Time to Patch-It, Sleep foot patches

Up on your feet all day?  Hard session in the gym?  Your feet feeling like lead bricks?  Ever feel so exhausted it stops you from getting a good night's sleep?

Let Patch-It sleep patches help you recover.  Simply apply one onto each foot just before sleep and let the patches do the hard work while you sleep.  As the patches work to detox your legs during the night, you will wake feeling rejuvenated and refreshed.

As a convenient stretchy white plaster, Patch-It can also be applied to other tired muscles in the body during the day.

Browse the Patch-It sleep patches now

Other products of interest - Nitebalm, to help you get a good night's sleep

Green Tea Extract Appears to Keep Cancer in Check in Majority of CLL Patients

Mayo Clinic has conducted the first clinical studies of tea extract in cancer patients

CHICAGO — An extract of green tea appears to have clinical activity with low toxicity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who used it in a phase II clinical trial, say researchers at Mayo Clinic.

The findings, to be presented Monday, June 7, during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), are the latest in a series of Mayo studies to show promise for use of the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) — the major component of green tea — in reducing the number of leukemia cells in patients with CLL. Mayo first tested EGCG in a variety of laboratory assays about eight years ago, and it was found to reduce the survival of CLL leukemic cells. This laboratory finding was followed by a successful phase I clinical trial — the first time green tea extract had been studied in CLL patients.

"Although only a comparative phase III trial can determine whether EGCG can delay progression of CLL, the benefits we have seen in most CLL patients who use the chemical suggest that it has modest clinical activity and may be useful for stabilizing this form of leukemia, potentially slowing it down," says Tait Shanafelt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hematologist and lead author of the study.

"These studies advance the notion that a nutraceutical like EGCG can and should be studied as cancer preventives," says Neil Kay, M.D., a hematology researcher whose laboratory first tested the green tea extract in leukemic blood cells from CLL patients. "Using nontoxic chemicals to push back cancer growth to delay the need for toxic therapies is a worthy goal in oncology research — particularly for forms of cancer initially managed by observation such as CLL."

Drs. Shanafelt and Kay caution that EGCG is not a substitute for chemotherapy. All of the patients Mayo tested with EGCG were early stage, asymptomatic CLL patients who would not otherwise be treated until their disease progressed. The extract was supplied by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Polyphenon E International for these initial clinical trials.

CLL is a blood cancer that is a hybrid between leukemia and lymphoma. Progression of the disease is measured by the quantity of leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow as well as enlargement of lymph nodes due to infiltration by the leukemia cells. In the phase I study, published in May 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers found that the blood lymphocyte (leukemia cell) count was reduced in one-third of participants, and that the majority of patients who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes due to involvement by CLL saw a 50 percent or greater reduction in their lymph node size.

Using the highest dose tested in the phase I study, the researchers launched their phase II clinical trial in an additional 36 patients. The results presented at the ASCO meeting evaluate the effects in these 36 patients as well as the six patients from the phase I trial treated at the same dose (total 42 patients). Results from 41 patients who have completed the study show that 31 percent of patients had a 20 percent or greater sustained reduction in blood leukemia count, and 69 percent of patients with enlarged lymph nodes saw a reduction of node size of 50 percent or greater.

In all, 69 percent of CLL patients had a biological response to EGCG as evidenced by a 20 percent or greater sustained reduction in blood lymphocyte count and/or a 50 percent or greater reduction in lymph node size, the researchers say.

Because EGCG was being studied in patients who did not otherwise need treatment, the researchers took a rigorous approach toward studying side effects. Most clinical trials of therapeutic agents only report grade 3 and higher side effects, but the researchers looked at and reported grade 1 and grade 2 as well. While a number of patients had transient grade 1 or 2 side effects, only three of 42 experienced a grade 3 side effect during their six months of treatment.

"All in all, the treatment was well tolerated with very mild side effects in most patients," Dr. Shanafelt says.
The researchers say that the prior publications on the effects of EGCG on CLL leukemia cells in the laboratory and the data from the published phase I study have been widely disseminated via the Internet by patient advocacy groups. Based on information from patients and colleagues throughout the country, the Mayo researchers have become aware that many CLL patients nationwide have started to use EGCG supplements, which are readily available over the counter.

