Good nutrition starts early

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It is well known that smaller babies are more likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes. More recently, poor nutrition around the time of fertilization and egg implantation have also been shown to be detrimental in adult life.

Now Adam Watkins and colleagues, writing in The Journal of Physiology, have shown that, even before conception, maternal diet is vital to the health of the next generation. Even as the egg first leaves the ovary and begins to mature, it is subject to nutritional deficiencies in the mother that can profoundly affect its viability.

The researchers fed female mice on a special low-protein diet during one three-and-a-half day ovulatory cycle, then let the mice mate. They studied the offspring and the results were profound, with the pups suffering from an array of maladies.

“They were hypertensive, had poorly functioning blood vessels that did not relax properly when treated with reagents that should dilate them, had kidneys of abnormal structure and size, and exhibited reduced exploratory activity,” Watkins explained.

“These disturbing effects cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the human condition, but do illustrate the need to investigate whether such a link might exist in women.”
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Diet Reduces Heart Attacks, Strokes

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Researchers followed more than 88,000 healthy women for almost 25 years. They examined their food choices and looked at how many had heart attacks and strokes. Those who fared best had eating habits similar to those recommended by the government to stop high blood pressure.

The plan, called the DASH diet, favors fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and plant-based protein over meat.

Women with those eating habits were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke than women with more typical American diets.

Those are meaningful reductions since these diseases are so common. About two in five U.S. women at age 50 will eventually develop cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes. Women in the study were in their mid-30s to late 50s when the research began in 1980.

Previous research has shown this kind of diet can help prevent high blood pressure and cholesterol, which both can lead to heart attacks.

The new study appears in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.

People might think, "I don't have high blood pressure, so I don't have to follow it," said Simmons College researcher Teresa Fung, the study's lead author. However, the results suggest, she said, that "even healthy people should get on it."

About 15,000 women in the study had diets that closely resembled the low blood pressure diet. They ate about twice as many fruits, vegetables and grains as the estimated 18,000 women whose diets more closely resembled typical American eating habits.

Although the study only followed women, Fung said men would probably get similar benefits from the approach.

The study was limited because it merely tracked the women and their habits for 24 years. That's a less rigorous method than randomly assigning equal groups of women different diets and comparing results. But that would be extremely difficult to do for such a long time.

Given that limitation, Dr. Laura Svetkey, director of Duke University's hypertension center, said the study provides the best evidence yet of important long-term benefits from a low blood pressure diet.

"It's nice to see research that really is aimed at helping people with prevention in a very practical way," Svetkey said. She noted that the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is available free on the National Institutes of Health Web site. The study was funded with NIH grants.

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of New York University's Women's Heart Program, said many patients would rather take a pill than adjust their eating habits. But, Goldberg said, "I always point out to my patients, if you make these changes in your lives, it could ... keep you off medication" in the long run.

"There has to be a greater emphasis on the way we live our lives," she said.
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Just 20 minutes of weekly housework boosts mental health

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While regular exercise is known to be good for mental health, no one seems able to agree on how much, or what type of activity, is best.

The findings are based on a representative sample of almost 20 000 men and women who were quizzed for the Scottish Health Survey about their state of mind and how much weekly physical activity they engaged in.

Over 3000 participants were deemed to be suffering from stress or anxiety, using a validated scoring system.

But any form of daily physical activity was associated with a lower risk of distress, when other influential factors, such as age, gender, and the presence of a long term condition, were taken into account.

The range of activities, which proved beneficial, included housework, gardening, walking, and sports, although the strongest effect was seen for sports, which lowered the risk of distress by 33%.

The results also indicated that while just 20 minutes improved mental state, the more activity a person indulged in, the lower were their chances of psychological distress.

Physical activity curbs the risks of a range of serious diseases, such as heart disease and certain cancers.

And it improves several biological risk factors, such as glucose intolerance and inflammation, which have themselves been linked to depression and dementia, say the authors.
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All Natural Disinfectant: Kills Germs, Not Kids

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Organic cleaning products can make your home a safer place.

The disinfectant ingredients in most household cleaning products are highly toxic. Each year, Americans suffer fatal burns, chemical exposure, toxic exposure, illness and death without ever leaving their homes.

One of the goals of organic living is to eliminate dangerous chemicals and toxins from our homes.

To reach that goal, changes need to be made in the products we use for house cleaning.

Commercial disinfectants can easily be replaced with organic cleaning products or made with all natural ingredients that are probably in your kitchen cabinets.

When making the switch from commercial to all natural disinfectant cleaning products, people often worry about killing the germs in the house.

While some degree of worry is normal, we have become germphobic as a society. In fact, we are probably spending way too much of our time killing germs.

According to the World Health Organization, disinfectant and antibacterial products are resulting in stronger, more resistant bacteria.

The health of our families and our planet are the primary reasons for making the switch to natural cleaning solutions.

Non toxic cleaners don't contain the chemicals that are toxic to our bodies and the earth. Chlorine is often used as a disinfectant in cleaning products.

Chlorine is toxic and in the environment, becomes carcinogenic. In addition, it causes burns to the skin.

Many other chemicals are found in the products used to clean and disinfect our homes. These chemicals are dangerous and result in hundreds of thousands of injuries each year.

About 10% of calls to the Poison Control Center result from poisonings with house cleaning products. Many of these are for small children, under the age of six years.

Organic cleaning products are available in health food stores and on the internet. These contain herbal or botanical disinfectant ingredients.

Eucalyptus, sage, rosemary and other plant oils are used in place of chemicals for disinfecting your home.

Essential oils are used in these products for killing germs and leaving a pleasant scent in the air.

When you are purchasing organic cleaning solutions, you will need to read the labels. The term organic is only regulated in food, not in cleaning products.

Words like all natural and organic are a good indication of quality, but you'll need to read the label to be sure. There should not be any chlorine, ammonia, perfumes or dyes in the product.

There should also be no long, impossible to pronounce chemical ingredients listed on the label.

You can make your own homemade disinfectant cleaning products at home with a few simple ingredients.

All you need are vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and a few essential oils.

You will find that a small bottle of essential oil may cost a bit more than you expected, but you only need a few drops at a time, so the bottle goes a long way.

Tea Tree Oil is an effective natural disinfectant. You will need vinegar, water, tea tree oil and a spray bottle.

Mix equal parts of vinegar and water in the spray bottle. Drop in some of the tea tree oil and mix the solution.

Then you just spray and clean, as you would with your commercial cleaners. Lavender and thyme essential oils are also good for disinfecting.

There are a few other things you can do to prevent the spread of germs without the use of chemical disinfectant products.

Wash your hands frequently and teach your children to wash their hands. Hand washing has been shown in studies to reduce the spread of illness.

Disinfect your cleaning rags and sponges regularly. Sponges can be boiled for a few minutes and then put in the microwave for a minute or so.

Rags used for cleaning should be washed in hot water regularly. By making a few changes, you can keep your family safe from germs and toxins.
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