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Drink Milk ‘To Boost Brain Power’

February 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

No matter how old you are, drink at least a glass of milk everyday if you want to sharpen your mental skills, say researchers.

A new study has claimed that drinking a glass of milk daily not only boosts one’s intake of much-needed nutrients, but it also positively impacts one’s brain power and mental performance, the ‘International Dairy Journal’ reported.

According to the researchers, certain nutrients in dairy products, such as magnesium, could play a role in staving off memory loss. Moreover, dairy foods also help protect against heart disease and high blood pressure, which in turn maintains the brain’s ability to properly function. [Read more...]

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Adventuring Can Spur Creativity On Job

January 31, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

What would you do if you had extra time off and a wad of cash to accomplish something on your bucket list?

That’s the opportunity Ray Clark is offering longtime employees at The Marketing Arm.

Anyone who has been with the Dallas-based marketing and promotions agency for at least seven years is being rewarded with seven days off and $2,500. Those who have made it to Year 15 or beyond get a 15-day bonus and $5,000 to do something they’ve longed to do but didn’t have the time or money for.

“This is something I came up with, but it got wildly embraced,” says Clark, who announced the unexpected perk to start off 2012 with a bang. “This has created quite a buzz.” [Read more...]

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Why Do Some People Never Get Depressed?

January 30, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Confronted with some of life’s upsetting experiences – marriage breakdown, unemployment, bereavement, failure of any kind – many people become depressed. But others don’t. Why is this?

A person who goes through experiences like that and does not get depressed has a measure of what in the psychiatric trade is known as “resilience”.

According to Manchester University psychologist Dr Rebecca Elliott, we are all situated somewhere on a slidling scale.

“At one end you have people who are very vulnerable. In the face of quite low stress, or none at all, they’ll develop a mental health problem,” she says. [Read more...]

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Are You Tired All The Time?

January 26, 2012 by ·

Renewing your energy is possible, once you learn to combat common causes of fatigue.

Culprit: A Vitamin or Mineral Deficiency

Having low levels of iron or vitamin D or B12 can make you feel tired, anxious, and weak, says Irene Park, a nurse practitioner in New York City. Many experts believe that a significant percentage of the U.S. population is deficient in vitamin D. “And lower levels of vitamin D can cause muscle weakness and pain,” says Keenan. Also, if you’re a woman of reproductive age, you’re statistically at greater risk for iron-deficiency anemia. [Read more...]

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Warning On Yoga Danger A Bit Of A Stretch

January 22, 2012 by ·

AUSTRALIANS are pulling on yoga pants and rolling out mats in growing numbers. In parks, gyms and second floor studios, they are positioning themselves in ”upward warrior” and ”downward dog” practising everything from Ashtunga to hot yoga.

In recent days, these devotees could be forgiven for demonstrating caution as they settle into lotus, following a New York Times article taking its own – almost heretical – position: far from a health-giving panacea to modern ills, yoga can be a health hazard.

”How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”, a five page spread in the New York Times Magazine, has created a flurry of outrage in the $5 billion-a-year US yoga industry and around the world. [Read more...]

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How Exercise Makes Your Heart Healthy

January 17, 2012 by ·

Exercise plays an important role in making our heart stronger by improving blood flow and decreasing its workload, researchers say.

According to Joseph Libonati, PhD, associate professor of nursing at Penn Nursing, exercise improves the ratio between the heart’s demand for oxygen and its supply through the coronary arteries.

With exercise, the heart gets stronger because it gets bigger and is able to pump more efficiently.

Exercise allows your heart to push out a greater volume of blood with every beat and it does so at a lower heart rate. It also improves the blood flow to the heart by improving the heart’s ability to have its coronary blood vessels dilate. These changes in parallel improve both the supply and demand of the heart. [Read more...]

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Beware Of That Breathless Feeling

January 9, 2012 by ·

It’s often neglected, undiagnosed and even confused with asthma, but Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is quite common in a dust and smoke-filled environment. Hema Vijay talks to experts

Heard of COPD? It is time to be warned against it, as COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030, as per World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates.

Already, 4 to 8 per cent of all people aged over 40 are expected to have COPD. But it is largely undiagnosed, until irreparable damage has already been done. In fact, doctors estimate that over 25 per cent of people with clinically significant COPD are unaware that they have the disease. “While adequate surveys in India have not been done, from my own experience though screening camps, I have found that 15 to 20 per cent of people who come to get screened have COPD,” says Dr. K. Madhu, Consultant Pulmonologist, Frontier Lifeline. [Read more...]

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