In the framework of the study, the specialists analyzed the data of 1,450 participants aged between 70 and 89. In the beginning of the experiment none of the participants had dementia or a related condition. Then, every 15 months the participants were offered some memory tests, and in three years after the beginning of the experiment, the scientists found out that 296 of the participants developed clear sighs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition which is connected with with predominant memory loss and usually progresses into Alzheimer’s disease withing a few years at most.

At the same time, the experiments by the Mayo Clinic group have shown that statistically, a number of pre-dementia conditions linked to memory loss and the loss of certain brain skills are registered more in men than in women. Thus, among 1,000 participants there were 72 cases of mild cognitive impairment in men, compared to only 57 cases per 1,000 participants in women. At that, the scientists have found that such important factors as being not married, or having less education play key roles and can increase the risks of dementia in men up to 50 per cent.

‘These  results are surprising, given that women generally have higher rates of  dementia than men,” Dr Rosebud Roberts, one of the authors of the research and a specialist at the Mayo Clinic, commented on the findings. ‘This is disturbing given that people are living longer, and that MCI may have  a large impact on health care costs if increased efforts at prevention are not  used to reduce the risk,’ he added. However, some specialists question the findings of this study and are convinced that men can better resist such conditions as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease because more amounts of physical exercise in men support their mental function more effectively then the same in women.

Pharmaceutical companies have created medicines that are designed to relieve stress, but these medicines are nowhere near ideal for combatting daily mental health problems – and not just for those that believe in the power of herbal medicine; the pharmaceutical medicine for regular stress is loaded with side effects comparable to some of the worst modern medicines. They are a poor solution to any regular, daily stress.

The Comparison Between Side Effects and Anxiety/Stress

Even those that promote pharmaceutical medicines understand that there needs to be a worthwhile tradeoff between possible side effects of a drug and the issues it relieves. For example, “Dry Mouth” is a side effect of many pharmaceutical medications, but if the disease is something serious, it makes some sense to risk the symptoms in order to clear the disease.

But anxiety and stress are manageable. Although no one likes to live with anxiety or stress, it’s possible to wake up each morning and handle these issues. They’re unpleasant, but they’re not debilitating. Yet the side effects of pharmaceutical medications can be not only irritating – they can be dangerous. Addiction is common, as is complete personality changes as some of these medicines dull your mind and body. It’s not a respectable tradeoff for those suffering from upsetting but manageable anxiety.

Finding a Natural Solution

That’s why when it comes mental health issues like anxiety, natural remedies are the clear winner. These remedies can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of anxiety and stress without any side effects, and compared to pharmaceutical medicines they are a far better treatment, offering the same solutions with:

• No health side effects.
• No chance of addiction.
• No personality changes.

It makes sense to use these herbal remedies as a solution to anxiety issues, because only natural remedies can provide relief without the many considerable consequences as pharmaceutical medicine.

Types of Herbal Supplements

There are also several types of herbal supplements available. By far the most effective is kava. Kava has received substantial clinical research at major universities as a potential solution to anxiety and stress, and all available evidence shows that kava is the perfect choice for both mild and moderate anxiety. Like any good natural medicine, kava has no possibility of addiction, no withdrawal symptoms, and no side effects.

Kava does have clinical properties, so it does need to be taken with care. You cannot drink alcohol with kava, nor should you abuse kava in such a way that you take something other than the recommended dosage. Kava is also fat soluble, so it needs to be taken with food or with some type of fat containing drink that can release the kavalactones (the agents that reduce anxiety) and work properly.

But if taken correctly, kava is easily one of the most powerful, natural, and effective ways to reduce daily stress and anxiety, and a far better option than pharmaceutical medicine.

Other Natural Anxiety Relief Options

Other herbal remedies have also received attention of late. Passionflower has shown early signs of being an effective daily anxiety reduction supplement with similar qualities as kava. Passionflower is considered a better option for mild anxiety – anxiety that affects you regularly, but not to a degree that you couldn’t live with it if necessary. Passionflower is currently receiving more attention as a possible solution to moderate anxiety as well.

