Month: July 2018

 

If you meditate regularly, you’ve probably already noticed how it calms you, elevates your mood, and improves your focus.   That’s reason enough to continue your practice right there.

But there are plenty more reasons to meditate daily, and scientists have only just begun to quantify them.   Here are a couple.   In a recent study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, it was found that stressed adults who practiced mindfulness meditation for just four months had reduced signs of inflammation in their bodies.   Their brains were also positively altered, so  that the regions involved in attention and executive control showed greater connectivity.

The reduction in inflammation is important.  Low grade inflammation has been linked to long-term, chronic health problems such as auto-immunity, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer, so reduced inflammation is a great predictor of better health, and a longer life.

In another study published in the journal Psychiatry Research, 89 people with generalized anxiety disorder were divided into two groups.  One group took an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course, while the other took a course on Stress Management Education.  This course included tips for improved sleep and nutrition, as well as other wellness topics.

Before and after the study, each of the participants was required to give a speech before an audience, an activity that most people dread.  The study participants who took mindfulness-based stress training showed significantly reduced signs of stress immediately after the speech, including lower blood cortisol levels and inflammation markers.  By comparison, the subjects who took the general stress reduction course experienced no reduction in blood cortisol levels and no reduction in inflammation.  In other words, resilience to stress increased markedly after just 8 weeks of mindfulness-based training.

When you combine these results with the impressive study released in 2014, where mindfulness was found to control depression as well as many anti-depressant drugs, it becomes increasingly clear that mindfulness meditation is something we should all be doing.  In a world that just keeps spinning faster and faster, and where problems only multiply, now is a great time to start.  To begin, search out meditation courses near you, or pick up a good book on the subject.  Authors like Sharon Salzberg or Jack Kornfield, who have decades of experience in meditation instruction, are particularly recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

When large numbers men start to have fertility problems, you know there is something wrong with the environment.  For a long time, scientists were unsure this was really happening.  However, repeated studies have confirmed that male sperm counts in Western continents are 59% lower than they were in 1971.  They are now directing their attention to possible reasons why.

What they’ve found should make men more concerned about their use of over-the-counter drugs.  A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  has found that when men use ibuprofen on a regular basis, it can lead to hypogonadism.  This is a condition normally seen only in elderly men, but researchers were able to  induce it by giving men two 600 mg tablets of ibuprofen daily for several months.  When they administered the ibuprofen directly into testicle samples (provided by organ donors), testosterone production declined in just 24 hours.

Luckily, testosterone levels rose again once the study ended, so the problem can be reversed – at least when ibuprofen is taken only for short periods of time.  However, scientists are now concerned about the many male athletes who take ibuprofen on a daily basis to control inflammation and pain.  Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used medications, and larger doses of the drug, taken for years at a time, may make this condition irreversible.

The hypogonadism generated in the study seems to have occurred because of increased production of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland.  When luteinizing hormone increases, it causes a relative reduction of testosterone, leading to infertility, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, depression, and loss of bone and muscle mass.

This is not the first time that ibuprofen has been implicated in fertility issues.  In a previous study, women who took ibuprofen during pregnancy gave birth to boys with impaired testicular development.

Concern has also been raised over the safety of other over-the-counter drugs, such as acetaminophen.  In addition to its tendency to cause liver damage when taken in high enough doses, acetaminophen has been linked to an increased risk of behavioural issues and ADHD among children when mothers take it during pregnancy.  Another study found that people who used acetaminophen to control pain had reduced empathy, and other positive emotions.

We’ve always known that drugs come with some negative side effects.  But which side effects are we prepared to accept?  At what point do the negative consequences of these drugs outweigh their potential benefits?  Many herbs have valuable pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties, with fewer, if any, side effects.  To save our environment, and ourselves, we need to start using these more natural options.

If you have any questions about how to use our tinctures to reduce pain and inflammation safely, please write us at rebecca@sensiblehealth.com, or give us a call at 416-248-2930.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have a sweet tooth?  Or, perhaps you prefer salty snacks?  Indulging in either craving can cause your waistline to expand, and damage your cardiovascular health in the long term.  However, a new study focusing on the effects of excess salt consumption in mice has found that salt is particularly damaging to mental functioning, irregardless of whether your blood pressure rises.

In the study, mice were given 8-16 times more salt than normal for several months, comparable to what humans consume when they eat a high-salt diet.  MRIs later showed reduced blood flow to areas of the brain involved in learning and memory.  The mice also performed significantly worse on maze and recognition tests, and became unable to build nests, something normal mice do every day.

But here’s the really interesting part:  contrary to what the researchers expected, the decreased flow of blood to the brain was not caused by salt-induced high blood pressure, but by changes to the gut.   It appears that the increased salt consumption caused the production of a particular kind of white blood cell to escalate (T- helper lymphocyte TH17).  This resulted in dysregulation of the inflammatory response, which increased inflammation – already known to damage delicate neurons and deprive them of oxygen.  Meanwhile, nitric oxide production within blood vessels also decreased.  Nitric oxide is a gas that causes blood vessels to relax and  open, thereby increasing the circulation of blood throughout the body, including to the brain.

Reassuringly, once the excess salt was taken away from the mice and their diet returned to normal, their brain functioning improved within four weeks.   This implies that if we humans were to also reduce our salt intake, we might see a similar increase in cognitive function, and a reduced chance of developing dementia.  It’s just another reason to stay away from salt!

Intriguingly, this research also points towards another avenue for dementia research:  gut health.   It may be that the root of cognitive decline isn’t in our cardiovascular system, as has previously been thought, but in our digestive system instead.  All the more reason to keep improving your diet, reducing salt intake, and while you’re at it, keep an eye on your liver health.  Since the liver is the most important organ in the digestive system, keeping your liver in tip-top shape will ensure that  your digestive health is as optimal as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have an only child?  If so, you may be concerned that your child’s emotional development may be negatively affected by the lack of a sibling.   After all, friends are important, but there’s something comforting about having a brother or a sister, even if you don’t get along very well.  Their very existence makes you feel less alone in the world.

Enter the family dog.  A new study done last year at the University of Cambridge suggests that household pets have a significant effect on childhood development, positively influencing their social skills and emotional well-being.  For children who don’t have siblings, or who are shy or emotionally sensitive, having a family pet may even improve psychological health later in life.

In this most recent study, 77 pre-adolescent children in the UK reported having a better relationship with their pet than with their brother or sister.  They were more likely to confide in their pets, got greater satisfaction from their furry friends, and also had less conflict with them.  Dogs, in particular, were associated with higher incidence of companionship and satisfaction than cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, or fish, but it’s probable that any family pet can have a positive influence.

Given the emotionally fraught nature of most sibling relationships, having a pet may provide stress relief and added comfort when arguments inevitably erupt.  For those who don’t have a sibling, a pet can help to fill the void, and even create a more positive, supportive relationship than any sibling ever could.  Whatever the case, evidence continues to accumulate that inviting a pet into your home has both physical and psychological benefits, particularly for children.