Death Begins in the Colon

"You are not what you eat but what you do not eliminate!"

A healthy colon  is responsible for absorbing fluids, forming stools and eliminating stools. It is actually the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates. The colon is basically responsible for extracting salt and water from solid waste before it is eliminated from the body. This however does not mean that the colon plays an important role in the absorption of food and nutrients. It does not! By the time food reaches the large intestine, most of the nutrients have been digested and absorbed.

This is an ultrasound image of a healthy colon.

The colon starts where the small intestine ends and extends to the anus. The bowel is the name given to the combination of the large and small intestine.

The Colon has a very delicate lining. The colon lining, if good and healthy performs the following functions.

• Protects nerve endings in the colon wall. This enables the receptor cells to perform faster and more effectively. And this further increases the reliability that the messages will be transferred correctly to and from the brain.

• It lubricates stool passage promoting stool transit.

• It also eases the movement of fluids in and out of the colon. Nutritional uptake of vitamins is optimized.

• It also promotes the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria. This bacteria further has many responsibilities, one of the most important ones being protection against infection and grooming the colon.

90% of all diseases in the body are credited to having origins in the colon!

Dr. Vanita Forsyth, a chiropractor and an authority on colon health explains what causes poor colon health:

"Let’s visualize the following scenario: You have a perfect bowel, you are on a perfect diet. Once in a while you ingest something that is harmful.

In order to protect itself, the body causes mucus to be formed in the colon before the harmful food or substance reached there."

(I wont offer any images of this, but if you want to really give yourself a reason to get your colon cleaned out, do some of your own research on colon mucus...)

"The substance reaches the colon 18 hours later. The mucus has been prepared by the body and is lining the colon so you won’t absorb the poison when it gets there, so it literally coats the poison. Then later it breaks down and will be discharged from the colon with no harmful effect. Well, you got away with it that time. Nature’s protective mechanism functioned properly. So you do it more often.

Four times today, you ingested mucus-forming foods. Most of which is also low in fiber. The mucus is secreted four times today to protect you against what you just ate and drank and smoked. So, you do this every day of your life. But every day you try to eat something raw, one apple or orange or salad, maybe this helps.

But 85% to 90% of everything you eat is going to cause mucus to be formed. The mucus lining in the bowel thickens."

"Nature’s protective mechanism, which was designed for occasional use only, is being forced to work continuously day after day, year after year, with no rest and no chance to eliminate the mucus which is being laid down faster than it can be eliminated. Layer piles upon layer, like the rings of a tree."

These are ultrasound images of how the colon can end up if not cared for properly.

Dr. Forsyth explained that this can become so severe that there is almost no opening left for the waste to pass through the colon at all.

"An autopsy of one person revealed a colon that was 9 inches in diameter that had a passage through it no larger than that of a pencil."

Another autopsy showed a stagnant colon that weighed 40 pounds. This accumulation can have the consistency of tire rubber. It’s hard and black.

More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of cleansing the colon. Many experts believe that the average person could be carrying up to 20 lbs. of accumulated waste matter in their colon.

Colon and bowel cleansers can be really harsh and harmful to the body however. When looking at taking the path of pursuing colon health, please seek out some good advise and be gentle and kind to your body.

Healthy bowel movements daily are essential to support colon and rectal health.

Good colon health is achieved through all of your daily choices says Dr Ken Kim. In his article, How to Promote Healthy Bowle Moevements, he offers some great advise on avoiding constipation and achieving overall health.

I hope this article was useful to you and I wish us all a healthy bowel xx

SOURCES:
http://www.enrichinglives.com/colon.htm
http://www.innovativebodysolutions.com.au/specialised.html
http://colonhealth.aussieblogs.com.au/
https://www.boundless.com/biology/digestive-systems/the-components-of-the-mammalian-digestive-system/water-absorption-in-the-large-intestine/
http://www.liverawkitchen.com/the-bowel.php
http://www.123rf.com/photo_4683108_highlighted-colon.html

Thyroid Health: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Healing

Read on to learn what the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland does, how to figure out whether it’s on the fritz, and, if that’s the case, how to get your thyroid (and your well-being) back on track.
Kris Carr

Here are some dietry suggestion on how to counteract thyroid disease.

Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain function, UCLA study shows

UCLA researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task.

Get the full story by Rachel Champeau here

Dr Michael Gregor sheds some of his own brand of light on the subject here. Watch his short film outlining the links between probiotics and mental health.

Vitamin C as a cure for Cancer, Heart Disease and Infection.

When a two-time Nobel Prize winner has something to say about vitamins, even the conventional medical establishment is compelled to listen.

Linus Pauling's claim, that he knew a cure for heart disease, cancer and infections, was greeted with ridicule. His remarkable health claims concerned the substance we know as vitamin C. Now, ten years after his death on 19th August 1994, his revolutionary ideas are finally on the way to vindication. Given his history, it should not surprise us if Pauling was right all along. He was, after all, the leading chemist of the last century and, arguably, the greatest ever American scientist. He remains the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes, the first for Chemistry (1954) and the second for peace (1962). In addition to being one of the greatest scientists ever, he was a renowned humanitarian. 
Stone first introduced Pauling to vitamin C, and explained that it wasn't really a vitamin at all, but an essential substance we could no longer manufacture in our bodies. Most animals make their own vitamin C, in large amounts. In humans, the gene for this ability has mutated and no longer works properly. 
When Pauling looked into Stone's claims, he found that conventional medicine had long ignored evidence from respected physicians and scientists. This research suggested that high doses of vitamin C might be a cure for many illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. However, when he explained these findings in his wonderfully constructed books "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" and "How to Live Longer and Feel Better", the medical profession was incensed, implying that a mere chemist could not possibly understand the intricacies of medical science. 
“It is wise to carry some 500-mg tablets of ascorbic acid with you at all times. At the first sign that a cold is developing, the first feeling of scratchiness of the throat, or presence of mucus in the nose, or muscle pain or general malaise, begin the treatment by swallowing one or two 500-mg tablets. Continue the treatment for several hours by taking an additional tablet or two tablets per hour.” (p. 86)
When they examined the evidence, Hickey and Roberts found background evidence for Pauling's ideas from independent scientific and medical reports, covering half a century. The findings in these papers could neither be dismissed as placebo effects nor easily explained. The reports included remission of AIDS, cures for cancer, and the immediate recovery of children at the point of death from septic shock. The claims seemed so out of the ordinary that they were hard to believe. However, Hickey and Roberts could find no counter examples in the scientific or medical literature. 





Linus Pauling from his book Vitamin C and the Common Cold 


Get the full story on Pauling's findings from these SOURCES:
http://practicingmedicinewithoutalicense.com/protocol/excerpt_chp7.pdf
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/12154.php
http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/2-time-nobel-prize-winner-most-humans-are-dying-from-a-lack-of-this-vitamin/

Are You Really A Mental Patient? Check your Thyroid

Dummy autoimmune thyroid conditions such as postpartum thyroiditis are not fundamentally thyroid problems – they are manifestations of a dysfunctional immune system; one that is misrecognizing the body’s tissues as foreign. Many doctors don’t even screen for antibodies because their presence doesn’t change the intervention, which is typically a lifetime of varying dosages of synthetic T4.It’s The Immune System: Dummy autoimmune thyroid conditions such as postpartum thyroiditis are not fundamentally thyroid problems – they are manifestations of a dysfunctional immune system; one that is misrecognizing the body’s tissues as foreign. Many doctors don’t even screen for antibodies because their presence doesn’t change the intervention, which is typically a lifetime of varying dosages of synthetic T4.


