Thanks Akita me too! :0) Rose what supplements did they recommend and what did you get?
I would like to know too Rose.
Lori
Dr. Amens site recommended "Brain and Memory Power Boost" and "Neurolink". I've yet to order any, as I need to talk with my neurologist/primary physician for any possible drug/vitamin/supplement interactions. I'm on two prescribed drugs (for other health problems, not ataxia) and an assortment of vitamins/supplements. Go to his site and read about them if you have an interest. If you decide to order and try them, make sure you talk to your doctor first, if you take anything else. If I find out I can take them, I will definitely order them! Anything to possibly "help" my ataxia!!!
To Sleep, Perchance to...Remember?
Regular brain training can help you lead a healthy life, but so can habits like diet, exercise, and even sleep! Snoozing has been connected to the ability to maintain attention, make good decisions, and to form and recall memories. A fascinating new study from UCLA is shedding light on how sleep may aid memory.
Memories and the entorhinal cortex
In a recent Nature Neuroscience study, neurophysics professor Mayank R. Mehta found that a brain area called the entorhinal cortex plays a key role in memory consolidation during sleep. Memory consolidation is the process that stores and reinforces memories so you can draw on them later.
While the mice in Mehta's study slept, the entorhinal cortex activated in a way very similar to its behavior when the mice remembered something during the day. This activity, in turned, spurred neural activity in the hippocampus.
The hippocampus has often been considered a central player in long-term memory consolidation during sleep, and this study shows that the processes may be far more complex than previously thought.
Sleep may provide direction for Alzheimer’s research
Not only can Metha’s research help us understand how we strengthen memories during sleep, but it may also help researchers investigate Alzheimer's disease—which begins in the entorhinal cortex and often involves impaired sleep. Of course, human brains differ greatly from those of mice, and further research will be needed to truly understand the entorhinal cortex's role in memory consolidation.
Sleep well and stay sharp
This study reminds us of the complex ties between lifestyle habits and cognition—and reaffirms the importance of getting enough sleep each night. While it will take time to fully understand the brain's activities during slumber, we have some tips you can use to make sure you're sleeping well enough to perform at your very best:
Get the right amount of sleep
Most people need 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night. Get adequate rest during the night and try training games such as Memory Matrix during the day—the combination could help you stay alert.
Avoid these for a better night's sleep
Coffee, late night snacks, alcohol, and smoking can all impair sleep. Even doing intellectually stimulating work close to bedtime can have an effect—so try to find a good time for brain training in your morning, afternoon, or early evening routine. Give your brain time to wind down before bed.
Make sure your to give your brain—and your memory—its best chance for success. Create healthy habits through sleep, exercise, diet, and brain training.
Who knew? Thanks for the info. Jeannie! ;o)
MDA - Musclar Dystophy Association
MDA's Flu Season Resource Center
Individuals affected by neuromuscular disease are at increased risk of serious and possibly life-threatening complications from the flu, so it's important that everyone stays informed and takes steps to protect themselves and their families. That's why we've created MDA's Flu Season Resource Center.
Flu is a contagious and serious disease, especially for those with neuromuscular disease and other chronic health conditions. For most of us, one of the first and best ways to prevent the flu is to get a flu shot (injection). There also is an intranasal form (sprayed into the nose) of the vaccine available. However, it's important to know that, in most cases, the intranasal form of the vaccine is not recommended for those affected by neuromuscular disease.
You should check with your doctor before obtaining any vaccine, especially if you're affected by myasthenia gravis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, or if you're taking immune-suppressing medications such as corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone, deflazacort, prednisolone).
If your current health coverage doesn't include seasonal flu vaccines as a preventive health benefit, MDA's Flu Shot Program can help. Through MDA, individuals affected by neuromuscular disease can receive a free flu shot through their local MDA-sponsored clinic, or they can receive reimbursement (up to $35) for the cost of flu vaccines received from licensed health professionals, including those located at retail pharmacies.
We can’t keep flu season from coming, but there’s a lot we can do to prepare and help protect everyone from its impact and complications. With this in mind, we've gathered the following information, recommended guidelines and resources to help keep you informed.
