Detoxification - Cleansing the Body

The best way for anyone to regain their health and stay healthy is to periodically cleanse and detoxify the body of any accumulated waste. A sluggish, constipated, swollen bowel, retaining pounds of old fecal matter can either compress a nearby area causing disease, or emit infection and toxins which can affect and infect any area of the body.

What Is Detoxification?

Detoxification is the process of clearing toxins from the body or neutralizing or transforming them, and clearing excess mucus and congestion. Many of these toxins come from our diet, drug use, and environmental exposure, both acute and chronic. Internally, fats, especially oxidized fats and cholesterol, free radicals, and other irritating molecules act as toxins. Poor digestion, colon sluggishness and dysfunction, reduced liver function, and poor elimination through the kidneys, respiratory tract, and skin all add to increased toxicity.

Detoxification involves dietary and lifestyle changes which reduce intake of toxins and improve elimination. Avoidance of chemicals, from food or other sources, refined food, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and many drugs helps minimize the toxin load. Those lifestyle changes are a direct result of choices you make in your life.


Intestinal Detoxification Program

A sluggish, constipated, swollen bowel, retaining pounds of old fecal matter can either compress a nearby area causing disease, or emit infection and toxins which can affect and infect any area of the body.

The list of of health problems that could be healed by cleaning out the colon before ever applying any specialized treatment is almost endless: heart problems, blood pressure problems, breathing problems, blood sugar problems, hormone imbalance problems, fertility problems, liver problems, cholesterol problems, immune problems, urinary problems, adrenal and lack of energy problems, prostate problems, digestive problems, lower back problems, leg circulation and nerve problems.

No matter how far removed the problem seems from the colon, no matter how ridiculous it may seem to do a bowel cleansing program instead of brain surgery, cleanse the bowel first and see what happens. If you’re like his patients, you will be thrilled with the results.

Why Colon Cleansing should be your first step

The best way for anyone to regain their health and stay healthy is to periodically cleanse and detoxify the body of any accumulated waste.
Seasonal detoxification program done on a regular basis greatly reduces risk of getting sick. Everyone wants to do a Detox. Everyone wants to repent their faulty lifestyle sins. But before anyone can do any type of Detoxification or Cleansing program, no matter whose detox program it is, they must make sure that ALL of the elimination channels are open and the bowel is the first place to begin. There is a simple reason for this. When you do any detox program, the whole idea is to start programs, juice fasting, saunas, exercise, whatever, that will dissolve and purge accumulated waste, poisons and toxins out of your skin, fat, muscles, every cell of the body. All this waste that is removed, ALL OF IT, is deposited into your colon for final removal. If your colon is sluggish, constipated or blocked, then all of this dumped toxic waste will just sit there, IT CAN EVEN BE RE-ABSORBED BACK INTO YOUR BODY, YUCK! This can make you feel worse, not better, and this is the reason so many people feel horrible when doing a detoxification program and quit it after a few days. If you clean your colon first, any detoxification program should be fun and you should feel great during it and vibrant when you are finished.

Source: American Botanical Pharmacy

The Difference Between Natural Healing and Medical Intervention

Symptoms

Natural Healing:
We Listen when our body "talks" and use this communication to guide us in our healing process Stop, Look and Listen

Medical Intervention:
Dull, Suppress or completely Remove the Symptoms, most often assessing that the symptom is the Disease itself and never getting to the cause of why our body is "communicating"

Focus

Natural Healing:
To Create a Healthy Person

Medical Intervention:
To Destroy, Kill or Cure a Disease

Method of Treatment

Natural Healing:
Setting up a proper living environment so our body can heal itself. This is done through changes in our Food Program, Elimination, Movement, Emotions and Lifestyle. Assistance

Medical Intervention:
Attacking, Killing and Removing disease using drugs and surgery. Altering or removing malfunctioning parts or organs (ex. coronary bypass surgery, appendectomy, mastectomy,) Intervention

Therapeutic Products

Natural Healing:
Products of Nature - WholesomeFruits, Vegetables, Grains, Seeds, Sprouts, Legumes, Nuts, Herbs, Concentrated whole food supplements such as sea vegetables. NO Side Effects

Medical Intervention:
Man Made Products - IsolatedDrugs made from petro-chemicals, animal waste and toxic elements. Man made vitamin and mineral pills. MANY Side Effects including latrogenic DEATH

Therapeutic Modalities

Natural Healing:
Vegetarian (Vegan) Food Programs, Cleansing and Detoxification Routines, Exercise and Movement, Bodywork, Hydrotherapy, Emotional Healing, and Changes in the way we Live, Work, Play, Relate

Medical Intervention:
Surgery, Radiation, Toxic Chemotherapy, Stimulant, Sedative and Suppressive drugs, Carnivore DIEtetics, Dialysis, Colostomies, Changes in ones Lifestyle and Habits are rarely discussed.

Emotions

Natural Healing:
Positive Attitude, Excitement, Strength, Trust in Nature/God, Love, Laughter, Empowerment.

Medical Intervention:
Negative Attitude, Coping, Anxiety, Fear, Weakness, Depression, Being out of Control, Our life is in someone else's hands.

Responsibility

Natural Healing:
We have created our current health level and therefore we can change it and heal our self. Being in control.

Medical Intervention:
I "caught" this disease. I am an unlucky victim. Doctor/God, please heal me.

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_15.htm

What Determines Your Current Level of Health?

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_15.htm

Your current level of health is perfect reflection of how your Body, Mind and Spirit is responding to the environment and lifestyle you have created for yourself.

Intake
the quality of air we breathe, the liquid we drink, and the food we eat

+ Elimination
the function and efficiency of our organs designed to remove and expel waste

+ Movement/Circulation
the ways we move our body to keep it toned, flexible with good circulation

+ Lifestyle
how we live, work and play

+ Emotions/Spirit
do we have positive/healing or negative/destructive emotional and spiritual habits

+ Inherited Constitution
your physical, emotional and spiritual constitution inherited from you parents, your genetics and what you choose to do about it

= Equals your Level of Health

壞食物大翻身

愛吃冰淇淋、披薩、花生醬、巧克力……？
不必再有罪惡感，最新研究發現，你可以吃得理直氣壯！

文／黃惠如

披薩

這是美國心臟協會（American Heart Association）第一次將披薩視為「好速食」。

義大利的科學家發現，披薩可以降低59％食道癌發展的機率，而且愛吃披薩的人也可以降低34％得口腔癌和26％得結腸癌的機率。

秘密都在番茄中的茄紅素和其他抗氧化物。「我們知道番茄醬可以對某些癌症提供保護力，但我們沒有料到作為一個完整食物的披薩，也提供相同的保護效果，」義大利米蘭馬立歐．尼格里藥學研究所喀魯斯（Silvano Gallus）博士說。

的確，披薩的好處除了番茄和番茄醬提供的茄紅素之外，披薩上撒的起司也能強健骨骼，降血壓和抑制結腸癌。

不過如果你懂得挑選，就能吃得更好。12吋的辣味香腸大披薩熱量就超過2000卡、飽和脂肪60克；但如果你點兩片脆皮蔬菜披薩熱量只有300卡、飽和脂肪只有2.5克。所以點一個小披薩，多要一點番茄醬，還要搭配沙拉和蔬菜湯。

冰淇淋

歐洲83％的營養師同意，令人感興趣的食物如冰淇淋，才能真正幫助人們維持長期的健康飲食。那不僅是因為冰淇淋是很好的蛋白質來源，它也有重要的礦物質如鈣與鉀可以維持骨骼和牙齒的健康。

美國《預防雜誌》（Prevention Magazine）甚至曾推廣冰淇淋減肥。雜誌中建議，選擇一杯半約125卡的低卡冰淇淋在減肥餐中，並搭配低卡起司、沙拉、低脂牛奶和低卡貝果（Bagel）。
美國營養學會同意，夏天冰淇淋的確是一個新鮮的鈣質來源，但請注意份量。平常一球冰淇淋雖然提供120毫克的鈣和150毫克的鉀，但不可忽視也有195卡的熱量和10克的脂肪。

因此營養師們建議，多加一點水果在低卡冰淇淋裡。

香蕉

坊間流傳「香蕉傷筋骨」，以致年紀稍長、有退化性關節問題的人對香蕉退避三舍，台北市立聯合醫院中醫院區醫療部主任程惠政卻說「我都叫我病人吃」。

從中醫典籍來看，老祖宗從未曾提及香蕉傷筋骨。《本草綱目》記載香蕉「甘、大寒、無毒」；《本草求原》則記載香蕉「清脾滑腸，脾火盛者食之，反能止瀉止痢」。

香蕉的確「性寒」。不過程惠政說，即使食物有其性味也要和體質相配。如因為香蕉性寒，寒性體質的人的確少吃為佳，但即使寒性體質的人若吃的份量不多，也不會有大礙。

程惠政也強調，性味是古代人的主觀感受，仍不能盡信，常會發現幾本古籍中對相同食物的性味分類並不相同。

若從西方營養學來看，香蕉則好處多多，是不折不扣的好食物。

一根香蕉約是半碗飯的熱量，是很好的熱量來源。運動選手上場時，如果吃太多食物會想嘔吐，這時香蕉就是補充體力最佳食物。曾經來台馬拉松環台的日本打擊樂團體鬼太鼓座，每天早上跑馬拉松前，不吃任何食物，只吃香蕉。

