Health Digest Summer Special

Feel Better
Naturally
Natural remedies for common ailments

Yoga Special
Yoga’s healing power & The new safer yoga

Food Allergy Myths

We de-bunk misconceptions people have about food allergies

Fish – It really is brain food

Mighty and Wonder – Our new
megasupplements for the masses
Chocolate lovers: 6 reasons to cheer

Free at all good chemists and health stores


 In This Issue:
2. Editorial
It’s in the next column.
3. Our New Megasupplements for the masses
Mighty and Wonder (for men and women
respectively) are our new all-in-one supplements
for people on the go.
4. It’s summer again, be sun smart
Whether you work outdoors, enjoy weekend
sport, or simply love to frolic on the beach, sun
protection should be top of mind this summer.
5. Sunlight, our best friend and worst enemy
Sunshine may be carcinogenic, but we can’t
thrive without the vitamin D it provides.
6. Are you getting enough fibre?
You might know that a high-fibre diet translates to
better health and a cleaner digestive system – but
it’s not always possible to eat right.
7. Stop hay fever
Allergies occur when an overprotective immune
system senses trouble. The problem is, trouble
comes in the form of everyday substances such
as grasses and flowers, foods and pets – all things
that are difficult to avoid.
Food allergy myths
We de-bunk the common misconceptions many
people have about food allergies.
. Chocolate lovers: 6 reasons to cheer
It may seem like pure indulgence, but chocolate
can do good things for your heart, skin, brain,
and more.
9. Feel better naturally
Natural remedies for common ailments are often
overlooked in favour of modern medicine.
10. The new safer yoga
Combine the wisdom of the ages with modern-day
science, and you get Evolved Yoga, a safer form of
yoga that won’t get you in a twist.
11. Yoga’s healing power
The ancient practice of yoga brings relief for
hard-to-treat conditions.
12. Fish really is brain food
Folk medicine has long held that fish is “brain
food.” In recent years, findings from scientific
studies have begun to corroborate this
conventional wisdom.
 
Editorial – Summer
Ahh, summer. Love it or hate it, summer is a
season we all have to deal with at the end of
each year and the beginning of the next
For most adults the last month of the year
is the most stressful. There’s all that work
to finish before the holidays (if you’re lucky
enough to get holidays). Then there’s the
lead-up to Christmas – buying presents and
stocking up on food and drinks – which can
be very expensive and stressful. On top of all
that parents have kids to keep entertained
and out of trouble. Then there’s the holiday
traffic to negotiate. The change in seasons can
make some people more succeptable to colds
and flus. Why do we even bother?
Because from Christmas day on it’s all down
hill! Celebrate with your family, eat a big
(healthy!) Christmas dinner, maybe even
indulge in a few drinks if that’s your drug
of choice.
Then It’s time to relax and unwind, take that
much needed holiday at the bach. Maybe do
some tramping or fishing or whatever else
floats your boat.
Remember it’s the festive season,
don’t stress!
Enzogenol ACE + Selenium Caps
The antioxidant effects (alpha effects)
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Our New Megasupplements for the masses
Proper nutrition has a huge
impact on all aspects of our
well-being. In this fast paced
age our bodies demand more
of us than ever before. Modern
food supplements make staying
healthy easier than ever.
Maintaining a balanced diet to
meet these demands can be time
consuming, expensive and just plain
unpleasant. Failing to achieve proper
nutrition is much worse and can lead
to physical and mental depression,
sickness and even death.
Nutra-life’s new Mighty and Wonder
are high-strength supplements,
formulated for the needs of active
men and women as a general tonic
to provide all the vitamins, minerals
and herbs required for a balanced
diet. It aids in the maintenance and
improvement of general well-being.
We have employed a team of the
world’s top 132 brainiest scientists to
come up with the perfect combination
of vitamins, minerals and herbs
to achieve an optimum system of
nutrition. It has been rigorously tested
on some of the worlds most physically
and mentally active men including
former world heavyweight boxing
champion, Lennox Lewis.
Remember that Mighty is not a
food replacement. Vitamins must
be consumed with food for proper
absorption and we still need food
for it’s energy content and fibre to
maintain a healthy digestive system.
Mighty will enable the body to more
efficiently utilise the food we do eat.
Vitamins
Because the human body does not
synthesize vitamins in the quantities
needed, they must be obtained either
through food or through nutritional
supplements.
They perform numerous functions,
including fighting infections,
maintaining mental alertness, helping
with blood clotting, forming red blood
cells, and promoting good vision.
There are 13 known vitamins, which
can be divided into two categories:
fat-soluble and water-soluble. The
fat-soluble vitamins – A, D, E, and

