Capsaicin stops heart attacks.
According to researchers at the University of Cincinnati, the primary ingredient of cayenne, capsaicin, can even stop a heart attack as it is happening.
The scientists discovered that a simple pain ointment that contains capsaicin can act as a cardiac protectant when rubbed onto the skin during a heart attack. The pain relieving cream can even reduce or stop any damage to the heart muscle.

The late herbalist Dr. John Christopher, nicknamed Dr Cayenne, constantly recommended the use of cayenne because of his absolute belief in its healing powers. There’s now proof that his claims were correct.

Keith Jones PhD from the UC department of pharmacology and cell biophysics said, “The researchers found an amazing 85% reduction in cardiac cell death when capsaicin was used.
“This is the most powerful cardio protective effect ever recorded.”

Dr. Jones described how useful and simple the treatment could be saying, “Topical capsaicin has no known serious adverse effects and could be easily applied in an ambulance or emergency room setting well in advance of coronary tissue death.
“This therapy has the potential to reduce injury and/or death in the event of a coronary blockage, thereby reducing the extent and consequences of heart attack.”

According to the researchers, when applied to the skin the Capsaicin content in the cream activates sensors in the nervous system and it’s these sensors that initiate the protection and preservation mechanism.
Dr Jones described added, “This may be similar to the way certain acupuncture treatments work; there may be a neurological basis. In a broad sense, this work may provide a ‘Rosetta stone’ for translating alternative medicine techniques, like acupuncture, to Western medicine.
“Perhaps we can understand the biological mechanisms of how alternative treatments may be successful for patients.”

Dr Jones also has the collaboration of the director of UC’s cardiovascular diseases division, cardiologist Neal Weintraub, MD.

If this research is correct, it’s wonderful news.
I love cayenne and consume it daily, so this is great news not only for my taste buds but also for my heart - unless capsaicin only stops heart attacks when applied to the skin and not when ingested!

Posted on ZEITGEIST

Life in France

I eat healthily and exercise regularly, so why isn’t my body slim?
How do slender woman stay so slim?
I appreciate that there are woman, and men, with serious eating disorders, but I am talking about the women in the public eye who are very slim but say they are healthy and that they do eat.
There are so many skinny women celebrities who are constantly plastered all over the media, usually for being too skinny.
Being in the public eye, a celebrity, famous, whatever you want to call it, no doubt has many benefits, but there is always pressure for them to look good. For many celebrities this means being uber thin, which they then get critcised for, but they really can’t win because if they gain weight they will make the news with headlines calling them fat or pregnant, or both!

There are so many beautifully slender celebrities in the media, including Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Keira Knightley, Nicole Richie, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sienna Miller, Paris Hilton Naomi Watts, Angelina Jolie, Kate Bosworth, Nadine Coyle, Geri Halliwell, Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isla Fisher, Jessica Alba, Cameron Diaz, Courteney Cox, Diane Kruger, Juliette Lewis, Chloe Sevigny, Kate Hudson, Mary-Louise Parker, Mena Suvari, Mira Sorvino, Natalie Portman, and Renee Zellweger to mention just a few.
I want to make it clear that I am not one of the people who think any of these woman are unwell or too skinny. These woman are all different shapes and sizes, and I think they all look absolutely gorgeous.
So how do they stay so slim?

I know many people will say, that these women don’t eat. That simply isn’t true though; if they didn’t eat they would be dead - wouldn’t they?
I think they are probably pretty healthy, as most of these skinny woman have given birth to healthy babies, so that must mean they are healthy - mustn’t it?
Then again, there are many women in third world countries suffering from malnutrition who have also managed to conceive and deliver a live baby.
So being able to conceive and deliver a baby isn’t necessarily relevant to being healthy.

I am confused!
When I initially started writing this I simply wanted to know how busy working mothers like Victoria Beckham managed to live their hectic lives and stay so slim.
I thought that they must be healthy, but now I’m not so sure.
I just want to know how it is possible for a mother of three children; Victoria Beckham, to have a 23 inch waist.
Twenty three inches! That’s almost the same size as my thighs!
When I look at my thighs I can’t imagine my waist ever being that size.
But then it wasn’t so long ago that the average waist size for a British woman was 23 inches, and now it’s reportedly 33 inches.
I guess modern life with all the labour saving electrical equipment we have in our homes really has made a difference to the average body.
Thankfully my waist is well under 33 inches, so for once being below average is a good thing!
However, the older I get the fatter I’m getting. It seems that although I am eating much smaller portions than I used to when I was in my 20’s, I am finding it increasingly difficult to stop my body ballooning to the shape and size of a sumo wrestler.