香蕉也可以預防中風，因為有高量的鉀，是繼黃豆之後，被美國食品藥物管理局（FDA）許可，可以在香蕉產品上標示：「具高鉀與低鈉，可以降低中風、高血壓的發生」。

更令人雀躍的是，香蕉還是「快樂食物（pleasure food）」。香蕉中所含的血清素、正腎上腺素、多巴胺都是腦中的神經傳導物質，可以抗憂鬱，振奮精神。

巧克力

愈來愈多美國人流行吃黑巧克力，台灣也愈來愈多巧克力標示著可可純度，都和人們想吃美味的健康食物有關。

眾多的科學研究都發現，巧克力裡有多種抗氧化物質，如可可多酚和類黃酮可以降低壞的膽固醇（低密度膽固醇，LDL），提高好的膽固醇（高密度膽固醇，HDL）。類黃酮也可以舒緩發炎，打開血流，增進血液流通。

美國加州大學戴維斯分校於2006年發表在美國《營養學會期刊》的最新研究發現，每天吃富含巧克力多酚的可可棒，持續6週後可以降低低密度膽固醇。

義大利科學家的研究也發現黑巧克力可以降血壓。這份研究同時也顯示，黑巧克力可以預防第二型糖尿病，因為類黃酮可以鼓勵荷爾蒙轉化醣類成為細胞的燃料。

除此之外，巧克力之所以令人著迷，被稱為愛情靈藥，是因為巧克力中的色胺酸有助於合成血清素，這是一種帶來喜悅的神經傳導物質。但這項成分不僅可以增加浪漫情趣，近來也被發現可以對抗慢性疲勞症候群（chronic fatigue syndrome）。

遺憾的是，並非所有的巧克力產品都有這些功效，這關乎於可可的純度。最近美國農業部研究發現，可可粉是所有的巧克力產品中，含有最多的類黃酮和抗氧化物。烘焙用巧克力（baking chocolate）次之。黑巧克力和烘焙碎巧克力（baking chips）因為製造過程會去掉部份抗氧化物更次之。而大家最常吃的牛奶巧克力（milk chocolate）含有最少的有用物質，約只是可可粉的十分之一而已。

咖啡

科學家現在會告訴你，一天一杯咖啡，醫生遠離你。

美國斯克藍頓大學（University of Scranton）選出咖啡是美國食物中最高的抗氧化物來源。第二名是紅茶、第三名是香蕉。

抗氧化的好處是可以幫你抵禦各種癌症、心臟病、糖尿病和中風，「我認為一天一杯咖啡對心臟是正面的，」斯克藍頓大學化學教授文森（Joe Vinson）說。

如果你擔心喝太多咖啡讓你心悸，好消息是可以選擇低咖啡因咖啡，科學家發現兩者的抗氧化物數量差不多。

但是要提防「咖啡的伴侶」──糖漿和奶精。一杯大杯美式咖啡熱量只不過15卡、無脂肪，但如果加上奶精和糖漿的大杯摩卡星冰樂可要420卡、脂肪16克。

花生醬

花生醬的確有很多油，但並非所有的油都對身體不好。

花生醬裡的單元不飽和脂肪酸和維生素E可以降低壞的膽固醇，保護心臟。這是美國喬治亞大學與韓國國立忠州大學聯合發表在《食物科學期刊》（Journal of Food Science）的研究。

花生醬還可以預防糖尿病。美國哈佛大學公衛學院的研究指出，一週吃5次、每次1匙花生醬，可以降低21％第二型糖尿病的機會。

當你下午肚子餓，土司塗花生醬當點心是很好的選擇，花生醬裡的油脂可以馬上有飽足感。但不適合在已經熱量很高的食物如餅乾、蛋糕，再塗上花生醬。

雞蛋

很多人一看到蛋，就想到膽固醇，害怕心臟病的人碎碎念「要遠離它」。但現在科學家已經知道，真正危險的敵人是飽和脂肪。喬治華盛頓大學心臟學家約翰．拉羅沙博士表示：「飽和脂肪增加膽固醇的威力，比食物含有膽固醇本身，要高出4倍。」

飽和性脂肪都在動物性油脂裡，如肉類、乳製品。所以要遠離奶油、豬油、雞皮、全脂牛奶等。雞蛋的脂肪極少，一顆蛋只有5克脂肪而已。

況且雞蛋的營養濃度極高，一顆蛋裡就有維生素A、B6、B12、E、K、葉酸、鐵等，可以防止脂肪沈澱在肝臟，蛋裡的黃體素也可以保護眼睛健康。

但烹調方式會影響雞蛋健康與否。水煮蛋或多加點蔬菜在蛋裡，可以讓你每一口都可以吃到營養。

牛肉

不用再吃乾巴巴的雞胸肉了，牛肉（與各種紅肉）和膽固醇、心臟病的關連已經沒有那麼深。美國約翰霍普金斯大學刊登在《內科學文獻》（Archives of Internal Medicine）的研究指出，瘦牛肉和雞肉、魚一樣，不會增加膽固醇。因為畜牧技術的進步，現今的牛肉已經沒有那麼「油」，所以沒有那麼多的飽和脂肪。

況且牛肉裡含有很多女性補充不足的營養，如鐵、鋅、和維生素B12。

不過還是要選擇瘦牛肉，不能選肋排或丁骨牛排，這種牛排的油脂和熱量還是瘦牛肉的兩倍。

鴨肉

很多人說，鴨肉有「毒」，所以皮膚病、手術開刀的人不能吃，甚至還擴大到所有人都不宜多吃鴨肉。

中醫師程惠政說，「食物沒有毒不毒的問題，」雖然本草綱目上記載鴨肉「甘、冷、微毒」，但古人所謂的「毒」，指對身體明顯的反應，如立即引起腹瀉或過敏等，並不是現代科學觀念中的「毒」。

之所以會引起腹瀉，可能是因為體質虛寒或已經受涼的人吃太多鴨肉所致。因為鴨肉雖然無毒，卻是性寒，因此可以薑母、當歸等熱性食物一起烹煮，以平衡食物的性味，便是很好的補虛勞食物。現在你知道為何薑母鴨、當歸鴨那麼有名了吧。

起司

下次早餐的土司不要塗奶油，改夾起司。因為起司竟然可以抗癌，美國華盛頓州立大學的研究發現。

關鍵在於起司中的共軛亞麻油酸（Conjugated Linolenic Acid）。這種「好的」脂肪酸不僅發現可以阻止皮膚癌、肺癌、乳癌的成長，也可以降低心臟病、糖尿病的機率。共軛亞麻油酸也被發現可以降低飯後脂肪的儲存，因此可以控制體重。

不僅如此，起司一直都是良好的鈣質來源。鈣不僅可以預防骨質疏鬆，也可強健骨骼和牙齒。對於喝牛奶肚子會不舒服的人，起司更是身體可以快速吸收的鈣質來源。

美國《動起來的人生》（Active Wellness）作者營養師雷啟勒（Gayle Reichler）建議吃有強烈氣味的藍起司（blue cheese）或新鮮的羊奶起司（goat cheese），這些起司人工香料較少，而且羊奶起司一盎司（31.1克）熱量只有23卡，而一般的巧達起司（Cheddar Cheese）可有114卡。

本文出自　康健雜誌100期　封面故事：壞食物大翻身

BANANAS

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose - combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

A banana can help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must for our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be re-balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine", eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%"

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

A banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.

Soooooo.......... "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Remember: If you have a latex allergy, check with your doctor before eating banana

PS Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time!

Indoor air pollution and health

More than three billion people worldwide continue to depend on solid fuels, including biomass fuels (wood, dung, agricultural residues) and coal, for their energy needs.

Cooking and heating with solid fuels on open fires or traditional stoves results in high levels of indoor air pollution. Indoor smoke contains a range of health-damaging pollutants, such as small particles and carbon monoxide, and particulate pollution levels may be 20 times higher than accepted guideline values.

According to The world health report 2002 indoor air pollution is responsible for 2.7% of the global burden of disease.


Scope of the problem

More than half of the world’s population rely on dung, wood, crop waste or coal to meet their most basic energy needs. Cooking and heating with such solid fuels on open fires or stoves without chimneys leads to indoor air pollution. This indoor smoke contains a range of health-damaging pollutants including small soot or dust particles that are able to penetrate deep into the lungs. In poorly ventilated dwellings, indoor smoke can exceed acceptable levels for small particles in outdoor air 100-fold. Exposure is particularly high among women and children, who spend the most time near the domestic hearth. Every year, indoor air pollution is responsible for the death of 1.6 million people - that's one death every 20 seconds.

The use of polluting fuels thus poses a major burden on the health of poor families in developing countries. The dependence on such fuels is both a cause and a result of poverty as poor households often do not have the resources to obtain cleaner, more efficient fuels and appliances. Reliance on simple household fuels and appliances can compromise health and thus hold back economic development, creating a vicious cycle of poverty.

According to the 2004 assessment of the International Energy Agency, the number of people relying on biomass fuels such as wood, dung and agricultural residues, for cooking and heating will continue to rise. In sub-Saharan Africa, the reliance on biomass fuels appears to be growing as a result of population growth and the unavailability of, or increases in the price of, alternatives such as kerosene and liquid petroleum gas. Despite the magnitude of this growing problem, the health impacts of exposure to indoor air pollution have yet to become a central focus of research, development aid and policy-making.

