Sports drinks beaten by cereals

After training, athletes look to restore their energy and they often do it with sports drinks. However, there is another option that will help them recover faster according to the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and it’s found in most kitchens. The answer lies in a bowl of cereal with non-fat milk as that provides similar results as athletes look for from an electrolyte drink. Athletes may get the same post-workout boost from a bowl of cereal as they might expect from a sports drink, researchers found.A bowl of cereal with nonfat milk after exercise produced statistically similar results as a carbohydrate-electrolyte drink for nearly all measures of muscle glycogen and protein synthesis, Lynne Kammer, M.S.E., M.A., of the, and colleagues reported.

The researchers at the University of Texas at Austin findings, who carried out the study, focused on cyclists and triathletes and they were looking to see how when muscle is broken down and depleted of oxygen by exercise, what is the best way to restore it to normal levels. The researchers looked at how exercise depletes muscle stores of glycogen and turns it into glucose, which fuels the physical activity, and in doing so it breaks down muscle protein. This led to the researchers investigating the logical extension of this, which is that to replace the lost protein any post-exercise food or drink needs protein as well as carbohydrate to replace that which has been lost.

By having a bowl of cereal after exercise you get carbohydrate replacement and the milk that accompanies it provides essential, easily digestible protein and in a less expensive form than sports drinks.

Ginseng is a natural anti-inflammatory

Ginseng has long been used for stamina and supporting the immune system, but new research shows that it can also be an affective anti-inflammatory. Chinese medicine has used ginseng for treating many conditions and it is a powerful adaptogen – a substance that has a normalizing effect on the body and helps to support the body to deal with stress and illness. Ginseng is able to stimulate functions that regulate the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the endocrine glands.It was researchers from the University of Hong Kong who identified seven ginseng constituents that showed immune-suppressive effects. Their study involved treating human immune cells with different extracts of ginseng and was the first to identify ginseng as a potential anti-inflammatory.

Ginseng has already been extensively studied, and among it’s many benefits are it’s ability to reduce the effects of both physical and emotional stress, improve stamina and cope with fatigue without stimulants like caffeine. All of this has made it a popular supplement for various armies around the world, particularly in the Soviet Union.

For non-military types, it is also heart protective as it’s anti-clotting effects reduce the risk of arterial blood clots and it will help reduce cholesterol levels.
Diabetics also often favour it as a supplement as it reduces sugar levels, which in turn helps them control their diabetes. Those who need to be on a permanent drug regime find it valuable for it’s ability to protect the liver from the effects not just of drugs, but also alcohol and environmental toxins.

Kava helps reduce anxiety

Australian researchers at the University of Queensland have used Kava – which has a long history of medicinal use in the South Pacific – to treat anxiety.  They found a traditional extract of Kava, a medicinal shrub, to be safe and effective in reducing anxiety. When taken in small doses, kava helps increase awareness and activity without increasing tension.As a natural mood enhancer Kava is often suggested by naturopathic practitioners for those suffering from chronic anxiety and mild depression.
It has no addictive properties, unlike antidepressants, and has less risk of any side effects. Taken in excess Kava has been linked to liver problems, though this is still debated, and does not occur with water soluble extracted Kava, the traditional way of producing it. It should be taken occasionally for anxiety, or for a period of less than a month for more chronic conditions.

Kava is not available for sale in the UK, though it is perfectly legal to order it online for personal use.

Autism risk higher in boys

Statistically, boys are four times more likely to be autistic than girls are – something that has puzzled researchers for a number of years. Now a new report this week in Molecular Psychiatry announces that researchers have found a genetic clue that may help explain why. While nearly 40% of the general population has the most common form of the gene CACNA1G, one variant of it was more prevalent in autistic boys, though why is still not clear. It is responsible for regulating the flow of calcium into and out of cells and this is important as nerve cells in the brain rely on calcium to become activated. An imbalance in calcium can result in these neural connections becoming over stimulated, more excitable, and this can create developmental problems, such as autism and even epilepsy. In the next five to ten years this could lead to a much better understanding of the causes of autism as researchers try to use known autism genes to help develop screening tools or early interventions.

Surgery broadcast on the web

If you had a malignant tumour threatening to paralyze you then you would happily embrace the necessary surgery, but how do you feel about having it filmed and put on the web by the hospital to promote their services? This is what happened to Shila Renee Mullins when she was filmed praising the care she received at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis and her surgery and care were turned into a promotional video for the hospital to attract more patients.Can’t see it happening on the NHS, or at least not yet, though given the desire for self promotion and our five minutes of fame that seems to have gripped the nation I am certainly not counting it out. This particular surgery requires the patient to be awake and conscious during it and she was filmed talking while the scalpels went in. The resulting operation was then promoted as a webcast and with ads in the newspapers and on tv. America being the land of the beautiful, sadly Ms. Mullins was replaced in the media with an attractive model, though presumably they couldn’t CGI a more beautiful head on to the poor woman while she had the surgery.