Eating tomatoes may help neutralize mercury poisoning (Video)
http://www.examiner.com/video/how-to-know-if-you-re-giving-yourself-mercury-poisoning-from-fish
Top 5 ways to eat tomatoes: tips and quick recipes
Store tomatoes in a cool, dry spot on your counter, otherwise the chill of a refrigerator will take away from their flavor.
- Store cut tomatoes in a tight container in your refrigerator.
- A green tomato is perfectly fine (and actually delicious!) to eat.
- Tomatoes will continue to ripen after picked. When looking for a good salad eating variety, feel for a thin skin and a heavy tomato. The juice and seeds carry much of the tomato flavor. See video attached on how to pick a tomato.
- Fresh, whole tomatoes do not freeze well, but when they are chopped they are perfect for a later date!
- Tomatoes are a fruit, but considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.
- Tomatoes are part of the nightshade family.
Top 5 ways we like to enjoy tomatoes:
1. In a salad. We love Heirloom or Beefsteak varieties for non-green salads. Use cherry, Roma or grape varieties for green salads.
- Quick 5-minute Tomato and Onion Steak House Recipe: Slice your Beefsteak tomato into thick slices, along with some red onions. Top with New York's own Peter Lugers Old Fashion Steak Sauce found in the refrigerated meat case at Stop & Shop, Southdown Market, Waldbaum's or many other stores for approximately $5.99 per bottle.
2. As a soup. We like Roma tomatoes best when making a soup.
- Quick 30 minute Chilled Gazpacho Recipe: Slice an "x" on the bottom of 10 Roma tomatoes and drop in boiling water for 30 seconds. Allow to cool for a minute or two and peel. Discard skin,core and seeds. Using a blender, blend with 1 tbs. unseasoned rice vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tbs. of your best olive oil, 2 tbs. each: fresh dill, parsley and cilantro; 1 shallot and 1 kirby cucumber. Add 1/4 cup each of very finely minced cucumber (we like the skin on) and red onion. Place in a container to chill in your refrigerator for 20 minutes. Top with avocado. Enjoy! Gazpacho will keep for up to 1 week in your refrigerator. We do not recommend freezing.
3. As a sauce. Any tomato will do. We like cherry, grape or Roma best for this recipe.
- Quick 10 minute fresh tomato sauce: Place 1 minced garlic clove in saute pan along with 2 tbs. good olive oil. Heat for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add 1 cup sliced tomato and allow to soften and break down for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and a tbs. of freshly cut basil. Toss with your favorite pasta, drizzling with a bit more olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
4. Stuffed. We love Beefsteak tomatoes best for stuffing because they they hold up well.
- Quick 5 minute elegant but easy cold stuffed tomato plate: slice the top 1/4 of your tomato horizontally and reserve, squeezing out the juices in the bottom half. Using a spoon, remove flesh to create a "tomato cup". Stuff with your favorite salad such as tuna, chicken or egg salad. Top with the "tomato cap". Plate over greens. Serve with your favorite crackers.
5. On their own. We like big bowls of cherry and grape tomatoes to snack on while we watch our favorite television shows.
Bonus: Other great ways to eat your tomatoes:
Jeannie, more great "tips"...,thanks! ;o)
The Research
“Of all the mental trainings — affirmations, psychotherapy, positive thinking, yoga — the one that has been far and away the most studied, in terms of effects on the brain, is meditation,” Hanson says. Some of the most prominent research has come from the collaboration between French-born Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard and University of Wisconsin–Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD. Their studies have shown that a high ratio of activity in the left prefrontal areas of the brain can mark either a fleeting positive mood or a more ingrained positive outlook.
Brain-imaging tests have shown that Ricard and other veteran Buddhist meditators demonstrate initial heightened activity in this region, along with a rapid ability to recover from negative responses brought on by frightening images shown to them by researchers. This suggests that their long-term meditation practice has helped build brains that are able to not just enjoy but sustain a sense of positive well-being, even in stressful moments.
Why It Matters to You
“Stimulating areas of the brain that handle positive emotions strengthens those neural networks, just as working muscles strengthens them,” Hanson says, repeating one of the basic premises of neuroplasticity. The inverse is also true, he explains: “If you routinely think about things that make you feel mad or wounded, you are sensitizing and strengthening the amygdala, which is primed to respond to negative experiences. So it will become more reactive, and you will get more upset more easily in the future.”
