Salubrious Life

Seven Ways to Conquer that Scratchy Sore Throat

     Are you tired and frustrated from having a constant sore throat?  Are you taking lots of sore throat remedies that cost more money than the results they deliver?  Well, this article is just for you.

     A sore throat is caused by irritation or inflammation of the throat. It results when the body is attempting to eliminate accumulated toxins, especially from the lymph system and the intestinal tract.  A frequent underlying physical cause is constipation.  When toxins remain in the large intestine, they are reabsorbed by the lymph system, which becomes backed up with waste and by-products of immune cell activity.  Tonsils, pharynx, and larynx become swollen as a result.  In general, improvement of bowel movements and eating lots of well-cooked soft grains, vegetables and rest, will help alleviate a sore throat.

     Listed below are seven ways to conquer that sore throat without breaking the bank.  Try them all and see which one your body responds to.

     1.  Gargles.  Perhaps the simplest remedy, and one that is quite effective is gargling.  Use 1 cup of hot water (not so hot that it will burn your throat) with half a teaspoon salt mixed in.  Gargle with this mixture morning and evening.  You can also try 1 cup of hot water, the juice of 1 lemon, and 1 teaspoon of honey and gargle with this mixture.

     2.  Herbs:  Take 2 capsules of garlic with meals or eat 4 gloves of garlic with meals.

     3.  Lemon Water:  Take the juice of one lemon and place it in 1 cup of water.  This mixture will help cleanse the liver to help the body rid accumulated toxins. 

     4.  Soothing Herbal Tea: Ginger-cinnamon-licorice tea in the following proportions: 2 parts ginger, 2 parts cinnamon, and 3 parts licorice.  Steep 1 teaspoon of this herbal mixture in water for 5 to 10 minutes, and drink up to 3 times a day.

     5.  Yoga Posture:  The yoga posture known as the Lion pose is traditionally recommended for sore throats.  The relaxation from this pose brings fresh circulation to the sore throat area.

     6.  Foods to Eat:  Miso soup, cucumbers, cucumber juice, vegetables that are steamed or boiled, radishes, watercress and strawberries.

     7.  Foods to Avoid:  Dairy products, sugar, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, fermented foods, spices, and cold drinks.

Remember if your sore throat persists for more than 2 days even though your are trying these remedies, see a medical professional.

Olives Please....and hold the Martini

I'll be needing that olive for my skin and hair from now on.

Now - the Olive has long been used for softening and treating hair, skin etc.  But after five years of cooperative research, botanicals supplier Indena of Italy and Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. of Japan have commercialized Opextan, an olive fruit extract for healthy skin.

Indena screened and selected the olive varieties, pinpointing the best harvesting period and methods to ensure the highest levels of verbascoside and other polyphenols. Verbascoside has free radical scavenging activity which has a direct impact on skin health, preventing oxidative damage associated with wrinkle formation, skin thinning and dehydration, Indena stated. Final efficacy trials were conducted by Kanebo Cosmetics. Patents on the Opextan-based composition activity have been filed jointly, claiming the activity of the novel composition on UV damage, wrinkle formation and hair tonic.

Indena will promote Opextan globally, except in Japan, where it is already marketed under the new cosmetic and supplement line Bella Vita.

Estimate chance of death in 4 years

Want to know the odds of you dying in the next four years?
      Taking a new quiz put together by researchers whose results are in today's Journal of the American Medical Association can help you figure it out.
      The 12-question quiz is roughly 81 percent accurate and can give people 50 and older a reasonable idea of their survival chances, says lead author Dr. Sei Lee, a geriatrics researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
      The test is based on data involving 11,701 Americans over 50 who took part in a national health survey in 1998. Funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, the researchers analyzed participants' outcomes during a four-year follow-up. They based their death-risk survey on the health characteristics that seemed to predict death within four years.
      "Even if somebody looks at their numbers and finds they have a 60 percent risk of death, there could be other mitigating factors," said co-author and VA researcher Dr. Kenneth Covinsky.
      There are things you can do to improve your chances, he notes, such as quitting smoking or taking up exercise.
      Of course, researchers add, the quiz isn't foolproof. Other experts note it ignores family history and is much less meaningful for those at the young end of the spectrum.
      The researchers even warn, "Don't try this at home," saying a doctor can help you put things into perspective.
      But for the curious, here it is. Good luck.
      1. Age: 60-64 years, 1 point; 65-69, 2 points; 70-74, 3 points; 75-79, 4 points; 80-84, 5 points; 85 and older, 7 points.
      2. Male or Female: Male 2 points.
      3. Body-Mass Index: Less than 25 (normal weight or less), 1 point. (Calculate by multiplying height in inches times height in inches; then divide weight in pounds by that total; then multiply the total by 703.)
      4. Diabetes: 2 points.
      5. Cancer (excluding minor skin cancers): 2 points.
      6. Chronic lung disease that limits activities or requires oxygen use at home: 2 points.
      7. Congestive heart failure: 2 points.
      8. Cigarette smoking in the past week: 2 points.
      9. Difficulty bathing/showering because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
      10. Difficulty managing money, paying bills, keeping track of expenses because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
      11. Difficulty walking several blocks because of a health problem: 2 points.
      12. Difficulty pushing or pulling large objects like a living-room chair because of a health problem: 1 point.
      Score: 0 to 5 points, less than a 4 percent risk of dying within four years; 6-9 points, 15 percent risk; 10-13 points, 42 percent risk; 14 or more, 64 percent risk.

