A Repost From NaturalNews

Bananas, Raisins and Bran: Let Your Diet Lower Your Blood Pressure

Sunday, April 25, 2010 by: Melanie Grimes, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) High blood pressure afflicts over 74 million Americans. The cause of high blood pressure, or HBP, is not known in many cases, but diet and exercise have been shown to help reduce blood pressure and improve quality of life. Raw fruits and vegetables can help alleviate many of the symptoms of high blood pressure, and specific foods have been shown to have a more dramatic action on reducing blood pressure. Daily exercise is also an important tool in maintaining a healthy heart.

Bananas Lower Blood Pressure
Research has shown that two bananas a day can lower blood pressure. A study conducted in 1997 concluded that 5 bananas a day had the same effect as blood pressure lowering drugs. Research conducted in India in 1999 showed that two bananas a day lowered blood pressure by 10%. Study subjects at the Kasturba Medical College in Manipal ate two bananas a day for one week to achieve this level blood pressure lowering action from the bananas.

Salt Raises Blood Pressure
The American Heart Association suggests a diet with less than 1,500 mg of salt a day. Raw fruits and vegetables contain very low amounts of salt compared to processed or canned foods. When eating canned foods, rinsing the foods can help eliminate some of the salt added in food processing.

Potassium
Foods containing potassium can offset salt intake, as sodium and potassium work together in the body to help lower blood pressure. The daily recommended intake of potassium is 4,700 mg a day. This averages out to about 5 servings of vegetables or fruits each day.

Raisins Lower Blood Pressure
Raisins are a good source of potassium, as well as iron, and provide a nutritious way to lower blood pressure. Raisins contain a quarter of the daily requirement of potassium and low amounts of salt. A serving of raisins has 1,400 mg of potassium and only 50 mg of sodium.

Wheat Bran Contains Fiber and Lowers Blood Pressure
Wheat bran is another excellent source of potassium and a good food to help lower blood pressure. Wheat bran has over 1,100 mg of potassium per serving. Bran also contains fiber and research has shown that fiber lowers blood pressure. Adding fiber to the diet also helps improve digestion, aids elimination, and reduces high levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Alcohol Raises Blood Pressure
Research has shown that drinking alcohol can raise blood pressure. A study published in the "Journal of Human Hypertension" showed that alcohol consumption raises blood pressure and damages the blood vessel walls as well.

http://www.naturalnews.com/028206_b...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2...
http://www.weightlossforall.com/pot...
http://www.glycemic-index.org/high-...

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A Repost From NaturalNews

How to Manage Stress and Anxiety Naturally

Thursday, April 22, 2010 by: Fleur Hupston, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) Stress is the body's way of dealing with potentially dangerous situations, heightening adrenaline levels and increasing alertness. However, prolonged stress and anxiety can be detrimental to mental and physical health. Understanding stress and anxiety and how to deal with it in a natural way can help to eliminate some of the harmful effects stress has on the body.

Short term stress is normal and contributes to winning the race, studying for an exam, preparing well for a presentation at work or doing well at a job interview. Unfortunately, people these days rush through life at a frenetic pace, cramming more and more into their busy schedules. Many experience more stress every day than their bodies are designed to cope with. Just getting to work during rush hour traffic can be a very stressful experience for a lot of people.

Chronic Stress and Anxiety

Generally stress is the physical reaction to a current situation, while anxiety is the stress experienced due to an event or situation anticipated in the future.

When stress becomes prolonged, it is considered to be chronic. It can affect health, moods, productivity, relationships and quality of life. It is this type of prolonged stress that needs to be managed.

What are Some of the Causes of Stress?

There are a number of major contributors of stress and anxiety. The death of a spouse, divorce, marriage separation, a jail term, the death of a close relative, injury or illness, marriage, being fired from a job, marriage reconciliation and retirement are considered to be among the leading causes of chronic stress.

Effects of Chronic Stress

Many health conditions and problems have been directly linked to chronic stress and anxiety. Some of these effects include obesity, autoimmune diseases, skin conditions such as eczema, heart disease, digestive problems, sleep problems and even general body pain.

