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When you look at your body in the mirror, where does your gaze go? If you’re like most women, your eyes are instantly drawn to the parts of yourself you want to change, the parts you hate. You zoom in on your “trouble spots.”
Maybe you suck in your belly or use your hands to lift or tighten something that’s sagging, and you curse your body for looking the way it does. Why can’t you just look different? Ugh.
If this nasty little ritual sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most of us really don’t believe others who say we look fine (or great!). And we allow negative thoughts about our appearances to dictate how we act. We choose to dress certain ways, behave certain ways, and pursue certain careers and relationships, all based on how we think we look. That behavior is so common we hardly even recognize how messed up it is.
When you look at your body in the mirror, where does your gaze go? If you’re like most women, your eyes are instantly drawn to the parts of yourself you want to change, the parts you hate. You zoom in on your “trouble spots.”
Maybe you suck in your belly or use your hands to lift or tighten something that’s sagging, and you curse your body for looking the way it does. Why can’t you just look different? Ugh.
If this nasty little ritual sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most of us really don’t believe others who say we look fine (or great!). And we allow negative thoughts about our appearances to dictate how we act. We choose to dress certain ways, behave certain ways, and pursue certain careers and relationships, all based on how we think we look. That behavior is so common we hardly even recognize how messed up it is.
Source:greatist
They're fitter, feel better and are less physically impaired
People who are happier are usually also healthier—and not just because they’re happy about being healthy. When humans feel good, they’re more likely to be active and less likely to attempt to cheer themselves up with cheeseburgers, ice cream and a two-day Game of Thrones marathon.
But a new study suggests that people whose spouses are happier are probably also in better shape, even independently of their own happiness. In fact, the study’s data suggests that people with a happy partner are 34% more likely to be healthy than those married to a downer.
The study, out of Michigan State university looked at about 2,000 older married heterosexual couples in the Health and Retirement Study over six years, from 2006 to 2012 and found that those who reported a happier spouse also reported feeling better overall.
“Participants with happy partners were significantly more likely to report better health, experience less physical impairment, and to exercise more frequently than participants with unhappy partners,” says the study, “even accounting for the impact of their own happiness and other life circumstances.”
The authors propose a couple of reasons why a happy person might improve the health of their lover. First, a happy spouse is a better caretaker; he or she is more likely to have the emotional energy to look after a significant other, making sure they’re O.K., have taken their medications and are looked after when they’re ill.
Secondly, people with a positive outlook are more likely to be playing the long game; they eat better, they exercise, they sleep regularly, they make plans and avoid doing self-destructive things because they feel good about the future. And they bring their companions along for the ride. “Happy people drag their spouses out of bed to go exercise, and they encourage them to eat healthier,” says Bill Chopik an associate psychology professor at MSU, and lead author of the study.
And thirdly, happy spouses make life easier for their partners because their partners aren’t stressed by the fact that their closest companion is always in a bad mood, and they’re not exhausted and stressed by efforts to jolly them along or not upset them.
The study adjusted for gender, wealth and educational attainment and also for people who were desperately ill or whose partners were, which would obviously have a big impact on happiness.
Surprisingly, there was no difference in these outcomes between husbands and wives. “There’s a sense that women’s manage their husbands’ health, but it appears that the amount your spouse’s happiness affects your health doesn’t vary across gender,” says Chopik.
One of the ways the researchers think this works is that the happy soul becomes a proxy for their partner, so the gloomy individual behaves as a non-gloomy person would. “It’s compensatory,” says Chopik. “Another person’s happiness is filling you up, so you do these healthy things.”
It’s hard to know what moral to draw from the study—apart from try to marry a happy person—since the stress of trying to figure out how to improve your spouse’s mood may well undo all the beneficial effects of having a happy spouse. Chopik has a workaround. “Relationship satisfaction between couples is one of the largest predictors of happiness,” he says. So instead of trying to figure out what’s up with him or her, he suggests working out what’s up with the two of you.
The study looked at four health indices: self-reported health, physical impairment, exercise and chronic conditions. The only thing that wasn’t improved by a cheerful life partner was the chronic conditions. Hey, love can’t fix everything.
Source: time
The time has come to elevate your dinner with a classic one-pot wonder, otherwise known as the casserole. Whether you prefer veggies and rice or spicy sausage and noodles, there’s something for everyone in this roundup of comforting casseroles. Now gather round the table with family and friends and dive into a scrumptious bowl of comfort–all under 350 calories per serving.