"Without a phase III clinical trial, we cannot make a recommendation that EGCG be used by CLL patients, but those who want to take supplements should consult with their oncologists and need to receive appropriate monitoring using laboratory tests," Dr. Kay says.

The study was funded by grants from the NCI, the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center, and from donors and patient advocacy foundations. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.


Article from Mayo Clinic

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit MayoClinic.com or MayoClinic.org/news.

Ibuprofen 'cuts Parkinson's disease risk

People who take ibuprofen on a regular basis have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, research suggests.

The drug is commonly used to ease aches and pains but US research, in Neurology journal, found it had an added benefit.

Experts say it is too soon to recommend the drugs to protect against Parkinson's

In studies of more than 135,000 men and women regular users of ibuprofen were 40% less likely to develop Parkinson's.

However, experts say it is too early to say whether the benefits of taking the drug outweigh the risk of side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding.

Heart attack
 
Scientists have suspected for some time that anti-inflammatory drugs might help buffer against the disease but it was unclear which ones in the family of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs conferred a benefit.

This most recent study suggests it is ibuprofen alone that has an effect.

But like all NSAIDs, ibuprofen can cause worrying side effects, like an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

A recent study also linked ibuprofen taken daily for some years to a small increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The findings relate to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen prescribed long-term to treat painful conditions such as arthritis.

For this reason experts say more work is needed to determine whether the benefits of taking the drug more often would outweigh any risks.

If it did, it could offer a new way of managing this incurable neurological condition.

Nerve cells
 
Lead researcher Professor Alberto Ascherio, of the Harvard School of Public Health, said: "There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, so the possibility that ibuprofen, an existing and relatively non-toxic drug, could help protect against the disease is captivating."

In his study, funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation, men and women who used ibuprofen two or more times a week reduced their risk of Parkinson's disease by more than a third compared with those who regularly used aspirin, acetaminophen, or other NSAIDs.

Dr Kieran Breen, director of Research and Development at Parkinson's UK, said it was difficult to know exactly what effect ibuprofen might be having on the death of nerve cells in the brain, and how it might affect whether somebody will get Parkinson's. But based on the findings of this latest study, he said there would seem to be an interesting link. 

He said: "We know that inflammatory changes in the brain may be involved in the death of nerve cells which cause Parkinson's, particularly in the early stages of the condition.

"We are currently funding research into this area ourselves at the University of Oxford."

As to why ibuprofen alone might have the desired effect, the US researchers say it could be down to the fact that this drug has a specific role in blocking a biological pathway of cell damage and death.

Parkinson's

• One person in every 500 has Parkinson's

• People with Parkinson's do not have enough of a chemical called dopamine because some nerve cells in their brain have died

• This causes the typical symptoms of tremor, rigidity and slowness of movements

• This latest research was funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation - a charity set up by the US actor in a bid to find a cure for the condition after being diagnosed himself with young-onset Parkinson's

 
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News 
Photo: SPL

Why you should NOT stop taking your vitamins

Do vitamins kill people? 

How many people have died from taking vitamins? 

Should you stop your vitamins? 

It depends. To be exact, it depends on the quality of the science, and the very nature of scientific research. It is very hard to know things exactly through science. The waste bin of science is full of fallen heroes like Premarin, Vioxx and Avandia (which alone was responsible for 47,000 excess cardiac deaths since it was introduced in 1999).


That brings us to the latest apparent casualty, vitamins. The recent media hype around vitamins is a classic case of drawing the wrong conclusions from good science.

Remember how doctors thought that hormone replacement therapy was the best thing since sliced bread and recommended it to every single post-menopausal woman? These recommendations were predicated on studies that found a correlation between using hormones and reduced risk of heart attacks. But correlation does not prove cause and effect. It wasn't until we had controlled experiments like the Women's Health Initiative that we learned Premarin (hormone replacement therapy) was killing women, not saving them.
A new study "proving" that vitamins kill people is hitting front pages and news broadcasts across the country. This study does not prove anything.