K – dissolve in fat but not in water.
After being absorbed, they are stored
by the body, creating reserves that
can be called upon when needed.
However, because they are fat-soluble,
these vitamins also pose a relatively
high risk of toxicity if taken in large
amounts.
One Mighty/Wonder pill contains
the recommended daily dose of each
vitamin required for optimum health.
Because the pills have a time release
mechanism there is no danger of
losing the water based vitamins via
urination.
Minerals
Although vitamins generally receive
more attention than minerals,
the body actually needs larger
amounts of certain minerals, called
macrominerals, than the amounts of
vitamins it requires to stay healthy.
The seven macrominerals, all
required in amounts of 100 mg or
more a day, are calcium, magnesium,
phosphorus, sodium, potassium,
chloride, and sulfur. In addition, there on Greek and Roman sources, the
are 10 microminerals, also called
“trace elements,” of which the body
requires only very small amounts.
In spite of the small requirements
for these minerals – in some cases
considerably less than 1 mg – they
are all needed if good health is to be
maintained.
Nutra-life’s new Mighty and Wonder make nutrition easier than ever.
Check out nutralife.co.nz for ingredients and more information.
Herbs
Finding healing powers in plants is an
ancient idea. People on all continents
have long used hundreds, if not
thousands, of indigenous plants for
treatment of various ailments dating
back to prehistory. These plants are
still widely used in ethno-medicine
around the world.
The use of and search for drugs
and dietary supplements derived
from plants have accelerated in
recent years. Pharmacologists,
microbiologists, botanists, and
natural products chemists are
combing the Earth for phytochemicals
and leads that could be developed
for treatment of various diseases. In
fact, many modern drugs have been
derived from plants.
The use of herbs to treat disease
is almost universal among non-
industrialized societies. A number
of traditions came to dominate the
practice of herbal medicine in the
Western world at the end of the
twentieth century; the Western, based
Ayurvedic from India, and Chinese
herbal medicine. All with a very high
degree of success.
Many of the pharmaceuticals
currently available to Western
physicians have a long history of use
as herbal remedies, including opium,
aspirin, digitalis, and quinine.
It’s summer again, be sun smart!
Whether you work outdoors, enjoy weekend
sport, or simply love to frolic on the beach, sun
protection should be top of mind this summer.
More than 50,000 cases of melanoma and non-
melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed in New Zealand
each year, leading to 300 deaths annually. This is
not surprising. Due to our weakened ozone layer
and relatively smog-free air, New Zealanders are
particularly susceptible to the sun’s harmful UV rays.
Add to that our mild climate and close association with
the outdoors lifestyle, and it’s obvious we’re all at risk to
some extent.
Use an effective sunscreen
The good news is you can still enjoy the sun so long as
you use an effective sunscreen and follow a few other
golden rules (see the box).
When it comes to sunscreens, the higher the sun
protection factor (SPF) the less the risk of burning.
But, generally, sunscreens will not continue to provide
adequate protection when washed off (either by
swimming or sweating) or when rubbed off during the
course of the day.
Fortunately, there’s at least one sunscreen that does not
rub or wash off easily. It’s called Daylong Sunscreen.
When used as directed, Daylong Sunscreen offers up to
8 hours SPF 30+ protection from just one application. It
extends an average person’s burn time by 30 times.
 