1. Vegetable Rice Casserole | 24 Carrot Life
Sneak a serving or two of veggies into the kiddos’ dinner with this creamy mix of mushrooms, spinach, brown rice, and cheesy goodness galore. To reduce prep time even further, use frozen spinach and brown rice. For an extra fiber boost, swap out the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour. Recipe makes 8 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 250; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 14mg; Sodium: 429mg; Carbohydrate: 32g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 3g; Protein: 10g
2. Chicken Enchilada Casserole | Cooking Light
Craving Southwestern-style comfort food? Look no further than this simple, flavorful one-pot meal made with chicken thighs, corn, fresh cilantro, salsa and spices. Add a hefty pinch of cayenne for extra heat! Top with cubed avocado and chopped cilantro. Recipe makes 4 servings at 1 3/4 cups each.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 346; Total Fat: 12g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 22mg; Sodium: 709mg; Carbohydrate: 36g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 7g; Protein: 24g
3. Hatch Green Chili and Tomato Egg Casserole | Cotter Crunch
This unique casserole is made with fresh hatch green chiles, crusty bread, juicy tomatoes, and provolone cheese. It’s quick, easy, and even gluten-free. Feel free to add lean chicken sausage or ground turkey for the hungry carnivores. Recipe makes 6 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 194; Total Fat: 11g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 5g; Cholesterol: 218mg; Sodium: 542mg; Carbohydrate: 13g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 5g; Protein: 11g
4. Slow Cooker Cheesy Eggplant Casserole | Clean Eating
Skip the breading and frying without sacrificing the cheesy, saucy goodness that is classic eggplant Parmesan. Slow cooking the eggplant adds moisture and keeps the flavors intact without all that extra oil. Serve with mixed greens and balsamic or steamed veggies to round out the meal. Recipe makes 6 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 165; Total Fat: 6g; Saturated Fat: 2.5g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 344; Sodium: 53mg; Carbohydrate: 16g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 10g; Protein: 14g
5. Spinach and Artichoke Quinoa Casserole | iFoodReal
Dabble in the greatness of spinach and artichoke dip without all the guilt! This lighter version uses whole-grain quinoa, almond milk, and lots of fresh spinach instead of the typical mayonnaise and sour cream found in heavier versions. A casserole that’s hearty, filling, and full of fresh flavors–what more could you ask for? Recipe makes 8 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 244; Total Fat: 8g; Saturated Fat: 3g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 14mg; Sodium: 383mg; Carbohydrate: 34g; Dietary Fiber: 7g; Sugar: 2g; Protein: 11g
6. One-Pot Taco Casserole | Fit Foodie Finds
The best part about these terrific tacos is that they require next to no clean up! Mix everything together in a bowl, dump it in a casserole dish, and pop it in the oven. Lean turkey, corn, black beans, salsa, and spices make this a winner for adult and kiddos alike. Serve with taco shells, Greek yogurt and diced tomatoes. Recipe makes 8 servings at 1 cup each.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 316; Total Fat: 12g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 94mg; Sodium: 734mg; Carbohydrate: 25g; Dietary Fiber: 6g; Sugar: 5g; Protein: 28g
7. Healthy Green Bean Casserole | Hummusapien
This decadent, comforting dish features lighter ingredients that won’t leave you looking for more because, guess what? Green bean casserole isn’t just for Turkey Day! Whip it up this weekend for a vegan flavor powerhouse that the whole family will enjoy. Hooray for baked crispy onions! Recipe makes 8 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 139; Total Fat: 5g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 863mg; Carbohydrate: 21g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 3g; Protein: 4g
8. Unstuffed Beef & Cabbage Casserole | Give Recipe
When you don’t feel like slaving away all day in the kitchen (and who does?), whip up these quick and easy deconstructed stuffed cabbage rolls instead. You get all the flavor of the original in half the time. Serve with plain yogurt and a crisp salad. Recipe makes 6 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 246; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 5g; Cholesterol: 47mg; Sodium: 107mg; Carbohydrate: 24g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 20g
9. Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole | Eat Yourself Skinny
Swap out pasta for spaghetti squash in this tasty, comforting casserole. Not only is it an excellent way to sneak in more vegetables, but it’s also kid-approved. The best part is that the leftovers taste even better the next day. Top with fresh torn basil and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Recipe makes 10 servings.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 142; Total Fat: 5g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 31mg; Sodium: 265mg; Carbohydrate: 13g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 12g
10. Baked Ziti with Creamy Kale and Sausage | Clean Eating
What better way to sneak in kale than with pasta, mozzarella cheese, and spicy Italian sausage? Whole grain noodles, low-fat milk, and whole-wheat flour lighten it up without reducing the flavor factor. Bring it to a potluck, or serve it for Sunday night dinner alongside roasted veggies. Recipe makes 12 servings at 3/4 cup each.
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 338; Total Fat: 10g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 36mg; Sodium: 481mg; Carbohydrate: 43g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 6.5g; Protein: 19g
Source: blog.myfitnesspal
Avocado Oil
Deep, natural colour; rich in vitamins. Can be used for natural cosmetic formulations. Do not heat as bitter flavours may develop.
Rich source of Omega-9 essential fatty acid
Drizzle over gourmet salads
Use in vinaigrettes or as dipping oil
Macadamia Oil
High heat tolerance and nourishing for dry skin if used externally.
Rich source of monounsaturated Omega-9 essential fatty acids
Marinate BBQ meats
Fry fish and veal
Nutty addition to pastries and sweets
Walnut Oil
Light in colour and flavour.
Rich source of polyunsaturated linoleic acid (Omega-6)
Contains Omega-3
Excellent in salads with lemon juice and sea salt
Drizzle over steamed vegetables
Wheatgerm Oil
Soothes irritated skin, eczema, wound healing and scar tissue. Do not heat as its properties break down.
Highly nutritious with vitamins and minerals
Great to finish a dish (drizzle on)
Use as salad dressing
Safflower Oil
Good for massage; can help inflamed joints, sprains and bruises; source of vitamin E.
Tasty oil base for salad dressings
Add a dash to soup or vegetables
Add to baked food such as cakes and pastries
Almond Oil
Excellent moisturiser and skin care oil; often used by massage therapists. High in vitamin E and calcium.
Great source of Omega-9 essential fatty acid
Drizzle over gourmet salads
Use in homemade mayonnaise
Use in desserts, home baked pastries and sweets
Apricot Kernel Oil
This food-grade unrefined oil can be used as flavour in baking. Excellent skin care oil. Fine consistency for skin absorption.
High in monounsaturated fat and essential fatty acids
Use in specialty sauces and sautés
High smoke point for frying
Base oil for salad dressings
Olive Oil
Pressed from Manzanilla and Paragon varieties; has a distinctly fruity flavour; rich in antioxidants.
High in monounsaturated Omega-9 essential fatty acid
Drizzle over salads, breads or use as a dipping sauce
Use in mediterranean cooking
Marinade for meat, chicken and fish
Grapeseed Oil
High smoking point; versatile oil; use as a base for infusing or flavouring with garlic, rosemary or other herbs and spices.
Use in stir fry meat and vegetables, sautés and fondues
Base oil for salad dressings
Great for mayonnaise
Deep frying
Sunflower Oil
Superior frying oil with a high smoking point; versatile for most cooking.
Use in frying
Drizzle over vegetables for roasting
Base oil for salad dressings
Stir through soups before serving
Sesame Oil
Contains two powerful antioxidants called sesamol and sesamin, that may help to reduce blood pressure.
Contains Omega-6 and Omega-9 essential fatty acids
Adds flavour to asian cooking
Marinate meat and fish
Coconut Oil
Significant anti-viral, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiprotozoal properties; very stable; with stands high cooking temperatures.