This latest study from the Archives of Internal Medicine of 38,772 women found that "several commonly used dietary vitamin and mineral supplements may be associated with increased total mortality". The greatest risk was from taking iron after menopause (which no doctor would ever recommend in a non-menstruating human without anemia).

The word "may" is critical here, because science is squirrelly. You only get the answers to the questions you ask. And in this case, they asked if there was an association between taking vitamins and death in older woman. This type of study is called an observational study or epidemiological study. It is designed to look for or "observe" correlations. Studies like these look for clues that should then lead to further research. They are not designed to be used to guide clinical medicine or public health recommendations. All doctors and scientists know that this type of study does not prove cause and effect.


Why Scientists are Confused

At a recent medical conference, one of most respected scientists of this generation, Bruce Ames, made a joke. He said that epidemiologists (people who do population-based observational studies) have a difficult time with their job and are easily confused. Dr. Ames joked that in Miami epidemiologists found everybody seems to be born Hispanic but dies Jewish. Why? Because if you looked at population data in the absence of the total history and culture of Florida during a given time, this would be the conclusion you would draw. This joke brings home the point that correlation does not equal causation.


Aside from the fact that it flies in the face of an overwhelming body of research that proves Americans are nutrient deficient as a whole, and that nutritional supplements can have significant impact in disease prevention and health promotion, the recent study on vitamins is flawed in similar ways.


How Vitamins Save Money and Save Lives

Overwhelming basic science and experimental data support the use of nutritional supplements for the prevention of disease and the support of optimal health. The Lewin Group estimated a $24 billion savings over five years if a few basic nutritional supplements were used in the elderly. Extensive literature reviews in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine also support this view. Interventional trials have proven benefit over and over again.

The concept that nutritional supplements "could be harmful" to women flies in the face of all reasonable facts from both intervention trials and outcome studies published over the past 40 years. Recent trials published within the last two years indicate that modest nutritional supplementation in middle age women found their telomeres didn't shorten. Keeping your teleomeres (the little end caps on your DNA) long is the hallmark of longevity and reduced risk of disease.


A plethora of experimental controlled studies -- which are the gold standard for proving cause and effect -- over the last few years found positive outcomes in many diseases. These include the use of calcium and vitamin D in women with bone loss; folic acid in people with cervical dysplasia (pre-cancerous lesions); iron for anemics, B-complex vitamins to improve cognitive function, zinc; vitamin C, E, and carotenoids to lower the risk of macular degeneration, and folate and vitamin B12 to treat depression. This is but a handful of examples. There are many more.


Why Most Vitamin Studies are Flawed

There is another important thing to understand about clinical trials that review the utility of vitamins in the treatment of disease. The studies that show harm are often designed like drugs studies. For example, a study may use a high dose of vitamin E and see what happens. This is actually a prescient example also explored in recent media. Studies recently found that high doses of vitamin E and selenium didn't prevent prostate cancer and may increase risk. What this study didn't explore properly was the true biochemical nature of vitamin E and selenium. These nutrients work as antioxidants by donating an electron to protect or repair a damaged molecule or DNA. Once this has happened the molecules become oxidants that can cause more damage if not supported by the complex family of antioxidants used in the human body. It's sort of like passing a hot potato. If you don't keep passing it you will get burned. This study simply failed to take this into account.
Nature doesn't work by giving you only one thing. We all agree that broccoli is good for you, but if that were all you ate you would die in short order. The same is true of vitamins. Nutrients are not drugs and they can't be studied as drugs. They are part of a biological system where all nutrients work as a team to support your biochemical processes.
 
Michael Jordon may have been the best basketball player in history, but he couldn't have won six NBA titles without a team.


Obesity is Linked to Malnutrition

The tragedy of media attention on poor studies like these is that they undermine possible solutions to some of the modern health epidemics we are facing today, and they point attention away from the real drivers of disease.