Six golden rules of sun protection
If you’re in the sun this summer it is
possible to have fun without harming your
skin, just so long as you follow a few golden
rules:
* Wear a shirt, hat and sunglasses when
outdoors
* Use sunscreen even in cloudy weather
(as about 60% of the sun’s rays still get
through)
* Use sunscreen in the car (windows do not
completely block UVA or UVB rays)
* Seek shade where possible
* Use a sunscreen with the correct SPF
(sun protection factor) to guard against
ultraviolet rays. UVA rays are responsible
for premature aging and wrinkles!
UVB rays are responsible for sunburn
and thought to be responsible for the
development of skin cancer. Make sure
your sunscreen protects against UVA
and UVB
* The safest solution is to stay out of the
sun when the sun’s rays are strongest
– between 11am and 4pm.
Sunlight, our best friend and worst enemy
One of the most unpleasant memories of my childhood is Rickets results from a deficiency in vitamin D, a fat-
of my mother holding a tablespoon of cod liver oil in front soluble vitamin that is formed in the skin under the
of my mouth and ordering me to open up. It was probably stimulus of ultraviolet light. Though some foods such as
the same folks who came up with eye of newt and toe fish oil are rich in vitamin D, we obtain about 90 percent
of frog who first had the idea of removing the liver of a of vitamin D from exposure to sunshine. Vitamin D
codfish, squeezing the yellow oil out of it and serving it upenables us to absorb calcium and phosphorus for bone
to children. I don’t know whether my mother was simply growth and muscle and nerve function. If we don’t absorb
indulging in a bit of harmless sadism or whether she enough, our bodies leach calcium from our bones to keep
really did believe she was protecting me from rickets and our muscles and nerves functioning. Bones then become
all manner of childhood illnesses. soft or deformed; in adults the condition is known as
Even as late as the 1950s, rickets was still a powerful folk osteomalacia. Vitamin D deficiency can also accelerate
memory. Though known from ancient times and common osteoporosis, and is believed to increase the risk of certain
in England in the 17th century, rickets became widespread cancers and diabetes.
in urban Britain and northern Europe in the 19th and The pollution that originally caused the epidemic of
early 20th centuries. The physical characteristics of rickets may have gone, but the disease is making a bit of
rickets were distinctive and not easily confused with other a comeback, ironically, partly because people have been
diseases: stunted bodies, with large heads, misshapen heeding health messages about slapping on sunblock
chests, twisted long bones, enlarged wrists and ankles and staying out of the sun. US vitamin D researcher
and bow legs or knock-knees. Dr. Michael Holick has estimated that “a minimum
Puzzled as to why it occurred in some parts of the country of 25 percent of adolescents and adults” in the US are
and not others, scientists of the day eventually worked vitamin D deficient. Dark-skinned people are particularly
out that it was caused by lack of sunlight and poor diet. susceptible to vitamin D deficiency.
It was rife in industrial areas where coal smoke from In Australia and New Zealand, rickets and osteomalacia
factories and domestic fires kept the sky overcast and mostly occur among ethnic groups such as Indians. Veiled
children were kept indoors away from the smut or played Muslim women are at risk, as are infants exclusively
in sunless alleyways. In the countryside, and in smaller breast fed beyond six months and who don’t have sunlight
towns, rickets was unknown. Rickets is said to be the first exposure. Older people, particularly those in rest homes,
childhood disease caused by environmental pollution. may also be vitamin D deficient. Supplements can correct
the deficiency, but require care because Vitamin D is one
of the most toxic of vitamins when taken in the wrong
Daylong Sunscreen dose. No amount of sunlight, though, will cause vitamin
D toxicity, because the body is able to regulate its own
production.
So just how much sunlight do you need to be exposed to?
It depends on where you live and how dark-skinned you
are. The New Zealand Cancer Society says that “for most
people, about 30 minutes’ exposure to sunlight each day
is enough to supply the vitamin D they need”. Others say
that 15 minutes’ exposure two or three times a week would
be sufficient. People with dark skin may need six times
that amount.
A recent article in New Scientist questioned whether the
campaign to encourage people to avoid the sun was costing
lives. It cites studies of UV exposure by US researcher
William Grant, who looked at cancer deaths across the US
and correlated that with UV exposure. He estimated that
With one of the highest rates of skin cancer in lack of sunshine led to 100,000 people developing cancer
the world, we need to look at new and better and 40,000 deaths – four times the mortality rate from
ways to protect our skin. skin cancer. Another UK study reported similar results. It
studied the lifetime sun exposure of 355 men, about half of
Daylong is the first sunscreen in New Zealand
whom had prostate cancer. “The quarter who got the least
to use the unique properties of liposomes.
sun were three times as likely to be in the cancer group as
Using a natural soya lecithin, the liposomes in
the quarter who got the most.”
Daylong surround the UVA and UVB filters and
helps them to bind with the skin. To sum up the confusion, you have to risk skin cancer to
avoid other cancers and, by being overly concerned about
That’s why Daylong gives up to 8 hours SPF
skin cancer, you may be putting yourself at risk of rickets
30+ protection from one application.
or osteomalacia. As my mother would have said, pass the
cod liver oil.

 
Are you getting
enough fibre?
You might know that a high-
fibre diet translates to better
health and a cleaner digestive
system – but it’s not always
possible to eat right.
Low fibre? Big problem…
On average, New Zealanders eat 20-25
grams of fibre a day – well short of the
recommended 30-35 grams needed
to keep our digestive system in peak
health. Experts say boosting our
fibre intake to recommended levels
could have substantial benefits on our
general health.
But, sadly, too many Kiwis have
neither the time nor ability to
squeeze more fruits, vegetables and
wholegrains into their busy days.
Benefits of fibre
Fibre plays a vital role in keeping our
‘insides’ clean. It cleans artery walls,
helps with cholesterol balance, and
aids digestion.3 In addition, high-fibre
foods slow down sugar absorption
from intestines into the blood and, in
turn, help with blood sugar balance.
What’s more, by adding bulk to the
diet without adding calories, fibre
helps with appetite and weight
management.
How to increase fibre intake
Fibre is found in plant foods such as
fruits and vegetables, whole grains,
nuts and legumes. Here’s 10 tips for
increasing your fibre intake:
 
