Rising Violence amongst school girls

I have been watching with interest and dismay about the unfolding of young women and increasing violence in school.

I have a 2 main theories and in order they are:

1. Food and drink reactions (MSG, thickeners in yogurts, preservatives in bread, flavours on chips, packet foods etc) are all known to cause neuro-excitory reactions AKA: Behaviour changes and in some people anger and acting out this anger in fights verbally or physically.

2. Hormone changes (my research indicates that rising testosterone levels accounts for aggressive behaviours typical of young men, now witnessed and felt by women) due to socialising, tv, video games, foods and carbohydrates – which pushes natural levels of testosterone up.

This is an extract from my book about testosterone from page 42.

Testosterone

Testosterone is considered an androgen (male hormone) but it is the basic structure used for estrogen as well. It is made in ladies in her ovaries, adrenals and muscles. Men make it in their testes. Relatively little research has been done over the years into females and the affects of testosterone in their body, but I find it fascinating.

Testosterone (Tt) is responsible for the following:

Libido

Aggression

Muscle mass

Hair distribution

Low Testosterone

Typically our understanding of Tt is that is drops as we age. This is why muscle mass deteriorates with age. Low testosterone levels are often blamed, often incorrectly, for ladies having a low libido during menopause.

Symptoms of low TT include:

Low libido

Dry skin and vagina

Low muscle mass,

Muscle weakness

High testosterone

The issue of high Tt levels in ladies is becoming more common in Modern Women. Studies over the years tend to indicate that aggression, competing and winning elevate Tt levels in men. And obviously with high levels that inspires more aggression and competitiveness. But we are not so sure with females.

When TT levels are high, ladies experience:

Male pattern hair – i.e thinning hair on their scalp and pubic regions, more hair on their face (in particular the chin and upper lip) and hairy arms, hair on the tops of the feet and toes and around their nipples

Acne or pimples on the chin, back or chest areas

More competitive urges

Aggression and rage,

Deep voice

Muscle definition

From what I can understand, the anger from elevated Testosterone is different than the anger experienced with high estrogen. I tend to find ladies with high Testosterone tend to be more outwardly aggressive, angry and vocal. While Estrogen tends to makes ladies more moody, teary and fragile. Once again, this needs to be explored in larger population groups and will be done so on www.byebyebridget.com

Why winning makes us feel good.

Winning, watching our team win, or achieving a set goal in most people, lead to a feeling of elation and increased happiness and self –esteem.

This feeling is due to some hormone changes behind the scenes in response to “the battle” and then “the win”.

Some of the hormone involved include serotonin, adrenaline and nor adrenaline (the 2 stress hormones) and testosterone.

While at the local leagues club last night, I am sure the vague smell of “teenage boys” was due to the awareness of HIGH levels of testosterone in the room. If you have ever been to a footy club on “State of Origin” night , this will need no more explanation. If you haven’t, you may have been to a sporting event where you have seen or even experienced first hand, the feelings of tension during the game and then elation, relief and happiness if your team wins, or the opposite feelings if you and your team loses.

Research by Professor James Dabbs of Georgia State University into testosterone and human social behaviour have made some provocative discoveries. Dabbs and his researchers have found positive correlations between testosterone levels and criminal violence, suicide, aggression, sexuality and sex roles, occupation, personality, emotions, competitiveness, disturbed relationships and more.

One of his studies looked at male testosterone saliva levels before a World Cup soccer match. Mean testosterone levels ROSE (nearly doubled) in the winning team’s spectators, and dropped in the fans of the losing team!

They extrapolated that testosterone levels can rise and fall with success and failure in social encounters.

Women in prisons are found to have higher testosterone levels compared to non-prison females.

Dabbs and his researches found that actors and footy players had higher testosterone levels than religious ministers. I am sure none of this is surprising you and seems quite logical.

So if you feel the thrill of the win, enjoy it. But remember it has been stimulated by a win/lose situation. Win/wins (which aren’t really an outcome in sport), can also lead to similar rewards. In life seek out win/wins. HQ

Are you taking too many pills?

In the past I did audits for doctors. I recall many doctors who had patients taking 25 - 30 different tablets! The last 5 pills were often counteracting side effects of the first 5! Illogic at its best!

This is what her script chart looked like:

But the over-prescribing thing goes both ways.

Today I saw a client and she had been recommended by a fellow naturopath to take 9 different supplements which amounted to 30 tablets per day! 14 in the morning and 16 tablets at night. Too many!

As health care providers, doctors and naturopaths need to be mindful of the following when writing pills/liquids or potions:

1. COST – how much is it costing the patient or the government
2. NEED – does the person really need it, can food, rest or something else achieve the same thing
3. RISK – will it make the person worse , is there a better way to do it
4. COMPLIANCE – will the person be able to stick to the plan. if they are forgetful, lunch time tablets might be over looked, so why write it up!

