What Women Want...

Words of wisdom from humorist Dave Barry: “What women want: To be loved, to be listened to, to be desired, to be respected, to be needed, to be trusted, and sometimes, just to be held. What men want: Tickets to the World Series.”

baobab rocks

from the Daily Mail ...

Demand for a new African ‘superfruit’ which boosts energy levels and skin health has soared to record highs in the UK.

New figures show sales of the baobab fruit, which contains three times as much vitamin C as an orange, has increased by 1,600 per cent.

Antioxidants: Baobab fruit have become increasingly popular in the UK with their citrus taste and health benefits

Brits have rushed to buy the nutrient-dense superfood, which has incredibly high levels of antioxidants and tastes like a blend of pineapple and melon.

Baobab is an excellent source of calcium, potassium, thiamin and vitamin B6 - all vital nutrients known to benefit general health.

Sourced from the African continent, baobab’s calcium source is a non-dairy one, making it an option for vegetarians too.

the baobab range is available at beauty emporium and pharmacy John Bell & Croyden and a number of organics stores.

Baobab trees: The fruit has been used in Africa for centuries as a source of natural well being

Since launching in October last year, sales figures are 60 per cent better than its closest market rival.
Dr Lisa Ryan, of Oxford Brookes University, said: “Baobab is a rich source of potassium which plays a role in lowering blood pressure.

'It also contains calcium which is vital for bone health, has a high soluble fibre content which is important for digestive health.

'It is also rich in polyphenols which have potential health benefits against diseases like atherosclerosis, some types of cancer and type 2 diabetes.' 

Dietician Sian Porter said: 'Baobab is an excellent example of a nutrient-dense, low energy food - a real super food.'

Baobab grows in thirty two countries across Africa and has been brought to the mainstream by new Africa-inspired health and beauty brand Aduna.

For centuries people in Africa have turned to the baobab tree as a source of natural wellbeing, benefiting skin, hair and general health.

As a fruit, baobab is unique in that it dries naturally on the branch before it is harvested, the seeds are removed and then sieved into a powder.

Available as a loose powder, it is ideal for adding to smoothies and juices, or using as an alternative to sugar for sweetening yogurt, muesli or cereal.

Josie Elles, of John Bell & Croyden, said: “Since launching with us late last year Aduna baobab has become our best-selling supplement this year.

'It has come from out of nowhere to become and both the brand and the product are ones to watch.'

Sampling Wild Baobab Fruit in Zambia

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319980/Fancy-baobab-breakfast-Demand-African-superfruit-improves-energy-levels-skin-health-soars.html#ixzz2aqqjYafY
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Cold Adaptation in daily life

 I have become interested in the work of Dr Jack Kruse - a US surgeon and author who believes we can drastically improve our health through becoming adapted to the cold . He advocates cold (and ice ) baths and claims it helps to lose weight, strengthen the immune system  and stave off diseases.
Here is a breathing exercise that 'the iceman'  Wim Hoff recommends before getting in the cold bath or shower:

"In Becoming the Iceman, Wim Hof, in addition to gradual acclimatization, also advocates a specific breathing exercises:

Sit comfortably in a peaceful environment (bedroom, living room, back yard, in nature, whatever suits you). Then relax, consciously, and begin to breathe from the abdominal region, not too shallow, not too deep. Think of it like blowing up a balloon.

Do this thirty times. Saturate the muscles and organs with extra oxygen. The goal is to let the oxygen saturate not only the lungs, but also all of the internal organs. It may feel like you are hyperventilating, but just remember that you have control.

Whenever you feel saturation throughout your body, exhale completely (easy), then inhale until you can’t take in any more air (don’t force it), then exhale completely (easy) and hold your breath (easy).

When the feeling telling you to breathe comes, it is because of the depletion of oxygen. At this point, you can inhale fully and hold it for ten seconds with lungs of air.

When you complete that, you completed your first cycle!