Fresh vegetables – one of the best sources of dietary fibre.
1. Start slowly, add a little each day But given our busy lifestyles, it can be
and build up to the recommended difficult to get enough fibre through
level. Simultaneously, add more everyday wholesome foods.
water to your diet. Too often we’re drawn to convenience
2. Eat vegetables and fruit raw foods, which are generally high in
whenever possible. Boiling them fat, low in fibre, and in large part
too long, for example, can cause up responsible for sluggish digestion and
to one-half of the fiber to be lost in ill health.
the water. Steam or stir-fry them if
you have to cook.
3. Pureeing doesn’t destroy fiber, but
Crystal Clear Fibre
juice does not have the fiber of the
whole fruit if the pulp has been
strained away.
4. Always start your day with a bowl
of high-fiber cereal – one that has
five or more grams per serving.
5. Put fresh fruit on top of your high
fiber cereal to add another 1 g or
2 g of fiber.
6. Buy and eat only whole grains.
The operative word is “whole.”
Look for it on the ingredient panel.
Wheat bread doesn’t mean whole-
wheat bread. On average, a slice of
whole-wheat bread has 2 g to 3 g of
fiber. Choose whole- wheat pasta Nutra-Life Crystal Clear Fibre
instead of white, etc. is a clear, tasteless, soluble
7. Add beans to salads, soups dietary fibre formula that
and stews. provides 5g of dietary fibre per
serve. Current recommended
8. Add bran cereal to muffins, breads daily intake of dietary fibre
and casseroles. Substitute oat bran from all sources ranges
for one-third of the all-purpose between 30 and 50g, few
flour in baking. New Zealanders or Australians
9. When you eat out, ask for fresh achieve this level from their
fruit instead of dessert. normal diet.
10.Have fruit or fresh vegetables
for between-meal snacks. Bottle size: 300g Powder

Stop hayfever
in its tracks
Allergies occur when an overprotective immune
system senses trouble. The problem is, trouble
comes in the form of everyday substances such as
grasses and flowers, foods and pets – all things
that are difficult to avoid.
Allergies, ranging from the life-altering to the life-
threatening, affect up to 40% of the population. Not
surprisingly, those affected spend much of their time
trying to avoid allergic triggers, but this is difficult as
allergens can be anywhere and everywhere.
Some of the main allergy triggers, such as dust mites, pet
hair, mould spores and pollens are all over our homes and
in the air we breathe.
When it comes to food allergies, the main triggers such as
peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, wheat and
soy are found in several everyday foods.
Avoiding all these triggers is unrealistic, but helping your
body cope with the consequences is possible.
What happens with allergy?
Hayfever and seasonal allergic rhinitis (year-round
allergy to dusts and moulds) are characterised by a runny
nose, itchy eyes and a tickly throat.
These symptoms come about when the body releases
histamine in response to an offending substance.
This histamine is released in two stages. In stage 1, the
body produces histamine to fight off the allergen, causing
itching and sneezing.
In stage 2, the body prepares for another onslaught of
allergen and releases inflammatory cells that migrate
to affected areas, such as the nose or throat, and cause
further allergic inflammation and more histamine release.
Nutra-life Anti-Allergy
and Hay fever Formula
A high potency broad-spectrum
allergy protector for year
round use containing the
herbal combination of Perilla
and Coleus, with the added
nutritional co-factors Vitamin
B6 and Magnesium. Supports
healthy respiratory function.

