Yogurt's Amazing Benefits

Yogurt has been consumed for thousands of years, but scientists have only recently begun to reveal its ability to dramatically increase your overall health. Yogurt contains valuable nutrients and can help you lose weight, boost immunity, ward off fungus and infections, and fight cancer.
Researchers have studied countries in which fermented dairy products (including yogurt) are eaten on a regular basis and have found a direct correlation between the consumption of these products and a longer life span. So what is so special about yogurt that it helps improve health and prolong life?
Yogurt is made by adding living bacteria cultures to milk, which turns the sugar in milk (lactose) into lactic acid. While we usually consider bacteria as something to avoid, these are good bacteria that provide a wealth of health benefits. And it is safe to eat throughout pregnancy, unless you are specifically allergic.
The bacteria present in yogurt can help prevent yeast infections during pregnancy and boost overall immune system health. A recent study of women who were at a high risk of yeast infections showed a threefold decrease in infections in women who ate eight ounces of yogurt a day for six months.
A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that yogurt fights off pneumonia in animals. Malnourished mice that were fed the live cultures present in yogurt were able to clear the pneumonia pathogen from their blood and had less lung damage than the control group. The result was the control group took 21 days to recover from pneumonia while the mice given yogurt cultures recovered in just 7 days. In another study involving healthy women aged 22 to 29 daily yogurt consumption was proved to stimulate cellular immunity, a benefit that persisted even after the women stopped eating yogurt every day.
Although low-fat foods are recommended as part of a healthy diet, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition even full-fat dairy foods may significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and other diseases. The fat found in these products, known as conjugated linoleic acid, has been shown to be cardioprotective.
Yogurt has also been shown to be beneficial for inflammatory diseases like inflammatory bowel disorders and arthritis. Israeli researchers reported in the Journal of Nutrition that the probiotic (friendly) bacteria, Lactobacillus, found in yogurt have "remarkable, preventative and curative" effects on arthritis. Yogurt can also shut down the bacterium responsible for ulcers, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Yogurt is a great source of calcium which is especially important for pregnant women whose calcium reserves are used by their growing baby. One study of young girls going through puberty growth spurts found that yogurt is better for building bone than calcium supplements. It's also a good source of phosphorous, riboflavin-vitamin B2, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid-vitamin B5, iodine, zinc, potassium, protein and molybdenum.
Calcium-rich foods such as yogurt can also help you lose weight around the midsection. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity of 16 obese women and men on a reduced calorie diet lost 61 percent more fat and 81 percent more abdominal fat in three months when consuming yogurt daily, compared with 18 participants that ate the same number of calories but little to no dairy products.

Read more: http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/breathingspace/vol14/pregnancy_health_fitness.asp

Meditate on Reality

Find a comfortable space and position. Begin breathing deeply through your nose. Slowly draw out each breath, gently allowing the air to fill your body and then escape.
Close your eyes.
Listen to the sounds around you, whatever they may be. Listen to barking dogs, passing traffic, people talking. Listen to the sounds going on inside your body. Listen to your stomach's grumbling, your heart's pumping beat, the blood running into each part of your body.
With these sounds, create a mental image. Imagine each sound as a wave on the surface of a large lake or ocean. But instead of water, it is life. As you go deeper into the water, your breath becomes free and deep. This is the ocean of your life, where you exist and move.
Breathe in deeply, hold it for a moment and as you exhale, plunge deeper into the ocean of life.

Read more:

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/breathingspace/vol14/pregnancy_meditation.asp

The Lion's Roar during Labor

Pratyahara is the act of directing your attention to a "disturbance." Instead of trying to avoid or suppress pain, accept it and experience it. As you get to know it, it will no longer feel dangerous. The pain may not disappear but the fear of it will. Fear and stress can complicate the birthing process and put your body through more suffering than necessary. Once you can accept the pain and allow yourself to experience it, birth becomes a powerful experience. Some women have said they were able to feel each movement of their uterus through this technique, while others have said they were able to allow the forces of nature to work.
The Lion's Roar
Many women have found this vocal toning technique to be very beneficial during labor. Open your mouth and stretch your tongue far out. While exhaling, make a relaxed, deep sound. This will automatically cause your body to respond and begin to relax from your groin to your pelvic floor and up.

Read more: http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/breathingspace/vol12/pregnancy_exercise.asp

