Win the Winter

By Dr.Savitha Suri
Long nights, short days, sparkling snow flakes and people dressed in warm clothes are the images evoked for the word winter. The winter season is marked as Hemanta ritu and Sisira ritu in ayurveda. Hemanta ritu starts from mid November and ends in mid January. This falls in southern solstice which is called as visarga kala or dakshinayana in ayurveda. Sisira ritu starts from mid January and lasts till middle of march. Sisira ritu falls in Northern solstice which is called as Aadana kaala or uttaraayana.
Winter causes health problems when adequate precautions and safety measures are not taken. But winters can be enjoyed to full extent when we alter our diet and lifestyles a little as nature desires. As we are part of nature these changes help us to face the seasonal changes without much serious health problems.
Beat the winter time Blues
Few experience a condition called Winter Time Blues. This condition precipitates symptoms like increase in appetite, craving for sweets, chocolates or starchy foods, weight gain, mild depression, irritability and short temper. This condition is well marked in persons who live in places which experience long severe winter.
In winter the agni or body fire increases with the support of vata . Hence there will be a marked increase in appetite. The frequency of food consumption increases. We should keep a watch on the type of food we consume to satisfy our appetite during winter. Avoid consumption of junk foods, too much of sweets and oil food as these lead to weight gain.
Simple remedies for this condition are exposing our body to sunlight, exercising for 30 minutes and using bright light when you are indoors
Pamper your skin during winter
During winter skin can not replenish its moisture naturally due to less humidity in air. Low humidity due to indoor heating, hot showers and bath exaggerates this condition and skin is bound to become dry and irritated. Dry skin tends to crack and bleed. Cracked skin looses its ability to protect the body and increases the risk of infection. The best ways to keep the skin soft, healthy and moisturized are
• Avoid long hot showers and bath.
• Quick three minutes bath is advisable.
• Use moisturizing body wash.
• Apply petroleum jelly on tough areas like knees, elbows and heels .
• Apply lip balm to prevent cracking.
• Twenty to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week can give your skin a healthy glow
• Ayurveda stresses on massaging body with oil during winter
Special care for your face
Avoid washing your face repeatedly. This washes off natural oils from our skin and makes the skin dry, scaly and wrinkled. Use luke warm water instead of hot water to wash face. Apply moisturizer lotion if you feel dryness on skin. Apply sun screen lotion to exposed parts of body and face when you go out in sun.
Preventing cold and cough in winter.
Consume well balanced good nutritious food, exercise thrice in a week and sleep well to keep up natural resistance. Avoid direct contact with those who have colds and wash your hands frequently.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a drop in body temperature to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or less than this. This can be fatal if not detected promptly and treated properly. Any body can be the victim of hypothermia. The elderly are at the highest risk as their bodies do not adjust to the changes in temperature quickly. This condition takes few days to few weeks to develop. A temperature of 60F to 65 F can trigger this condition. A drop in body temperature triggers fatal responses from body. The blood vessels near the body surface narrow to prevent heat loss. Muscles tighten to generate heat. Person affected by hypothermia will be having symptoms like shivering, drowsiness, slurred speech, week pulse, slow heart beat, slow and shallow breathing. If the body temperature falls down below 86 F he may slip into coma.
Do not try to treat a person with hypothermia at home. Immediately shift him to hospital as soon as you notice the symptoms. Do not give alcoholic beverages and do not give him hot water bath.
In ayurveda it is advised to drink hot water, wear warm clothes and to stay near fire place at indoors in winter to prevent this condition
Frostbite
The exposed areas of body like face, feet, wrists and hands are affected by frost bite. The skin on the affected part becomes white, stiff and feels numb.Warm the affected parts gradually. Wrap the area with warm clothes or keep the affected hands under arm pits and seek the medical attention immediately. Do not rub the affected areas as it may damage the underlying tissues.
Protect your tiny tots from cold.
Children are usually thrilled to go outside irrespective of weather conditions. To ensure that these tiny tots have a safe and fun winter, take some simple measures to keep them warm and unharmed both inside and outside. Ensure that they stay warm while waiting for school bus in low temperature conditions. Keep them as dry as possible in cold weather and make them to wear properly fitting warm clothes. Cover their head, face and neck as much as possible. Inadequate head protection lead to loss of almost half of body heat . Don’t allow them to overexert and sweat. Sweating cools the body which is hazardous in winter and it becomes difficult to warm up again. Keep them well hydrated as they may not drink sufficient water in winter due to less thirst.
