Issue: 62
Finding Happiness Through Meditation
Memory: Yet Another Reason To Slim Down!
Super Sizes for a Super Size
Waist
B12 Deficiency in American
Vegan Mothers
Yoga
and Music Can Heal Cancer
Girls are more easily
addicted to drugs and alcohol
Memory: Yet Another
Reason To Slim Down!
A study, published on February 4th in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, showed that middle-aged and elderly
people with high blood sugar actually had a smaller hippocampus, the brain
region so crucial for recent memory. The good news is that simple healthy
diet and exercise could help many people protect their brains.
New Recommendations from
AHA
The American Heart Association has issued new recommendations to help
policy makers, community organizations, schools, employers and association
volunteers promote healthy behaviors to prevent heart disease and stroke.
The recommendations are published in the print issue of Circulation:
Journal of the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular disease
(CVD), which includes heart disease and stroke, is the No. 1 killer in the
United States. The American Heart Association Guide for Improving Cardiovascular
Health at the Community Level (Community Guide) provides a framework for
anyone interested in reducing the burden of heart disease and stroke in the
nation's communities. Previous recommendations focused on what to do if
someone has risk factors or symptoms of CVD.
Anger Management
A new study published in the January/February issue of Psychosomatic
Medicine suggests that occasional anger expression is associated
with decreased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease. Men with moderate
levels of anger expression had nearly half the risk of nonfatal heart attacks
and a significant reduction in the risk of stroke compared to men with
low levels of anger expression. In the case of stroke, the researchers
found that the risk decreased in proportion to increasing levels of anger
expression. Previous research suggested that chronic anger was related
to the development of coronary disease, but few studies examined the impact
of different styles of expressing anger.
Portion Sizes in Restaurants
(Super Sizes)
According to a study published in the February issue of the Journal
of the American Dietetic Association, portion sizes of many popular
restaurant and packaged foods have increased substantially during the past
20 years, especially when compared to their sizes when they were first
introduced. Researchers from New York University compared portion sizes
to federal standards, finding that most marketplace portions exceed standard
sizes by as much as eight times. The researchers also found that portion
sizes of many foods and beverages nowadays are two to five times larger
then when the item first became commercially available.
Food/beverage | Year introduced | Size, oz. or fl. oz. | 2002 sizes, oz. or fl. oz. |
Beer | |||
Budweiser, Can | 1936 | 12.0 | 8.0, 12.0, 16.0, 24.0 |
Budweiser, Bottle | 1976 | 7.0 | 7.0, 12.0, 22.0, 40.0 |
Milk chocolate bar | |||
Hershey's | 1908 | 0.6 | 1.6, 2.6, 4.0, 7.0, 8.0 |
Nestle Crunch | 1938 | 1.6 | 1.6, 2.8, 5.0 |
French Fries | |||
Burger King | 1954 | 2.6 (Regular) | 2.6 (Small), 4.1 (Medium), 5.7 (Large), 6.9 (King) |
McDonald's | 1955 | 2.4 | 2.4 (Small), 5.3 (Medium), 6.3 (Large), 7.1 (Supersize) |
Hamburger, beef only1 | |||
McDonald's | 1955 | 1.6 | 1.6, 3.2, 4.0, 8.0 |
Howard Johnson's | 1970s | 3.5 | 5.0, 8.0 |
Hamburger sandwich, Burger King2 | 1954 | 3.9 | 4.4 (Hamburger), 6.0 (Whopper Jr.), 6.1 (Double Hamburger), 9.9 (Whopper), 12.6 (Double Whopper) |
Soda, from fountain | |||
Burger King | 1954 | 12.0 (Regular) | 12.0 (Kiddie), 16.0 (Small), 22.0 (Medium), 32.0 (Large), 42.0 (King) |
16.0 (Large) | |||
McDonald's | 1955 | 7.0 | 12.0 (Child), 16.0 (Small), 21.0 (Medium), 32.0 (Large), 42.0 (Supersize) |
7-Eleven | 1973 | 12.0, 20.0 | 16.0 (Gulp), 32.0 (Big Gulp), 44.0 (Super Big Gulp), 64.0 (Double Gulp) |
Soda, commercial | |||
Coca Cola, bottle, can | 1916 | 6.5 | 8.0, 12.0, 20.0, 34.0 |
Ephedra is Poison
U.S. poison control centers reported 1,178 adverse reactions to ephedra
dietary supplements in 2001, said the study, which was to be posted on the
Annals of Internal Medicine's Web site on February 4th and published
in the journal next month. Ephedra accounted for 64 percent of all adverse
reactions involving herbs, even though it is found in fewer than 1 percent
of all herbal products sold. The study, based on data collected by
the American Association of Poison Control Centers, is just the latest to
question ephedra's safety. The Food and Drug Administration has reports of
nearly 100 deaths of people who had taken the herb, a stimulant that can
quicken a person's heart rate and cause their blood vessels to constrict.
The American Medical Association has also advised people not to use ephedra,
which has been banned by the International Olympic Committee, the National
Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Bush
administration ordered a review of ephedra's safety in June.
Birth Size and Breast Cancer
A study in the BMJ January issue finds an association between
size at birth and risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer. Over 5,000 women
born in Sweden during 1915-29 were included in the study, of which 63 had
breast cancer before the age of 50. There were strong positive associations
between measures of birth size and rates of breast cancer at pre-menopausal
ages, even when other adult risk factors were taken into account. Birth
length and head circumference had stronger associations with pre-menopausal
breast cancer than birth weight.
