Debbie Mandel’s
Turn On Your Inner Light
Weekly Wellness Newsletter
September 5, 2005
www.TurnOnYourInnerLight.com


Affirmation of the Week
 Don’t cross the stream
to look for water.
Weekly Wellness Radio Show

The Turn On your Inner Light Radio Show airs Tuesday evenings 7:00 to 7:30pm, on WGBB 1240AM in Long Island. The shows are archived for your listening pleasure.
Guest of the Week - Karen Berg

On Sept 6, 2005 - Kabbalist Karen Berg, director of worldwide Kabbalah centers with her husband, Rav Berg and author of God Wears Lipstick. It’s high time we learned our true purpose in life. Click to listen to it NOW via the internet.

Health Tips of the Week

  • We all know that coffee helps us to pick up the pace and boost our mental clarity; the latest is that it provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet. Of course, if you have high blood pressure or are jittery, weigh the risks and rewards.
  • A high-protein diet may enhance the effects of exercise in helping people lose fat without losing muscle. Researchers say women on the high-protein diet also lost more weight around the abdominal area. There's an interaction when a protein-rich diet is combined with exercise. The two work together to correct body composition; dieters lose more weight, and they lose fat, not muscle.
  • Good news for fibromyalgia sufferers because they have great difficulty finding a treatment that works. The Mayo Clinic says that about 6 acupuncture treatments given over a period of 2-3 weeks improved pain and fatigue.
  • A popular supplement, glucosamine, said to rebuild cartilage in sore joints is less potent than previously claimed according to a new study at Tufts-New England Medical Center. The reason is that only a small portion of glucosamine is absorbed by the body and typical doses sold over-the-counter are probably not strong enough to help arthritic knees and hips. However, taking higher doses of the supplement might increase glucosamine levels to the point where getting too much of this sugar may increase the risk of diabetes.
  • A daily dose of olive oil may act as a natural pain reliever, according to a new study that shows that freshly pressed, extra virgin olive oil acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, much like anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen. And we all know that inflammation is implicated in diseases ranging from heart disease to cancer. This helps explain the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Article of the Week
How to Find the Calm After the Storm

We all watched in horror as a storm wiped out New Orleans. It looked like Indonesia. And when the tsunami hit the South Pacific, we all shook our heads knowingly, pointing a finger and dispensing our wise advice about how the people over there had no advance warning system and should have had one in place. Well, it’s our turn now and we have nothing to feel superior about. What comes to mind is Dickens voice from a Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” In New Orleans, like anywhere else in the world, there are noble attempts to help one other, to hold on for dear life to goodness and compassion, and then there is raping, looting and abandonment.

In essence, even though we knew a storm was coming and had studied the weaknesses in the levies for decades, we were unprepared. Human nature again: It will all be all right. It won’t happen here. We do things in the same way throughout the years, yet we expect to get away it or expect the results to be different.

Similarly, we treat our relationships, our work and our bodies. There is an obesity epidemic leading to a health crisis and we are still looking for easy solutions instead of following the food pyramid; we have become more sedentary despite the evidence that exercise fortifies our bodies. Does it take a heart attack, stroke or bout with cancer to get us to change our habits?

The people in New Orleans were abandoned for days without food and water in high heat and humidity, cut off from our great nation by foul, contaminated waters: More

Frank Mikulka's Fitness Tip Of The Week
Coping with Varicose Veins

I’ve noticed in the last few years that I have developed varicose veins in my legs. Now that I’m exercising pretty regularly will this worsen the condition? Thank you for any help. (Carla, Garden City) Answer

Send your fitness question to: fitness@turnonyourinnerlight.com

Debbie Mandel, MA is the author of Turn On Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul, a stress-reduction specialist, motivational speaker, a personal trainer and mind/body lecturer. She is the host of the weekly Turn On Your Inner Light Show on WGBB 1240 AM in Long Island and has been featured on radio/ TV and print media.

To learn more: www.turnonyourinnerlight.com