Food allergy myths
We de-bunk the common misconceptions
many people have about food allergies.
Myth 1: Food allergy is very common.
Fact: Although 25 percent of people think they’re allergic to
certain foods, studies show that about only 8 percent of
children and 2 percent of adults have a food allergy.
Myth 2: Most people with food allergies are allergic
to strawberries and tomatoes.
Fact: Although people can be allergic to any kind of food,
most food allergies are caused by nuts, cow’s milk, eggs,
soy, fish, and shellfish.
Myth 3: Some people are allergic to sugar.
Fact: A condition is called a food allergy when the immune
system fights against a certain protein in a food. This doesn’t
happen with sugar and fats.
Myth 4: Milk allergy is very common in adults.
Fact: Milk allergy is much more common in children than in
adults. Most children outgrow the allergy by the time they are six
years old. Symptoms of milk allergy include hives, vomiting, and
breathing problems after eating or drinking a dairy product.
Some adults have trouble digesting the sugar in milk. This is called
lactose intolerance. It isn’t a true allergy. Symptoms of lactose
intolerance are bloating, cramping, nausea, gas, and diarrhea.
Myth 5: Allergy to food dye is common.
Fact: Natural foods cause the most allergic reactions. Studies
have found that some food additives, such as yellow dye no. 5
and aspartame (brand name: NutraSweet), cause problems
in some people.
Myth 6: Food allergy is either lifelong or is always outgrown.
Fact: Children usually outgrow allergies to milk, eggs, soybean
products, and wheat. But people usually do not outgrow allergies
to nuts, fish, and shellfish.
Myth 7: Food allergy is not dangerous.
Fact: Food allergy can be fatal if it is severe enough to cause a
reaction called anaphylaxis (ann-ah-phil-AX-iss). This reaction
makes it hard for a person to breathe. Fast treatment with a
medicine called epinephrine (ep-in-EFF-rin) can save your life. If
you or your child has a severe allergy, your doctor might give you
a prescription for epinephrine self-injection pens. Your doctor can
show you how to use them and tell you when to use them. If your
doctor thinks you might need to use this medicine, you’ll need to
carry one with you at all times.
A person having an allergic reaction should be taken to the
hospital, because the symptoms can start again hours after the
epinephrine is taken.
Once a true food allergy is diagnosed, avoid the food that caused
it. If you have an allergy, you must read the labels on all the foods
you eat. Your doctor can help you learn how to keep from eating the
wrong foods. If your child has food allergies, give the school and
other caretakers instructions that list which foods to avoid
and what to do if the food is accidentally eaten.
 Chocolate Lovers: 6 Reasons to Cheer
It may seem like pure indulgence, but
chocolate can do good things for your
heart, skin, brain, and more.
Listen to the way people malign chocolate:
Sinful! Decadent! To die for! There’s even
that popular restaurant dessert known as
“Death by Chocolate.” But is this any way to
talk about a loved one – especially during
the season of comfort and joy? Not at Health.
With evidence mounting that some kinds of
chocolate are actually good for you, we come
bearing gifts: six delicious reasons why you
should nurture a chocolate habit (within
reason) and taste-tested advice on what to try.
Merry munching.
“Chocolate milk may help you
recover after a hard workout. In a
small study at Indiana University,
elite cyclists who drank chocolate
milk between workouts scored
better on fatigue and endurance
tests than those who had some
sports drinks.”
Mmm, chocolate. Could it actually be
good for you. We hope so!
 
