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Increase in violence linked to decrease in nutrition

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As I wrote in my last post, my experience with the Juice Plus+ Effect has increased my awareness on my own nutrition. It has also heightened my awareness of the degradation in nutritional quality of common foods in our diet. In that exploration, I have begun to wonder about a connection between this change in our nutrition and the increase of violent behavior in recent years. Last month I wrote about the impact of Niacin (vitamin B3) on mental health. In this post, I want to expand that into some more research linking behavior and nutrition.

The video below is from a lecture by Russell Blaylock, MD where he cites a series of intriguing studies that link poor nutrition with harmful behaviors, and how changes in the quality of nutrition have improved the behaviors of the same individuals. The research centers on children and adults with hyper-active conditions. Many of the studies were conducted with prison inmates who committed violent crimes.

Blaylock is a retired neurosurgeon, author, and lecturer. He is a former clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and is currently a visiting professor in the biology program at Belhaven College where this lecture was recorded in 2006.

References:

Russell Blaylock, MD

Wikipedia: Russell Blaylock

The Skeptic’s Dictionary: Russell Blaylock

American Nutrition Associaton: Hypoglycemia in Children’s Behavior Problems

PubMed.gov: The Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Implications of Insulin-Induced Hypoglycemia

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Paul Kulpinski is a licensed massage therapist, holistic wellness educator and co-founder of Mountain Waves Healing Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona. Information contained in this blog should not be taken as medical advice. Readers are advised to validate the information presented here with other sources including your personal physician for information specific to you.

Right under your nose

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Woman Smelling Red Flower Aromatherapy has been an integral part of my practice since I started in 1999. Essential oils have been demonstrated to interact with the human body on three levels: pharmacologically, physiologically and psychologically. These botanical essences have a pharmacological effect when the oil enters the blood stream provoking a chemical reaction that induces changes in hormone and enzyme balance in the body. The physiological effect is evident when specific oils impact the function of specific organs or systems. For this post, I am most interested in the psychological effects of essential oils.

The reaction to any particular aroma or odor is very individual and personal. While the pharmacological and physiological effects of a particular oil might be well documented and consistent, the emotional response to the aroma of that oil can elicit a wide range of response. It’s for this reason that I always have my clients smell the blend I propose to use in their session before deciding to use it. I believe that the power of the emotional response can sometimes mute the pharmacological and physiological benefits of the oil, and will choose to change the blend to create a more pleasing response.

The psychological response to aroma is so important to perfume manufacturers that they spend huge sums of money to research the right combinations that produce the right reactions. Yet, the psychological response is the least understood area regarding the sense of smell. We do know that like the optic nerve, the olfactory nerve is directly connected to the limbic brain, which is associated with memory and emotion. Because of this direct connection to our memory and emotional system, the response to an aroma is impacted by the previous associations a person may have to an aroma. Some of these reactions may be “hard-wired” from before birth as a self-preservation mechanism. Others may be “soft-wired” or learned from experience. How this process works is still mostly a mystery.

The long accepted understanding of how the olfactory system works is based on that fact that the shape of different molecules “fit” neatly into specific receptors in the upper part of the nasal cavity. Each receptor is sensitive to specific shapes, so when those sensors are triggered, the brain perceives a specific aroma. But some point out that there are flaws to this process, such as when molecules of differing shapes produce the same aroma. For example molecules that include sulphur and hydrogen atoms, while differing in shape all produce the smell of rotten eggs.

However, a new theory may open a new path for sniffing out some deeper understanding. The theory draws on the physics of light, specifically the wave-particle duality that states that light is both a wave and a particle. Luca Turin of the Fleming Biomedical Research Sciences Center in Greece proposes that it may be the vibration of the atoms in the molecule that influences how it smells. She proposes that the variation in the vibrational frequency may be responsible for how we perceive the smell of the molecule. The new path that this theory opens is the stuff of quantum physics, which is why it has not been widely accepted.