By contrast, meditative practices stimulate the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain’s outermost layer that controls attention (this is how meditation can lead to greater mindfulness, Hanson explains), as well as the insula, which controls interoception — the internal awareness of one’s own body. “Being in tune with your body via interoception keeps you from damaging it when you exercise,” Hanson says, “as well as building that pleasant, simple sense of being ‘in your body.’” Another plus of a strong insula is an increased sensitivity to “gut feelings” and intuitions and greater empathy with others.
Perhaps best of all, meditation develops the circuitry in the left prefrontal cortex, where the unruffled monks showed so much activity. “That’s an area that dampens negative emotion, so you don’t get so rattled by anger or fear, shame or sorrow,” Hanson says.
“Deciding to be mindful can alter your brain so that being mindful is easier and more natural,” he explains. “In other words, you can use your mind to change your brain to affect your mind.”
Your Brain Learns By Doing
The mirror neuron system is the name for those regions of the brain with synapses that fire whether you’re actually doing or merely watching an action — as long as you’ve done it previously. Doing an action lays down neural connections that fire again when you watch the same action. This accounts for the connection you feel when viewing a sport you’ve played, or why you wince when you see someone else get hurt.
The Research
Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Parma in Italy first noted the mirror effect while studying the brains of macaque monkeys. When a monkey was watching one of the researchers pick up a peanut, the same neurons fired as if the monkey — likely a seasoned peanut gatherer — had picked up the nut itself. The researchers labeled these specific cells “mirror neurons.” In the human brain, entire regions light up in response to a familiar action; this endows us with a full-fledged mirror system.
Why It Matters to You
The existence of the mirror system helps explain why learning a new skill is easier if you try doing it early in life. This includes doing it clumsily, rather than hanging back watching your instructor or a video until you think you “have it.” Watching before you try means that you will probably see very little; watching after you try will engage the mirror system, increasing your brain’s power to “get it.”
As London-based neuroscientist Daniel Glaser, PhD, puts it, “When you look at something you have done before, you are actually using more of your brain to see it, so there’s a richer information flow. Until you started playing tennis, you couldn’t see the difference between a good topspin stroke and a bad one; after a few weeks of practice, when your coach demonstrates the stroke, you really get it visually. And you can thank the mirror system for that.”
The mirror system is also what endows you with the empathic ability to feel the pain or joy of others, based on what you register on their faces. “When we see someone else suffering or in pain, mirror neurons help us to read her or his facial expression and actually make us feel the suffering or the pain of the other person,” writes UCLA neurologist Marco Iacoboni, MD, PhD, in his book, Mirroring People (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). “These moments, I will argue, are the foundation of empathy.”
Growing Older Can Make You Smarter
For some time, the prevailing view of a brain at midlife was that it’s “simply a young brain slowly closing down,” observes Barbara Strauch. But she notes that recent research has shown that middle age is actually a kind of cranial prime time, with a few comedic twists thrown in for fun.
“Researchers have found that — despite some bad habits — the brain is at its peak in those years. As it helps us navigate through our lives, the middle-age brain cuts through the muddle to find solutions, knows whom and what to ignore, when to zig and when to zag,” she writes. “It stays cool. It adjusts.”
The Research
Brain scientists used to be convinced that the main “driver” of brain aging was loss of neurons — brain-cell death. But new scanning technology has shown that most brains maintain most of their neurons over time. And, while some aspects of the aging process do involve losses — to memory, to reaction time — there are also some net gains, including a neat trick researchers call “bilateralization,” which involves using both the brain’s right and left hemispheres at once.
Strauch cites a University of Toronto study from the 1990s, soon after scanning technology became available, that measured the comparative ability of young and middle-age research subjects to match faces with names. The expected outcome was that older subjects would do worse at the task, but not only were they just as competent as younger subjects, PET scans revealed that, in addition to the brain circuits used by the younger crowd, the older subjects also tapped into the brain’s powerful prefrontal cortex. As some of their circuits weakened, they compensated by using other parts of the brain.
Ultimately, this means the effects of age caused them to use — and strengthen — more of their brains, not less.
