Showing posts with label Immune System Support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immune System Support. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Immunice Formula for Immune System Support based on Ayurveda
Just as a country that seeks continued existence, it must be in a constant state of preparedness to face all kinds of threats and dangers from external and internal sources. If it fails to defend itself, no matter how well-developed and advanced a nation may be, it could be destroyed with the launching of a military offensive against it or even a well-directed and unanticipated terrorist act. The human body also has unseen enemies that are more resilient than others. In today's age of environmental toxins, viral and bacterial infections and the myriad of allergens that we are exposed to on a daily basis, serious measures must be taken to guard against them and to keep our internal defense system fully functional to protect ourselves against these threats. Read more
Monday, July 21, 2008
Immunice Formula for Immune System Support based on Ayurveda
Immunice Formula for Immune System Support based on Ayurveda: If you want to enjoy optimal health and eliminate allergies, recurring chest discomfort, exhaustion, weakness and fatigue, aches and pains, and a generally poor immune system, there is proven help available. India's population has been reaping the powerful benefits of Ayurveda Medicine for the past 5,000 years! Read more about: Immunice Formula for Immune System Support based on Ayurveda
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ayurveda can help in preventing AIDS
Ayurveda can help in preventing AIDS by strengthening the body’s defence system through herbs and a supplementary code of conduct, doctors at a recent meeting of international policymakers on HIV here, said. “Apart from ‘Achaar Rasayan’ (code of conduct), the ancient system of Indian medicine provides for a whole range of herbs for the prevention of […]
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Aromatherapy Falls Short, Study Finds
(HealthDay News) -- Aromatherapy: It may smell good, but is it actually good for you?
Researchers are reporting that two of the most commonly used scents in aromatherapy do nothing to heal wounds, relieve pain or enhance immune status, although one did briefly improve mood.
In fact, in some cases, distilled water showed more of a salutary effect, the study found.
"Keep it in mind before spending a lot of money" on aromatherapy, said study lead author Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Division of Health Psychology at Ohio State University. "I buy perfume, because I like the smell. If you enjoy the smell, that's one thing, but don't buy perfume because you expect to change your physiology or to really influence your health."
The study results are published online in the April issue of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Used for thousands of years in countries such as India and Egypt, aromatherapy has many adherents who say the concentrated oils extracted from flowers improve health and emotional well-being, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Despite its widespread use, there's little scientific data on the effectiveness of the therapy, the study authors stated.
"This is by far the largest and most comprehensive study of actual physiological outcomes," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "There are different perspectives on why odors should work in terms of changing physiology, if they do. A lot of aromatherapy literature thinks of it as a drug-specific mechanism." In other words, that scents work much like drugs work, with very specific effects.
Using this point of view as a starting point, Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues, who included husband Dr. Ronald Glaser, looked at the two odors that have been most researched: lemon, which is purported to be stimulating and a mood enhancer, and lavender, which is supposed to be relaxing and is used as a sleep aid. Distilled water was used as a control.
Potential study participants were first screened to see if they had an adequate sense of smell. Fifty-six people were then admitted into the study. During three half-day sessions, half the group was handed an envelope that explained the scent they were about to smell and what to expect. The other participants were simply told they'd be smelling a variety of fruit and floral odors.
Then the researchers taped cotton balls laced with either lemon oil, lavender oil or distilled water below the volunteers' noses for the duration of the tests. The participants were monitored for blood pressure and heart rate, and the researchers took regular blood samples from each volunteer. The samples were analyzed for changes in different biochemical markers, including Interleukin-6 and Interleukin10, as well as the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine.
The researchers then tested the volunteers' ability to heal by using a standard test in which tape is applied and removed repeatedly on a specific site on the skin. The scientists also tested the volunteers' reaction to pain by placing their feet in 32-degree water. Finally, the participants filled out three standard psychological tests to assess mood and stress during each session.
While lemon oil showed a clear mood enhancement, lavender oil did not, the researchers said. Neither smell had any positive impact on any of the biochemical markers for stress, pain control or wound healing.
More information
The National Cancer Institute has more on aromatherapy and essential oils.
Researchers are reporting that two of the most commonly used scents in aromatherapy do nothing to heal wounds, relieve pain or enhance immune status, although one did briefly improve mood.
In fact, in some cases, distilled water showed more of a salutary effect, the study found.
"Keep it in mind before spending a lot of money" on aromatherapy, said study lead author Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Division of Health Psychology at Ohio State University. "I buy perfume, because I like the smell. If you enjoy the smell, that's one thing, but don't buy perfume because you expect to change your physiology or to really influence your health."
The study results are published online in the April issue of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Used for thousands of years in countries such as India and Egypt, aromatherapy has many adherents who say the concentrated oils extracted from flowers improve health and emotional well-being, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Despite its widespread use, there's little scientific data on the effectiveness of the therapy, the study authors stated.
"This is by far the largest and most comprehensive study of actual physiological outcomes," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "There are different perspectives on why odors should work in terms of changing physiology, if they do. A lot of aromatherapy literature thinks of it as a drug-specific mechanism." In other words, that scents work much like drugs work, with very specific effects.
Using this point of view as a starting point, Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues, who included husband Dr. Ronald Glaser, looked at the two odors that have been most researched: lemon, which is purported to be stimulating and a mood enhancer, and lavender, which is supposed to be relaxing and is used as a sleep aid. Distilled water was used as a control.
Potential study participants were first screened to see if they had an adequate sense of smell. Fifty-six people were then admitted into the study. During three half-day sessions, half the group was handed an envelope that explained the scent they were about to smell and what to expect. The other participants were simply told they'd be smelling a variety of fruit and floral odors.
Then the researchers taped cotton balls laced with either lemon oil, lavender oil or distilled water below the volunteers' noses for the duration of the tests. The participants were monitored for blood pressure and heart rate, and the researchers took regular blood samples from each volunteer. The samples were analyzed for changes in different biochemical markers, including Interleukin-6 and Interleukin10, as well as the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine.
The researchers then tested the volunteers' ability to heal by using a standard test in which tape is applied and removed repeatedly on a specific site on the skin. The scientists also tested the volunteers' reaction to pain by placing their feet in 32-degree water. Finally, the participants filled out three standard psychological tests to assess mood and stress during each session.
While lemon oil showed a clear mood enhancement, lavender oil did not, the researchers said. Neither smell had any positive impact on any of the biochemical markers for stress, pain control or wound healing.
More information
The National Cancer Institute has more on aromatherapy and essential oils.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Study May Explain How ADHD Treatments Work
(HealthDay News) -- Commonly prescribed drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seem to have an effect on dopamine released in the brain of people with the disorder.New German research shows that different amounts of dopamine, which is related to positive reinforcement-based learning and behavior, are released in the brains of people treated for ADHD, compared with those untreated for their disorder.
"The significant difference we found between treated and untreated ADHD patients provides an important hint on the effect of the most commonly prescribed drug for this disease, which has long baffled and frustrated parents and physicians," Felix M. Mottaghy, a research fellow at the University of Ulm, said in a prepared statement. Mottaghy added that this is the first study to identify the positive effect that ADHD drugs have on the brain's dopamine system -- although that's long been a theory.
"This is a very preliminary, basic science study... however, future studies of the dopamine system could aid differential diagnosis in hyperactive children," said Mottaghy.
Researchers tested individuals with ADHD, both treated and untreated, with a PET scan of the brain and 18F-DOPA, a drug related to dopamine. Then, the brain images that resulted were statistically mapped.
"The most affected seemed to be the dopaminergic system. Until now, most studies focused on the so-called postsynaptic or receiving part of this system," said Mottaghy. "Our study shows that the beneficial effect of methylphenidate is received via 'normalization' of the dopamine system."
Results of the study were to be presented at this week's annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, in San Diego.
"We demonstrated that the brain's dopamine system -- including midbrain, the striatum and the amygdala -- is differentially modulated in treated and untreated ADHD patients with respect to healthy normal controls," Mottaghy said.
More information
To learn more, visit CHADD and ADHD .
Monday, December 04, 2006
U.S. Blacks Seek Answers to AIDS Epidemic
(HealthDay News) -- By now, most Americans know the drill: Practice safer sex, and HIV should leave you and your community alone.
Except that it's not really working out that way for America's blacks. Study after study shows that HIV infections continue to escalate among this community -- especially among gay and bisexual black men -- even though they practice safe sex at rates that equal or exceed those of whites.
For example, a study published in time for World AIDS Day on Friday in the American Journal of Public Health found that young black adults who had engaged in no sex over the past year, didn't drink, and didn't abuse drugs were still 25 times more likely to test positive for a sexually transmitted disease or HIV than whites who practiced similar behaviors.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully half of the nation's new HIV infections occur among blacks, who make up just 13 percent of the population. That rate continues to soar, despite the fact that condom use among blacks now tops 50 percent, compared to just one-third for young whites.
According to the CDC, black women have 21 times the risk of white women of contracting HIV, while black males are eight times as likely to become infected as white men.
And, according to a recent five-city study conducted by the CDC, a staggering 46 percent of young gay black men in America now carry HIV -- a rate that equals or exceeds that of most nations in sub-Saharan Africa. By comparison, the infection rate among gay American white men hovers around 21 percent.
"However, black men who have sex with men (MSM) do not engage in higher rates of unsafe sexual behaviors compared to other MSM -- we found that in about 30 studies," said CDC HIV/AIDS investigator Gregorio Millet. He spoke at a Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) summit on the issue held earlier this week in New York City.
Millet noted that studies also show that gay and bisexual black men use illicit drugs at roughly the same rate as their white peers.
So, if black Americans are doing so much that is right, what is going wrong? Twenty-five years into the AIDS epidemic, no one really knows for sure.
Denise Hallfors, the author of the American Journal of Public Health paper, said that for too long, the CDC and other public health entities have looked upon HIV/AIDS from a solidly white perspective.
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, most infections among whites were largely contained within specific groups, such as gay men and intravenous drug users. "The thinking was, you have to go after those very high-risk populations," said Hallfors, who is senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Chapel Hill, N.C.
"So, those are the populations that the CDC focused on and did outreach with.
And if you look at the data from our study, that makes perfect sense -- whites have very low rates of STDs if they are not in those risk categories. As soon as they enter those risk categories, their rates triple."
