In this section, we share with you a crisp synopsis of some of the best pieces of worldwide news in the field of health & healing, success and leadership. The overall theme of these findings is in sync with the timeless truth of yogic lifestyle. Chosen from everyday life these news tit-bits, highlight the fact that when we learn to live wisely, we can reap the greatest benefits of life itself– Peace, Love and Joy.
A study in The British Medical Journal reports that short periods of activities like gardening, walking, or dancing for as little as 10 minutes to an hour per week can lower the risk of death by 18 percent compared to people who do nothing. However, when people do more like 20-30 minutes per day the risk reduction was even greater up to 34 percent.
Cell biologist Sundar Balasubrananian, who is a researcher and assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, found in his study that pranayama can raise the number of antibodies in our saliva that helps us to neutralize germs and blocks the conversion of normal cells to cancer cells.
In another study published in 2015 in International Psychogeriatrics, he found that pranayama increases the amount of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), which helps our brain to grow more nerve cells and survive longer. This finding could have major impact on ageing and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
- Deep breathing: Deep breathing practices like pranayama can lower the production of stress hormones-cortisol and adrenaline- which in turn brings down the heart rate and blood pressure.
- Regular exercise: An analysis of 400 studies shows that regular exercise is just as effective at lowering blood pressure as drugs.
- Potassium rich foods: Eating potassium rich foods in daily diet like-bananas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, raisins- can help kidneys excrete more sodium which in turn lowers BP.
- Reduce sodium intake: Avoiding processed foods, bread and rolls, pizza, biscuits, bakery items and packaged foods in your diet helps us reduce excess sodium intake.
- Hibiscus tea: Drinking hibiscus tea has shown to reduce blood pressure in research studies.
- Having a glass of milk: If dairy suits you, having a glass of milk, curd or butter milk in your daily diet can help you bring down the blood pressure.
- Relaxing music: An Italian study found that listening to right kind of music-Classical, Celtic or Indian for 30 minutes can bring down the blood pressure.
Researchers studied 1,18,000 men and women for a period for 30 years along with their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and found the more sugar drinks people consumed, the higher was their risk of death. The researchers found that each additional 12 ounce serving of sugary drink was associated with a 7 percent increased risk for death from any cause, a 5 percent increased risk for cancer death, and a10 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
