Healthy News

There are a lot of claims out there that magnets can cause a lot of healing. You’ll find magnetic knee wraps, magnetic wrist bands, magnets to be inserted into shoes and in mattresses.

What Are The “Miracle Magnet” Claims?

Many alternative healing companies suggest that the magnets increase blood circulation to eradicate pain from the body, from migraine sufferers plus increase endorphins, increase energy and that this can help with a plethora of health problems and pain.

What do the experts say?

Most experts say “Poppycock” or something similar to that. Quackwatch.com and others suggest that expensive magnets sold do little more than the cheap magnets on your refrigerator.

What do you think?

Here are a few tips to help you curb overeating. Eating too much food is a major problem in today’s world. Many countries are plagued with morbid obesity but society continually gives you cues to eat more so here is some help:

-Stop watching commercials. Seriously. Commercials are filled with unhealthy food advertisements that are almost like subliminal messages. Record shows you like to watch and don’t watch the commercials.
-Smaller plates. If you’re eating off a platter sized plate you’re more likely to overfill it. Use smaller dishes.
-Portion control yourself with servings. Make your meat and starch servings smaller and your vegetable portion bigger. You’ll get full faster and eat more low calorie foods
-Drink water. Drink a big glass of water before a meal and you’re less likely to eat seconds
-Make a rule to eat only at the table. No eating in the living room in front of the tv (mindless snacking) or at the computer or anywhere but the table and you’re less likely to overdo it on snacks.

Subtle habit changes can make a big difference to the way you view food!

As parents, we want our kids to be healthy and well and most parents worry about excess sugar and too much junk food. Are you giving your kids too much juice?

When our children are small, diluting juice is a good idea. If you never give your kids water, you could be making a judgement error. A lot of kids refuse milk and water because juice is so sweet and treat-like. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t continue to dilute juice even as they’re in their preschooler and school years.

Juice is great for vitamins but is high in natural sugars so giving your children more than a glass or two a day of juice can be a bad idea. It can also be a bit of an appetite suppressant for our kids.

A toddler who isn’t eating well might be getting too much liquid during the day. Tooth decay is also a concern so try not to give your kids juice after dinner. A great rule of thumb is to give water only after teeth have been brushed for the last time at night.

Beware of cocktails and fruit drinks masquerading as juice. Many labels say “With Real Juice” but that equates to 10%. Look at the ingredient list to see if the fruit juice fits before or after sugar and opt for sugar-free and sweetener-free drinks as much as possible.

Folic acid (aka Folate or Vitamin B9) is being called the nutrient of the century according to Nutramed.com.  Pregnant women are told to take it and those trying to conceive are advised to take it as well because it can help prevent neural tube defects but taking folic acid or folate should be taken throughout your life. If you drink a lot of alcohol, it’s especially important for you to ensure you get enough B9.

What Folic Acid Can Do For You

Folic acid can help prevent anemia,  heart attacks, strokes and Cancer. It’s great for your brain health and it can actually repair your DNA.

This vitamin is found in many foods including enriched flours and cereals. You can also take a vitamin supplement that contains B9 or a folic acid supplement alone.

Foods with Folic Acid:

• spinach
• broccoli
• asparagus
• peas
• enriched pasta
•  liver
• peanuts
• oranges
• cantaloupe
• bananas
• papaya

Various school systems have different policies about lice and nits.  Some schools see it as an annoyance and won’t send a child home if they have them. This can prove very tricky for parents. If your child is getting lice repeatedly, you might be doing some serious damage by continuing to use Kwellada or Nix repeatedly.  These shampoos are effective but toxic. Repeated use can be poisonous as some of the chemicals are carcinogenic.

What can you do?

-Encourage your children not to share hats and brushes.  Keep girls’ hair braided or tied back  and boys’ hair short.

-Put tea tree oil in your shampoo which can repel lice

-Check for nits daily if there is a problem in your area so you can remove them before the house becomes infested

-If you get infested, do a thorough cleaning of the house including carpeting, sheets, pillows and stuffed animals.

Look at healthy options for lice and nit removal. There are products and brushes on the market that can help you get rid of them without chemicals.

Talk to your school board about changing their policy and about having volunteers check regularly for problems by inspecting heads.