But the black community appears to work differently, with the borders between low- and high-risk groups much more blurred. "High-risk individuals can and often do cross over into low-risk groups," Hallfors said. "Once they cross over into the low-risk group, then they spread infection to the much larger community."
Because of the higher death and incarceration rate of black men, black women -- who tend to partner with black men -- have a smaller pool of potential mates to pick from compared to whites, Hallfors added.
"So, if you are a young black female adult and you go to church every Sunday, you have a pretty conservative lifestyle, you don't drink, smoke or do drugs, and you have even one or two partners in your lifetime, if one of them happens to be infected, you're sitting there with an STD," Hallfors said. And since this woman's apparently low-risk, church-going partner may have unknowingly contracted his infection from a prior high-risk contact, she believes she is "safe" and thus doesn't get tested for HIV, or gets tested far too late.
The same may hold true among gay black men, Millet said. "Black MSM are also less likely than other MSM to be tested for HIV," at least on a regular basis, he said. That leaves them more open to unknowingly pass the virus on to other partners.
There could be many other reasons for the virulent spread of HIV among gay black men, but the data just isn't out there, he said. Gay black men may be at higher risk because of their genetics, their lower rate of circumcision (circumcision reduces infectivity), reduced access to health care, their pattern of sexual partners, and their higher rates of incarceration -- one in four black men will serve jail time vs. one in 24 whites. "Unfortunately, there are all these hypotheses where we just don't have sufficient data," Millet said.
Until recently, there's also been little outreach to this hard-hit community, Millet added. "This epidemic has been raging among black MSM for well over 20 years and for some reason there have not been enough HIV prevention programs directed at blacks," Millet said.
Damon Dozier, director of government relations and public policy at the National Minority AIDS Council, said it's taken the recent release of shocking statistics to wake policymakers from their focus on whites.
"I think that no one really paid attention to what was going on, but that 46 percent infection rate is a huge number," he said. "Because of that, the wool has been pulled from people's eyes."
But Dozier said that the CDC, especially, is less able to tackle these issues now than it was in the past. "The CDC prevention budget has been slashed over the past few years," he said. "It would take a number of dollars just to get them back to baseline. Our hope is that with this new Congress, with Ms. Pelosi [incoming House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat] as leader, that we can devote more money to prevention and direct those prevention dollars to that 46 percent demographic."
There are signs of a real turnaround at the CDC. Late in 2005, the agency's head, Dr. Julie Gerberding, met with black activists who had pasted signs reading 46% is Unacceptable to the front of their desks. As reported by The Advocate at the time, Gerberding told them that, "Whatever we are doing right now, it is not enough."
Since then, the agency has launched a flotilla of HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs aimed at specific black communities -- many with proven track records in turning attitudes and behaviors around.
And, on Thursday, Gerderding issued a statement noting that the CDC has "recently issued new recommendations to make HIV screening a routine part of medical care for all patients between the ages of 13 and 64." Most experts who deal with minority communities say getting individuals acquainted with their HIV status is key to helping them get treated, protect their partners, and slow the epidemic.
CDC investigator Millet said he believes the situation "is getting better, in that we are now asking the right questions -- there are more people from these affected populations who are doing the needed research."
Hallfors agreed. She said that papers like hers, and new data coming out of the CDC and elsewhere, "is really important, because policymakers can start to think differently. Whites and blacks are different, the dynamics are different, and you can't just treat these diseases the same for both groups."
More information
Find out more about HIV/AIDS from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Except that it's not really working out that way for America's blacks. Study after study shows that HIV infections continue to escalate among this community -- especially among gay and bisexual black men -- even though they practice safe sex at rates that equal or exceed those of whites.
For example, a study published in time for World AIDS Day on Friday in the American Journal of Public Health found that young black adults who had engaged in no sex over the past year, didn't drink, and didn't abuse drugs were still 25 times more likely to test positive for a sexually transmitted disease or HIV than whites who practiced similar behaviors.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully half of the nation's new HIV infections occur among blacks, who make up just 13 percent of the population. That rate continues to soar, despite the fact that condom use among blacks now tops 50 percent, compared to just one-third for young whites.
According to the CDC, black women have 21 times the risk of white women of contracting HIV, while black males are eight times as likely to become infected as white men.
And, according to a recent five-city study conducted by the CDC, a staggering 46 percent of young gay black men in America now carry HIV -- a rate that equals or exceeds that of most nations in sub-Saharan Africa. By comparison, the infection rate among gay American white men hovers around 21 percent.
"However, black men who have sex with men (MSM) do not engage in higher rates of unsafe sexual behaviors compared to other MSM -- we found that in about 30 studies," said CDC HIV/AIDS investigator Gregorio Millet. He spoke at a Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) summit on the issue held earlier this week in New York City.
Millet noted that studies also show that gay and bisexual black men use illicit drugs at roughly the same rate as their white peers.
So, if black Americans are doing so much that is right, what is going wrong? Twenty-five years into the AIDS epidemic, no one really knows for sure.
Denise Hallfors, the author of the American Journal of Public Health paper, said that for too long, the CDC and other public health entities have looked upon HIV/AIDS from a solidly white perspective.
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, most infections among whites were largely contained within specific groups, such as gay men and intravenous drug users. "The thinking was, you have to go after those very high-risk populations," said Hallfors, who is senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Chapel Hill, N.C.
"So, those are the populations that the CDC focused on and did outreach with.
And if you look at the data from our study, that makes perfect sense -- whites have very low rates of STDs if they are not in those risk categories. As soon as they enter those risk categories, their rates triple."
But the black community appears to work differently, with the borders between low- and high-risk groups much more blurred. "High-risk individuals can and often do cross over into low-risk groups," Hallfors said. "Once they cross over into the low-risk group, then they spread infection to the much larger community."
Because of the higher death and incarceration rate of black men, black women -- who tend to partner with black men -- have a smaller pool of potential mates to pick from compared to whites, Hallfors added.
"So, if you are a young black female adult and you go to church every Sunday, you have a pretty conservative lifestyle, you don't drink, smoke or do drugs, and you have even one or two partners in your lifetime, if one of them happens to be infected, you're sitting there with an STD," Hallfors said. And since this woman's apparently low-risk, church-going partner may have unknowingly contracted his infection from a prior high-risk contact, she believes she is "safe" and thus doesn't get tested for HIV, or gets tested far too late.
The same may hold true among gay black men, Millet said. "Black MSM are also less likely than other MSM to be tested for HIV," at least on a regular basis, he said. That leaves them more open to unknowingly pass the virus on to other partners.
There could be many other reasons for the virulent spread of HIV among gay black men, but the data just isn't out there, he said. Gay black men may be at higher risk because of their genetics, their lower rate of circumcision (circumcision reduces infectivity), reduced access to health care, their pattern of sexual partners, and their higher rates of incarceration -- one in four black men will serve jail time vs. one in 24 whites. "Unfortunately, there are all these hypotheses where we just don't have sufficient data," Millet said.
Until recently, there's also been little outreach to this hard-hit community, Millet added. "This epidemic has been raging among black MSM for well over 20 years and for some reason there have not been enough HIV prevention programs directed at blacks," Millet said.
Damon Dozier, director of government relations and public policy at the National Minority AIDS Council, said it's taken the recent release of shocking statistics to wake policymakers from their focus on whites.
"I think that no one really paid attention to what was going on, but that 46 percent infection rate is a huge number," he said. "Because of that, the wool has been pulled from people's eyes."
But Dozier said that the CDC, especially, is less able to tackle these issues now than it was in the past. "The CDC prevention budget has been slashed over the past few years," he said. "It would take a number of dollars just to get them back to baseline. Our hope is that with this new Congress, with Ms. Pelosi [incoming House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat] as leader, that we can devote more money to prevention and direct those prevention dollars to that 46 percent demographic."
There are signs of a real turnaround at the CDC. Late in 2005, the agency's head, Dr. Julie Gerberding, met with black activists who had pasted signs reading 46% is Unacceptable to the front of their desks. As reported by The Advocate at the time, Gerberding told them that, "Whatever we are doing right now, it is not enough."
Since then, the agency has launched a flotilla of HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs aimed at specific black communities -- many with proven track records in turning attitudes and behaviors around.
And, on Thursday, Gerderding issued a statement noting that the CDC has "recently issued new recommendations to make HIV screening a routine part of medical care for all patients between the ages of 13 and 64." Most experts who deal with minority communities say getting individuals acquainted with their HIV status is key to helping them get treated, protect their partners, and slow the epidemic.
CDC investigator Millet said he believes the situation "is getting better, in that we are now asking the right questions -- there are more people from these affected populations who are doing the needed research."
Hallfors agreed. She said that papers like hers, and new data coming out of the CDC and elsewhere, "is really important, because policymakers can start to think differently. Whites and blacks are different, the dynamics are different, and you can't just treat these diseases the same for both groups."
More information
Find out more about HIV/AIDS from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Tips For An Ayurvedic Lifestyle
Feeling irresolute about wanting to make those New Year's Resolutions? Consider this: During your lifetime, advances in medical sciences will add about two years to your life, but changes in your personal behavior -- read lifestyle -- can add 15+ years. Isn't it about time to make some changes?
Ayurvedic healing, as you know, places the highest value on good lifestyle. Ayurveda describes four types of life: hita-ayu, ahita-ayu, sukha-ayu and dukha-ayu: Hita-ayu is life that is led for doing good to yourself and others. Ahita-ayu refer to actions which are not for the good of yourself or another person. Sukha-ayu refers to those healthful and blissful actions that you do for the good of your physiology, while dukha-ayu is leading a life that harms the physiology. Choose to lead the hita-ayu and sukha-ayu life, and your days will be filled with bounty in every way.
The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians shows you how to lead the hita-sukha lifestyle this year.
THE CUP THAT CHEERS
This year, discover the cup that really cheers: Kicking the coffee habit can be hard -- in fact some researchers today say that taken in moderation, caffeine can actually help fend off Parkinson's disease, increase alertness and improve moods. So if you're among the 160 million Americans who love coffee, that's grounds for celebration.
But… remember that all the research underlines coffee-consumption in moderation -- that is, not more than 2 cups a day. What when the urge for the 3rd cup hits?