Repeat!

will keep you posted....

advanced muscle reconditioning - Brian Bronk speaks

I am the first UK practitioner of AMR

Happy Mothers Day!!

now listed on spine-health.com

www.spine-health.com/doctor/chiropractor/john-parsons-leyland-lan

my chiropractic blog

chiropractic and fibromyalgia

Case Study on chiropractic and fibromyalgia at Parsons Chiropractic

Posted by John in ParsShare on twitter

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Share on facebookShare on linkedinThis case study was accepted for publication by the British Journal of Chiropractic.

“Fibromyalgia is a common disabling condition affecting about 2% of the population. (3.4% women, 0.5% men)…
The typical patient hurts all over, sleeps poorly, and feels chronically tired and depressed…
A 51 year old mother of 4 presented complaining of low back pain, neck pain and fibromyalgia. She had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia 10 years ago by a rheumatologist.
A course of physiotherapy had made no improvement, and she had been prescribed antidepressants without success.
Her score on the Oswestry Low Back Pain and Disability Questionnaire was 48% indicating severe disability.
The patient was tested using the Activator Methods protocol. This indicated an apparent short leg in the prone position, termed ‘left side pelvic deficiency’. The test also indicated subluxations (lesions) at L5, L4, T6, C7 and C2 vertebrae…
The subluxations were gently adjusted using the Activator Adjusting instrument…
The effects were almost immediate. After a day of “feeling sore” she then felt easier the next day…
she was adjusted once a week for 6 weeks together with soft tissue work (trigger point release) and gentle stretching…
After the 6 week course of treatment she said she was “relatively back to normal”.
Her score on the Oswestry questionnaire had now fallen to 34% indicating only ‘mild disability’ . The pain was now assessed as ‘the pain comes and goes and is moderate’.
(full case study available on request)

avoid no fat dairy and calcium supplements

An interesting article in Healing Cancer Naturally discusses the bio-availability of calcium and other minerals, and makes an interesting point about calcium and no fat dairy:

"Calcium: won't absorb as a calcium supplement. That's because it needs both fat and fat-soluble vitamins to become bioavailable. So "no-fat" dairy, e.g., is the second surest way to clog one's kidneys with insoluble calcium, "second" only to taking a supplement with a glass of water, that is... None of the calcium ingested in this manner will make it to the bones, or anywhere else it's needed. But a cup of cottage cheese from whole (no fat removed!) and otherwise unmolested milk will deliver the kind of "live," so to speak, calcium that will do its job. It's "live" because fat and fat-soluble vitamins (and who knows what else!) in a substance where all of them occur together in proportions and amounts that are specific, as part of "natural solvents" that are specific -- all of these factors "enliven" this otherwise "severely wounded" (for purposes of bioavailability) calcium, and it gets a chance to become part of the live human body upon ingestion, rather than clog some organ or other with its dead weight".

from Elena Berezetsky,  a technical/science writer 

coccydenia and chiropractic

Coccydenia is pain in the tailbone or coccyx usually caused by falling or sitting heavily on it, and also occasionally by childbirth.
Coccydenia can be very painful - a real pain in the arse! and has been known to drive people to suicide.

(Coccydynia is also known as coccygodynia, coccygeal pain,
coccyx pain, or coccalgia)

Here is a list of doctors in the UK who can treat this condition:
http://www.coccyx.org/treatmen/docsuk.htm
here is a Video of Dr Tedd Koren talking about the KST chiropractic approach to this condition;
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciZnN1dCVcw

chiropractic and autism

Just seeing Quentin Wilson, motoring journalist (formally on Top Gear), being interviewed on the BBC breakfast programme reminded me of his support for chiropractic a few years ago. It helped his autistic son.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/alternativemedicine/3318749/He-was-lucky-to-be-walking.html