The health impact: A major killer

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed the contribution of a range of risk factors to the burden of disease and revealed indoor air pollution as the 8th most important risk factor and responsible for 2.7% of the global burden of disease . Globally, indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is responsible for 1.6 million deaths due to pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer, with the overall disease burden (in Disability-Adjusted Life Years or DALYs, a measure combining years of life lost due to disability and death) exceeding the burden from outdoor air pollution five fold. In high-mortality developing countries, indoor smoke is responsible for an estimated 3.7% of the overall disease burden, making it the most lethal killer after malnutrition, unsafe sex and lack of safe water and sanitation.

Indoor air pollution has been associated with a wide range of health outcomes, and the evidence for these associations has been classified as strong, moderate or tentative in a recent systematic review. Included in the above assessment were only those health outcomes for which the evidence for indoor air pollution as a cause was classified as strong. There is consistent evidence that exposure to indoor air pollution increases the risk of pneumonia among children under five years, and chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer (in relation to coal use) among adults over 30 years old. The evidence for a link with lung cancer from exposure to biomass smoke, and for a link with asthma, cataracts and tuberculosis was considered moderate. On the basis of the limited available studies, there is tentative evidence for an association between indoor air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes, in particular low birth weight, or ischaemic heart disease and nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers.

While the precise mechanism of how exposure causes disease is still unclear, it is known that small particles and several of the other pollutants contained in indoor smoke cause inflammation of the airways and lungs and impair the immune response. Carbon monoxide also results in systemic effects by reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

Pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections

Globally, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections represent the single most important cause of death in children under five years. Exposure to indoor air pollution more than doubles the risk of pneumonia and is thus responsible for more than 900 000 of the 2 million annual deaths from pneumonia.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Women exposed to indoor smoke are three times as likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), such as chronic bronchitis, than women who cook and heat with electricity, gas and other cleaner fuels. Among men, exposure to this neglected risk factor nearly doubles the risk of chronic respiratory disease. Consequently, indoor air pollution is responsible for approximately 700 000 out of the 2.7 million global deaths due to COPD.

Lung cancer

Coal use is widespread in China and cooking on open fires or simple stoves can cause lung cancer in women. Exposure to smoke from coal fires doubles the risk of lung cancer, in particular among women who tend to smoke less than men in most developing countries. Every year, more than one million people die from lung cancer globally, and indoor air pollution is responsible for approximately 1.5% of these deaths.

Disproportionate impacts on children and women

Household energy practices vary widely around the world, as does the resultant death toll due to indoor air pollution. While more than two-thirds of indoor smoke deaths from acute lower respiratory infections in children occur in WHO's African and South East Asian Regions, over 50% of the COPD deaths due to indoor air pollution occur in the Western Pacific region.

In most societies, women are in charge of cooking and - depending on the demands of the local cuisine - they spend between three and seven hours per day near the stove, preparing food. 59% of all indoor air pollution-attributable deaths thus fall on females. Young children are often carried on their mother's back or kept close to the warm hearth. Consequently, infants spend many hours breathing indoor smoke during their first year of life when their developing airways make them particularly vulnerable to hazardous pollutants. As a result, 56% of all indoor air pollution-attributable deaths occur in children under five years of age.

In addition to the health burden, fuel collection can impose a serious time burden on women and children. Alleviating this work will free women's time for productive endeavours and child care, and can boost children's school attendance and time for homework.

Millennium Development Goals are guiding international action

Tackling indoor air pollution in the context of household energy is linked to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular to reducing child mortality (Goal 4), to promoting gender equality and empowering women (Goal 3), to opening up opportunities for income generation and eradicating extreme poverty (Goal 1), and to ensuring environmental sustainability (Goal 7). WHO reports the "proportion of the population using solid fuels for cooking" as an indicator for assessing progress towards the integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes. Yet, the central role of household energy is not currently reflected in the political responses to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Measures to reduce indoor air pollution and associated health effects range from switching to cleaner alternatives, such as gas, electricity or solar energy, to improved stoves or hoods that vent health-damaging pollutants to the outside, to behavioural changes. There is an urgent need to investigate which interventions work and how they can be implemented in a successful, sustainable and financially viable way.

What WHO is doing

WHO, as the global public health agency, is advocating for the integration of health in international and national energy policies and programmes. WHO collects and evaluates the evidence for the impact of household energy on health and for the effectiveness of interventions in reducing the health burden on children, women and other vulnerable groups. WHO's programme on household energy and health rests on four pillars:

- Documenting the health burden of indoor air pollution and household energy: WHO will provide a regular update of the links between household energy and health and, where feasible, offer support to key research undertakings.

- Evaluating the effectiveness of technical solutions and their implementation: Developing simple tools for monitoring the effectiveness of interventions in improving health and building the capacity to conduct such evaluations will help generate much needed information from ongoing small- and large-scale projects. This information will provide the basis for the development of a catalogue of options that review both the effectiveness of interventions, and lessons learnt in relation to their implementation.

- Acting as the global advocate for health as a central component of international and national energy policies: Ultimately, policy-makers will want to know whether it pays off to invest in large-scale operations to reduce indoor air pollution. In terms of health, a recent cost-effectiveness analysis of different interventions suggests that improved stoves and switching to kerosene and gas represent cost-effective solutions. In addition, WHO is working on a cost-benefit analysis of interventions that - beyond health - will take into account all the benefits associated with improved household energy practices.

- Monitoring changes in household energy habits over time: Information about the energy habits of poor, mostly rural households is scarce and WHO has the responsibility to work towards progress in this area and to report, on a yearly basis, the Millennium Development Goal Indicator 29 "percentage of population using solid fuels".

Key partners include the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank as well as many research institutions and non-governmental agencies around the world. WHO is already actively taking part in projects in several developing countries, including the most sophisticated scientific indoor air pollution study to date undertaken in Guatemala, and work in China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Kenya and Sudan. In the future, work will focus even more on those countries and populations most in need.


RELATED LINKS
- Indoor air pollution

Antibiotic Resistance

Superbugs - bacteria that resist the effects of the most powerful antibiotics - are being reported more and more frequently. Some doctors see their rise as heralding the end of the age of antibiotics. BBC News Online's health team presents an overview of the past, present and future of the 20th century's greatest medical breakthrough.

The emerging superbug
Visa is resistant to just about every antibiotic known to medicine and has been discovered in hospitals from Japan to Scotland - find out where it comes from and why it has got doctors worried.

Staphylococcus aureus - the root of the problem (picture: Pfizer)

The emergence of a superbug - a bacteria resistant to all antibiotics - could herald the end of the era of antibiotics, the biggest medical advance of the twentieth century.

That at least was the view of public health scientists in New York earlier this year when they reported a growing incidence of VISA - vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

These bacteria have been proving resistant to vancomycin, the most powerful antibiotic in doctors' armoury, although combinations of other antibiotics have been able to halt it.

Vancomycin is seen as the last line of defence against MRSA - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - which is unaffected by most antibiotics and is becoming more common.

All around the world

The emergence of VISA shows that, in doctors' race to keep antibiotics advanced enough to defeat bacteria, the bugs are taking the lead.

VISA has been found in hospitals in Japan, America, France and, more recently, in Scotland.

Although only one person is thought to have died directly from infection with the bug, the fear is that more dangerous bacteria such as those that cause tuberculosis could develop the same characteristics that allow VISA to resist even the most powerful antibiotics.

Were this to happen, doctors would be back where they started before the introduction of penicillin - confronted by a host of diseases caused by bacteria and unable to cure them.

In February, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine recorded three cases of bacteria resisting vancomycin.

In two of them, cocktails of other antibiotics cleared up the infection. In the third, a combination of antibiotics failed and the 79-year-old patient died.

Larger problem

Dr Alexander Tomasz, professor of microbiology at New York's Rockefeller University, said in the journal: "This is the tip of the iceberg. At the moment such strains are very, very rare.

"But they are not as susceptible as they used to be. They have moved up the threshold of resistance. It is a warning."

The reports suggested that it would only take one small mutation for the bacteria to develop full resistance to even the most powerful drugs.

Dr Theresa Smith, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported two of the cases in the journal, and said the appearance of such bacteria "threatens to return us to the era before the development of antibiotics".

Optimism in Glasgow

However, when it appeared at the Royal Glasgow Infirmary Dr John Hood, consultant bacteriologist at the hospital's Infection Control Unit, was less alarmed.

He said that while the strain showed increased resistance to traditional antibiotics, it was not yet immune to them and newer drugs were also available to combat it.

But Professor Hugh Pennington, who conducted the inquiry into the 1996 Lanarkshire E. coli infection, described the development as "worrying".

"If it turns out to be the case that this strain proves resistant to Vancomycin, that really is quite bad news and would confirm our fears that these bugs are developing a full house of resistance," he said.