Try Raja's Cup: a precise blend of four potent herbs -- Clearing Nut, Kasmard, Licorice and Winter Cherry -- this time-tested beverage helps promote well-being and vitality. Published research shows that Raja's Cup has hundreds of times the antioxidant power of vitamin C or vitamin E. And it tastes delicious too! In a blind taste test, coffee drinkers thought that Raja's Cup was actually coffee. Caffeine-free, with no grains, Raja's Cup can be enjoyed any time of day -- after meals, at breakfast or before bed.
SPICE UP YOUR LIFE
Make this year the year of spice: The confusion about what to eat is getting worse every day. The fashion and entertainment industry urges you to be thin, and commercials promote junk food. What's found to be healthy one day is proved by research to be unhealthy the next.
But one thing is for sure. Whatever other surprises research might throw up, it is never likely to prove that artificial, chemical-laden foods are good for you. This year let your resolution be to discard all those over-processed, milled, greasy foods from your kitchen cabinets. Eat fresh, organic, whole foods that are alive with nature's intelligence.
Learn to use spices and herbs in your daily cooking for more flavor, aroma and healing benefits. You'll derive maximum benefit from spices if you blend them to make sure you get all six flavors ayurveda recommends -- that is, sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Sounds like too much trouble? Try Maharishi Ayurveda Churnas, which are blended precisely to make sure you get balanced flavor.
USE GHEE
One of Maharishi Ayurveda's best kept secret's is the virtues of Ghee (Clarified butter) -- a time-honored alternative to ordinary cooking oil. Ghee is all-natural, salt-free and lactose-free. Chefs know that you can use half as much Ghee as ordinary oils. And it stays fresh for weeks at room temperature.
Ghee helps bring out the lipid-soluble portion of spices so you can gain the full benefit of the spices. Plus, ayurvedic doctors report that Ghee aids digestion and absorption of nutrients while reducing excess stomach acid.
Don't visit your doctor too often: A recent study that surveyed hundreds of American men found that 4 out of 5 men feel sick at least once in a month, and 1 in 5 goes to a doctor for some health problem. Don't be an unhappy statistic this year. Learn why disease happens, then strive to keep it away. Ayurveda believes that accumulated toxins or "ama" are the reason why all disease takes root.
Keep your body ama -free by following five simple steps:
Sip plain hot water frequently throughout the day. This helps the body digest food and eliminate ama efficiently.
Eat a warm, full meal at lunchtime, with all the six tastes on your platter -- sweet, bitter, salty, sour, pungent and astringent.
Take at least 20 minutes to eat, and sit quietly for a few minutes after you've finished your meal.
Eat a light, early dinner and drink only liquids after 8 p.m.
Build your immunity: Discover the power of Amrit. Amrit is a powerful, holistic nutritional supplement for mind and body. It provides comprehensive nourishment at fundamental levels, helping to strengthen each cell for optimum functioning. Forty-four rare whole herbs and fruits are combined in precise proportions in this powerful formula to keep the body functioning at peak efficiency and filled with vitality.
GET YOUR ZZZs
Get 365 nights of great sleep: Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia: these are just a few of the recognized disorders that keep their afflicted from getting enough sleep. Nearly half of all Americans have difficulty sleeping.
Don't be one of them this year.
Turn to ayurveda for simple and practical solutions to help you sleep well. Herbs have long been known to calm the mind and improve the quality of sleep. Indian Valerian, Muskroot and Winter Cherry (Ashwagandha) are some of the star sleep-friendly herbs that Maharishi Ayurveda's Blissful Sleep herbal formula contains. The herbs in this synergistic formula produce a calming, balancing effect on the body, mind and emotions.
Blissful Sleep can be used in conjunction with the Worry Free formula if you tend to worry about being able to sleep well.
Besides the herbs, there's time-tested advice. Ayurvedic physicians have, for instance, always recommended a glass of warm milk before bedtime. Modern research explains the scientific reason for this: milk taken at this time helps the body absorb tryptophan, a sleep-promoting amino acid that releases melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep well.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
Heal the Self: The most important relationship in the world is that you have with your own self. In sickness and in health, for better or for worse. The stresses of daily life, however, make it a struggle to keep in touch with your natural reservoir of creativity, nurturance and intelligence. Result: your efforts to love and care for others become a struggle, leaving you empty and cold inside.
This year, resolve to get back in touch with the reservoir of love inside, so you can give without being exhausted, care without wanting to cling. A great way to achieve this is by learning Transcendental Meditation™, which is an effortless, proven way to take you back to the field of natural calm and peace. TM™ makes you more productive, energetic and positive-and when you're feeling so good about yourself, it's easy to feel loving towards other people.
HOW TO KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED
READ UP: Making a resolution is essentially about changing established unhealthy patterns-right from sleeping late to eating the wrong kind of foods. A superb way to motivate yourself is to read up on how lack of sleep damages your physiology and psychology; or how the wrong food combinations taken at the wrong time of day can play havoc with your entire system. Thanks to the internet, all this information is just a click away.
SHARE YOUR GOALS: Tell someone about your fresh resolutions, and seek their co-operation. Invite your friend/mother/boss to do what you are going to do. This way, you not only ensure that you are motivated, but also inspire others to live more healthfully.
BE REALISTIC: Don't go into your resolution with an all-or-nothing attitude. It's okay to slip up. What's more, think of ayurvedic lifestyle guidelines as bonus points: you benefit tremendously if you pick up more points, but not picking them up once in a while won't harm you in any way.
RECORD YOUR PROGRESS: A calendar with stars, or better still, a personal journal is an excellent incentive for tracking your successes and failures. A journal does more than keep records-it puts you back in touch with yourself, improving the way you feel about the whole world.
REWARD YOUR SUCCESSES: But don't punish yourself for failures. Although following a new healthful routine is in itself a reward, you will do better by rewarding yourself externally too. Promise to buy yourself a good book or a new dress at the end of a healthy week. When you have something good to look forward to, keeping up with that nightly glass of milk or timely lunch becomes a pleasure.
UNDERSTAND THE SPIRIT OF WINTER: Winter's dark, cold, slow-moving nature makes it the worst time of year to begin a vigorous workout schedule or stringent weight-loss program, like many of us do as New Year's resolutions. It is a time to conserve strength, to rest, and to build energy, not expend it. Just as plants reemerge in the spring, so should you. So whatever your resolve, make sure it is in tune with the season.
Ayurvedic healing, as you know, places the highest value on good lifestyle. Ayurveda describes four types of life: hita-ayu, ahita-ayu, sukha-ayu and dukha-ayu: Hita-ayu is life that is led for doing good to yourself and others. Ahita-ayu refer to actions which are not for the good of yourself or another person. Sukha-ayu refers to those healthful and blissful actions that you do for the good of your physiology, while dukha-ayu is leading a life that harms the physiology. Choose to lead the hita-ayu and sukha-ayu life, and your days will be filled with bounty in every way.
The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians shows you how to lead the hita-sukha lifestyle this year.
THE CUP THAT CHEERS
This year, discover the cup that really cheers: Kicking the coffee habit can be hard -- in fact some researchers today say that taken in moderation, caffeine can actually help fend off Parkinson's disease, increase alertness and improve moods. So if you're among the 160 million Americans who love coffee, that's grounds for celebration.
But… remember that all the research underlines coffee-consumption in moderation -- that is, not more than 2 cups a day. What when the urge for the 3rd cup hits?
Try Raja's Cup: a precise blend of four potent herbs -- Clearing Nut, Kasmard, Licorice and Winter Cherry -- this time-tested beverage helps promote well-being and vitality. Published research shows that Raja's Cup has hundreds of times the antioxidant power of vitamin C or vitamin E. And it tastes delicious too! In a blind taste test, coffee drinkers thought that Raja's Cup was actually coffee. Caffeine-free, with no grains, Raja's Cup can be enjoyed any time of day -- after meals, at breakfast or before bed.
SPICE UP YOUR LIFE
Make this year the year of spice: The confusion about what to eat is getting worse every day. The fashion and entertainment industry urges you to be thin, and commercials promote junk food. What's found to be healthy one day is proved by research to be unhealthy the next.
But one thing is for sure. Whatever other surprises research might throw up, it is never likely to prove that artificial, chemical-laden foods are good for you. This year let your resolution be to discard all those over-processed, milled, greasy foods from your kitchen cabinets. Eat fresh, organic, whole foods that are alive with nature's intelligence.
Learn to use spices and herbs in your daily cooking for more flavor, aroma and healing benefits. You'll derive maximum benefit from spices if you blend them to make sure you get all six flavors ayurveda recommends -- that is, sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Sounds like too much trouble? Try Maharishi Ayurveda Churnas, which are blended precisely to make sure you get balanced flavor.
USE GHEE
One of Maharishi Ayurveda's best kept secret's is the virtues of Ghee (Clarified butter) -- a time-honored alternative to ordinary cooking oil. Ghee is all-natural, salt-free and lactose-free. Chefs know that you can use half as much Ghee as ordinary oils. And it stays fresh for weeks at room temperature.
Ghee helps bring out the lipid-soluble portion of spices so you can gain the full benefit of the spices. Plus, ayurvedic doctors report that Ghee aids digestion and absorption of nutrients while reducing excess stomach acid.
Don't visit your doctor too often: A recent study that surveyed hundreds of American men found that 4 out of 5 men feel sick at least once in a month, and 1 in 5 goes to a doctor for some health problem. Don't be an unhappy statistic this year. Learn why disease happens, then strive to keep it away. Ayurveda believes that accumulated toxins or "ama" are the reason why all disease takes root.
Keep your body ama -free by following five simple steps:
Sip plain hot water frequently throughout the day. This helps the body digest food and eliminate ama efficiently.
Eat a warm, full meal at lunchtime, with all the six tastes on your platter -- sweet, bitter, salty, sour, pungent and astringent.
Take at least 20 minutes to eat, and sit quietly for a few minutes after you've finished your meal.
Eat a light, early dinner and drink only liquids after 8 p.m.
Build your immunity: Discover the power of Amrit. Amrit is a powerful, holistic nutritional supplement for mind and body. It provides comprehensive nourishment at fundamental levels, helping to strengthen each cell for optimum functioning. Forty-four rare whole herbs and fruits are combined in precise proportions in this powerful formula to keep the body functioning at peak efficiency and filled with vitality.