Why It Matters to You
Gene Cohen, MD, PhD, who directs the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University Medical Center, notes that this ability to use more of your cognitive reserves strengthens your problem-solving ability as you enter the middle years, and it makes you more capable of comfortably negotiating contradictory thoughts and emotions. “This neural integration makes it easier to reconcile our thoughts with our feelings,” he wrote in “The Myth of the Midlife Crisis” (Newsweek, Jan. 16, 2006). Like meditation, the middle-age tendency toward bilateralization seems to promote your ability to stay cool under pressure.
There are things you can do to amplify this increased strength. “Our brains are built to roll with the punches,” Strauch writes, “and better — or more carefully cared for — brains roll best.” Studies show multiple ways to build long-term brain health: from healthy eating, exercise and conscious relaxation to active social bonds, challenging work and continuing education. Good advice, it would seem, for a brain at any age.
A Teenage Brain is Wired Differently
While it was once thought that the brain’s architecture was basically set by age five or six, New York Times medical science and health editor Barbara Strauch explains her book The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids (Anchor, 2003), new research shows that the teen brain is “still very much a work in progress, a giant construction project. Millions of connections are being hooked up; millions more are swept away. Neurochemicals wash over the teenage brain, giving it a new paint job, a new look, a new chance at life.”
The neurochemical dopamine floods the teen brain, increasing alertness, sensitivity, movement, and the capacity to feel intense pleasure; it’s a recipe for risk-taking. And, as anyone who has tried to rouse a sleepy teen should appreciate, brain chemicals that help set sleep patterns go through major shifts.
Knowing about these brain gyrations in young people can help parents be a little more patient and tolerant—and they offer some opportunities too. As Jay Giedd told PBS’s Frontline, “If a teen is doing music or sports or academics [during this period of brain change and consolidation], those are the cells and connections that will be hardwired. If they’re lying on the couch or playing video games or MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going to survive.”
Jon Spayde is a writer, editor and performer based in St. Paul, Minn.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-surprising-things-that-affect-your-brain.html#ixzz2DTTWJFAk
6 Surprising Things That Affect Your BrainBrain
scientists in recent years have discovered a number of surprising ways that the brain influences our overall health, as well as how our behavior influences the health of our brain. And unlike in the days of old — when scientists believed the brain was “fixed” after childhood, only to start an inexorable decline in the middle to later years — today, research is showing that the brain is perfectly capable of changing, healing and “rewiring” itself to an unexpected degree.
It turns out that the age of your brain may be a lesser influence on its structure than what you do with it. Pursuits that require intense mental focus, like language learning, “switch on” the nucleus basalis, the control mechanism for neuroplasticity.
In short, neuroplasticity means you have some control over your cranial fitness. While brain function naturally deteriorates somewhat as you age (though not nearly as much as you might think), various strategic approaches can create new neural pathways and strengthen existing ones as long as you live. What’s more, these efforts to build a better brain can deliver lasting rewards for your overall health.
Your Thoughts Affect Your Genes
We tend to think of our genetic heritage as a fait accompli. At our conception, our parents handed down whatever genetic legacy they inherited — genes for baldness, tallness, disease or whatever — and now we’re left playing the hand of DNA we were dealt. But, in fact, our genes are open to being influenced throughout our lifetime, both by what we do and by what we think, feel and believe.
The new and growing field of “epigenetics” studies extra-cellular factors that influence genetic expression. While you may have heard that genes can be influenced by diet and exercise, many researchers are now exploring the ways that thoughts, feelings and beliefs can exert the same epigenetic effect. It turns out that the chemicals catalyzed by our mental activity can interact with our genes in a powerful way. Much like the impacts of diet, exercise and environmental toxins, various thought patterns have been shown to turn certain genes “on” or “off.”
The Research
“Of all the mental trainings — affirmations, psychotherapy, positive thinking, yoga — the one that has been far and away the most studied, in terms of effects on the brain, is meditation,” Hanson says. Some of the most prominent research has come from the collaboration between French-born Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard and University of Wisconsin–Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD. Their studies have shown that a high ratio of activity in the left prefrontal areas of the brain can mark either a fleeting positive mood or a more ingrained positive outlook.