The thyroid is responsible for producing T4, T3, T1, and T2 and cells are responsible for converting the storage form of hormone, T4, into its active form, T3. This is a process dependent on optimal cortisol and nutrient availability such as iron, iodine, zinc, selenium, B vitamins, C, and D.

Thyroid imbalance can cause anxiety, depression, cloudiness, weight gain, poor concentration in addition to cold and exercise intolerance, dry skin, and hair loss. 

In postpartum thyroiditis, this presentation is typically preceded by a period of hyperthyroidism where women can feel over-energized, suffer from insomnia, diarrhea, anxiety, and precipitous weight-loss – these are the women who “bounce back” quickly after the baby only to be peeling themselves off the ground 9 months later.

Whole Body Ills: Low thyroid function impacts the ability of cells to use energy (hence low body temp), metabolize cholesterol, and to properly use B vitamins for an important cellular process called methylation. Thyroid dysfunction can cause or be the result of other bodily imbalances.

Pregnancy/Postpartum: Reportedly, 10% of women develop postpartum thyroiditis. A number of interesting studies have implicated autoantibodies in the development of postpartum mental illness. Psychiatry has a well-established precedent for the use of active thyroid hormone, or T3, for the treatment of depression, so we have bidirectional reasons to consider appropriate screening in this population.

Here is the entire article, written by By Dr. Kelly Brogan MD, Holistic Psychiatrist

Winning the battle against Candida

Brazilian university researchers have confirmed that a common tree used traditionally as a healing agent has significant healing properties, including the ability to counteract Candida yeast infections.

Get the full story by natropath Case Adams here

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Sacred Space Learning Community or its staff.

Why We Crave Certain Foods Chart

Your body send signal about nutrients deficiency through food craving. 

Chart shared from Healthy Nutrition and Natural Health News 

And for a wider selection, here's another cravings chart. This one has chocolate on it :)

Is there scientific proof we can heal ourselves?

New age gurus suggest that we can heal ourselves by simply changing our minds, but is this concept grounded in cold, hard science? Lissa Rankin, MD explores the scientific literature, reviewing case studies of spontaneous remission, as well as placebo and nocebo effect data, to prove that our thoughts powerfully affect our physiology when we believe we can get well.



Lissa Rankin MD tells us the answer is most definatley yes. Watch here inspirational video.

Broccoli Kills The Stem Cells That Make Cancers Immortal

In one of the most amazing findings of our time, broccoli extract was found to kill the “beating heart” of cancerous tumors, the cancer stem cells that are even resistant to chemo and radiation treatment!
A new theory of cancer biology—cancer stem cells—and the role played by sulforaphane, a phytonutrient produced by cruciferous vegetables.
See Dr  Greger's youtube clip about these findings here 

Read about another study showing how broccoli extract can target cancer cells. 

How To Make An Herbal Antiseptic Wound Spray

The wonderful people at Herb Info have discovered a great formula for an antiseptic wound spray. 

This would be a wonderful addition to a herbal home remedy chest! According to Frugally Sustainable, who hosts the formula, it works at least as well as any store-bought antiseptic wound spray – and of course it contains pure natural ingredients.

FInd the recipe here

80-Year Olds With 40-Year Old Muscle Mass - What's Going On?

One recent study of 40 competitive runners, cyclists, and swimmers, ranging in age from 40 to 81, found no evidence of deterioration. The athletes in their 70s and 80s had almost as much thigh muscle mass as the athletes in their 40s.

Dr Marcola shares some exciting evidence that we are only as old as the amount we work out. 

Read the full story here http://bit.ly/rLX5ao

Electromagnetic Fields And How They Affect Our Health

'Electromagnetic fields of all frequencies represent one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences, about which anxiety and speculation are spreading. All populations are now exposed to varying degrees of EMF, and the levels will continue to increase as technology advances.'

This statement comes form the World Health Organization website. 
In 2008 WHO established the International EMF Project. This was has established to assess health and environmental effects of exposure to static and time varying electric and magnetic fields in the frequency range 0-300 GHz. 
More into on this project here.