Sautés, baking, roasting and frying
Flaxseed Oil
A highly polyunsaturated natural oil. Do not heat or you will lose the Omega-3 benefits and develop a bitter flavour.
Richest source of Omega-3
Drizzle over salads
Mix with cereals and cottage cheese
Canola Oil
Excellent source of the Omega-6 fatty acid, linolenic acid; high in the Omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
Low in saturated fat; very high in healthy unsaturated fats
Use for sautés, stir frys, grills and baking
Add to salad dressings, sauces and marinades
Coat pans for non-stick baking
Replace solid fats (such as margarine and butter) in recipes
Vegetable Oil Blends
Derived from a blend of vegetable (plant) sources. A significant source of unsaturated fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins and sometimes antioxidants.
Use as per canola oil
Source: healthylife
In the mid 70s there was a battle waged between fat and sugar; something was to blame for the expanding girths of the population, as well as the increasing rates of cardiovascular disease. Fat was blamed because we were getting fatter, and the low fat trend was born.
Fast-forward 40 years and the population is still expanding, heart disease and diabetes rates continue to rise, as does the sugar consumption across the world...
The concept behind a ‘sugar-free’ diet is simple; our bodies do not need sugar!
1. Sugar is an industrialised, processed food.
2. The only cells capable of metabolising fructose are the liver cells, unlike glucose which can be utilised by every cells of the body.
3. Research has demonstrated it can be addictive.
Fruit should be limited to 2 serves a day. Going sugar-free helps to get over the cravings and addictive response sugar can initiate in many people.
In order to indulge your sweet tooth and enjoy a guilt-free treat many sugar-free experts cook with rice malt syrup (low G.I and fructose free) and Stevia.
Source:healthylife
I find that grain bashing makes for a tasty, but ultimately unsatisfying meal.
You all know how much I love doing it, though. But no matter how often I sit down to dine on the stuff (and I’ve done it with great gusto in the past), I always leave the table feeling like I left something behind. Like maybe I wasn’t harsh enough about the danger of gluten, or I failed to really convey just how much I hated lectins. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the mere mention of grains was eliciting a crazy insulin-esque response and throwing my satiety hormones all out of whack. I was filling up on anti-grain talk, but I just couldn’t fill that void for long.
Well, I’ve got the hunger today, and this time I aim to stuff myself to the point of perpetual sickness. I don’t ever want to have to look at another anti-grain argument again (yeah, right). If things get a little disjointed, or if I descend into bullet points and sentence fragments, it’s only because the hunger has taken over and I’ve decided to dispense with the pleasantries in order to lay it all out at once.
Apart from maintaining social conventions in certain situations and obtaining cheap sugar calories, there is absolutely no reason to eat grains. Believe me – I’ve searched far and wide and asked everyone I can for just one good reason to eat cereal grains, but no one can do it. They may have answers, but they just aren’t good enough. For fun, though, let’s see take a look at some of the assertions:
“You need the fiber!”
Okay, for one: no, I don’t. If you’re referring to its oft-touted ability to move things along in the inner sanctum, fiber has some unintended consequences. A few years back, scientists found that high-fiber foods “bang up against the cells lining the gastrointestinal tract, rupturing their outer covering” which “increases the level of lubricating mucus.” Err, that sounds positively awful. Banging and tearing? Rupturing? These are not the words I like to hear. But wait! The study’s authors say, “It’s a good thing.” Fantastic! So when all those sticks and twigs rub up against my fleshy interior and literally rupture my intestinal lining, I’ve got nothing to worry about. It’s all part of the plan, right?
Somehow, I’m not convinced that a massive daily infusion of insoluble grain fiber is all that essential. And that “lubricating mucus” sounds an awful like the mucus people with irritable bowel syndrome complain about. From personal experience I can tell you that once I completed my exodus from grains, the IBS completely stopped. If you’re not yet convinced on the fiber issue I’ll refer you to Konstantin Monastyrsky’s Fiber Menace. Anyway, there’s plenty of fiber in the vegetables and fruit I eat. Which takes me to the next claim:
“You need the vitamins and minerals!”
You got me. I do need vitamins and minerals, like B1 and B2, magnesium and iron, zinc and potassium. But do I need to obtain them by eating a carb-heavy, bulky grain? No, no I don’t. You show me a serving of “healthy whole grains” that can compete – nutrient, vitamin, and mineral-wise – with a Big Ass Salad. What’s that? Can’t do it? Thought so.
“But it forms the foundation of the governmental food pyramid!”
You know, I should have just started the entire post with this one. I could have saved my fingers the trouble of typing and your eyes the trouble of reading. Governmental endorsements are not points in your favor, grain-eater; they are strikes against you. An appeal to authority (unless that “authority” is actually a preponderance of scientific evidence, of course) does not an effective argument make. Conventional Wisdom requires consistent, steady dissection and criticism if it is to be of any value.
There’s a reason grains are first and foremost on the list of foods to avoid when following the Primal Blueprint: they are completely and utterly pointless in the context of a healthy diet. In fact, if your average unhealthy person were to ask for the top three things to avoid in order to get healthy, I would tell them to stop smoking, to stop drinking their calories (as soda or juice), and to stop eating grains. Period. Full stop. They really are that bad.
I’ve mentioned this time and again, but the fundamental problem with grains is that they are a distinctly Neolithic food that the human animal has yet to adapt to consuming. In fact, cereal grains figured prominently in the commencement of the New Stone Age; grains were right there on the forefront of the agricultural revolution. Hell, they were the agricultural revolution – einkorn wheat, emmer, millet, and spelt formed the backbone of Neolithic farming. They could be stored for months at a time, they were easy enough to grow in massive enough quantities to support a burgeoning population, and they promoted the construction of permanent settlements. Oh, and they were easily hoarded, meaning they were probably an early form of currency (and, by extension, a potential source of income inequality). And here’s the kicker: they were harsh, tough things that probably didn’t even taste very good. It also took a ton of work just to make them edible, thanks to their toxic anti-nutrients.
Toxic anti-nutrients? Do tell.