Other general precautions by Red Cross for winter.
Dress in layers so you can adjust to changing conditions. Avoid overdressing or overexertion that can lead to heat illness.
Most of your body heat is lost through your head so wear a hat, preferably one that covers your ears.
Mittens provide more warmth to your hands than gloves.
Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite by keeping your feet warm and dry and to maintain your footing in ice and snow.
Get out of wet clothes immediately and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids like hot cider or soup. Avoid drinking caffeine or alcohol if you expect you or someone you are trying to help has hypothermia or frostbite.
Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia that can be a serious medical condition: confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering. Seek medical attention immediately if you have these symptoms.
Recognize frostbite warning signs: gray, white or yellow skin discoloration, numbness, waxy feeling skin. Seek medical attention immediately if you have these symptoms.
Daily routine for winter
1. Tickle your taste buds with sweet, sour and salt tastes.
2. Satisfy your appetite with hot soups, milk and balanced food.
3. Pamper your body with mild oil massage.
4. Always wear warm clothes.
Home made natural scrub for winter.
? Mix yellow gram (channa), green gram (moong) , fenu greek seeds (methi) in equal proportion. Get this mixture floured. Use this flour as scrub while taking bath instead of soap and body washes.
? Mix few drops of coconut oil in little water. Rub this all over body at the end of bath or shower. Dab the body with towel. This helps to increase the moisture of skin naturally.
We wish you a healthy winter. Have a great winter
Dr.Savitha Suri has been an Ayurvedic Practitioner since 1989. After getting a graduation degree in ayurveda (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) in 1988 from University of Mysore, India, she started practising ayurveda . Her articles about ayurveda have been published in news papers and websites. She is a regular health columnist to a regional news paper.
Dr.Savitha Suri lives in Mysore , Karnataka, India. She gives consultations in Mysore and also in Bangalore, the silicon valley of India.http://www.ayurhelp.com email doctor@ayurhelp.com
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Macronutrient Planning

By John Eliot, Ph.D.
How many calories should I eat, Doc? I’ve heard this question numerous times from athletes trying to improve their diet. They want to know what the best fuel is, and they want to know how much of it to consume. I rarely give them the answer they are initially looking for. That’s because, for athletes, calories are relatively meaningless.
Caloric intake alone tells us nothing about the quality of food in one’s system. An athlete can eat 90 grams of table sugar, 90 grams of a wild rice and broccoli mix, or 40 grams of pure butter and he or she will be getting identical total calories. But performance will be very different with these three items.
What’s essential is that athletes understand the difference in quality between foods, and know the gram totals of carbohydrate, protein, and fiber of the foods they eat—rather than their simple caloric value. For one thing, athletes’ bodies are fine tuned enough to handle a slight overage or shortfall in daily caloric intake. More importantly, food volume-to-calorie conversions are based on bomb calorimeter tests. Such tests measure the amount of heat given off by 1 gram of a food substance burning in a sealed container. It’s very accurate. However, the body doesn’t process foods by igniting them. We operate fairly differently in how we break down chemical structures. That makes caloric values of foods more complicated to correctly determine—certainly too much laboratory work for athletes to do regularly.
The upshot is that athletes should think in terms of their requirements of high quality carbohydrates and proteins. Totals are based on lean body weight, nature of the sport an athlete competes in, and degree of daily training. Once those values are determined, it’s fairly simple to put numbers on an athlete’s diet (unfortunately space doesn’t permit right here). After that, it’s a matter of understanding what makes one food better than another.
For proteins, we look at how lean they are (the amount of fat that comes with the protein), how available the amino acids are to the body via digestion, what the ratio of various amino acids are, and how the body’s nitrogen levels are effected. There is no one single protein that is on top in all of these measures. However, a mixture of ion-exchange whey, egg whites, fat-free milk, and fat-trimmed white meat make it easy for an athlete to get what he or she needs.
Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are rated according to their glycemic index (GI). This is a score of how quickly a carbohydrate is absorbed into the bloodstream, and thus how it effects the body’s insulin and hormonal systems. Foods that have a high GI—such as sugar, white potatoes, white rices, refined and processed flours, honey, maple syrup, etc.—should be avoided, except in certain circumstances such following exhaustive training. Throughout the day, and up to 2-3 hours prior to workouts or competition, athletes should down carbohydrate of a low GI variety—fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, low-fat dairy products, wild rices, durum semolina pastas, whole grains such as oats, etc.
