The Healing Arts: 18 Things Healers Learn, #4; There Are Only Lessons

Success and failure are only ideas. What looks, in one moment, to be a huge success, can easily take on the odor of failure. Success for one can often be interpreted, by another, as that person?s biggest failure. So much depends upon one?s own interpretation of the events. If you look hard enough, you will always find ways to turn one into the other.

Traditional Native American craftspeople often integrate a ?flaw? into the artistic patterns they work with. It is to remind them and others there is nothing that is perfect. Within the context of these imperfections, perfection is attained. Perhaps the power of the flaw is to reflect the perfect concept of balance ? all is ever-changing.

Things are as they are, and no matter how we try to deny it, every moment in our life depends on the ones that precede it; every moment is a foundational building block upon which the others that follow rely. Our wiring makes it possible for us to apply one moment to the next.

But a moment is alive. It is always shifting, changing, building up or breaking down, and perhaps, most important, has no judgment of itself. It simply is.

By understanding and accepting the nature of the moment, we can come to terms with our role in it: The most we can do is to respond honestly to it, apply what we?ve picked up from the moments before it and use them all to the best of our ability.

And, of course, there will always be something we missed. That is called a lesson. There are no moments without lessons.

In the healing arts sometimes these lessons are excruciating. Death itself is a prime example. Death makes way for new life. Period. Because everything will die, the healer must recognize death as a form of healing, for it, too, is a reflection of a circle coming to completion. The lesson here is that there is nothing living on this earth that has not sprung from death.

A real tough extension of that is that it really seems ? especially for those who work in critical care areas ? that they are ?used? in some way to be agents of death. Many people in the healing arts have been in situations where, to their total exasperation they discover that every action they took, every decision they made, seemed to contribute to the demise of the person who was in their care.

And then, from the vantage point of hindsight, it can be seen that the ripple effects of what were deemed to be destructive moments actually contributed significantly to a movement toward a much greater good.

The same ?hand of God? that intervenes to work through us to preserve or protect life also works through us to bring it to its conclusion. Most of the time, we don?t notice it, and when we do, we do everything in our power to deny it.

But for those working in the healing arts, where there are so few working on so many, it is almost inevitable that this sense of agentry ? both for life AND death ? be experienced.

The trick is to learn how to review and evaluate your past performance ? no matter how extreme — without agonizing over it. It is in the agonizing over circumstances that we lose the present moment. In our headlong drive to qualify and quantify and judge each moment that has passed, we miss the moment that is.

We do it all the time. That, perhaps, is the most important lesson of them all; moments are too few and precious to squander.

What sets us off balance, more than anything else, is getting locked into the ?failure? of the moment that just passed and, as a result, we miss a string of crucial moments that follow. On one level, this is a disruption of the free passage, or movement, of energy. Our jobs, as healers, is to keep that passage clear.

Moments are simply things that happen. First this. Now this. Now this. Now this. Judgment is all about living in the ?that? and missing the ?this.?

By integrating conscious understanding that lessons are all there are, you can free yourself to have many more moments that are connected with each other. Your unbroken connection to each moment is, like an untwisted, un-nicked water hose, the vehicle through which healing energy flows.

Russ Reina shares over 35 years of experience in the healing arts through his web site http:// mauihealingartist.com. It is a potent resource for those wishing to deepen their abilities in connection and develop their powers as healers. For a powerful free tool to explore your inner world, please check out his adjunct site http:// thestoryofthis.net

(Permission is granted to reprint this article, unedited, provided proper attribution is made and the signature line — the above resource paragraph — is kept intact)

Meditation – A Guide for Beginners

Many people usually think mediation is for monks, nuns, priests, and yoga practitioners, but mediation is for everyone, including Pagans, Wiccans, and Earth-based religion followers. Meditation can help you communicate with your higher consciousness as well as the God and Goddess or your ‘higher power.’

The benefits of mediation are many, including relaxing the mind and body. Done properly it can reduce stress, and it also may have a positive impact on health as a result. Of course, mediation cannot make up for poor eating habits and bodily neglect, but better to work on one crutch at a time.

Mediation periods can be as short as ten to twenty minutes and last up to hours depending on your available free time. I recommend starting with ten minutes a day by just relaxing your body whether it be in a chair at your desk, or sitting comfortably on pillows tossed across the floor. The important thing is that you do not lay down, doing so might induce a nap and defeat the whole purpose of mediating.

