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Laughing boosts energy

Are you stressed? Do you have trouble sleeping? Or do you just want to relax? You’ve tried medicines or maybe massages. You might just want to laugh.

These people are exercising, lowering their blood pressure, and boosting their immune system.

Registered nurse Ellen Hiura, R.N., of Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center says, “Oh, it really makes you feel good, and you’re taking nice deep breaths.”

The feel good factor is only one benefit to laughing. Certified Laughter Leader Jenni Reusser, of the Orrville YMCA in Ohio, tells Ivanhoe laughing also boosts energy. “It’s a natural high. It doesn’t take any drugs or alcohol,” she says.

Studies show laughter reduces stress. It helps allergies, infections, constipation, and pain. With all these benefits, if you’re still having trouble getting the giggles on your own, you could join a laughter club.

Laughter clubs aim to help others improve their health through group laughter. These laughers know the benefits well.

They say: Laughing is good for you. It puts oxygen in your blood. It relaxes your muscles. I just can’t stop it.”

Experts say the benefits are also long-lasting.

Neuroscientist David Felten, M.D., Ph.D., of University of California and Irvine College of Medicine, tells Ivanhoe, “Many of the changes to stress hormones, inflammatory mediators, and the beneficial effects on immune systems persist way beyond the period of the actual participation in the humor and laughter.”

Free medicine that works and is always available.

Laughter is also good for your heart. A recent study of 48 heart patients shows those whose therapy included 30 minutes of humor a day had fewer abnormal heart rates and required less heart medication.

Physical Activities for Diabetes

Myth “You have to spend a lot of time being active to get any benefit”

Truth The recommended amount of activity is 30 minutes five times a week. But you don’t’ necessarily have to dedicate specific times to this – you can feel the benefits just by being more active in your day-to-day life. Everyday things such as climbing stairs, going shopping, gardening, and housework all count as activity.

Will I still need to take my diabetes medication if I become more active?

Yes, but you may need a lower dose to achieve the same effect. If you are on insulin-stimulating pills, you may be more at risk of a hypoglycemic attack when you become more active, so you may need a reduction in the dose of your pills or a change to a different type of pill. Also, if you are more active, you may find that you lose weight. If you lose more than a few pounds you are likely to need a lower dose of pills or insulin.

I’ve been told I have impaired glucose tolerance. Will being more physically active help me?

Yes, people who have impaired glucose tolerance are more likely to go on to develop Type 2 diabetes. Becoming more active, especially if you also lose weight, will help your natural insulin work as effectively as possible to regulate your blood glucose level. You will always be at risk of developing diabetes, but the more active you are, the longer it may take to develop.

How does being more active help prevent the long-term complications of diabetes?

Regular physical activity helps the insulin you have produced or injected work more efficiently, which in turn contributes toward keeping your blood glucose and your blood pressure in the recommended ranges. These two benefits make the long-term complications of diabetes less likely.

How will being active help my heart?

Regular activity helps lower your blood pressure and your blood cholesterol levels, and consequently, you have less chance of having a heart attack or a stroke. It also makes your heart stronger and more efficient so that it can pump more blood with every heartbeat, and it reduces your risk of having a heart attack from clots forming in your coronary arteries. The more active you are, the less likely you are to have a heart attack, and the greater your chance of surviving a heart attack if you have one.

I’m prone to depression. Will being active help me?

Yes, activity raises your levels of endorphins and serotonin. These brain chemicals influence your mood and sense of well-being and have a strong antidepressant effect. Some types of activity, for example, playing golf or tennis, also entail spending time with other people, and this can help lift your spirits, too.

I don’t’ take pills or insulin yet. Will staying active allow me to continue without medication?

Because of the progressive nature of diabetes, you will probably need pills or insulin eventually, but with an active lifestyle, you may delay the need for medication because regular activity reduces your insulin resistance. Activity can help at any stage. If you already take tablets, increasing your activity levels may help delay the need to start injecting insulin and reduce the dose you need.

Vitamin C and Heart Disease

What happens when bodies don’t get enough Vitamin C?

There is too little reproduction of the reinforcement molecules called collagen which make up not only the bones, but also the skin, the organs, the walls of the arteries, most importantly. If the walls of the arteries get too little Vitamin C they develop lesions, cracks, crevices and that’s where the cholesterol goes in and leads to the build up of the deposits that eventually lead to heart attacks and strokes.

