What Color Is Your Therapy?

By: Lara Endreszl Published: Sunday, 29 March 2009

Everyone knows the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that was almost left out of the final cut of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, but the powerful message that the song conveys is one that sticks with the viewer and can promote wonderment and an incredible longing for something else, something better than what you have. The end message from the movie, however, is that when you finally get what you want, you realize you had it all from the start.

The rainbow is a general symbol of hope and in ancient mythology a spiritual pathway between earth and the heavens. When scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered in 1666 that white light breaks into a specific wavelengths of color when directed through a prism, the explanation of the rainbow was born. Readers of HealthNews might have already read about the idea of color as an influential part of their lives, but to go further in-depth, color therapy has been changing people’s moods for thousands of years.When Newton realized that every color cannot be split again into any other colors, the acronym ROYGBIV was created to help people remember the seven unchangeable colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Although other colors such as pink, orange, or brown can be made by mixing two of the seven, the wavelengths themselves cannot be altered. What can be altered, however, is your behavior in or around certain colors.The holistic belief dating back centuries from countries such as India, China, and Egypt, is that each separate color wavelength corresponds with a certain energy which can be positive or negative.

Each of the seven colors matches up to the seven main energies of the body, also known as chakras. Since complementary and alternative medicine is all about balance between the energy of the body and the earth as well as the spiritual world, the chakras must all be lined up in order for health to be optimum inside the body. If each color is assigned a different region of the body, naturally color therapy would help to stimulate the chakras to align and recreate harmony.

For example, here are some of the primary “rainbow” colors, followed by their main focus physically and psychologically, as well as a few symptoms or conditions it may help:

RED – life strength, stimulation, sexuality; red represents the fire of passion as well as anger as well as the circulation of the blood; red can be irritating or exciting or powerful; anemia, pneumonia, and paralysis can all be treated with red.

GREEN – balance, calm, progress; green is soothing and reflects natural growth and healing and can be both beneficial and tiring; green enlightens friendships and peace and hope as well as love and can also be an aphrodisiac; green is also the color of inexperience and youth and represents envy and jealousy; green can treat colds, asthma, malaria, and ulcers.

BLUE – communication, willpower, peace, and faith; blue can stimulate metabolism, slow the heart, and be used as an antiseptic; blue like water is cooling and emotionally calming and therefore helpful in meditation as well as conflict mediation and relaxing the mind; blue quiets the rest of the other energies in the body in order to treat epilepsy, glaucoma, headache, and various throat troubles as it is specifically associated with the throat chakra.

The best way to incorporate color into your life as part of color therapy is to surround yourself with nice things that you associate with positive thoughts or memories or bright colors that can brighten your day. For example, use softer lights in your home instead of fluorescent, use colored lights in certain parts of your house or colored lampshade, use paint to spruce up your walls, and always remember that natural colors are the best for keeping a calm energy flow throughout the space.

If you rent your place and cannot use paint, wallpaper, or install different light fixtures, focus instead on decorative items like pillows, bedding, curtains, or your closet.

Whether it’s a lava lamp, mood lighting, a black light, the color of your shower curtain or wall paint, the colors of the things we surround ourselves with matters because it conveys the mood we are in when purchasing or the mood that we want to be in upon seeing/wearing/using that object.

Color therapy may seem like a bogus, out-of-left-field holistic idea, but take a look at your wardrobe, your friend’s house, or your favorite restaurant and note people’s moods and behaviors; you may just be surprised at what you notice.

Related articles:Natural Ways to Reduce Stress

Seek Spiritual Wisdom and Seek Health

Optimism May Have Life-Extending Benefits

Nutrition On A Budget

9 Foods to Eat for a Killer Immune System

It takes more than an apple a day to keep viruses at bay. You can improve your body’s resistance by getting your seven servings of fruits and veggies and eight to 10 glasses of water a day, at the very least. While an all-around diet is the key to stronger immunity, these particular immune system-boosting foods and ingredients can keep you in fighting condition.

YOGURT
YogurtProbiotics, or the "live active cultures" found in yogurt, are healthy bacteria that keep the gut and intestinal tract free of disease-causing germs. Although they're available in supplement form, a study from the University of Vienna in Austria found that a daily 7-ounce dose of yogurt was just as effective in boosting immunity as popping pills. In an 80-day Swedish study of 181 factory employees, those who drank a daily supplement of Lactobacillus reuteri — a specific probiotic that appears to stimulate white blood cells — took 33 percent fewer sick days than those given a placebo. Any yogurt with a live and active cultures seal contains some beneficial bugs, but Stonyfield Farm is the only U.S. brand that contains this specific strain. Have two 6-ounce servings a day. Be sure you chose a yogurt that is no more than 200 calories, 4 grams of fat or less, 30 grams of sugar or less and at least 6 grams of protein.