Also, several teas are available made from a mix of ingredients that are believed to be useful for handling stress. Teas with chamomile, peppermint, and more are all considered useful solutions to regular, daily stress. Some research has also concluded that the simple act of drinking tea can be calming as well, making tea another excellent option for mild anxiety.

Choosing Herbal Remedies Over Pharmaceutical Medicine

Skeptics of most herbal supplements have an understandable reason to choose pharmaceutical medicine for some of the more serious diseases. But for anxiety and stress – two issues that can affect your life considerably without causing any debilitating problems – pharmaceutical medicine is simply not the right solution. The side effects and risks are too great and the benefits too small.

Instead, you should choose to use natural herbal supplements that have shown excellent benefits for treating both anxiety and stress but without any of the harmful risks. Kava, and other herbs, have been proven effective in scientific studies, and are a much better choice for your daily stress and anxiety needs.

About the Author: Ryan Rivera has long been a promoter of herbal supplements and nutrition for anxiety and stress. He has information on these conditions at www.calmclinic.com

The study was carried out by a group of experts at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and led by Dr. George Bray. For the trials, several hundred participants with extra weight, both males and females, were invited. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups offered one of the following types of diet:

• High protein, high fat, and low carbs;
• High protein, low fat and high carbs;
• Average protein, high fat and low carbs;
• Average protein, low fat and high carbs.

At that, every diet was created to cut down about 750 calories a day. The participants were monitored after 6 months right after the diet, and then within 2 years after the end of the experiment. It turned out that for six months of using all types of the stated diets, they managed to get rid of 9 lbs of fat and about 5 lbs of lean mass. In two years, the participants managed to lose 8 lbs of fat in average, including 3 lbs of abdomen fat. At that there were no serious differences in weight loss degree between the members of the groups assigned to different types of diets.

Thus, simple watching your calorie consumption can be effective for weight management and improving your BMI, but you can choose the type of diet which is more appropriate for you. “If you’re happier doing it low fat, or happier doing it low carb, this paper says it’s OK to do it either way. They were equally successful,” one of the study participants commented in the report. It can be more important to stick with a certain type of diet rather than eliminate fats or carbs completely. Read more about calorie counting and the findings of this interesting study in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

]]> http://guide2herbalremedies.com/effective-weight-management-practice-calorie-counting/feed/ 1 http://guide2herbalremedies.com/effective-weight-management-practice-calorie-counting/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GuideToHerbalRemedies/~3/0gXR-Knm3oY/ http://guide2herbalremedies.com/daily-consumption-black-tea-linked-risks-hypertension/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:27:16 +0000 Carla Fiscina http://guide2herbalremedies.com/?p=7987 Undoubtedly, black tea is one of the most loved and popular therapeutic beverages and herbal teas on the planet. Millions of people drink tens of millions of cups a day, thus having a chance to enjoy numerous health benefits of black tea. By using this herbal remedy we can decrease our risks of cardiovascular problems and some types of cancer, slow down aging processes on cellular levels, lowed LDL cholesterol levels, improve our brain function and thinking abilities. In addition, as a recent study suggests, black tea can be considered as a great therapeutic beverage to combat such a common ailment as hypertension, or increased blood pressure.

According to the findings of a new study, those people who drink 2-3 cups of high quality back tea every day have lower blood pressure for 2-3 points on average. Though this does not sound as something miraculous and impressive, the scientists assure us that even such minor changes in relation to lowering blood pressure can have quite considerable effects and even work for prevention of serious cardiovascular problems like heart disease and so on. Those are the conclusions of an expert group of the School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study involved monitoring blood pressure levels of 95 participants, both male and female, who have been consuming black tea on a day-to-day basis. In the beginning of the experiment, their systolic pressure levels varied between 115 and 150. Then, the participants were divided into two groups (absolutely similar in such important factors as age, gender, weight category, and so on), one of which was offered to drink 3 cups of high quality black tea, and the control group was offered a placebo drink with a tea-like flavor and caffeine content.