It may sound complicated at first, but it’s primarily a matter of getting into a routine with the foods you like the best. Often, the hump can be tackled by a week or two of paying close attention to food labels, and keeping a nutrition log book. At the end of this period, do some calculations to figure out the contents of the food you ate, and to compare that with your goals as an athlete.
Also, remember that athletes need to develop a free, trusting mindset. That is a mindset that isn’t bogged down by over-analysis. Find a way to get into a routine with your diet so that your aren’t constantly thinking and worrying about your food intake, and thus not interfering with good mental habits. It may help to pick out your favorite fruits and sport nutrition supplements and carry a supply of them with you in your bag. That way, you have good nutrition to fall back on when your travel or when an obstacle to your routine arises.
JOHN F. ELIOT, PH.D., is an award winning professor of management, psychology, and human performance. He holds faculty appointments at Rice University and the SMU Cox School of Business Leadership Center. He is a co-founder of the Milestone Group, a consulting firm providing training to business executives, professional athletes, physicians, and corporations. Dr. Eliot’s clients have included: SAP, XEROX, Disney, Adidas, the United States Olympic Committee, the National Champion Rice Owl's baseball team, and the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Eliot’s cutting edge work has been featured on ABC, MSNBC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, NPR, and highlighted in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Entrepreneur, LA Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the New York Times. Dr. Eliot serves on numerous advisory boards including the National Center for Human Performance and the Center for Performing Arts Medicine. His latest book is Overachievement: The New Model for Exceptional Performance.For more information, visit Dr. Eliot’s site at http://www.overachievement.com
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The Skinny on Metabolism Boosters

By John Eliot, Ph.D.
There are scores and scores of sports nutrition companies marketing “metabolism boosters” to help athletes reduce body fat. The products range from simple herbs such as Ginseng, to chemical derivatives of thyroid and adrenal hormones. The theory is constant: by increasing the body’s natural metabolism, it will burn more calories and thus, more fat. On paper this looks good. The basic science behind metabolism and body composition makes for slick advertising, and plenty of products sold. The trouble is there is little education regarding how to use metabolites effectively, and when to use them in the first place.
For athletes—and in fact, for the general public as well—body composition is a much more accurate measure of fitness than body weight. The leaner an athlete, the greater the force he or she will be able to generate per pound. With a leaner structure, the longer it will take to fatigue the system. All crucial issues to peak performance. It seems to make sense that active metabolism supplements would be of benefit. But this is rarely the case.
First, the body’s metabolism has a set point. It’s quite similar to a thermostat—a good metaphor since one of the main jobs of metabolism is to produce body heat. When you crank up metabolism by dietary means, the body will turn off it’s own production in order to restore the set point. This means that any long term use of herbs and metabolites serves only to deregulate your system. That’s going the wrong direction from teaching the body to perform at a higher level.
Second, the increased caloric utilization that goes with higher metabolism is not all good from an athletic standpoint. Burning more calories and more fat causes the body to store less glycogen, the main energy source for muscles. If athletes can’t store maximum amounts of glycogen between workouts, their subsequent training and performance will likewise be sub-maximal.
So for athletes, the best bet is to steer clear of active metabolism altering supplements. The body’s set point can be slowly altered, but only through training over time rather than mucking with it ergogenically. That way it will be a lasting, natural change, and it won’t interfere with glycogen replenishment. If a body composition change is required in getting to peak performance, herbs and amino acids can be used, but never continuously for more than a week or two to avoid systemic metabolism deregulation, and only the empirically supported supplements such as L-Carnitine or standardized G115 Ginseng.
JOHN F. ELIOT, PH.D., is an award winning professor of management, psychology, and human performance. He holds faculty appointments at Rice University and the SMU Cox School of Business Leadership Center. He is a co-founder of the Milestone Group, a consulting firm providing training to business executives, professional athletes, physicians, and corporations. Dr. Eliot’s clients have included: SAP, XEROX, Disney, Adidas, the United States Olympic Committee, the National Champion Rice Owl's baseball team, and the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Eliot’s cutting edge work has been featured on ABC, MSNBC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, NPR, and highlighted in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Entrepreneur, LA Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the New York Times. Dr. Eliot serves on numerous advisory boards including the National Center for Human Performance and the Center for Performing Arts Medicine. His latest book is Overachievement: The New Model for Exceptional Performance. For more information, visit Dr. Eliot’s site at http://www.overachievement.com
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Taking Offense At "It's All In Your Head" Is A Big Mistake

By Nick Arrizza, M.D.