GET YOUR ZZZs
Get 365 nights of great sleep: Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia: these are just a few of the recognized disorders that keep their afflicted from getting enough sleep. Nearly half of all Americans have difficulty sleeping.
Don't be one of them this year.
Turn to ayurveda for simple and practical solutions to help you sleep well. Herbs have long been known to calm the mind and improve the quality of sleep. Indian Valerian, Muskroot and Winter Cherry (Ashwagandha) are some of the star sleep-friendly herbs that Maharishi Ayurveda's Blissful Sleep herbal formula contains. The herbs in this synergistic formula produce a calming, balancing effect on the body, mind and emotions.
Blissful Sleep can be used in conjunction with the Worry Free formula if you tend to worry about being able to sleep well.
Besides the herbs, there's time-tested advice. Ayurvedic physicians have, for instance, always recommended a glass of warm milk before bedtime. Modern research explains the scientific reason for this: milk taken at this time helps the body absorb tryptophan, a sleep-promoting amino acid that releases melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep well.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
Heal the Self: The most important relationship in the world is that you have with your own self. In sickness and in health, for better or for worse. The stresses of daily life, however, make it a struggle to keep in touch with your natural reservoir of creativity, nurturance and intelligence. Result: your efforts to love and care for others become a struggle, leaving you empty and cold inside.
This year, resolve to get back in touch with the reservoir of love inside, so you can give without being exhausted, care without wanting to cling. A great way to achieve this is by learning Transcendental Meditation™, which is an effortless, proven way to take you back to the field of natural calm and peace. TM™ makes you more productive, energetic and positive-and when you're feeling so good about yourself, it's easy to feel loving towards other people.
HOW TO KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED
READ UP: Making a resolution is essentially about changing established unhealthy patterns-right from sleeping late to eating the wrong kind of foods. A superb way to motivate yourself is to read up on how lack of sleep damages your physiology and psychology; or how the wrong food combinations taken at the wrong time of day can play havoc with your entire system. Thanks to the internet, all this information is just a click away.
SHARE YOUR GOALS: Tell someone about your fresh resolutions, and seek their co-operation. Invite your friend/mother/boss to do what you are going to do. This way, you not only ensure that you are motivated, but also inspire others to live more healthfully.
BE REALISTIC: Don't go into your resolution with an all-or-nothing attitude. It's okay to slip up. What's more, think of ayurvedic lifestyle guidelines as bonus points: you benefit tremendously if you pick up more points, but not picking them up once in a while won't harm you in any way.
RECORD YOUR PROGRESS: A calendar with stars, or better still, a personal journal is an excellent incentive for tracking your successes and failures. A journal does more than keep records-it puts you back in touch with yourself, improving the way you feel about the whole world.
REWARD YOUR SUCCESSES: But don't punish yourself for failures. Although following a new healthful routine is in itself a reward, you will do better by rewarding yourself externally too. Promise to buy yourself a good book or a new dress at the end of a healthy week. When you have something good to look forward to, keeping up with that nightly glass of milk or timely lunch becomes a pleasure.
UNDERSTAND THE SPIRIT OF WINTER: Winter's dark, cold, slow-moving nature makes it the worst time of year to begin a vigorous workout schedule or stringent weight-loss program, like many of us do as New Year's resolutions. It is a time to conserve strength, to rest, and to build energy, not expend it. Just as plants reemerge in the spring, so should you. So whatever your resolve, make sure it is in tune with the season.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Modern technology does make life seem simpler-but the increasing evidence is-it can also make life shorter, by reducing the need to interact with othe
Modern technology does make life seem simpler-but the increasing evidence is-it can also make life shorter, by reducing the need to interact with other human beings. Recent research studies prove that people who have a lot of human contact can live twice as long as those who are isolated.
A groundbreaking study of some 7,000 people in Alameda County, CA, showed that those with the fewest friends, family, community, and religious institutions were three times more likely to die over the 9 years in which the study was conducted.
Further, researchers who monitored 276 people between the ages of 18 and 55 found that those who had six or more connections with people were four times better than others at fighting off viruses that cause colds.
Ayurveda has never needed laboratory research studies like these to understand this truth its healers have observed and understood it quite literally for ages now. Here is the A-to-Z ayurveda guide on how to reconnect with your spouse, significant other or a special family member or friend so you both live long and joyful lives.
Apply the brakes. Don't be a time-struggler. The human body is not well suited to time struggle. Research strongly suggests that impatient clock watching is linked to hostility, resentment and relationship-breakdowns. Remember Lord Chesterfield's immortal words: "Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves. That's exactly what ayurveda advocates. Some tools to help you slow down: Maharishi Ayurveda's wide range of relaxing massage oils, all-natural Aroma candles and time-tested herbal supplements like Blissful Joy.
Balance is a keyword in Ayurveda, be it in physical health or emotional issues. Ayurveda believes that inner disharmony and imbalance cause stress, a leading cause of failed relationships. What causes this imbalance in the first place? Overuse or misuse of the mind and/or body.
Stress vitiates Prana Vata, which governs the activity and energy of the brain. Once the pivot point is weakened, your ability to cope with stress is badly compromised. Restore your emotional balance with herbal healers like Blissful Joy and Worry Free.
Cook together. It's therapeutic. Besides nutrition, there's affection in cooking for another. In his e-magazine The Bridge, journalist Angshuman Dasgupta writes of herbs and spices thus: "They (herbs and spices) are hoary heritage from times long past, places afar. They waft through the breeze across continents, transcend barriers, borne on the backs of wayfarers. Let the spices you have grown up on be your new adventure. They can become flavorful blends in innovative hands. Give them a chance. New to the world of spices?
Kick-start your quest with the help of Maharishi Ayurveda's gourmet Churnas, precisely blended to balance the three doshas."
Drive thoughts of jealousy from your mind. These are toxic, and pile up negative "ama" inside you, leading to not only mental but also physical ailments.
Empty your kitchen cupboards of all milled, processed, preserved and fermented foods. Food in ayurvedic healing has a direct relationship with your consciousness. You are what you eat" is a maxim very dear to the ayurvedic healer's heart. To be a loving, caring person, you ought to eat foods that have been prepared with love and care-not instant and indifferent pre-packaged foods. When the urge to binge on "junk" foods strikes, give your body-and mind-a treat with drinks like Maharishi Ayurveda's Almond Energy drink. The Winter Cherry in this drink aids resistance to stress. Brahmi nourishes the mind. Poppy Seeds are a natural sleep aid and help relaxation. Almonds provide energy. What more can you ask for?
Follow your heart. Basically, we all want to be happy. And happiness comes when your heart, mind and body are all doing the same things. Picture this: your body is tired, but your mind says you have to finish your work by morning so you stay up all night. This fills the heart with resentment, and at the end of the night, you're anything but happy.
Gift your partner some good health. Maharishi Ayurveda products include personal care, foods and beverages and nutritional supplements. Choose your gift with care, and present it with flair. Our recommendations: well, they are too many to list, but you can choose from among scores of creams, lotions, oils, aromas and herbal supplements.
Halt your tongue as soon as you begin to feel your temper rise. Ayurveda recommends everything in moderation: be it love or anger.
Increase the quota of time you spend on yourself. Start your day with a warm all-body massage before your shower, and you will emerge feeling relaxed and vitally alive. A good self-image always makes you feel generous and loving towards others, and that helps build strong relationships. Massage is only one of the many ways in which you can look after yourself. Try a little bit of all of these: yoga, deep breathing, drinking plenty of water, taking frequent breaks from work. All of these will make you feel special and happy.
Joy is not in things-it is in us, said a wise man. Healers who followed ayurveda have expressed this sentiment in a variety of ways. To them, this thought mattered a great deal because they knew relationships can become victims of object-referral living. A vaidya, therefore, would whole-heartedly agree that "the real things in life aren't things at all.
Know the difference between loving and clinging. Laugh together as often as you can. Laughter really is the best medicine.
Meditate: Transcendental Meditation® is a wonderful way to connect with yourself, and subsequently with other people. The basic principle is this: when you make contact with your deepest needs, your inner self, you release the knotted-up tension from your heart. Through regular meditation, you can shed these pressures on a daily basis-which will make you feel more energetic, more positive and more loving.
Nature knows best. Follow this simple mantra, and your harried life will begin to flow smoothly. Be it hunger or sleep, listen to the rhythm of nature: appetite peaks at noon and the mind requests rest in the evening-that's the way nature has designed us, and going against its laws causes disturbances in our daily lives, and affects our relationships with others too.
Omit meat from your diet if you can. Ayurveda believes that the vegetarian diet is complete in itself, and foods that are not derived from animal slaughter are rich in "chetna" or consciousness. Such foods give rise to positive thoughts, build "satoguna", the highest-quality dosha of the mind.
Prevent disorders from taking root in the physiology with the greatest rasayana of all. Amrit is truly the golden cup of longevity, as its name means. It is a wonderfully effective formulation of 40 rare herbs and fruits. Not only does this incredible anti-oxidant rejuvenate the body, but also brings calm and peace to the person as a whole.
Quell your desire to eat a late-night meal or stay in bed till late in the morning. An old saying, "eat half as much in twice the time" makes a lot of sense to ayurvedic physicians. Similarly, sleep early and rise before 6 a.m.-this way, you will balance all your doshas. When the doshas are in harmony, one feels joyous, filled with bliss. When you are humming inside, you'll make others want to sing, too.
Resolve to pay more attention to the little things in a relationship: a kind gesture, a thank-you note, or even just a smile.
Sniff sesame oil (nasya) to lubricate and protect your nose and sinuses, which are the ventilation system for your brain. The oil helps clear mucus out of the sinuses. Just dip your little finger in the sesame oil you use for your massage and rub the oil inside of each nostril. Then pinch and release your nostrils rapidly while inhaling sharply. This not only clears the nasal passages but also your brain, making you think clearer and make the right choices with regard to yourself and others.