Living things generally do not want to be consumed by other living things. Being digested, for the most part, tends to interrupt survival, procreation, propagation of the species – you know, standard stuff that fauna and flora consider pretty important. To avoid said consumption, living things employ various self defense mechanisms. Rabbits, for example, with their massive ears, considerable fast-twitch muscle fibers, and nasty claws, can usually hear a predator coming, outrun (out-hop?) nearly anything, and (in a pinch) slash a tender belly to shreds. Blue whales are too big to fit into your mouth, while porcupines are walking reverse pincushions. Point is, animals have active defense mechanisms. They run, fight, jump, climb, fly, sting, bite, and even appeal to our emotions (if you’ve ever seen a puppy beg for a treat with sad eyes, you know that isn’t just accidental cuteness) in order to survive. All the while, predators are constantly evolving and generating adaptations.
Plants, though, are passive organisms without the ability to move, think, and react (for the most part). They must employ different tactics to ensure propagation, and they generally have to rely on outside forces to spread their seed. And so various methods are “devised” to dissuade consumption long enough for the seed to get to where it’s going. Nuts have those tough shells, and grains have the toxic anti-nutrients, lectins, gluten, and phytates. (Of course there are some obvious exceptions. Fruits are tasty, nutritious, and delicious so that animals will eat them whole and poop out the seeds, preferably into some fertile soil. The seed stays intact throughout the digestive process; it is indigestible by design. No seed “wants” to be digested, because this would defeat the purpose. They “want” to be swallowed, or borne by the wind, or carried by a bee to the next flower, but they do not want to be digested.)
Some animals are clearly adapted to grain consumption. Birds, rodents, and some insects can deal with the anti-nutrients. Humans, however, cannot. Perhaps if grains represented a significant portion of our ancestral dietary history, things might be a bit different. Some of us can digest dairy, and we’ve got the amylase enzyme present in our saliva to break down starches if need be, but we simply do not have the wiring necessary to mitigate the harmful effects of lectins, gluten, and phytate.
Lectins are bad. They bind to insulin receptors, attack the stomach lining of insects, bind to human intestinal lining, and they seemingly cause leptin resistance. And leptin resistance predicts a “worsening of the features of the metabolic syndrome independently of obesity”. Fun stuff, huh?
Gluten might be even worse. Gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley, is a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. Around 1% of the population are celiacs, people who are completely and utterly intolerant of any gluten. In celiacs, any gluten in the diet can be disastrous. We’re talking compromised calcium and vitamin D3 levels, hyperparathyroidism, bone defects. Really terrible stuff. And it gets worse: just because you’re not celiac doesn’t mean you aren’t susceptible to the ravages of gluten. As Stephan highlights, one study showed that 29% of asymptomatic (read: not celiac) people nonetheless tested positive for anti-gliadin IgA in their stool. Anti-gliadin IgA is an antibody produced by the gut, and it remains there until it’s dispatched to ward off gliadin – a primary component of gluten. Basically, the only reason anti-gliadin IgA ends up in your stool is because your body sensed an impending threat – gluten. If gluten poses no threat, the anti-gliadin IgA stays in your gut. And to think, most Americans eat this stuff on a daily basis.
Phytates are a problem, too, because they make minerals bio-unavailable (so much for all those healthy vitamins and minerals we need from whole grains!), thus rendering null and void the last, remaining argument for cereal grain consumption.
What, then, is the point to all this grain madness? Is there a good reason for anyone (with access to meat, fruit, and vegetables, that is) to rely on cereal grains for a significant portion of their caloric intake?
The answer is unequivocally, undeniably no. We do not need grains to survive, let alone thrive. In fact, they are naturally selected to ward off pests, whether they be insects or hominids. I suggest we take the hint and stop eating them.Source:
marksdailyapple
30th August 2016 – A significant number of heart attacks are being misdiagnosed in the early stages with serious consequences, and women are at greater risk than men, according to a study.
Researchers at the University of Leeds found that overall, almost a third of patients had an initial diagnosis which differed from their final diagnosis.
Types of heart attack
The two principle types of heart attack are STEMI and NSTEMI.
A STEMI heart attack occurs when a main artery pumping oxygenated blood around the heart becomes totally blocked. If inadequately treated, there is a serious risk of severe and permanent damage to the heart muscle.
NSTEMI heart attacks are more common and involved a partial blockage of one or more arteries. The heart muscle is still at risk of significant damage, but usually this is less severe. The diagnosis of NSTEMI heart attacks is made more difficult by the fact that some patients will have a normal electrocardiogram (ECG) and over half will have non-diagnostic ECG changes. Patients may also have symptoms that are not typical of a heart attack, especially in the elderly, women and in patients with diabetes, chronic kidney failure or dementia.
The research team found that women who were eventually diagnosed with the more serious type of heart attack, STEMI, had a 59% higher chance of being originally misdiagnosed than men.
Meanwhile, women who were finally diagnosed with NSTEMI had a 41% greater chance of being wrongly diagnosed than men.
The misdiagnosis rates were much lower in patients with STEMI (3.3%) than with NSTEMI (17.9%), but if those patients who were admitted with other initial diagnoses received a correct diagnosis on first assessment, then 33 deaths in STEMI patients and 218 deaths in NSTEMI patients per year might have been prevented.
Surviving a heart attack
The study found that these misdiagnoses were having an impact on survival rates. Women who received the wrong diagnosis had around a 70% higher risk of dying after 30 days than those who were correctly diagnosed initially.
This higher risk also applied to men, the researchers say.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal Acute Cardiovascular Care, looked at 564,412 patient cases in England and Wales.
Dr Chris Gale, associate professor of cardiovascular health sciences and honorary consultant cardiologist at the University of Leeds, who worked on the study, comments in a statement: "We need to work harder to shift the perception that heart attacks only affect a certain type of person. Typically, when we think of a person with a heart attack, we envisage a middle aged man who is overweight, has diabetes and smokes. This is not always the case; heart attacks affect the wider spectrum of the population – including women."
Be aware of the symptoms
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) which part-funded the study says in a statement: "The difference between men and women is alarmingly high, but recent BHF research in Edinburgh has shown one reason why this might be.
"The research shows that when different limits are applied to the troponin test, a routine test for a heart attack, more women receive a correct diagnosis of heart attack. Thanks to this research there is now a better test for female heart attack diagnoses.
