November 24, 2015
Coffee (not tea) seems to improve liver function:
Monash University study, 2015 (moderate amounts of coffee, depending on the liver disease you’re looking at, seem to be associated with less liver damage and probably less liver fat, as well)
World Cancer Research Fund study (Researchers found that a consistent love for coffee could lower liver cancer risk by 14 percent.)
September 21, 2015
It costs at least $500 per year to consume alcohol. Are the health benefits worth this cost?
FEBRUARY 2017 STUDY: Studies seem to not have controlled for wealth. Maybe moderate drinking isn’t so good for you after all
AUGUST 2018: People who don’t drink any alcohol are more likely to develop dementia, suggests study
JANUARY 2017: Why experts don’t want to talk about benefits of moderate drinking (this focuses on benefits from social drinking)
2014 STUDY: The Truth We Won’t Admit: Drinking Is Healthy. Further (this one doesn’t directly provide data but makes claims that could potentially be verified). Further: Five health benefits to moderate drinking – cites numerous studies.
Figure below – annotated based on figure in http://while-science-sleeps.com/pdf/275.pdf
Principle 1: No matter how much you drink, make sure you drink SLOWLY, and (ideally) have food along with alcohol
That is because alcohol needs to be broken down by the liver:
the liver can only handle a certain amount of alcohol at any given time, so if you drink more than the liver can deal with by drinking too quickly, or drinking too much, your liver cells struggle to process it.
When alcohol reaches the liver, it produces a toxic enzyme called acetaldehyde which can damage liver cells and cause permanent scarring, as well as harm to the brain and stomach lining. But that’s not all…
Your liver also requires water to do its job effectively. When alcohol enters the body it acts as a diuretic and as such dehydrates you and forces the liver to find water from other sources. The severe dehydration is part of the reason why, after a big night of drinking you can wake up nursing a whopping headache.
Regular and heavy drinking over time can strain or upset the way alcohol is metabolised within the body, which can lead to alcoholic liver disease. [Source]
FATTY LIVER
Alcohol is a known liver toxin. Fatty liver, while not harmful in itself, can progress in some cases to more serious liver damage such as cirrhosis. [Source]
OBESITY CAUSES FATTY LIVER
obesity is the most common cause of fatty liver worldwide, affecting 20 percent of Americans, a July 2007 published in the “World Journal of Gastroenterology” reports. [Source]
Principle 2: Drinking something is better than drinking nothing
There are studies that suggest that not drinking at all is associated with the highest rate of cardio-vascular disease.
NOTE ON BEER
“Moderate beer consumption can be considered as part of a healthy diet since it may protect against heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis,” stated a group of scientists from Italy’s Institute of Food Sciences, led by Dr Carmela Spagnuolo?, last year.
Beers contain a rich cargo of a chemicals called polyphenols, thought to have cancer-fighting abilities. In the Italian research, cultured leukaemia cells were exposed to five different Italian brews. [Source]
References
Harvard University: Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits
Keywords
April 12, 2015
Manual here. Spare copy on my server.
To exercise
1) Press top button
2) Select 'exercise' by pressing middle button
3) Press top button. THIS STARTS THE EXERCISE
To stop exercise:
1) Press top button
2) Press it twice again (stop? Yes? Save? Yes?)
READ the last exercise:
1)Press middle button repeatedly till you find all key readings.
It only saves ONE exercise completely (You can see history by pressing top button and scrolling through two options, using the bottom button)
How to exercise
Replace battery for belt
Replace battery for watch
June 28, 2014
Given a slightly elevated blood pressure I decided to review the potential issues, and one of them seems to be the KIND of salt one consumes.
Not all salts are equal. I've checked and found that both rock salt and unprocessed sea salt are BETTER for the body than ordinary table salt.
Why?
1. Sea water contains a vast number of elements in addition to salt. Sea salt contains about eighty mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts.Sea salt is not rich in iodine, which needs to be taken as a supplement.
2. Salt essentially comes from sea water but processing reduces, if not eliminates the trace elements. (I've read this in numerous places but not found conclusive proof)
3, Unprocessed sea salt and rock salts contain a WIDE RANGE of trace chemicals that are crucial to body functioning, and which may be found in other food, but there can only be a benefit in adding what is NATURALLY found.
[Proof: I examined published papers on the chemical composition of such salts and found plent to confirm this hypothesis, e.g.: here, here, here, here, here, etc.]
IN SUMMARY
Use a mixture of sea salt, rock salt and iodised table salt to maximise health benefits of salt.
BENEFITS
"Now I lick sea salt off my palm in the morning before my first glass of water and use salt liberally. I drink about 1.5 gallons of water a day and take some supplements as well as eating a lot of whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables. My waist used to be a size 43 and now is a size 36. I weighed 249 pounds; now I weigh 210 and have solid muscle mass. My complexion and appearance are those of a man in his early thirties and my potency of a man in his twenties. My ankles are no longer swollen and new pulses, yes, new pulses, have developed where once they were dead. I no longer take any medications for all those problems, whereas I used to be on at least 15 prescriptions at a time. My insulin needs are down from 95 units a day to 35-45 units a day. I no longer suffer with “chronic infections” or fatigue —I sleep 6-8 hours a day instead of 12-14." [Batman’s book on water: Batman = Batmanghelidj]
June 24, 2014
NOTE that measuring properly is crucial. Crossing the legs increases systolic blood pressure by 2 to 8 mmHg. About 20 percent of the population has differences of more than 10 mmHg pressure between the right and left arms. In cases where significant differences are observed, treatment decisions should be based on the higher of the two pressures. [Source]
120/80 – read 120 SYSTOLIC/ 80 DIASTOLIC.