Links to more Antibiotics stories
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic Resistant "Superbug" on the Rise
New antibiotic-resistant superbug found
Super-Resistant Superbugs
Attack of the Superbug
Essential oils have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria

The importance of inflammation & Asthma triggers

The importance of inflammation

Inflammation, or swelling, is a normal response of the body to injury or infection. The bloodflow increases to the affected site and cells rush in and ward off the offending problem. The healing process has begun. Usually, when the healing is complete, the inflammation subsides. Sometimes, the healing process causes scarring. The central issue in asthma, however, is that the inflammation does not resolve completely on its own. In the short term, this results in recurrent "attacks" of asthma. In the long term, it may lead to permanent thickening of the bronchial walls, called airway "remodeling." If this occurs, the narrowing of the bronchial tubes may become irreversible and poorly responsive to medications. Therefore, the goals of asthma treatment are: (1) in the short term, to control airway inflammation in order to reduce the reactivity of the airways; and (2) in the long term, to prevent airway remodeling.

Allergy Assist

The hallmark of managing asthma is the prevention and treatment of airway inflammation. It is also likely that control of the inflammation will prevent airway remodeling and thereby prevent permanent loss of lung function.

Figure I illustrates how important events in the asthma cycle are linked. Various triggers in susceptible individuals result in airway inflammation. Prolonged inflammation induces a state of airway hyper-reactivity, which might progress to airway remodeling unless treated effectively.

Asthma triggers

Asthma symptoms may be activated or aggravated by many agents. Not all asthmatics react to the same triggers. Additionally, the effect that each trigger has on the lungs varies from one individual to another. In general, the severity of your asthma depends on how many agents activate your symptoms and how sensitive your lungs are to them. Most of these triggers can also worsen nasal or eye symptoms.

Triggers fall into two categories:

- Allergens ("specific")
- Non-allergens - mostly irritants (non-"specific")

Once your bronchial tubes (nose and eyes) become inflamed from an allergic exposure, a re-exposure to the offending allergens will often activate symptoms. These "reactive" bronchial tubes might also respond to other triggers, such as exercise, infections, and other irritants. The following is a simple checklist.

Common Asthma Triggers:

Allergens

- "Seasonal" pollens.
- Year-round dust mites, molds, pets, and insect parts.
- Foods, such as fish, egg, peanuts, nuts, cow's milk, and soy.
- Additives, such as sulfites.
- Work-related agents, such as latex.

Allergy Fact

About 80% of children and 50% of adults with asthma also have allergies.

Irritants

- Respiratory infections, such as those caused by viral "colds," bronchitis, and sinusitis.
- Drugs, such as aspirin, other NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and Beta Blockers (used to treat blood pressure and other heart conditions).
- Tobacco smoke.
- Outdoor factors, such as smog, weather changes, and diesel fumes.
- Indoor factors, such as paint, detergents, deodorants, chemicals, and perfumes.
- Nighttime.
- GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disorder).
- Exercise, especially under cold dry conditions.
- Work-related factors, such as chemicals, dusts, gases, and metals.
- Emotional factors, such as laughing, crying, yelling, and distress.
- Hormonal factors, such as in premenstrual syndrome.

http://www.medicinenet.com/asthma

Good Health and How to Achieve It

By Debbie Piltin

The importance of good health cannot be ignored. Without good health we leave ourselves susceptible to dangerous diseases and a shortened life span. Good health is fairly easy to achieve, but you must make certain changes in your life style that may seem difficult at first. The main thing to remember is to start off slowly and don't try to change everything at once.

The most important facet of good health is adequate exercise. Exercises help us achieve good health by strengthening our cardio-vascular system, strengthening our muscle mass and reducing the affect of stress on the body. To ensure that exercises do not appear to be chores, it is best to find exercises that you enjoy doing rather than those that you dread. For those who prefer to be outdoors, trekking, hiking, jogging or running may be the appropriate exercise to take up. On the other hand, for those who enjoy swimming, membership to a local pool may be the answer.

Alternate methods of exercises are slowly becoming very popular. Amongst those that are really catching on is yoga. This is a very popular form of exercise that helps to strengthen your body, helps you lose weight, and is great as a stress reliever. Another alternate exercise is Pilates that addresses the core strength of your abdominals. The main point is that whatever your interest may be, you are sure to find an alternate form of exercise that would ensure good health.

Poor eating habits are a precursor to poor health. Healthy eating is very important in achieving and maintaining good health. Those who have poor eating habits should slowly change by taking steps such as adding a small salad to your dinner, or a piece of fruit for dessert rather than ice cream. The aim is to slowly change the eating habits by making sure that the bulk of what you consume is nutritious and full of vitamins and minerals. Moderation in whatever you do is the key to success.

A primary type of food to avoid when you want to 'eat right' is processed food. We all find it most convenient to open a packet of pre-packaged frozen food and pop it in the microwave to have a complete meal. Such a meal however is far from complete and does nothing for good health.

As a healthier choice, try making several nutritious meals on Sunday night and freezing portions of them to eat next week. This way you have the convenience of fast meals but you also know what's gone into them. Just by making small changes such as this you can be eating healthier in no time.

The two big-time killers of good health are smoking and drinking. A few drinks now and again are fine, and small amounts of red wine are actually good for you, but there is no such exception for smoking. You need to reduce your drinking and you have to quit smoking. Smoking is dangerous not only to your health but also to the health of those around you. The good news is that as you quit smoking, the body commences the task of repairing all the damage that has occurred over the years.

It is easy to achieve good health. All it takes is making some changes to your diet and lifestyle. Start by taking the stairs at work instead of getting in the elevator. Or switch that favorite lunchtime meal of hamburger and fries for a wrap and a salad. Small, easy changes are the best way to start. By making these changes now you can enjoy good health well into your golden years.

About the author: Debbie Piltin is the your host at FF Health, a good resource when you're looking for up to date advice and reviews to do with Health.

see also Metamorphosis

Why You Should Care about Your Blood Sugar?

By Dov Oshri
Unless you're diabetic, chances are you haven't given a moment's thought to your blood sugar before now. So why should you care about it?

- You should care if you find yourself getting sluggish or tired at 3:00 pm every afternoon.
- You should care if you reach for biscuits, sweets, or coal top give you a shot of energy.
- You should care if you've ever found yourself hungry late at night and making a refrigerator raid.
- You should care if your earnest attempts to lose weight have met with little or no success.
- You should care if you've notices your vision or your memory slipping in recent years.

What exactly is blood sugar? And why is it so important to your health? Well, blood sugar is to your body what petrol is to your car. It's the fuel that makes it go. If your car ran out of petrol, it would sputter, cough, and come to a stop. If you ran out of blood sugar, you would soon go into a coma and die. Every cell in your body depends on blood sugar for the energy to stay alive and perform its function. Without a steady supply of blood sugar, your brain couldn't think, your heart couldn't b eat, your feet couldn't walk.

So, like petrol, blood sugar is a good thing. But you can have too much of a good thing. You wouldn't pour petrol all over your car, would you? But when your blood sugar gets high - and stays high - that's exactly what you are doing. You're pouring petrol over your body and all the vital organs inside. Then when you add a small additional problem as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you're striking a match.

Your goal is to keep your "petrol tank" of blood sugar full, but not too full. And one of the key tools in this process is a hormone called insulin. Insulin is manufactured in your pancreas and it's job is to "inject" the blood sugar into your cells. Consider it your own personal fuel-injection system!

Whenever you eat - especially when you eat carbohydrate - the food is converted to blood sugar (glucose), and your pancreas cranks up its production of insulin. The insulin sends the blood sugar into your cells, and your cells use it for energy. When your blood sugar is high, your body hates to waste all that fuel. So whatever it can't use right away for energy, it stores as fat to be used later.

Have you wondered why you can still gain weight even when you hardly eat? You're late for work and the kids are late for school, so you don't have time for breakfast. Work is really busy, so the only lunch you have time for is a bagel and a diet soft drink. Your body is in starvation mode, and your blood sugar is very low.

But when dinnertime comes, it's a different story. Now you're ready for a feast of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn and bread rolls with butter. Your blood sugar soars, your insulin spikes, and here's what your body is thinking: "We've been starving all day, and finally we got a decent meal. But who knows when we'll eat again? We should store all this food as fat. That way, we'll have a source of energy if we go back to starvation tomorrow."

So on the next morning, you step on the scales and you've gained weight! You say to yourself, "But how could that happen? I only ate one meal yesterday!" How could it happen? It's your blood sugar, that's how! Are you starting to understand why balancing your blood sugar is so important?

Doctors are beginning to realize that keeping a close eye on your blood sugar isn't just for diabetics anymore. It's for everyone - man, woman who wants to be fit, healthy, and live to ripe old age.

Controlling your blood sugar is one of the most exciting new discoveries to hit the world of weight loss in at least 25 years. It's the only weight loss method ever invented that works not by depriving you of foods, but by urging you to eat those foods that naturally keep your blood sugar on an even keel.

As a result, your insulin rarely spikes... and your meals are less likely to get stored as fat. If your body needs more energy that it can get from your last meal, it borrows form your existing reserves of fat in your belly, butt, and thighs. You're rarely hungry. Your cravings for sweets and carb crunchies will disappear. You will lose weight. Gain more energy. Sharpen your memory. And protect yourself against life-threatening illnesses like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

10 secrets of longevity

Eat the right foods and you could live to be 100.
By Dr. Maoshing Ni

1. Weekday vegetarian, weekend carnivore
Vegetarians generally suffer fewer degenerative diseases and cancers than their carnivore cousins. It's been estimated that a third of all cancer patients developed their disease as a result of insufficient whole plant fibre in their diets. However, you don't have to give up meat entirely to enjoy longevity -- limiting your intake or eating meat only on weekends is a perfectly balanced and healthy approach.