The benefits of distilled water for prostate problems

Enlarged prostate is a common condition affecting mainly middle aged and elderly men. The prostate enlarges and causes difficulty with urination. Many men go for surgery for this condition but according to Lawrence Wilson MD , many men regret this decision due to incontinence and other problems. A safer alternative is to repair the prostate gland and detoxify the body naturally. In many cases this will cause the swelling to subside.
Dr  Wilson recommends drinking distilled water to detoxify the body and the prostate specifically:
"Distilled water helps detoxify the body of metal and chemicals". He recommends avoiding tap water with chlorine and flouride which have a poisonous affect on the body.
Wouldn't it be better to use mineral water?
Actually no, by drinking mineral water we get dead inorganic minerals, which only clog our systems. 
 According to independent researcher Andrew Webber:
 “You only want organic minerals which come from live food. The inorganic calcium in spring water will get stuck in between your bones and give you arthritis, whereas the organic calcium in a live orange will REPAIR a spot in your bones. A human is ONLY made of, and can ONLY use organic minerals. There is zero position and/or zero use for inorganic minerals in humans.” – Andrew Norton Webber wwwaquariusthewaterbearer.com -(Amazing information on distilled water and liquids.. why pure is the only way to go - he recommends drinking one litre of distilled water per day to detox)

mineral water versus distilled water

Is spring water good for you (mineral water)? This is the view of Andrew Norton Webber - researcher at www.aquariusthewaterbearer.com :

"Then there was the question of minerals. Don’t we get minerals from spring water? Actually no, we get dead inorganic minerals, which only clog our systems. So again, we are putting minerals in our body, however, that is not actually better for our body or our brain. “You only want organic minerals which come from live food. The inorganic calcium in spring water will get stuck in between your bones and give you arthritis, whereas the organic calcium in a live orange will REPAIR a spot in your bones. A human is ONLY made of, and can ONLY use organic minerals. There is zero position and/or zero use for inorganic minerals in humans.” – Andrew Norton Webber

horse meat scandal

avoid horse meat - go vegetarian!
 "Vegetarians are one-third less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease than meat and fish eaters, according to a new U.K. study..." (Genevra Pittman, Reuters)

lower heart disease in vegetarians

 "Vegetarians are one-third less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease than meat and fish eaters, according to a new U.K. study..." (Genevra Pittman, Reuters)

"After taking into account participants’ ages, exercise habits and other health measures, the research team found vegetarians were 32% less likely to develop heart disease than carnivores. When weight was factored into the equation, the effect dropped slightly to 28%. The lower heart risk was likely due to lower cholesterol and blood pressure among vegetarians in the study, the researchers reported this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2013/02/university-of-oxford-validates-dr.html

Top Ten Natural Health Posts on Blogspot

I have been publishing this blog since 2007, so it was interesting to see which ten posts, out of  hundreds of posts, have the most visitors. This is useful for me to see what people are most concerned about in natural health, and may be information of interest to other bloggers too:

1. One week salt water cleanse - 8535 visits

2. Erectile dysfunction cured by exercise - 4236

3. Premature ejaculation - and seretonin - 3894

4. Fake cocaine that fools the experts - 3030

4. Doctor promotes urine therapy - 2225

5. Oil pulling with coconut oil - 2096

6. Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired - vit B12 -     1828 

7.  Magnesium oil - 1711

8.  Root canal dangers - 1549

 9. Can cottage cheese and flaxseed cure cancer? - 1394

10. Peyrones disease - dupuytrons contracture - 1206

new scientist article and urine drinking

does this mean New Scientist is recommending urine therapy?:

Science: A glass of urine a day keeps the stress away

• 29 February 1992 by GAIL VINES
• Magazine issue 1810. Subscribe and save

Drinking your own urine first thing every morning may 'promote tranquility during meditation', according to two Australian researchers. Urine is rich in melatonin, a hormone which can make people feel slightly sedated. This could explain why traditional yogis of the Indian subcontinent recommend the practice, known as amaroli (Medical Hypotheses, vol 36, p 195).

Melatonin is released by the brain's pineal gland during the night; its production is shut off by light shining into a person's eyes. No one is quite sure what melatonin does, but it plays some role in setting our various daily (circadian) rhythms and may even be part of the body's 'master clock'. A dose of melatonin can act as a modest pain killer and can make people feel sleepy. It seems to lessen the trauma of jetlag if taken at bedtime after a flight.

