Health & Medical Advice and Information - UK Medical Health

1. Watch Your Waist: A study by EPIC scientists has shown that women with a waist measurement of 34 inches (86 cms) or more almost double their risk of developing womb cancer. Another reason to stay fit and active.

2. Type 2 Diabetes: A 2007 Finnish study suggests that zinc deficiency appears to increase the risk of heart attack and death from heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Use Lamberts Zincatest to check if you’re short of zinc.

3. Prostate Cancer:  A UK study has shown that vegetarians are half as likely to get prostate cancer as meat eaters. Reduce or eliminate meat to increase the possibility of avoiding this common cancer in men.

4. Got A Cold: Try herbal echinacea tablets for a cold. Research has shown that taking echinacea more than halves a person’s chance of catching a cold and shortens the symptom time for those who did get the cold by 1.4 days.

5. Giving Up Smoking? Research suggests that you are 4 times as likely to give up if you use formal support (such as NHS smokers’ clinics) as if you go it alone.

6. Male Infertility: Chlamydia infection can affect sperm DNA. This infection is often without symptoms in men and may be there for many years. Get yourself checked out. It’s easy to treat.

7. Always thirsty? If you’re always thirsty, tired and rushing to the loo/bathroom, you could have diabetes.  Ask your doctor for a check-up.

8. Sperm At Risk: If you’re  overweight, aromatase in your fat tissue converts testosterone to a weak form of oestrogen, a female hormone. High levels of female hormones reduce your sperm count.

9. Chronic Pain? Acupuncture has been shown repeatedly to help with chronic pain. Give it a try by finding an acupuncture therapist.

10. Osteoarthritis Danger: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researchers have found that men carrying a few extra pounds in early adulthood nearly double their chance of developing painful knee and hip osteoarthritis later in life.

11. A Quick Exercise:  Stand on one leg while you clean your teeth in the morning. Stand on the other leg in the evening. This will strengthen your hamstring muscles and is good for balance.

12. Feeling Better:  In a study funded by Mind, the UK mental health charity, 80% of the participants said they felt better (emotionally and mentally) if they cut down on sugar.

13. Working Through Lunch? Working through your lunch break isn’t good for you and will probably mean that you will work less effectively in the afternoon. Do everyone a favour and take a break.

14. Standing A Lot: The American Chiropractic Association says: When standing, keep one foot slightly in front of the other, with your knees slightly bent. This position helps to take the pressure off your low back.

15. Depressed After Antibiotics? If you’re feeling low after a course of antibiotics, try taking a B Complex supplement. Antibiotics destroy some of the friendly bacteria in your gut that make some of the B vitamins. Also take an acidophilus supplement to help repopulate the bowel flora.

At one time fibre was thought to serve no useful purpose in the body, as it does not contain any nutrients, but gradually nutritionists began to recognise that what the naturopaths had been saying for a long time had some truth in it – fibre was really important in the diet.

Fibre has many benefits:

§ Fibre bulks up stools and so reduces the chances of you suffering from constipation.
§ Fibre keeps the intestinal wall clean and reduces the likelihood of developing diverticulitis.
§ Bacteria in the colon can break down fibre, creating an acidic environment that decreases the risk of developing colorectal cancer.
§ Foods high in fibre can take longer to eat, increasing the feeling of fullness after a meal, and so help you weight control.
§ Food high in fibre is digested more slowly and so glucose may be released more slowly into the blood stream. This helps stabilise blood sugar and reduce mood swings.
§ Fibre binds with cholesterol and removes it from the body.

Fibre is only found in plants. Fibre rich foods include wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, vegetables - especially beans, peas and lentils - nuts and dried fruit.

So are there any disadvantages of eating fibre? Fibre can bind with some minerals such as iron and reduce their absorption. So, if you are taking an iron supplement, take it away from a fibre-rich meal.

Although fibre can help protect your colon from inflammatory diseases such as diverticulitis and Crohn’s disease, if you already have one of these conditions fibre will often aggravate the condition as it physically scrubs the inflamed tissues. Instead of increasing your fibre intake, take herbs to soothe your gut and reduce inflammation.

Here are some tips you can easily incorporate into your life.

1. Reduce the number of times you go to the supermarket. The more often you go the more you are likely to buy unhealthy food.
2. Watercress contains 12 times as much vitamin C as lettuce and more iron than spinach.
3. Try half sparkling water and half fruit juice instead of fizzy drinks/sodas.
4. Beans are good for you, but if you find they give you gas/wind, start with split peas and lentils.
5. Many people are short of zinc. Brazil nuts and almonds are great sources of this important trace mineral. If you have problems with nuts take a good quality nutritional supplement.
6. Eat garlic, leeks and onions for the probiotics they contain. These feed the healthy bacteria in our guts.
7. Many people think eating healthily is expensive, but a piece of fruit is often much cheaper than a chocolate bar or a cream cake.
8. Most post-menopausal women do not need iron supplements. Excessive iron intake has been linked to heart disease. If you are taking a vitamin and mineral supplement and you are past the menopause make sure it is specifically designed for you.
9. Some research suggests that a high-fat diet can contribute to bad breath. Fats in meat, cheese and milk seem to be a particular problem.
10. Bought a pizza to cook at home? Add extra veggies (e.g. tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, corn) to make it healthier.
11. If you’re trying to become pregnant, take 400 mcg of folic acid as a daily supplement and eat folic acid rich foods (yeast extract and dark green leafy vegetables). Folic acid is a B vitamin that can help prevent spina bifida.
12. Fish oils supplements can contain heavy metals and dioxins, so buy flax seed oil supplements instead.