TabsMagic

Vitamin D is appearing in the news a lot recently, mostly due to deficiency of it. There have been several opinions abounding on what is the correct recommended daily amount of Vitamin D and also what is the best source of vitamin D.

Professor emeritus of biochemistry and biomedical sciences, Anthony Norman is an internationally recognised expert on vitamin D. He says that there is insufficient Vitamin D intake for over half the people of Western Europe and North America.

Professor Norman described his fears about vitamin D lack, saying, “Elsewhere, it is worse. Given that two-thirds of the people are vitamin D-insufficient or deficient. It is clear that merely eating vitamin D-rich foods is not adequate to solve the problem for most adults.”

Vitamin intake is measured in ‘IUs’ (international units) and the daily recommendation fro vitamin D is 200 for people up to 50 years old, 400 for those between 51 and 70, and 600 for those over 70.

Norman wants to up those recommendations considerably. He said: “There is a wide consensus among scientists that the relative daily intake of vitamin D should be increased to 2,000 to 4,000 IU for most adults.”
Norman described how it could be done, saying “A 2000 IU daily intake can be achieved by a combination of sunshine, food, supplements, and possibly even limited tanning exposure.”

There are some very pressing reasons why an increase in the dosage of vitamin D would be beneficial to health, or at least getting the majority of people up to the current RDA. Norman revealed that “Several studies have reported substantial reductions in incidence of breast cancer, colon cancer and type 1 diabetes in association with adequate intake of vitamin D, the positive effect generally occurring within five years of initiation of adequate vitamin D intake.

Even though economic conditions are far from good, the sales of alternative medicines are rising. The Daily Mail, a UK newspaper reported a study that revealed how the alternative medicine market in the UK has grown by 18% in the last two years making it worth £213 million yearly. In the next four years that is forecast to rise to £282 million.

What is especially interesting in the study is that the rise in purchases of alternative medicines also includes categories that are not so well known such as Indian ayurvedic medicine.The U.S. has also experienced a rise in sales to the tune of $639 million but at a lower percentage rate of 10%. As some sources were not included in the figures they could be higher still.
The reasons for the growth in spending on alternative medicines according to the study group Mintel, is that governments and the people have greater acceptance of alternative treatments and medicines than only a few years ago. Acupuncture is even available via the National Health for example.

Another reason is that in many cases alternative medicines or treatments are less expensive, particularly in the U.S. than seeing a doctor and getting a prescription. From a study paper conducted by the Associated Press it was stated that, “climbing sales of herbal medicines have paralleled the tanking economy.”

One more reason is that with an increasing number of people having mood disorders but not wanting to depend on potentially harmful psychiatric drugs, they are looking to homeopathy treatments like St John’s Wort which is being used to help relieve depression. In 2008 in the UK 1.5 million people bought this remedy.

In December the U.S. National Institutes of Health released the results of their study which revealed that 18% of American study respondents said they had use nonvitamin, nonmineral products for their health care, with 25% foregoing or delaying conventional medical treatment due to the cost.

Self-employed bookkeeper, Cathy Birleffi said “The doctors are so much higher [in cost]; the insurance isn’t paying as much.” She and her husband now look to herbal remedies to treat their health problems.

A remote Welsh village called Myddfai is to revive its centuries old tradition of herbal treatments. Myddfai is a tiny village with a parish population of about 400, but in recent years the fortunes of the village have been steadily dwindling as the younger generations are forced to go elsewhere to find work.

The “terminal decline” as one parisher put it, is set to be reversed with the help of £400,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS scheme. The money is to be used to re-establish Myddfai as a centre for herbal remedies and other branded goods
From medieval times, the village was renown across Europe as a source of potions, oils and unguents all derived from herbal plants. Prince Charles who owns a holiday home in the area is bound to approve of the venture.

Project leader is Jo Gideon, who sees the project as a “lifeline” for the Carmarthenshire village. She said, “The absence of any amenities has meant it is in danger of terminal decline as younger generations are forced to leave to find employment.” She also voiced her concerns that the traditions and knowledge that had been passed down could be lost.

The legend of the village is that a lady rose from the lake, married a local man and had 3 sons. Before returning to the lake, she imparted her knowledge about the medicinal properties of herbs and plants to her eldest son. The son and his following generations were the physicians of Myddfai who were renowned across Europe. The son certainly existed, but the lady of the lake is not so certain.