Take the case of obesity for example. Paradoxically Americans are becoming both more obese and more nutrient deficient at the same time. Obese children eating processed foods are nutrient depleted and increasingly get scurvy and rickets, diseases we thought were left behind in the 19th and 20th centuries.
After treating more than 15,000 patients and performing extensive nutritional testing on them, it is clear Americans suffer from widespread nutrient deficiencies including vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, folate and omega 3 fats. This is supported by the government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data on our population. In fact 13 oercent of our population is vitamin C deficient.

Scurvy in Americans in 2011? Really? But if all you eat is processed food -- and many Americans do -- then you will be like the British sailors of the 17th century and get scurvy.


Unfortunately negative studies on vitamins get huge media attention, while the fact that over 100,000 Americans die and 2.2 million suffer serious adverse reactions from medication use in hospitals when used as prescribed is quietly ignored. Did you know that anti-inflammatories like aspirin and ibuprofen kill more people every year than AIDS or asthma or leukemia?


Flaws with the "Vitamins Kill You" Study

So what's the bottom line on this study on vitamins in older white women in Iowa?
After a careful reading of this new study a number of major flaws were identified.


1. Hormone replacement was not taken into consideration. Overall the women who took vitamins were a little healthier and probably more proactive about their health, which led them to use hormone replacement more often (based on recommendations in place when this study was done). 13.5 percent of vitamin users also used hormones, while 7.2 percent of non-vitamin users took hormones. Remember the Women's Health Initiative Study I mentioned above? It was a randomized controlled trial that found hormone therapy dramatically increases risk of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer and death. In this Iowa women's study on vitamins, the degree of the effect of harm noted from the vitamins was mostly insignificant for all vitamins except iron (see below) and calcium (which showed benefit contradicting many other studies). In fact, the rates of death in this study were lower than predicted for women using hormone therapy, so in fact the vitamins may have been protective but the benefit of vitamins was drowned out because of the harmful effects of hormones in the vitamin users.

2. Iron should not be given to older women. Older women should never take iron unless they have anemia. Iron is a known oxidant and excess iron causes oxidative stress and can lead to cardiovascular disease and more. This is no surprise, and should not make you stop taking a multivitamin. If you are an older woman, you simply need to look for one without iron. Most women's vitamins do not contain it anyway.

3. Patient background was ignored. In this observational study it was not known why people started supplements. Perhaps it was because of a decline in their health and thus they may have had a higher risk of death or disease that wasn't associated with the vitamins they were taking at all. If you had a heart attack or cancer and then started taking vitamins, of course you are more likely to die than people without heart attacks or cancer.

4. The population was not representative. The study looked only at older white women -- clearly not representative of the whole population. This makes it impossible to generalize the conclusions. Especially if you are an obese young African American male eating the average American diet.

5. Forms and quality of vitamins were not identified. There was no accounting for the quality or forms or dosages of the vitamins used. Taking vitamins that have biologically inactive or potentially toxic forms of nutrients may limit any benefit observed. For example synthetic folic acid can cause cancer, while natural folate is protective.

6. A realistic comparison between vitamins and other medications as cause of death was not made. 0ver 100,000 people die every year from properly prescribed medication in hospitals. These are not mistakes, but drugs taken as recommended. And that doesn't include out of hospital deaths. The CDC recently released a report that showed in 2009, the annual number of deaths (37,485) caused by improper/overprescribing and poor to non-existent monitoring of the use of tranquilizers, painkillers and stimulant drugs by American physicians now exceeds both the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents (36,284) and firearms (31,228).

In short, this recent study confuses not clarifies, and it has only served up a dose of media frenzy and superficial analysis. It has left the consumer afraid, dazed, bewildered and reaching for their next prescription drug.

Please, be smart, don't stop taking your vitamins. Every American needs a good quality multivitamin, vitamin D and omega-3 fat supplement. It is part of getting a metabolic tune up and keeping your telomeres long!

For more information on getting a metabolic tune up see www.drhyman.com.



To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD

Mark Hyman, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on YouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter.

Article from Huffington Post

Soy protein improves cholesterol health Soy protein improves cholesterol health

A new study has revealed that supplements of soy protein are much better than milk protein in terms of improving blood levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and thus the overall lipid profile in healthy individuals.