Brain-imaging tests have shown that Ricard and other veteran Buddhist meditators demonstrate initial heightened activity in this region, along with a rapid ability to recover from negative responses brought on by frightening images shown to them by researchers. This suggests that their long-term meditation practice has helped build brains that are able to not just enjoy but sustain a sense of positive well-being, even in stressful moments.
Why It Matters to You
“Stimulating areas of the brain that handle positive emotions strengthens those neural networks, just as working muscles strengthens them,” Hanson says, repeating one of the basic premises of neuroplasticity. The inverse is also true, he explains: “If you routinely think about things that make you feel mad or wounded, you are sensitizing and strengthening the amygdala, which is primed to respond to negative experiences. So it will become more reactive, and you will get more upset more easily in the future.”
By contrast, meditative practices stimulate the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain’s outermost layer that controls attention (this is how meditation can lead to greater mindfulness, Hanson explains), as well as the insula, which controls interoception — the internal awareness of one’s own body. “Being in tune with your body via interoception keeps you from damaging it when you exercise,” Hanson says, “as well as building that pleasant, simple sense of being ‘in your body.’” Another plus of a strong insula is an increased sensitivity to “gut feelings” and intuitions and greater empathy with others.
Perhaps best of all, meditation develops the circuitry in the left prefrontal cortex, where the unruffled monks showed so much activity. “That’s an area that dampens negative emotion, so you don’t get so rattled by anger or fear, shame or sorrow,” Hanson says.
“Deciding to be mindful can alter your brain so that being mindful is easier and more natural,” he explains. “In other words, you can use your mind to change your brain to affect your mind.”
Your Brain Learns By Doing
The mirror neuron system is the name for those regions of the brain with synapses that fire whether you’re actually doing or merely watching an action — as long as you’ve done it previously. Doing an action lays down neural connections that fire again when you watch the same action. This accounts for the connection you feel when viewing a sport you’ve played, or why you wince when you see someone else get hurt.
The Research
Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Parma in Italy first noted the mirror effect while studying the brains of macaque monkeys. When a monkey was watching one of the researchers pick up a peanut, the same neurons fired as if the monkey — likely a seasoned peanut gatherer — had picked up the nut itself. The researchers labeled these specific cells “mirror neurons.” In the human brain, entire regions light up in response to a familiar action; this endows us with a full-fledged mirror system.
Why It Matters to You
The existence of the mirror system helps explain why learning a new skill is easier if you try doing it early in life. This includes doing it clumsily, rather than hanging back watching your instructor or a video until you think you “have it.” Watching before you try means that you will probably see very little; watching after you try will engage the mirror system, increasing your brain’s power to “get it.”
As London-based neuroscientist Daniel Glaser, PhD, puts it, “When you look at something you have done before, you are actually using more of your brain to see it, so there’s a richer information flow. Until you started playing tennis, you couldn’t see the difference between a good topspin stroke and a bad one; after a few weeks of practice, when your coach demonstrates the stroke, you really get it visually. And you can thank the mirror system for that.”
The mirror system is also what endows you with the empathic ability to feel the pain or joy of others, based on what you register on their faces. “When we see someone else suffering or in pain, mirror neurons help us to read her or his facial expression and actually make us feel the suffering or the pain of the other person,” writes UCLA neurologist Marco Iacoboni, MD, PhD, in his book, Mirroring People (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008). “These moments, I will argue, are the foundation of empathy.”
Growing Older Can Make You Smarter
For some time, the prevailing view of a brain at midlife was that it’s “simply a young brain slowly closing down,” observes Barbara Strauch. But she notes that recent research has shown that middle age is actually a kind of cranial prime time, with a few comedic twists thrown in for fun.
“Researchers have found that — despite some bad habits — the brain is at its peak in those years. As it helps us navigate through our lives, the middle-age brain cuts through the muddle to find solutions, knows whom and what to ignore, when to zig and when to zag,” she writes. “It stays cool. It adjusts.”
The Research
Brain scientists used to be convinced that the main “driver” of brain aging was loss of neurons — brain-cell death. But new scanning technology has shown that most brains maintain most of their neurons over time. And, while some aspects of the aging process do involve losses — to memory, to reaction time — there are also some net gains, including a neat trick researchers call “bilateralization,” which involves using both the brain’s right and left hemispheres at once.