Start by getting comfortable and uncross your arms and legs, if in a chair. If you are on the floor relax in a indian style sitting position, or a position that you feel comfortable in, and let your arms and hands rest on your legs naturally or fall to your side. Slowly close your eyes and let the stress of the day or night drift away by envisioning a bright white light that streams in through the top of your head and extends through your body and out through your hands and feet. Keep visualizing this and try not to allow your mind to drift. The trick here is to concentrate fully on the white light. If a thought comes into your head, acknowledge it and let it go and return to the visualization.

See any disease or stress wash away leaving your body clean and renewed. The white light is washing your body from head to toe. Actually see in your mind’s eye the stress, disease, and toxins as black worms or speckles, all the heartaches being cleansed from your body leaving through your feet and arms and dropping back into Mother Earth where is can be cleansed and reused for good purposes.

After you feel your body has been sufficiently charged and cleansed let your mind slowly come back to where you are sitting. Allow your eyes to open and take a moment before standing. For some it would be advisable to get a drink of water or a noncarborated, or caffeine free beverage to replenish the body.

Remember to start off slow, and work up to a time length that you will feel comfortable with. Some tips for successful mediation is to incorporate what makes you comfortable, whether burning incense in a flameproof burner accompanied by some of your favorite relaxing music. Try different things to encourage yourself to continue and soon you will benefit from the wonders of connecting with your inner self and the higher powers. You may even begin to get messages for yourself or others and I advise you to write these down right away so you do not forget them.

Also, you may wish to chant while you perform your mediation. A simple ?Ohmmmm? is fine or whatever word or sound you would like to make, as long as it distracts your mind from what needs to be done or take place in an hour.

I don?t recommend to breath deeply, as with some people with medical conditions known or not, may cause them to experience problems, and as always consult with your doctor before starting any type of breathing exercises or exercise programs period.

Blessed be )O(

Scott is a long time practicing Pagan Witch from CT where he lives with his ltr and thirteen cats. Scott has been studying witchcraft from a nature prospective for over twenty years. Many years were spent solitary and has come out of his solitary status to share and exchange knowledge and do his part to help join the Pagan community together. He also runs a website and internet radio station called “The Witch’s Ground.” For more information please visit Scott at http://www.thewitchesground.com

You Are A Master Of Biofeedback – You Just Don’t Know It Yet

Have you ever felt feverish and decided to go to bed with a hot bowl of soup? Does your preference for dessert depend on the numbers shown on your bathroom scale? Well, then you have been listening to your body! Depending upon the readings on the thermometer, you decided to opt for hot soup (which supplies fluids) and rest. The figures on your bathroom scales tell you whether you should take that extra serving of strawberry cake or not.

Well, then you are not new to biofeedback. Although you may not know it, you have been trying to ?improve your health by reading the signals your body is sending you?. This is biofeedback. When doctors, physiotherapists and even ordinary people use signals from the patient?s body to decide the course of their treatment, they are relying on biofeedback.

In biofeedback, electronic instruments enable doctors to monitor the activities of the body ? both physical as well as psychological. Clinicians have sensitive machines that can easily ?see? or ?hear? inside the bodies of patients. It is not uncommon to come across people who are very confused about their own symptoms, aches and pains. These machines can detect the internal activities of a person with far greater precision than the patient himself can.

For patients the ?biofeedback machine? acts like a kind of sixth-sense that guides them to the true workings of their bodies. According to the readings given by the machine the biofeedback therapist makes internal adjustments. This information is valuable and often proves crucial when it comes to choosing modes of treatment. The therapist is almost like a football coach, waiting on the sidelines and giving instructions to patients on how to improve performance.

When biofeedback first made its appearance, doctors had high hopes ? probably these were too high to be realistic. They hoped that biofeedback would one day give us so much control over our bodies that we could simply ?will? ourselves to good health. A patient could then avoid taking medicines.

Today, scientists and doctors have more reasonable and realistic expectations. Biofeedback can help in the treatment of many diseases. It can drastically reduce post-operative pain. Disorders of the digestive system, cardiac arrhythmias, blood pressure variations, epilepsy, migraine and stress-related head aches and paralysis ? these can be treated using biofeedback.

Biofeedback often aims at changing habitual reactions to incidents that trigger stress. Stress and our reaction to it is often the underlying cause of pain or disease. With most patients, biofeedback is a kind of skill training where patients listen in on their bodies and learn techniques that help them to avert stress or pain.

Physicians, psychiatrists, dentists, physiotherapists and even nurses are increasingly relying on biofeedback. Biofeedback produces amazing results when it is combined with other treatment techniques. Since it is a non-invasive and painless process, biofeedback is a valuable option. Patients can be taught about factors that trigger attacks (as in the case of epilepsy and migraine) and what they have to do to manage, reduce or eliminate the symptoms.