SWEET POTATOES

You may not think of skin as part of your immune system. But this crucial organ, covering an impressive 16 square feet, serves as a first-line fortress against bacteria, viruses and other undesirables. To stay strong and healthy, your skin needs vitamin A. "Vitamin A plays a major role in the production of connective tissue, a key component of skin," explains Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Conn. One of the best ways to get vitamin A into your diet is from foods containing beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A. One of the quickest, most delicious ways to get beta-carotene? Serve candied sweet potatoes (canned are fine). Each 1/2-cup serving delivers only 170 calories but 40 percent of the daily recommendation of vitamin A as beta-carotene. They're so good, you might want to save them for dessert! Think orange when looking for other foods rich in beta-carotene: carrots, squash, canned pumpkin and cantaloupe.

TEA

Take frequent tea breaks this winter, and you may just get through it without a sniffle. Immunologists at Harvard University discovered that people who drank five cups of black tea a day for 2 weeks transformed their immune system T cells into "Hulk cells" that pumped out 10 times more cold and flu virus-fighting interferon — proteins that defend against infection — than did the immune systems of those who didn't drink black tea. Green tea should work just as well. "Not just the common cold and flu, but food poisoning, infected cuts, athlete's foot — even diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria — are caused by germs that your body fights with interferon. We think the interferon boosts from tea may help prevent or lessen the severity of all these conditions," says Dr. Jack Bukowski of the Harvard Medical School.While five cups a day may seem like a lot, he thinks fewer cups may still offer some valuable protection. "And the interferon link may explain tea's other health benefits, including its reported cancer-fighting power, since we already know that interferon slows the growth of tumor cells," he says.

CHICKEN SOUP

When University of Nebraska researchers tested 13 brands, they found that all but one (chicken-flavored ramen noodles) blocked the migration of inflammatory white cells — an important finding, because cold symptoms are a response to the cells' accumulation in the bronchial tubes. The amino acid cysteine, released from chicken during cooking, chemically resembles the bronchitis drug acetylcysteine, which may explain the results. The soup's salty broth keeps mucus thin the same way cough medicines do. Added spices, such as garlic and onions, can increase soup's immune-boosting power. Have a bowl when feeling crummy.

BEEF

Zinc deficiency is one of the most common nutritional shortfalls among American adults, especially for vegetarians and those who've cut back on beef, a prime source of this immunity-bolstering mineral. And that's unfortunate, because even mild zinc deficiency can increase your risk of infection. Zinc in your diet is very important for the development of white blood cells, the intrepid immune system cells that recognize and destroy invading bacteria, viruses, and assorted other bad guys, explains William Boisvert, Ph.D., an expert in nutrition and immunity at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.A 3-ounce serving of lean beef (enough to make a respectable, but not decadent, roast beef sandwich) provides about 30 percent of the daily value for zinc. That's often enough to make the difference between deficient and sufficient. Just can't stomach beef? Try zinc-rich oysters, fortified cereals, pork, poultry, yogurt or milk.

MUSHROOMS

For centuries, people around the world have turned to mushrooms for a healthy immune system. Contemporary researchers now know why. "Studies show that mushrooms increase the production and activity of white blood cells, making them more aggressive. This is a good thing when you have an infection," says Douglas Schar, director of the Institute of Herbal Medicine in Washington. Shiitake and maitake mushrooms, now available fresh in U.S. supermarkets, appear to pack the biggest immunity punch. They're easy to use too. Just add a handful to pasta sauce, saute with a little oil and add to eggs, or heap triple-decker style on a frozen pizza. Good news for absent-minded chefs: "Basically, you can burn them, and they will still powerfully stimulate the immune system," says Schar.

FISH AND SHELLFISH

Getting adequate selenium (plentiful in foods like oysters, lobsters, crabs and clams) increased immune cell production of proteins called cytokines in a British study of 22 adults. The scientists say that cytokines help clear flu viruses out of your body. Of all fats, omega-3s — found in fish such as Pacific salmon — created the highest blood levels of flu-fighting T cells and interferon-gamma cytokines in a British study of 150 people.

GARLIC

Garlic contains the active ingredient allicin, which fights infection and bacteria. British researchers gave 146 people either a placebo or a garlic extract for 12 weeks; the garlic takers were two-thirds less likely to catch a cold. Other studies suggest that garlic lovers who chow more than six cloves a week have a 30 percent lower rate of colorectal cancer and a 50 percent lower rate of stomach cancer. Eat two raw cloves a day and add crushed garlic to your cooking several times a week.