M. Mills and T. Faunce of the University of Newcastle...

Natural Health Blogging and Sex

Today I was looking through my natural health blog posts over the last years to see which ones have had the most visitors.
Unsurprisingly 'premature ejaculation' was popular. This post (on Valentines day!) talked about serotonin, a relaxing neurotransmitter in the brain,
"Scientists have found that premature ejaculation has something to do with a chemical in the brain called serotonin. Having low levels of serotonin somebody ejaculates too soon, before he wants to, causing some distress. On the contrary, higher serotonin levels help prevent premature ejaculation."
  The post than advocated the use of certain herbs such as ginkgo, and griffonia, and even stinging nettles that are claimed to increase serotonin.
 However, the main recommendation was not to worry about it too much, as research showed men with the condition lasted nearly 3 mins on average, compared to healthy volunteers who lasted  3 minutes - hardly statistically significant - maybe some men base their diagnosis on watching porn videos where the men go on for 45 mins or more (probably faked for the cameras)...
Most of the comments for this post are from viagra salesmen!

On the subject of Erectile Dysfunction another post advocated something simple - exercise.
"Any exercise is generally good for erectile dysfunction because it improves blood circulation and cholesterol, crucial to both sexual and cardiovascular health. Data from the large Health Professionals Follow-Up Study found that men who exercised vigorously at least three hours a week had a 30 percent lower risk of erectile dysfunction compared to men who rarely or never exercised."

and finally another post mentioned  the use of a chiropractic technique called KST (Koren Specific Technique) , and quoted a chiropractor posting on a forum (not me by the way)

"I am a chiropractor who went thru a pretty nasty divorce a few years ago. Since then
I've had a roller coaster ride with being able to obtain/maintain an erection. I
have tried many different chiropractic techniques. acupuncture, meditation, EFT,
supplements, hypnosis, ED meds. All of these provided mixed, inconsistent, temporary
results. After one KST adjustment my body released the emotional blockage that had
lead to my "issue." I feel like myself again! I highly recommend every chiropractor
find out more about KST." 

"..no link between back pain and discs"

Nearly twenty years ago international researchers agreed that spine surgery should not be considered until there had been initially a trial of conservative care but, for the most part, this advice has been ignored.

Ironically, the original two spine surgeons who promulgated the abnormal disc theory, WJ Mixter, MD, and JS Barr, MD, from the Massachusetts General Hospital, also recommended conservative care before surgery.

The paradigm shift away from the abnormal disc theory in spine diagnosis began in 1990 when research by Scott Boden, MD,found no clear correlation between disc abnormalities and back pain.

            Richard Deyo, MD, MPH, noted this misleading disc theory has led to “false positive” misdiagnosis, suggesting that “many of these abnormalities are trivial, harmless, and irrelevant, so they have been recently dubbed incidentalomas,”  and “they are likely to lead to more tests, patient anxiety, and perhaps even unnecessary surgery.” 

Both the North American Spine Society and American Society of Spine Radiology now admit the term ‘bulging disc’ should only be used as a descriptive term, not a diagnostic term. In 2011, North Carolina Blue Cross/Blue Shield announced it will no longer pay for spine fusion if the sole criterion is an abnormal disc.

('conservative care' means non surgical care, such as gentle chiropractic and soft tissue work)

see www.parsons-chiro.co.uk

you are not alone : cancer and flu shots

from Dr Tedd Koren DC:  Cancer – is chemotherapy worthless?

Worse. An extensive survey to quantify the actual benefit of cancer chemotherapy concluded that chemotherapy contributes just over 2% to improved survival in US patients. And that was an optimistic assessment.