Coffee is definitely a vice for many people and over the years, people have heard news change about whether or not coffee is actually good for you.  I choose to drink coffee every morning and when I have a hectic schedule I often make a pot of decaf at night. I do exercise caution about my quantity of coffee because caffeine does give me heart palpitations if I overindulge.

Here are a few of the benefits of coffee:

-reduced chances of developing Parkinson’s Disease

-reduced risk of diabetes

-reduced heart and liver problems

-helpful for asthmatics

-high levels of antioxidants

-mental clarity boost

-can increase an athlete’s performance

Coffee does have some negative results as well but today, we’ll choose to just acknowledge the fact that there are some great health benefits of coffee and in limited quantities can be something we’re able to indulge in unless our doctor has said otherwise.

On my local news today, they discussed dry drowning. It was frightening and I wanted to share information with my readers.  Just because someone is out of the pool doesn’t mean they’re safe.  If enough pool water is swallowed  it can cause the lungs to fail.

More information on Wikipedia goes more in depth about the physiological of what happens but if you feel you or a child has drank in a lot of water be aware of symptoms that include lethargy, excessive drowsiness, difficulty communicating or difficulty breathing as well as drastic changes in behaviour. A trip to the emergency room and oxygen therapy could be life-saving.

Dry drowning  would be more likely to happen with a new swimmer, a person with impaired lung function such as an asthmatic or a child but can happen to anyone and about 15% of drownings are dry ones.  A ten year old U.S. boy recently died due to dry drowning  an hour after he was out of the water.

Today marks the end of my daily dose series for now. A daily habit of mine is tea drinking. Not only do I drink black tea but I alternate between white tea, green tea and oolong (or Wulong) tea.

All  have health benefits that can include antioxidants as well as metabolism boosting properties. Tea has less caffeine than coffee and can add health and longevity to your life. I drink tea with or after meals to aid in digestion and alternate the types of tea I drink. I opt for organic teas whenever possible and my current favourite is white tea which can help prevent cavities as well as has benefits that include antibacterial. At the first sign of a sore throat, we’re drinking white tea here as it can kill strep and staph infections.

To make a great pot of tea, warm the teapot with hot water and put in fresh tea bags each time. Let the tea steep for just a few minutes otherwise the tea gets over steeped and tannins are released that make it taste bitter.  When you have leftover tea, use it in your cooking and in your plants.   Tea makes a great soup base as well as a base for gravy and the health benefits are numerous!

This is another dose of my Daily Dose series where I talk about things I take every day to improve my health. I’ve recently started taking Fish Oil. Specifically, I’m taking Marine Omega Supplement with Krill Oil.

It’s in a capsule that smells like a mixture of rotten fish and vanilla but has no flavour when I swallow it.

Benefis of Fish Oil
We don’t nearly get enough fish in our diet. Partly because our habits have changed and partly out of fear of pollution and mercury.  Shame, really….people who have fish as a main part of their diet tend to be the up there among healthiest people.

Taking a fish oil or krill oil supplement can provide the following health benefits:

•  Healthier immune system
• improved joint function
• great for skin
• heightened brain function (EPA  and DHA benefits)
• high level of antioxidants
• anti aging benefits
• cardiovascular benefits

In part three of my Daily Dose series, I want to tell you about Greens Plus. I try to take my Greens Plus every morning before I eat. Greens Plus is a brand name of a green drink that can provide a number of health benefits. The product contains a list of healthy ingredients and if you take the full dose it equates to six servings of organic green vegetables. It’s hard to get all your veggies in every day so that’s a feat in itself. There are many other helpful ingredients in the product as well.

I have to be honest. It tastes putrid. It’s a horrible green colour and if you buy original instead of Tangerine Dream, it will produce shudders until you get accustomed but the product is well worth getting used to it. I often mix it with orange or apple juice to get it down and don’t mind it so much any more.

There are some really interesting ingredients in Greens Plus like dandelion root, Bee Pollen, Pectin, green tea extract, Royal Jelly, seven positive different bacterial cultures, ginko biloba, grape extract (for reservatrol, one of the positive ingredients in red wine), and more. If you look up some of these individual products for their health benefits, you will probably be sold on Greens Plus (despite the taste.)