The debate seems to revolve over whether shape or vibration is responsible for triggering our perception of smell. I hope researchers aren’t missing the opportunity to embrace the possibility that it might be both. Because, based on my experience of working with aroma for over a decade, I’ve personally sensed a vibrational aspect to the aroma of the essential oils that I blend. I’ve also intentionally chosen oils for their higher or lower vibrational properties to produce an appropriate psychological response desired by my client. So I would say that this theory (which was first proposed in 1996) deserves more serious study, because if it’s one thing we have come to know about the workings of quantum physics, it’s oftentimes pretty surprising at what we find.

References:

The BBC: “Quantum Smell” Idea Gains Ground

Oxford Journals: Chemical Senses

Oxford Journals: Odor Perception and Beliefs About Risk

Wikipedia: Wave-Particle Duality

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Olfaction is a Chemical Sense, Not a Spectral Sense

Wikipedia: Olfactory Nerve

Lawless, Julia; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, Harper-Collins, London 1995

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

The Addictive Tan

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What if you were in business that sold a popular product that was addictive? Cigarettes and tobacco you are thinking, right? Maybe so, but what if simply being out in the sun was addictive? What if the reason indoor tanning salons are so popular was because getting a tan was addictive? Crazy, right? Nope, that’s exactly what tanning is, addictive; according to the latest research published in the journal Addiction Biology.

Dermatologists have suspected that tanning was addictive and this suspicion was what led to the new research. The researchers say that dermatologists would remove skin cancers like a basil cell carcinoma only to observe the patient go right back to their tanning habit. Many patients report symptoms consistent with addictive behavior like not being able to stop tanning.

This latest research comes from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The study used frequent tanners who used sunbeds at least twice a week. Each of the tanners used the same tanning bed twice during the study. Once where they received the full dose of UV radiation and the other time with the UV radiation filtered with out the tanners knowledge. In both sessions, researchers monitored brain activity and found that with full UV radiation, the areas of the brain associated with addiction were activated. The same was not true when the UV radiation was filtered.

Additionally, when the tanners were interviewed after each session, they reported a lowered desire to tan after the sessions with full VU radiation, indicating that they felt satiated by their session. After the session with the UV radiation filtered out, they reported the same level of desire for tanning as when they arrived.

This latest research builds on a study in 2004 at Wake Forest University. In that study, researchers found that when skin cell cultures were exposed to UV radiation, they produced melanocyte stimulating hormone, which contains endorphins which acts as a narcotic on the nervous system.

This helps to explain the effectiveness of UV light therapy for people suffering from Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD). However, in those treatments, only the head and face are exposed to the UV light. In a tanning bed, the entire body is exposed and often for twice the recommended length of time. 30 million people tan indoors annually and 71% of them are women between the ages of 16-29. While all skin cancer diagnosis are on the rise, melanoma, the most deadly, is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in 25-29 year olds.

While dermatologists agree that frequent tanners should reduce their exposure to UV radiation, most would like to see more research before recommending traditional therapies designed to treat addictions.

Additional Sources:

New York Times
ABC News

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Living to One Hundred

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I was recently listening to the song 100 Years by the group Five for Fighting and was recalling various information I had heard over the past several years about factors that lead to a long life. Even though I’m not quite half way to one hundred years old, I thought that maybe it was time to take stock on how well I am doing on those habits that lead to longevity.

First I recalled an article in the November 2005 issue of National Geographic where author Dan Buettner traveled to three locations identified for their high proportion of centenarians. Those locations: Sardina, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California. What studies funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging found were that although each region has some differences in background and beliefs, all three shared some common denominators that may be essential to longevity.

1. Avoid tobacco
2. Strong connections to family
3. Daily activity
4. Social support with a sense of purpose
5. Diet mostly of fruits, vegetables and whole grains

Well, that list doesn’t look too difficult and for the most part I feel that I’m doing pretty well on all of them. But living to one hundred is one thing physically, but what about mental quality of life? Alzheimer’s disease is one of the primary causes of concern for aging adults and their children. It’s no wonder. The National Institute on Aging estimates that over 5 million American’s have Alzheimer’s disease. There is hope, however.

The same lifestyle common denominators that help you live to one hundred are also key to living that way in good mental health too. Research by neuropsychologist Dr. Paul Nussbaum at the University of Pittsburgh found that not only are good nutrition, regular physical activity and strong social connections important, but he adds two more for good brain health: new and challenging mental activity and regular spiritual connection.