In June 2011 WHO released the Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile phones, fact sheet.
More on this here 

And on 5th June 2013 came the Announcement of International Stakeholder Seminar on Radio frequency Policies and WHO put out a call for examples of good risk management practices.
More on this here

To find out more about the latest findings from the World Health Organization on the subject of Electromagnetic Fields, you can contact them.

Here is the link to RESONANCE, an eye opening documentary on the subject of EMF's. 

Depression - Disclosed

See Kevin Breel take the cover off the subject of depression. In this wonderfully real declaration, Kevin exposes us to a subject that has most likely touched each of our lives.

Well worth a watch.

Groundbreaking Study Finds Turmeric Extract Superior to Prozac for Depression

A new study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research has confirmed for the first time in a randomized, controlled clinical trial that the primary polyphenol in turmeric known as curcumin is both safe and effective in treating serious states of depression.

Read the article here.

Chemical Free Cancer Survivor Story

In this short and powerful testimony Chris Ward shares his story of how he refused chemotherapy and cured himself with a raw vegan diet.

“If you don’t do chemotherapy you’re insane.” quote from his doctor.

Watch Chis's testimonial here. Very inspiring! 

You can also follow his journey on his website Chris Beat Cancer 

FREE Wellness Guide for Diabetes and Pre-Diabtes or Metabolic Syndrome

'Diabetes is a life-changing disease in every sense of the word.

Regardless of your age, race, or gender, coping with this diagnosis requires constant 

vigilance and awareness of the state of your body at all times—because even a single 

oversight has the potential to cost you your life. This requires having full and 

complete knowledge of the disease, its origins, and the many ways in which it can 

affect your body.

That’s one reason why I felt that writing this report for you was so important.'

Dr Isaac Eliaz

You can send Dr Eliaz an email requesting a copy of his Wellness Guide to be sent to you for FREE. 

Hydrating the Body, the How and the Why of it.

In this True Activist article, Amanda Froelich  shares some great, common sense thoughts on getting and keeping our bodies hydrated. You can read the article here.

If you're still asking why should I worry about hydrating my body, check out Dr. Isaac Eliaz article from Evolving Wellness, called Why Hydrate.

Yoga for anxiety and depression

Studies suggest that this practice modulates the stress response.

Since the 1970s, meditation and other stress-reduction techniques have been studied as possible treatments for depression and anxiety. One such practice, yoga, has received less attention in the medical literature, though it has become increasingly popular in recent decades. One national survey estimated, for example, that about 7.5% of U.S. adults had tried yoga at least once, and that nearly 4% practiced yoga in the previous year.

Yoga classes can vary from gentle and accommodating to strenuous and challenging; the choice of style tends to be based on physical ability and personal preference. Hatha yoga, the most common type of yoga practiced in the United States, combines three elements: physical poses, called asanas; controlled breathing practiced in conjunction with asanas; and a short period of deep relaxation or meditation.

Many of the studies evaluating yoga's therapeutic benefits have been small and poorly designed. However, a 2004 analysis found that, in recent decades, an increasing number have been randomized controlled trials — the most rigorous standard for proving efficacy.

Available reviews of a wide range of yoga practices suggest they can reduce the impact of exaggerated stress responses and may be helpful for both anxiety and depression. In this respect, yoga functions like other self-soothing techniques, such as meditation, relaxation, exercise, or even socializing with friends.

Taming the stress response

By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body's ability to respond to stress more flexibly.

A small but intriguing study further characterizes the effect of yoga on the stress response. In 2008, researchers at the University of Utah presented preliminary results from a study of varied participants' responses to pain. They note that people who have a poorly regulated response to stress are also more sensitive to pain. Their subjects were 12 experienced yoga practitioners, 14 people with fibromyalgia (a condition many researchers consider a stress-related illness that is characterized by hypersensitivity to pain), and 16 healthy volunteers.