Biofeedback is very effective for chronic benign problems. With this therapy, long term medications become a thing of the past and mid-night visits to the emergency room become a rarity. What?s best of all ? NO more side effects!

Alternative Holistic Medicine

Big Toe Toenail Problems

Big toe toenail problems are not uncommon, and they are caused by a variety of different things. Perhaps because the biggest toe is so much larger than the rest, it seems to take the brunt of the punishment. This article will discuss a few of the things that occur with the biggest toe nail.

One of the more common big toe toenail problems is what is called an ingrown toe nail. An ingrown nail occurs when the nail is too wide for the space it is growing in and the nail at the edges starts to cut into the tender flesh there. An ingrown toe nail can be very painful, and it will frequently cause swelling and inflammation at the site. Of course, when there is injury of this kind, the area is more susceptible to infections of various kinds. Surgery is often required to remove extra nail at the sides. Many people recommend that you always cut your toenails straight across to avoid ingrown nails.

One of the most common infections that causes big toe toenail problems is fungal infection of the nail. This can occur with or without injury or inflammation of the toe, and once a fungus gets established in the nail, it is quite difficult to get rid of. It can also spread to the skin around the nail and to other nails. A fungal toe nail is usually yellowish or black, flaky or crumbly, and very thick. If you suspect you have a fungal nail infection, see your doctor for confirmation. Fungal infections can be treated with prescription drugs or over the counter remedies. There are many widely used home remedies as well.

Another thing that can turn your toenails black and cause big toe toenail problems is strenuous exercise in shoes that don’t provide enough room for your feet. When the nails are subjected to repeated and prolonged physical stress, tiny blood vessels under the nail can break, causing what is essentially a bruise under the nail. If enough blood builds up to cause pressure, it can be quite uncomfortable. Your body will clear up the bruise over time, but you should purchase a good pair of shoes that won’t cause a repeat of this injury.

Because big toe toenail problems are quite common, and can be caused by various different things, it’s important that you get a proper diagnosis from a qualified physician. Diabetics, in particular, should seek professional care as soon a problem is noticed, because these people are more susceptible to infection in the feet.

R. Drysdale is a freelance writer with more than 25 years experience as a health care professional. She is a contributing editor to Big Toe Toenail Problems, a blog dedicated to the treatment of fingernail and toenail fungus.

Fad Diets – Popular Ways to Drop Weight Fast

Fad diets are an American tradition. What was all the rage a few months ago is dropped in the proverbial blink of an eye for the latest and greatest way to “easy” and “fast” weightloss. These fads may be a great way to lose about five or ten pounds quickly as an emergency measure, but they can never be a lifetime plan due their extremely restrictive nature, and lack of balance.

These types of diets are only good for the short term, and in fact, may make you fatter once you’re off of the plan since they often lead to “rebound over-eating” and yo yo dieting, both of which harm your metabolism by constantly leaving it in a state of confusion. If you are thinking of trying one of these fads, you may want to also try a quality, natural appetite suppressant since most of these diets will leave you in a constant state of hunger.

We’ll examine this year’s fad diets. Believe it or not, some of these have actually been circulating for a while and are still a popular diet for quick weight loss – mostly via word of mouth. These diets have aquired somewhat of a mythology about them over time. A person you know probably knows someone or heard stories of someone who lost a drastic amount of weight on them.

Popular Fad Diets, Summarized

1.) Cabbage Soup Diet

What It Is: You make a cabbage soup concoction consisting of broth, lots of cabbage, onions, celery and a few other acceptable veggies. You consume nothing but this soup for days, or for as long as you can stand it, and get to gradually add in very small amounts of normal food.

Why It’s Hard: You may never want to eat soup or look at another carrot or onion again after this diet. Your hunger is never satisfied, because largely what you are consuming is water based, and that is why you can drop weight so quickly – you are not eating anything of real substance. Your stomach is in knots with gas pain and hunger. Bottom line is, this diet is very tough to stick to. When you first try the soup, you think “Hmm, not bad”, but you will soon change your mind. The reward is very rapid weight loss. The problem is, as with all other fad diets, it comes back on just as rapidly if not quicker than it came off when the diet is over. Doctors actually prescribe this diet for patients who need to lose weight quickly for surgery.