I would love, just out of curiosity, so spend a whole week with Victoria Beckham, just to see what she really eats, and how much she eats, and to find out how much exercise she does.
I imagine that although she obviously does eat, she probably doesn’t eat as many calories a day as I do. I wonder how long I would survive living her life, how long I’d be able to cope before I raided the fridge for chocolate?
So, do I want to be thin, slim, skinny, whatever you want to call it?
Yes. I most definitely do.
Am I willing to eat even less than I do now?
No.
Although I try to eat only when I am hungry, I don’t find it easy, as I tend to feel hungry pretty much all the time - except when I’m asleep!
I also comfort eat. Ah, so maybe that’s the answer. That’s why Victoria Beckham is so slim, she doesn’t need to comfort eat because she can always comfort herself by going shopping.
That’s it, I’ve figured it out. Victoria Beckham is slim because she is rich.
So, all I need to do is find a way to make as much cash as Victoria Beckham has.
Trouble is I hate shopping. So even if my bank balance was as healthy as Victoria Beckham’s I doubt my waist measurement would match hers!
I suppose I’ll just continue wishing I was as slim as Victoria Beckham et al as I sit on my ever increasing backside messing about online scoffing chocolate!
Oh well, I guess I’d better get used to the fact that elasticated waist clothes are in my future.

Posted on Zeitgeist

The Wine Connoisseur

I have written a post about breathing exercises before, but as there seems to be a lot of articles about them on various websites on the net they have been on my mind lately, so I thought I’d post another one!

When I remember to breathe correctly, I must admit that I do feel better. It’s just a shame that I haven’t as yet retrained my body to breathe abdominally rather than breathing using my chest.
When we are babies we breathe using our abdomen, but as we grow we lose that natural ability and begin to use shallow breaths, breathing using our chest.
I am definitely concentrating on breathing using my abdomen, and I have been doing so for a few weeks now. Hopefully if I keep consciously breathing with my abdomen, after a while I will automatically breathe this way permanently.

There are lots of breathing videos on YouTube, and although I usually prefer the spiritual ones with the relaxing music, I recently found this video and I really like it. This video is very clear and easy to understand, and I like the technique used.
As to whether I will ever be able to breathe using my abdomen without thinking about it - only time will tell!

Posted on Zeitgeist

Life in France

Diets are big business.
It seems that every day we are bombarded with the latest diet fad. Now there is yet another new way to fight the flab, it’s called Bet Dieting.
Bet Dieting is exactly what the name suggests, you join can get involved by joining website StickK and then you commit to losing a specified amount of weight over a specified time period.
If you fail to meet your target weight loss, money will be withdrawn from your bank account and paid to a charity of your choice. Your friends will be informed about your weight loss, or lack of it, via a group email.
The founders of Bet Dieting have said that dieters weight loss increases when the dieters choose to nominate an anti-charity.
Jordan Goldberg, Co-founder of StickK said that anti-charity donations work by adding extra incentive to lose weight because dieters do not want their money to be donated to charities that they oppose.
Global Warming, Abortion, and Gay Marriage are just some of the charities that may benefit when dieters fail to meet their weight loss targets, as these charities are concerned with issues contrary to the views of some Bet Dieting members.

I think Bet Dieting sounds just like any other diet fad.
I don’t like the word diet, when it’s used in these terms in a negative way. When I hear or read the word diet I think of the regular food and drink of a normal person, something to be enjoyed on a regular basis.
A healthy balanced diet with a little regular exercise is all most people need to live a fit and active life.
Fads like Bet Dieting are marketed for one thing only - to make the founders lots of money.
If you want or need to lose weight, I wouldn’t waste your money joining the Bet Dieting fad, or any other scheme, I would purchase a wide variety of fresh food, with as little heavily processed food as possible, and get up off of your bum and move about more.
Pay attention to portion size; the palm of your hand is a good guide for a protein serving.
Dieting in the negative definition of the word, is a complete waste of time. Lots of people lose weight whilst dieting, but then they regain it all once they revert to their previous eating habits.
It’s not about dieting for a set period of time to lose weight, it’s about eating well for the rest of your life. If you are overweight, you need to change your eating pattern permanently, otherwise you will be going up and down on the scales forever.
Change your eating habits for good, and your body will thank you for it.
It bugs me when I hear people saying that there’s nothing they can eat, everything is out of bounds etc. Rubbish! There are so many foods that you can eat, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit; just four categories but an almost endless supply of healthy delicious foods to be made into tasty meals.
I don’t think any foods are ‘bad food’, as long as you don’t make a habit of eating processed or prepared packaged meals, and take-aways etc, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t eat everything you like, including chocolate and various other foods which are considered unhealthy.
It’s all about moderation.
It’s not rocket science.
Eat a healthy balanced diet and move more.
It’s not a fad, it won’t cost you any extra money on top of your weekly food bill, and it works.
Right, now time for me to do some exercise, a brisk walk to the fridge for chocolate biscuits.