Source: Prevention Magazine

Stephanie's Healthy Slideshow

Do ear candles work?

Here is what using an ear candle looks like:

Here is a video which claims to bust the ear candle myth:

After watching these youtube videos I looked at other websites to see what they had to say:

Wikipedia 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling gives several references to studies done in the 90's. These studies found that using an ear candle does not remove earwax. 

Quackwack http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html is a sight that tries to help people make intelligent decisions about their health. This page not only says that using an ear candle does not work, it also gives a story about a woman burning a hole in her eardrum. 

About.com http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/govtregulation/a/EarCandle.htmalso states that using an ear candle does not produce a vacuum affect, which is what is supposed to happen. 

After looking at these three sites, and also watching the videos above, I think that using an ear candle is a waste of time and money. 

The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation have put out some guidelines for taking care of ear wax. These can be seen here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94855186

on NPR official site. 

Dietary Fiber

Here is a very detailed report in Food Technology magazine about dietary fiber including its importance to our health, new research about it and sources to get the daily fiber our bodies need.

http://members.ift.org/NR/rdonlyres/DBFA0DAB-0FA4-4043-B9B5-C06E4AEC3378/0/0309nutra.pdf

P.S. You'll need to copy and paste this link to your address bar as it does not link from here. Thanks!

"Organic" vs. "Natural" Food

Here is an interesting report about how deceiving some labels can be. The terms "natural" and "cage free" are not formally approved by the FDA. Many American consumers (myself included) are spending extra $$ on what may not be better food...

As a college student, I try to stay within a budget while I attempt to achieve a healthy balance, but I, like many other people, often sacrifice one for the other. Recently, I participated in a research project about how people make their food choices, and I started thinking about this question more in-depth. What barriers exist for healthy eating? How do food prices, geographic availability and accessibility, and preparation convenience affect an individual's or family's choices?
Last week, HealthDay released an article which addressed this issue. Great minds think alike, right?

FRIDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that stores in poor neighborhoods are much less likely to offer healthy foods than those in wealthier parts of town.

"Where you live matters in terms of your diet," said study author Dr. Manuel Franco, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "If you live in a neighborhood with no healthy options, it'll be tough for you to change your diet."

Researchers are familiar with the idea that poor people have a harder time getting access to healthy food. But Franco said the two studies his team published are the first to take a look at the issue in a large city; in this case, it was Baltimore. Previous research, he said, only looked at a few neighborhoods or areas.

Researchers visited 226 food stores in the city of Baltimore and Baltimore County -- including supermarkets and convenience stores -- and looked at the availability of healthy food. They then tracked the availability of healthy food in each of 159 neighborhoods.

The findings were published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The researchers found that 43 percent of predominantly black neighborhoods were in the third of neighborhoods with the least healthy food; 46 percent of the poorest neighborhoods were in that group.

By contrast, just 4 percent of predominantly white neighborhoods were among the third of neighborhoods with the least healthy food. Just 13 percent of the wealthiest neighborhoods were in that group.

A related study by Franco and his colleagues was published in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It looked at a survey of 759 Baltimore residents and found that 24 percent of blacks lived in neighborhoods with poor availability of healthy food, compared to 5 percent of whites.

According to Franco, the research suggests that supermarkets, sometimes seen as a panacea for poor neighborhoods, aren't necessarily the answer. "You have to make supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores offer a certain amount of healthy food. There are huge variances between the same type of food stores, depending on the neighborhood where they're located."

Franco said neither the store owners nor the residents themselves are entirely to blame. "It's a more complex system than that," he said.

In Baltimore, Franco said, researchers are working to improve the availability of healthy food by working with city officials and food store owners.

Shannon N. Zenk, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies neighborhoods and health, said incentives such as tax breaks can encourage markets to offer more healthy foods. Another strategy is to give cash subsidies to the poor for the purchase of fruits and vegetables, Zenk added.

"Obesity and numerous chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are more prevalent in low-income than higher income neighborhoods," Zenk said. "Ensuring that residents of these neighborhoods have access to nutritious foods is a critical first step to promoting healthy eating and, in turn, reversing the obesity epidemic and preventing chronic diseases."