"Tend to the needs of your digestive system. Now good digestion wait on appetite-and health on both," Shakespeare's Macbeth is said to have exclaimed. Not for no reason. Ayurveda considers the health of the digestive system to be the key to overall well-being. Can you imagine being relaxed, friendly, and creative when last night's heavy dinner is still groaning in your stomach?
Understand the importance of touch. Ayurveda's prime diagnostic tool is nadi pariksha or pulse diagnosis, which connects the physician to the patient -anyone who has had a pulse diagnosis done knows how soothing and healing that touch feels. Not only that, the pulse can tell a physician what complex laboratory tests can sometimes fail to reveal. Similarly, people around us need to be healed with touch: a baby needs hugging, a friend needs a gentle squeeze of the hand.
Value the need of your body to rejuvenate and detoxify with each change of season. Ayurveda offers the pleasurable and highly beneficial Panchakarma therapy that can, every time the season changes, restore you in body and mind.
Work hard, but don't let your work overshadow other areas of your life that are equally important. Short breaks during periods of intense activity, planning and not allowing deadlines to rule your entire life can make work pleasurable and productive.
"Youth is unhappy because it is faced with this terrible choice: love without peace, or peace without love," wrote Beaumarchais. True, isn't it-that youth and peace often seem to be in conflict? It needn't be that way, if you listen to some simple ayurvedic advice. Youth, according to ayurveda, is the season ruled by dynamic Pitta. Keeping your Pitta balanced by eating calming foods, dressing according to the weather, and staying away from violent books and movies are small but effective steps toward a happy, peaceful and loving youth.
Zoom away together to a place where natural beauty abounds. Getting close to nature every now and then heals and restores the whole being.
A groundbreaking study of some 7,000 people in Alameda County, CA, showed that those with the fewest friends, family, community, and religious institutions were three times more likely to die over the 9 years in which the study was conducted.
Further, researchers who monitored 276 people between the ages of 18 and 55 found that those who had six or more connections with people were four times better than others at fighting off viruses that cause colds.
Ayurveda has never needed laboratory research studies like these to understand this truth its healers have observed and understood it quite literally for ages now. Here is the A-to-Z ayurveda guide on how to reconnect with your spouse, significant other or a special family member or friend so you both live long and joyful lives.
Apply the brakes. Don't be a time-struggler. The human body is not well suited to time struggle. Research strongly suggests that impatient clock watching is linked to hostility, resentment and relationship-breakdowns. Remember Lord Chesterfield's immortal words: "Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves. That's exactly what ayurveda advocates. Some tools to help you slow down: Maharishi Ayurveda's wide range of relaxing massage oils, all-natural Aroma candles and time-tested herbal supplements like Blissful Joy.
Balance is a keyword in Ayurveda, be it in physical health or emotional issues. Ayurveda believes that inner disharmony and imbalance cause stress, a leading cause of failed relationships. What causes this imbalance in the first place? Overuse or misuse of the mind and/or body.
Stress vitiates Prana Vata, which governs the activity and energy of the brain. Once the pivot point is weakened, your ability to cope with stress is badly compromised. Restore your emotional balance with herbal healers like Blissful Joy and Worry Free.
Cook together. It's therapeutic. Besides nutrition, there's affection in cooking for another. In his e-magazine The Bridge, journalist Angshuman Dasgupta writes of herbs and spices thus: "They (herbs and spices) are hoary heritage from times long past, places afar. They waft through the breeze across continents, transcend barriers, borne on the backs of wayfarers. Let the spices you have grown up on be your new adventure. They can become flavorful blends in innovative hands. Give them a chance. New to the world of spices?
Kick-start your quest with the help of Maharishi Ayurveda's gourmet Churnas, precisely blended to balance the three doshas."
Drive thoughts of jealousy from your mind. These are toxic, and pile up negative "ama" inside you, leading to not only mental but also physical ailments.
Empty your kitchen cupboards of all milled, processed, preserved and fermented foods. Food in ayurvedic healing has a direct relationship with your consciousness. You are what you eat" is a maxim very dear to the ayurvedic healer's heart. To be a loving, caring person, you ought to eat foods that have been prepared with love and care-not instant and indifferent pre-packaged foods. When the urge to binge on "junk" foods strikes, give your body-and mind-a treat with drinks like Maharishi Ayurveda's Almond Energy drink. The Winter Cherry in this drink aids resistance to stress. Brahmi nourishes the mind. Poppy Seeds are a natural sleep aid and help relaxation. Almonds provide energy. What more can you ask for?
Follow your heart. Basically, we all want to be happy. And happiness comes when your heart, mind and body are all doing the same things. Picture this: your body is tired, but your mind says you have to finish your work by morning so you stay up all night. This fills the heart with resentment, and at the end of the night, you're anything but happy.
Gift your partner some good health. Maharishi Ayurveda products include personal care, foods and beverages and nutritional supplements. Choose your gift with care, and present it with flair. Our recommendations: well, they are too many to list, but you can choose from among scores of creams, lotions, oils, aromas and herbal supplements.
Halt your tongue as soon as you begin to feel your temper rise. Ayurveda recommends everything in moderation: be it love or anger.
Increase the quota of time you spend on yourself. Start your day with a warm all-body massage before your shower, and you will emerge feeling relaxed and vitally alive. A good self-image always makes you feel generous and loving towards others, and that helps build strong relationships. Massage is only one of the many ways in which you can look after yourself. Try a little bit of all of these: yoga, deep breathing, drinking plenty of water, taking frequent breaks from work. All of these will make you feel special and happy.
Joy is not in things-it is in us, said a wise man. Healers who followed ayurveda have expressed this sentiment in a variety of ways. To them, this thought mattered a great deal because they knew relationships can become victims of object-referral living. A vaidya, therefore, would whole-heartedly agree that "the real things in life aren't things at all.
Know the difference between loving and clinging. Laugh together as often as you can. Laughter really is the best medicine.
Meditate: Transcendental Meditation® is a wonderful way to connect with yourself, and subsequently with other people. The basic principle is this: when you make contact with your deepest needs, your inner self, you release the knotted-up tension from your heart. Through regular meditation, you can shed these pressures on a daily basis-which will make you feel more energetic, more positive and more loving.
Nature knows best. Follow this simple mantra, and your harried life will begin to flow smoothly. Be it hunger or sleep, listen to the rhythm of nature: appetite peaks at noon and the mind requests rest in the evening-that's the way nature has designed us, and going against its laws causes disturbances in our daily lives, and affects our relationships with others too.
Omit meat from your diet if you can. Ayurveda believes that the vegetarian diet is complete in itself, and foods that are not derived from animal slaughter are rich in "chetna" or consciousness. Such foods give rise to positive thoughts, build "satoguna", the highest-quality dosha of the mind.
Prevent disorders from taking root in the physiology with the greatest rasayana of all. Amrit is truly the golden cup of longevity, as its name means. It is a wonderfully effective formulation of 40 rare herbs and fruits. Not only does this incredible anti-oxidant rejuvenate the body, but also brings calm and peace to the person as a whole.
Quell your desire to eat a late-night meal or stay in bed till late in the morning. An old saying, "eat half as much in twice the time" makes a lot of sense to ayurvedic physicians. Similarly, sleep early and rise before 6 a.m.-this way, you will balance all your doshas. When the doshas are in harmony, one feels joyous, filled with bliss. When you are humming inside, you'll make others want to sing, too.
Resolve to pay more attention to the little things in a relationship: a kind gesture, a thank-you note, or even just a smile.
Sniff sesame oil (nasya) to lubricate and protect your nose and sinuses, which are the ventilation system for your brain. The oil helps clear mucus out of the sinuses. Just dip your little finger in the sesame oil you use for your massage and rub the oil inside of each nostril. Then pinch and release your nostrils rapidly while inhaling sharply. This not only clears the nasal passages but also your brain, making you think clearer and make the right choices with regard to yourself and others.
"Tend to the needs of your digestive system. Now good digestion wait on appetite-and health on both," Shakespeare's Macbeth is said to have exclaimed. Not for no reason. Ayurveda considers the health of the digestive system to be the key to overall well-being. Can you imagine being relaxed, friendly, and creative when last night's heavy dinner is still groaning in your stomach?
Understand the importance of touch. Ayurveda's prime diagnostic tool is nadi pariksha or pulse diagnosis, which connects the physician to the patient -anyone who has had a pulse diagnosis done knows how soothing and healing that touch feels. Not only that, the pulse can tell a physician what complex laboratory tests can sometimes fail to reveal. Similarly, people around us need to be healed with touch: a baby needs hugging, a friend needs a gentle squeeze of the hand.
Value the need of your body to rejuvenate and detoxify with each change of season. Ayurveda offers the pleasurable and highly beneficial Panchakarma therapy that can, every time the season changes, restore you in body and mind.
Work hard, but don't let your work overshadow other areas of your life that are equally important. Short breaks during periods of intense activity, planning and not allowing deadlines to rule your entire life can make work pleasurable and productive.
"Youth is unhappy because it is faced with this terrible choice: love without peace, or peace without love," wrote Beaumarchais. True, isn't it-that youth and peace often seem to be in conflict? It needn't be that way, if you listen to some simple ayurvedic advice. Youth, according to ayurveda, is the season ruled by dynamic Pitta. Keeping your Pitta balanced by eating calming foods, dressing according to the weather, and staying away from violent books and movies are small but effective steps toward a happy, peaceful and loving youth.
Zoom away together to a place where natural beauty abounds. Getting close to nature every now and then heals and restores the whole being.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Menopause Relief
Ayurveda offers a new line of products for menopausal symptoms that are not only effective but safe. When research on hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) was suddenly discontinued by a federally-funded research program this summer, it made headlines.A combination of artificial estrogen and progestin, HRT has been used by millions of women as a solution to a wide range of menopausal problems from hot flashes to wrinkle-free skin.
The reason for discontinuing HRT research: despite the fact that HRT has been promoted by doctors and researchers as a way to protect women against heart disease for the past thirty years, the study proved that the opposite is true.
Long-term use of HRT actually increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and clotting, and thus the 16,000 subjects involved in HRT research were at too high a risk to continue. In addition, the study definitively proved what was already indicated in 30 previous studies--that HRT also increases the risk of breast cancer.
The HRT study was conducted by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), one of the largest research programs ever undertaken, involving over 160,000 women subjects. The WHI was begun in 1991 by the National Institutes of Health and is considered the definitive word on women's health by most doctors due to its rigorous design.
