tagged w/ Alternative Medicine
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With acetaminophen - a long time pain staple - now being cautioned against - the movment for Medical Marijuana is picking up strength all over the world.With acetaminophen - a long time pain staple - now being cautioned against - the... more
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A study involving 60,000 people found those who followed a vegetarian diet developed notably fewer cancers of the blood, bladder and stomach.
But the apparently protective effect of vegetarian did not seem to stretch to bowel cancer, a major killer.
Results suggested that while in the general population about 33 people in 100 will develop cancer during their lifetime, for those who do not eat meat that risk is reduced to about 29 in 100.A study involving 60,000 people found those who followed a vegetarian diet developed... more
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Start putting your own health insurance plan into motion.
Excerpt:
1. Sodium nitrite
2. BHA & BHT
3. Propyl gallate
4. Monosodium glutamate
5. Trans fats
6. Aspartame
7. Acesulfame-K
8. Food colorings (Blue & , Red , Green , Yellow )
9. Olestra
10. Potassium bromate
11. White sugar
12. Sodium chloride
There are many reasons that some people choose to shop and eat a completely organic range of foods, but the primary reason seems to center around the additives in various non-organic food items. Those additives have been studied and linked to various diseases, and instead of taking the chance that unhealthy preservatives and flavorings might be integrated into grocery store items, people often opt for the strictly organic route so as to avoid them altogether.
But everyone cannot afford the prices of organic foods or the time it takes to shop at specialty markets for them. Thus, becoming informed about the additives in everyday food items can make for an easier shopping experience and healthier items being ingested by everyone. In addition, a mass boycott of foods that contain such additives could prompt food manufacturers to remove such harmful ingredients from their products in the future.
Thanks to MSN Health & Fitness contributor Jean Weiss, a list of the most medically questionable and harmful additives in everyday foods has been compiled to educate the masses. There are several that may be recognizable due to news reports and popular opinion, but others may be new to some and worthy of notation.
One of the most common additives in food is the preservative, which can come in different forms. Sodium nitrite is one of them, as it is added to not only preserve food but to add color and flavor to meat products, most commonly bacon, ham, hot dogs, sandwich meats, and smoked fish. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydrozyttoluene) are other preservatives added to foods like cereal, gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils to prevent them from oxidizing. And propyl gallate has similar de-oxidizing values and is found in meats, chicken soup base, and gum. All of these preservatives have been found to cause cancer through certain types of food preparation, such as cooking meat at high temperatures. Though the studies are not conclusive and mostly conducted on animals, all of them contain reactive compounds that can be harmful.
As far as flavoring, monosodium glutamate (MSG) used to be a very common amino acid used in restaurant foods, soups, and salad dressings, though most food preparers and manufacturers have removed it from their list of ingredients. Beware of canned and frozen foods that still may attempt to use it, as MSG can cause migraines and other adverse effects. Trans fats are also being eliminated from most foods, as the studies linking them to heart disease, strokes, and kidney problems are widely-accepted.
Sweeteners are another item to avoid when possible. Aspartame is found in products like Nutrasweet and Equal as well as diet foods and soft drinks. And acesulfame-K is a newer sweetener used in soft drinks and some baked goods. These products, only preliminarily linked to cancer, have the same negative nutritional value as white sugar, all of which should be minimized in any diet.
Many food colorings have been banned by the FDA but some can still be found in foods that require a particular color. And Olestra is a product also discouraged by health food organizations that is rarely used anymore, though was common for a time in potato chips as an additive that prevented fat from being absorbed in the digestive system. Each of these items should be avoided at all costs, as the food colorings have been tied to cancer and Olestra simply blocks vitamins from being processed through the body and blocks the digestive process from functioning normally.
end of excerptStart putting your own health insurance plan into motion.
Excerpt:
1. Sodium... more
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For men with fertility problems, some doctors are prescribing a very conventional way to have a baby: more sex.For men with fertility problems, some doctors are prescribing a very conventional way... more
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Myths, half-truths and wives’ tales persist in medicine. Sometimes doctors and nurses even believe things that aren’t true or at least are unproven. That’s the focus of a new book, “Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health,”
by Dr. Aaron E. Carroll and Dr. Rachel C. Vreeman.
INSERT DESCRIPTION Two doctors tackle medical myths.
Dr. Carroll and Dr. Vreeman, both from the Indiana University School of Medicine, have written a lot about medical myths and misunderstandings. In December 2007, the pair published an article in the British Medical Journal about seven medical myths even doctors believe. A year later, they identified six medical myths for the holiday season.