Put A Smile On Your Face - Eat Something

Adapted from the Health News article by Lara Endreszl

Spring is just around the corner, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. In many regions, winter can be exceedingly cold, dark, or just plain gloomy. According to Mental Health America, half a million people each year suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) between September an April.
Surmounting evidence suggests establishing a healthy, balanced diet can cure and prevent a number of afflictions without use of chemicals or supplements. According to an article by Health News, certain foods could be used to treat seasonal depression, too.
"Foods to put a smile on your face" outlines six foods that have key nutrients that can help combat stressful winter blues. If you like to eat (sometimes three or four times per day, even?), these suggestions will surely make you, and your bank account, smile a little brighter this season.


Popcorn—No wonder the smell of popcorn enhances the enjoyment of sticky floors and large screen; experts say that air-popped popcorn is a type of whole grain that is good for boosting the mood. With the ban on carbohydrates in many diets in the past decade, there have been many grumpy meat-eaters walking the streets. Author of Why Women Need Chocolate: How to Get the Body You Want by Eating the Foods You Crave, nutritionist Debra Waterhouse says, “Carb-rich foods, like whole grains, stimulate the release of the brain chemical serotonin, which regulates appetite and improves mood, food cravings, and sleep.” Inventors of fad diets may not have been aware of the brain-stimulation carbs give off or else they might have included a little bit more in their breakthrough diet regimens.



Bananas—By eating them whole or adding them to your cereal, smoothie, or fruit salad, bananas should be a staple of a healthy diet. Bananas are chock full of B6, the vitamin that helps the brain make serotonin. Also full of potassium, vitamin C, and fiber, bananas are the most abundant and most popular tropical fruit consumed today.


Water—To some people this addition to the list may seem odd, to others it may seem obvious, but water is one of the most important nutrients your body needs. Doctors say drinking six to eight glasses of water a day should keep you healthy while other studies say you can get away with drinking less and still be able to keep your body running smoothly. Dehydration is a huge problem because even the smallest cases have been known to cause fatigue, short-term memory problems, headaches, moodiness, and poor concentration. Stay hydrated to stay happy but keep in mind that experts say plain water is best over popular flavored, hybrid, or sparkling waters.


Salmon—Regardless of the mercury-laden trends going on in the fish world, especially hitting the salmon market, this pink and silver freshwater fish is still very relevant as a health food. Salmon are full of omega-3s, fatty acids that many believe can prevent cancer among other serious diseases. Studies have shown that people who eat a lot of fatty fish like salmon have a lower occurrence of memory loss and depression. A recommended serving from the American Heart Association is two portions of wild salmon per week for optimum results.


Spinach*—Mothers often say to eat your greens and spinach is one never to be ignored. Not always a favorite among kids and certainly not one of my own favorites, this leafy dark green has a great source of folate. Folate is a type of vitamin B, like the B6 in bananas, that helps produce serotonin that calms the brain and sends happiness signals coursing through your body. Now I think we know the reason Popeye always wore that big grin.

*Note: "Spinach," you ask, "really?" My friends make fun of me for eating like a rabbit, but if you want some great tips for integrating this pick-me-up into your menu, try these suggestions:

• Chop up a dozen or so washed and stemmed leaves and whip them in with your eggs before scrambling.
• Add them to your homemade pizza toppings. Cooking for friends? Keep a lid on it. These sprigs recently helped me out in a friendly pizza throw-down.

For more ideas, search for key ingredients on FoodNetwork, EatingWell, MyRecipes, or your favorite search engine.

The best part about these foods is that they are attainable. You can pick them up at your local grocery store or farmers market and not have to spend a pretty penny. If you're on a budget and want to eat well, give some of these a try.

To view the original article, click here or visit HealthNews.com.

Ban on Trans Fats in the Works

By STACEY STOWE - The New York Times
Published: February 18, 2009
TWO years after New York City banned partially hydrogenated oil, a common ingredient in baked goods and frozen French fries linked to heart disease, local governments around the region are considering and imposing similar measures.

Officials in Suffolk County on Long Island are the latest to adopt a ban on trans fats — which are derived from partially hydrogenated oil — from its restaurants.

Suffolk, which imposed the ban earlier this month, follows Nassau, Westchester and Albany Counties in New York, and Stamford, Conn., in banning the use in restaurants of artificial trans fats, which are found in margarines and shortenings.

“This is an important bill that will help residents of Suffolk County eat smarter and healthier,” said County Executive Steve Levy, who on Feb. 6 signed the law, which had been proposed by County Legislator Lou D’Amaro.

The law also requires chain restaurants to post the calorie counts of menu items. “It’s for the taxpayer, too, because it’s the taxpayer who also foots the bill for the consequences of obesity,” Mr. Levy said.
County health inspectors will monitor compliance with the trans fat ban during routine visits to restaurants. Those that fail to comply will be cited and fined and could possibly lose their license, Mr. D’Amaro said.