When the three groups were subjected to more or less painful thumbnail pressure, the participants with fibromyalgia — as expected — perceived pain at lower pressure levels compared with the other subjects. Functional MRIs showed they also had the greatest activity in areas of the brain associated with the pain response. In contrast, the yoga practitioners had the highest pain tolerance and lowest pain-related brain activity during the MRI. The study underscores the value of techniques, such as yoga, that can help a person regulate their stress and, therefore, pain responses.

Improved mood and functioning

Questions remain about exactly how yoga works to improve mood, but preliminary evidence suggests its benefit is similar to that of exercise and relaxation techniques.

In a German study published in 2005, 24 women who described themselves as "emotionally distressed" took two 90-minute yoga classes a week for three months. Women in a control group maintained their normal activities and were asked not to begin an exercise or stress-reduction program during the study period.

Though not formally diagnosed with depression, all participants had experienced emotional distress for at least half of the previous 90 days. They were also one standard deviation above the population norm in scores for perceived stress (measured by the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale), anxiety (measured using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and depression (scored with the Profile of Mood States and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, or CES-D).

At the end of three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being. Depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%. Initial complaints of headaches, back pain, and poor sleep quality also resolved much more often in the yoga group than in the control group.

One uncontrolled, descriptive 2005 study examined the effects of a single yoga class for inpatients at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital. The 113 participants included patients with bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia. After the class, average levels of tension, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, and fatigue dropped significantly, as measured by the Profile of Mood States, a standard 65-item questionnaire that participants answered on their own before and after the class. Patients who chose to participate in additional classes experienced similar short-term positive effects.

Further controlled trials of yoga practice have demonstrated improvements in mood and quality of life for the elderly, people caring for patients with dementia, breast cancer survivors, and patients with epilepsy.

Benefits of controlled breathing

A type of controlled breathing with roots in traditional yoga shows promise in providing relief for depression. The program, called Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY), involves several types of cyclical breathing patterns, ranging from slow and calming to rapid and stimulating.

One study compared 30 minutes of SKY breathing, done six days a week, to bilateral electroconvulsive therapy and the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine in 45 people hospitalized for depression. After four weeks of treatment, 93% of those receiving electroconvulsive therapy, 73% of those taking imipramine, and 67% of those using the breathing technique had achieved remission.

Another study examined the effects of SKY on depressive symptoms in 60 alcohol-dependent men. After a week of a standard detoxification program at a mental health center in Bangalore, India, participants were randomly assigned to two weeks of SKY or a standard alcoholism treatment control. After the full three weeks, scores on a standard depression inventory dropped 75% in the SKY group, as compared with 60% in the standard treatment group. Levels of two stress hormones, cortisol and corticotropin, also dropped in the SKY group, but not in the control group. The authors suggest that SKY might be a beneficial treatment for depression in the early stages of recovery from alcoholism.

Potential help for PTSD

Since evidence suggests that yoga can tone down maladaptive nervous system arousal, researchers are exploring whether or not yoga can be a helpful practice for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One randomized controlled study examined the effects of yoga and a breathing program in disabled Australian Vietnam veterans diagnosed with severe PTSD. The veterans were heavy daily drinkers, and all were taking at least one antidepressant. The five-day course included breathing techniques (see above), yoga asanas, education about stress reduction, and guided meditation. Participants were evaluated at the beginning of the study using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), which ranks symptom severity on an 80-point scale.

Six weeks after the study began, the yoga and breathing group had dropped their CAPS scores from averages of 57 (moderate to severe symptoms) to 42 (mild to moderate). These improvements persisted at a six-month follow-up. The control group, consisting of veterans on a waiting list, showed no improvement.

About 20% of war veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq suffer from PTSD, according to one estimate. Experts treating this population suggest that yoga can be a useful addition to the treatment program.

Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., are offering a yogic method of deep relaxation to veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Kristie Gore, a psychologist at Walter Reed, says the military hopes that yoga-based treatments will be more acceptable to the soldiers and less stigmatizing than traditional psychotherapy. The center now uses yoga and yogic relaxation in post-deployment PTSD awareness courses, and plans to conduct a controlled trial of their effectiveness in the future.

Cautions and encouragement

Although many forms of yoga practice are safe, some are strenuous and may not be appropriate for everyone. In particular, elderly patients or those with mobility problems may want to check first with a clinician before choosing yoga as a treatment option.

But for many patients dealing with depression, anxiety, or stress, yoga may be a very appealing way to better manage symptoms. Indeed, the scientific study of yoga demonstrates that mental and physical health are not just closely allied, but are essentially equivalent. The evidence is growing that yoga practice is a relatively low-risk, high-yield approach to improving overall health.
Yoga classes can vary from gentle and accommodating to strenuous and challenging; the choice of style tends to be based on physical ability and personal preference. Hatha yoga, the most common type of yoga practiced in the United States, combines three elements: physical poses, called asanas; controlled breathing practiced in conjunction with asanas; and a short period of deep relaxation or meditation.
Many of the studies evaluating yoga's therapeutic benefits have been small and poorly designed. However, a 2004 analysis found that, in recent decades, an increasing number have been randomized controlled trials — the most rigorous standard for proving efficacy.
Available reviews of a wide range of yoga practices suggest they can reduce the impact of exaggerated stress responses and may be helpful for both anxiety and depression. In this respect, yoga functions like other self-soothing techniques, such as meditation, relaxation, exercise, or even socializing with friends.

Taming the stress response
By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body's ability to respond to stress more flexibly.
A small but intriguing study further characterizes the effect of yoga on the stress response. In 2008, researchers at the University of Utah presented preliminary results from a study of varied participants' responses to pain. They note that people who have a poorly regulated response to stress are also more sensitive to pain. Their subjects were 12 experienced yoga practitioners, 14 people with fibromyalgia (a condition many researchers consider a stress-related illness that is characterized by hypersensitivity to pain), and 16 healthy volunteers.
When the three groups were subjected to more or less painful thumbnail pressure, the participants with fibromyalgia — as expected — perceived pain at lower pressure levels compared with the other subjects. Functional MRIs showed they also had the greatest activity in areas of the brain associated with the pain response. In contrast, the yoga practitioners had the highest pain tolerance and lowest pain-related brain activity during the MRI. The study underscores the value of techniques, such as yoga, that can help a person regulate their stress and, therefore, pain responses.

Improved mood and functioning
Questions remain about exactly how yoga works to improve mood, but preliminary evidence suggests its benefit is similar to that of exercise and relaxation techniques.
In a German study published in 2005, 24 women who described themselves as "emotionally distressed" took two 90-minute yoga classes a week for three months. Women in a control group maintained their normal activities and were asked not to begin an exercise or stress-reduction program during the study period.
Though not formally diagnosed with depression, all participants had experienced emotional distress for at least half of the previous 90 days. They were also one standard deviation above the population norm in scores for perceived stress (measured by the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale), anxiety (measured using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and depression (scored with the Profile of Mood States and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, or CES-D).
At the end of three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being. Depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%. Initial complaints of headaches, back pain, and poor sleep quality also resolved much more often in the yoga group than in the control group.
One uncontrolled, descriptive 2005 study examined the effects of a single yoga class for inpatients at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital. The 113 participants included patients with bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia. After the class, average levels of tension, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, and fatigue dropped significantly, as measured by the Profile of Mood States, a standard 65-item questionnaire that participants answered on their own before and after the class. Patients who chose to participate in additional classes experienced similar short-term positive effects.
Further controlled trials of yoga practice have demonstrated improvements in mood and quality of life for the elderly, people caring for patients with dementia, breast cancer survivors, and patients with epilepsy.