Now, “Don’t Swallow Your Gum” offers a fun collection of numerous medical myths that are likely familiar to most of us. The book is organized to focus on various types of myths, including myths about your body (you should poop at least once a day), myths about disease and illness (cold weather makes you sick), myths about sex and pregnancy (twins skip a generation) and myths about what we eat and drink (gum stays in your stomach for seven years.)
It’s a fun read, and chances are you will stumble across several medical myths you’ve always believed. Here are a few medical myths that may surprise you:
1. Cold weather makes you sick. In studies of cold transmission, people who are chilled are no more likely to get sick than those who were not. It may be that cold weather keeps people indoors, where germs are more likely to catch up with you.Myths, half-truths and wives’ tales persist in medicine. Sometimes doctors and... more
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Julia Strecher was 9 years old when she had her second heart transplant. Her body had rejected the first heart she received with particular vehemence: She went into cardiac arrest six times in two hours. As doctors struggled to revive her, she recalls, she could hear them debating whether to give up.
“I was trapped in my body,” says Ms. Strecher, now 18. “I was trying to tell people I was alive and not to pull the plug.” A few months after she went home with her second new heart, she began having nightmares in which she watched herself suffering cardiac arrest.
But then, she began writing down her thoughts about being helpless. Eventually she turned the details into poems and stories. “It was extremely emotionally healing and freeing,” she said. “It helped me relieve a lot of stress and provided a distraction from pain and depression.” The nightmares went away.
Ms. Strecher’s case seems a striking illustration of the healing potential of creative expression. But is it science? Can the power of the arts to soothe, transform and inspire be enlisted to treat—and perhaps even prevent—heart disease?
These are the questions driving a fledgling organization called the Foundation for Art & Healing. With the help of an eclectic group of researchers, artists and health-care providers, the Brookline, Mass., foundation is mapping out a research agenda intended to determine whether artistic expression could be a valid clinical intervention—along with exercise, healthy diets and medicines—for reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease.
More @ LinkJulia Strecher was 9 years old when she had her second heart transplant. Her body had... more
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"Everyone knows health care costs are busting us, as individuals and as a nation. Reform is needed, but the question is whether it will come and whether it will do the job.
Here's how bad it has gotten: Medical bills were behind nearly two-thirds of all U.S. bankruptcies in 2007, researchers said in June. And most of those folks were middle class; most were homeowners; most went to college; most had health insurance. And that data came from before the economic downturn.
Our health care system should really be called a "disease care system," says Mohammad Torabi of Indiana University Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
As we've heard, the system is busy trying to stamp out diseases without focusing on the prevention of them, which would've cost a lot less. And with nearly 75 million Americans uninsured or underinsured, according to Dr. Mutaz B. Habal of the Tampa Bay Craniofacial Center, more and more of these folks end up at the emergency room, which is a much costlier way of caring for people than seeing them before their conditions become emergencies.
Spending on U.S. health care was more than $2 trillion in 2006 (that's about $7,026 per resident), almost three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Health care expenditures that year grew at a rate of 6.7 percent, outpacing inflation, the foundation states.
So will Congress pass a bill that realizes President Obama's commitment to health care reform? And if so, will that stop the madness, described by Habal as insurance companies and hospital administrations competing as armies "to develop and impose a business model for their own profit"? That description was published in a recent editorial in The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
"Society is ripe and eager for reform," Habal says, adding that "traditional players in patient care are out. New players are in, and they want a system that works."
Apparently, we weren't eager enough in 1993-94 ... or six other times before that in the past century when legislators failed to pass health care reform legislation, said Timothy McBride, associate dean of public health at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. (The only successful health care reform in the past 100 years has been the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1964-1965.)
Still McBride thinks that once the debate dust settles, "it is much more likely that legislation will pass this year."
More at link. What's your solution for Health Care Reform, and what do you think Obama should do?"Everyone knows health care costs are busting us, as individuals and as a nation.... more
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ADELPHI, Md. - Government experts say prescription drugs like Vicodin and Percocet that combine a popular painkiller with stronger narcotics should be eliminated because of their role in deadly overdoses.
A Food and Drug Administration panel voted 20-17 that prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with other painkilling ingredients should be pulled off the market. Acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., sending 56,000 people to the emergency room annually, according to the FDA.