The complete list:

1. Avoid tobacco
2. Strong connections to family
3. Daily activity
4. Social support with a sense of purpose
5. Diet mostly of fruits, vegetables and whole grains
6. New and challenging mental activity
7. Regular spiritual practice

When you look at this complete list of common denominators, you’ll notice that 4 out of 7 involve something that influences your attitude toward yourself and how you relate to the world around you. I would contend that your attitude is the foundation for cultivating healthy longevity from which the other seven common denominators can flourish and reinforce your attitude. It creates a positive feedback loop that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for living well.

Attitude has also been proven to be key to recovery and survival for people who have been diagnosed with terminal disease as well as those trapped by natural disasters.

So now take stock of yourself on that complete list including your attitude. Is there room for improvement in the remaining time you have left to 100 years? There’s always time left, just as the song illustrates in the line: “Every day’s a new day”. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to start living!

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Pain in the Brain

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Pain is the most common reason that people seek medical help, either from an allopathic physician or from a complimentary and alternative practitioner. Over 50% of the people arriving at hospital emergency rooms report pain as their primary reason for their visit. 30% report the same for their visit to their family doctor. The most accepted treatment for pain is through medication either with analgesics or anesthetics. More recently however, researchers are learning more about the role the brain plays in the perception of pain and ultimately in the management of pain.

One of the early insights that led to this new research stemmed from a conversation between two neuro-scientists who were discussing pain and the brain functions that were involved in producing it along with love and the brain functions that were involved in producing it.

Studies have already established that intense feelings of love activate specific regions of the brain linked to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which happen to be the same areas of the brain which are activated by pain.

What they quickly hypothesized was that the two may be related. So they conducted a study.

Fifteen couples from Stanford University who were in a relationship of less than nine months were recruited. They were instructed to bring three photos of their partner and three photos of an equally attractive acquaintance. Researchers heated the hands of the students to generate a moderate or high degree of pain.

When the students viewed a photo of their beloved, they reported up to a 46% decrease in their perception of the moderate pain and up to a 13% decrease in high pain. This was the same reduction created by a general distraction which has been widely known to reduce pain. Viewing a photo of the acquaintance had no effect.

The more interesting findings were revealed in the functional MRI which was imaging each student’s brain during the study. The photo of the partner and the distraction each activated different parts of the brain. The distraction activated parts of the brain involved in higher thinking tasks, while the photo activated more primitive regions associated with urges, cravings and addictions; working in a manner similar to opioid painkillers.

These results are also supported by different research on cancer patients who while undergoing a painful bone marrow treatment reported a significant reduction in pain while looking at a relaxing scene in nature accompanied with sounds of birds, water and wind through leaves, compared to viewing a city scape with sounds of traffic noise.

These studies beckon us to further explore our brain’s ability to regulate these experiences and manage pain without the side effects of drugs. What is of interest to me is how this research illustrates that much of our perception of our physical body and our surroundings are created in our brain. So if perception is reality, then is the reality of the pain in our hand or is the pain in our brain? If the pain is in our brain, then what does that say about all the stuff outside ourselves that we believe to be “real”?

Resources:

Love Can Ease Pain, Say Brain Researchers

Love is a Powerful Painkiller, Study Says

Scenes of Nature ‘Reduces Pain’ for Cancer Patients

Wikipedia: Pain

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

The Brain on Sugar Substitutes

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The number of sugar substitutes has proliferated over the past few years as Americans desire the sweet taste but fear the calories. While the debate on the impact of whether artificial sweetners actually help people lose weight is still under fierce debate, new research shows the difference to how the brain perceives artificial sweetners and sugar even though the taste buds may be fooled.

This new researches comes from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to visualize how the brain responds to the different sweetners. Subjects drank two orange flavored drinks, one sweetened with sugar, the other sweetened with a mix of the artificial sweetners aspartame, acesulfame K, cyclamate and saccharin.

The mix of artificial sweetners were formulated to match the real tast of suger as closley as possible. The subjects were also given the different drinks during different days to reduce the subjects ability to taste the difference.

What they found was that both drinks stimulated the amygdala, the brain region that triggers the sense of pleasure. But only the drink with sugar activated the caudate, the part of the brain that senses the intake of calories and operates independently from the sensation of taste.