Local hill farmer, Lewis Jones, shared his thoughts about the village: “It has been known for centuries for its physicians. We want life here again.” The money is to be spent on building a hall and café and the refurbishment of an adjacent old building in which the herbal Myddfai treatments will be sold.

More and more experts are agreeing that seaweed can be categorized as a superfood. That claim is being supported by investigations that reveal that seaweed, which is a variety of algae, contains more calcium than cheese, more fibre than you will find in prunes and more iron than a sirloin steak. All these comparisons are weight for weight.

Other important vitamins and minerals contained in seaweed are potassium and iodine and it is the sole plant that is a source of vitamin B12. The most recent studies on seaweed revealed that its bioactive substances aid in reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, plus its ability to deal with free radicals that are the cause of cancer.

The American Association for Cancer Research has recently published their initial research that revealed how extracts of seaweed was able to inhibit cancer cell growth that would otherwise lead to lymphoma. They were interested to know the connection between seaweed and cancer reduction on account of the Japanese who eat more seaweed per capita than any other nation and have low cancer rates in their women.

The University of Newcastle conducted research that showed how seaweed fibres (alginates) were responsible for reducing the absorption of fat by the body and could thus be considered a viable weightloss ingredient.

From Newcastle University, research associate in human nutrition, Dr Iain Brownlee said: “We’ve found that by adding these natural fibres to food products, up to 75 per cent of the fat we consume could simply pass through the body – so in theory it could be used to fight obesity. Alginates could be used in place of the fat that gives food its flavour. In tests, people have actually preferred bread with small levels of alginate in it – so it’s not something you have to force yourself to eat.

Stress killing you?

Stress is recognised as the biggest killer in modern society.
It can be argues that stress is what allows your body to be susceptible to diseases such as cancer and arthritis, immune system problems and many physical disorders.
It will also effect you mentally and cause you problems in how you conduct your life with respect to relationships and general decisions and choices that you have to make.

It can make you tired, irritable, depressed, nervous, hyper, hungry, overweight, underweight, lethargic, controlling, indecisive, tearful, have bad skin, bad hair, bad nails, ……

It can make you snappy and cause you to hurt those that you love and care for.

Stress can ruin your life.

People suffer stress for a multitude of reasons, life is stressful, there is no way around that, but you can help minimise your stress levels and learn to minimise the detrimental effects that stress has on you, your body and your family.

I can help you do this. I work as problem solver and stress management consultant. I can help you identify the reasons that you feel stressed, work out how to stop them, or work with you to help you control the effect that it has on your life.

I work as a nutritionist, personal trainer and sports massage therapist so can physically help to to counteract the bad effects that stress my have had on you such as comfort eating, nutrition deficiencies, over or under your optimum weight or fitness level or muscular tensions.

More and more people are finding that their average day is spent a great deal sitting. In fact if you add up commuting by car, sitting in the office and then returning home, whilst sitting, only to sit in front of the TV, that all adds up to a very large amount of time sitting.

Some health advisors are concerned about the amount of time people are spending sitting down, so much so, that a new term has been coined, “sitting diseases”, to describe it.

There are several potential health risks associated with an excessively sedentary lifestyle the most notable being cardiovascular disease.

In order to face this growing threat some health advisors have come up with a series of solutions. Professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and author of the book ‘Move a Little, Lose a Lot.’, James Levine, MD, PhD said, “Human beings evolved as a walking entity, exploring the world on our feet,” adding that “The strangest thing in the world is that people spend all day scrunched in a chair. It’s a form of physical entrapment.” 

Professor David Dunstan from Melbourne, Australia’s physical activity laboratory in the division of metabolism and obesity suggests that people use their lunch break to get active. He said, “Getting one hour of exercise in the middle of the day is obviously going to be better than not doing anything, but that still leaves approximately seven hours of predominantly sitting during the workday.” He further advised that “We have to have a whole-day approach to physical activity promotion.”

Other suggestions included changing the way you commute so you leave time for walking to work, getting outside and using more recent technology that allows you to communicate whilst on the move and getting out of the office chair and going to speak to someone in person rather than sending an email.

Or you can hire a personal trainer!!

It has occoured to me that peoples attitude to work differs greatly and I have been trying to determine possible roots to this.

Personally I love to work, I find all aspects of my job fasinating be it sports massage or nutrition or personal training. But I also know that I thrive on being useful, being occupied and being busy. If I am not with a client I am generally baking, or cleaning, walking the dog, cooking- and all these things I actually enjoy. Even cleaning!