"However more research is urgently needed into tests that will enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis of a heart attack, particularly in women."
The BHF is urging the public and healthcare professionals to be more aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
Source:webmd
New research is revealing that even small amounts of physical activity trigger dozens of beneficial changes in the body
You probably have a vague sense that exercise is good for you—and you’ve probably heard that it’s “healthy for the heart.” But if you’re like most people, that’s not enough motivation to get you to break a sweat with any regularity. As I report in the TIME cover story, “The Exercise Cure,” only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of strength and cardiovascular physical activity per week, more than half of all baby boomers report doing no exercise whatsoever, and 80.2 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive.
That’s bad news, but emerging evidence shows that there are plenty of compelling reasons to start moving at any age and even if you’re ill or pregnant. Indeed, scientists are learning that exercise is, actually, medicine. “There is no pill that comes close to what exercise can do,” says Claude Bouchard, director of the human genomics laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana. “And if there was one, it would be extremely expensive.”
You can read the whole story for more, but here are some of the amazing things that happen to a body in motion.
1. Exercise is great for your brain
It’s linked to less depression, better memory and quicker learning. Studies also suggest that exercise is, as of now, the best way to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, a major fear for many Americans.
Scientists don’t know exactly why exercise changes the structure and function of the brain, but it’s an area of active research. So far, they’ve found that exercise improves blood flow to the brain, feeding the growth of new blood vessels and even new brain cells, thanks to the protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BDNF triggers the growth of new neurons and helps repair and protect brain cells from degeneration. It may also help people focus, according to recent research.
2. You might get happier
Countless studies show that many types of exercise, from walking to cycling, make people feel better and can even relieve symptoms of depression. Exercise triggers the release of chemicals in the brain—serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, dopamine—that dull pain, lighten mood and relieve stress. “For years we focused almost exclusively on the physical benefits of exercise and really have ignored the psychological and emotional benefits of being regularly active,” says Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise.
3. It might make you age slower
Exercise has been shown to lengthen lifespan by as much as five years. A small new study suggests that moderate-intensity exercise may slow down the aging of cells. As humans get older and their cells divide over and over again, their telomeres—the protective caps on the end of chromosomes—get shorter. To see how exercise affects telomeres, researchers took a muscle biopsy and blood samples from 10 healthy people before and after a 45-minute ride on a stationary bicycle. They found that exercise increased levels of a molecule that protects telomeres, ultimately slowing how quickly they shorten over time. Exercise, then, appears to slow aging at the cellular level.
4. It’ll make your skin look better
Aerobic exercise revs up blood flow to the skin, delivering oxygen and nutrients that improve skin health and even help wounds heal faster. “That’s why when people have injuries, they should get moving as quickly as possible—not only to make sure the muscle doesn’t atrophy, but to make sure there’s good blood flow to the skin,” says Anthony Hackney, an exercise physiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Train long enough, and you’ll add more blood vessels and tiny capillaries to the skin, too.
The skin also serves as a release point for heat. (See “Why Does My Face Turn Red When I Exercise?” for more on that.) When you exercise, your muscles generate a lot of heat, which you have to give up to the environment so your body temperature doesn’t get too high, Hackney says. The heat in the muscle transfers to the blood, which shuttles it to the skin; it can then escape into the atmosphere.
5. Amazing things can happen in just a few minutes
Emerging research suggests that it doesn’t take much movement to get the benefits. “We’ve been interested in the question of, How low can you go?” says Martin Gibala, an exercise physiologist at McMaster University in Ontario. He wanted to test how effective a 10-minute workout could be, compared to the typical 50-minute bout. The micro-workout he devised consists of three exhausting 20-second intervals of all-out, hard-as-you-can exercise, followed by brief recoveries. In a three-month study, he pitted the short workout against the standard one to see which was better. To his amazement, the workouts resulted in identical improvements in heart function and blood-sugar control, even though one workout was five times longer than the other. “If you’re willing and able to push hard, you can get away with surprisingly little exercise,” Gibala says. (For more on the 1-minute workout read this.)
6. It can help you recover from a major illness
Even very vigorous exercise—like the interval workouts Gibala is studying—can, in fact, be appropriate for people with different chronic conditions, from Type 2 diabetes to heart failure. That’s new thinking, because for decades, people with certain diseases were advised not to exercise. Now scientists know that far more people can and should exercise. A recent analysis of more than 300 clinical trials discovered that for people recovering from a stroke, exercise was even more effective at helping them rehabilitate.
Dr. Robert Sallis, a family physician at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center in California, has prescribed exercise to his patients since the early 1990s in hopes of doling out less medication. “It really worked amazingly, particularly in my very sickest patients,” he says. “If I could get them to do it on a regular basis—even just walking, anything that got their heart rate up a bit—I would see dramatic improvements in their chronic disease, not to mention all of these other things like depression, anxiety, mood and energy levels.”
7. Your fat cells will shrink
The body uses both carbohydrates and fats as energy sources. But after consistent aerobic exercise training, the body gets better at burning fat, which requires a lot of oxygen to convert it into energy. “One of the benefits of exercise training is that our cardiovascular system gets stronger and better at delivering oxygen, so we are able to metabolize more fat as an energy source,” Hackney says. As a result, your fat cells—which produce the substances responsible for chronic low-grade inflammation—shrink, and so does inflammation.
Source: time
We're not saying you've peeked through the blinds to see your neighbors doing the deed, but chances are you've wondered how your stamina stacks up against everyone else. So yes, we're basically asking: Are you the tortoise or the hare?
Due to the private nature of sex, it’s a hard question to answer. Lucky for you, a group of scientists armed with condoms and calculators set out for scientific solution. They asked 500 heterosexual couples from five different countries to use a stopwatch to time sex, from insertion of the penis into the vagina to male orgasm, over a four-week period. (We realize this is a very specific, male-centric definition of sex that doesn't take into account women's orgasms or foreplay, but unfortunately it's the way this particular study was set up.)
The results? Researchers found sex lasts an average (technically median) of 5 minutes and 24 seconds. But don’t sweat it if you’re off the mark—findings ranged from 33 seconds to more than 44 minutes. This just goes to show that when it comes to sex, there really is no normal.