If you don’t get enough Vitamin C you will get heart disease?

Vitamin C deficiency is the single most important risk factor for developing cardiovascular heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. On top of that there are the risk factors that we know — cholesterol and bad lifestyle in general. But particularly deficiency in Vitamin C is the single most important factor that causes heart attacks and strokes.

If your body isn’t able to make those repairs in your blood vessels when they get weakened, what happens? What does it do instead?

Instead, the cholesterol is deposited in blood vessel walls in the form of cholesterol transporting vehicles, lack of protein, in particular a sticky form of these lipoproteins. They lay down inside the blood vessel walls as a repair mechanism, over and over again, and over the years the deposits develop that eventually lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Do regular people get enough Vitamin C?

Most of us get too little. Just imagine the goat, the animal is always producing about 15,000 milligrams of Vitamin C every day, so we can deduct from that, that every human being should be taking at least 1,000 milligrams a day as a minimum. People with heart disease, family history of heart disease, high risk factors, should take even more.

Say someone anticipating a heart problem takes a lot of Vitamin C, but there are already deposits in their blood vessels. How can they get rid of those?

We had a patent received that combines Vitamin C with amino acids, glycine and proline in order to achieve exactly that. Not only the prevention of the build up but also the reversal of already existing deposits. So, what we do have there is a teflon effect that protects the blood vessel walls from the further deposits, release the already existing cholesterol deposits from the blood vessel wall, thereby reversing these deposits, thereby reversing cardiovascular disease and we have the healing effect of Vitamin C in that combination. So we’re talking about a major breakthrough for human health on a global level, a natural reversal of cardiovascular disease which thus far has only been able to be accomplished with surgical procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery.

Can you take too much? Is there a level where you should stop taking them?

With respect to Vitamin C and the other vitamins it is relatively difficult to get too much. With respect to lysine and proline, our knowledge currently stops at about 10 grams per day, so be careful going with higher recommendations with it.

Can people get enough Vitamin C from food? Could they eat enough if they wanted to?

If you want to get the Vitamin C that a goat produces every day, you would have to drink 280 glasses of orange juice. That gives you the ratio of what we are talking about. Everyone should get as much vitamins as possible with their general food and nutrition every day. But on top of that, we just understand from a science point of view that the human body just functions better if it has the optimum nutrition, particularly the cardiovascular system which is under high demand from the constant pumping function, constant pulse wave. These cells and these organs need a lot of the nutritional supplement that we recommend.

Are there certain kinds of supplements like Vitamin C that are better than others? Are there different ways to make it?

Generally what we do is recommend the natural forms of these vitamins. For example, Vitamin E. There are studies of it that show that the natural forms of Vitamin E are more effective, biologically more beneficial for the body. To make sure that we use all the vitamins in the highest quality and that’s the general recommendation, that people should really look where they get their vitamins from.

We need a balanced program that contains a variety of nutritious supplements, in particular vitamins, amino acids, certain minerals, trace elements, and then we will find that we can lower the doses dramatically.

How big a problem is heart disease in the United States, or in the world?

It’s the number one killer in the United States. It’s the number one killer in all industrialized countries. Roughly, one billion people living today will die from cardiovascular disease.

Is it a deficiency of Vitamin C that causes the problem and if so does a person only have to meet the recommended daily allowance. Or if not do you need more than the recommended daily allowance?

The recommended daily allowance of 60 milligrams per day of Vitamin C is ridiculous. It is enough to prevent scurvy but it is not enough to protect the arteries from developing the crevices and the leaks that lead to cholesterol deposits and to heart attacks and strokes.

What is the role of Vitamin C in combination with other antioxidants? Is Vitamin C working alone enough to prevent heart disease?

Vitamin C is the first barrier in the line of antioxidant defense, molecules. And it works together with Vitamin E and beta carotene in protecting the body. But besides the Vitamin C antioxidant connection, Vitamin C’s the most important role with respect to cardiovascular health is the stimulation of the collagen molecule production, the reinforcement molecules. So, Vitamin C equals stability of the blood vessel wall, and that’s the clue for preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Can people who are 40-50 year old and who have never taken any vitamins their whole life long, can they help themselves now by starting to take vitamins at this age?