2.) The Famous Atkins Diet

What It Is: This is basically “The all you can eat – as long as it’s pure protein diet”. This diet gained a huge following almost immediately after Dr. Atkins released the Atkins Diet book to publication, and experienced another resurgence in about 2001 as a quick and easy way to melt the pounds off quickly without sacrificing too much. It attracted quite a bit of criticism due its extreme and unbalanced nature, as well as a concentration on high fat and cholesterol foods, with little fiber and sometimes little nutritional value.

The foods it centers around are cheese, bacon, chicken, eggs, turkey, beef and snacks like pork rinds. Although the Atkins diet is extreme in nature, it paved the way for more balanced, heart and health friendly diets such as The Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet (two of my favorites), which preach more of a moderation mentality, balance, and a focus on more healthy, whole and unprocessed foods and a somewhat restricted calorie plan that doesn’t leave you hungry.

Why It’s Hard: Your body goes into a state of ketosis due to a lack of carbs and sugars. You get bad breath. You may feel malnourished and weak – a sign of ketosis. The lack of fiber often leads to constipation. When you get hungry, you get HUNGRY! You may never want to look at another egg again in your life, and feel nauseous at the sight of meat.

3.) The All You Can Eat for Seven Days Diet

What It Is: You get to choose from one food group each of the seven days. One day may be all chicken, one may be all fruit, and one may be all vegetables, with minimal restrictions on which ones are not allowed. You can eat as much as you want as long as it is within that one food group for each assigned day.

Why It’s Hard: Try eating one food group all day. It’s very hard. This diet is almost guaranteed to cause a grumbling belly, since no one food can usually satiate anyone’s appetite or sustain a feeling of fullness for any length of time. Variety is the spice of life, and this applies two-fold to diet boredom and how it leads ot overeating and binges. Once you go off of this diet, you will almost surely gain the weight back, and fast. The problem with diets like this is that they trigger an overeating response due to severe deprivation.

4.) The Snickers Diet

What It Is: You get to eat only Snickers candy bars and may drink coffee or water only with this fad diet. I’m actually not sure how many Snickers bars are allowed per day, but do know someone that has a friend who lost over thirty pounds following this diet, but sacrificed her health, her skin and mental well being in the process.

Why It’s Hard: The first and most obvious reason this diet is unhealthy is that it is based on a calorie dense, high sugar content food, which leads to: high blood sugar, hunger, terrible skin problems, terrible breath, constipation, immune breakdown, unhealthy heart, loss of mental focus and clarity.

There are, of course, many other fad diets that have come and gone, but these are some of the more extreme and interesting ones. While fad diets are tempting to try as a quick fix for drastic and fast weight loss, they should be regarded with caution. Most fad diets lead to larger subsequent weight gains because they are based on deprivation. So, as long as you know what you’re getting going into it, and don’t expect to use it as a long term solution to losing weight or maintaining weight loss, then you’ll be prepared for the outcome.

Visit Diet Reviews for more information on different diet methods, supplements and technology. Danna Schneider is the founder of Dieting Magazine Online Resource for Weightloss and Dieting.

Cialis Sojourn: A Journey through Cyberspace

When push comes to shove:

It took one hell of an effort to come into terms with my underperformance or no-performance (the correct choice of word) in bed. It never was an issue when I was young, strong and healthy. Has age taken its toll on my virility? Well, I thought I was a goner, and was filled with trepidation and perturbation at having entered a stage of sexual vacuum. I surrendered to my fate, cos I knew even the heavens couldn?t help me. But a stubborn bull of a wife wouldn?t take it that way. I gave a deaf ear to her constant babbles and gabbles, day in and day out, to look for a solution. But push finally came to shove and I had to look for a way, when heaven had closed its doors on me.

Oh my god! I need Cialis.

Anyway, I couldn?t fault her. She is just forty and I am on the wrong side of fifty. We married in the fall of 2003, after a yearlong passionate romance of flowers and beaches. Our courtship days were full of exhilarating sexual escapades. The wonderful sexual chemistry we enjoyed was a binding force in our two years of married life. But things suddenly went out of hand, when our second anniversary was just round the corner. The invigorating sessions in bed showed a drastic slide. From a daily occurrence, it gradually became a once in a week affair. And one fine day, I was shell-shocked when I failed to get even an erection.

My wife, co-operative (especially when it came to sex) as she was, and I had a good chat. She passed it off as just a silly incident. But the next day the same thing happened again, my organ was dead as a dodo. From that day on, we tried titillating perfumes, stimulating ointments, sexy lingerie and what nots, but we always came up against a blank wall. I felt as if the ground was giving way under my feet. Then one day out of the blue, Meg popped up the million dollar question, ? Andy, you have a problem, I think you have erectile dysfunction. Why don?t we try Cialis?? ? No way! It?s just my age? I yelled and rushed out of the house. It was then the blabbers began.