Benefits of controlled breathing
A type of controlled breathing with roots in traditional yoga shows promise in providing relief for depression. The program, called Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY), involves several types of cyclical breathing patterns, ranging from slow and calming to rapid and stimulating.
One study compared 30 minutes of SKY breathing, done six days a week, to bilateral electroconvulsive therapy and the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine in 45 people hospitalized for depression. After four weeks of treatment, 93% of those receiving electroconvulsive therapy, 73% of those taking imipramine, and 67% of those using the breathing technique had achieved remission.
Another study examined the effects of SKY on depressive symptoms in 60 alcohol-dependent men. After a week of a standard detoxification program at a mental health center in Bangalore, India, participants were randomly assigned to two weeks of SKY or a standard alcoholism treatment control. After the full three weeks, scores on a standard depression inventory dropped 75% in the SKY group, as compared with 60% in the standard treatment group. Levels of two stress hormones, cortisol and corticotropin, also dropped in the SKY group, but not in the control group. The authors suggest that SKY might be a beneficial treatment for depression in the early stages of recovery from alcoholism.
Potential help for PTSD
Since evidence suggests that yoga can tone down maladaptive nervous system arousal, researchers are exploring whether or not yoga can be a helpful practice for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
One randomized controlled study examined the effects of yoga and a breathing program in disabled Australian Vietnam veterans diagnosed with severe PTSD. The veterans were heavy daily drinkers, and all were taking at least one antidepressant. The five-day course included breathing techniques (see above), yoga asanas, education about stress reduction, and guided meditation. Participants were evaluated at the beginning of the study using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), which ranks symptom severity on an 80-point scale.
Six weeks after the study began, the yoga and breathing group had dropped their CAPS scores from averages of 57 (moderate to severe symptoms) to 42 (mild to moderate). These improvements persisted at a six-month follow-up. The control group, consisting of veterans on a waiting list, showed no improvement.
About 20% of war veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq suffer from PTSD, according to one estimate. Experts treating this population suggest that yoga can be a useful addition to the treatment program.
Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., are offering a yogic method of deep relaxation to veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Kristie Gore, a psychologist at Walter Reed, says the military hopes that yoga-based treatments will be more acceptable to the soldiers and less stigmatizing than traditional psychotherapy. The center now uses yoga and yogic relaxation in post-deployment PTSD awareness courses, and plans to conduct a controlled trial of their effectiveness in the future.

Cautions and encouragement
Although many forms of yoga practice are safe, some are strenuous and may not be appropriate for everyone. In particular, elderly patients or those with mobility problems may want to check first with a clinician before choosing yoga as a treatment option.
But for many patients dealing with depression, anxiety, or stress, yoga may be a very appealing way to better manage symptoms. Indeed, the scientific study of yoga demonstrates that mental and physical health are not just closely allied, but are essentially equivalent. The evidence is growing that yoga practice is a relatively low-risk, high-yield approach to improving overall health.

Article created by Anatomy In Motion

Information by Harvard Medical School

Cancer Causing Potato Chips

Cancer in a Can - The Shocking Truth of How Pringles are Made by Dr Mercola reveals some of the sad truths about how Pringles and other types of actual potato derived chips are made. It's not pretty.

Dr Mercola says that 'potatoe chips are clearly one of the most toxic processed foods you can eat—whether they’re made from actual potato shavings or not.'

That is very sad news for me indeed. having LOVED potatoes and potato chips my entire life, in fact PATATA was my first word as a baby. 
I am now confronted by this news and find myself at a loss for what to replace my beloved chippy indulgence with.

Here is the low down on how pringles and other chips actually created from potato are made, cooked and seasoned. 

Stay tuned for healthy chippy ideas x

http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/07/cancer-in-a-can-the-shocking-true-story-of-how-pringles-are-made.html

Natural Sinus Infection Treatment

I had a sinus infection for months last year, couldn't shake it with anything..
if you suffer from sinus too, try this out, let me know if it works for you x