This supports research dones at the University of Birmingham in Britan that showed improved muscle performance from athelets who meerly rinsed their mouths with sugar water, compared with no improvement when athletes did the same with artificially sweetened water.

What the research is pointing to is the possibility that the artificial sweeteners are whetting the body’s appetite for calories. When the calories don’t arrive, the brain stimulates a stronger hunger response which may lead a person to actually consume more calories as a response then they would have if they simply consumed sugar.

One solution may be to skip the artificial sweetners and in the case of drinks, sip the drink slowly. Other research showed that when subjects drank a sugary drink, they naturally drank less when their sip size was smaller. That reminds me of the advice my grandmother gave me as a kid: eat (and drink) slowly and chew your food so your brain can catch up with your stomach.

Additional Links:

Los Angeles Times

Wikipedia

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Stress Reduces Good Decision Making

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beachwave Stress, as I like to define it, is the reaction of the body to a perceived threat or expected outcome. This response is hard wired in all living organisms – the “fight or flight” response as it is popularly called. By now we’re all familiar with the complications of chronic stress including increased risk of heart disease, higher blood pressure, suppressed immune system and so on. This is the result of the sympathetic nervous system, that jolts us with a rush of adrenaline, constricts blood flow to the digestive tract and moves it into the legs and arms to fight, or run like a madman. A healthy sympathetic response is short lived and after we deal with the threat, the para-sympathetic nervous system kicks in to balance the blood flow, lower respiration, restart digestion and absorb the remaining adrenaline.

But our ancient stress reaction does not fit into our modern times where the bears that chase us are inescapable because they are our job, our spouse, our life. They never go away and we’re always running. Running. Running, creating a rut of repeated and habitual action that always leads to the same outcome – more running. The para-sympathetic response never activates to break the cycle. We’re stuck in a rut. If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. So much so that researchers at the University of Minho in Portugual wanted to know how this happens.

The researchers set up experiments with some chronically stressed rats which had developed habitual responses to problems and demonstrated rote behaviors like compulsively eating even when they weren’t hungry. (Sound familiar?) The scientists created the condition in the rats by inflicting repeated stress for about 4 weeks. After that time, in addition to behavioral changes, researchers notice that the brain circuity of the rats actually changed as well. Areas of the brain responsible for big picture decision making and goal directed problem solving atrophied and showed reduced function while the habit forming parts of the brain enlarged.

What this indicated to the researchers is that under chronic stress, the rats were now neurally primed to keep repeating the habitual behaviors and less likely to be able to break the habit. A negative feed-back loop had formed that trapped the rats from self-induced recovery. While perseverance can be a valuable skill (you remember “if at first you don’t succeed…. try, try again”) this state of perseverance is one that’s turned into obsession. Unhealthy by any stretch.

The good news is that when the researchers removed these over-stressed rats from their office cubicles and plopped them down on a sandy beach in Hawaii with an umbrella cocktail in hand, their conditions reversed after about another 4 weeks. (Well, who wouldn’t after a 4 week vacataion!) The point is that during that vacation time, the unhealthy rat brains re-wired themselves and the atrophied problem solving parts of the brain re-sprouted and the habit forming section was reduced – to the point that the brains of the formerly stressed out rats were indistinguishable from the control rats who had a balanced lifestyle all along.

So, the solution is first not get yourself in that situation by creating a lifestyle of balance – like the control rats in the experiment. Secondly, have some means of assistance to help pry you out of the rut by first assisting you to recognize the rut and then to create a change – maybe with a vacation, a massage, or some exercise that will break through the rut and help rewire your brain to restore your wits.

So, if you didn’t get a chance to take a vacation this summer, there’s still time to make one more good decision before the rut eclipses your ability to decide to take one. Massages are also available today!

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Nature's Brain Food

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sardine When I was a kid, I remember eating lunch on Friday afternoons with my Grandfather. He always called Friday, “fish Friday”. He and I would share a can of sardines spread over fresh rye bread. “It’s nature’s brain food” he would say. “I’ll make you smarter.” What my Grandfather, who was only educated through 8th grade, knew back then is just beginning to be understood by scientists today. Fish is good for the brain.