Resigned to my helplessness, I fretted and fumed for a week. But my wife kept on planning her moves strategically that before I could say ?checkmate?, I found myself wandering aimlessly in cyberspace witch-hunting for the ?Le Weekender Pill?. But finding the right place to buy Cialis from the sea of sites selling Cialis was not exactly a chalk and cheese thing, though it is an altogether different story.

Where art thou Cialis?

I am no novice when it comes to ordering things online. I knew I had a tough task ahead of me. Filtering out a genuine place to talk shop in the net would be risky business. But no way was I going let some crackpot of a sexual psychologist, a sneak preview of my bedroom woes (by paying him?). caught between the devil and the deep sea, I plunged headlong into the sea, fishing for Cialis.

I began hitting the keys on my monitor and there before my naked eyes endless lists of sites selling ?cheap?, ?branded?, ?discounted? and ?genuine? Cialis popped up on my screen. I was in a fix. How could a product be cheap, branded, discounted and genuine at the same time? They would soon be out of business, the way they were doing business. ?Hey Meg, I can?t do this alone,? I shouted, ?better give me a hand?. Two heads are better than one, I realized. Meg suggested we try randomly at different sites. So began a ?hit and trial? hitting on the keyboard.

A female of the species, she was attracted to sites with sweet sounding names like cialiswonder, and others of the category with a dream or magic thrown in. I quote the Bard, ?What’s in a name? That which we will call a rose. By any other word would smell as sweet.” But stubborn as she was sweet, she went ahead. (My apologies to William) She finally zeroed in on two sites and we started out filling the order forms. ?No prescriptions required, you just need to fill in a simple online form?. My foot! The whole procedure was nothing less cranky than facing a live physician for a prescription. But what the heck, better finish what I started out. So, I finally place the orders at two sites. Then the wait began.

Mixed doubles:

Two packages arrived, one after the other. Missing out on the nocturnal activities for quite a while, I was eager and anxious, as if I was readying for my first lay in the back of dad?s car way back in high school. So, I bushwhacked through the first package and immediately downed a pill. The consulting physician of the online pharmacy told me over phone that I would experience the sexual high in 30 minutes after taking the pill. But nothing happened in the first half-hour, in spite of the exciting ministrations of Meg. I gave her a knowing look, meaning we were hoodwinked. She told me to wait. 45 minutes, one hour, it didn?t come. Then by the 75th minute, I felt a tingling in my groin. Impatient, like a bitch on heat, I was all over my wife. Then, bang, it was all over, the way it started. But still happy with the result, I looked forward to the next 35 hours. Holy cow, my boner remained placid and flaccid, the entire 35 hours. I flushed the remaining pills down the john.

Anyway I still had the other package to further carry out my virility trial. Low on confidence, but high in spirit, I reluctantly took the other pill. Even my wife didn?t show the usual sign of interest in the exercise this time round. Then I got the surprise of surprises. Hardly 25 minutes had passed, when I saw the resurrection down under. I wanted to shout ?Happy Easter? (with no offence to the gods). But first things first. Meg was surprised when she saw the sign of life in my poker so fast. Then everything came back to me. Let me cut out the events of the day, but tell you what, thereafter Meg never sighed in bed, she always cried out. (She still does)

Epilogue:

I am not a writer; I am just giving testimony to a fact. But before I sign off let me feel like a writer just once, with what them writers call an epilogue. Buying Cialis online was a sticky proposition, but thanks to the wonder Cialis, Meg has stopped screaming at me.

Visit http://www.viagrathunder.com, http://www.cialiswonder.com and http://www.buy-viagra-with-us.com, and check out the latest news, articles, jokes and controversies on various aspects of men’s health

Microdermabrasion – The Key To Youth When You Are Beyond It !

Warning : Microdermabrasion can and will change your life, please be prepared to look magically younger.

Reliving the past is a quality that is as primitive as man himself. Remember how often you would have dreamt about those good old days, the sun and sand, the music and the merrymaking?

Those are now things of the past, when you were young and energetic. Now time has taken its toll and life has gone a full circle. But then again, time had not considered the invention of microdermabrasion technology. Your youth of yore can be within your grasp more than ever before with the wonders of microdermabrasion, the power of microdermabrasion kits or even your home microdermabrasion equipment.

