Deepermind and Health

Fake pills and fake procedures, even fake surgery, actually work. The placebo effect has been verified. It is measurable, observable, and actually felt by patients. Real medication or invasive treatment is not always needed. The placebo effect has no side effects, except people do not like to be tricked.

H. K. Beecher conducted 15 clinical trials and found that 35% of 1,082 patients were satisfactorily relieved by a placebo alone ("The Powerful Placebo," 1955). Additional studies have shown that placebos are effective in 50 or 60 percent for patients with problems such as pain, depression, some heart ailments, gastric ulcers and other stomach complaints.

Some researches believe that many of the new psychotropic drugs that are designed to certain brain disorders may not be any better than placebos.

Many of the pills sold in health food stores and the alternative medicine may greatly depend on the placebo effect. For example, putting hydrogen peroxide directly into the veins is a big placebo effect for sure. Homeopathic drugs are based on extreme dilution of poisonous and disease causing substances probably are all placebo in their effect.

Be sure to see your doctor before taking any medical advise from any web page including this one.

Eating feels so good. Yet it can become an addiction. Just as one can be a drug addict or sex addict, many people are good addicts. As in any addiction, you get high. The trick is to be high.

The body, the temple of the soul, must be treated as our most important possession. Without health, other goals become increasingly impossible. We can spend all our time and all our money trying to get well or avoid getting sick.

By spending twenty minutes a day exercising and doing yoga, monitoring food intake, and having some purpose and a little love, we can be high all the time. In fact, we can be super high and in super health.

Overindulging in sweets and processed foods put stress on the body. Americans consume about 120 pounds of sugar per person annually, a huge amount compared to pre-industrial times when we only took in about seven pounds a year.

The symptoms of low blood sugar may be mild, moderate, or severe. Mild hypoglycemia can cause nausea, a jittery or nervous feeling, cold and clammy skin, and a rapid heartbeat. Moderate hypoglycemia can make you feel irritable, anxious, or confused. Other symptoms include blurred vision, feel unsteady, and have difficulty walking. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to loss of consciousness, seizures, and coma and may be fatal. Some medications may mask symptoms of low blood sugar, including beta-blockers, which are often used to treat heart conditions and high blood pressure. Anyone who thinks they might have hypoglycemia should see their doctor.

Low blood sugar can effect the brain and cause headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, poor coordination, confusion, weakness or fainting, tingling sensations in the lips or hands, confused speech, abnormal behavior, convulsions, loss of consciousness, and coma. Symptoms related to epinephrine and norepinephrine including sweating, tremors (feeling shaky), rapid heartbeat, anxiety, and hunger.

Here is how it works. Your body breaks down carbohydrates, including those in vegetables, fruits, breads and grains, into simpler sugars. As these carbohydrates pour into the blood in the form of glucose. The pancreas reacts and secretes the hormone-like substance insulin. Often too much insulin is produced and the blood sugar drops too low. Then the pancreas releases glucagon, which stimulates the release of glucose into the blood to bring blood sugar levels back up.

If this does not work, you get super hungry and eat massive amount of carbohydrates and sugar. When the insulin gets low, fats that provide energy in your body are not released and you crave more carbohydrates. You feel like lying down in a corner and telling the world to go away.

If anything bothers you in this state, you react with stress. The adrenal glands respond by producing adrenaline and dumps it into the bloodstream. This causes anxiety, trembling and panic attacks: frequent signs of a hypoglycemic reaction. Many with low blood sugar crave food so strongly that they do not want to wait for food to cool, and end up burning their lips.

The reaction to stress can make people want the comfort of something to eat, and the result can be excessive weight. Excessive weight itself can cause stress and all these things reinforce each other.

So it is very important to take care of the body. Each thing we do must be done in conjunction with other steps. It is like a chain. If you do all of them you should feel really good.

Sleep about 7 to 8 hours. Go to be early enough so you do not need an alarm clock
Wash hands often. Shower at least once a day.
Stretch doing Hatha Yoga.
Walk, ride a bike, or use a gym for minimum of 30 minutes every day.
Lift weights at least four times a week
Eat properly.
Abstain from smoking, drugs and alcohol.
Have only protective sex, or sex with one partner you know is healthy
Enjoy nature, take hikes in a park or woods.
Do spiritual treatments on yourself and those who ask.

At the other extreme is to be obsessed with health. The body is important, but it is not your god. , The trick is to be healthy enough to make the body disappear from our notice most of the time, so we can concentrate on what needs to be done.

There are billions of bacteria all over you right now. Wash hands before cooking, after cleaning cat litter, or using the bathroom, working in the yard, or handling uncooked meat. Some bacteria are essential for our health. Upset the gut with acid reducing pills and you might over the long term kill off vitamin K and start to bleed easily. By the way, we have more germs in our gut than we have cells in our body.