1. A happier heart
Scientists at the Harvard University School of Public Health
recently examined 136 studies on cocoa – the foundation for
chocolate – and found it does seem to boost heart health,
according to an article in the European journal of Nutrition.
“Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood
flow, less platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved bad
cholesterol,” says Mary B. Engler, PhD, a chocolate researcher
and director of the Cardiovascular and Genomics Graduate
Program at the University of California, San Francisco, School
of Nursing. These benefits are the result of cocoa’s antioxidant
chemicals known as flavonoids, which seem to prevent both cell
damage and inflammation.
2. Better blood pressure
If yours is high, chocolate may help. Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD,
director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts
University, recently found that hypertensive people who ate 3.5
ounces of dark chocolate per day for 2 weeks saw their blood
pressure drop significantly, according to an article in the journal
Hypertension. Their bad cholesterol dropped, too. People who
ate the same amount of white chocolate? Nothing. (It doesn’t have
any cocoa—or flavonoids.) Word to the wise: 3.5 ounces is roughly
equal to a big bar of baking chocolate, so the participants had to
cut about 400 calories out of their daily diets to make room. But
you probably don’t have to go to those lengths. Just a bite may do
you good, Blumberg says.
3. Muscle magic
Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout. In
a small study at Indiana University, elite cyclists who drank
chocolate milk between workouts scored better on fatigue and
endurance tests than those who had some sports drinks.
4. TLC for your skin
German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special extra-
flavonoid-enriched cocoa every day. After 3 months, the women’s
skin was moister, smoother, and less scaly and red when exposed
to ultraviolet light. The researchers think the flavonoids, which
absorb UV light, help protect and increase blood flow to the skin,
improving its appearance.
5. Brain gains
It sounds almost too good to be true, but preliminary research at
West Virginia’s Wheeling Jesuit University suggests chocolate
may boost your memory, attention span, reaction time, and
problem-solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain.
Chocolate companies found comparable gains in similar research
on healthy young women and on elderly people.
6. Good loving (maybe)
Italian researchers wanted to know whether chocolate truly
is an aphrodisiac. In a survey of 143 women published in the
Journal of Sexual Medicine, those who ate chocolate every
day seemed to have more sex drive, better lubrication, and an
easier time reaching orgasm. Unfortunately the women who ate
chocolate were all younger than the ones who didn’t; it was age
and not chocolate that made the difference. Still, if a good dose of
chocolate puts you in the mood, why let science get in the way?
 Feel Better Naturally
Natural remedies for common ailments are often
overlooked in favour of modern medicine.
Thanks to a history of bad reactions, Louanne Weston was Clinic Foundation.
willing to do almost anything to avoid anesthesia. So when
her doctor advised surgery to remove uterine fibroids
that were causing cramps and heavy bleeding during her
period, Weston went looking for an anesthesia alternative. distract you from pain signals or anything else.
She found hypnosis—and her doctor agreed to give it a try.
“Under hypnosis, I visited the moon, a beach, and other
beautiful places far away from the operating room, and I
felt no pain during the surgery,” says Weston, a sex and
relationships therapist in Fair Oaks, California. Even
better, she avoided what she feared most: days of nasty
side effects caused by anesthesia.
After coming out of her hypnotic state, instead of the usual Hypnotherapists (natboard.com or 0800-449-8144) can
debilitating nausea, she felt hungry. “I got up, walked out, help you find a qualified professional. You can even
and went to the cafeteria.”
“Music has also been used successfully to
boost immune function, treat insomnia
and high blood pressure, and enhance
quality of life for people with cancer.”
Going under the knife without drugs sounds far-fetched.
But experts say hypnotherapy is just one of a growing
number of alternative pain remedies worth trying; other
options aim to ease everyday discomforts like heartburn
or PMS. “Alternative therapies often help,” says Ronald V.
Myers, MD, president of the American Pain Institute. “I
think it’s important for both physicians and the public to
keep an open mind. I support whatever works.” Here are
five of the most promising alternatives.
If you try it: For the best effect, use headphones (or
ear buds) to help block out noises, says the Ohio study
coauthor Sandra Siedlecki, PhD, RN, of the Cleveland
Hypnotherapy for … everything?
Hypnosis is thought to induce deep relaxation, helping to
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New
York analyzed 18 studies of hypnosis for pain relief and
found “moderate to large” benefits—the kind Louanne
Weston experienced. Hypnosis also seems to boost
immune function and help treat asthma, eczema, and
irritable bowel syndrome.
If you try it: The National Board for Certified Clinical
hypnotize yourself: Contact the Academy for Guided
Imagery (academyforguidedimagery.com or
0800-726-2070) to get a CD.
Chaste tree berry for tender breasts
Monks ate chaste tree berries in the Middle Ages to
suppress sexual desire, but it’s since been proven to have
no effect on libido. The fruit of the chaste tree (also known
as Vitex), however, does seem to ease PMS-related breast
pain, a common complaint. Turkish researchers compared
chaste tree berry with the commonly prescribed drug
Prozac, and the natural remedy worked better for physical
symptoms of PMS-related breast pain.
If you try it: It’s available as a pill or as a liquid at drug and
natural-product stores. Follow label instructions.

Gum for heartburn Good fats for cramps

Heartburn happens when stomach acids splash back
into the esophagus and burn it. Treatment often includes
antacids that reduce the amount of acid. But British
researchers recently confirmed U.S. studies showing that
chewing gum after a meal helps fight heartburn. Chewing
gum increases saliva, which helps wash the acid back
down to the stomach, the researchers say. The type of gum
doesn’t matter, but the latest research used sugar-free—
and it’s easier on your teeth.
If you try it: Chew for at least 30 minutes after eating.
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish and fish oil are believed
to ease inflammation. Researchers in Cincinnati gave
42 young women with severe cramps fish-oil pills or a
placebo for 2 months. The fish oil markedly reduced their
cramps.
If you try it: Use the dose tested in the study: 1,800
milligrams per day.

Music for body aches

Looking for an excuse to invest in an iPod? New research
shows that music can help ease neck and back pain. In a
study involving 40 Ohio pain-clinic patients, one group
listened to their favorite pop songs or nature sounds on
headsets for an hour a day, another group listened to jazz
or symphony music, and a third heard no music. The
music groups said their pain dropped between 12 and 21
percent (based on the pain scale the researchers used).
In related studies, music even helped reduce pain after
surgery, lessen labor pain, and aid in burn treatment.
Music has also been used successfully to boost immune
function, treat insomnia and high blood pressure, and
enhance quality of life for people with cancer. A Chaste Tree in full flower