Even members of the Nassau-Suffolk Master Bakers Association expressed support for the ban, which will be phased in over the next 15 months, and, according to Mr. D’Amaro, “fulfills the government’s obligation to do all it can to protect public health.”

But not everyone wants the government meddling with their food.
Two years ago, after Ellen Karcher, then a state senator in New Jersey, proposed a trans fat ban there, she received physical threats and hate mail, she said, forcing her staff to close her office temporarily. In addition, callers to a radio station suggested that the state investigate whether

Ms. Karcher’s three children were malnourished.
“People just went nuts,” said Ms. Karcher, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2003 to 2007 and lives on a 10-acre farm in Marlboro, N.J., where she harvests lavender and keeps bees. “They were calling the office, screaming, ‘Get your hands off my food!’ ”

Ms. Karcher sought a ban on trans fats because, she said, she believes their consumption contributes to obesity-related illnesses. (New Jersey spent $2.3 billion on obesity-related illnesses in 2003, half of which was paid for by taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid, according to a 2006 report by the State Department of Health and Senior Services.)

Ms. Karcher’s bill never made it out of committee, but the General Assembly passed a law two years ago that included reducing the amount of trans fats in New Jersey’s public school lunch programs. She said she had thought that her proposal would be welcomed, since almost a quarter of her constituents worked in New York City, where a similar ban was passed in 2007.

“They kept screaming that they wanted choice,” Ms. Karcher said in a recent phone interview. “Well, it’s not like you can walk into a restaurant and say, ‘Give me trans fats or non-trans fat.’ It’s not like ordering chocolate or vanilla.”

Trans fat is created when a vegetable oil is pumped with hydrogen — hence the name partially hydrogenated — and becomes a solid at room temperature, said Jennifer Crum, a nutritionist at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. Trans fats in certain margarines and shortenings prolong the shelf life of cookies, cakes and frying oils.

Because their chemical composition is altered at the atomic level, trans fats increase LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, and decrease HDL, or “good,” cholesterol. Consumption of trans fats can clog arteries.

“The problem with eating outside the home is that you never know how much trans fats are added,” Ms. Crum said. “Whenever possible, look at the ingredients on the box.”

Ms. Crum said that for most adults, no more than 10 percent of their daily calories should come from saturated fats, like those in red meat, butter and other dairy products. The United States Food and Drug Administration estimates that Americans eat 4.7 pounds of trans fat each year.

At Pace’s Steak House in Port Jefferson, on Long Island, where the happy hour mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings are fried in trans-fat oil, the general manager, Anthony Fahey, said there should be little perceived taste difference when his kitchen switches from trans fat to non-trans fat oils, but he was dubious about its health impact.

“IT’S up to the individual,” he said. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with eating a steak. Just don’t eat five a day. It’s the same thing with trans fats. You can’t overdo it.”

The Westchester Board of Health passed a ban on the use of cooking oils that contain trans fats in restaurants, schools and other licensed food establishments in December 2007. By April 8, 2008, Health Department inspectors were authorized to cite and fine violators of the ban, but Caren Halbfinger, the spokeswoman for the county executive’s office, said few were found to be out of compliance.

In Connecticut last year, two state senators, John McKinney of Fairfield and Andrew W. Roraback of Goshen, both Republicans, sponsored a bill to ban trans fats, but it never made it to the House. Although the two legislators had hoped to reintroduce the bill this year, the issue is unlikely to attract much attention while Connecticut is wrestling with a projected $8.7 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years, said Brett R. Cody, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans.

Stamford appears to be the only city in Connecticut to enact a ban on trans fats, as of last July.
Maria Aposporos, who, with her sister, Eleni Begetis, has owned Curley’s Diner in Stamford since 1977, had little difficulty with the change.

“I always used vegetable oil,” said Ms. Aposporos, who explained that her doctor long ago informed her that solid fat looks the same in your body as it does on your plate. “I’m eating at the diner, my grandchildren eat here, so it has to be healthy.”

Still, Ms. Aposporos, a Republican member of the Stamford Board of Representatives, conceded that if a customer wants toast with margarine, she provides it.

A Republican colleague, Joseph Coppola Jr., voted against the ban. “Government has to stay out of our lives,” he said. “It’s about choice. If people are stupid enough to fill their diet with trans fats, they’re just stupid.”

Mr. Coppola said meddling with food choices is “feel-good legislation and we’ve got other fish to fry.” No mention, incidentally, of his oil preference.