B12 Deficiency in American
Vegan Mothers
Vegetarians are of many kinds,
e.g., vegans, lacto-vegetarians, lacto-ovo-vegetarians. Lacto-vegetarians consume milk and milk products and
hence they don't need to worry about B12 deficiency. However, Vegans, who
do not eat meats, fish, eggs, milk or milk products, are at high risk of
developing a deficiency of vitamin B12. When adults adopt a vegan diet,
deficiency symptoms can be slow to appear because it usually takes years
to deplete normal body stores of B12. However, severe symptoms of B12
deficiency, most often featuring poor neurological development, can show
up quickly in children and breast-fed infants of women who follow a
strict vegan diet. In 2001, neurologic impairment (including delays
in speech, walking, and fine motor skills) and failure to thrive resulting
from vitamin B12 deficiency was diagnosed in two children in Georgia. The
children were breastfed by mothers who followed vegan diets. Vitamin B12
deficiency in young children is difficult to diagnose because of nonspecific
symptoms. Vegans must ensure adequate vitamin B12 intake, particularly women
during pregnancy and lactation. If it is not possible to consume the recommended
dietary intake of vitamin B12 through food, a daily supplement should be
taken that contains at least the recommended dietary intake from a reliable
source. Health-care providers should be vigilant about the potential for
vitamin B12 deficiency in breastfed children of vegan mothers. Fortified breakfast cereals
are an excellent source of vitamin B12 and a particularly valuable source
for vegans and vegetarians. Other sources of vitamin
B12 are vitamin B12-fortified soy milk, vitamin B12-fortified meat analogues
(food made from wheat gluten or soybeans to resemble meat, poultry or fish
for those who want to become vegetarians), and vitamin B12 supplements. There
are vitamin supplements which do not contain animal products. For more click
here. See also Vitamin B12 in
the Vegan Diet.
Yoga and raga can tackle
cancer
Deccan Chrincle, Hyderabad,
Feb. 6: Various types of cancers can be better managed through
chanting of Vedic hymns and practising Yogic exercises, particularly
Sudharshan Kriya and Pranayama. Pioneering research
studies on the “power of mind over body” as also the “effect of
breath exercises on various human organs” by different teams of
doctors from the city, Bangalore and New Delhi have revealed that
many cancers can be effectively managed through Vedic and Yogic
interventions. They have been proved effective even in terminal
cancer cases. According to Dr K
Vinod of AIIMS, Delhi, scientific studies suggested connections
between body and mind implying that emotional state and thought
processes would affect brain, endocrine and immune system. A new
discipline has emerged based on these concepts called
psychoneuroimmunology or mind-body system. He said many sages
and rishis recommended the practice of yoga, meditation and pranayama
to prevent or alter reactions in the human body to stress. Breath
and mind are linked like body and mind. Breath sorts out
the imbalances in the mind and the body and the chanting of Vedic
mantras is the best of all breath exercises. “Cancer patients
who performed Vedic and Yogic exercises over a period of 3-6 months
demonstrated an increase in natural killer (NK) cells, which
means regression of cancerous growth. The more the presence of
NK cells in human body, the more immune it is,” he pointed out.
Research
was also conducted at seven departments in AIIMS and National
Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences, Bangalore.
And in the city the AM Charitable Trust and Lakshmi Memorial Cancer
Research Foundation carried out the studies.
K S Madhavan of AM Charitable Trust pointed out that Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep) and Chidaakasa Dharana (mental imagery) will improve the immunity levels and general health of cancer patients. They also increase the patient’s capability to fight cancer. The Yogis treated the body as a vehicle, which expresses the condition of the mind and the subtler levels of the mind-body compendium. If these subtle levels could be dealt with and the root causes of the disease could be removed, the human body would be rid of cancer and there would be the possibility of applying the cure on a large scale. According to H R Nagendra, director and vice-chancellor, University of Vivekanan Yoga Vidya Mahapeetham, Bangalore, the use of Yoga Therapy as an adjunct is augmenting the missing dimensions of treatment at the level of Prana, mind, emotions and intellect. The advanced techniques of yoga therapy can be performed even while lying on the bed.
Girls are more easily
addicted to drugs and alcohol
A study, which conducted a survey of girls and young women of age
8 to 22 over three years, found the gender gap is narrowing between boys
and girls who smoke, drink and use drugs. According to this study released
on February 5 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University , young girls and women are more easily
addicted to drugs and alcohol, have different reasons than boys for abusing
substances and may need single-sex treatment programs to beat back their
addictions. Approximately 45 percent of high school girls drink alcohol,
compared with 49 percent of boys, and girls outpace boys in the use of prescription
drugs, the study found. While boys often experiment with cigarettes, alcohol
and drugs in a search for thrills or heightened social status, girls are
motivated by a desire to reduce stress or alleviate depression, the study
found. Girls are also more likely to abuse substances if they reached puberty
early, had eating disorders or were ever physically or sexually abused, researchers
said. Their likelihood of using cigarettes, alcohol or drugs also increases
when they move to a new community, or advance from middle school to high
school or from high school to college.
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"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls"
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Gitanjali, 1912.
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