Aging is natural. Not wanting to is equally natural. And this fine balance is what motivates most of us to do, look and feel the same way we did in our younger days. Microdermabrasion helps you and me in getting rid of the tell-tale signs of the passage of time. Who could have imagined that small things such as the microdermabrasion crystals held enough power in them to erase the wrinkles of aging? Or for that matter, delete almost all surface level skin imperfections? And thereby giving you a taut fresh and sublimely young look, turning your clock back and giving you one more chance at life yet again.

Microdermabrasion is a new and emerging technology that works on a very simple physics principle of friction causing wear and tear. In this case, finely ground sand particles or microdermabrasion crystals are fired in a streamline on to the surface of the skin thereby abrading it. This abrasion causes the dead cells, blocked pores and other skin-surface level deviations to give way and leaves behind a cleaner, healthier and fresher skin. Presto, you just dropped 10 years on your calendar.

Its never too late to experience the wonders of microdermabrasion and continue your romance with life itself. The only thing that could beat this is if god came down to earth and actually sent you back in time. Till such time that happens, be sure that microdermabrasion will be your substitute for god! Enjoy your life, fresher and younger!

Visit our site at Microdermabrasion Info & Articles to read everything you ever wanted to know about microdermabrasion, its benefits, the cost involved, what precautions to take and much more !

? 2005, Sam Natarajan. This article is courtesy of Microdermabrasion Secrets

You may publish it at no cost, as long as the links are left intact, made live, and this notice stays in place.

Mediterranean Diet – What is It?

Well, to begin with, there isn’t really any one Mediterranean Diet! There’s a whole swag of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The basic Mediterranean Diet has common characteristics even if the sourrounding countries differ in culture, language and recipes to some extent.

* an extensive intake of fruits, vegetables, bread and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds

* olive oil is a source of mono-unsaturated fat – common to the Mediterranean area

* some dairy products, fish and even poultry are consumed in sparing to moderate amounts, and some red meat(not much)

* eggs are consumed in low to moderate amount say 1 to 4 eggs a week

* fortunately wine is acceptable but in low quantities ie. 1 – 3 glasses per day

A good question to ask is – Does a Mediterranean-style diet follow American Heart Association dietary guidelines?

Mediterranean-style diets are often close to US dietary guidelines, but not exactly.

People who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In
fact, saturated fat consumption is well within US dietary guidelines. More than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from mono-unsaturated fats (mainly from olive oil). Mono-unsaturated fat doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels the way saturated fat does.

The incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States. Death rates are lower, too.
However there are some who feel this may not be entirely due to the diet. Lifestyle factors (ie. more physical activity and
extended social family support structures) may also play a part. At this stage this is just a theory. However the research tells all – the diet has existed for umpteen years.

If you would like further proof of the mediterranean diet benefits resulting from research and qualified researchers you
could try visiting http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/26/2599 or http://my.webmd.com/content/article/67/80070.htm. Both of these sites give good ‘food for thought’(excuse the pun).”Olive oil plays a central role, but it is not alone,” says Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health.

“It’s among the divine mix of several factors that, when used in combination, help provide strong evidence of something that is very important — eating the proper diet can significantly reduce your risk of early death.” He and researchers from Greece studied some 22,000 adults, aged 20 to 86, from all regions of that country; most previous studies tracked only older people who were more likely to die during the study. The participants answered detailed questionnaires about their eating habits throughout the four-year study. Then they were rated on how closely they followed the key principles of the Mediterranean diet.

Sticking to the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of death from both heart disease and cancer. For every two points higher on this 0-to-9 scale — with top numbers going to those most closely following the Mediterranean diet — the death rate dropped by 25%.

The findings by Trichopoulos may also help explain why Asians, who typically use these other cooking oils, also have lower disease and death rates. Although they rarely use olive oil, they traditionally follow other principles of the Mediterranean
diet — lots of produce, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed grains, with little saturated fat.

“The message remains the same, and is consistent with other findings: A diet lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated fats, and potentially, polyunsaturates, will result in better health outcomes,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of Tufts University and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

“If the main message that Americans get is to just increase their olive or canola oil consumption, that’s unfortunate because they will increase their caloric intake and they are already getting too many calories. What they need to do is eat more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and fewer foods rich in saturated fats.”

Some of this information has been referenced from The New England Journal of Medicine, June 26, 2003. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology, Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human

Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; spokeswoman, American Heart Association.

So in a nutshell, there is sound evidence that the Mediterranean Diet can help reduce heart disease, cancer, weight gain and of course reduce the risk of early death. However, it would be a mistake to think this outcome is based on the use of Olive Oil alone. The diet is diverse and allows for taste and creativity which is often lacking in most other diets. This alone warrants further investigation from those who seek a healthy, easy diet that has flavour and is fullfilling. Remember too that just as in all worthwhile diets, moderate level exercise should not be overlooked.