A few more interesting notes from the study: It appears that the time couples last in bed decreases as they get older, and the amount of time a guy takes to orgasm is not significantly affected by condom use or circumcision. So there you have it!
Source: greatist
We like instant gratification. Who doesn’t? You desire a thing, you want it as soon as possible. This is entirely rational. The food looks good, you’re (relatively) hungry, so let’s eat. That gadget would be fun to play with, you’ve got the money (or credit) for it, so let’s buy it. This is why we sign up for and can never relinquish our Amazon Prime same-day shipping, why we demand antibiotics for viral infections, and why we can purchase and collect entire buckets of fried chicken without ever leaving our cars. We don’t like to wait if we don’t have to. And we rarely have to wait. This extends to how we deal with physical pain: my arm hurts, I want this pain to go away right now, so I’ll take a painkiller.
The problem with this approach to pain is that the quick solutions rarely work like they do for other physiological messages. Hunger is simple. You put something in your mouth, chew, and swallow. Hunger gone. But pain is complex. Pain is communication. When something hurts, your nervous system is telling you that something is wrong with your body (that stove is hot, your ankle is sprained, you pulled your hamstring) and you should fix it (pull your hand away, elevate and stay off your ankle, warm-up before you sprint next time). People born without the ability to feel pain are extremely vulnerable to death and dismemberment. It might sound cool to live without pain, but we desperately need it to survive.
Acute pain can usually be trusted. Chronic pain is trickier. There may have been initial tissue damage, but instead of decreasing the pain as the damage healed, it increased: chronic pain usually gets worse, not better.
How does the conventional medical system deal with most chronic pain?
Strong drugs: Opioid painkillers don’t work. Well, they “work,” but a little too well. You have to keep taking them to keep the pain at bay in increasingly larger doses, which increases the risk of addiction. They don’t actually help you heal or resolve the pain, and if anything, they increase your sensitivity to chronic pain. Dulling the pain or killing it with strong drugs usually doesn’t fix the underlying problem. Especially for chronic pain—the kind of pain that lingers and follows you through life—magic bullets don’t really exist. It’s no wonder that millions of Americans are addicted to prescription opioids like oxycodone.
Surgery: Though it’s great for acute tissue damage, surgical interventions for chronic pain have mixed results. Back fusion surgery outcomes are generally inferior to non-surgical interventions, and failed back surgeries have the potential to increase chronic pain and dysfunction. That a condition called “failed back surgery syndrome” even exists is telling. And research pitting knee surgery against placebo knee surgery suggest that arthoscopic knee surgery may not be required to “fix” chronic degenerative meniscus tears.
Pain is an output from the brain, not an input from the body.
When tissue is threatened/damaged/burned/lacerated/sprained, peripheral nerves called nociceptors send alarm signals to the brain, but the brain must interpret those signals and decide if you should “feel pain” or not. Utility determines pain: you’ll feel it if it’s helpful. The basketball player who sprains his ankle in the 2nd quarter of a pre-season game will immediately feel it, because his brain wants him to rest instead of finishing out the game. If that same injury occurred in game six of the NBA finals, his brain might “allow” him to continue playing because the stakes are so high. The soldier whose leg was mangled by a grenade probably won’t feel pain commensurate with the damage done, because his brain wants him to drag himself to safety.
Physical damage doesn’t always cause pain, and you don’t even need to possess the supposedly painful tissue to feel pain in the tissue. Consider phantom limb pain, where amputees still feel pain in the missing limb. There’s no limb to hurt, no nerves to send or receive signals, yet it still hurts. Thank the brain.
First off, I’m no doctor. Like anything involving the brain, chronic pain can be incredibly complicated. What I can offer are a few low-impact, non-interventional Primal ideas for improving your pain situation. I won’t be telling you how to adjust your own spine or anything like that. In fact, I’ll save the physical interventions for another post. Today is all about the psychological causes and fixes for physical chronic pain.
What are some things to consider?
Try the Sarno Method
A doctor of rehabilitation, for years Dr. John Sarno had seen back pain patients treated the conventional way. Throw ’em in the imaging machine, identify bulging discs or other trauma, and go from there. Sometimes it was surgery, sometimes physical therapy. It rarely worked. Then he realized something wild: while almost everyone had some sort of physical trauma to their back, the pain they felt didn’t always correlate to the site of the trauma. Someone might have a bulging disc at the L1/L2 but feel pain higher up, or vice versa. Furthermore, back surgery to fix the trauma rarely reduces pain. And acute back injuries, like a crushed disc hurt like hell but usually stop hurting after a few weeks, just like a broken leg. What Sarno discovered is that a lot of chronic back pain stems from bottled up stress, anger, or repressed emotions. The psychological pain becomes physical. Sarno dubbed this tension myositis syndrome, or TMS.
The Sarno method has two phases:
The patient must address the psychological causes of the pain. They didn’t necessarily have to fix the problems causing the stress and emotional turmoil, but they do have to acknowledge their existence and confront them head on.
Since the root cause is psychological, not physical, the patient must resume physical activity. This is crucial. You have to “prove” to your brain that your body isn’t suffering from physical trauma that would restrict movement.
A 2007 study confirmed it: the Sarno method works for back pain patients without specific structural pathologies, especially those with chronic pain. Many patients find that merely reading Sarno’s book, even just the introduction, reduces their chronic back pain. They aren’t medical references, but check out the gushing reviews on Amazon for Sarno’s book. Just becoming aware of the psychological origin of the pain is often enough to fix it.
Learn about pain science
A funny trick about pain is that merely learning about how it works can often reduce it. This may have happened just a few paragraphs back when you read about the brain interpreting signals from the nerves and deciding whether or not to send pain back.
First of all, everyone can learn and understand it. Doctors may think it’s too confusing for most patients, but in 2003 they actually tested this. Chronic pain patients with inaccurate conceptions of pain science were able to understand the neurophysiology of pain when it was properly and accurately explained (even the doctors improved their knowledge of pain science).