The study, which has been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, investigated the effect of soy and milk protein supplementation on lipids compared with carbohydrate among healthy adults.

Numerous research studies have demonstrated that soy protein reduces LDL ('the bad') cholesterol and increases HDL ('the good') cholesterol, supporting the soy protein heart health and cholesterol-lowering claim that is approved in 12 countries around the globe.

"Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major health epidemic, as the No. 1 killer of women and men globally," said Elaine Krul, Ph.D., nutrition discovery lead at Solae.

"Research has shown that lowering blood lipids reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke."

"The results of this study reveal that soy protein supplementation intake can help lower blood lipids, thus helping to reduce the risk of CHD in healthy individuals."

In this study, total cholesterol reduction as well as the total/HDL cholesterol ratio reduction was statistically significant with soy protein supplementation compared with carbohydrate.

Compared with milk protein, soy protein supplementation significantly increased HDL and significantly reduced total/HDL cholesterol ratio as well as lowered LDL cholesterol.


Article by Ani for The Times of India

What to Eat to beat SAD

With the clocks about to go back, nights drawing in and temperatures rapidly falling, the long days of summer are suddenly a heady memory and soon we’ll all feel like we’re spending more of our time shrouded in darkness.

For many people, the horror of this vampire-like existence means the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition which takes its toll on an estimated 20% of women during the dark, chilly months. Symptoms include fatigue, depression and overeating - so as well as inflicting damage on our mental health, the condition can also add unwanted inches to our waistline.

Fortunately, you can escape the vice-like grip of SAD by rejecting comfort foods and eating a healthy, balanced diet. Join MSN Life & Style as we take you through the diet rules to stick to and the foods to eat to keep SAD at bay.

Give up white carbs
The key to conquering SAD is to avoid any foods that cause blood sugar levels to fluctuate, leading to serious mood swings. The worst offenders are refined white carbs, like pasta, rice and bread. Do your mental health (and your boyfriend) a favour by swapping these out for wholegrain carbohydrates like granary bread, wholemeal pasta and brown rice to keep your energy levels on an even keel. Slow release carbs like porridge, meanwhile, will provide you with a steady supply of energy throughout the day, preventing cravings for unhealthy snacks.

Eat lots of protein
Healthy sources of protein, such as nuts, chicken, eggs and fish will help you shed that winter fatigue by keeping you feeling full up for longer and suppressing food cravings. Try eating eggs for breakfast (with only one slice of bread) and carry handfuls of nuts in your handbag to munch on throughout the day to keep hunger at bay.

Cut down on stimulants
A morning cappuccino helps keep us warm in the cold winter months, while a glass of red in the evening acts us a pick-me-up when it starts to get dark at 5pm, but the overall effect of stimulants like these is to keep us up at night and lower our general mood. Alcohol is packed with calories and is a known depressant, so you should limit your intake to prevent mood swings, while you should also try swapping caffeine for herbal teas, which have a calming, rather than anxiety-inducing, impact on the body.

Stock up on vitamin D
One vital nutrient we all need to work harder to get in winter is vitamin D, which we need for good health - both mental and physical. Few foods contain significant amounts of vitamin D, and we therefore rely on sunlight for around 90% of our supplies. One study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that women with vitamin D deficiency are twice as likely to develop symptoms of depression. Fish, oysters, eggs and mushrooms are excellent sources, and you can also buy products that have been fortified with vitamin D, such as milk, cheese and butter.

Avocados
Don't be put off by their high-fat content; avocados are one of the most effective blues-banishing fruits. They may have the highest oil content of any fruit (the soft, delicious fruit is around 30% fat), but these are 'good' fats and you shouldn't worry about their effect on your waistline. Avocados are also a great source of protein, as well as nutrients folate and tryptophan, both of which are thought to act as anti-depressants. Avocados also contain a healthy dose of vitamin B6, which gives us energy and fights fatigue.

Sweet potatoes
As a source of carbohydrate, regular potatoes often leave us feeling bloated and sluggish, whereas their orange relative, the sweet potato, has the opposite effect on the body. Why? The secret is - again - high levels of folate, which keep blood sugar levels steady, meaning you don't want to pass out 30 minutes after eating.