I recall talking to a woman several months ago about her rheumatoid arthritis and trying to convey to her that her illness was the result of many beliefs and memories she had stored in her mind/body. It became obvious to me that she quickly jumped to the assumption that I was telling her that the problem was "all in her head".
She even used the term herself and then surreptitiously cut me off and decided to end the conversation, much to her detriment. I say this because had she been somewhat more open and less conditioned by past experience to cutting me off she would now no longer be suffering from her crippling arthritic condition.
It is for this reason that I feel it necessary to address this problem and try to convey as clearly as I can my thoughts about an issue that I feel has the potential to change the way we understand and treat illnesses on this planet.
It has been my repeated observation, working with a new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) (MRP) that almost any physical illness stems from emotional roots. Now by this last statement I caution you from jumping to the conclusion that this means that someone with a physical illness is in any way crazy.
After all isn't this what is implied by the phrase "it's all in your head"? I wish to be unequivocally clear that this "IS NOT" what I mean when I say what I said above!
What I do mean is that emotional trauma, of one sort or another, which in my view is responsible for all illness (emotional, mental and physical in nature) becomes stored in the person's mind/body at some level when it is experienced. At some point the individual finds the emotional pain associated with such trauma, or the fear of the pain, so great that they begin, without realizing the consequences, to repress the pain.
What does it mean to repress the pain? Well it means to try to not feel it. How is this accomplished? In many ways: through denial, through substance and alcohol abuse, through distraction (i.e. workaholism, sexually acting out, violently acting out), through overeating, through a process called dissociation where a person leaves their body whenever the pain becomes too overwhelming, through self abuse (as occurs in self cutting, self burning, self mutilation etc.) and ultimately through suicide (the final anesthetic, so to speak).
Where does the pain go when one tries to repress it in the ways I mentioned above? Well, for one thing it remains in the body! To illustrate this via metaphor let's say that you have an abscess (i.e. a pus ball) brewing somewhere in your body and you decide that because the pain associated with it is so great that it is best to try and repress it through some medium, say an anesthetic.
For a while, you will feel a bit better because you won't feel the pain. However that doesn't take away the fact that the abscess is still there and even worse that it is growing and becoming a life threatening time bomb.
Sooner rather than later it will start to spread and affect other nearby organ systems. Eventually it will cause a systemic (i.e. total body shut down) crisis which could ultimately kill you. This is called septic shock, which represents the infection from the abscess spreading through the entire body through the blood stream. When this happens death is not far away.
So at this point does trying to ignore the abscess sound like a good alternative to you? Well I suppose only if you think that death itself is a solution to your problems. If that is the case then I suggest you stay tuned to a future article I will be writing about this very issue.
Now having used the abscess metaphor I return to the emotional trauma itself. When the pain of an emotional trauma is repressed it doesn't go away, it doesn't diminish in intensity, and rather it brews and grows much like the abscess does. It also spreads throughout the mind and body and "infects" it in a manner of speaking.
Now because you are trying so hard to "not feel" the emotional pain (which by the way is the mind/body’s way of trying to tell you that there is a problem inside you) the mind and body try their best to alert you in other more primitive ways that there is a problem brewing. You have given them no choice but to let you know it in physical terms i.e. as a physical problem. This is when the physical illness emerges.
Of course it's not surprising then that if you are told that the physical illness stems from an emotional issue you might feel offended. This defensive reaction stems from the same fear you had of feeling the emotional pain in the first place. So what do you do? Well you likely take such a statement as an offense to your sanity and dismiss or denigrate the person who said this to you. What does this do? Well it just perpetuates the denial!
With the denial comes a desperate effort to try and extinguish the mind/body's only remaining resources to tell you that there is a problem. That is you seek out the help of a physician who will give you the drugs that will eliminate the physical symptoms too. Have you ever noticed how many classes of medications are labeled with the prefix "anti"? For instance: anti-hypertensives, anti-arthritics, anti-inflammatory etc. Does this tell you anything?
It simply means that the medical profession is in the business of colluding with you to try and help you suppress all efforts made by your mind and body to alert you to the presence of a problem. Why is this? Well because the medical profession is just as afraid of addressing emotional issues as you are.
It has been my experience that the "fear of feeling the pain" (which is a signal of the emotional trauma stored within) that many individuals harbor within themselves is one of the most toxic things on this planet. Even more toxic than some of the most devastating plagues humanity has witnessed.