There are usually more germs in the kitchen than in the bathroom. Using original Pine-Sol or Clorox disinfectant around kitchen and bath. The newer Pine-Sols may be much weaker in killing germs. Wear protective gloves.

If a health inspector visited your kitchen, would it pass? Use a thermometer and measure your refrigerator and freezers. Check expiration dates. In general, throw food away if kept more three days.

There are several forms of yoga. There is Raja Yoga (meditation), Karma Yoga (action), Jnana Yoga (knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (worship) and Hatha Yoga (body postures) .

Warning: It is important to be supervised by an instructor. Also read a book on this. Consult your doctor before starting any exercise program. If it hurts, stop! Be gentle. You could hurt yourself. All yoga is not good. Integral Yoga Institute lists these yoga postures:

Note: The Full Locus Pose (Salabasana) and Bow Pose (Dhanurasana) are not listed as they may cause injury.

Nutrition Action Magazine
CSPI/Nutrition Action Health
P.O. Box 96611
Washington, D.C. 20077-7216.

This magazine is middle of the road. It is not a far out health food magazine, nor based on the medical establishment. It says it does not know everything. It says sometimes there is not enough evidence to reach a conclusion. Refreshing. It points out which processed foods have the most salt and fat. .

We all know that we need to eat properly. There are 1.5 million heart attacks every year in the United States. Two people die every second from heart disease. About half of these people died suddenly.

Eating the right foods (those with less fat sugar and salt), chewing every mouthful, and being emotionally together produces the best effects.

BAD FOOD LIST
Eat little or none of these items

High-fructose corn syrup
duck
goose
spareribs
mutton
hamburger
sausage
bacon
frankfurters
luncheon meats
shrimp olives
pickles

kidney
liver
egg yolks
1%, 2% and whole milk
whole milk, sugared ice cream
half and half
sour cream
whipped cream
heavy cheeses

fried meat
fruits in heavy syrup
coconut oil
palm oil
lard
sugared cereals
potato chips
doughnuts
cookies
prepared lunch meats.

GOOD FOOD LIST
Make you diet based on these or similar items

lots of filtered water
fresh (not frozen) yogurt -frozen yogurt is dead!
breads
veggie burgers
salmon
rabbit
lima beans
lentils
chick peas
egg whites
egg substitutes
small amounts of lean meat

lots of filtered water
fresh yogurt (frozen yogurt is dead!)
breads
veggie burgers
salmon
rabbit
lima beans
lentils
chick peas
brown rice
bulgur

whey protein powder
rice milk
soy milk*
nonfat milk*
nonfat ice cream
most vegetables
fresh fruits
safflower oil
corn oil
olive oil
bagels
whole wheat bread
Rye Crisp

*Note: small amounts only

SUPPLEMENTS

Long term use of herbs can be harmful. Take the minimum of any herb or medicine. Check with your health provider first. These are some items you might consider as you get older:

Multivitamin with 100% daily values Don't take too high amounts.
Ask your doctor about
CoQ10 -can aid the heart
Milk substitues such as Rice Milk. Calcium Citrate plus vitamin D -helps retain bone density (Thes may cause constipation)

Bilberry (caution lowers blood pressure) and Lutein -good for the eyes
Vitamin K and B12-important if you take stomach-acid reducing medications. Take B12 if you don't eat meat.

This is just a guide. People have different tastes and requirements. Check with you doctor before changing your diet. You need some fat and salt.

He who does violence to the peaceful and harmless soon encounters one of ten things - He may experience cruel pain, disaster, physical injury, severe illness, or insanity, or else trouble with the authorities, grave accusation, bereavement, or loss of property, or else destruction of his house by fire, and .. the death of his body...-- Buddhist Texts, Dhammapada, #137, p. 11

Looking after one's health is done with two intentions. Man may take good care of his body for the purpose of satisfying his personal wishes. Or, he may look after his health with the good intention of serving humanity and of living long enough to perform his duty towards mankind. The latter is most commendable. --Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West, Vol VII, No. 18, p 23.

As this physical frame is the throne of the inner temple, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter. In reality that which takes delight in joy or is saddened by pain is the inner temple of the body, not the body itself. Since this physical body is the throne whereon the inner temple is established, God hath ordained that the body be preserved to the extent possible, so that nothing that causeth repugnance may be experienced. The inner temple beholdeth its physical frame, which is its throne. Thus, if the latter is accorded respect, it is as if the former is the recipient. The converse is likewise true. -- The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 95

Although ill health is one of the unavoidable conditions of man, truly it is hard to bear. The bounty of good health is the greatest of all gifts. -- `Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'lBaha, #132, p. 151

Your Health