      Note: Researchers say the 1-point penalty for having a body-mass index under 25 (normal weight or less) is based on findings that being underweight is a health risk for elderly people.

Six Natural Ways to Reduce Bruising

     A bruise occurs when the tissues underlying the skin become injured.  The skin is not injured, but the delicate capillaries below the skin's surface rupture, and blood drains out the surrounding area.  The blood seeps into the layers of the skin, resulting in pain, swelling, and discoloration that starts out red, then turns dark and bluish, and finally becomes yellowish color as the blood under the skin is absorbed.

     Studies show that people with vitamin C deficiencies bruise more easily than others, probably because their blood vessels are generally weaker.  Other studies show that vitamin C can actually reduce the time it takes for the discoloration to fade.  People who do not eat enough fresh, uncooked foods to supply the body with needed nutrients are prone to easy bruising.

     Listed below are six ways to reduce bruising.

     1.  Eat a lot of fresh, uncooked foods--people who do not eat enough of these are prone to bruising.

     2.  Eat an abundance of dark leafy vegetables, buckwheat, and fresh fruits.  These foods are high in vitamin C and bioflavonoids, which help to prevent bruising.  Dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts are also good sources of vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting and healing.

     3.  Eat plenty of foods rich in zinc, such as chicken, soybeans, wheatgerm, and eggs.  Zinc is important for strengthening blood vessel walls and acids in blood clotting.

     4.  Try taking vitamin C with bioflavonoids if you are bruising very easily, as a deficiency in these often causes easy or unexplained bruising.

     5.  Do not take aspirin or ibuprofen for pain, as these can worsen the discoloration due to their blood thinning qualities.  Instead take acetaminophen as directed on the label.

     6.  To reduce discoloration and soreness, apply shredded raw potato directly to the injury for about an hour.

Always consult with your doctor.  This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.

    

C'mon, let's be honest!

Laurence J. Peter amusingly once said, “As a matter of fact is an expression that precedes many an expression that isn't.

“Let’s be honest.”  “To be perfectly honest.”  “Honestly?”

How many times do you catch yourself using these words as prefaces to sentences that don’t necessarily need them?  Isn’t our intention to always be honest?  And if so, why do we feel the need to remind the listener of our honesty?

“It is what it is” is another one of those phrases that manage to sneak into our communication on a regular basis when it really doesn’t make all that much sense.  It is what it is?  Sometimes “it is what it is” can be true.  But often it is used accidentally by habit and/or used when it’s not really the answer.  Sometimes this is a passive or lazy way to write something off as being beyond our control, when in fact, it is very much in our control to change or modify. 

What other quirky clichés can you think of that creep into our cruise control communication without us really thinking about what we are actually saying? It’s amusing. 

Yoga Sport?

An article written in the Boston Globe discussing the competitive edge in the Olympic Games stated: If two athletes are equally fit, the edge often goes to the one with the better emotional skills - not a do-or-die focus on winning but a set of habits that all of us can learn, including positive self talk,' maintaining an energy level that is neither too excited nor too relaxed, and most important, a Buddhist-like ability to focus on the moment at hand - on the particular breath, stroke, turn.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary definition, YOGA in Sanskrit literally means yoking.  Further, it is a “Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of Body, Mind, and Will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation.”  More to the point, it is “a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being.”

It is clear that many people cultivate mind, body and spiritual awareness in the sports they practice.  So would it not be fair to consider yoga a sport? 

Traditionally, yoga is a practice that combines breathing techniques and concentration with a series of physical postures, called asanas. According to the 8-Limb path of yoga, written down by Patanjali thousands of years ago, there are many other elements to complete the system of yoga.  They include aspects like non-violence, trust and honesty, non-stealing, non-lust, and non-possessiveness.  Also elements like purity, contentment, austerity, study and devotion.

Does one not practice these elements in other forms of exercise that are considered SPORTS?  Athletes may refer to some of the yogic elements as perhaps "psychological systems."  But ultimately, athletes and yogis alike are referring to the same thing: unity of body, mind and spirit.  Why not, then, yoga sport?  And why not, perhaps, an Olympic Sport someday?