Second, learning about pain neuroscience can reduce chronic pain. An older systematic review of the literature concluded that educating chronic pain sufferers about pain neurophysiology and neurobiology has a “positive effect on pain, disability, catastrophization, and physical performance”; a 2016 review came to the same conclusion.
To learn more abut pain science (and hopefully improve your own chronic pain), look no further than Todd Hargrove, whose book and blog offer great insight into the physiological origins of—and potential solutions for—all types of pain.
Deal with, or at least acknowledge, the major stressors in your life
This isn’t an easy or even simple solution. Stress is hard and the things that cause stress are numerous and unending!
But if there are any obvious ones, any real whoppers, take them on.
Bad relationship? Address it. Try counseling. Try a “we need to talk.” Don’t ignore the issues and tell yourself it’s okay. Your brain knows it’s not okay, even if you’re trying desperately to convince it otherwise.
Hate your job? No one should spend 40+ hours a week doing something they loathe. It’s not healthy. And research out of the US shows that people who hate their job are more likely to progress from acute to chronic pain. Chronic pain is more common among dissatisfied workers in Japan, too.
Plagued by a perpetually messy house? Don’t just walk by those dirty dishes for the tenth time this week. Clean them, go minimalist, or hire a de-clutterer. Or all three.
It’s different for everyone—I can’t anticipate every stressor in everyone’s life—but this all boils down to “don’t run away from your problems.” You must at least acknowledge them (remember the Sarno method?).
Understand that fear may be holding you back and making the pain worse
Pain needs fear to work. When you touch that hot stove or prod that wasp nest, the pain you receive scares you away from repeating the mistake in the future. As a response to acute pain, fear-avoidance works—it prevents future instances of pain. As a response to chronic pain, fear-avoidance worsens outcomes and hastens the progression to disability. Research has found that among people with chronic pain, those exhibiting more fear-avoidance are more likely to become disabled, to miss work, and to avoid normal daily activities.
But pain-avoidance doesn’t just predict bad outcomes; it also has real effects. The more they avoid the activities they assume will cause pain, the worse they get. Their muscles atrophy. They actually get more sensitive to pain. In one controlled trial of patients with chronic low back pain, inducing “pain anticipation” before a behavioral test reduced performance and increased pain. As some pain researchers put it, the fear of the pain is more disabling than the pain itself.
Consider how being scared of your pain goes down: you live in a constant state of anxiety, worried that one wrong turn or miscalculated twist of the body will send you reeling to the floor.
In the end, it’s no different than being wracked with physical agony. You’re scared to move. You think about pain all day. You curtail your normal existence. Your fear of pain has disabled you.
Increase the stakes of painful movements
Recall how the NBA player turning his ankle in a pre-season game is more likely to feel it and take a couple weeks off than if he were to turn it in a playoff game. Pain is a negotiation, it’s the culmination of the brain deciding whether the stakes are high enough for you to keep doing the activity that triggered the nerves to send the “pain request” signal. You can control the stakes and thus affect the negotiations.
Get some competition in your life or join a team sport; if people are counting on you or you’re up against your arch nemesis, your brain is more likely to turn down the chronic pain to let you participate. If you’re walking ten miles to raise funds for cancer research, maybe your foot or back or knee won’t hurt so much.
Live the good life
A big part of the pain response comes from the brain’s assessment of your overall situation: if things in general are bad, it’s more likely to err on the side of causing pain. Research into the psychosocial causes of non-specific chronic low back pain in Japanese adults finds that anxiety, life dissatisfaction, and feeling underappreciated at work have the most predictive power. Sound familiar?
Do things that make you happy. Take warm baths at night with a good book. Hang out with friends; don’t be a hermit. Get some midday sun, work on that promotion, build that business you’ve been milling over for years. Improve the quality of your life. Avoid regret. There are innumerable ways to improve your life and increase happiness.
Know that it’s not “all in your head”
Pain comes from the brain, true. It’s the result of the brain’s deliberation over the situation, true. The brain decides if you feel pain or not, true. But the pain is real. You’re not crazy, you’re not “imagining” the pain. The brain isn’t conjuring pain without reason. You may not agree with the reason, and the physical damage to the tissue may not warrant the amount of pain you currently feel, but there’s still a there there.
That’s it for now, folks. Next time I’ll discuss some “physical” causes of and treatments for chronic pain, but for now be sure to direct any comments and questions down below.
Do you experience chronic pain? Does any of this ring true for you?
Source:marksdailyapple
Want another great reason to eat healthy? The food choices you make daily might lower your odds of getting Alzheimer’s disease, some scientists say.
Researchers have found that people who stuck to a diet that included foods like berries, leafy greens, and fish had a major drop in their risk for the memory-sapping disorder, which affects more than 5 million Americans over age 65.
The eating plan is called the MIND diet. Here’s how it works.
Brain-Friendly Foods
MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It’s similar to two other healthy meal plans: the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.
ut the MIND approach “specifically includes foods and nutrients that medical literature and data show to be good for the brain, such as berries,” says Martha Clare Morris, ScD, director of nutrition and nutritional epidemiology at Rush University Medical Center.
You eat things from these 10 food groups:
Green leafy vegetables (like spinach and salad greens): At least six servings a week
Other vegetables: At least one a day
Nuts: Five servings a week
Berries: Two or more servings a week
Beans: At least three servings a week
Whole grains: Three or more servings a day
Fish: Once a week
Poultry (like chicken or turkey): Two times a week
Olive oil: Use it as your main cooking oil.
Wine: One glass a day
You avoid:
Red meat: Less than four servings a week
Butter and margarine: Less than a tablespoon daily
Cheese: Less than one serving a week
Pastries and sweets: Less than five servings a week
Fried or fast food: Less than one serving a week
The Benefits
One study showed that people who stuck to the MIND diet lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 54%. That’s big. But maybe even more importantly, researchers found that adults who followed the diet only part of the time still cut their risk of the disease by about 35%.
On the other hand, people who followed the DASH and Mediterranean diets “moderately” had almost no drop in their Alzheimer’s risk, Morris says.
Scientists need to do more research on the MIND approach, “but it’s a very promising start. It shows that what you eat can make an impact on whether you develop late-onset Alzheimer’s,” which is the most common form of the disease, says Cecilia Rokusek, a registered dietitian at Nova Southeastern University.