2. Stay alive: Stop eating dead foods
Ever wonder what Wonder Bread is really made of, or how many miles that head of limp lettuce has traveled? There's nothing like fresh, whole, organic foods to maintain your health and well-being. Farm-fresh produce and meats go directly from the source to your table, leaving little time in between for nutrients to be lost. Many foods at your supermarket have been picked or slaughtered weeks or even months before they make it onto the shelf. These items are preserved by nitrogen or other artificial means, making them appear fresh. Moreover, foods treated with pesticides and artificial fertilizers have lower nutritional value than foods grown organically.

3. Ginger gives you snap
Best known in the West for its antinausea properties, ginger has probably been in the longest continuous use of any botanical remedy in the world. The Chinese use it for both medicinal and culinary purposes, frequently in cooking seafood, since it acts as a detoxifier to prevent seafood poisoning. Besides its popular application for digestive distress, ginger has been found to contain geraniol, which may be a potent cancer fighter. It also possesses anti-inflammatory properties that help relieve pain, prevent blood clots, and inhibit the onset of migraine headaches. Since ancient times, Chinese physicians have regularly consumed ginger tea to keep their vitality fired up.

4. Brown rice for long life
White rice begins as brown rice. Once the outer coating of rice bran is hulled off, however, not a lot of nutrients remain. A thousand years ago, Chinese physicians discovered that eating only refined white rice, devoid of the B vitamins in the bran, led to beriberi, a deficiency in thiamine (B1). Modern research has identified a wealth of nutrients in the bran coating of brown rice. It is remarkably effective in lowering high blood sugar and therefore serves as an excellent food for diabetics. Rice bran contains more than 70 antioxidants, including the well-known age fighters vitamin E, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), coenzyme Q-10 (CoQ-10), proanthocyanidins, and inositol hexaphosphate (IP6). It is no wonder that rural farmers in Asia, who eat brown rice because white rice is too expensive, live longer and develop fewer health problems than their city-dwelling counterparts, who eat mostly white rice.

5. Eat your sea vegetables
Seaweed and marine algae are vegetables from the sea that have long been considered to possess powers to prolong life, prevent disease, and impart beauty and health. Common types of seaweed include nori (sushi wrap), kombu, kelp, dulce, and Irish moss. Containing more calcium than milk, more iron than beef, and more protein than eggs, seaweed is also a rich source of micronutrients. Traditionally, its healing properties are said to include shrinking goiters, dissolving tumors and cysts, detoxifying heavy metals, reducing water retention, and aiding in weight loss. So eat your sea vegetables! They have more concentrated nutrition than vegetables grown on land.

6. Password to a treasure of health: Open sesame!
The most common oil consumed by Chinese centenarians, sesame oil is enjoyed for its refined, nutty flavour but possesses therapeutic properties as well. Chinese medicine lists sesame as a kidney and liver tonic, a blood builder, and a bowel protector and regulator. Sesame is rich in phytic acid, an antioxidant that may prevent cancer. The oil of one variety, lignan sesamin, was found to drastically reduce cholesterol levels in the liver and bloodstream of rats. To enhance flavours and improve health, sprinkle sesame seeds and oil in your food regularly.

7. The ultimate longevity food
In Asia, mushrooms are favoured for both their taste and their therapeutic value. Chinese legend is filled with stories of those who discovered the 1,000-year-old mushroom and became immortal. An underground stalactite cave museum outside of Kungming, China, displays a reishi or ganoderma mushroom that measures 4 feet in diameter and is estimated to be about 800 years old! There are more than 100,000 varieties of mushrooms, about 700 of them edible. Many mushrooms, particularly shiitake, maitake, reishi, and wood ear, have superb anti-aging properties. Depending on the type, they may contain polysaccharides, sterols, coumarin, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that boost immune function, lower bad cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and protect the body from virus and cancer. And you don't have to dig for them in the mountains any longer -- they're readily available in your local health or specialty food store.

8. Sea salt for essential minerals
Before we were born, we spent nine months in a bath of amniotic fluid resembling the primordial saltwater from which life arose. No wonder the human body contains fluids closely resembling the composition of the ocean. Sea salt contains nearly 60 trace minerals essential for the formation of vitamins, enzymes, and proteins that keep our bodies going. Salt aids in general detoxification, and its alkaline quality helps balance the overly acidic pH environments that breed degenerative and cancerous conditions.

Common table salt, however, is refined to nothing but sodium chloride and is devoid of all other essential minerals. I suggest using only unrefined sea salt such as that found in the salt beds of Brittany, which has a slightly grey hue. Of course, salt is to be used only in moderation, especially for those with hypertension. It is also important to balance salt intake with potassium to ensure proper nerve and muscle function; potassium-rich foods include leafy vegetables, soy, whole grains, potatoes, bananas, and most fruits.

9. You eat naturally -- does your food?
Conventional meat, poultry and dairy products contain high amounts of pesticides, hormones and antibiotic drugs that are harmful to your health. Add the risk that your meat comes from diseased animals raised in stressful, inhumane conditions, and you have a good case for converting to vegetarianism. Commercial feed for animals is full of growth-stimulating hormones, colouring agents, pesticides and drugs. And that's not all -- of the 140,000 tons of poultry condemned annually as unfit to eat, mainly due to cancer, a considerable amount is processed into animal feed! More than 40 per cent of antibiotics produced in the United States is used as animal-feed additives. The ecological result, after we urinate and defecate the antibiotics, is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains that can sicken or kill us. Whenever possible, buy only organic and free-range animals for your health, peace of mind and well-being.

10. Sugar's side effects aren't so sweet
The average American consumes nearly 240 pounds of sugar per year. Most of the excess sugar is stored as fat in your body, which elevates cancer risk and can suppress your immune function. When study subjects were given sugar, their white blood cell count decreased significantly for several hours afterward. This held true for a variety of types of sugar, including fructose, glucose, honey and orange juice. In another study, rats fed a high-sugar diet had a substantially elevated rate of breast cancer compared to rats on a normal diet. To live long, draw sweetness from other aspects of your life.

Excerpted from Secrets of Longevity by Dr. Maoshing Ni.

Copyright 2006 by Dr. Maoshing Ni.

Vegetables as medicine

by ­Chang Chao-liang, Cao Qing-rong, and Li Bao-zhen



RADISH

- The root contains glucose, protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, vitamins B1, B2, C and radish glucoside. It is a good source of calcium.

- The root can diminish sluggish feelings, clear feelings of heat and fever, disperse phlegm, keeps the qi from becoming over-active, warms the interior organs and helps neutralize poison.


CARROT

- Contains protein, calcium, phosphorus, carotene, Vitamins B1, B2, anthocyanidin, fat, oil, volatile oil and a substance that can reduce blood sugar.

- The root can strengthen the spleen, diminish sluggishness, help neutralize poison and assist in clearing a rash.


POTATO

- Contain copious starch, Vitamin C and protein. Also contain a small amount of phosphorus, calcium, iron and fat and are highly nutritious.

- Potatoes strengthen the spleen, acts as a tonic on the qi (vital energy) and help neutralize poison.


BAMBOO SHOOT

- Contains auxin, docosanoic alcohol and unsaturated fatty acids.

- Can control phlegm and ease some respiratory problems.


CUCUMBER

- Contains protein, fat, sugar, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, vitamins B1, B2, C, niacin, coffee acid, a variety of amino acids, volatile oils, etc.

- Can cool fever and benefit the urine.


CABBAGE

- It contains protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamins B1, B2, C, amino acids, etc. also contains a substance that affects the thyroid gland.

- It can nourish the bone marrow, nourish the heart and strengthen bones and sinews.


WATERCRESS

- Contains Vitamins A,C and D.

- It can moisten the lungs, clear up phlegm, stop coughing, and aid the flow of urine.


TOMATO

- Tomatoes contain malic acid, citric acid, as well as a small amount of tomato alkali, protein, fat, sugar, calcium, phosphorous, iron, carotene, vitamins B1, B2 and C, niacin etc.

- Helps promote the secretion of saliva, quenches thirst, helps promote a healthy stomach and aids digestion.


GINGER

- Contains volatile oils, ginger alcohol, zingiberene fenchylene, borneol, cajeputol, etc. It also contains a small amount of ginerol as well as protein, fat, calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamin C and a small measure of vitamins B1 and B2.

- It can induce sweating, disperse cold, warm the stomach and neutralize poison.


SPINACH

- It contains protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron, carotene, vitamin C, niacin, as well as a small amount of vitamins B1 and B2. Etc.

- It can be used to treat a deficiency of yin, nourish the blood, and act upon intestines.

10 Foods for Longevity

Science says these 10 can help you live longer, better.

Tomatoes
A major source of the antioxidant lycopene that reduces the risk of cancer by 40% -- notably prostate, lung and stomach cancers -- and increases cancer survival. Tomato eaters function better mentally in old age and suffer half as much heart disease. Concentrated tomato sauces have 5 times more lycopene than fresh tomatoes, and canned tomatoes have three times more than fresh.

Olive Oil
Shown to help reduce death from heart disease and cancer. Recent research shows that heart-attack survivors on a Mediterranean diet had half the death rates of those on an ordinary low-fat diet. Olive oil is also high in antioxidant activity.