Author Ray Darken – Ray often writes for and works with The Mediterranean Diet. If this link is not working you can paste this one into your browser safe-and-easy-weightloss.com or if you’d like more news and broader access to diet and nutrition information try Diet Reviews & Tips. If this link isn’t working, you can paste this one into your browser diet-reviews-and-tips.com

The Truth About Lactate and Exercise

For years exercise scientists and physiologists have preached that lactate/lactic acid build-up in the muscle is the direct cause of muscle fatigue and a decrease in performance. It is proposed that lactate builds up in the muscle cells during intense exercise and literally ?poisons? them, essentially shutting down activity biochemically by reducing the pH or increasing the acidity level. Lactate has therefore been dubbed a metabolic by-product or dead end and as the enemy of human exercise and performance. This may be far from the truth as this article explains.

Unfortunately, the information that gave lactate this unearned reputation is outdated and very questionable since the research on which this theory is based was isolated frog muscle experiments from 1910-1914. The experiments were performed and the lactate theory proposed by A.V. Hill and associates. Basically, these investigators took excised frog muscle and continuously stimulated it with electric shocks until failure and then took lactate samples for analysis. Lactate levels were extraordinarily high, and from this finding the scientists came to the conclusion that lactate buildup must have been the culprit for the fatigue and ultimate failure of the muscle. Hill also concluded that since there was no blood and therefore oxygen supply to the muscle, that this condition must have been the cause of the accumulation of lactate.

These investigations however were highly flawed in their design, since the muscle had been removed from both its nervous and its circulatory (arteries and veins) systems. Since the electrical stimulus was applied at a fixed voltage from an external source, one cannot correlate this with the situation of a live muscle in an animal with a nervous system and brain that regulates nervous and motor input to the muscles. One must account for the possibility of central or nervous fatigue limiting activity. With the absence of a circulatory system, how was the generated lactate supposed to be transported away from the working muscle via the veins? Also, the regulation of metabolism, which is highly dependent on hormonal control, was eliminated with the loss of blood circulation. Clearly, there were big problems with these early experiments, but amazingly the theory in all its weakness has been upheld to the present day!

Few people realize that lactate generation is actually necessary to allow moderate to intense exercise to occur. It is the conversion of a product known as pyruvate to lactate that enables the glycolytic (a fast energy generating metabolic process using glucose) system to continue working at a fast rate. Lactate is formed during moderate to intense exercise, when the human body relies heavily on carbohydrates and the glycolytic system to produce energy. All metabolic processes are highly regulated and only a fixed amount of energy-supplying product or substrate may be used at a time before a backup or ?metabolic bottleneck? develops. A good analogy to visualize the regulation of a metabolic pathway is to consider energy substrates as an army of soldiers marching to, and through a tunnel. When the first few soldiers enter, they can move quickly and unrestricted, but as the number trying to enter increases, the process slows down dramatically. The conversion of pyruvate to lactate prevents the excess pyruvate from clogging up the pathway, bringing glycolysis to a grinding halt. This slowing of glycolysis obviously does not occur, because if it did running events such as the 400m would be impossible. As we shall see in another article on this site, the accumulation of lactate in the blood is the direct result of this ?redirection? of energy in the body not because of a lack of oxygen in the muscles as Hill proposed. (see The Lactate Threshold – Reality or Fallacy? ). Lactate as will be described below, is actually a useful and readily available source of energy for the body to utilize.

Recent research is supplying some very interesting information concerning the role of lactate and muscle performance. George Brooks at the University of California at Berkeley has dedicated much of his career to exploring the role of lactate during exercise. Brook?s investigations indicate the presence of a ?lactate shuttle? that allows for the transportation of lactate from one muscle to another. The glycogen (stored carbohydrate) stored in muscle is destined for use in this tissue only, unlike liver tissue, which is able to release glucose into the bloodstream to be used by the rest of the body. The lactate shuttle is proposed as being a means for muscles to be able to ?share? and redistribute their glycogen stores to other muscles and tissues in the form of lactate not glucose. For many years it was thought that lactate was a metabolic by-product that to be of any use it had to be transported via the blood to the liver to generate glucose via a process known as the Cori Cycle, but there is evidence to indicate that tissue such as red muscle, heart and brain tissue can directly oxidize the product. Therefore lactate can be utilized by tissue very close to, or even far from the source of generation. The shuttle works via the interaction of the circulatory system and the presence and operation of special transporter proteins located in muscle called mono carboxylic acid transporters (MCTs). These transporters are able to efficiently transport lactate from the blood into adjacent or distant muscles in the body. The inactive muscle can actually store the lactate, thereby further lowering the concentrations in the blood and active muscle. According to Brooks, lactate is far from a metabolic dead-end and may in fact be the most important metabolic fuel used by muscles especially during exercise. Estimates are that approximately 70% or more of the lactate generated during exercise is actually consumed or oxidized while only 19% is converted to glycogen.