The FDA has assembled a group of experts to vote on ways to reduce liver damage associated with acetaminophen, one of the most widely used drugs in the U.S.
end of excerpt
Source: MSNBCADELPHI, Md. - Government experts say prescription drugs like Vicodin and Percocet... more
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Ginseng has been used in natural medicine for centuries. You’ll often find it boasted on those crazily named energy drinks. But before ginseng graced the side of a goofy energy can, it was busy bolstering the health of the…Ginseng has been used in natural medicine for centuries. You’ll often find it... more
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Fat from red meat and dairy products can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer, which is usually fatal, is the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Various risk factors for developing the disease have been identified, shockingly…Fat from red meat and dairy products can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer.... more
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Singing has long been touted as good for the soul. Now, a growing body of research is showing it can also help heal the body.
Scientists and medical professionals across the globe are reaching conclusions similar to those of Dr. Richman-Eisenstat, who now prescribes singing to some patients.
In Europe, patients with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders are forming choirs to help strengthen their throat muscles. In New York and elsewhere, stroke patients are using melodies to facilitate their speech recovery. Researchers in Vancouver are exploring how music affects the brains of patients with bipolar disorder and depression.
Starting this month, much of that research will be co-ordinated in Canada. More than 70 researchers from over a dozen countries will join forces through a consortium called Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS). Based at the University of Prince Edward Island, the program has secured federal and private funding for research projects over the next seven years.
“Although there have been some researchers working on one or another aspects of singing, there's never been another opportunity to bring these researchers together in an interdisciplinary way,” said Annabel Cohen, a professor of music psychology and the head of AIRS.
The researchers will collaborate on research projects that fall under one of three umbrella topics: development of singing ability; the connections between singing and learning; and the enhancement of health and well-being through singing.
But it is that last domain that many researchers say is generating serious interest from a growing number of medical researchers.
“The separation of music and health is not necessary,” said Bradley Vines, a researcher at the Institute of Mental Health at the University of British Columbia, who has studied how singing affects the brains of stroke patients at Harvard.
“I think that music can be used as a powerful tool towards preventing illness. … So in the future a stroke specialist may recommend that a person join a choir. That could be on the list of normal things to recommend.”
[article continues after jump]Singing has long been touted as good for the soul. Now, a growing body of research is... more
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Naturopathy is a form of alternative or complementary medicine that promotes the body’s capability to heal itself. It focuses on natural methods that support the body’s ability to restore and maintain balance. Naturopaths use very important natural remedies that…Naturopathy is a form of alternative or complementary medicine that promotes the... more
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A cancerous tumor in 13-year-old Danny Hauser's chest has shrunk significantly since he was ordered by a court last month to resume chemotherapy treatment, a family spokesman said
But the Hauser family attributes much of his progress to the complementary use of vitamins and minerals to boost his immune system, Dan Zwakman said.
"The family is doing it on their own, with the doctor's knowledge," Zwakman said. "Everybody is pleased that the tumor is shrinking, of course. The goal is to get rid of the cancer, but they'd rather be doing it without the chemo."
Danny's case made national headlines last month when he and his mother, Colleen, fled Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, for Mexico to seek alternative cancer care despite a court order that he undergo chemotherapy.
They eventually returned after an arrest warrant was issued for Colleen Hauser. But had they made it to their destination -- the Rubio Clinic in Tijuana, according to Zwakman -- they would have joined the ranks of an estimated hundreds of other cancer patients who head south of the border each year for cancer care.
"Their intentions started long ago with Colleen. She's been involved in natural healing for many years now. She believes the world was created with everything needed to sustain and heal life," Zwakman said.
Despite controversial origins and consistent bad press in the United States, Tijuana's border clinics continue to attract people like the Hausers, who are in search of more holistic approaches to cancer treatment.
Because little data exist on how many clinics are operating, it's unclear how many American cancer patients visit Mexico each year, said Stephen Barrett, a patient advocate who runs the Web site,
"If they answered, you could not be sure they were telling the truth. They might have an incentive to raise the number," he said in an e-mail. "To make matters more complicated, many of the 'cancer' clinics also see people who don't have cancer."
The concept of complementary and alternative cancer treatment has slowly been gaining acceptance for more than a decade in the United States, with the creation of entities including the National Cancer Institute's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
"Clinicians and researchers have realized that it's important to conduct methodologically sound studies to help guide patients to understand what's safe and what's effective," said Dr. Ted Gansler, medical director of health content for the American Cancer Society.
But no one recommends that alternative treatment be used to replace conventional care, such as chemotherapy or radiation, he said.
"The important thing to remember is there is no recommended alternative to conventional treatment, and the reason is because if it worked, it would become conventional," he said.
As far as Tijuana's border clinics are concerned, the American Cancer Society cautions that "methods promoted in Mexican border clinics are not consistent with scientific understanding" of cancer and its treatment.
