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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
New Hope for ADD and ADHD in Children
Although the National Institute of Mental Health readily admits it doesn’t know what causes ADD and ADHD in children, a recent discovery by a neurobiologist at Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts provides some new and exciting hope for children and adults with the disorder.
Neurobiologist Susan Barry, contrary to prevailing thought, has documented that the human brain can be retrained. And that could evolve into new and more powerful discoveries that could unravel some of the complexities of the brain, including those associated with Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Through ongoing therapy that “ … involved small wooden balls suspended on strings, looking at complicated eye charts through prisms, and waving objects in her peripheral vision while jumping on a trampoline” Barry, with a rare eye disease from birth, was able to retrain her brain so both her eyes could focus on one object at the same time.
The potential ramifications of Barry’s discovery are many, but as far as ADD and ADHD, they include:
* For years, science has taught that the brain becomes fixed after early childhood and no longer has the capacity to be changed or rewired
* ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adulthood
* About 10 percent of school-age children in the U.S. have some degree of ADD, ADHD, and/or other learning disabilities
* Some children with ADHD have thinner brain tissue in areas of the brain associated with attention … often those children see their symptoms improve as they grow older and that tissue thickens … Could Barry’s retraining of the brain quicken the thickening of that tissue?
* Some children develop ADHD after head trauma … Could Barry’s retraining techniques hasten the recovery time?
* Modern medicine’s prevalent treatment for ADD and ADHD is medication that treats symptoms, but never will generate a cure. Could retraining the brain lead to a cure?
* Barry’s book is entitled “Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey Into Seeing Three Dimensions”
Hopefully, there soon will come a day when ADD and ADHD in children will be cured, rather than coming up with new temporary-fix medications. And Susan Barry’s discovery that the human brain can be trained could be the portal to that future.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene - Death: A Prerequisite For Life
Owner of Healthy Chocolate website
Vision Breakthrough Opens Doors to Brain Adaptability
A new medical vision breakthrough where neurobiologist Susan Barry, of Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, trained her brain to conquer the supposedly lifelong eye condition called strabismus has far-reaching implications.
If, contrary to conventional wisdom, the human brain can be retrained beyond the formative years of life, new hope could be on the horizon for those suffering from post-traumatic stress, ADHD, learning disabilities, brain injuries, and many other brain-related conditions.
Barry, an overachiever all her life, found innovative ways to compensate for her supposedly incurable cross-eyed condition, even became a neurobiologist at the collegiate level, yet never lost sight of her goal to see in three dimensions like most people.
Tidbits from her journey, plus documentation Barry recorded proving the human brain can be retrained include:
* While in the third grade in the 1960s, Barry is embarrassed by her demotion from a class for above-average students to a special-problems class
* Diagnosed with strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes that causes a variety of conditions, Barry’s specific problem is cross-eyes
* Three surgeries make her eyes look straight, but don’t correct the problem
* She learns to read by suppressing the image projected by one eye
* Doctors tell Barry her condition is incurable
* Through hard work, she’s accepted as a student at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut
* 2002 Annoyed she’s a neurobiologist and vision specialist who can’t recognize faces in the rear of her classrooms, Barry begins rigorous program of vision therapy
* 2009 Publishes “Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions,” documenting how unusual exercises retrained her mind to focus both eyes on one object simultaneously, hence three-dimensional vision
Barry’s vision breakthrough, orchestrated by an elaborate program of vision therapy that included small wooden balls suspended on strings, complicated eye charts, and jumping on a trampoline to catch specific visuals in her peripheral vision, crazy as it sounds, could open new doors as far as retraining the mind for optimum purposes.