The other thing I know is that such a fear is one of the easiest things to clear, once and for all from ones' mind and body with the new tool the Mind Resonance Process(TM).
If you'd like to know more about MRP kindly read my many articles on this e-zine and visit the web link below where you can download a free audio experience of the MRP process.
Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called "Spirituality And Science" (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of "Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation" (available in ebook format on his web site), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.
Business URL #1: http://www.telecoaching4u.com
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5 Important Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

By Don Ford, M.D.
One of the essential nutrients for your body optimal health is vitamin B-12. It is part of what is called the “B complex” of vitamins and since it contains cobalt, it is also known as cobalamin. Vitamin B-12 is important for the maintenance of the nervous system, the formation of red blood cells, and growth and development in children. It is especially important in cells that are dividing rapidly such as in the bone marrow where red blood cells are formed.
Some of the signs and symptoms you would want to look out for if you suspect you might be deficient in vitamin B-12 would include:
•Nervousness or Moodiness- All of the B-Complex vitamins are important to your body’s nervous system in one way or another. If you are experiencing a deficiency of Vitamin B-12, you may notice symptoms such as moodiness, nervousness, or even depression.
•Elevated Levels of Homocysteine in your blood- There is a lot of evidence that elevated levels of homocysteine is associated with elevated levels of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B-12 along with other B vitamins, have been shown to reduce the levels of homocysteine in your blood. Your physician can test for these levels with a blood test during an office visit.
•Numbness and Tingling In The Fingers and Toes- Because of vitamin B-12’s importance in the nervous system, a prolonged deficiency could ultimately cause feelings of numbness or tingling in your extremities. Because this can also be a sign of neuropathy due to many different causes such as diabetes, it is important that you immediately notify your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms.
•Anemia- Since vitamin B-12 is such an important part of the development of red blood cells, you may have anemia, which can be easily identified by a blood test preformed at your doctors office. Symptoms of anemia include, sluggishness, lack of energy, fatigue.
•Constipation and Loss of Appetite- Many vitamin deficiencies have been linked to gastrointestinal complaints. If you are constipated be sure to discuss this with your doctor.
It is always important to try and identify why your body may be deficient in vitamin B-12 or any other critical nutrient.
Are you getting enough of vitamin B-12 from your diet? Foods that are high in Vitamin B-12 include fish, dairy products, eggs and organ meats such as liver. A diet rich in vitamin B-12 important for you to obtain and maintain optimal health.
Are you taking any prescription or over the counter drug that has been shown to either reduce your levels, or increase your bodies demand for vitamin B-12 such as Prevacid, Prilosec, Zantac, Metformin, or even other over the counter Antacids? If you are taking any of these medications and experiencing some of the mentioned side effects, they could be due to the vitamin deficiency and easily corrected with a good supplement. These medications can cause deficiencies if other essential nutrients as well.
If you want to learn more about why your body needs vitamin B-12: http://www.essential-nutrients.net/vitamin_B12.htm
If you would like to learn more about other medications that have the potential to put you at risk of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies please visit: http://www.essential-nutrients.net/
If you would like to see the full line of NutraMD products please visit: http://www.essential-nutrients.net/store/PPF/Category_ID/11/products.asp
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Should Diabetics Drink Coffee?

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
An extensive survey reported in JAMA (July 6, 2005) showed that drinking coffee reduces risk for developing type II diabetes. However, two recent studies suggest that once you have diabetes, drinking coffee may be unwise.
Canadian researchers writing in Diabetes Care (March 2005) showed that caffeine significantly reduced insulin sensitivity. In the July 2005 issue of the same journal, scientists from Duke University Medical Center reported that drinking coffee could upset a diabetic’s ability to metabolize sugar.
Blood sugar levels are supposed to rise after you eat. To keep your blood sugar levels from rising too high, your pancreas releases insulin. The researchers found that taking caffeine causes blood sugar and insulin levels to rise even higher after meals. If your blood sugar rises too high, sugar sticks to cells. Once sugar is stuck on a cell membrane, it cannot be released and is converted to a poison called sorbitol which destroys that cell.
High levels of insulin constrict arteries to cause heart attacks and act directly on the brain to make you hungry, on your liver to make more fat, and on the fat cells in your belly to pick up that fat. If these studies are confirmed, diabetics will be advised to restrict coffee as well as those foods that cause the highest rise in blood sugar after meals.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com
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