"Although these clinics often claim great success in advertisements and books, they have not published convincing evidence in medical journals to support those claims," the ACS says in a section on its Web site called Questionable Cancer Practices In Mexico. "Patients traveling to the Tijuana area for treatment appear to be subjecting themselves to costly and potentially hazardous regimens, especially if they postpone standard medical care."
Loose regulatory standards in Mexico allow Tijuana's clinics to thrive, many offering expensive treatment in luxurious, spa-like settings, complete with fresh meals, exercise classes and emotional and spiritual counseling.
Many herbs and dietary supplements used in border clinics are not considered dangerous; they just have not been put through the rigorous clinical trials required for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve them for use as cancer treatments.A cancerous tumor in 13-year-old Danny Hauser's chest has shrunk significantly... more
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The results of a new analysis have provided good evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is beneficial for arthritis. Specifically, it was shown to decrease pain with trends towards improving overall physical health, level of tension and satisfaction with health status.
Musculoskeletal pain, such as that experienced by people with arthritis, places a severe burden on the patient and community and is recognized as an international health priority. Exercise therapy including such as strengthening, stretching and aerobic programs, have been shown to be effective for arthritic pain. Tai Chi, is a form of exercise that is regularly practiced in China to improve overall health and well-being. It is usually preformed in a group but is also practiced individually at one's leisure, which differs from traditional exercise therapy approaches used in the clinic.
The authors state, "The fact that Tai Chi is inexpensive, convenient, and enjoyable and conveys other psychological and social benefits supports the use this type of intervention for pain conditions such as arthritis."The results of a new analysis have provided good evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is... more
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"Eat your vegetables. Exercise. Don't drink so much beer. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Even fewer Americans in their middle and later years adhere to this healthy lifestyle advice than they did two decades ago.
Despite the well-known benefits of a lifestyle that includes physical activity, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, moderate alcohol use and not smoking, only a small proportion of older adults follow this healthy lifestyle pattern, a new survey finds.
In fact, the numbers of those who do are declining, even though it's medically clear that positive lifestyle choices are associated with reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes.
The number of people adhering to five healthy habits (exercising 12 times a month or more, not smoking, eating five or more fruits and vegetables daily, moderate alcohol use and maintaining healthy weight) has decreased from 15 percent to 8 percent between the period 1988-1994 and then 2001-2006. The results come from a comparison by investigators from the Medical University of South Carolina of results from two large-scale studies of the U.S. population.
"The potential public health benefits from promoting a healthier lifestyle at all ages, and especially ages 40-74 years, are substantial," Dr. Dana E. King and colleagues wrote in a published report on the study results.
Here are the details:
* In the intervening years, the percentage of adults aged 40-74 years with a body mass index greater than 30 has increased from 28 percent to 36 percent.
* Physical activity 12 times a month or more has decreased from 53 percent to 43 percent.
* Eating five or more fruits and vegetables a day has decreased from 42 percent to 26 percent. smoking rates have increased slightly (26.9 percent to 26.1 percent).
* Moderate alcohol use has increased from 40 percent to 51 percent.""Eat your vegetables. Exercise. Don't drink so much beer. Blah. Blah. Blah.... more
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Eeeww. There's a zoo full of critters living on your skin — a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants. And that's not a bad thing, said genetics specialist Julia Segre of the National Institutes of Health, who led the research.
Sure they make your sneakers stinky, "but they also keep your skin moist and make sure if you get a wound that (dangerous) bacteria don't enter your bloodstream," she said. "We take a lot for granted in terms of how much they contribute to our health."
People's bodies are ecosystems, believed home to trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that naturally coexist in the skin, the digestive tract and other spots. But scientists don't have a good grasp of which microbes live where, much less which are helpful, even indispensable, in maintaining health. The NIH's "Human Microbiome Project" aims to change that, recruiting healthy volunteers to learn what microbes they harbor so scientists can compare the healthy with diseases of microbes gone awry — from acute infections to mysterious conditions like psoriasis or irritable bowel syndrome.
Eeeww. There's a zoo full of critters living on your skin — a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants. And that's not a bad thing, said genetics specialist Julia Segre of the National Institutes of Health, who led the research.
Sure they make your sneakers stinky, "but they also keep your skin moist and make sure if you get a wound that (dangerous) bacteria don't enter your bloodstream," she said. "We take a lot for granted in terms of how much they contribute to our health."