Strauch cites a University of Toronto study from the 1990s, soon after scanning technology became available, that measured the comparative ability of young and middle-age research subjects to match faces with names. The expected outcome was that older subjects would do worse at the task, but not only were they just as competent as younger subjects, PET scans revealed that, in addition to the brain circuits used by the younger crowd, the older subjects also tapped into the brain’s powerful prefrontal cortex. As some of their circuits weakened, they compensated by using other parts of the brain.
Ultimately, this means the effects of age caused them to use — and strengthen — more of their brains, not less.
Why It Matters to You
Gene Cohen, MD, PhD, who directs the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University Medical Center, notes that this ability to use more of your cognitive reserves strengthens your problem-solving ability as you enter the middle years, and it makes you more capable of comfortably negotiating contradictory thoughts and emotions. “This neural integration makes it easier to reconcile our thoughts with our feelings,” he wrote in “The Myth of the Midlife Crisis” (Newsweek, Jan. 16, 2006). Like meditation, the middle-age tendency toward bilateralization seems to promote your ability to stay cool under pressure.
There are things you can do to amplify this increased strength. “Our brains are built to roll with the punches,” Strauch writes, “and better — or more carefully cared for — brains roll best.” Studies show multiple ways to build long-term brain health: from healthy eating, exercise and conscious relaxation to active social bonds, challenging work and continuing education. Good advice, it would seem, for a brain at any age.
A Teenage Brain is Wired Differently
While it was once thought that the brain’s architecture was basically set by age five or six, New York Times medical science and health editor Barbara Strauch explains her book The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids (Anchor, 2003), new research shows that the teen brain is “still very much a work in progress, a giant construction project. Millions of connections are being hooked up; millions more are swept away. Neurochemicals wash over the teenage brain, giving it a new paint job, a new look, a new chance at life.”
The neurochemical dopamine floods the teen brain, increasing alertness, sensitivity, movement, and the capacity to feel intense pleasure; it’s a recipe for risk-taking. And, as anyone who has tried to rouse a sleepy teen should appreciate, brain chemicals that help set sleep patterns go through major shifts.
Knowing about these brain gyrations in young people can help parents be a little more patient and tolerant—and they offer some opportunities too. As Jay Giedd told PBS’s Frontline, “If a teen is doing music or sports or academics [during this period of brain change and consolidation], those are the cells and connections that will be hardwired. If they’re lying on the couch or playing video games or MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going to survive.”
Jon Spayde is a writer, editor and performer based in St. Paul, Minn.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-surprising-things-that-affect-your-brain.html#ixzz2DTTWJFAk
Interesting information once again Jeannie! You can "exercise" your cerebellum, did you know that? Just Google "cerebellum exercises" and there are various videos you can click on. This falls in the same concept of the information you posted, and strengthening neural pathways, I believe..., ;o)
Walk in the Woods to Improve Mental Health
As human beings, we all find ourselves feeling a little down or anxious at times in our lives. We wanted to share this article that we found to be quite interesting. A new study recently published by The Telegraph shows that exercise done in nature is twice as good for your mental health as a trip to the gym. According to the study, a walk through a forest can reduce the risk of mental health illnesses.
Anything from leisurely walks in the park to running in the woods can result in positive effects for those suffering with depression and anxiety. The study revealed a 50% more positive effect on mental health when exercise is done outdoors.
Researchers from Glasgow University polled nearly 2000 physically active people. They found a significant difference in the mental health benefits between natural and non-natural environments for physical activity. Their study included similar results regardless of the type of activity, including walking, running and cycling. The big takeaway was that being around trees and grass lowered brain stress levels. Only activities carried out in natural outdoor settings were associated with a lower risk of poor mental health.
Professor Richard Mitchell, who led the study, was surprised by the results:
"There was around a 50% improvement in people's mental health if they were physically active in the natural environment, compared to those who weren't. These aren't serious mental health issues, more struggles in general life, things like mild depression, not being able to sleep, high stress levels or just feelings of not being able to cope. It appears that woodlands and forests seem to have the biggest effect on helping to lower mental health problems. Being in areas that have lots of trees and grass help calm us down. I wasn't surprised by the findings that exercise in natural environments is good for mental health, but I was surprised by just how much better it is for your mental health to exercise in a green place like a forest as opposed to a gym. The message to doctors, planners and policy makers is that these places need protecting and promoting."
