Do You Have A Wheat Belly? - Natural Awakenings

healthbriefs
National Women’s Health & Fitness Day is September 26—
Look for a Local Event
Few U.S. Adults Regularly
Practice Healthy Habits
A
recent American Heart Association (AHA) survey reports that
only 12 percent of American adults regularly practice the
healthy-life trifecta of good nutrition, exercise and oral care. The
most common excuse is a lack of time.
Of those surveyed, 80 percent said that eating at least nine
servings of fruit and vegetables daily is a struggle. About 60 percent
find it difficult to log the association’s recommended 150 minutes of
moderate physical activity each week. At least 25 percent don’t brush
and rinse twice daily and floss at least once daily.
Yet, 90 percent of Americans like the idea of improving their health. The AHA
“My Heart. My Life.” initiative offers a straightforward set of solutions to help
families understand how to make incremental changes that have long-term health
impact (MyLifeCheck.Heart.org).
“Whether it is simply adding a 30-minute brisk walk to your day, eating a
few more fruits and vegetables with meals, balancing your calories and physical activity
to achieve a healthy body weight or creating routine oral care habits—it all contributes
to an overall healthier lifestyle,” says Cardiologist Tracy Stevens, a professor of
medicine with Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Why Laptops Should be Renamed...
and Relocated
The portable computers that serve as our business and communication
“lifelines” may actually be thwarting unborn lives. Researchers suggest that
laptop computer (LTC) users should avoid putting the devices directly on their
laps, especially for extended periods of time.
Recent research reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility examined semen
samples from 29 healthy male donors that used
an LTC on their laps, near their testes. The scientists
found that LTCs connected to the Internet via
Wi-Fi resulted in decreased sperm motility and
increased sperm DNA fragmentation.
A separate study, published in the journal
Archives of Environmental and Occupational
Health, noted that electromagnetic fields produced
by LTCs likely induce currents within
the body and can expose developing fetuses
in pregnant women to unsafe levels. The researchers
concluded that, “[An individual’s]
‘laptop’ is paradoxically an improper site
for the use of an LTC, which consequently
should be renamed to not induce customers
towards an improper use.”
Watching
Magic Boosts
Creativity in
Children
Researchers from Lancaster University
have discovered that youngsters
watching creative fantasy films improve
their own imagination and
creativity. The study involved
52 4-to-6-year-old children.
The youngsters were split into
two groups and shown two
short segments
of a popular
fantasy movie.
The findings
showed that the group
watching the magical
scenes generally scored
“significantly better” in
creative activities than
their peers in the other
group that saw scenes
without any magical
content.
Mate Tea Fights
Colon Cancer
According to a recent University of
Illinois study, bioactive compounds
in mate tea, a beverage consumed
in South America for its medicinal
properties, killed human colon cancer
cells in vitro. The scientists attribute
this surprising health benefit to the
tea’s caffeine derivatives that not only
induced death in the cancer cells, but
also reduced important markers of
inflammation.
Source: University of Illinois College of
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental
Sciences
natural awakenings September 2012
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