Oily fish
It seems there is plenty of truth to the 'brain food' moniker applied to oily fish like mackerel, salmon, tuna and sardines. Fish such as these contain lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in high concentrations in brain tissue and are thought to play a crucial role in mood function and concentration levels.

Natural yoghurt
Nutritionists associate calcium deficiency with mental health problems including anxiety, depression and irritability. You can therefore ease mood swings by eating calcium-rich foods such as natural yoghurt, which is also packed with those essential omega-3s. Try mixing with berries and oatmeal for an extra kick of antioxidants and slow-release energy.

Leafy green vegetables
Delicious green cruciferous veggies come into their own at this time of year. Soups, stews, casseroles - they all benefit from a handful of leafy veg like spinach, kale and broccoli. Rich in iron, they help boost energy levels and improve concentration, while also acting as an excellent source of folate and B vitamins for an extra fuel injection.

Bananas
To prevent the long nights giving you a long face, you should try to eat foods that encourage the production of serotonin, the so-called feel good hormone, in the body. Bananas, for example, are rich in tryptophan, which the body needs to make serotonin, and potassium, our supplies of which run low when we suffer from stress. Bananas are also packed with B vitamins, so are a great source of energy in the cold, tiring winter months.

 Article by Tom Fortune, contributor, MSN Life & Style
What to Eat to beat SAD
Photo: Getty Images

Sanafil - the diet supplement

We all know exercise alone doesn’t help you lose weight; you must balance that with healthy portioned meals (calorie intake).  And controlling those calories can be extremely difficult when all you think about is food, especially after exercising.  In fact after exercising we are in greater danger of eating even more food as your body is craving the replacement that your hard work out just lost.

Though we can’t help you with the exercising part, we can aid you with the calorie intake (cravings) with Sanafil.  In short, Sanafil will reduce your appetite allowing you to control your calorie intake more easily. 

Sanafil makes sticking to your diet a breeze!

So how does it work?  Sanafil is an all-natural way to help you stop over-eating. It contains a pure extract of Korean Nut Oil, which has been shown to reduce the desire to eat.  As the desire is reduced you will naturally reduce your meal portions and even cut the urge to snack.  And what’s more, there are NO side effects!

Sanafil also contains Chromium Picolinate and Vitamin B3, both of which increase the rate of fat being metabolism which can help you feel and look lighter.

We recommend that you always balance healthy meals and exercise.  And remember, Sanafil is an aid to weight loss not a weight loss tablet in itself, you still have to do some work.  So tell yourself you can do it, believe you can do it & jump on board our success bandwagon!  

And if we still haven’t motivated or convinced you to try Sanafil yet here’s a proven fact –
Test trials show that Sanafil is the most effective appetite control supplement available today with a proven 36% decrease in prospective food intake. 

Read an independent article on Korean Nut Oil –
http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/The_Benefits_of_Pine_Nut_Oil_a1371.html

Click here to buy Sanafil from our Natural Figure store

Golden Silk Oil

Introducing the very affective dry and flat skin sebum from Australia firm, Dark Silk - the Golden Silk Oil.  

 

Made from GM free wild grown Camellias, and containing vitamins A, B, C and D, Golden Silk Oil is the natural plant oil for the skin.  

What is a sebum? 

The sebum is the thin oily substance that usually lies on top of your skin (skin surface).  Poor sebrum secretion can cause a person to have too oily a skin, or the converse, too dry a skin.  For Dark Silk, their Golden Silk Oil is suitable for the use on dry skin conditions including those who have skin damage from eczema, bed sore, psoriases and sun burnts.  

 

Causes of poor sebrum can be due to aging, stressful lifestyles, poor health and nutrition and using too much chemical cleansers on the skin e.g. make up removing cleansers often contain harsh chemicals.  As Dark Silk ensures that all their products are made from natural ingredients, you can be assured that there are offering you the very best in skin care.