That's very interesting Jeannie! Looks like it pays off big-time to exercise outside, as opposed to inside at home or a gym! I don't know where you come up with all the great info., but I for one really appreciate it! Thanks again Jeannie! ;o)
This encourages me too to get out more regardless of the weather! ;0)
I agree!!! As soon as I'm healed, I'm going to start exercising again and walk (with my cane or walking poles) outside more!!! I fell in my kitchen (lost my balance, compliments of ataxia) Thanksgiving eve, and hair-line fractured my pelvis. Fortunately everything else is in place! I can walk a bit, but must rest several times during the day, not fall again...dah!...and use ice. I'll take several weeks to heal. This is a pain in the a**...ha! Mental note to self: "Must be more careful"! ;o)
LifeVantage Corporation Announces Voluntary Recall and Replacement of Select Lots of Protandim® Dietary Supplement Due to Potential Health Risk
Contact: Consumer: Customer Care: 866-■■■■■■■■
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 5, 2012 - Salt Lake City, (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – LifeVantage Corporation (NASDAQ: LFVN) announced today that it is contacting affected independent distributors and other customers to voluntarily recall and replace bottles of its Protandim®, the Nrf2 Synergizer®, dietary supplement from the lots shown below. The Company is taking this action due to the possible inclusion of small metal fragments in the final product. The fragments were originally discovered in batches of turmeric extract, an ingredient in Protandim® that was purchased from a third party supplier.
Protandim is packaged in a cylindrical blue bottle and contains thirty caplets per bottle. The potentially affected Protandim® lot numbers are shown below. The lots shown below were distributed in the United States and Japan between July and November 2012. Lot numbers are located on the left side of the product label when looking at the front of the label, directly above the RFID scan bar.
| Lot# | Expiration Date |
|---|---|
| 12-0258 | 7/2/2015 |
| 12-0259 | 7/3/2015 |
| 12-0292 | 7/9/2015 |
| 12-0294 | 7/11/2015 |
| 12-0295 | 7/12/2015 |
| 12-0304 | 7/18/2015 |
| 12-0306 | 8/16/2015 |
| 12-0307 | 8/17/2015 |
| 12-0373 | 8/21/2015 |
| 12-0382 | 9/21/2015 |
When the Company was alerted to this issue, it immediately isolated affected product and began working with its third party manufacturers, suppliers and industry experts to mitigate any health risk potential. After consulting with medical experts, the Company believes that these materials pose no serious risk to consumers' health. Furthermore, the Company has not received any report of a health problem related to this issue.
Douglas C. Robinson, President and CEO of LifeVantage, stated "Everyone at LifeVantage is deeply committed to providing the safest, most pure products for our distributor network and customers. In keeping to that high standard, the Company is offering to replace all bottles of the potentially affected product. We are confident that our network marketing distribution model will allow us to efficiently contact all those affected by this issue."
Robinson continued, "In addition, we have implemented even more stringent, industryleading measures, including several redundant measures, in our manufacturing process. First and foremost, we will always strive to do what is in the best interest of our customers."
Consumers who have received bottles of Protandim® from the lot numbers identified above are encouraged to cease use of such product. The Company will immediately reach out to potentially affected consumers. Consumers having questions may contact LifeVantage directly by calling 866-■■■■■■■■ twenty-four hours per day.
###
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Tod Cooperman, M.D., President
website: www.consumerlab.com
vitamins combo B6, B12, and Folate shown to slow cognitive impairment.
Sorry this is copy writted so I can't post it here but I can give you the website to look it up!
How to Harness More Happiness
Happiness may just be the best medicine around. By learning how to be happier, you’ll not only feel better emotionally but also transform your overall health. Studies show that boosting happiness can cut your risk of heart disease in half, lower your chances of developing cancer or diabetes, and extend your life by up to 10 years. The main reason behind all of these benefits is that happy people produce less of the stress hormone cortisol, which can age the body before its time.