Red Grapes,
including red grape juice and red wine. Red grapes have moderate antioxidant power, while purple grape juice has four times more antioxidant activity than orange or tomato juice. Red wine (not white) has about the same antioxidant capacity as purple grape juice or tea. French research show that drinking red wine in moderation increases longevity, but excessive drinking has the opposite effect, so limit to two glasses per day. Drink grape juice.

Garlic
German researchers have found that garlic is packed with antioxidants know to help fend off cancer, heart disease and all-over aging, and prolong cancer survival time. Let crushed garlic "rest" about 10 minutes before cooking to preserve disease-fighting agents.

Spinach
Second among vegetables only to garlic in antioxidant capacity and is also rich in folic acid, which helps fight cancer, heart disease and mental disorders. New University of Kentucky research shows folic acid may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Eat both raw and steamed for best benefit.

Whole grains
A University of Minnesota study suggests the more whole grains you eat, the lower your odds of death by 15%. Whole grains contain anticancer agents and help stabilize blood sugar and insulin, which may promote longevity. Whole-grain "dark" breads, cereals such as All Bran, and "old fashioned" oatmeal are an excellent source.

Salmon, and other fatty fish
Contains high amounts of omega-3 fat that performs miracles throughout the body, fighting virtually every chronic disease known. Without it, your brain can't think, your heart can't beat, your arteries clog, and joints become inflamed. You need one ounce a day, or two servings of salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring or tuna per week.

Nuts
Eating more than 5 ounces a week can cut heart-attack deaths in women by 40% and help prevent deadly irregular heart beats in men a Harvard University study found. Almonds and walnuts lower blood cholesterol. Most of the fat in nuts is the good-type monounsaturated and/or omega-3. Unsalted nuts are best.

Blueberries
High in antioxidants, Tufts University researchers say a half-cup of blueberries a day can retard aging and can block brain changes leading to decline and even reverse failing memory.

Tea
Green or black tea has equal antioxidant benefit. One cup a day can cut heart disease risk in half Harvard researchers found. Make from loose tea or tea bags, instant and bottled tea has little effect Tufts University shows.

Contributing Editor Jean Carper, author of the best seller Miracle Cures, writes monthly on the medical effects of food.

How Coke and Pepsi are HELPFUL

the awareness of these soft drinks...

To clean a toilet:
Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl.after 1 hour flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola

To clean corrosion from car battery terminals :
Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion

To loosen a rusted bolt :
Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for sometime

To remove grease from clothes :
Pour a can of Coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola/Pepsi will help loosen grease stains

It will also clean road haze from car windshield

WE DRINK THIS STUFF!
OFF COURSE TO CLEAN OUR SYSTEM TOO. AFTER ALL WE ARE PAYING FOR IT.

ISN'I IT?

For your information
The average pH of soft drinks, e.g. Coke & Pepsi is 3.4. This acidity is strong enough to dissolve teeth and bones! Our human body stops building bones at around the age of 30. After that it shall be dissolving the bones every year through the urine depending on the acidity of the food intake. All the dissolved calcium compounds get accumulated in the arteries, veins, skin, tissue and organs, which affects the functioning of the kidney assisting in formation of kidney stones.

Soft drinks do not have any nutritional value (in terms of vitamins and minerals). They have higher sugar content, higher acidity, and more additives such as preservatives and colorings. Some people like to take cold soft drinks after each meal, guess what's the impact?

The Impact?
Our body has an optimum temperature of 370 for the functioning of digestive enzymes. The temperature of cold soft drinks is much less than 37, sometimes quite close to 0. This lowers the effectiveness of the enzymes and puts stress on our digestive system, digesting less food. In fact the food gets fermented. The fermented food produces bad smelling, gases, decays and forms toxins, which are absorbed in the intestines, get circulated in the blood and is delivered to the whole body. This spread of toxins can lead to the development of various diseases.

Few Examples
Sometime ago, there was a competition in Delhi University "Who can drink the most Coke?” The winner drank 8 bottles and died on the spot because of too much carbon dioxide in the blood and not enough oxygen. From then on, the principal banned all soft drinks from the university canteen.

Someone put a broken tooth in a bottle of Pepsi and in 10 days it got dissolved! Teeth and bones are the only human organ that stays intact for years after death.

Imagine
what the drink must be doing to your soft intestines and stomach lining!

10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

1. No Breakfast

People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating

It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking

It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption

Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution

The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency

6. Sleep Deprivation

Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping

Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effect

8. Working your brain during illness

Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts

Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely

Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

增加免疫力，簡單嗎？

似乎也不難，就是一句「平衡的身心靈」...........ＳＡＲＳ的流行也許不是個人能力所能控制，但是鍛鍊我們的免疫力，用心就可以做到..............


比口罩更有用的自救法寶

　　非典型肺炎病例人數一直增加，許多人走在路上都疑神疑鬼，不知道周邊哪一位路人可能就是潛伏帶菌的患者。台灣的口罩銷售量遽增三倍，忙碌的上班族，匆匆擠進電 梯，聽到裡頭有人咳嗽一聲，所有人都暫時停止呼吸，回到座位上開始焦慮：我會是倒楣的下一個嗎？

　　美國疾病防疫管制兼預防中心（ＣＤＣ）在日前表示，目前並沒有任何有效藥物可以治療ＳＡＲＳ。像這樣「無藥可醫」的傳染疾病，在未來很可能越來越多。諾貝爾醫 學獎得主李德博格就指出，因為病原體的變異，加上人類旅行頻繁，會使得許多傳染病呈現的形態超乎過去研究的理解，也使得原先發展出的疫苗失去作用。因此，這一波ＳＡＲＳ恐慌，很難不讓人緊張。

　　然而在小心之餘，你若發現自己因此而十分焦慮、常常擔心自己或家人感染，那麼該設法放鬆一下心情了，因為，根據研究，緊張焦慮會讓人唾液裡面的抗體比率大幅下降。而唾液正是抵擋呼吸道傳染病進入人體的第一道防線！

　　比口罩更有用的自救法寶 抗病兵團常駐體內
　　 ===============================
　　也就是說，你正在破壞自己身上比口罩更有用的防護罩－你的免疫力。面對「無藥可醫」的困窘，這波肺炎流行中，免疫力是個人最重要的自救法寶。例如，香港牛頭角淘大花園社區，這次出現嚇人的集體感染，Ｅ座住戶被強迫隔離。在這當中，卻有一位婦女，家中雖然有四人染上ＳＡＲＳ，在她身上經過測試卻找不到任何感染跡象。對於這樣的現象，醫生的解釋也就是：「可能她的免疫力就是比較。」免疫力可能是二十一世紀最好的醫藥，而且是上天賜給我們常駐在身體裡面的保護天使。用最簡單的概念來說，免疫力像是一組抗病兵團，在每一次病毒入侵時，以精密無比的方式聯合作戰。兵團的組織成員包括哨兵「干擾素」，發出警戒訊號；特遣部隊「殺手細胞」，最早抵達前線進行殺敵任務；作戰指揮官「Ｔ細胞」，帶動特異性免疫反應，啟動免疫細胞群組總動員；其他包括巨噬細胞、Ｂ細胞、補體等，像是主力部隊，各負吞吃病菌、產生抗體等等任務。

　　壓力、不快樂、混亂作息折損免疫力
　　 ==========================
　　除了少數基因異常的人，每個人的體內都有這些細胞和機制，免疫力是大部分人與生俱來的力量。可是為何有人連ＳＡＲＳ都不怕，有的人健保卡一年也用不到一格，有些人卻無「疫」不與？這個謎團，醫療界也一直不斷尋求解答。美國霍普金斯大學教授魯斯克於一九九六年和九七年，曾經連續兩年在冬末春初流行感冒盛行的時節，對於美國紐約曼哈頓區三棟辦公大樓的上班族進行免疫力研究。研究顯示，生活形態具體影響了上班族對感冒的免疫能力。魯斯克發現，那些兩年都沒有感冒的人，共同的特徵是：

　　一、他們與配偶的關係都十分良好；
　　二、他們都有固定運動或個人相當喜歡且常常進行的興趣活動；
　　三、他們都有信仰。

　　從這份研究顯示了一件重要的訊息：免疫力與人類身、心、靈的健康有著密切關係。「許多人常說要『增強』自己的免疫力，其實，更正確的說法應該是『恢復』我們原有的免疫力。」這是美國哥倫比亞醫學院網站上，關於免疫功能解釋的第一句話。我們的免疫兵團之所以戰力微弱，常常是因為我們的身、心、靈的平衡出問題，削弱了它們的力量。而其中最嚴重的，就是壓力、不快樂和混亂的作息。

　　多年前，美國發現了第一宗與感冒症狀相似的病例，後來，它正式命名為「慢性疲勞症候群」。這些人永遠都睡不飽（或睡不好），強烈的疲勞感持續半年或更長一段時間之後，則是出現輕微發燒、咽喉、淋巴結腫大、集中力降低、全身無力等等症狀。同時患者體內荷爾蒙代謝失調、神經系統調節功能異常，呈現整體免疫力減低的現象，這又使他們更容易染上流行性感冒或其他濾過性病毒引起的疾病，最後往往連醫生都不容易搞清楚真正的病因。過去十年陸續有更多的單位針對這個問題進行研究，發現背後真正因素，則是患者工作壓力過，或者個性過度要求完美，身、心無法放鬆所導致。美國學者巴托普就發現，人格傾向具有「高度權力慾望」或者「受到壓抑」的人，他們作為呼吸道的第一道防線ｇＡ抗體明顯下降，所以較容易罹患呼吸道感染。尤其是常常需要世界各地跑來跑去的白領菁英，現在不僅因著他們的移動能力，面臨了比非移動族更高的全球性傳染病風險，而且他們又是工作最忙碌、壓力係數最高的工作族群，免疫功能下降、容易生病，已經是群體而非個體的問題。

