by Jackie Jones - Field To Plate

Quiet
Moments
Lead to Heart
Health
When a doctor came
to Phillisa Scott's junior
high in Augusta,
Georgia, in 2000 to conduct
a study on meditation
and its preventive effects on
heart disease, she figured
her small
frame at 5 feet
and 110 pounds
would make her
invulnerable to
risk. She was
surprised when
she was picked
for the study.
Scott attributed it
to invisible stress
from her environment,
peer
pressure and a
new school.
The eightmonth
study
showed 15-minute
meditation
Factoid: Smoke a nd you' ll die young.
sessions twice a day resulted in a 21
percent improvement in the artery's
ability to dilate and decrease blood
pressure. The students, all black
teens, wore 24-hour monitors;
those who did not meditate had increased
risk of heart disease.
Now the positive effects of
meditation are being noticed
nationwide. Los Angeles cardiolo-
Go to TM.org
to sign up
for a 6-day
course
to learn
transcendental
meditation.
gist C. Noel Bairey
Merz, M.D., says
he believes ªwomen
and African
Americans suffer
disproportionately
from high blood
pressure, so medi-
tation may be particularly relevant.
I have seen patients lower blood
pressure using meditation.º
Carolyn Gaylord-King, senior
researcher for Natural Medicine
and Prevention at Maharishi University
of Management in Fairfield,
Iowa, has also witnessed meditation's
power. ªPeople report they
are sick less often with transcendental
meditation (TM). They are
less depressed and even improve
their relationships,º she says. ªWe
did a study involving TM that
showed it may even expand your
lifespan.ºÐ Ericka Blount Danois
Put Cucumbers on the Menu. Cucumbers are
more than just green and crunchy. With tons of
hidden health benefits, they may just be nature's
perfect vegetable! The scoop:
· Full of fiber to lower your cholesterol
· Potassium rich to regulate your blood pressure
· A low-calorie, low-sugar choice
· Made up of 95 percent water, making
them great thirst quenchers.
Women who die of smoking-related diseases cut 14.5 years off their lives.
Patch Pointers
If you are one of the millions
of women who use the Ortho
Evra birth control patch, the
recent report of increased risk of
death may have alarmed you.
Before you pull the plug on the
patch, however, it's important to
know the facts.
Yes, hormonal contraceptives,
like the patch, carry a
small riskof causing blood clots.
As a result, women with medical
histories that include conditions
like heart disease, hypertension,
stroke or blood clots
should avoid hormonal contraceptives
(i.e., the patch and the
pill), says Yvonne S. Thornton,
M.D., a professor of obstetrics
and gynecology at Weill Medical
College of Cornell University.
What hasn't been proved,
says Dr. Thornton, is that the
patch poses more danger in
women who are not otherwise at
risk of these ailments. The bigger
issue, according to Dr.
Thornton, is whether a woman is
a smoker or regularly exposed
to secondhand smoke, which
in combination with hormone
birth control, increases
the risk of
serious cardiovascular
problems. Smoking is
nothing to kid around
with, she says. Women who
use hormonal contraceptives
shouldn't be waitresses in
smoky bars or clubs, and they
should be mindful of allowing
people to smoke around them,
including their boyfriends.
ÐKennedy Spencer
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006 · HEARTANDSOUL.COM 17
YOU, FIRST!