Dr. Graeme Morgan, author of the study says: "We were sick and tired of hearing about these new drugs and it wasn't really cementing into anything. And the reason for my doing the paper was to really show that there hasn't been any improvement in survival, or the improvement has been very, very modest despite all these new drugs and new combinations and bone marrow transplants." My patient's husband The husband of one of my patients is a top executive in a large pharmaceutical firm. He is in charge of manufacturing the flu shot. I asked her if he had his flu shot. "No, he doesn't get them," she told me. "He doesn't? Why?" I asked. "Don't you know that pharmacists don't take drugs?" she said. She reminded me of the famous study of oncologists who were asked, "If you or a family member had cancer, would you take or recommend chemotherapy?" Over 80% said, "No." When asked why they answered, "because of unacceptable levels of toxicity and questionable effectiveness."

Fake cocaine: A legal substitute that fools even the experts! part 2

Fake cocaine: A legal substitute that fools even the experts!

With reference to my previous post on the above topic, there is evidence that an African herb called 

IBOGAINE can cure addictions to these drugs such as heroin, crack cocaine, etc :

"Ibogaine is a psychoactive indole alkaloid derived from the rootbark of an African plant – Tabernanthe iboga. In recent years it has been increasingly noted for its ability to treat both drug and alcohol addiction. Both scientific studies and widespread anecdotal reports appear to suggest that a single administration of ibogaine has the ability to both remove the symptoms of drug withdrawal and reduce drug-craving for a period of time after administration. In addition, the drug’s psychoactive properties (in large doses it can induce a dreamlike state for a period of hours) have been widely credited with helping users understand and reverse their drug-using behaviour.

Studies suggest that ibogaine has considerable potential in the treatment of addiction to heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methadone, and alcohol. There is also indication that it may be useful in treating tobacco dependence. It has also been suggested that the drug may have considerable potential in the field of psychotherapy, particularly as a treatment for the effects of trauma or conditioning. A single administration of ibogaine typically has three effects useful in the treatment of drug dependence. Firstly, it causes a massive reduction in the symptoms of drug withdrawal, allowing relatively painless detoxification. Secondly, there is a marked lowering in the desire to use drugs for a period of time after taking ibogaine, typically between one week and several months. This has been confirmed by scientific studies. Finally, the drug’s psychoactive nature is reported to help many users understand and resolve the issues behind their addictive behaviour."

google ibogaine or see www.ibogaine.co.uk

Thomas Griner, muscle spindles: migraine and autism

Thomas Griner, muscle spindles: migraine and autism

Griner, from back pain to autism relief thru massage

• Muscle spindle
  Muscles contain a complicated structure called a "muscle spindle". This contains nerves that tell the brain what the muscle is doing. When a muscle has too much lactic acid, the messages to the brain become weak and then the brain doesn't tell the muscle to relax and you get muscle spasm.
  In the words of Thomas Griner:
  "during prolonged exertion, concentrated lactic acid collects in the muscle spindles and this begins to effect the feedback nerves. The messages grow weaker and weaker, and the cerebellum (brain) interprets this means the muscle is relaxing. So it commands the muscle to tighten up....thus begins a vicious cycle of self-sustaining spasm that intensifies and grows larger."
  Griner's method of neuromuscular massage deals with this muscle spasm, and if the massage is done correctly the muscle will relax, the blood vessels will open, lactic acid will be carried away to the liver, and the muscle will return to a state of health.
  The suboccipital muscles.
  According Griner, spasm in the muscles under the head, where it joins the neck, cause all sorts of problems such as headaches. Also muscle spasm here irritates the nerves that control the sphenoid and frontal sinuses.
  When this happens you get sinusitis, migraines, and over-production of
  histamine. This effects the hypothalamus and pituitary glands causing
  asthma, bronchitis, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.
  A disturbance to the hypothalamus can cause symptoms of autism and
  scizophrenia.
  Griner claims to have produced dramatic changes to the behaviour of
  autistic children by massaging the suboccipital muscles.
  Thomas Griner is the teacher of Brian Bronk (AMR founder)
  
  ref 'Whats really wrong with you' Griner,T, 1996, penguin putnam, new york
  www.parsons-chiro.co.uk