In conclusion, the dubbing of lactate as a metabolic dead-end and as an exclusive cause of muscle fatigue was hasty but may have seemed appropriate at the time. Since then however technological advances in research have provided some quite contradictory evidence to the role of lactate. Amazingly, lactate may in fact be a ?super fuel? for the body during exercise sessions that produce large quantities of the product. Exercise science will continue to investigate the role and contribution of lactate to exercise but in the meanwhile runners and athletes alike can rest assured that lactate is not the enemy but may in fact be an ally.

David Petersen is a Personal Trainer/Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and the owner and founder of B.O.S.S. Fitness Inc. based in Oldsmar, Florida. More articles and information can be found at http://www.bossfitness.com

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The Most Unmistakable Sign of Aging; Wrinkles

Aging is an undisputable fact of life that transgresses any human intervention. The most unmistakable sign of aging is the formation of wrinkles, and furrows on the face. Hormonal changes, heredity, and the skin?s inability to retain moisture are natural aging factors contributing to the formation of wrinkles, and are unavoidable. External factors such as over exposure to sunlight, pollution, stress, smoking and poor dietary habits are factors that we do have control over. All these factors make the skin less supple, thereby reducing skin tone creating a loss of firmness, and the appearance of wrinkles. Skin begins to show signs of wrinkles when skin cells dye off faster than what can be replaced by normal regeneration. With time, these wrinkles deepen, reaching the supporting dermal layer. When the dermis loses its elasticity, deeper, and more permanent wrinkles form. While all these changes are taking place, gravity exerts its influence by pulling at the skin, causing it to sag.

Harsh environmental conditions cause free radicals to form; as a result, the skin becomes rough and dry resulting in loss of flexibility, and firmness. The sun is the major cause of unwanted changes in the skin, causing a cascade of events. UV radiation from the sun causes collagen to break down, resulting in an abnormal rebuilding process. Over time, this abnormal rebuilding process leads to the development of wrinkles. Beginning at childhood, it is important to use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, a brimmed hat, and other protective clothing. Avoid sunbathing and limit exposure between 10:00am and 3:00pm.

In addition to the devastating effects of cigarettes, smoking causes collagen damage much like sun light which lead to wrinkles. Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen supplied to the skin by reducing circulation, and compromises the skin’s ability to fend off free radicals. All of these factors considered separately and together, cause the appearance of wrinkles.

While the formation of wrinkles, for the most part are unavoidable, treatments have been developed to address the various types. Products, and procedures that increase the thickness of the skin, or that remove damaged skin are the goal in wrinkle treatments. Moisturizers are perfect for superficial, surface deep wrinkles. Facial creams would be the next line of defense, Retinoic acid, used successfully in treating acne, has been shown to improve the surface texture of the skin, and increase dermal collagen. Alpha hydroxy acids also show promise in reversing some of the effects of the sun. Resurfacing is one of the most common Laser treatments used for wrinkles. These procedures improve wrinkles by vaporizing damaged skin cells and allowing the remaining collagen to become thicker and healthier. Botox, is an injection that temporarily reduces or eliminates frown lines, forehead creases, crows feet near the eyes and thick bands in the neck. The toxin blocks the nerve impulses, temporarily paralyzing the muscles that cause wrinkles.

There are several practical steps that can be taken to hasten, or delay the appearance of wrinkles. It is important to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Try to avoid rubbing your eyes , the tendency is to stretch delicate skin. Maintain a stable body weight, a constant weight gain or loss can cause the skin to sag. Keep your skin moisturized to maintain its elasticity and suppleness. Avoid alcohol and smoking. Drink plenty of water. Eight glasses of water a day is the recommended amount necessary for adequate hydration. Spend 15 minutes each morning and evening exercising the muscles in your face. Try to think about your face several times a day and totally relax all your facial muscles.

Jay B Stockman is a contributing editor for Wrinkle Treatment Resource. Visit http://wrinkletreatmentonline.com/ for more information.