Ways to Improve Your Life: Meditation, Breathing Exercises, and Seeing a Therapist

There are different techniques that one can take to try to improve their overall health and life. It has long been thought by Yogis and Buddhists that meditation and breathing exercises strengthen our ability to focus. Other benefits include decreased mind wandering, more positive emotions, and decreased emotional reactivity. Now research has shown that a key element of mediation and mindfulness affects the level of a natural chemical messenger in the brain called noradrenaline. This noradrenaline is released when we are focused or challenged and if produced at the correct levels can help the brain grow new connections. The study was carried out by researchers at Trinity College and led the researchers to believe that it is possible to stabilize attention and boost brain health through breath control practices.  When people are stressed too much noradrenaline is produced and people can’t focus. When … Read more

Dietary Goals of the United States

I have previously written about  Dr. McDougall through finding his newsletter in a Google Search where he discussed how to protect yourself from abusive doctors. See http://blog.teethremoval.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-abusive-doctors/. Earlier this year I also discussed in a post some of Dr. McDougalls thought’s on Food, Children, and Diet where he wrote to governor Rick Scott of Florida claiming that various food industries are engaged in child abuse. In his newsletter from October 2012, he discussed former democratic senator George McGovern and his McGovern report from 1977 where guideline for eating were developed, http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/oct/mcgovern.htm. Dr. McDougall says that the McGovern report says “…there is a great deal of evidence and it continues to accumulate, which strongly implicates and, in some instances, proves that the major causes of death and disability in the United States are related to the diet we eat…What are the … Read more

Exercise Effective for Preventing Migraines

An interesting study was recently published in Cephalalgia and looked at 91 migraine patients. A third of these patients were asked to exercise for 40 minutes for 3 times a week with the supervision of a physiotherapist, another third were doing relaxation exercises, and the final third of the patients was given topiramate. The study lasted for a total of 3 months, in which the migraine status, aerobic capacity, level of physical activity, and quality of life was evaluated.  Follow ups of the study were carried out after 3 and 6 months. The randomized controlled study was performed by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The results showed that the number of migraines fell in all three groups that were examined and described above. There was no difference in the preventative effect between the … Read more

Harmful to Run Every Day

After reading a post over at fitsugar.com on if running every day is safe and okay, I wanted to make some comments. I use to run nearly everyday back when I was on cross country and track in high school. It surely has its disadvantages and its advantages. The advantages include that working out is healthy for your body and can help you lose weight and even have more energy throughout the day. However some disadvantages are that it can cause injury such as tendonitis and wear down your joints. If you are young and training for cross country, track, or some other event such as a marathon, I think it is perfectly okay to run 6 days a week regularily. However you should make sure you mix up your routine and change your millage. For example, perhaps one day … Read more