Goal for adults – to keep as close to 120/80 as possible. BUT NOTE THAT BP IS NOT CONSTANT DURING A DAY.
CHANGES OVER A DAY
1) Blood pressure starts to rise a few hours before waking up. When we wake up, it typically is somewhat higher than it is after we've had a chance to sit down, eat some breakfast. Blood pressure is also higher first thing in the morning because when we get up from a lying position, many of us get a sudden rush of adrenaline, and that adrenaline tends to raise one's blood pressure and heart rate. Blood pressure continues to rise during the day, usually peaking in the middle of the afternoon.
2) BP falls from late afternoon and evening, and is lowest during night while asleep [But a new study reveals that night-time reduction in blood pressure may be less significant than originally thought]. Previous research suggests that insufficient sleep is associated with high blood pressure.
3) EXERCISE BP can remain high after exercise, so take at least a half hour break before testing BP after vigorous exercise.
4) FOOD: A study at the Osaka City University in Japan showed a marked increase in blood pressure in young, healthy men 5 hours after they had ingested high fat foods. The same men were given low-fat meals and tested 5 hours later: there was no increase in blood pressure. Low-fat foods lower blood pressure [Source]. Your elevated blood pressure returns to normal when the digestive process is complete. [Source] Eating puts demands on your heart and raises your blood pressure in the same way exercise does. For this reason, it is advisable to do one thing at a time. Avoid strenuous exercise directly after eating.
CHANGES WHILE EXERCISING/ UNDER STRESS
This is self-evident.
CHANGES WHEN YOU HAVE A COLD/ ARE SICK
"many of the over-the-counter preparations used to treat the symptoms of cold and cough can raise blood pressure, so take care in choosing any of these remedies. Read the labels and look for something that specifically says that it is safe to take with high blood pressure." [Source]
HOW TO MEASURE CORRECTLY
1) MUST take a 15 minute break from any strenuous work before measument.
2) Follow a calm and systematic process to measure: [see this] or this, below:
Taking 2-3 measurements at home per day for a few days – and averaging out (after removing outliers) will set the baseline measurement.
DOCTOR OFFICE MEASUREMENTS ARE OFTEN INACCURATE due to various effects.
POTENTIAL CAUSES
1. Too little water (dehydration at a deep, cellular level)
2. Too much iodine [hyperthyroidism can produce, among other symptoms, increased heart rate and blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)]
HOW TO KEEP BP UNDER CONTROL WITHOUT MEDICATION
120-139 is now categorized as prehypertension. In this range, medicine is not needed.
BLOOD PRESSURE WITH AGE
"In 90 to 95 percent of cases, scientists don't know what causes high blood pressure. Race, heredity, family history, and aging can all play a role, as can risk factors like being overweight or obese, living a sedentary life, getting too much salt in the diet, stress, using tobacco and/or alcohol, and eating too little potassium in the diet, as well as certain chronic conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, insomnia, and high cholesterol. Some researchers believe even too little vitamin D can lead to high blood pressure, although that has not been proven." [Source]
REMEDIES FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
A) NON-MEDICAL REMEDIES
a) STOP SUGAR. IT CAUSES THICKENING OF ARTERIES
b) DRINK A LOT OF WATER WITH A PINCH OF LEMON AND SEA SALT. "As we grow older, we lose our thirst sensation and do not recognize that our body is thirsty. Chronic dehydration in the elderly can cause heart and kidney damage, coupled with shortness of breath. An increase in daily water intake and sea salt that contains other minerals will correct this problem. The present way of dealing with hypertension is criminal [Batman’s book] "drinking at least 2 litres of water a day. My blood pressure has reduced so much, I have been able to stop taking most of my tablets for blood pressure." [“. I have been on The Water Cure for about three weeks now and I can definitely say I’m feeling better. My blood pressure is lower and my heart rate is around 58” – Batman’s book] "When you do not drink adequate water the body will compensate by retaining sodium. That should be a red flag. Sodium is directly related to high blood pressure" [Source]
c) regular aerobic activity, such as 30 minutes of brisk walking several days per week.
d) losing weight. Water can help: "Because it raises sympathetic nervous system activity — and consequently energy expenditure — it does promote weight loss, Robertson said.“I calculated it might be as much as five pounds a year if you drank three 16 ounce glasses of water a day and nothing else changed. This is not going to be the answer to the weight problem in the United States, but it's interesting that activation of the sympathetic system is enough to do that.”" [Source]
e) reducing salt – but have SEA SALT.
f) foods containing potassium (e.g. apricots, avocado, bananas, cantaloupe, honedew, kiwis, lima beans, milk, oranges, potatoes, prunes, spinach, tomatoes, squash
g) reduced alcohol
h) garlic
i) DEEP RELAXATION (yoga)
j) Hibiscus tea
B) MEDICAL
Be careful about advice to increase potassium intake. Some BP treatments have an effect on potassium levels, and you should NOT artificially supplement potassium levels without taking medical advice.
Calcium channel blockers like Amlodipine can have a side effect of increasing water retention, which can manifest itself as very puffy lower legs and feet. If this happens, your doctor may replace the Amlodipine with an alternative BP control medication. [Source]
DISEASES THAT HIGH BP COULD INDICATE
Blockage of renal artery