* While in the third grade in the 1960s, Barry is embarrassed by her demotion from a class for above-average students to a special-problems class
* Diagnosed with strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes that causes a variety of conditions, Barry’s specific problem is cross-eyes
* Three surgeries make her eyes look straight, but don’t correct the problem
* She learns to read by suppressing the image projected by one eye
* Doctors tell Barry her condition is incurable
* Through hard work, she’s accepted as a student at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut
* 2002 Annoyed she’s a neurobiologist and vision specialist who can’t recognize faces in the rear of her classrooms, Barry begins rigorous program of vision therapy
* 2009 Publishes “Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions,” documenting how unusual exercises retrained her mind to focus both eyes on one object simultaneously, hence three-dimensional vision
Barry’s vision breakthrough, orchestrated by an elaborate program of vision therapy that included small wooden balls suspended on strings, complicated eye charts, and jumping on a trampoline to catch specific visuals in her peripheral vision, crazy as it sounds, could open new doors as far as retraining the mind for optimum purposes.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene - Death: A Prerequisite For Life
Owner of Healthy Chocolate website
Friday, July 24, 2009
Preponderance of Plant Alkaloids In Nature
With the number of plant alkaloids known to man exceeding 10,000, it’s not surprising they are complex in diversity, and can come in forms ranging from therapeutic medicines to deadly poisons to addictive drugs.
One scientific definition says an alkaloid is a plant-derived compound that is toxic or physiologically active, contains a nitrogen in a heterocyclic ring, is basic, has a complex structure, and is of limited distribution in the plant kingdom.
Yet another definition says, though most alkaloids come from plants, they’re also found in mammals, frogs, butterflies, marine organisms, and certain bacteria.
Facts about a few types of alkaloids include:
* Sumerian tablets dated 3500 BC record the use of morphine alkaloids, derived from opium poppy
* 1600s Spanish Jesuits in Lima Peru learn the alkaloid quinine, from the South American Cinchona tree, cures malaria
* Taken in right amounts, many alkaloids have therapeutic value for humans
* Pyrrolidine alkaloids, among other things, can stimulate digestive secretions, oppose physiological effects of the sympathetic nervous system, constrict eye pupils, slow the heart, and dilate blood vessels
* Pyridine and piperidine alkaloids include venomous hemlock and tobacco
* Indole alkaloids include strychnine and the hallucinogen mescaline, which is built chemically much like the brain neurotransmitter dopamine
* One plant in the indole alkaloid family, Madagascar periwinkle, is the source of an alkaloid credited with improving the survivability from Hodgkin’s disease from about zero to about 90 percent
* Isoquinoline alkaloids include alkaloids from the opium poppy, including heroine, and morphine
* Purine alkaloids, with a molecular arrangement similar to the purine base adenine found in DNA, includes coffee, tea, and cacao alkaloids
And this is just a sample of plant alkaloids and what they can do for us.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene
Plants Containing Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids Can Be Medicinal
Man has discovered more than 200 substances containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and many of those alkaloid strains straddle the fence between being pharmaceutically beneficial and lethal to the human body.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are complex molecules linked by pyrrole rings consisting of four carbon molecules and one nitrogen molecule each. Toxic amounts consumed by humans often attack the liver.
Researchers and clinical examiners already have conducted many studies on pyrrolizidine alkaloids which primarily are found in Nature’s ragwort family. More studies are underway and planned to learn more about this alkaloid group, from among more than 10,000 alkaloid varieties known to man, and new medicinal applications could be on the offing.
Medical applications for some pyrrolizidine alkaloids include:
* Comfrey … a popular alkaloid tea removed from dietary supplements by FDA due to liver toxicity
* Alkannet … treats skin diseases, internally and topically
* Bugloss … applied topically to treat injuries, ulcers
* Borage … used as blood purifier, diuretic
* Hound’s tongue … used to treat diarrhea, topically for bruises
* Gromwell … used for contraceptive purposes; treatment for gout, kidney stones
* Red tasselflower … treats influenza, cough, bronchitis
* Boneset … induces sweating to reduce fevers, lowers chloesterol
* Butterbur … reduces abdominal pain
* Golden Ragwort … high doses may induce abortion, eye drops treat cataracts
* Coltsfoot … treats lung disorders, diarrhea
* Rattlebox … dispels heal, promotes urination
The most common way humans consume pyrrolizidine alkaloids, other than medicinally, is by eating plants with high concentrations of such alkaloids in them. A common example would be cereal crops harvested along with pyrrolizidine-alkaloid producing weeds. Others sources of such contamination include consuming honey collected by bees eating ragwort-type plants, and by drinking milk or eating eggs produced by animals who’ve eaten such plants.