How to use Golden Silk Oil 

Golden Silk Oil can be used - 

• as a natural base before applying make up or lip gloss
• as a toner before applying moisturiser
• applied in the evening after cleansing to help retain skin moisture overnight or as part of your daily moisturing routine
• reduce dark eye circles (put a few drops of oil on a cotton ball and lightly dab under the eyes)

For more information visit the Dark Silk website - Golden Silk Oil

To buy from our Natural Figure online store click here

Eye - XL Plus

  Helps to Maintain Good Eyesight

Give those hard used eyes the tender loving care it deserves with Eye-XL Plus.  Suitable particularily for the over 50s, and those who spend a lot of time outdoors and so is more exposed to sunlight.  

Lutein & Zeaxanthin are powerful anti-oxidant carotenoids found in fruits and green leafy vegetables. These nutrients are naturally found in the macula of the eye. The macula is located in the centre of the retina and is responsible for good central vision.

Many studies have shown that Lutein and Zeaxanthin may help to shield the macula from damaging light and to protect it from harmful oxidization. With advancing age, these essential nutrients decline in the macula, which may lead to a deterioration or even loss of eyesight. Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment in Western society today.



More more information and to buy this product from our Natural Figure store visit -
Natural Figure Eye -XL

October Discount Offer

Natural Figure is offering 25% off Tamanu Cream for our October offer. 


To redeem this 25% discount offer just type in the below code when checking out of our online store.


Code - TCrea25NF

Valid until 6 November 2011.  Natural Figure hold the right to withdraw this discount offer without prior notice.  

Vigorous exercise boosts vitamin D while lowering heart risk

Vigorous exercise significantly improves several risk factors for heart disease, including boosting vitamin D levels, a new study shows.

Photo: asbuilder.com

 Vigorous exercise like jogging can reduce heart attack risk by 22%.

That's one of the surprising findings by Harvard scientists, who were trying to identify the reasons exercise lowers the risk of heart attacks.

People who do vigorous physical activity — such as running, jogging, playing basketball or soccer — for three or more hours a week reduce their risk of a heart attack by 22%, the study found. Among the reasons: They have higher levels of good cholesterol and vitamin D as well as better levels of other factors involved in heart disease.

Experts have known for years that regular exercise, including both moderate and vigorous physical activity, improves heart health, but this study helps tease out why.

"The fact that vitamin D plays a role in the relationship between exercise and risk of heart disease is a new finding," says the study's lead author Andrea Chomistek, a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health. "This likely comes from being outside more. People who exercise tend to be out in the sun, which raises their vitamin D level. I don't think you'd get the same increase in vitamin D by staying inside and running on the treadmill."

Chomistek and colleagues analyzed the activity levels and the blood work of men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. During 10 years of follow-up, 412 men had a heart attack and were matched to a control group of 827 men who did not have heart disease.

The findings reported in October's Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of American College of Sports Medicine:

• Vigorous exercise was associated with higher levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, which accounted for 38% of the decreased risk of heart disease.

• Those who exercised also had higher levels of vitamin D and lower levels of hemoglobin A1c (a marker of diabetes risk), apolipoprotein B (a blood protein) than those who were inactive.

"Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your health, especially your heart health," Chomistek says.

The scientists didn't ask people how much time they spent exercising outdoors, but other research shows that being outside more is associated with higher levels of vitamin D because of sun exposure, she says.

Russ Pate, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, says, "This is another reason to be outside more. You get a double benefit. If you're outside, you're more likely to be physically active, which provides a range of health benefits and you get greater sun exposure so have greater vitamin D levels, which carries many health benefits."

Other studies show that those who do regular moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking, have a 20% lower risk of heart disease, she says. "Moderate and vigorous exercise may have similar benefits for reducing your risk of heart disease as long as you burn a similar amount of energy," Chomistek says.

These findings also may apply to women because previous studies have shown that women get similar heart-health benefits from regular exercise, she says.

Article By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Photo courtesty of asbuilder.com via USA TODAY
Vigorous exercise boosts vitamin D while lowering heart risk

Introducing, Brainchild

Founded over 10 years ago, Brainchild's liquid supplements have been developed by a team of caring parents and health practitioners to help support the needs of adults and children suffering from ADD/HD, autism and neuro-environmental illnesses.   