Lottery Scams

According to the latest news reports devout Hindus in India have developed a new soft drink, made from cow urine.
The urine based drink is branded as Gau Jal (Cow Water), and was reportedly made to honour the Hindu faiths sacred animal.
Hindus worship cows for their life-sustaining dairy products, but many Hindus also consume bovine urine and faeces in drinks and spice mixes for their ‘health-giving’ properties.
In some Indian states, cow dung and urine are sold in regular dairy shops alongside milk and yogurt, and ayurvedic Indian health food companies make porridge, toothpaste, and tonic drinks, which claim to cure ailments ranging from liver complaints to diabetes and cancer.
The urine is also believed to have disinfectant properties, while the dung is used in many Indian village huts as a clean and antiseptic flooring.

A leading Hindu cultural group came up with the recipe for the drink at its research centre in the holy city of Haridwar on the River Ganges. The RSS’s Cow Protection Department developed the new urine-based soft drink and it hopes it will promote its health-giving properties to a wider market.
Director Om Prakash said, “We refer to gau ark (cow urine) as gau jal (cow water) as it has immense potential to cure various diseases.
“We have developed a soft drink formula with gau jal as the base and it has been sent to a laboratory at Lucknow for testing.
“Don’t worry, it won’t smell like urine and will be tasty too.
“Its USP will be that it’s going to be very healthy. It won’t be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins.”

Members of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) hope their healthy alternative to cola and lemonade will be the next big thing.
Group director Om Prakash said, “It will be a revolution of sorts.
“The acceptance of cow urine as a potent medicine is increasing day by day and once it comes as a cold drink, its demand will definitely increase.
“It will justify the high stature accorded to a cow in Indian culture.”

During our many travels round the world I was always interested in trying different food and beverages, but I think this is one drink I would swerve.
Good old fashioned tap water gives me all the health benefits my body needs.

ITALY

I have decided I need to get fit again.
My main reason for wanting to get fit is to improve my health, and now I am an old lady, to hopefully keep any nasty illnesses at bay.
But I’d also love to be slimmer, and have the same measurements as Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, and Gisele Bundchen for example.
Actually I am pretty sure that I already share a measurement with these three lovely slim women - their waist measurement. Unfortunately though it’s not my waist that measures roughly the same as their waists ……. it’s my thighs.

I haven’t exercised properly for quite a while, and I am determined to get fit. But I have a feeling that my determination to get fit may not last as long as my willpower to exercise.

So even though I was tired, and cold, and I didn’t feel like getting out of bed let alone exercising, bright and early on Monday morning I got up, ate a bowl of branflakes, drank a cup of strong coffee, and then exercised on my elliptical trainer.
I only did one of the pre-programmed 30 minute exercise routines, but I was absolutely knackered after I’d finished.
It always amazes me how quickly my body gets unfit, and it always amazes me how quickly my body gets fit again. Soon I’ll be a lean, mean, fighting machine … without the fighting - I don’t like violence!

I intend to use the elliptical trainer every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I intend to use my rebounder.
Whether my good intentions will come to fruition is another matter.

I used the elliptical trainer again this morning, as it is Wednesday and I am already beginning to see the difference in my body, and I am almost beginning to enjoy using the elliptical trainer again too.
I did a few free weights afterwards as well, and although I would prefer not to have to exercise, I know it’s good for my heart, and I must admit it really does help my mood.
I feel almost cheerful now and as I have been so good for two days this week, I think that means I can now indulge and eat lots of chocolate.

Mmm chocolate - I’m off to see what’s in the fridge.

It’s not relevant to this post, and I’ve probably posted it before, but I like this photo. He is one of the litter of stray kittens that we looked after a while ago.
I deliberately didn’t crop the wires etc even though it would look better, because I think they help show just how tiny he was.
He was definitely the most inquisitive kitten of the litter, he used to sit on the stairs watching me as I typed away on the computer, then he would jump across from the step and walk all over the keyboard.
I’m not sure what it was he wanted to say, because I could never understand his writing, it usually looked something like this ……. m‹#3±&u}}}m%rl*tj”@pam#!

GERMANY

Researchers have reportedly concluded that eating fast can lead to obesity.