Everyone around us is following their program–people with existing heart conditions, of course they should be the first ones. The recommendation we have has actually two legs. One is a preventive one for you and me for 200 million Americans, and one is a therapeutic one as an add on to conventional therapy for 50 million Americans who have already developed cardiovascular conditions.

Does it take different lengths of time for the different components of the different kinds of antioxidants to take effect in your body? Might some start working right away and might it take a build up of others to go until the cells become healthy?

What we know is that a body that has been depleted of vitamins needs a certain time until the cells are saturated with the essential nutrients. So the answer is yes, you need to take about one to two weeks the nutritional supplements until for example, your angina pectoris decreases, or until you can see your irregular heartbeat become more regular, or until your blood pressure starts to drop.

Aneurism

Occasionally the pressure inside an artery can stretch the wall and a “blow out” (similar to what happens in a car type) can occur. The most common area for this to happen is in the abdominal aorta, which is the large artery feeding blood to the pelvis, kidneys and legs. Often, aneurisms cause no symptoms and are found by chance on a routine examination or X-ray. They may cause an aching abdominal pain which can become very severe. The major danger is rupture or bursting of the aneurism, so treatments which can reduce the stress on the aorta, strengthen it and improve its elasticity may help.

What Doctors Can Do

• Investigations: X-rays, ultrasound, CT or MRI scans, plus blood tests.
• Treatments: if the blood pressure is elevated this is usually treated, and if the aneurism exceeds a certain size, surgical repair is necessary.

What you can do – Lifestyle

It is best not to raise the blood pressure too much, so hard physical exercise and weight lifting should be avoided. Make sure that your blood pressure is well under control. If the abdominal pains become worse then see your doctor quickly.

Nutritional supplements

• A good multivitamin/multimineral: to make sure that the aorta has all the nutrients and minerals it requires to stay strong.
• Omega 3 fish oils, 1-2 grams daily, improve the elasticity and strength of the aorta wall.
• Calcium and magnesium, 800-1,000mg/day, help the arteries to relax and can help lower blood pressure.
• Grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins) reduces inflammation and can aid healing.

Phosphorus and Magnesium

Phosphorus is a mineral found throughout the body (but mostly in bone) that helps all body cells function optimally. It works with calcium and vitamin D to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. It also helps create energy from food, maintain acid/base balance, and deliver oxygen to various body tissues. Phosphorus is also a key component of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and phospholipids, which have important functions in the body.

Phosphorus is abundant in both animal-derived and plant foods. However, phosphorus from nuts, seeds, and grains is only about half as absorbable by the body as phosphorus from other food sources.

Deficiencies and Excesses

Although phosphorus deficiency is uncommon, it can develop in those who don’t consume enough calories because of alcoholism, eating disorders, or other causes. Some drugs can also reduce phosphorus absorption in the body. Deficiency symptoms can include weak bones and muscles, fatigue, appetite loss, bone pain, and increased risk for infection.

Too much dietary phosphorus, especially from vitamins supplements, can cause diarrhea and upset stomach; over time, it can even damage the kidneys. Consuming a lot of high-phosphorus foods or beverages (including sodas made with phosphoric acid or processed foods made with phosphates) and too few calcium-rich foods can weaken bones.

Some studies suggest that too much dietary fructose (from high-fructose corn syrup and other sources) can lead to greater excretion of phosphorus and lower levels in the body, especially if magnesium intake is also low.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that carries genetic information; certain part s of DNA – genes – act as a set of instructions for creating body proteins.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid that plays an important role in the creation of body proteins and in determining how genes (parts of DNA) are expressed in the body.

Phospholipids are substances that carry fats in the blood and bring nutrients in and out of body cells.

Magnesium

Magnesium is a major mineral involved in hundreds of important chemical reactions in the body. More than half of the body’s magnesium is stored in bones. It also helps create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main source of fuel for cells to rely on to create molecules, contract muscles, and carry substances around the body. Magnesium can also help lower blood pressure.

Magnesium is found abundantly in whole grains and beans. Green vegetables, nuts and seeds, milk, and some fish also contain magnesium.

Deficiencies in magnesium can occur if you don’t consume enough magnesium-rich foods (and many Americans don’t) or foods high in potassium or phosphorus. Hypomagnesemia can be seen in those with kidney disease, those with alcoholism, or those who take certain diuretic medications. Prolonged diarrhea can also put someone at risk for a deficiency. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency can include weakness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, irritability, and confusion.