So what is a woman to do? Millions of women now feel abandoned, adrift in a sea of symptoms without relief. Many are turning to Maharishi Ayurveda for help.
Maharishi Ayurveda Products has recently developed a complete line of products to treat specific menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, memory loss, mood swings, urinary tract infections, and reduced sexual desire. These products effectively treat these symptoms without harmful side effects. Even more importantly, the wisdom of Maharishi Ayurveda offers practical and effective ways to prevent these disorders from happening at all.
What is Soma?
Soma has to do with the finest relative or celestial value that exists in all of nature including the human physiology.
Soma has a cooling, nourishing influence on the physiology, and is associated with lunar energy. In fact, soma is another word for "essence of the moon. Soma, or lunar energy, must be balanced with agni, or the solar energy that is associated with the sun in nature and with the digestive fire in the human body.
Here's one example of how these two forces work together in the body. When you eat an apple, the apple gets crushed by agni in the digestive process, and becomes the liquid nutritive fluid (rasa dhatu). As the nutritive fluid is further metabolized by the body, it becomes more and more refined. At some point, in the gaps between the dhatus (tissues), it becomes soma.
Ideal health means maintaining a balance between the cooling, nurturing, lunar energy of soma and the warm, metabolic and cleansing energy of agni. Women naturally have more soma in their physiology than men, and thus it is very important to maintain a good quantity of soma in the female physiology in order to maintain women's health.
Q: In the West menopause is likened to a disease, with women often under a physician's care for treatment. Is the ayurvedic approach similar or does a planned program of self-care help you go through menopause relatively without discomfort?
A: In the ayurvedic tradition, menopause is viewed not as a disease but as a transitional imbalance. Just as imbalances in the body arise due to the change of seasons, changes in weather, and the changing influence of the sun, moon and planets, menopause is a natural transition in a woman's life.
And just as Maharishi Ayurveda explains how to avoid imbalances in other transitional periods of life, it explains how to avoid imbalances during menopause.These transitions from one stage of life to the next are natural, and menopause itself is manageable through Maharishi Ayurveda. To use an analogy, there may be bumps in the road due to changing from one sort of pavement to another, but if you know the bumps are coming, you can take precautions to slow down so you don't blow out your tires.
In the same way, in daily life change is unavoidable. Maharishi Ayurveda offers concrete lifestyle and dietary guidelines to make those transitions smooth. This is the value of the seasonal routine (ritucharya), and this is the value of the special ayurvedic guidelines for the other changes in a woman's life: puberty, pregnancy, postpartum and menopause. They make the transitions happen smoothly, without discomfort or disease.
So the answer to your question is yes, the knowledge of Maharishi Ayurveda offers a complete self-care program for avoiding menopausal discomfort.
Q: Why do so many women in the West experience menopause-related symptoms such as hot flashes, loss of memory, emotional imbalance, and loss of sexual drive?
A: That is a good question. The main thing to understand is that menopause takes place during the transition between the Pitta stage of life and the Vata stage of life. Maharishi Ayurveda outlines three stages of life (called Kala in Sanskrit) for both men and women: Kapha Kala forms the first trimester, when Kapha dosha predominates and the body's structure is developed to maturity. Next is Pitta Kala or the adulthood trimester, when Pitta dosha is predominant and most people achieve their peak in terms of productivity and creativity. Vata Kala, the third trimester, occurs at the end of life, and is predominated by Vata dosha.
Because menopause occurs towards the end of Pitta Kala and the beginning of Vata Kala (the exact age a woman experiences these transitions varies), it is common for a menopausal woman to experience both Vata and Pitta related imbalances. For instance, menopausal complaints such as insomnia, memory lapses, anxiety, vaginal dryness, and aging skin are all related to an imbalance in Vata dosha. Pitta-related imbalances are experienced in menopause as hot flashes, urinary tract infections, anger, irritability, hyperacidity, and skin breakouts and rashes.
If a woman already has a significant Pitta or Vata imbalance in the years before menopause, her symptoms are likely to be much, much worse.
Another factor leading to menopausal imbalances is the accumulation of the digestive impurities called ama in the physiology, often caused by eating a diet of fast foods, foods with chemicals and preservatives, and packaged, canned, frozen or left-over foods. Ama blocks the channels that transport nutrition to the cells and remove waste from the body, and thus ama contributes to disease and aging, including menopausal problems.
Basically if a woman has had problems in the years before menopause with accumulation of ama then the symptoms of menopause are likely to be worse. A third factor is the misuse and overuse of the mind, body, emotions, or senses. Basically, this happens when a woman strains her mind too much, is under too much ongoing stress or pressure, or is doing work that is too "heavy" for her body, or is under tremendous emotional stress.
So if a woman enters menopause with a Vata or Pitta imbalance, or with the accumulation of ama, or having strained her emotions, mental faculties, physical body or senses through misuse or excessive use--then these pre-existing imbalances will combine with the natural fluctuations in hormones that take place during menopause. The result will be the symptoms that we recognize as hot flashes, loss of memory, emotional imbalance, weight gain, urinary infections, vaginal dryness, loss of sexual desire, and sleep problems.
Unfortunately, these causal factors are found more often in the West, or in women who are living a fast-paced lifestyle as in the West. When I was practicing in India, the women in the villages did not have the same problems of menopause that I am seeing in my practice in the West. There is an interesting story that illustrates this difference. In the village where I lived in India, there were two identical twin sisters.
One stayed in the village all her life, and the other moved to New Delhi, the Indian capital, with her husband. When these women reached menopausal age, the sister who stayed in the village had a smooth transition with no symptoms. The sister who had moved to New Delhi eventually consulted my father because she was suffering many complications of menopause, due mainly to her faster-paced, more stressful lifestyle and lesser attention to a proper diet and daily routine.
Q: This is fascinating, that menopausal symptoms are a symptom of the imbalances of our culture as well as the time of life itself. What's the best way to prepare for menopause and prevent these imbalances from happening?
A: The most important thing is to prevent Pitta and Vata imbalances and to keep the body free of ama before menopause begins. First of all, it's important to understand that not all women will get the same symptoms. Some will have more hot flashes, some more mood swings, others a memory problem, and others a loss of libido. Very few will have all the symptoms. And some women will have no symptoms at all.
The reason for this variation, even though all women experience the same reduction in estrogen at the time of menopause, is that there are other factors in play, as we have already mentioned. If someone is of Pitta constitution, or if they are eating foods that cause a Pitta imbalance or living a lifestyle that creates those imbalances, they are going to experience more Pitta-related symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings. On the other hand, if the person has a Vata imbalance due to having more Vata in their constitution or eating more Vata foods and living a Vata-aggravating lifestyle, then they will experience more Vata-related symptoms, such as memory loss and vaginal dryness.
So it's important to identify the etiological (causal) factors behind the symptoms. You could say that the main cause is the drop in hormones due to menopause, and certainly this is a major transition in a woman's life. But if the cause is only a drop in hormones, why isn't every woman getting the same symptoms? An intelligent woman can see that there also has to be some imbalance there in order for specific symptoms to manifest. And that is what you need to identify, whether it's a Vata or Pitta imbalance, and you need to stop doing those things that are causing the imbalance.So if you start to have any of the Pitta-based problems of menopause, be sure to follow a Pitta-pacifying diet. Avoid foods that are spicy, such as chilies, cayenne and black mustard seed. Salty foods and foods that are sour, such as yogurt (unless it is diluted and sweetened in a drink called lassi) and sour fruits such as ketchup, mustard, and other salad dressings and condiments made with vinegar should also be avoided.
Favor foods that are bitter, astringent and sweet, as these are cooling to Pitta dosha. Bitter and astringent foods include most vegetables. Sweet foods include rice, milk and cream, sweet lassi, wheat products, pasta. Sweet, juicy fruits such as pears and plums also pacify Pitta dosha. Cook with Pitta-reducing spices, such as cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, fennel and small amounts of cumin seed.
If you start to have some Vata-related symptoms of menopause such as memory loss or vaginal dryness, you'll want to work at bringing Vata dosha back into balance. For this, you'll want to eat foods that are cooked, warm, and unctuous (meaning that they have a small amount of good fats such as ghee and olive oil). Eat foods that are sweet, sour and salty, as this balances Vata dosha.
Apana Vata, which governs the genito-urinary tract, elimination, and menstruation, is a key area to attend to when preparing for menopause. Drink plenty of warm water throughout the day. Eat plenty of cooked, leafy greens, as this helps elimination and is also a good source of calcium. For both Pitta and Vata imbalances, a breakfast of cooked apples and prunes and figs is a good way to start the day, as it balances the doshas and cleanses the digestion.
In addition to balancing Pitta and Vata dosha, it's important to keep your digestion strong and free of ama. All of the above suggestions will help with this, In addition, avoid eating foods that are packaged, processed, frozen, canned or left over. Eat organic foods that are cooked fresh each day. The bulk of your diet should consist of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and legumes and light dairy products such as milk, lassi or panir for protein. This type of light but nourishing diet will aid your digestion and avoid the build-up of ama. Avoid heavy foods such as meat, cheese, yogurt and frozen desserts like ice cream, especially at night.
Q: And are there any lifestyle tips for preparing for menopause?
A: Yes. Sleep is an important area of concern for the woman entering menopause, because both Vata and Pitta imbalances can cause sleep problems that will only make menopausal imbalances worse. To keep both doshas in balance and to sleep more deeply at night, be sure you're in bed before 10:00 p.m. and that you arise before 6:00 a.m. This is the time of night when sleep comes easier and is more restful. If you stay awake past 10:00, it will be harder to fall asleep, and you'll also increase any Pitta imbalance, because 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. is the Pitta time of night, when the body needs to be at rest in order to cleanse and purify itself.