Should You Follow the MIND Diet?
Even if you don’t have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease or other risk factors, you may still want to try this eating plan. It focuses on nutritious whole foods, so “it’s not just good for your brain. It’s good your heart and overall health, too,” says Majid Fotuhi, MD, PhD. He is the chairman and CEO of the Memosyn Neurology Institute.
One of the best things about the plan is that you don’t have to stick to it perfectly to see benefits, Rokusek says. “That makes it more likely you’ll follow it for a long time,” she says. And the longer people eat the MIND way, the lower their risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease, Morris says.
If you do decide to make your diet more MIND-like, Rokusek recommends you take a few extra steps. “Keep your portions in check, and be careful about how food is prepared. Sauces, breading, and oils can add extra calories and hidden ingredients like sugar,” she says. “Make a point to drink several glasses of water a day, too.”
Last, understand that even though diet plays a big role, “it’s only one aspect of Alzheimer’s disease,” Fotuhi says. So get regular exercise and manage your stress to lower your risk even more, he says.
Source:webmd
Whether you sleep spoon or back-to-back is an indicator of how happy and satisfied you and your partner areAccording to a new study, spooning with your partner really does say something about your relationship.
Researchers
from the University of Hertfordshire surveyed 1,000 people and found
that couples who maintained physical contact while they slept were more
likely to report being happy in their relationship.
An overwhelming 94% of couples who touch while sleeping said they were
happy, while only 68% of couples who did not touch while snoozing
expressed being satisfied with their relationship.Not only that, physical distance while sleeping seemed to translate into emotional distance. Of the 12% of couples who slept with less than an inch separation from their partner, 86% of them said they were happy. For couples who slept more than 30 inches apart (a mere 2%), only 66% said they were happy."This
is the first survey to examine couples' sleeping positions, and the
results allow people to gain an insight into someone's personality and
relationship by simply asking them about their favorite sleeping
position," said Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the
University of Hertfordshire and study lead. The research was presented at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.The most popular sleeping position for couples was back to back, with 42% doing so. Thirty one percent slept facing the same direction, and 4% slept facing one another.Interestingly, the more outgoing one is, the more likely that person is to sleep it closer to his or her partner. And creative types tended to sleep on their left.So the next time you want to add some satisfaction to your relationship, consider scooting a little closer. You can always do the 'Hug' n 'Roll "later.
Source: time
My journey with oil pulling began on a very vain note; I wanted whiter teeth. On a few different dentist visits the well-meaning hygienists suggested, without me inquiring, that my teeth could be much whiter if I started using custom whitening trays. Considering I thought my teeth looked fine (albeit aging gracefully), I was somewhat put off by these suggestions.I...
Natural Teeth Whitening
My journey with oil pulling began on a very vain note; I wanted whiter teeth. On a few different dentist visits the well-meaning hygienists suggested, without me inquiring, that my teeth could be much whiter if I started using custom whitening trays. Considering I thought my teeth looked fine (albeit aging gracefully), I was somewhat put off by these suggestions.I began to think that perhaps I should invest in these trays and did a little research to discover the following.
What Is Oil Pulling?
Oil pulling is an ancient ritual that dates back 3,000 years which involves swishing oil in your mouth and “pulling” it through your teeth for approximately 20 minutes as soon as you wake up. Recommended oils are sesame, olive, or coconut oil. I use coconut oil as I love the taste and it contains anti-bacterial properties. It is recommended you use one tablespoon of oil. Once you have sufficiently pulled, it is very important to discard the oil into the trash, and not swallow it. The oil contains all of the toxins that you are trying to rid from your body. Afterwards rinse your mouth with water and brush with toothpaste (flouride-free is recommended).
Does Oil Pulling Really Work?
The oil acts as a cleanser pulling toxins out of our mouths and bodies that we accumulate from everyday life. Although 20 minutes a day might seem daunting, it is easy if you do it in conjunction with another task. I do it while I am making the kids’ lunch for school each morning. If I don’t have time for the full 20 minutes, I at least do 10. If I need an extra boost of immune support, I add doTERRA Essential Oils depending on the issue. Lemon if I’m fighting a cold, clove if I’m having mouth issues, and oregano for swollen glands.
Natural Way To Whiten Teeth
I say “discovered” loosely as this is an ancient technique with its roots deep in Ayurveda, yet it has also become a recent trend in the health + wellness community. More important than just teeth whitening, I learned about the myriad health benefits associated with this technique including: -Joint Health -Heart Health -Immune Health -Detoxification -Circulatory Health -Reduced Teeth Sensitivity -Gum Health Also a bonus surprise benefit for me, daily oil pulling helps reduce my TMJ (Temporomandibular joint dysfunction). For this reason alone I oil pull every day and have been doing so now for a year and a half. Whether my teeth have become whiter, I’m not really sure nor do I really care, as all of these health benefits outweigh any vain attempt for whiter teeth. And since starting this practice, I have not been recommended teeth whitening services anymore.
Side Effects Of Artificial Whitening
The active ingredient in teeth whitening is Carbamide Peroxide, a peroxide-bleaching agent. -Teeth whiteners are not classified as drugs; therefore the FDA does not regulate them. -Pregnant and lactating women should not use a teeth whitening substances. -Not recommended for people under the age of 13. -Most common side effects are gum sensitivity and tissue irritation if swallowed. Although my research was unclear as to how “safe” these bleaching ingredients were, I felt uneasy about putting trays of gel in my mouth for 1-4 hours at a time with the potential to accidentally ingest some of the ingredients that could inflame my body. Also what about the gel that gets on your gums? We are surrounded by toxins every day, the last thing I needed was to add another potential toxin to my already compromised immune system. I decided to research alternative methods and discovered oil pulling.
Conclusion
Although I certainly cannot prove if any of these health claims by oil pulling have scientific backing, Dr. John Douillard, who specializes in Ayurveda, has does some research on this topic and would be a good resource if you are interested in learning more. Have you ever tried oil pulling? If not would you ever start? Do your research to feel confident of taking it up. Happy pulling!
Source:curejoy