When Faced with a Big Decision, Don't Think

When faced with a really big decision, some people make lists of pros and cons, while others talk it out with their best friend, but a new study suggests that listening to your unconscious mind may be a better way to arrive at a conclusion.
The research, performed at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, found that our conscious mind can only consider a small amount of information at one time, so when it is faced with a lot of data, it has to ignore a significant percentage, which can result in an unsatisfactory decision. Therefore, it appears our conscious mind should only be trusted with simple decisions, such as what to have for lunch.
In the study, scientist Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues tested 80 people both in the lab and at furniture and department stores. The participants were provided with information about a number of products and asked to make decisions about simple and complex purchases, such as which shampoo, furniture, or car to buy. In one test, half the test subjects were asked to think about the information they were provided and then choose which item to buy among similar products. The other half were shown the same information but were given a series of puzzles to perform, such as anagrams and arithmetic. When the puzzle session ended, the participants were asked to make snap decisions about which product to buy.
"We found that when the choice was for something simple, such as purchasing oven gloves or shampoo, people made better decisions - ones that they remained happy with - if they consciously deliberated over the information," says Dijksterhuis, "but once the decision was more complex such as for a house, too much thinking about it led people to make the wrong choice. Whereas, if their conscious mind was fully occupied on solving puzzles, their unconscious could freely consider all the information and they reached better decisions."
However, the unconscious mind does appear to need some guidance when making decisions. "It was only when people were told before the puzzles that they would need to reach a decision that they were able to come up with the right one," Dijksterhuis concluded. If the test subjects were told that the product information they had been shown before the puzzles was unimportant, they failed to make satisfactory choices.
"At some point in our evolution, we started to make decisions consciously, and we're not very good at it. We should learn to let our unconscious handle the complicated things."
So what exactly is the unconscious mind? Read more:

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/breathingspace/vol11/pregnancy_health_fitness.asp

A Miracle Called Honey

Living up to its name as the "Nectar of the Gods," honey and other bee products historically have been hailed for a wide-range of uses, including quick energy for workouts, to increase fertility, to halt decomposition in certain foods, and increase overall nutrition. It is used in skin products, to soothe sore throats and to increase intestinal health. Truly a miraculous substance, honey and other bee pollen products come in almost as many varieties as wine but offer many more benefits.

Before grape wine was ever introduced, people in ancient Crete were consuming "honey wine," made from honey, water, yeast and added flavors. The word "honeymoon" stems from Anglo-Saxon times when newlyweds would take a fermented honey drink, called mead, every day for a month to increase fertility. Honey wine was popular throughout history in Northern Europe; so popular, in fact, that the word for "drunk" in classic Greek is translated as "honey-intoxicated."

The most commonly known bee product is honey, which is a concentrated energy source and contains antioxidants and amino acids, as well as a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B6, thiamin, riboflavin, Pantothenic acid and minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. Although these substances appear in trace amounts and vary depending on the honey's floral source, they contribute to the overall nutritional benefit of honey. There are over 300 floral sources for honey in the United States, including clover, alfalfa, buckwheat, blackberry, and orange blossom. A honey's flavor, color, and consistency are usually determined by the dominant floral source in the area where the honey is made. Lighter-colored honeys have a milder taste, while darker-colored honeys are usually bolder in flavor. Darker honeys also tend to have a higher mineral content and greater antioxidant potential.

Honey contains natural sugars that are quick and easy to absorb, making the journey from table to bloodstream in a record-breaking seven minutes. The natural sugars present in honey are glucose and fructose, and recent studies suggest that this unique mixture of sugars works best in preventing fatigue and enhancing athletic performance, and it won't cause the sudden drop in blood sugar that is associated with refined sugars.

A limited study at the University of Memphis Exercise and Sports Nutrition Laboratory found honey to be one of the most effective forms of carbohydrate gels to ingest just prior to exercise. Many post-workout products on the market combine large amounts of carbohydrates (usually maltodextrin) with protein. In a comparison of a honey-protein versus a maltodextrin-protein shake taken after a vigorous weightlifting workout, the honey-protein combination was as efficient at promoting muscle recuperation, and the blood sugar of the participants who consumed the honey-protein combination was sustained for at least two hours post-workout. Athletes may also benefit from using honey for its antibacterial properties, which can help clear infection in wounds, as well as the anti-inflammatory action of honey, which can reduce pain and improve circulation, speeding the healing process.

A natural preservative, honey has also been used for centuries to keep food from degenerating. It reduces enzymatic browning in fruits and vegetables and prevents lipid oxidation in meats, and can delay spoilage in baked goods, dairy products, meats, sauces, snacks and spreads. Some manufacturers have taken advantage of this quality, using it in cereal bars and on certain vegetables.

Skin care manufacturers have used honey for its moisturizing qualities in everything from hand lotions and moisturizers to bar soaps and bubble baths. It is valued as an effective ingredient in skin care products because it is a humectant, meaning it attracts and retains moisture, and for its anti-irritant properties, making it suitable for sensitive skin and baby care products. Cleopatra's legendary milk and honey baths are just one of many historical examples of how honey has been used to improve and protect skin and beauty.

Historically, the beautifying properties of honey were only one benefit, but its main use was assisting in fertility. British beekeeper Clive Brockdorff and his wife Susan Fletcher, a nutrition consultant, sell honey to enhance fertility and sexuality through their Norfolk-based company, Apitherapy Foods. "Put a woman who's struggling to conceive on bee pollen and you can pretty much guarantee a result within two or three months," Susan claims. Several studies both in Europe and the U.S. have examined the beneficial links between bee pollen and sexual health and have proven its ability to restore and rejuvenate tired or aging sex glands in both men and women. It can also increase sexual stamina and endurance and improve sexual dysfunction caused by prostate disorders, stimulate ovarian function, and increase the biological value of the egg.

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