How to Reduce and Manage Stress Naturally

Stress is a part of life for most people and cannot be eliminated completely, but it can be managed by a number of natural methods. Some of these natural ways of controlling stress include:

Exercise - exercise will improve overall health and give one a sense of well being by the release of endorphins, thus boosting confidence and lowering stress levels. Regular exercise can also decrease the production of stress hormones and therefore help to better manage stressful situations. Reducing stress through exercise can give one a sense of well being and confidence. The more stress is reduced; the easier it becomes to cope with and eliminate stress.

Relaxation - learning relaxation techniques will help to relax both mind and body, which is essential in the quest for better stress management. Relaxation can lower heart rate and blood pressure and increase blood flow to organs and muscles, allowing an individual to feel more in control of a situation. A visit to a professional to learn relaxation techniques may be necessary, since relaxing can be surprisingly difficult for someone who is always tense and stressed.

Exercise and relaxation should be a regular feature of a busy life. People complain that they just don't have time to go to the gym to exercise or the time to find a quite place in order to relax. What they fail to grasp is that people who exercise and relax are less stressed and probably more productive in the long run. Most companies give their staff a lunch break - use it, not to work, but to exercise and relax.

http://www.health24.com/medical/Con...
http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_...
http://stress.about.com/
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/st...


Repost From NaturalNews

Repost From NaturalNews

Artificial pancreas breakthrough offers solution for health effects of eating artificial food Friday, April 16, 2010 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)

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(NaturalNews) It's downright amazing: A biomedical engineer at Boston University has developed a so-called "artificial pancreas" that helps diabetics maintain balanced blood sugar levels by monitoring the blood and releasing either insulin or glucagon as needed. Now all those people who eat artificial food advertised through artificial worlds on television can add an artificial pancreas to their artificial health care plan.

The mainstream media is all over this story, but what they're not telling anybody is that for type-2 diabetics, artificially using insulin injections to "balance" blood sugar levels only serves to convert blood sugar into body fat, increasing the obesity of the patient. This is one reason why most diabetics are obese.

The idea of an "artificial pancreas" gives false hope to diabetics by implying that they can replace their "failed" pancreas with a new medical device that will cure them of their diabetes. But that's just flat-out false: The only cure for type-2 diabetes is a radical lifestyle change that involves regular exercise, greatly enhanced nutrition and the elimination of refined carbohydrates and sugars from the diet.

What diabetics need isn't an artificial pancreas but real food to replace their processed, fabricated, factory-produced junk foods and sugary soft drinks. Real food, however, is hard to come by in a society where virtually everything is now artificial: Foods, boobs, lips, snacks, flavoring, food coloring, the television news and much more.

Most of us live in an artificial world, wrapped inside our little cocoons of "pretend health" constructed by drug companies and junk food manufacturers who all somehow manage to claim their products are good for you.

But I have a radical idea: Why not take care of your REAL pancreas? Why not exercise, get some sunshine, choose superfoods instead of junk foods and swear off refined sugars and carbohydrates for life? You were born with the only pancreas you'll ever need, and instead of living your life hooked up to a blood sugar monitor that you have to drag around with you everywhere, wouldn't it be easier to rely on the intelligent organs that already exist in your chest cavity?

Mainstream medicine, you see, thinks it's so smart when they develop an artificial heart, lung, kidney or pancreas. And yet none of these function with anything that comes close to the intelligence and complexity of the organs you were born with. Take care of the organs given to you by Mother Nature and you won't have to live the rest of your life connected to medical machines that are billed by the hour.

Oh, yeah, and did I mention that your own pancreas works for free? Unlike with an expensive medical device, you don't have to pay any money to use your own pancreas. But you do have to pay attention to your diet, your exercise and other health and lifestyle choices.

By the way, in terms of clarifying the tone of this story, I do recognize that there are a relatively small number of people who suffer from type-1 diabetes through no fault of their own. For them, an artificial pancreas might be a lifesaving technology. But for the vast majority of diabetics, the root cause is lifestyle choices that can be revised and improved through conscious health. For them, the promise of an artificial pancreas is just an empty promise that will never cure their diabetes.

Instead, it will only have them living out the rest of their lives tethered to a machine that pumps them full of blood sugar hormones.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS...


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