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Health
Chapped Lips: Trouble From The Inside Out
How To Harness Ayurvedic Wisdom
Chapped lips usually indi- cate nothing more serious than too much exposure to sun or wind. In some cases, how- ever, they may be signaling that something isn’t right in your body.
If your lips stay chapped for weeks at a time, or if they get better for a while, then get chapped again, you should probably see your doctor. ‘ You may not be absorbing all the nutrients you need from your diet, says Priscilla Natan- son, N.D.
Continual chapped lips can also be a sign of chronic stress. When you’re stressed
out for a long time, your adre- nal glands can get out of whack and disrupt your body’s sodium balance. This in turn, can make your lips dry and chapped ano matter how much water you drink.
Herbs from the ancient healing practice of Ayurveda have been gaining popularity, for good reason. “Ayurveda is all about creating balance and enhancing the body’s inner healing intelligence so that it can keep you well,” says Christine Horner, M.D., author of Radiant Health Ageless Beauty. These, she says, are some good ones to try, based on your own needs: Chyawanprash:
A jam made according to an ancient Ayurvedic recipe, chyawanprash includes a combination of herbs, fruit, seeds, and spices. It is eaten daily in small quantities to en- hance longevity.
Triphala:
This herbal formula en- hances longevity and helps re- lieve constipation, improve detoxification, and enhance eyesight and skin health. Holy Basil:
A strong adaptogen, the herb counteracts the effects of
stress. “It interrupts every sin- gle step in the neurochemical cascade of the stress re- sponse,” says Horner, which manifests as healthier levels of blood sugar and blood pres- sure, a better mood, and less anxiety.
Ashwagandha:
Also an adaptogen, ashwa- gandha is milder than holy basil and is often used to en- hance energy.
Wise Habits
For added benefits, cultivate some everyday Ayurvedic habits:
Eat your main meal at noon,
when the body’s ability to di- gest is at its peak.
Don’t drink iced beverages. “Ice shuts down your digestive enzymes by 50 percent,” says Horner. Keep cold drinks at room temperature, and sip hot water throughout the day to enhance digestion.
For optimum sleep and overnight detoxification, go to bedby10p.m.andgetupat6 am.
Exercise to 50 percent of your capacity, rather than pushing yourself to the limit. “That capacity increases in a gentle way,” says Horner.
Triple Benefits Of Magnesium
Often used to promote sleep, relax muscles, and calm stress, magnesium has other, very specific health benefits, according to a study of 1,276 men and women in Mexico, published in Nutrition Jour- nal. Compared to those with the lowest levels of the min-
eral, people with the highest levels had lower odds of three major health conditions:
High blood pressure: 48% less likely
Type 2 diabetes: 69% less likely
Coronary artery calcifica- tion: 42% less likely
Foods To Reverse Brain Damage
Attempting challenging puzzles and reading up on the theory of relativity aren’t the only ways to keep your brain at its finest.
The right diet also can do wonders, improving the brain’s function and even helping to reverse brain dam- age. Meanwhile, the opposite also is true. Poor diet choices not only hurt the waistline, but have a negative effect on the brain.
“When it comes to the brain, sugar is public enemy No. 1,” says Daniel Amen, M.D., a clinical neuroscientist and brain imaging expert who also is the Founder of Amen Clinics (www.amenclinics.com), which treat patients at six lo- cations around the country.
Sugar is pro-inflammatory, increases erratic brain-cell fir- ings and is addictive, says Amen, author of the New York Times bestseller “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.” He doesn’t hold back his disdain. “Sugar is insidious, sort of like heroin,” he says. “It will make you want it over and over again. It’s like dating the bad boys. You fall in love with something that beats you up.” Sugar has company on Amen’s list of unfriendly brain foods, including a few surprises, such as corn, which has one of the worst fatty-acid profiles of any vegetable. Oth- ers on the avoid-at-all-costs list include artificial dyes, es- pecially red dye; foods with
trans fats, such as cookies, cakes and pie crusts; and low- fiber foods, which include many fast-food choices.
Fortunately, there are also great food options that can heal the brain and even help reverse brain damage, Amen says. Those include:
• Healthy fats. Surpris- ingly, fat is not the enemy. That’s because there are “good fats” and “bad fats.” Some ex- amples of good fats are olives, sunflower seeds and flaxseed. Amen also points out that 60 percent of the solid weight of the brain is fat. “So if someone calls you a fathead, you should thank them,” he says.
• Fish. Salmon, halibut, sardines, mackerel and other fish are loaded with healthy oils and healthy fat.
“People who eat grilled or baked fish once a week have more
grey mat- ter in their brain,” Amen says. “You may not want grey in your hair, but grey in your brain is awe- some.”
• Avocados. This nutri- ent-dense fruit is loaded with healthy Omega 3 fatty acids, which build brain-cell mem- branes, reduce brain inflam- mation and promote new brain-cell formation.
• Raw nuts. Go easy on the amount because they pack a lot of calories, but raw nuts are very healthy for the brain.
• Chocolate. Here’s an- other surprise. Chocolate also has been shown to decrease cravings and increase blood flow to the brain. It’s what usually is added to chocolate – sugar and dairy products – that makes it bad.
• Colorful vegetables. Green is great, but with veg- etables you can branch out into such choices as yellow
squash, purple carrots and orange bell peppers. “You want things that are high in fiber, that are colorful, that are really medi- cine for your brain,” Amen
says.
“Anytime you pre-
pare to eat something, don’t just think about the pounds you might put on,” Amen says. “Ask yourself: Is this good for my brain or is it bad for my
brain?”
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