The morning abhyanga or ayurvedic oil massage is extremely important for preventing menopausal problems. Use the Youthful Skin Oil for Women. This oil is designed to increase circulation, calm Vata dosha, and prov ide needed moisture to the skin. For both Pitta and Vata dosha, it's important not to skip meals, and to eat your main meal at noon, when digestion is the strongest. Try to eat at the same time every day, and go to bed and wake up at the same time. And be sure to get lots of rest during your menstrual cycle as you approach menopause, because this will keep Apana Vata in balance and avoid more serious complications of menopause. Daily exercise (gentle for Vata and not too overheating for Pitta) is also important for keeping all doshas in balance. F inally, practice of the Transcendental Meditation® program is an effective way to keep the doshas in balance, to keep the mind clear and focused, and to calm the emotions and dissolve stress.
Q: You've given us a clear picture of what to do to prevent menopausal problems. What should a woman do during menopause?
A: All of these dietary and lifestyle suggestions that I just described to help prevent menopausal problems will also help keep Pitta and Vata dosha in balance once menopause begins.
Q: I understand that you have developed a completely new line of products for menopause called the Graceful Transition line of nutritional supplements. Can you tell us about this targeted line of products for menopause?
A: The Graceful Transition line as a whole is designed to prevent and address the imbalances related to menopause. It provides both general support and targets specific imbalances that women experience before, during and after menopause. The Graceful Transition line includes these products: Hot Flash Relief, Midlife for Women 1, and Midlife for Women2. In addition, the program includes dietary and lifestyle recommendations to correct specific imbalances during menopause.
The entire program is targeted especially for women of the West: who have the Western physiology, live in that environment, or work in that culture. It addresses the dietary needs, lifestyle and stress levels of women who live a fast-paced life. This program is designed to promote the overall emotional, physical and mental health of women. It helps keep the body free of ama and maintains the balance between soma (lunar energy) and agni (solar energy).
Q: That sounds like an amazingly comprehensive program. Can you tell us first of all what causes each type of imbalance and how each formula from the Graceful Transition line can help?
A: Certainly. Let's start with hot flashes. Hot flashes are caused when too much Pitta dosha accumulates in the body and at the same time ama blocks the channels (srotas). This causes the circulation of heat to become uneven, which women experience as hot flashes. Hot flashes, you could say, are the body's attempt to release heat that has accumulated due to blocked channels.
There is another factor that is highly important here, and that is the influence of soma on a woman's physiology. Soma is the cooling, nourishing substance related to lunar energy that is more predominant in a woman's physiology (see box for more detailed explanation). When, due to Vata and Pitta imbalances, the cooling soma decreases, this contributes to chronic hot flashes. Hot Pitta burns soma and high Vata dries it. When the channels are clogged and the release of heat in the body gets obstructed, then heat builds up and eventually gets released through uncomfortable hot flashes or night sweats.
Once there is this level of Pitta imbalance, and the damage has been done, so to speak, then what is needed is an herbal product to reduce Pitta in the deeper tissues of the body, such as the muscle and fat tissues. In addition, the microcirculatory channels of all the tissues (dhatus) and the waste products (malas) need to be cleansed. It's necessary to regulate the heat throughout the body and the brain as well. Most importantly, the connection between the the mind and body and the mind and the heart need to be re-established. In ayurvedic terms, this relationship between mind and heart is governed by Sadhaka Pitta, the subdosha that regulates the emotions and their effect on the heart, and Prana Vata, the subdosha that regulates the mind and senses. Finally, in chronic situations, soma must be increased, because the burning effect of hot flashes has reduced it to critical lows.
Hot Flash Relief is designed to repair all of these imbalances in order to cool the body and reduce hot flashes during menopause.
Q: That's remarkable, that Hot Flash Relief has been designed to take into account all these different causes of hot flashes. Can you tell us something about the herbs in the formula and how they achieve these effects?
A: Let's look at the first benefit this formula imparts: to reduce Pitta in the deeper tissues of the body. To reduce Pitta imbalance in the deeper tissues, the fat (medha) and muscle (mamsa) tissues, we added the ayurvedic herbs Shatavari, Indian Asparagus, Indian Sarsaparilla, Khus Khus Grass, Water Lily, Sandalwood, Indian Tinospora, Cabbage Rose, and Mica Bhasma. These herbs, when combined, perform an important task. They go deep into the fat and muscle tissues and remove the heat that has been stored there.
There's a very interesting story related to one of these ingredients, Water Lily, which to me illustrates how this wisdom of Maharishi Ayurveda is so profound. In ancient times, the great seers were aware that there were many herbs to increase soma and reduce heat in the deep tissues of the body. But they also knew that there was only one herb that is ideal to increase soma production in women, and that herb is the Water Lily.
Now, every herb has its own intelligence, its own purpose. Some plants are receptors for solar energy (agni), and thus have a heating effect on the human physiology. Other plants are receptors for lunar energy (soma), and thus have a cooling, nourishing effect. To understand how this works, think of a chili pepper. Nature has given it a receptor, you could say, that allows it to store solar energy. If you allow a green chili to mature until it is red in color, it will store more solar energy and we experience this as a hotter taste.
I learned a valuable lesson about the intelligence of herbs when I was interning with my father. We lived near a pond in which the Water Lily and the Red Lotus grew. The Red Lotus is large and red, and its petals are open during the day and closed at night. The Water Lily, on the other hand, opens its petals at night and closes them during the day.
My father pointed out that both lilies are cool by nature because they live in the water and derive their nourishment from the water. So both are good for pacifying Pitta on the deeper tissues, as is needed in the Hot Flash Relief formula. But if you also need an herb that increases soma, then the best choice is the Water Lily, because its petals are open during the night and closed during the day. The fact that it is open to the moon and closed to the sun makes it a receptor of lunar energy, and the best herb to increase soma in the feminine physiology.
You can see from this illustration that if you follow the traditional, proven guidelines of Maharishi Ayurveda, the formulation ends up being unique and highly effective.
Q: That's a fascinating story. What other herbs are used in this formula?
A: Other herbs such as Long Pepper, Indian Sarsaparilla, Turbinella rapa Bhasma and Cumin seed cleanse ama from the microchannels. Indian Tinospora, Shatavari, Coral (Corallium Rubrum) and Licorice nourish the connection between mind and body and mind and heart. Khus Khus Grass (Vetiver), Sandalwood and Mica Bhasma maintain proper heat regulation.
As far as dietary tips for reducing hot flashes, follow a Pitta pacifying diet. Don't eat anything that aggravates Pitta. Favor more sweet, juicy fruits, Rose Petal Preserve, and start the day with a stewed apple.
Keep your home environment cool, pleasant and loving. Fill your garden and home with roses. For daily abhyanga (ayurvedic oil massage), use 50% Youthful Skin Oil and 50% Cool Sensation Oil. This will calm and balance the emotions and support coordination of body, mind and heart.
Q: Can you tell us what causes other Pitta-related imbalances, such as mood swings?
A: Changing hormones can contribute to emotional ups and downs during menopause, and this physiological change can be magnified by special problems such as work pressures, children leaving the home, the burden of caring for ailing parents, and financial and marital problems. When emotional stress becomes chronic, even the brain chemicals can be affected, leading to feelings of depression.
Sadhaka Pitta, which governs the emotions and their effect on the heart, is often thrown out of balance when Pitta dosha becomes aggravated, creating sudden mood swings and a critical attitude towards loved ones.
To counteract mood swings, I'd recommend taking Stress Free Emotions along with a Pitta pacifying diet. If you feel critical or upset, try eating a sweet, juicy pear or take a teaspoon of Rose Petal Preserve. It's very important to take care of emotional imbalances when they first appear, because if left untreated they can cause major problems and even lead to early menopause. So it's very important to keep Sadhaka Pitta in balance at all times.
The various herbs in Stress Free Emotions combine to do three things: enhance coordination between mind and emotions, cleanse the channels between heart and mind, and nourish the heart and mind.
Q: What is the best way to approach multiple symptoms? Can a woman take all of these formulas at one time?
A: If a woman has multiple symptoms, she should try to find out which symptom occurred first. Then she should try to address that problem first, and make the recommended lifestyle and dietary changes along with taking the formulation.
What often happens is that one imbalance creates additional imbalances, with the root imbalance causing other symptoms to manifest. So as a general rule in Maharishi Ayurveda, we address the symptom and underlying imbalance that occurred first, since it is often the cause of later problems. For instance, if someone is hungry and then gets a headache, it would be wise to eat a meal first, instead of just popping a pain-relieving pill. The secondary symptom is often related to the first symptom, in the same way that the headache is related to hunger.
In general, take only two of the Graceful Transition formulas at one time, and in special cases up to three. But if you feel you have three or more symptoms, it's best to consult a physician trained in Maharishi Ayurveda, who can determine the primary cause through nadi vigyan (pulse diagnosis). This is also a good idea if you are taking other herbal formulas or medications.
An important part of this program is knowledge, and I'd highly recommend the newly released book, A Woman's Best Medicine for Menopause: Your Personal Guide to Radiant Good Health Using Maharishi Ayurveda, by Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D. This book gives a deep understanding of menopause, its imbalances, and the causes of specific symptoms. It also outlines a complete self-care program for taking care of those symptoms and removing the imbalances at their source.
Q: How do Midlife for Women I and II fit in with these Graceful Transition targeted menopause formulas? And what about taking Maharishi Amrit Kalash with these products?
A: I'm glad you asked because this is important to clarify. Midlife for Women I and II should be taken along with the new targeted formulas from the Graceful Transition lines. Midlife for Women I (for preparing for menopause) and Midlife for Women II (for during menopause) provide overall support. A woman needs both types of nourishment and support--general and specific.
Many women won't have any symptoms, and will be able to stay in balance by just taking Midlife for Women I or II. For women who have specific imbalances, such as hot flashes, mood swings, urinary tract disorders, vaginal dryness or memory loss, they should take both the Midlife for Women I or II plus up to two of the specific formulas.
Maharishi Amrit Kalash is the supreme rasayana, or herbal compound, for overall balance and youthfulness, so it can be taken in addition to two other herbal formulas.
Q: Osteoporosis is, of course, another problem often associated with menopause. Can you tell us something about the Calcium Support formula?
A: The Calcium Support formula is a vegetarian source of calcium that is easily absorbable and safe. Since one of the problems with calcium supplements is that they are often not absorbed by the body, this formula focuses on absorption, and contains herbs that enhance absorption of calcium. It also enhances the metabolic mechanisms between fat and bone tissue, so the bone tissue can actually utilize the calcium and other nutrients supportive to the bone. This high absorbability makes Calcium Support a unique product on the market today. Many commercial varieties are digested but not absorbed by the body, which creates a strain on the kidneys to remove the excess calcium through the urinary tract.