What exactly is happiness? According to Christine Carter, PhD, a leading expert on happiness and the author of Raising Happiness, a happy life is one lived with many different positive emotions, such as love and compassion. Happiness doesn’t just exist in the now, but also in reflecting on the past and planning for the future. You need to attach positive emotions to the past, such as gratitude, and positive feelings toward the future, such as hope, optimism and confidence.
Many people have a hard time finding sustained happiness partly because too many of us pursue gratification in material things, which creates a bit of pleasure but doesn’t cause real joy or lasting happiness. According to Dr. Carter, there are three primary reasons for unhappiness:
- Perfectionism often leads to dissatisfaction, which can cause stress.
- Materialism focuses on getting rather than giving and only provides temporary satisfaction.
- Entitlement translates as disappointment with what you don’t have rather than gratefulness for what you do have.
To boost happiness instantly, try these simple happiness boosters:
1. De-clutter Your Mind
There’s truth to the old adage, “The state of your bed is the state of your head.” Research shows that people who make their bed every morning tend to be more productive in general. Making the bed or cleaning up small messes, like the bills on your desk or the dishes in the sink, contributes to happiness because these acts represent “small wins” in the willpower department. In sum, good habits, both large and small, can make life easier, happier and more meaningful.
2. Listen to Music
Neurological studies show that people are hardwired to interpret and react emotionally to music. In other words, music can literally calm you and clear your head. Happy music that features a fast tempo and is written in a major key can cause immediate physical signs of happiness, such as a faster breathing. Listen to Dr. Oz’s Happiness Playlist now.
3. Stick to a Routine
Researchers believe that we have evolved to experience calm by practicing repetitive behavior. Our daily habits and rituals serve as primary ways for us to manage stress. However, the fast-paced world we live in can feel quite unpredictable, which is why sometimes sticking with an old routine can be a good way to help maintain happiness.
4. Practice Gratitude
Gratitude is the foundation of personal happiness. There is incredible power in simply counting your blessings. Regular expressions of gratitude promote optimism, better health and greater satisfaction with life. Many people today keep gratitude journals, but Dr. Carter also recommends the practice of writing regular love letters. By consciously fostering feelings of appreciation for loved ones and expressing them verbally or on paper, relationships improve, and we feel more happiness in our lives.
To further boost your happiness, you also need to create a connection between mind, body and spirit. Even if you can’t convince your mind to feel happier, you can create changes in your nervous system to increase happiness.
Recharge your body and gain happiness with these simple tips:
1. Fake a Smile
A positive facial expression on its own – even without a happy emotion behind it – can create happiness. By forcing a smile, your body releases feel-good brain chemicals. To fake a smile, try holding a pencil between your teeth. You’ll activate your smile muscles and, within minutes, your heart rate should go down, you’ll feel calmer and happier, and you’ll even find more humor in things.
2. Step Into the Sunlight
It has long been known that light stimulates brain chemicals associated with improved mood. A 10-minute walk outside in the daylight first thing in the morning can increase energy, decrease tension, and make you feel happier. This practice can especially help boost happiness during the winter months.
3. Eat Good-Mood Foods
Good fats, such as omega-3s, create calm and even have antidepressant effects. On the other hand, studies show that transfats or partially hydrogenated oils may cause aggression and can also trigger inflammatory reactions linked to depression, heart disease, and cancer. Make an effort to eat foods high in omega-3s, such as shrimp, salmon or snapper. If you’re not a seafood fan, take an omega-3 supplement that contains DHA.
4. Yawn
While yawning is generally viewed as a sign of exhaustion or rude behavior, its primary biological purpose is to lower brain temperature, which reduces stress, improves memory, and stimulates alertness and concentration. When yawning becomes contagious, it can be a signal of empathy or social awareness. To boost happiness via yawning, practice yawning several times a day.
5. Get (or Give) 8 Hugs a Day
Hugging stimulates the release of oxytocin, the “happiness hormone” that also creates feelings of generosity and trust. To keep oxytocin production at an optimal level, get (or give) 8 hugs a day. Make sure those hugs are built into your daily routine. For instance, hug your kids when they wake up; hug your partner before work; hug a buddy at lunchtime, etc. Remember, happiness-creating hugs need to be heartfelt and lingering as opposed to quick pats on the back.
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/how-harness-more-happiness?page=2#copy