The resulting webcast certainly had a good number of ‘hits’ as their marketing department kept track. A preview on YouTube netted 21,555 viewers while the entire webcast of the surgery slumped dramatically to 2,212 and only 3 people requested appointments – which was presumably the object of the exercise. Hospitals in the US have to compete for patients in the marketplace as does every other commodity and they have spent large sums on conventional media to attract patients, but these are highly expensive compared to the Internet. Hospitals have previously used Twitter from operating rooms, showed surgery on YouTube and had their patients blog about their procedures – back to that five minutes of fame.

Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit uses Twitter from the operating room and surgeon Dr. Craig Rogers operating room had an online observing chief resident who Twittered the following while Dr. Craig was removing an unexpectedly large tumour from a kidney. I give you his exact words online, live as it happened: “Gosh, this is big. Could I have picked a harder case for this?” The fact he knew he was being broadcast could have affected what he said, and any distraction from the surgery seems to me to e downright dangerous – if not actually unprofessional. Hospitals say patients give consent and are not compensated for any videoing but there are already plenty of people seeking surgery as a way of body sculpting and enhancing rather than as a medical procedure and there are concerns that if you will do anything to get on TV then this could be one way to do it.

My nightmare is an extension of Big Brother set in a surgical ward where they are competing for the most outrageous operation and the winner has their brain removed on prime time TV – though how much brain they would find in those contestants would be open to doubt.

Not all blogging and tweeting is a bad thing; some hospitals are using it to gain patients for clinical trials that are otherwise difficult and expensive to recruit, and to publicise fundraising or legislation for increased funds for new hospitals. However, with more than 250 hospitals now using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or blogs, may I suggest that the moral of this story is to beware of hospitals with marketing departments.

Getting ahead of hay fever

This time of year can be very distressing for hay fever sufferers, and those with sinusitis or allergies. There are plenty of medications available to control the symptoms but there is an old-fashioned naturopathic remedy that is very effective and inexpensive that you might want to try first. It’s using warm salt water to wash out your nasal passages. Done twice a day it has shown positive results in medical studies as it washes away the pollen that clogs your nasal passages and irritates your body into triggering an allergic reaction.It’s long been in use in Ayurvedic medicine and the renowned Mayo Clinic in the states also recommend it’s use. A January 2009 study on 200 patients had them reporting relief of their symptoms from twice daily salt water irrigations and a recent study in China at Nanjing Medical University showed good results on children with allergic rhinitis so they were able to stop or reduce their steroid nasal sprays.

It must be popular as you can now buy a salt pipe (sometimes called a neti pot) on Amazon in the UK and many other health sites. Natural sea salt is the best to use and use 1 teaspoon salt to 1 pint of warm filtered or distilled water.

Adding in some extra support in terms of taking regular exericse and having plenty of omega-3 in your diet. Children who have little exercise have twice the rate of hay fever as their more active friends, and omega-3 from fish oil helps reduce both allergic and inflammatory responses. It can also help to include probiotics in the diet as they have two good effects: they help lower the levels of an antibody that produces allergy symptoms and also levels of a different antibody, IgG, that it’s believed plays a protective role against allergic reactions.

Stomach ulcers glutamine

H. pylori bacteria infect more than half of the world’s population and were recently identified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Stomach ulcers are known to result from an infection with this bacteria and it is carried by nearly six percent of people worldwide. Usually the treatment given is antibiotics but we are now more cautious about prescribing these because of side effects, and overuse leading to less effectiveness. A more natural treatment with the amino acid Glutamine has been found and it seems to be protective against both the damage done by H pylori and reducing the risk of gastric cancer. 900,000 new cases of gastric cancer develop each year and it is known to be associated with H pylori infection.Research was conducted by Susan Hagen, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and she is suggesting that increasing glutamine in the diet could protect against gastric damage caused by H. pylori. This can occur over years, as the infection causes persistent gastritis and damage to cells in the digestive tract and this is the ideal environment to develop malignant cells, leading to cancer. The bacteria weakens the stomach’s protective mucous coating and her research team has shown that glutamine protects against cell death from H. pylori-produced ammonia and that the damaging effects of ammonia on gastric cells could be reversed completely by the administration of L-glutamine.

L-Glutamine – the form used in the research – is often taken as a supplement to increase body mass, but Glutamine itself does occur naturally in foods including beef, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products and some fruits and vegetables. If you are prone to stomach ulcers, then it could prove helpful in avoiding antibiotics and preventing further damage.