Another important feature of Calcium Support is that it is lead-free. Many commercial calcium supplements today contain lead, which is harmful to the body. Calcium Support contains Pearl Bhasma, which is one of the richest sources of calcium mentioned in the traditional ayurvedic texts. It and the other natural sources of calcium are easily absorbable and natural.
Q: Should you take the Calcium Support along with the Graceful Transition supplements?
A: Women of any age can take Calcium Support on an ongoing basis as you would a food, one tablet twice a day, without counting it as one of the Graceful Transition formulas that you take.
Because Herbal Calcium Absorb contains herbs to enhance utilization, and because the herbs also increase the absorption of calcium from the food you eat, it is much more effective in supplying needed calcium to menopausal women than the large quantities normally recommended for other types of calcium supplements.
Q: Menopausal women sometimes complain about skin and hair problems such as acne. What are the reasons for these symptoms?
A: One reason is that the decrease in estrogen and the onset of Vata time of life associated with menopause causes the glands to produce less oil and the deeper fat layers to become thinner.
This drying effect of Vata dosha causes the skin to wrinkle and lose its softness.
The surface layer of the skin also thins, and thus many women find that their skin is more sensitive to sunburn, windy and dry conditions, and allergens. That's why women in their fifties are sometimes dismayed to find that they have a case of acne, something they haven't faced since adolescence.
Aging also causes a decrease in circulation and blood flow, so the skin is no longer nourished on deeper levels. This, along with the drying of natural emollients, can cause the skin to look pale and pasty. Fluctuations in hormones also cause collagen to decrease, making the skin less firm and youthful looking.
Q: Do women just have to accept these changes, or is there something that they can do to increase the natural vitality and beauty of their skin?
A: Maharishi Ayurveda offers a wide range of remedies to keep a woman's skin healthy and youthful as she ages. The most important thing is to identify your skin type. Vata skin is delicate, thin, fine-pored and cool when you touch it. When out of balance, it is more prone to dryness, roughness, a gray or wan color, wrinkles and early aging. Pitta skin is usually fair and sensitive, with a tendency to freckles, moles, pinkish or reddish color. When out of balance it can develop sunspots, rashes, and breakouts. Kapha skin is usually soft, oily, thick, and darker in color. When out of balance, it can develop enlarged pores, blackheads and pimples, moist types of eczema and water retention.
For Vata skin, you'll want to moisturize your skin from the inside and out. Drink several glasses of pure water a day. Eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Follow a Vata pacifying diet. Because Vata skin is delicate, you'll want to avoid harsh cleansers or products with chemical ingredients. The Youthful Skin Massage Oil is especially soothing to Vata, and helps nourish and soothe the skin.
For Pitta skin, which tends to be extremely sensitive, you'll also want to avoid harsh chemical ingredients. Cooling foods and tastes are best for your diet. Include Ghee and Rose Petal Preserve in your diet.
The Youthful Skin products are ideal for rejuvenating dry and aging skin and making it youthful again, and are completely free of harmful additives and preservatives. In fact, the Youthful Skin Cream is comprised of 9.5% herbal extract, which is truly an unheard of percentage. Most skin creams that are labeled "herbal" or "natural" contain only .025-1% herbal extracts.
Youthful Skin Cream has been tested in an independent laboratory with impressive results.
After two months, skin thickness increased by an average of 14.59%, which is a remarkable result from an all-natural cream. Wrinkles were reduced an average of 33% in the first month, and by 40% in just three months. Firmness, clarity and radiance, and moisturizing of the skin all were also substantially improved.
One reason that Youthful Skin Cream is so effective in moisturizing the skin is that the herbs open the channels and allow moisture to be conveyed to the deepest layers of the skin. Youthful Skin Cream, even though applied from the outside, actually improves the metabolism of the skin and opens the channels so it can show the results of being moisturized from the inside (by drinking water) and from the outside with the application of the cream.
The Youthful Skin Herbal Tablets are also a big help for menopause-related skin problems, because they promote contentment and serenity even in the face of stressful challenges. This formula also nourishes the deepest layer of the skin, the rohini layer, which means that it helps replenish and rebuild the tissues and fluids necessary for healthy skin.
Maharishi Ayurveda Products International, Inc.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Cornea Research Brings Clear-Eyed View on Cancer
THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- A new study pinpoints the key role of a specific growth factor in keeping eyes healthy. The finding might even aid cancer research, researchers say.
U.S. researchers say large amounts of the protein VEGFR-3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3) on the top epithelial layer of the cornea keeps the cornea transparent and free of blood vessels and, thus, makes vision possible.
The cornea is the thin, clear tissue that covers the front of the eye. It's one of the few tissues that actively keeps itself free of blood vessels. Until now, researchers did not know exactly how the cornea managed to do this.
VEGFR-3 inhibits blood vessel growth in the cornea by binding or neutralizing growth factors that would normally stimulate blood vessel growth, said scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Their finding was published in this week's online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is expected to be published in the July 25 print issue.
The study answers a scientific mystery and may also eventually help researchers find ways to prevent and cure blinding eye diseases and also illnesses such as cancer, where blood vessels grow abnormally and uncontrollably.
"Drugs designed to manipulate the levels of this protein could heal corneas that have undergone severe trauma or help shrink tumors fed by rapidly growing abnormal blood vessels. In fact, the next step in our work is exactly this," study senior author Dr. Reza Dana, senior scientist at Schepens and head of the Cornea Institute at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, said in a prepared statement.
More information
The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about the cornea and corneal disease.
Last reviewed: 07/20/2006 Last updated: 07/20/2006
U.S. researchers say large amounts of the protein VEGFR-3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3) on the top epithelial layer of the cornea keeps the cornea transparent and free of blood vessels and, thus, makes vision possible.
The cornea is the thin, clear tissue that covers the front of the eye. It's one of the few tissues that actively keeps itself free of blood vessels. Until now, researchers did not know exactly how the cornea managed to do this.
VEGFR-3 inhibits blood vessel growth in the cornea by binding or neutralizing growth factors that would normally stimulate blood vessel growth, said scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Their finding was published in this week's online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is expected to be published in the July 25 print issue.
The study answers a scientific mystery and may also eventually help researchers find ways to prevent and cure blinding eye diseases and also illnesses such as cancer, where blood vessels grow abnormally and uncontrollably.
"Drugs designed to manipulate the levels of this protein could heal corneas that have undergone severe trauma or help shrink tumors fed by rapidly growing abnormal blood vessels. In fact, the next step in our work is exactly this," study senior author Dr. Reza Dana, senior scientist at Schepens and head of the Cornea Institute at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, said in a prepared statement.
More information
The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about the cornea and corneal disease.
Last reviewed: 07/20/2006 Last updated: 07/20/2006
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
the health and family welfare ministry would be preserving all possible details of yoga postures in a multi-media digital library
"Most of the documentation is done," Gupta said, adding that around 100 experts had been working on it for the last three years."We have referred to 54 ancient books to research on ayurveda, 35 for unani and 15 for siddha and have documented 50,000 formulae in ayurveda and 24,000 in unani," Gupta said.He said the task force has created a database of 10 million pages.Under a Rs. 100-million project, the health and family welfare ministry would be preserving all possible details of yoga postures in a multi-media digital library - Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL).The data will be made available in five international languages, and 11 countries, including the US, Britain, Japan and China, would be able to access it.The task force has found that at least 150 yoga postures that were developed and practiced in India for ages - the system finds mention in Vedic scriptures - have been pirated in the US, Europe and in Japan.It says yoga is a $30 billion industry in the West.
The task force says the US Patents Office has so far issued 134 patents on yoga accessories, 150 yoga-related copyrights and 2,315 yoga trademarks while Britain has approved at least 10 trademarks relating to yoga training aids.Bikram Chowdhury, a Los Angelus-based multi-millionaire yoga guru, has popularized "hot yoga" - he reportedly developed 26 postures and two breathing exercises performed in a certain sequence in 105 degree heat - and claimed copyrights over it.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Turmeric and Cancer Treatment
by: Jai Dharma on Nov 22 2005 5:07
PM in Health
Yet another example of how new scientific research is providing evidence of the medicinal properties of spices.
This time, “haldi” and its beneficial impact on cancer treatment. Read the full article here: “How curry can help keep cancer at bay” (15th Oct ’05) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=365491&in_page_id=1774#StartComments
As the article mentions, “It is not the first time scientists have found that curries can be good for health. Curcumin, a member of the ginger family, is already widely used in Indian and Chinese medicine for a range of ailments from rheumatism to abdominal pain.
Studies have suggested that turmeric - of which curcumin is the active ingredient - can help to slow prostate cancer.
And last year, researchers said curcumin, which gives curries a mustard-yellow colour, could help protect the brain against the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.
This could explain why rates of Alzheimer's are far lower in India than in the West. Other curry spices linked to health benefits include coriander, which aids digestion, and fenugreek, which can help prevent mouth ulcers and sore throats.
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Can Ayurveda cure HIV/AIDS?
If Government will take initiative to establish Ayurveda Research Centre, then India will soon find out the medicine to treat the HIV/Aids, said Dr P Sivarama, noted Ayurveda practitioner.Speaking to the reporters here on Wednesday, he said the Indian Herbal Therapy used for Cytomegaloviral Esophagitis (HIV patients) had recently proved effective and affordable drug for HIV.
He said CD4 - a part of White Blood Corpuscles - drops in HIV patient due to viruses. This renders the patient weak getting fever and the patient even cannot gulp his saliva, as it causes a pain in the chest, said Dr Sivarama.
He said the Ayurvedic therapy helps in destroying the viruses and the patient can be saved. Dr Sivarama said the Ayurvedic therapy mentioned, was not the complete solution for HIV/Aids patients, but it could certainly increase the life span of the patient.
More informations here:
- Ayurvedic Medicine
- Ozone Oxygen Therapy
- Disease & Conditions
- Colon Hydrotherapy
- Diet Programs
- Parasites Programs
- Detoxification Program
- Liver Cleansing
- Liver Flush
- Kidney Cleansing
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