More specifically, it’s the Omega-3 fatty acid in the fish and the fish oil that is so important. New research in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, links eating fish rich in Omega-3 to a dramatic reduction in development of dementia. The study assessed the diets of 15,000 people aged 65 or older from the countries of China, India, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Peru and the Dominical Republic. They found that those who ate Omega-3 rich fish nearly daily had a 20 percent decrease in risk of dementia than those who only at fish a couple of times a week. Additionally, those who ate fish a couple of times a week, were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia than those who never at fish.

The researchers, from King’s College London, conclude that the more fish you eat the less likely you are to develop dementia. They also add that the reverse is true for meat eaters, especially red meat eaters, as numerous studies have shown that red meat is harmful to the brain. This new research supports past observational studies in the West that came to the same conclusion. Researchers say that since this new data is from cultures with wide differences in environment and lifestyles and that it supports the conclusions of the western studies, the underlying common denominator is the fish as the source of the change in dementia risk.

So what are the fish that are the best sources of Omega-3 oil? They are salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines. Tuna, while being a fatty fish, has less Omega-3 fatty acid than the others by comparison. But what about heavy metals like mercury as well as PCB’s and dioxin that are found in fish high in the food chain like salmon and tuna? That’s where eating the smaller fish like herring, anchovies and sardines can give you the Omega-3′s but reduce your risk of eating the toxins that are found in the bigger fish.

“Ugh” you might be saying, “not sardines from a can!” Well the much maligned sardine is beginning to make a comeback. By the 1950′s the sardine was heavily overfished. Since then populations have made a comeback and not a moment too soon as we are reaching some critical sustainability pivots for America’s three favorite fish: salmon, tuna and shrimp. So maybe it’s time to give the sardine and the other small fish another look. It might just make you smarter.

Here’s to you GrandPop!

Sources:

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

Football and Brain Injury

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Super Bowl 43 is less than a week away, an entertainment spectacle guaranteed to please from the commercials to the hard hitting action. Maybe too hard hitting. New reports surfaced this week linking the head traumas associated with playing football to a degenerative brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Tom McHale a 45 year old former Tampa Bay Buccaneer who died last year, was the latest to be diagnosed post-mortem with CTE. He is the sixth deceased former NFL player, aged 50 or younger, to be diagnosed with CTE. This has fueled the debate of the impact of football related head injuries, including concussions, on the long term brain health of players.

This is in addition to the number of former NFL players from the 60′s and 70′s who are still alive and suffering from dementia. But the problem may start long before the players turn pro.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has discovered early stages of CTE in a deceased 18 year old football player who suffered multiple concussions while in high school. This is the youngest person yet to be diagnosed with the disease.

Robert Cantu, MD, chief of Neurosurgery and director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass, and clinical professor Neurosurgery at BUSM wrote the first “return to play” guidelines for players following a head injury. In reference to the discovery of the 18 year old’s symptoms, he says “Our efforts to educate athletes, coaches, and parents on the need to identify and rest concussions have only been moderately successful because people have been willing to look the other way when a child suffers a concussion. I hope the discovery of CTE in a child creates the urgency this issue needs. It is morally and ethically wrong to allow our children to voluntarily suffer this kind of brain trauma without taking the simple educational steps needed to protect them.”

Personally, I know of a couple of local families who have children playing high school football. Recently, after receiving several concussions during games, one family noticed some initial cognitive impairment in their child and then wisely removed him from the team.

So as you watch the game this Sunday, whether you’re rooting for Arizona or the “other team”, keep in mind the true “impact” the game is having, not only on the players, but also on our children.

Sources:
Boston University (2009, January 27). Football And Progressive Brain Damage: Tom McHale Of NFL Suffered From Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy When He Died In 2008. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/01/090127165938.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/sports/football/28brain.html?ref=health

http://www.nfl.com/

http://www.braininjury.com/injured.html

About Paul Kulpinski, LMT

brain

Increase in violence linked to decrease in nutrition

Right under your nose

The Addictive Tan

Living to One Hundred

Pain in the Brain

The Brain on Sugar Substitutes

Stress Reduces Good Decision Making

Nature's Brain Food

Football and Brain Injury

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