Antidepressant drug statistics turn out to be depressing

My views on antidepressants are that they be necessary for some people, at some time, but that natural methods and therapy work just as well. Now it seems, I have support from Stephen Wisniewski, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who set up a study of data compiled in a massive, government-funded review of more than 40 psychiatric facilities. Known as the ‘Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression’, it’s catchy title reveals that antidepressants are only effective in a small percentage of patients and then only within a very narrow spectrum of conditions.However, most patients have multiple issues and it appears the majority (around 60 percent) are not benefiting from being given antidepressants. What is as troubling is the fact that the ‘great results’ given out by the pharmaceutical companies have been carefully selected so that patients in their particular drug’s trial are only those within the spectrum that the drug can help – in other words it seems they exclude the multiple issue patients. When Wisniewski did a comparison of patients in drug trials, against those whose data was in the Sequenced Treatment research it appeared that only 22 percent of the people he studied would have been eligible for the drug trial. Hardly a representative sample of the general population who suffer from depression.

Depression can be debilitating and destructive and I am all in favour of doing what works, but a preliminary step of seeking help from counselling, hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour and herbs such as Rhodiola and St John’s Wort would seem like a good first step.

Post vasectomy sperm check kit available online

The period of fertility after a vasectomy can vary from just weeks to months as live sperm remain in the reproductive tract after a vasectomy. To avoid pregnancy men are advised to have at least two check ups to determine their fertility, but researchers have found that 35% percent of men don’t return for the first sperm level test and over 70% don’t return for the second follow up.Given this level of reluctance, there seemed a gap in the market for men to have a home test and this is now available online having being approved by the FDA. SpermCheck Vasectomy has been developed to detect SP-10, a protein present at constant levels in each sperm nucleus and was developed at the University of Virginia by John C. Herr, Ph.D., and his colleagues.

If a couple absolutely must avoid pregnancy, then this test won’t substitute for a doctor’s check up as there is still debate about what level constitutes fertility, but if making and keeping doctor’s appointments is a problem, then this might be a substitute.

The test is available from www.contravac.com and costs $39.99.

10 point healthy flight check

As this is the time of year when we can start jetting off on holiday, I thought you might like some tips for having a healthy flight. As my last flight resulted in my getting a serious infection, I have a vested interest and have investigated various ways you can protect yourself while flying off to somewhere wonderful – or even Benidorm.

The problem with travelling by air is all those people; first at the airport itself and then when you get on the plane and you are forced to breathe in the same recycled, stale air, plus all their germs. Your plane has a system where it continually brings in around 50 percent fresh air into the cabin and then cleans and filters the remaining 50 percent and sends it straight back to you. Assuming a perfectly efficient, effective and highly maintained system you should be fine – but I prefer not to trust in fine or perfect maintenance.If you feel too hot and direct the air vent to you then that’s an open invitation for germs from your fellow passengers coughs and sneezes to be sent express delivery to you, so wear fewer layers and don’t open the vent. Follow this action plan at least 2-3 days before you fly and minimise your risk.

1. Prevention is the best plan so prepare your immune system to repel boarders by ensuring you eat a light, healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and as much garlic as you can manage without becoming a social outcast. Take Echinacea and a good multivitamin and try to take at least 1 gram of vitamin C a day.

2. Are you a nervous flyer? If so, carry Rescue Remedy and put six drops on your tongue to help calm your nerves.

3. Once at the airport, boost your C intake to 2 grams in 500mg doses over a few hours. It will support your immune system and helps reduce the symptoms of colds.

4. Ginkgo will help if you get symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue and dizziness when flying as it will increase blood flow and oxygen to your brain.

5. To avoid deep vein thrombosis you need to keep your blood circulating, so walk round as often as you can and in your seat do some exercises to stretch and flex your feet and calves. CoQ10 is a supplement that also helps thin the blood and worth taking around 100mcg if you are at risk of DVT.

6. Jet lag travelling can be a real problem if you cross time zones and 600mcg of melatonin can help with this. Melatonin should not be used by pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. Please be aware that it is not legal to buy in the UK, and can only be bought online and then imported for your own use, then it’s no problem.

7. A simple trick is to alter your watch to the destination local time as soon as you are on the plane and this ‘tricks’ your body into adjusting faster.

8. Drink all you want – as long as it’s water or juices. That celebratory ‘we’re on holiday’ drink on the plane is a bad move health-wise and issues an open invitation to bacteria. When you drink alcohol it will dehydrate you, as you know if you have over-indulged, and when that happens the minute pores inside your nostril get enlarged and makes an even bigger gateway for those all those viruses and bacteria you are trying to avoid.

9. Make your meal the vegetarian option and give your stomach a break. Meat protein means your body works harder to break it down and that diverts resources from tackling any possible virus or bacteria that may have got into your body.

10. Carry, and use, a sanitising hand gel. Not just when you use the bathroom, but every time you walk round the plane and have to touch the back of the seats for balance or to allow other people through. It’s contact that is the problem and anywhere other people have touched is potentially hazardous.

Enjoy your flight and have a happy, healthy landing!

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