Too little dietary magnesium can also play a role in the development of diabetes and colon cancer. Too much dietary magnesium, especially from supplements (including laxatives and antacids that often contain magnesium) can cause diarrhea, nausea, muscle weakness, confusion, irregular heartbeat, and low blood pressure. Hypermagnesemia seldom occurs in those who don’t have kidney disease.

Hypomagnesemia is an abnormally low level of magnesium in the blood.

Hypermagnesemia is an abnormally high level of magnesium in the blood.

The Dynamic duo of Calcium and Vitamin D Can Sustain Your Life

Virtually everyone can recite the milk industry’s campaign slogan: It does a body good. Much of this goodness no doubt hinges on the calcium content of milk. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, with over 99 percent of the amount present being found in the bones and teeth. For the growth and maintenance of healthy bones it is essential that we have sufficient calcium intake; we are at risk of developing bone disease such as osteoporosis when calcium leaching is not balanced by dietary ingestion. But calcium is not only important for the skeleton; it also has a role to play in nerve function, blood clotting, muscle health, and other areas.

And, like an orphan child without a parent to guide it properly, calcium cannot work properly in the body without the help of vitamin D. Calcium and vitamin D share special relationship that plays into everything about you, from your ability to build and maintain bone strength to your neuromuscular faculties and brain power. It is also well recognized that vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium as well as phosphate.

The Missing Link Between Vitamin D and Bone Health

To discover that sunlight held a secret ingredient to preventing and treating bone diseases like rickets was one thing, but understanding why and how this all worked, from a single ray of UVB to health in the human body, was clearly another. It took scientists several decades to uncover the mechanism by which vitamin D produced in the skin could effect so many positive health benefits.

One of the reasons it took so long to tease out vitamin D’s complex biological pathway and influence on other physiological processes is that we simply didn’t have the tools to track vitamin D down. It wasn’t until the mid 1960s that new laboratory techniques emerged to afford researchers the opportunity to follow vitamin D’s intricate actions using radioactively labeled substances. By 1971, it was clear that vitamin D went through sequential transformations in the body that entailed inactive metabolites along the way until the kidneys converted the major circulating form to activated vitamin D.

Isolating and determining the molecular structure of all these vitamin D metabolites helped put to rest the biggest mystery that had troubled vitamin D scientists for decades: just how did vitamin D influence calcium deposition to build strong bones? In the early 1950s, the researcher discovered that vitamin D can actually remove calcium from bones when it is needed by the body. At about the same time, the Norwegian biochemist, who had been testing different diets on animals for years, concluded that the uptake of calcium from food is guided by some unknown “endogenous factor”. He believed this endogenous factor sent a message to the intestines that the body needed calcium. That message turned out to be activated vitamin D. With vitamin D’s identity solved, answers began to emerge in the experiments tracing the activation of vitamin D.

Once we had our finger on activated vitamin D, and how it came to be in a complex series of conversions through organs and bloodstream, it was apparent that we weren’t dealing with just another vitamin. We were deciphering a previously vague and convoluted picture of how “vitamin D” worked on the body. And because of its profound effects, medical scientists quickly that it belonged in the hormone category. No sooner had they singled out the active form of vitamin D, than they reclassified it as a hormone that controlled calcium metabolism, which refers to how the body maintains adequate levels of calcium. This marked the genesis of understanding not only the relationship of vitamin D to the body’s endocrine system and calcium regulation but also how vitamin D could effect positive change of myriad biological processes, from modulating the immune system to inhibiting the skin cell growth that leads to skin disorders like psoriasis.

Hormones are unique substances produced in the body. The word itself from Greek verb horman, meaning “to stir things up”. Acting as internal signals, hormones control not only different aspects of metabolism but also many other functions – from cell and tissue growth to blood sugar, heart rate, blood pressure, and even the activity of the reproductive system. By definition, hormones are produced by one organ and then transported in the bloodstream to a target organ, where they can cause a specific biological action. Evidence for reclassifying the active form of vitamin D came with the realization that this form of vitamin D is produced by the kidneys and that its secretion by the kidneys into the bloodstream, where it can then travel to the small intestine, leads to its buildup in cell nuclei of the intestine, where it regulates the efficiency of the absorption of dietary calcium.