　　增進身、心、靈正向循環??重建體內自然防線
　　 ==============================
　　根據卡內基美隆大學教授科恩，對包括匹茲堡、費城、波士頓、華盛頓在內的美國東岸八個城市的五百名企業中、高階主管的健康研究發現，這群人三個月內曾經罹患感冒的比率約四七％，幾乎是美國人的整體平均約二七％的兩倍。另外，這群人罹患過敏、氣喘的比率（與免疫力也有關係），也比平均指數要高。日本東京大學醫學系則曾經做過一項有趣的非正式研究，發現一些業績長期不佳或老是被上司責罵的日本上班族，無論是流行性感冒、皰疹或病毒型腸胃炎的染患比率都比較高。其實，若是從生理的角度來解釋，這些發現也都不令人訝異。人類的腦子當意識到外來壓力訊號（包括緊張、焦慮、恐慌、氣憤等等），腦下丘就會傳遞信號給腦垂體分泌激素，引導腎上腺素分泌來對抗；如果壓力是長期出現，腦子還會命令身體製造一種由膽固醇轉化而來的皮質固醇，這是一種壓力蛋白（stress proteins），如果在身體內累積過高的量，就會阻撓免疫細胞兵團的運作。此外，根據許多醫學研究，上班族若是因工作造成生活作息混亂，令身體無法充分休息，或造成失眠的問題，體內的Ｔ細胞與巨噬細胞的數目都會下降，免疫力也會水降船低。反之，身、心、靈正向的循環，則能恢復甚至增進自體正常的免疫能力。

　　少發脾氣、多大笑、不要憂慮 用「心」就能抗病
　　 ==================================
　　全球最大的健康組織凱色永久醫療計畫（Kaiser Permanent Medical Care Program）主持人大衛索柏，在他的「身心健康通訊」當中，提出了幾點用「心」增加免疫力的秘訣：

　　一、少發脾氣、多信任人：
　　 因為根據研究，「敵意」低的人，血液的帶氧腺體數目也會增加，帶氧腺體就像高速公路的開道車，可以讓人的免疫細胞快速抵達病菌入侵現場。

　　二、多開懷大笑：
　　 大笑可以減少壓力荷爾蒙。而且，哥倫比亞大學一項對民眾觀賞歡笑錄影帶的研究也發現，開心一下會增加口水分泌，並且增加唾液中的抗體。

　　三、多幫助人：
　　 一項針對兩千七百名美國社區志工的調查顯示，這群人罹患心臟病、憂鬱症及傳染病的比率，比沒有擔任志工的人少二‧五倍。 做善事之後，腦啡釋放的q會提高，從而增加快樂、減少因憂愁造成的壓力蛋白。

　　四、增加親密接觸，例如，按摩或擁抱：
　　 邁阿密大學研究發現，每天接受四十五分鐘的按摩，一個月後免疫細胞數目明顯增加。
　　 而許多醫師的經驗也發現，無論幼兒或成人，若是常常有人充滿關懷的撫摸、擁抱他們，對於疾病的抵抗力都會增強。

　　五、回歸信仰：
　　 據杜克大學醫學中心的研究，固定參加宗教聚會，或有禱告靈修生活的人，體內的 interleukin-6蛋白（會削弱免疫力），比沒有宗教信仰的人要低。而教友的支持網，也是減少壓力的重要因素。

　　六、建立適合自己的生活節奏：
　　 時間的壓力是有毒的，因為會快速累積皮質固醇。但在同一時間要做多少事，卻要看個人；動作快的人被要求慢慢來，反而會增加壓力。

　　七、不要憂慮太多：
　　 聖經有一段經文「喜樂的心乃是良藥，憂傷的靈使骨枯乾」，經過醫學證明是正確的，因為憂鬱症患者也有更高的骨質疏鬆比率，而且體內Ｔ細胞與殺手細胞的比率都比一般人要低三成以上。

　　固定運動與好好睡覺 簡單增強免疫力
　　 ==========================
　　此外，最常被提到的增加免疫力的方法，其實都不新鮮，卻是許多人忽略的固定運動與好好睡覺。
　　誘發睡眠的化學物質，與刺激免疫系統細胞的化學物質是相同的，所以睡不好與不好好睡覺的人，體內的Ｔ細胞數目也比較睡眠足夠的人要少。耶魯大學的研究發現，每晚熟睡（睡眠中段最深沈的時間）少於兩小時的人，罹患癌症與免疫系統疾病的可能性比熟睡時間超過四小時的人，要高出30％。而美國疾病管制局則鄭重指出，每個成人最能夠增加免疫力的運動量，是每週三天，每次三十分鐘到四十五分鐘，做令心跳可以輕微加速的運動。持續超過三個月之後，免疫力就會增加。而太少或者過激，都反而會減少或抑制免疫力。

　　增加免疫力，簡單嗎？似乎也不難，就是一句「平衡的身心靈」。然而，我們體內的保護天使，是否因為我們的疏忽而奄奄一息呢？ＳＡＲＳ的流行也許不是個人能力所能控制，但是鍛鍊我們的免疫力，用心就可以做到。

Aromatherapy

- Natural Healing For The Body

Aromatherapy originated in Ancient Egypt. About a hundred years ago, a pharmacist from France used an innovative method which led to a breakthrough in aromatherapy techniques.

For centuries, people have experienced and have come to recognise that essential oils have many benefits. Essential oils can help to combat bacteria and other diseases, repel mosquitoes, prevent tooth decay, fight oxidisation, inflammation and even enhance the immune system, calm nerves, etc.

Back-to-Nature Aromatherapy

Back-to-nature is a new health initiative by people living in modern society. Aromatherapy, which stems from natural plants, has also became a favourite in modern day living. Ancient medical healers use essential oils to heal people’s bodies and aroma to soothe their spirits. As whiffs of fragrance drift through the ages of time, people living in modern society have even made use of the latest scientific research to develop the unlimited potential and precious deposits of essential oils, so as to improve the environment, enhance health and beautify the spirit.

Aromatherapy comes from the essence of natural flora and enters the human body though the air and the olfactory nerves. From there, it goes though the central nerves into our brains and, tapping on the characteristics of plant hormones, it is able to deliver beneficial effects to the body, such as the lungs, blood, emotional nerves, immune system and even aid in psychological aspects such as the alleviation or pacification of problems like depression.

Aromatherapy uses a simple natural method to kill bacteria and increase nutrients in the air that we breathe. At the same time, aromatherapy is able to allow the surrounding environment to create anions which are extremely good for the human body. Different plant fragrances will create different feelings and responses in our body. Aromatherapy uses the characteristics of plant essential oils to improve the health and balance between complexion, body, cognition and spirit, so as to achieve a state where the body, mind and spirit become one.

The Genie of Aroma – Plant Essential Oils

All plants will go though photosynthesis where the cells will secrete aromatic molecules. These molecules will assemble into aromatic pouches dispersed on the petals, leaves or branches. After extracting these aromatic pouches, we will get plant essential oils.

The essential oils used in aromatherapy can be said to be the hormones of plants. They have the same building components and life energy as human beings. Essential oils are made from the amalgamation of different kind of molecules. These molecules exist together, in a beautiful proportion. As molecules are very fine and have a high penetration ability, they can effectively enter the body and not leave behind any toxins. According to research, pure plant essential oils will not be like chemical pharmaceuticals that remain in the body. They will utilise the body’s excretory system such as urine, perspiration and respiration to purge themselves out of the body. If the usage is correct, natural essential oils will have no side effects.

The natural aroma of plant essential oils, after entering into the brain via the olfactory nerves, is able to stimulate the frontal brain to secrete certain hormones, so as to engender a most comfortable state of mind. This is the best way to beautify the spirit. One is also able to group different essential oils together to blend an aroma to one’s liking. This will not damage the characteristics of essential oils and will even empower their functions.

The basic characteristics of essential oils can prevent contagious diseases and fight bacteria, pathogens and moulds. They can also prevent inflammation and convulsion as well as enhance cellular metabolism and regenerating abilities, making life even better. These essential oils can also regulate the inner secretion organs, enhancing the secretion of hormones and enabling the physiological and psychological activities of the body to develop well. Essential oils can even relax the nerves, enhance blood circulation, reduce depression, uplifts one's mood and enable cognition and psychology to reach a harmonious state.

Enjoy a “Forest Bath” at Home with Phytoncidere

The word phyton comes from a Latin word which means a kind of plant, while the word cidere means “to kill”. Russian biologist, Professor Dunkinn, discovered that certain plants emit a substance known as "phytoncidere” when damaged. Phytoncidere, present in all plants, kill other living things in their surroundings. If living organisms such as amoeba of flu, cholera or diphtheria germs are placed near to freshly chopped leaves, the germs will be killed after a few minutes. Hence, it is apparent that plants have a self-immunity function which eliminate bacteria and fungi.

