Alternatives to Traditional Medicine

There's a great article in Meridian Magazine that compares traditional and alternative medicine. Check out the article at: Alternatives to Traditional Medicine.

Back Pain - Decompression -- Does it work?

Hi all -- I'm interested in trying the back decompression machine that chiropractors are tauting as helping those with back pain. I was injured in a fall two years ago and still am trying to recover. I've heard that the decompression machines will help those that even surgery does not help.

If you've used the machine and had success (or not), I would really like to hear from you. It's quite expensive and I don't want to try that route until I know if it will work. They claim they have about an 80% success rate.

Anyway, I'd love to get any feedback. Thanks

What You Wear Can Change Your Life

I saw on Oprah the other day a show about the book "What You Wear Can Change Your Life" by Trinny Woodall and Susannah. I loved the show -- taking women and simply changing their wardrobe -- it made them all look fabulous and at least 10-20 pounds lighter.

It's amazing how wearing the right clothes can make you feel better about yourself and can certainly help you look better.

I'd love to get the book -- but wonder if anyone out there has read it and had any success stories. If you do, I'd love to hear about it before I buy the book.

Sleep Affects Health

Lack of sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new cells. A study on rats showed that lack of sleep caused a stress hormone to affect the hippocampus, a brain region involved in forming memories.

Rats who were deprived of sleep for 72 hours had higher levels of the stress hormone corticosterone, and as a result produced significantly fewer new brain cells in a region of the hippocampus.

When corticosterone levels were kept at a constant level, the hippocampus produced a normal amount of new cells.

After the animals were restored to normal sleep patterns, it took two weeks for nerve cell production levels to normalize.

From Mercola.com

The Bellagio Diet

I was talking to my sister-in-law today and she told me about a new diet she has created called The Bellagio Diet. What exactly is the Bellagio Diet?

Well, for anyone who has traveled to Las Vegas and eaten at the Bellagio hotel -- you know they have the best, most amazing food there. When you're in Las Vegas, you do a ton of walking -- right? (At least we do when we're there) -- so the first step of the Bellagio diet is to walk as much as you can - just get moving.

Second, with the amazing selection of foods -- have a good variety in your diet.

Third, if you take a bite of something and it's not amazing -- it's not worth the calories. Save your intake for foods that you absolutely love.

Anyway, I loved the idea -- to make eating a pleasure, not overly indulging, but taking little bits of a variety of foods. Taking your time to eat and enjoy -- and making food be a pleasure.

I think that must be something of the French and European diets -- they really celebrate when they eat. It's working great for my brother and sister-in-law -- maybe I should do a bit more research and then write a book. Hmmm. Great idea.