Cholesterol-lowering supplements

If you're worried about your cholesterol and have already started exercising and eating healthier foods, you might wonder if adding a cholesterol-lowering supplement to your diet can help reduce your numbers. Although few natural products have been proved to reduce cholesterol, some might be helpful. With your doctor's OK, consider these cholesterol-lowering supplements and products.

Artichoke extract - May cause gas or an allergic reaction - Recommended dosage: 600 milligrams 3 times a day;

Barley - Recommended dosage: 3 grams barley oil extract or 30 grams barley bran flour a day;

Blond psyllium (found in seed husk and products such as Metamucil) - May cause gas, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation or nausea - Recommended dosage: 5 grams seed husk twice a day, or 1 serving a day of products such as Metamucil;

Fish oils - May cause a fishy aftertaste, bad breath (if so try odourless options), gas, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea - May interact with some blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin. Recommended dosage: 2 to 4 grams a day;

Garlic extract - May cause bad breath or body odour, heartburn, gas, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea - May interact with blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin. Recommended dosage: 600 to 1,200 milligrams a day, divided into 3 doses;

Oat bran (found in oatmeal and whole oats) - May cause gas or bloating. Recommended dosage: Up to 150 grams of whole-oat products a day;

Red Yeast Rice (Innovative Therapies ‘Lipoplex’*) - Products may contain lovastatin (hypolipidemic agent) and should not be combined with cholesterol-lowering medications. Recommended dosage: as prescribed.

* One of the side-effects of hypothyroidism, which 1 in 5 people {including me} have, can be increased cholesterol. I've been using Lipoplex for several years now and it generally gives me a 1 point reduction in LDL and I now hover around 6. My GP, who is also a naturopath, thinks the improvement should be more significant than this.

Unfortunately, sometimes healthy lifestyle choices, including supplements and other cholesterol-lowering products, aren't enough. If your doctor prescribes medication to reduce your cholesterol, take it as directed while you continue to focus on a healthy lifestyle. As always, if you decide to take an herbal supplement, be sure to tell your doctor: the supplement you take may interact with other medications.



Resourced from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/

Forward Head Posture Syndrome

FHPS is the formal name for that slouched, stooped posture that occurs when the head and ears are forward of the shoulders.

This posture causes the muscles at the base of the skull and in the neck to both overwork and tighten, often causing headaches or reduced range of motion in the neck and also reducing circulation to the head, neck and arms. It's been linked to conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome and lower back pain.

Additionally if you have any degree of FHPS, to see something directly in front of you, you need to tilt your neck back which can compress the spine.

In the image above there are four figures. The one on the far left shows correct posture, with the ear-lobe directly over the middle of the shoulder/arm joint. Personally I don’t think I’ve ever seen this posture in anyone other than dancers!

Second from the left is most common today, third from the left I’m sure you’ll recognise as “teen slouch” or "computer back" and the figure on the far right is the end result if correction is not made - scary but true!

Correction in the early stages is relatively easy. A simple exercise is ‘Chin Retraction’, that I recommend people practice during dead-time eg waiting at traffic lights, for elevators or in queues, when on-hold on the telephone, during commercial breaks on TV etc.

Try this: put a finger on your chin and gently push backwards, holding for 10 seconds (no more). You can repeat lots of 10 seconds but initially don’t hold for longer. It’s not a big move and you don’t tilt your head up or down. If you start will poor posture and push your chin, your carriage will end up collapsing and you’ll be staring at the ground. It really is a small move but you’ll feel all sorts of sensations in your neck, arms and skull. You make feel tingling in your neck and arms, this is okay as it’s the nerves being worked and it should stop as soon as you release the hold. Simple but effective.

If you suffer postural stress in your neck, shoulders and back, most benefit will be got from remedial massage followed by daily practice of the 'chin retraction'.

Know Pain, Know Gain

Okay, so I know it's a play on the "no pain, no gain" tag, but I prefer the positive edge the title gives.

I've just started reading 'The Road Less Travelled' by M. Scott Peck (1990 - yeah it's been around awhile) and in the first few chapters have come across the following gems:

PROBLEMS do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to growth and development.

... many people simply do not take the time necessary (for many reasons other than lack of time) to solve life's intellectual, social or spiritual problems.

In attempting to avoid the pain of responsibility, millions of people daily attempt to escape from freedom. One's adult life is a series of personal choices, decisions. If you can accept this totally, you become free.

And a throw-back from the 60's, attributed to Eldridge Cleaver, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem".

Then, finally for this post: The life of wisdom must be a life of contemplation combined with action.

Keep evolving!

Clarification

ooops, so sorry, typo makes the property a real steal. The actual sell price is AUD 243,000.
Still a great price all the same.

FOR SALE!

As you know I've recently left Sydney and the plan is to sell my sister's place so we can buy soomething bigger togeteher. Alas the crap financial markets have put something of a dampener on real estate etc and we haven't sold (yet).

So, I'm appealing to all and sundry - please pass this on to any investors you know who like great deals (and who doesn't):


Belmont North Cottage - a mere $143K!

2 beds with builtins, large combined bathroom/laundry, kitchen/dining, lounge. Partly refurbished, polished floorboards, big storage shed, 930sq of sunny, level land near transport, schools etc. Selling because we need something bigger for reverse-empty-nester (the kids are moving home!).

See link below, noting we've got much nicer pics than the agent took! (Video available upon request)

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104967852&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=18891424&s=nsw&tm=1218335410

It's August

which means I've been in Lake Macquarie for one month now. Wow! Sydney feels like a lifetime ago and I've achieved quite a bit: a new approach to life (smell the roses), a new clinic, in a couple of weeks I'll be launching Pilates Matwork classes at the Caves Beachside Hotel (watch this space) and I even think I've got a crew position lined up for the new sailing season in September!

Life is good.

Another lovely piece of philosophy follows, for you to ponder and act upon:

I shall pass this way but once;
any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now.
Lert me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.