In our environment today we are exposed to many un-natural and harmful materials including heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, radiation, certain foods etc.  While normally our body's natural defenses will fight and ward off against harmful materials, those suffering from Autism, ADD/HD or other neuro-environmental illnesses cannot as their body is usually lacking in the necessary natural defenses.  Depending on symptoms and conditions of the patient, sufferers can often find themselves depleted of (internal) natural defenses because of infection, childbirth or exposure from (now) everyday materials as listed above.  While we take our body's natural defenses for granted, many others are not so lucky. 

To aid in this deficiency Brainchild have developed supplements, originally in liquid form as they believe that liquids are absorbed better by the body and therefore have a greater efficiency rate, but have now also added capsules to their product range for more convenience for those who require it.   

Read more about Brainchild's Overview here. 

Read more about Autism Spectrum Disorders here.

Read more about Attention Deficit hyperactivity disorder here. 

Browse our Brainchild product range at Natural Figure

Tamanu Cream

The Tamanu Cream is made with Tamanu Oil and can aid in the softening of scars and stretch marks.  Made with Tamanu oil the Tamanu Cream contains all the benefits of Tamanu oil and more with its added ingredients.  

The Tamanu Cream makes for a good all round moisturiser, contains no parbans and leaves your skin glowing.  

For more information on Tamanu Oil read our Tamanu Oil blog entry or view the Tamanu Oil UK site

Try now at our Natural Figure store - Tamanu Cream

What is Tamanu Oil

Tamanu

Calophyllum inophyllum

Family: Clusiaceae

Introduction

The tamanu tree can grow to 98 feet tall and has small, delicate white flowers with yellow centers. In the northern hemisphere, the tree flowers twice a year, in the late fall and in spring.  Tamanu blossoms have a sweet, lime-like fragrance. The fruit is about the size of an apricot with thin flesh and a large kernel inside. It is this kernel that yields tamanu oil. Tamanu trees are native to Southeast Asia and are abundant in Polynesia . They prefer sandy soil and grow well on rocky, cliff-bound coasts and coastal slopes.  Tamanu is dispersed throughout the Pacific islands by its nut-containing fruits which fall into the ocean and are carried by sea to other coastal areas where they sprout and root.  

History

The genus name Calophyllum comes from the Greek, kalos (beautiful) and phullon (leaf). The species is known by many names in the various South Pacific islands. Common names: Alexandrian laurel, beach mahogany, beauty leaf, poon, oil nut tree, beach calophyllum, kamani, kamanu, tamanu

Polynesians hold its fine-grained wood in high regard for making boats, bowls, houses, and handicrafts.  The tree is also used as an ornamental tree.  

Tamanu seeds are very high in oil content but its takes up to 220 pounds of fruit to produce 11 pounds of oil.  Tamanu oil has been used traditionally by Pacific Islanders for thousands of years as a topical skin remedy. The oil is used externally by Polynesian women to promote healthy, smooth skin. They also use it on their babies to prevent nappy rash.  Cosmetic companies use tamanu oil in the preparation of regenerative creams for its soothing qualities and for its ability to improve skin elasticity, tone, firmness and appearance.

Oil in Tamanu Nuts

When the fruits of the C. inophyllum tree are collected and cracked open, the blonde nut kernel inside contains little evident oil upon pressing or grinding. But when the kernel is dried on a rack for a month or so, it turns a deep, chocolate brown, and becomes sticky with a rich oil. Once this transformation has taken place, the oil can be easily extracted from the dark kernels using only mechanical pressing. The resulting tamanu oil has a rich texture and greenish-amber color. The means by which the tamanu kernel becomes oily remains unknown. At present, no studies explain this process.

Sustainability

Tamanu fruits are collected from the ground after they have fallen from the tree so the practice has no negative impact on the ecology of the tree.  Tamanu harvesting is a sustainable, positive contribution to small village economies.

Botanical Description

Preferred scientific name Calophyllum inophyllum L.

Family Clusiaceae (syn. Guttiferae) (mangosteen family)

Article - http://www.tamanuoil.co.uk/what-is-tamanu-oil.htm