After a busy week I can happily spend an afternoon relaxing, but can never just spend more than a day not occupied in some way. I am even happy waiting tables rather than just sitting about with nothing to do……….

I am aware that some people dislike work through, and am wondering if this is due to a negative association that society place on ‘work’ as something that one does only because one needs to in order to survive?

Ask yourself, would you do your job for free?

If not why not? What jobs would you do for free? And why are you not working in this field?

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

In a move that shocked dieters across the world, Weight Watchers teamed up with McDonalds. The slimmers group, Weight Watchers that is dedicated to helping people lose weight, has a very strong presence in the West. The foundation of its system is to get Weight Watcher members to observe a calorie intake limit amounting to between 18 to 40 points according to their scale.

The agreement is currently restricted to Australia. The McDonalds meals that Weight Watchers has certified amount to 6.5 points and that include a salad and diet soft drink. The deal between the two multinational companies means that McDonald’s will use the Weight Watchers logo on its tray mats and menu boards and tray mats and for their part Weight Watchers will endorse McDonald’s to its weighty loss membership that totals in the millions.

Anti obesity campaign groups are infuriated with the move.

They say it will encourage people to eat more of the fast food instead of more nutritious foods or lead them to eat the more fatty varieties on McDonald’s menu. From the Australian Obesity Policy Coalition, senior advisor, Jane Martin said “It’s all about sales really,” and that “It implies this food is healthy … when often it is high in fat and salt.” Director of business for Weight Watchers in Australia and New Zealand, Chris Stirk, encouragingly said that it is “part of our philosophy that you can enjoy life … while still achieving your weight-loss goals”.

One dieter, Rachel May had this to say: “I can’t imagine that the meals endorsed by Weight Watchers will be very filling but people who miss McDonald’s will give the company a lot of business”, she said.

Beauty.

Something sought after by all, if not in the physical sense then in the emotional and mental. What a person sees beauty in is as subjective as their tastebuds, but we all seek it.

What is it that makes a person beautiful?

Most of us would like to think that we look past the physical, and look for the ”inner beauty” of those that we love and are close to.
However we are all prone to fall for the seductive lure of physical beauty at various stages in our daily life, but does this mean that we are any less able to see the person underneath, and do we really treat all the people in out lives equally, regardless of their external appearance.

Many clients of mine have commented on this which causes me interest. Especially those in the weight loss departmant. ”i get much more attention from the oppersite sex thanks to you Tabs” was one I recieved last week from a 35 year old female who had lost 2 stone on a weight loss program with me.

So, am i right to assume that due to the weight loss she is deemed as more attractive to the opposite sex, hence the attention.

Thats what she thinks. I question it.

Could it not be possible that it is a change in her confidence levels that is allowing her to perceive that others are attracted to her, wheas before her low self esteem had already written herself off with respect to any man finding her attractive.

Is it more a case of her self confidence allowing her inner beauty to show?

I do not know the answer, but i do know that the way a person feels about themselves effects the way that they think, act and talk to others. Skin deep? As a sufferer of acne for most of her adult life Bethany Alderson has been interested in this issue for many years, working in the beauty industry she has fouud that the problem of skin disorders greatly effects the self confidence of her clients. The diffence the way a person projects themselves after they have had a make up consultation which has allowed them to feel confident about the way that they look is apparent the second that they look in the mirror. Bethany has worked with top end celebrites from both the TV and film industry but has started a personal campaign to research the roots of skin problems and how they can be dealt with so that she can use her own experinces to benefit anybody that suffers skin issues.

These women are often stunningly beautiful, but the detrimental effect on their self confidence that acne has can lead to depression and associated such problems. As is the effect that I have found with weight gain and poor diets.

There is a lot to be said for looking deeper than the surface to find inner beauty, but if the surface is the factor distorting the inner person, then maybe that treatment for the surface is indeed more than vanity.

Motivation is a key issue in the world of a personal trainer….

I think that the most important part of my job is to find what motivates my client to rech their goals- and to work on exploiting that as much as possible so to maximise their gains.

Many people are motivated by a particular date, be it a wedding to lose weight and get in shape for, or a sporting competition to train for…….

Many people are motivated by a certain ‘life awareness’ event that has made them realise that they need to optimise their experience on earth and being fit and healthy will help them do this,……..

Many people gain extra motivation just  out of paying me!! So many clients say to me ‘well, i have paid you to help me do this now so i sure as hell am going to do it!!’

I think that the fact that personal training  is an option above the run of the mill getting fit is what makes it work, i have never yet had a client that i have not got to their goal…..