Japanese scientists conducted a study at the University of Osaka looking at the eating habits of 3,000 volunteers.
They found that men who ate quickly had an 84 % greater chance of being overweight, whereas women who ate quickly had a 50 % chance of being overweight.
The scientists also discovered that people who continued to eat until they felt full, as well as eating fast, had an even greater chance of being overweight.

Professor Ian McDonald, from Nottingham University, said, “If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing, you can overfill the thing.
“The old wives’ tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true, if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact.”

The Journal of Psychopharmacology published a paper by Dr Jason Halford, the director of Liverpool University’s Kissileff Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory, in which he said, “What the Japanese research shows is that individual differences in eating behaviour underlie over-consumption of food and are linked to obesity.
“Other research has found evidence of this in childhood, suggesting that it could be inherited or learned at a very early age.”

The results from the Japanese research will be published in the British Medical Journal.

I eat very slow, so slow that years ago when (I had a larger appetite than I do now) whilst dining in a restaurant, I would usually still be eating my first course while friends and family were waiting for their desserts!
Richard eats much faster than I do, he is slim and I am ……. curvy.
Like many studies before this one, and no doubt many more to come in the future, I think this is utter claptrap. We know that statistics can be manipulated to show the outcome of your choice, these scientists obviously wanted to show that eating fast makes people fat.

I suppose now overweight people who say, “I’m not fat, I’m just bog boned” can now add, “I’m not fat, I eat fast” to their list of excuses.

KENYA

Every day I wake up with sinus pain.
I would love to have just one day when my sinuses are happy.
Actually I would love every day to be a happy day for my sinuses, but just one day would be such a pleasant relief and a great start.

Living in the country doesn’t help, as there are constantly bits of ‘fluff’ floating round in the air outside; which is why I rarely leave the house!

Another thing which seems to irritate my delicate sinuses is the loft insulation. At least I think it’s the insulating up in our loft, because every night as soon as I go to bed I feel even worse than I do during the day.
Richard suffers with his sinuses too, and he has an afternoon nap every day, and when he gets up he says he feels bunged up too.

We used to think our dodgy sinuses were caused partly from the period of a couple of years where we took lots of long haul flights to various countries during our travels.
But we haven’t flown for a long time, and as there seem to be lots of adverts on TV for various different sinus medications, I suppose sinus pain is simply a common ailment of living in an over polluted world?

I am constantly blowing my nose, so is Richard, which is good news for tissue manufacturers, but I am fed up with it.
I don’t like using medication, and those that I have tried, when I was desperate for some relief, made
me so drowsy I could barely stand let alone do anything productive.

I looked into sinus pain and natural remedies on the internet, and the best solution seemed to be a Neti pot.
Basically a neti pot is a jug which you use for nasal irrigation. You fill the neti pot with a warm saline solution, and pour the liquid up your nostrils, flooding the nasal cavity with the warm salt water. You pour the saline solution up one nostril and it runs out of the other. Yuk!

The nasal irrigation should clear out excess mucus and irritating particles, and help moisturise the nasal cavity.
Nasal irrigation is an ancient Ayurvedic technique, and as using a neti pot is natural there shouldn’t be any side-effects.
But the thought of using one puts me off for some reason?
The use of neti pots is reportedly common practice in India and Asia, and I have read that lots of singers also use them to keep their sinuses healthy.
I am not brave enough to try a neti pot yet though, I’m concerned that the salt water would run down my throat and make me vomit. Or I’d probably use the wrong amounts of salt and water, and make my sinus pain worse.
Apparently 9 grams of salt in 1 litre of water is the recommended solution, and maybe one day I will be brave enough to try it?
But for now I suppose I will continue to suffer from sinusitis, I suppose I could always ease myself in gradually by using a cotton bud to gently dab salt water up my nostrils?

INDIA

Have the scientists really invented the answer to every dieter’s dream? A pill that allows you to eat what you like, and how much you like, and yet still lose weight safely.
Researchers say there such pills are already available. Apparently tablets currently used to lower blood pressure could help melt away unwanted pounds as well.
Experiments have shown that ACE inhibitor pills can speed up the metabolism, which will allow quick loss of excess weight.
The results of experiments could mean that the pills taken by millions of people to combat hypertension being repackaged as fat-burning pills.
No doubt with Britain having the highest obesity rates in Europe there will be plenty of people happy to pop these ‘miracle’ pills.
These new findings came about when Australian researchers genetically altered mice to lack an enzyme usually found in fat cells. The mice who lacked this angiotension-converting enzyme weighed 20% less than the other mice, and had up to 60% less body fat.
The GM mice were not more active than the other mice, and they ate the same quantities of food, but their metabolism was faster.
The GM mice also processed sugar more quickly, suggesting they were at lower risk of diabetes.
Researcher Dr Michael Matthias said, “The drugs are out there because they are used for hypertension.
“So we know their safety and their tolerability. What we don’t know is whether or not they will work in humans.”
The researcher, from Melbourne University, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “I don’t think this will replace the need for careful control of diet and encouraging more exercise.
“If people look at increasing their food intake then all that will do is cancel out the beneficial effects of increasing metabolic rate.”

Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the British charity Weight Concern, said, “All the evidence we have is that nothing works better than a healthy diet and increased physical activity, with or without weight loss drugs.”

Doctors are now convinced that it is not possible to be overweight and fit. An 11-year study in the U.S. of almost 40,000 women found those who were overweight yet active were still more than 50% more likely to develop heart disease than those of normal weight who did similar amounts of exercise.
The findings showed that while exercise can counter some of the ill-effects of over-indulgence, it cannot erase them.
The researchers, from The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, concluded, “Even high quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of coronary heart disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent weight loss.”

Another involved in the study rammed home the point. “If you’re overweight or obese, you can’t really get back to that lower risk with just physical activity alone.”

So while this news about hypertension tablets helping with weight loss without exercising or dieting, may sound wonderful, it all boils down to what we already know; to lose weight and be healthy, you basically need to move more and eat less.
I appreciate that to many people taking a pill is a very simple and easy option in the battle of the bulge, but I think we all know deep down, whether we like to admit it or not, healthy food and exercise are good things.

It’s not complicated, and we don’t really need a magic pill, we just need to think about what we are consuming and get off of our bums once in a while.

Having said that, if I could eat what I want, not do any exercise, and just take a ‘magic pill’ to lose weight, would I?
Of course I would.
No, actually I wouldn’t because I seriously dislike taking tablets.
So I guess the next time I am having a ‘fat day’ I’ll just have to get up off my bum and either use my elliptical trainer, or jump up and down on my rebounder. I never feel like exercising; I hate sweating but when I do I always feel good afterwards.

I read a story today about a blood test that is being developed by scientists to predict when a woman will go through the menopause.

The scientists say this new blood test will help women who are juggling a family and a career decide when to have their children.
The blood test measures levels of a single hormone, AMH, that falls as women become less fertile.
Levels of the AMH hormone reflect the store of egg follicles in the ovaries. As the stock falls, women become less fertile.
Apparently it is easier and cheaper than existing tests which measure three different markers in the blood, and give an idea of how many eggs are left in the ovaries.

This new test will apparently predict to within two or three years when the menopause will actually occur.
Two or three years. I don’t see how that will make much difference to a women’s timetable for motherhood.

Women usually reach the menopause between the ages of 40 and 60, 50 is the average, although fertility starts to fall rapidly after 35.

Dutch researcher Dr Jeroen van Disseldorp, who is working on developing this blood test said,
“Increasingly, people are waiting until they’re over 30 before they have children.
“Because women start the menopause at different ages, this means that by then some of them are already significantly less fertile.
“Knowing when the menopause is going to begin could play a major role when it comes to deciding when to start trying to have children.”

There are Menopause testing kits already available, I have seen them costing as little as £12. These test three hormones, Inhibin B, AMH and FSH. Levels of Inhibin B, and AMH drop as a woman approaches menopause, while FSH levels rise.
Critics of theses tests say they may give misleading information to women because even though they reveal how many eggs are left, the quality of the eggs remain unknown.

Dr Simon Fishel, head of CARE Fertility, Nottingham, said a more reliable method would be for women to use their date of birth to work out how fertile they were.

Professor Bill Ledger, who developed the Plan Ahead fertility kit, said, “The best way of predicting menopause is to ask your mother when she had hers.”

Whenever I read news like this the first thought that always comes to mind is, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
Do women really need any more pressure regarding their fertility?
There is no exact science, and maybe some things are better left alone?
If every women who wanted children had them, there would obviously be even more people living than there already are.
Not every women is meant to have children.
It’s not a women’s (or man’s for that matter) right to have children.
Children are a gift, a blessing, and there are already a large number of children who are living without a mother and/or father for whatever reason who would love to be welcomed into a more traditional family life.
If every women who wants children was able to have her own, then the number of adoptions, and fostering etc would no doubt decline.

Having said that, would I take this blood test? I don’t think I would.
I think I would prefer to let nature take its course.

My eggs on a shelf in the fridge. Que Sera Sera.

Volupté 2005 Cotes du Ventoux