The Functions of Phytoncidere:

1. Eliminates bacteria.
2. Purifies air of pollutants to ensure smoother breathing for greater vitality.
3. Enters the body via the nasal passage to fight diseases and maintain physical and mental balance.

Scientific Research of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a method that premises on the absorption of active materials to heal, alleviate and prevent various diseases and contagion. It can activate vigorous elements in the body to fight all pathogen elements, achieving the effect of healing and boosting of the immune system.

Aroma psychology that arises out of “Aroma Healing Studies” is a branch of science that specifically examines the psychological state and inner responses that occur when one inhales perfume. It uses experiments and the results of various measuring instruments to prove the effects of aromatherapy. It is able to present the research results in a quantitative manner and enable aromatherapy to go the way of science.

Vitamin in The Air – Anion

Dr. Jacob, a biological science lecturer at the Public Health School at Harvard University, describes anion as “vitamin in the air”. Cation can cause headache, discomfort and increased blood pressure, whereas anion can decease blood pressure. Experiment also shows that if a patient with high blood pressure inhales anion, his/her blood pressure will decrease and so will his/her pulse rate.

Effects of Anion:

1. Respiratory system: anions can enhance the fine hair activities in the nasal sticky membrane, windpipe and bronchus sticky membrane; elevate the expansion of smooth muscles; help in the elimination of phlegmatic liquids; soothe the sensitive reactions of the respiratory system and is especially helpful to nose sensitivity.

2. Blood circulation system: lowers blood pressure, slows the heart rate, reduces the precipitation speed of red blood cells, lengthens the time for blood to coagulate and aids in the smooth circulation of blood.

3. Immune System: activates the function of the dermis system, elevates protein contents in the blood cells, hence increasing the ability to fight diseases.

4. Controls bacteria in the air and reduces diseases related to the respiratory organs.

5. Adjusts and regulates the active response functions of the nervous system, hence soothing feelings of anxiety and unease.

How Essential Oils Are Absorbed by the Human Body

Essential oils are absorbed by the body through two channels, the skin and the lungs. The skin is originally endowed with the functions of absorption and excretion. Essential oil molecules are very tiny and are able to penetrate into the skin and in between the lymph and cells, then spread to the blood in other parts of the body. The absorption method takes place via the pulmonary alveoli in the lungs, enters the surrounding capillary bloodstream and is able to release refined plant hormones into the air through aromatherapy, allowing quick asborption by the body and achieving therapeutic benefits.

When the lungs absorb phytoncidere nutrients, it is not only healthy for the lungs, it will also forge a healthy connection between the lungs and the heart, as well as the heart and the blood vessels. So, after the lungs absorb this large amount of nutrients, it will send these nutrients to the heart, and the heart will then send these nutrients to the blood vessels, which will then send the nutrients to every cell in the human body!

Traditional aromatherapy uses the method of heating to allow essential oils to diffuse beneficial nutrients into the human body. To explore possibilities in healthcare and health science, the first step is to be acquainted with the functions of healthcare. This involves the complementation of “bio-tech aroma-vapourisation” products by research and development efforts. Usage of aroma-vapourisation is the first step for aromatherapy to enter the domain of health science. Via this method, you do not need to place essential oil into alcohol but can directly drip a few drops onto the aroma-vapourisation base for the essential oil to diffuse. The effects will be even better. This world-patented product (such as the one owned by Bel’Air) holds great significance for the medical world.


Functions of Aromatherapy - Health and Longevity

1. Clean and Fresh Air

Bacterial allergens and other pollutants constantly lurking in the air would mean that we are subjected to a long-term disease-causing environment, without any protection. Aromatherapy can help eliminate the harm from such floating debris, effectively preventing onsets of airborne ailments such as allergies, rhinitis, asthma and cold, thus giving you air that is at once clean and fresh.

2. A Nutrients-Filled Atmosphere

Aromatherapy can produce plant essences and anions. These essences have anti-bacterial properties, purifying the air and reducing the pollution. They work to engender smooth and easy breathing and a heightened sense of alertness, vitality and freshness. With each inhalation of air into the body, comes the aid that would at once enable you to dispel the common ailments of modern times and to achieve a balance between body and mind. A Professor of the Physiology Department at the Harvard University School of Public Health described anions that are found in the air as “air vitamins”. The more the anions there are, the greater the health benefits to a person's mind and body. With aromatherapy, more nutrients are added into the air around you, enabling you to enjoy the refreshing benefits of a “bath in the forest” every day.

3. “Back to Nature” Therapy

All lives have the innate ability to maintain their intrinsic balance. When this balance has at any time been upset, it would seek to be restored on its own. Aromatherapy stimulates the human body by harnessing respective plant energies in the form of their essences to help the body maintain the state of energy balance. This may be described as a “Back to Nature” therapy.

4. Management of Physical Circulatory Functions

Plant essential oils can act on the brain’s sympathetic nerves (main nerve) and have direct effect on the lymphatic system, increasing the energy in the lymphatic system, helping in the body’s management of toxins and enhancing regulation of blood flow. At the same time, it can the increase the vitality level of the lungs, leading to substantial increase of oxygen in the blood, enlivening and causing cell regeneration and strengthening immunity functions.

5. Management of Home Environment

Essential oils can be used to get rid of mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, fleas, spiders, insects and so on, prevent onset of diseases by contagion and remove odor and second-hand smoke, thus giving you a clean, comfortable and healthy air environment.

6. EQ Management

The arch enemy of our EQ management is stress. When emotions run riot, the health of our body and mind would be affected. The natural fragrance from plant essential oils can calm nerves and help you to relieve stress. You can then be completely relaxed, with a well-managed EQ, and the feedback to the inner physique can help to prevent the development of mental ailments with emotional causes. The soothing fragrance can also help to relax and induce sleep.

7. Preventive Healthcare

With continuously develops new products that carry more healthcare benefits. In this way, aromatherapy products are not only endowed with the functions of air purification, germs elimination and mood management, they also deliver great benefits in terms of elevating the body immunity system and can improve various bodily ailments, thus achieving the medical function of preventive healthcare.

8. Cultivating the Lifestyle of Enjoyment

Aromatherapy fills your life with a romantic ambience. The incomparable appeal and elegance of artistically crafted aromatherapy diffuser lamps are the result of a perfect integration that combines modern technology and timeless artistry. This serves to render your life at once healthier and more enjoyable.

Uses and Applications of Aromatherapy At A Glance

1. Improvement of environmental hygiene, neutralisation of odor, dissipation of second-hand smoke and air purification.
2. Enhancement of Immunity.
3. Enhancement of lung vitality.
4. Improvement of respiratory functions, reduction of nasal allergic conditions and alleviation of breathing problems.
5. Insect repellent and anti-bacterial action.
6. An aid for stabilisation of hormonal levels, enhancement of cellular vitality and anti-aging.
7. Invigoration of state of health and alertness, improvement of memory.
8. Induction of calmness, a state of relaxation, sleep, relief of headaches and sense of well-being.

Stress Relaxation Techniques

Deep Breathing

- Stand with your feet apart and your arms hanging loosely by your sides.

- Close your eyes and let your head fall forward.

- Breathe in slowly through your nose. Draw in the air deeply, allowing first your abdomen, then your lungs to expand.

- Hold your breath gently for a while.

- Breathe out slowly through your nose. Take your time.

- Repeat the deep breaths until you feel relaxed.

- Then slowly open your eyes.

Muscle Relaxation

- Sit on a comfortable chair.

- Close your eyes.

- Clench one fist tightly. Hold the tension for a few seconds and concentrate on it.

- Then release the tension very slowly. Feel the tension draining out of your hand.

- Repeat this exercise with any part of your body - face, scalp, eyes, shoulders, abdomen, buttocks, arms and legs.

Mental Relaxation

- Switch on some soft music.

- Sit on a comfortable chair or lie down.

- Close your eyes.

- Relax all your muscles and let your body go limp.

- Think of a pleasant, soothing image such as a blue mountain lake gentle lapping waves "leaves rustling in a soft wind".

- Do some deep breathing if you like or listen to a taped relaxation message.

- Continue until you feel very relaxed.

Shoulder and Neck Massage
Learn to do this with another person and you can massage each other. These steps are for the person who is doing the massaging:

- Let your partner sit comfortably.

- Stand behind your partner.

- Suggest that your partner removes his/her glasses, closes his/her eyes and thinks of something pleasant.

- Place your hands gently on your partner's shoulders as a "greeting".

- Apply gentle but firm, even pressure with your thumbs across the top of the shoulders. Start at the neck. Work your way towards the ends of the shoulders and then back across to the neck.

- Using both hands, massage across the top of the shoulders with a kneading motion, from the neck to the tips of the shoulders and back.

- Locate the spine (backbone) at the base of the neck. Place your thumbs on either side of the spine and apply gentle but firm pressure away from the bone. Continue down the back and then up again. Do not press on the spine itself.

- Locate the base of the skull at the back of the head. Apply rotating pressure on either side of the spine with your thumbs.

- Place one hand on your partner's chin and one hand behind the neck for support. Slowly and carefully rotate the head first in one direction and then the other.

- Ask your partner to clench his/her teeth. Locate the tense jaw muscles. Ask him/her to relax.

- Use three fingers to massage the jaw muscles.

- Use your fingers to massage the temples. Work across the forehead and back to the temples.

- Place your hands gently back on the shoulders as a "goodbye".