Friday, April 26, 2013

Eating Right for Your Blood Type




                Eat Right for Your Type is diet that was created by Dr. Peter D’Adamo based on what blood type you are. According to this diet, different blood types should consume and avoid different types of food, because the chemistry of the blood types is different. The diet centers around lectins, which are different types of proteins found in foods. Dr. D’Adamo believes that ailments are caused when lectins negatively interact with the blood chemistry.
The blood types are related to different phases of human evolution such as hunters and agrarians. There is a different diet plan for each blood type. D’Adamo believes that blood type is how the body differentiates itself from non-self, and the food we eat should be chosen accordingly. According to WebMD, this diet theory is not based on enough evidence to be considered fact.

·         The O blood type is referred to as the “hunter”, which he says is the earliest human blood group. Type O people should eat a diet high in meat and fish, avoid wheat and limit dairy.

·         Type A signifies the “agrarian” group. They should eat a mostly vegetarian diet with soy, grains, and vegetables.

·         Type B is known as the “nomad” group, who can tolerate more combinations of food and have stronger immune systems because they evolved to a colder, harsher environment in the past. They are the only type that does well with dairy. They should avoid corn, lentils, and wheat.

·         Blood type AB is called the “enigma” because it has characteristics of the A and B group, and it is supposedly the most recently evolved. They share the intolerances of the A and B group. They should avoid chicken, beef and pork.

Why Carrying Your Baby Calms Him




THURSDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- The best place for a crying baby is in its mother‘s arms, researchers suggest.

When fretful babies are picked up and carried by their mothers they experience an automatic calming reaction, they said.

This evolutionary effect, seen in both mice and people, reflects a coordinated set of central, motor and cardiac regulations, according to the study, which was published April 18 in the journal Current Biology.

It also could help explain why calm babies start crying as soon as they are put down. This insight could help ease parents‘ frustration and help prevent child abuse, the researchers said.

"From humans to mice, mammalian infants become calm and relaxed when they are carried by their mother," Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Saitama, Japan, said in a journal news release. "This infant response reduces the maternal burden of carrying and is beneficial for both the mother and the infant."
When babies are in their mother‘s arms, they have a greater chance for survival, the researchers said. 

Meanwhile, mothers prefer to have calm and relaxed babies. It‘s a win-win for moms and their babies, the researchers said.

Kuroda noticed the same calming response among mice in her laboratory. "When I picked the pups up at the back skin very softly and swiftly as mouse mothers did, they immediately stopped moving and became compact. They appeared relaxed, but not totally floppy, and kept the limbs flexed," she said. "This calming response in mice appeared similar to soothing by maternal carrying in human babies."

In studying the response of human babies when carried by their mothers, the researchers found that their heart rates slowed immediately when they were picked up. They also stopped moving. Using tiny heart monitor electrodes, the same response was found among mice. The ultrasonic cries of baby mice stopped as well.

The study authors said certain areas of the brain and nervous system are essential to coordinating this response to being carried.

The findings are very relevant to parenting and may play a role in the development of strategies to prevent child abuse, the researchers said. Understanding crying from a baby‘s perspective might ease their frustration, they said. When parents are less frustrated, child abuse may be less likely to occur.

"A scientific understanding of this infant response will save parents from misreading the restart of crying as the intention of the infant to control the parents, as some parenting theories -- such as the ‘cry it out‘ type of strategy -- suggest," Kuroda said. "Rather, this phenomenon should be interpreted as a natural consequence of the infant sensorimotor systems."

The American Academy of Pediatrics provides tips on how to respond to your baby‘s cries.
Health News Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

What Actually is Cholesterol?




The first step to defeating cholesterol is understanding what it is. Cholesterol is defined medically as “a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and other cells and found in certain foods, such as food from animals, like dairy products, eggs, and meat.” Cholesterol does not occur in plant based foods. The body needs a certain amount of cholesterol for proper hormone production and to digest fats. But an excessive amount of cholesterol can lead to heart disease. When cholesterol builds up in the arteries, it becomes a plaque on the artery walls, giving blood a smaller space to circulate. This is causes high blood pressure and can lead to blockages that cause heart attacks.

Not all cholesterol is created equal. Cholesterol moves through the blood attached to proteins, and these duos of protein and cholesterol are called lipoproteins.
·         High density lipoproteins (HDL) –This is the good cholesterol. HDL cholesterol actually helps reduce the amount of the bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. The more HDL you have, the better.

·         Low density lipoproteins – (LDL) – LDL is the bad cholesterol that leads to build up of plaque in the arteries, leading to heart disease.

·         Triglycerides – Triglycerides are similar to cholesterol because they are a type of fat carried though the bloodstream by a low density protein. Alcohol, sugar, and extra calories are converted to triglycerides and stored in fat cells.[1]

Some doctors today believe Omega 3 (Fish Oil) may actually play a role in helping reduce high triglycerides and are prescribing elevated doses of Omega 3 to lower LDL ,ask your health care provider if Omega 3 is right for you. The traditional advice is to avoid saturated fats, found in things like meat, butter, and cheese. Also regular exercise lowers your level of LDL cholesterol, and raises your level of HDL.