The good news is it takes volumes of food containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids to make people ill.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene
Monday, July 20, 2009
A Dark Chocolate A Day
I remember my first marriage. One of our biggest arguments was over chocolate. I didn’t mind it on occasion, but a steady diet of the same didn’t seem very healthy to me.
Today?
Well, today I eat a dark chocolate a day with pleasure.
Truth be known, I actually eat 3 dark chocolates a day, and sometimes more, with joy.
Have I become a junk food junky?
Have I thrown caution to the wind?
Have I stopped “giving a care”?
Certainly not! To be honest, I believe I am healthier today than ever before in my life and I owe a great deal of that to the steady diet of dark chocolate I consume.
Actually, the benefits of chocolate are in the news on a regular basis. However, even these fine morsels contain waxes and fillers that are simply not good for the body. Not to mention the taste. I ate a piece of one the other day and felt like a wax candle would have actually tasted better. Yikes.
So as you can see, I must be forcing myself to endure disgusting unpleasant food that someone somewhere decided to label, as chocolate while it most definitely is not.
Actually, not really! Not at all, as a matter of fact.
Reports I here from others are anywhere from “this tastes like true European chocolate” to “It’s deliciously rich.” However you care to define it, the healthy chocolate I eat these days is a pure delight and it stops cravings too.
I know. I know.
Your brain is shouting out. “It’s chocolate; it must be bad for you.”
Nonetheless, you can indeed eat chocolate and live a healthy life. You might actually find it’s just what the doctor ordered. Eat a dark chocolate a day, or two or three. Yummy.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Why I Love Chocolate"
This is an Email answer to a friend of why I love chocolate as a business opportunity. Not just any chocolate. Read on and enjoy looking over the shoulder of our conversation.
Hey there, I was just about to start cranking code for redesigning the fundraising program that we are combining with our products. However, I put immediate breaks on that as the question you just asked is so critical to me personally that I wanted to give it center stage.
Let's see, the question:
I am thinking of your bizz opp. I was just wondering what you yourself believe is terrific - ur product or ur bizz opp?
First, let me touch on a bit of my history:
I've been involved in MLM's of one sort or another since the day I graduated from diapers. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but the point is still the same. For me, the problem was not found in the…
* Product
* Biz Opp
* Or much anything else than ME!
I’ve never been to hip on direct sales. The part I’m best at is signing up and spending my money. After that things would go pretty much downhill.
After my last failure I declared to my wife that I would never do another “biz opp” less I could find a way to funnel people to me instead of me to them.
Healthy Chocolate Enters Stage Right:
One day last October I found out about healthy chocolate.
I saw the product.
I saw the potential.
I saw the excitement.
And I said I would sign at the top level in 1 month. Everyone looked at me like I had fallen off the side of a cliff with the delay, but as you read above I had my reasons.
During Nov & Dec as it turns out I spent many hours with the first iteration of the Body By Chocolates website. I can’t believe the change between the way it looked then and how it looks today.
Wow!
Anyway, I knew that with my Internet abilities and SEO skills I could cause a huge stir with this product compared to anything else I’d ever done.
Why?
Simple.
None of the others were chocolate! Not to mention delicious healthy chocolate.
But! I had made a promise and had no intention of breaking it.
Riding The Twitter Twain:
Then I discovered the power of Twitter, which nearly blew my socks off.
So I began building my Twitter following while honing my website. Both are in full gear now. In 6 short months I went from non-existent on Twitter to the top one percentile of Twitterites and I hadn’t even finished the website yet.
That was from January to the end of June. Less than 1 month later things are getting crazy fun. The cool part is I’m just at the beginning of this ride. It’s like being taken to the top of a very exhilarating roller coaster. You know the ride is coming, but the crankshaft still has one or two remaining chinks before its let loose.
That, my friend, is where I’m at with this business today.
The Chicken Or The Egg:
While this is certainly not a vegetarian friendly heading it does get to the heart of my point. If I were to tell you which is more exciting…
* Product
* Business
I could not.
I love the chocolates. Not only do they taste wonderful but personally having increased energy, more stamina and overall greater feeling of wellness certainly catches my attention. This product has even dramatically affected my wife’s vision, teeth & complexion.
