Get a Pet

At the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, researchers informed delegates that they could reduce their risk of heart attack by one third, by simply, owning a pet. The finding was the main result of a 10 year study of more than 4,000 Americans by researchers at the University of Minnesota's Stroke Institute in Minneapolis. Executive director of the Institute, Dr Adnan Qureshi, who is also senior author of the study, was reported by US News & World Report to have said:

"For years we have known that psychological stress and anxiety are related to cardiovascular events, particularly heart attacks."
Qureshi said having pets probably helped to relieve stress. The researchers said dogs probably had a similar effect, but there weren't enough dog owners in the study to show this conclusively. Previous research has linked contact with pets to heart benefits, they said.

Qureshi and colleagues extracted data on 4,435 Americans aged 30 to 75, from the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study that took place from 1976 to 1980. 2,435 of the participants were current or former cat owners, while the remaining 2,000 had never had a cat.

Using the main outcome as death from all causes, including stroke and heart events, the researchers found that over a 10 year follow up period, cat owners showed a 30 per cent lower risk of death from heart attack compared to non cat owners.

Local Miracle Procedure

Delores Davis experienced crippling leg pain on a daily bases. This was the result of advanced peripheral artery disease, an excruciating disorder caused by blocked or narrowed blood vessels in the legs. Within a short time, she had suffered a stroke, had one toe amputated, and undergone several procedures to help restore blood flow to her legs. The pain was only getting worse and her only option seemed to be amputation. Then she started visiting a new cardiologist, Dr. Jihad Mustapha at Metro Heart and Vascular. He is the pioneer of a new procedure that could free her from pain and also, save her limb.

"I had lost all hope. Everyone else said that I would certainly lose my leg. But Dr. Mustapha said he could help me, and he did," said Delores. "My pain is gone! He saved my leg and gave me back my life!"

Here is an excerpt of a question and answer interview with Dr. Mustapha about the new procedure...

"Tell us about the new standard for amputation at your institution."
"We have implemented an amputation prevention program at Metro Health Hospital (Wyoming, MI). All referred patients who are scheduled for amputation are seen within 24 hours of referral. If there is no contraindication, patients will then undergo peripheral angiography with planned intervention within 48 hours. We have found that early revascularization has led to limb preservation in more than 95% of our patients who were previously scheduled for amputation.
Referring physicians are just becoming aware of the new technology and interventional techniques that are available to help this population. Over the past year, we started to receive more and more patients that were already scheduled for amputation or patients that were told that they did not have any other option. I strongly believe that many patients scheduled for amputations can still have their limbs preserved."

Music and Your Body

Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche. In fact, there’s a growing field of health care known as music therapy, which uses music to heal. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with ADD, and others, and even hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to help ward off depression, to promote movement, to calm patients, to ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits that music and music therapy can bring. This is not surprising, as music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways. The following are some of effects of music, which help to explain the effectiveness of music therapy:

• Brain Waves: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state. Also, research has found that the change in brainwave activity levels that music can bring can also enable the brain to shift speeds more easily on its own as needed, which means that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.
• Breathing and Heart Rate: With alterations in brainwaves comes changes in other bodily functions. Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the relaxation response, among other things. This is why music and music therapy can help counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress, greatly promoting not only relaxation, but health.
• State of Mind: Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay. This can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the body, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels higher, bringing many other benefits.
• Other Benefits: Music has also been found to bring many other benefits, such as lowering blood pressure (which can also reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems over time), boost immunity, ease muscle tension, and more. With so many benefits and such profound physical effects, it’s no surprise that so many are seeing music as an important tool to help the body in staying (or becoming) healthy.

Using Music Therapy:
With all these benefits that music can carry, it's no surprise that music therapy is growing in popularity. Many hospitals are using music therapists for pain management and other uses. Music therapists help with several other issues as well, including stress.
Using Music On Your Own
While music therapy is an important discipline, you can also achieve many benefits from music on your own. Music can be used in daily life for relaxation, to gain energy when feeling drained, for catharsis when dealing with emotional stress, and in other ways as well.

Bean Chili

I know I just posted a recipe but I love sharing great finds! This is my favorite chili and it is simple/delicious!

1 can Red Kidney Beans                        
3 medium tomatoes
3 cups baby spinach
1 medium onion
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cumin powder
Sprig of cilantro

Heat Olive oil in pot, add onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes, red kidney beans, baby spinach, cayenne pepper, cumin and 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in some fresh cilantro and serve.

retrieved recipe from http://www.thecandidadiet.com/

Non-dairy chocolate peanut butter cups...oh so yummy too!

Here's one of my favorite sweet treat recipes from the Kind Diet. 

SERVINGS
12
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1/4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1/4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk
1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts
PREPARATION
1. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (If You Care makes unbleached liners made from recycled paper.) Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.
5. Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
6. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
7. Top with chopped nuts.
8. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Sleep!

Most of us are not getting enough sleep. This plays a huge role in our aging. People who sleep fewer than six hours a night have a 50 percent increased risk of viral infection and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Plus, lck of sleep iaassociated ith mental decline and overeating. A big problem is that most of us don't think a lack of sleep is a big problem. We continue to drudge through our daily lives while bieng tired, caffeine infused, and zoned out. Lack of sleep isn't just making you irritated, it could be killing you. The pineal gland, which is the only endocrine gland that is in contact with the oustide world, senses when were exposed to light. It's known that the pineal gland plays a role in aging because research has shown that putting young pineal glands in old animals helps reverseaging. Mice with new pineals lived 25 percent longer. To live longer and healthy its important to know about the pineal gland because it produces melatonin, which conducts the harmony of your homrones. Melatonin helps lower heart rate and blood pressure, increases immune function and helps decrease stresss by blocking the body's repsone. Plus, it helps regulate sleep.  The bottom line? get some sleep.

Bad Genes and Short Telomeres

We have a tendency in our society to blame our own health problems on other people. High cholesterol? I must have got that from all my great aunts who have died from heart disease. NO! This is probably one of the most annoying things I see in health care. Someone eating a fried chicken sandwich with extra bacon and cheese, blaming their heart disease on bad genetics. It's an excuse to keep this person from making difficult changes with their habits. While your genes are important, they don't necessarily determine your destiny. Your genetics make you more or less predisposed to health-related problems. But you can modify  and make adjustments to protect yourself from the abnormalities found in your genes. When it comes to your body, here's what we know, primarily through studies of identical twins:your longevity is based one-quarter on your genetics and three-quarters on your behaviors and lifestyle choices. It's not about what genes you have but how you express them. Genes work by manufacturing proteins, but whether or not a specific gene is turned on or off is largely under your control. So, maybe you've been dealt a bad hand of genetics, but that doesn't mean you can't exchange a few cards, or at least change how you play them.