 
 The New,
Safer Yoga
Combine the wisdom of the ages
with modern-day science, and
you get Evolved Yoga, a safer
form of yoga that won’t get you
in a twist.
The main tenet of Evolved Yoga, a
user-friendly yoga style that combines
the benefits of centuries old postures
with today’s advanced knowledge of
the human body, is to create a safe,
satisfying series of moves. To that
end, postures like the spine-straining
head and shoulder stands are out, as
is the crossed-legged lotus, because,
as yoga teacher (and developer of
Evolved Yoga) Dawn MacLear says,
“knees are hinge joints are meant only
to bend and straighten, not twist.”
She also avoids moves that bend the
body forward, since most people have
considerable desk-jockey slouch.
Instead, MacLear favors positions
that gently open the chest, loosen the
back, lengthen the spine, and improve
balance. In MacLear’s method, as
with all types of yoga, breathing helps
you focus; as you move through the
following exercises, inhale through
the nose as you prepare for the
posture, then exhale through the
nose as you move into it. Continue
to breathe deeply as you hold the
position; remain in each one for 45
seconds to three minutes.
“Knees are hinge joints are
meant only to bend and
straighten, not twist.”
Modified Tree Pose
What it does: Strengthens lower legs;
improves balance and poise.
How to do it: Standing tall, raise your
right leg, knee bent, and place your
foot on the left inner thigh or calf.
Focusing on one spot in front of you
for balance, rotate the right knee,
opening at the hip, and press your
palms together in front of your chest.
Switch sides and repeat.
How it’s different: The traditional tree
pose calls for the outside of the raised
foot’s ankle to be placed in front of the
standing leg. The modified version
puts significantly less stress on the
bent knee joint, allowing you to focus
on balance and posture.
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Attractive women demonstrates
the striking cobra position.
Chest Expansion
What it does: Stretches the shoulders
and upper arms.
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-
width apart and clasp your hands,
palms together, behind you. Open
your chest by pressing your shoulder
blades together and down. If it’s
difficult to clasp your hands behind
your back, open your arms to the side
and press your palms back.
How it’s different: Most instructors
incorporate a forward bend into this
position; eliminating it reduces stress
on the spine and lets you focus on the
upper body.
Modified Cobra
What it does: Stretches out the
lower spine.
How to do it: Lying on your stomach,
legs together and the tops of your
feet touching the ground, raise
your shoulders up and rest on your
forearms. Look forward or slightly up
as you keep your shoulders relaxed
and rib cage lifted.
How it’s different: The typical cobra,
in which the body weight rests on
the hands, forces the back into an
extreme arch and can hurt the wrists.
By shifting the weight to the forearms,
this pose still extends the spine but
doesn’t overdo it.
Modified Child’s Pose
What it does: Stretches the back
and shoulders and helps improve
circulation.
How to do it: On your hands and
knees, extend your arms in front of
you as you lower your shoulders and
drop your forehead to the ground.
Concentrate on stretching from the
elbows to the ribs. If your feel any
strain in your knees, raise your hips
higher; for comfort, kneel on a padded
mat or folded towel.
How it’s different: In the typical
child’s pose, you sit back on your
ankles, which places your knees in
a weight-bearing, possibly stressful
position. When your hips are raised,
the knees are more stable.
Lying Spinal Twist
What it does: Loosens tight back and
torso muscles.
How to do it: Lie on your back in a “T,”
legs together and arms straight out at
your shoulders. Cross your right knee
over the left side of your body, keeping
your hips on top of each other. If it’s
comfortable, look over your right
shoulder. Switch sides and repeat.
(If you have a pre-existing back
condition, don’t force the top knee to
the floor).
How it’s different: This version
lengthens the spinal muscles by
twisting rather than rounding
the back.
Martica K. Heaner is a fitness
instructor and a frequent contributor
to Health.
The Tree Pose
 Yoga’s Healing Power
The ancient practice of yoga brings relief for hard-to-treat conditions.
Researchers have learned recently that, besides relieving
problem backs, yoga can provide help for people suffering
from serious medical conditions – asthma and multiple
sclerosis among them. If you have an acute injury such as
a herniated disk, you still need to see a doctor, of course.
But if you have a chronic condition, especially one that’s
not responding to conventional care, read on.
Soothing an Aching Back
In research at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), School of Medicine, 21 people 60 or older started
doing yoga twice weekly. The volunteers all had rounded
upper backs, which can limit normal movement. A yoga
regimen was sufficient to reduce their curvatures by
6 percent, increase their walking speeds by 8 percent,
and improve their reaches by 18 percent. And many
reported that yoga helped their balance. The UCLA study,
published in the American Journal of Public Health,
suggests that yoga produced an increase in overall
strength and flexibility.
“Traditional yogic practices, such as
slow, steady breathing and relaxation,
could prove a useful adjunct to standard
treatment for asthmatics...”
The most useful poses for students with back trouble are
those that build strength and lengthen the back muscles
as well as anchor the feet, such as standing mountain,
triangle, and warrior I.