People's bodies are ecosystems, believed home to trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that naturally coexist in the skin, the digestive tract and other spots. But scientists don't have a good grasp of which microbes live where, much less which are helpful, even indispensable, in maintaining health. The NIH's "Human Microbiome Project" aims to change that, recruiting healthy volunteers to learn what microbes they harbor so scientists can compare the healthy with diseases of microbes gone awry — from acute infections to mysterious conditions like psoriasis or irritable bowel syndrome.Eeeww. There's a zoo full of critters living on your skin — a bacterial... more
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Healthful beverages, aside from water (which we know is good for us!) include 100 percent juices, milk or milk alternatives (such as soy, rice, hemp, almond or goat milk) and unsweetened tea. Soft drinks like sweetened teas, sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks usually contain high amounts of sugar or high fructose corn syrup. They may additionally contain artificial flavors, artificial colors or dietary supplements (such as ginseng or guarana.)Healthful beverages, aside from water (which we know is good for us!) include 100... more
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This ingenious program is designed for young adults to earn college credit while learning how to live a healthier more eco-friendly lifestyle. Not only that but they encourage you to take time to truly think about what matters to you and they encourage you to create a lifestyle that works for you. It's pretty much just awesome in every way possible.This ingenious program is designed for young adults to earn college credit while... more
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Getting a decent night's sleep shouldn't be such a crapshoot. But for an estimated 30% of American adults who suffer from at least occasional insomnia, nightfall is no guarantee of slumber.To combat wakefulness, Americans filled more than 50 million prescriptions in 2008 for sleeping pills like Ambien, and spent more than $600 million on over-the-counter sleep-inducing supplements such as melatonin and valerian root. Others seek medical treatment or psychological therapy to get to sleep, while the rest of us accept our nocturnal tossing and turning as just another of life's unavoidable nuisances, and gulp an extra cup of coffee the next morning to compensate.
But despite our best efforts, about 10% of Americans still suffer from persistent insomnia (defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep) — namely falling asleep or being functionally impaired by sleepiness during the day — and researchers continue to search for its causes and cure. Now a new study in the journal Sleep suggests a surprising treatment for the sleepless: the Internet. Web-based treatments have emerged for all kinds of bad habits and disorders, such as overeating, smoking, depression — and insomnia.Compared with face-to-face counseling or medical treatments, online therapies are typically simpler and less expensive. Major health insurers like Blue Cross and Aetna even offer web-based anti-insomnia programs for free (you can check out the retail versions at cbtforinsomnia.com or myselfhelp.com for as little as $20). And there's growing evidence that online therapy really works: in the new Sleep study, 81% of participants who completed a five-week, online program for insomnia reported improvement in sleep.
"There may be some unique things that you get from an Internet program, like the feeling that you are really in the driver's seat," says the study's author, Norah Vincent, a clinical psychologist, who adds that many of the 40 participants who completed her multimedia program reported both better sleep quality and less daytime fatigue than a control group. "People like to have autonomy in solving problems. I think it motivates them more," she says.Based on cognitive behavioral-therapy techniques, Vincent's virtual therapy combines videos, text and audio clips to teach the sleepless everything about good sleep hygiene, from how to relax the body before getting into bed to how not to stress out when you fail to doze off right away. (One of the worst things you can do when you can't fall asleep is to lie there and dwell on the consequences of not getting enough sleep.) Participants were asked to keep digital sleep diaries and practice the techniques that were demonstrated onscreen. They were also allowed to download audio clips of a sleep therapist and an actor in a staged, one-on-one session and listen to them on their iPods.Getting a decent night's sleep shouldn't be such a crapshoot. But for an... more
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If you've gone green, I'll wager that you are pretty smart already. I'm not just saying that to win you over either. The climate crisis may be the greatest crisis the human species will ever have to deal with. If you are worried about global warming, then you must have some degree of foresight. And foresight is a sure sign of intelligence.
One popular green activity, the nature walk, can do more than strengthen those calf muscles. It can also nourish the old brain bin. You were going to take a walk anyway? I said that you were smart, remember?
According to researchers at the University of Michigan, taking a nature walk can sharpen the mind, but a walk around the city does not have the same effect.
How Nature Walks Make You Smarter
Participants were asked to go for walks in urban and rural settings. When the participants returned from their respective journeys, their memories and attentions were tested. Those who returned from nature walks scored 20% better on the tests. They showed no improvement after urban walks.
Walking in nature allows the mind to take a break. Think of it in terms of sleeping. If you take a nap, your body functions better with some sleep. A nature walk allows your mind to wander, to relax. Afterward, you can think more clearly.
Researcher Marc Berman:
You don't hear very many people say, 'Boy I really got tired out looking at that waterfall.'If you've gone green, I'll wager that you are pretty smart already. I'm... more
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