After six months, it turned out that the members of the group which was consuming real black tea displayed a steady reduction in their systolic blood pressure for 2-3 points, as well as 2 point reduction of their diastolic pressure. Experts see a great deal of potential in the findings of Australian scientists, because some other researches have shown effectiveness of a regular black tea consumption is linked to improved function of endothelial cells. Those are the cells covering the interior of our blood vessels, and all endothelial dysfunctions are considered the first signs of hypertension (or increased blood pressure) in people.

According to the findings of a recent research, there are connections between a regular consumption of cocoa and reduced risks of developing such common type of cancer as colon cancer. The study carried out by a group of experts of the Science and Technology Institute of Food and Nutrition in Spain, was focused on the reaction of lab rats exposed to tumor causing chemical compounds on day-to-day treatment involving consuming cocoa powder. On the first stage of the trial, one group of the rats was given cocoa-rich diet for 12 weeks, and another group was given a diet containing no cocoa.

Then, all the rats started being exposed to azoxymethane, a carcinogen which is known for its property to cause colon cancer. After the first four weeks, the rats started showing the first signs of developing colon cancer. However, the scientists could see clearly that the rats from the group which was receiving a cocoa-rich diet have showed less signs of intestinal cancer compared to the rats from the control group. The further research focused on the benefits and effects of cocoa-rich diet on humans has already been scheduled.

‘Foods like cocoa, which is rich in polyphenols, seems to play an important role in protecting against disease,’ Dr Maria Arribas, one of the study leaders and the author of the report said. The study was the first of its kind and a great deal of nutritionists underlined the important of establishing proper links between colon cancer and cocoa consumption. At the same time, they war that consuming too much of such popular cocoa product as chocolate is linked to unwanted side effects since chocolate is rich in saturated fats and is high in calories. Those who are interested in health benefits of cocoa can read more about this study in the latest issue of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

]]> http://guide2herbalremedies.com/cocoa-consumption-linked-risks-colon-cancer/feed/ 0 http://guide2herbalremedies.com/cocoa-consumption-linked-risks-colon-cancer/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GuideToHerbalRemedies/~3/7yu_hwO1z9Q/ http://guide2herbalremedies.com/fried-food-dangerous-heart-cooked-olive-sunflower/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:50:21 +0000 Carla Fiscina http://guide2herbalremedies.com/?p=7967 Fired food is considered among the unhealthy types of foods as it is rich is saturated oils and calories that can cause serious cardiovascular problems like heart attack, heart disease, etc., and even premature death. However, according to the findings of the experts at the Autonomous University of Madrid, eating fried food can not be that dangerous provided the food is fried using high quality olive and sunflower oil. Though the specialists underline that their findings can be applicable only to local diet known as the Mediterranean diet, the findings are really interesting and worth to be considered.

Frying is undoubtedly one of the most common type of preparing food and a great deal of modern people like fried food. At the same time, frying can turn the food in calorie bombs and saturated fat bombs, that is why consuming a lot of fried food with increased amounts of the mentioned harmful substances can substantially increase the risks of obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension and cardiovascular conditions. The study in Madrid lasted for 11 years and  involved analyzing the info on more than 40,700 people and watching the types of foods they were consuming for the last 11 years.

In the beginning of the trials, no participant had any sign of serious cardiovascular condition like heart disease and others. By the end of the experiment, 606 participants have been diagnosed with heart disease, and about 1130 died of cardiovascular condition. The scientists looked at the diet and the types of foods those people used to consume, and the connection between consuming fired foods and increased risks of cardiovascular diseases was note established. The experts believe that this fact can be attributable to the Mediterranean diet and using only high quality olive and sunflower oil for frying foods.

The findings of the study were recently published in most of health care magazines and online editions, and evoke a vivid public polemic. According to Prof. Michael Leitzmann, a nutritionist at  the University of Regensburg in Germany, this study is interesting but  ‘does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences. The study suggests that specific aspects of frying food are relevant, such as the oil used, together with other aspects of the diet.’ Victoria Taylor at British Heart Foundation said: “Before we all reach for the frying pan, it’s important to remember that this was a study of a Mediterranean diet rather than British fish and chips.” Read more about the finingds of this research and the comments of the world’s leading nutritionists in one of the latest issues of the British Medical Journal.

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