals are released to initiate the process of inflammation. Arteries constrict, blood becomes more prone to clot, white blood cells are called to the area to gobble up damaged debris, and cells adjacent to those damaged are told to multiply. Ultimately, scars form, however inside our arteries we call it plaque. And the constriction of our arteries and the "thickening" of our blood further predisposes us to high blood pressure and heart attacks.
So Where Might Cholesterol Fit Into All Of This?
When damage is occurring and inflammation is being initiated, chemicals are being released so that that damage can be repaired. One could speculate that to replace damaged, old and worn-out cells the liver needs to be notified to either recycle or manufacture cholesterol since no cell, human or otherwise, can be made without it. In this case, cholesterol is being manufactured and distributed in your bloodstream to help you repair damaged tissue and in fact to keep you alive.
If excessive damage is occurring such that it is necessary to distribute extra cholesterol through the bloodstream, it would not seem very wise to merely lower the cholesterol and forget about why it is there in the first place. It would seem much smarter to reduce the extra need for the cholesterol -- the excessive damage that is occurring, the reason for the chronic inflammation.
So Why Take Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs?
The pharmaceutical companies thought that you might think that. They went back to the drawing board. They did more "research" and found (coincidentally) that statin drugs had anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore we're currently being told to stay on our cholesterol-lowering drugs because now they work by reducing inflammation and perhaps not even by reducing cholesterol, and in fact perhaps in spite of it. Aspirin reduces inflammation for a lot less money. So does vitamin E, and fish oil, and dietary changes without the dangers of drugs and having many other benefits instead.
What About Triglycerides?
Triglycerides are just medical terminology for fat. A person with high triglycerides has a lot of fat in the bloodstream. Triglycerides are generally measured when a person has fasted overnight. High fasting triglycerides are either from manufacturing too much, or using (burning) too little. In other words, what high triglycerides are telling you is that you are making too much fat and you are unable to burn it. This indeed is a major problem. The inability to burn fat underlies virtually all of the chronic diseases of aging, and in fact may contribute to the rate of aging itself.
As such, one might think that the control of fat burning and storage might be very important in heart disease, and the other diseases of aging such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Indeed, this appears to very much be the case. The two hormones that to a major extent control our ability to burn and store fat, insulin and leptin, appear to play a major role in all of the chronic diseases of aging. I would call them the most important hormones, indeed chemicals in the entire body. But that is a story for next time.
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