Relieving Wrist Pain
Approximately one in 10 New Zealanders suffers from
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a painful condition in
which swollen tendons pressure nerves in the wrist.
Conventional remedies include immobilizing joints
with splints or even surgery. But according to a review
published last summer in the Annals of Family Medicine,
yoga may be among the safest first-line treatments for
people with mild symptoms.
The study that first got the attention of physicians, though, and Complementary Medicine,
appeared in 1998 in the Journal of the American Medical
The Warrior Pose, relieves back pain.
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Association (JAMA). Researchers found that
CTS sufferers who did Iyengar yoga (which stresses
proper alignment) twice a week for 8 weeks boasted a
fourfold improvement in grip strength and a twofold
decrease in pain.
Helping You Breathe Easier
Traditional yogic practices, such as slow, steady breathing
and relaxation, could prove a useful adjunct to standard
treatment for asthmatics, according to research published
in the British medical journal Thorax. In that 2002
study, some asthmatics took up meditation based on
the Sahaja style of yoga, while control-group members
were given relaxation and stress-management training.
Findings suggest that practicing Sahaja yoga can yield
small but discernible improvements in the “twitchiness”
(hypersensitivity) of airways in asthmatics
and may also reduce their anxiety.
Asthmatics should not use yoga as a
substitute for conventional care, says
Norman Edelman, MD, a spokesperson
for the American Lung Association, but
they can benefit from yoga’s relaxation
techniques.
Fending Off MS Fatigue
A chronic, autoimmune disease,
multiple sclerosis (MS) ravages the
central nervous system. Yoga may be a
key to easing one of its most frustrating
symptoms: fatigue. Last June, the
journal Neurology reported a study in
which 6 months of weekly yoga classes
significantly increased the stamina of
people with MS.
Reducing Stress on the Heart
Yoga may help reduce your odds of
heart disease. In a study published
in the Journal of Alternative
researchers in Timarpur, India, had
15 Army soldiers adopt a twice-daily
yoga routine. The control group did
other exercises, including stretches
and slow running. After 3 months,
the yoga group showed a significant
drop in blood pressure; the control
group didn’t.
These findings add to the work
of pioneering researcher Dean
Ornish, MD, who has demonstrated
that yoga can help reduce stress-
induced fight-or-flight hormones that
contribute to high blood pressure
and other heart disease risks.
Catherine Guthrie is a writer and
yoga instructor in Bloomington,
Fish really
is brain food
Folk medicine has long held that fish is
“brain food.” In recent years, findings
from scientific studies have begun to
corroborate this conventional wisdom.
New research from the venerable Framingham
Heart Study has shown that eating three or
more servings of fish per week may significantly
decrease risk of dementia in general and
Alzheimer’s disease in particular.
The likely protective ingredient in fish
is an essential fatty acid known as DHA
(docosahexaenoic acid). “DHA appears to be
important in affecting the risk of dementia,” said
Ernst J. Schaefer, MD, of the Lipid Metabolism
Laboratory, Jean Mayer US Department of
Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Centre on
Aging at Tufts University. Dr. Schaefer was lead
author on the new study. “We sought to determine
whether DHA status is associated with the risk of
developing dementia.”
For an average of 9 years, Dr. Schaefer and
colleagues studied 899 men and women (typically
about 76 years old at the start of the study) who
were free of dementia.
Ninety-nine people developed dementia during
the study period (including 71 cases of Alzheimer’s
disease). After adjusting for various risk factors
(such as age, homocysteine levels, and genetic
susceptibility), researchers found that those people
who ate the most fish (three or more servings per
week) were 47% less likely to develop dementia
Donald Rogers with a prize brown trout, Clutha River, Otago
that those who ate less fish. That group was also
39% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The results also suggest that fish is an important Omega 3 Marine Fish Oil + E Caps
source of DHA. Participants with the highest
DHA levels in their blood were those who ate the A high-potency natural
greatest amount of fish. source of Omega 3 fatty
The major fatty acids in fish are DHA and EPA
acids, derived from several
species of pelagic cold
(eicosapentaenoic acid), but it is DHA that
water fish and providing
appears to improve brain function and protect
marine triglycerides and
against dementia. No such effect has even been
essential fatty acids,
demonstrated for EPA, although that fatty is well
to help provide the
known to protect against cardiovascular disease
substances needed for
and inflammation. Earlier studies have found
prostaglandin production
low DHA content in the brains of people with
and the maintenance
Alzheimer’s disease. of healthy circulation,
“Dementia is a major cause of disability among the skin, blood and cell
elderly,” said Dr. Schaefer. “These results show a health together with the
protective effect of eating fish on the development antioxidant properties of
of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of 200iu of Natural Vitamin E.
dementia. In the future, it will be important to
determine whether taking DHA supplements can Bottle size: 60 & 120 Caps
decrease further mental deterioration in people
with established dementia.”

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