The product is huge and there is nothing like it anywhere.
During the time that I have been focused on the website and building Twitter my team has grown to nearly 50 people without me even trying.
I say “chocolate” or “no chocolate”
They say “chocolate”
And the rest is, as they say, history.
The compensation plan and the ease of business building are utterly outstanding in this healthy chocolate business. Add that to the free website with Email address that I give to each and every one of my associates and you’ve got an unstoppable equation.
Healthy Chocolate Conclusion:
It’s no secret that everyone loves chocolate.
Most people love living too.
With healthy chocolates everyone wins. I reflect upon my days in corporate America, thinks may be different in Europe, but by-and-large it’s a tough world to succeed in here. Never do you bind together as peers, friends and comrades for each other’s combined success.
Never that is, until now.
If I had the chance to do this all over again, the only thing I would change would be to join even sooner than what I did.
I hope that helps answer your question. I certainly enjoyed putting your answer together for you.
And now you too know why I love chocoate as a business.
The Body By Chocolate Man
WEBSITE: http://bodybychocolates.com/xo/gs/endulge.htm
TWITTTER: http://twitter.com/BodyByChocolate
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Science of Flavonoids, New and Promising
Although the science of flavonoids is new and broad-based, what can be learned from and about these carbon-based molecules is their apparent positive impact on human health. Flavonoids found in most plant material, when consumed by humans in significant amounts, are thought to lead to a lower risk of cancer, protection against heart disease, and a decreased risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
More than 4,000 types of flavonoids have been identified, with different types exhibiting different properties.
Flavonoids, commonly found in fruits, vegetables, and certain beverages, typically generate high antioxidant activity, thus eliminating free radicals and promoting overall good health.
Bullet points include:
* Average human intake of flavonoids each day can range from 50 to 800 mg … critical because average intake of other common dietary antioxidants vitamin C (70 mg,) and vitamin E (7-10 mg,) often much lower
* Some health benefits attributed to flavonoids include: anti-allergic, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral
* Some epidemiological studies have illustrated inverse relationship between heart disease and flavonoid intake
* Some studies say flavoniods prevent cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reducing the risk of blood clots and strokes
* Six major flavonoid subgroups: chalcone, flavone, flavonol, flavanona, anthocyanins, isoflavonoids
* Along with carotenes, flavonoids provide color in fruits, vegetables, herbs
* Most important sources of flavonoids include fruits, such as apples; tea; and soybeans
* Flavonoids in hops and beer, including the flavanone isoxanthohumol, might confer more antioxidant activity than red wine, tea, or soy
* Further studies are required to learn if xanthohumol can be used for dietary supplements, or if high doses have adverse effects on humans
* Epicatechin is a highly active flavoniod found in dark chocolate, specifically cacao, which has the highest antioxidant rating of any plant
* New technology keeps flavonoids in dark chocolate by manufacturing chocolate without undue heat
* Flavonoids can include hesperidin … common in citrus fruits … counteracts hat fever; reduces permeability of capillaries, thus making them healthier
* Flavonoids can include rutin … with chelating properties for metal ions … heavily concentrated in buckwheat
* Citrus flavonoids found in orange and tangerine juices can help combat prostrate cancer
* Linus Pauling Institute, at Oregon State University, suggests flavonoids, such as found in black tea, apples, onions, and cacao might modulate cell-signaling pathways, thus triggering antioxidant impacts
Water soluble, flavonoids still are being studied for a myriad of health-related reasons. Some scientists say the anthocyanins in bilberry, purple cabbage, and grapes help prevent the lens of the human eye from developing cataracts. Some say another flavonoid found in grapefruit, naringenin, contains anti-cancer properties. And many say the quercetin flavonoid found in apples, tea, onions, cauliflower, etc. inhibits the growth of tumors and human cancer cells.
With the science of flavonoids becoming more and more prominent on the health scene, a rush has been noticed in recent years to provide consumers with safe, flavonoid-rich supplements. A few rich in both antioxidants and flavonoids include grape seed, biorubin, and rose hip products.
By Rocky Wilson author of Sharene -- Death: A Prerequisite For Life