There are probably other things to consider, these are off the top of my head.

I try to keep supplements to under 6, even when the person is in a health cog mire. Slowly , surely and healthily people can be returned to vibrant wonderful health. Taking 30 tablets will only cost the patient a swag, will burn them out (who can swallow that many tablets) and see them give up.

Ask your health practitioner the following:

Do I need this tablet?

How long will I need it?

Are there other options?

What do I need to be doing different in my lifestyle that will negate the need for this pill?

One more thing to be aware of is self-diagnosis and self prescribed pills. Have you been in the situation when you go into a health food shop , start reading all the little pills and what they are good for only to find that you think you need about 10 things just to wake up the next day? I have – things for better sleep, fat loss, memory, energy, libido – all common things we take pills for. Chat to someone first, preferably a health practitioner (who is trained and can support their recommendations).

Good luck, HQ

Dips, crackers and cheese

I love dips but lately I fond that supermarket dips are losing quality over shelf life.

What dip makers are using

- thickeners (415 which is a natural occurring algae, but can act like MSG in some people )

- acid regulators (330)

- sulphurs (202 - 220 often used to preserve plant sources but can cause asthma and chesty reactions in some)

- colours (100 - 160b - colours are disasterous because they are BIG offender for making kids going crazy and bringing on anxiety in adults)

My fav recipes are:

Homous

1. Drain a can of chickpeas

2. put into a blender with some garlic (if you like garlic)

3. add a dallop of Tahini

4. squeeze a lemon

5. toss in some rock salt

6. blend

Beetroot dip

1. Boil up some whole beetroots (chop the stems off but leave in big chunks to boil - the water will go purple but that's ok)

2. blend with some tahini or yogurt

3. you can add bread crumbs or rice crumbs if you like a thicker consistency

4. mint tastes great blended in too

Grandma's oyster dip

1. a soften packet of philly cheese

2. one tin of smoked oysters

3. mash the 2 together - leave a little chunky.

bon Appetite! HQ

Vit D and sun exposure is normal!

Vitamin D is normally made on the surface of you skin by activation by the sun and UV rays! It is vital for hormone, bone and immune HEALTH.

Failure to get adequate sun light on your skin can lead to Vitamin D deficiency. That's right, people are not getting enough sunlight!

I have posted results from a study done in Australia in 2007 and it shows that up to 97% of Australians may be deficient in Vitamin D.

high risk people are people in nursing homes, office workers and hyper vigilent "sun-avoiders"

How to manage:

Sun exposure is normal and necessary

20 mins minimum a day is important for Vit D stimulation (synthesis)

Walk in the middle of the day 10-2pm when sun exposure is at its highest.

Unless you are an African negro (*ironically they have a high incidence of melanomas) or are red hair, fair skinned and have a family history of skin cancers - get out amongst it!

Link to the graph showing the results of the Australian study looking into Vit D deficiency

http://www.healthqueen.com.au/wysiwyg/addons/docs/files/Vitd.pdf

Australians are the most allergenic in the World! Why?

Allergies are nearly unheard of in under developed countries.

Ok, why are allergies experienced in such large incidences in Australia (and other “developed countries”)?

What are common allergens (things that cause allergies)

And what things can you try to get rid of them?

Allergies are reactions to items in our surroundings that trigger-off our inflammatory response. The component of the item that we react to is called an allergen.

Typical items include pollens, seeds, food, pesticides, herbicides, chemicals, preservatives, toxic fumes and dust, dust mites, dog hair, animal bites (eg spider bites), other rodent and animal matter.

The initial reaction is an immune reaction. In fact the management and study of allergies falls under the care of an “immunologist.”

The body’s surface (skin, mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, lung and gut, bladder, vagina) can respond to contact or exposure to certain allergens and can all suffer from a reaction.

Typical reactions are due to the release of mast cells and a subsequent rise in eosinophils ( a type of white blood cell), these lead to mucous production, swollen, itchy and constricted membranes. If this occurs in your lungs, you may experience a wheeze as the air travels back through tightened openings (or airways ) and is commonly known as asthma.

You can have allergies to all sorts of things – some really common ones are food chemicals, wheat, milk and dairy, grass seeds, dust mite and pet dander (hair).

There are a few ways to get rid of the allergies:

Acute management

When things have just happened and are REALLY severe and quick in onset – you could be suffering an anaphylaxic reaction (the mucous membranes in your throat enlarge, so that breathing is an issue, or your tongue swells, or you come out in an all over body rash) then you need to get emergency help (either go to hospital or call an ambulance). Some people have had a few dramatic Reactions and will carry an Epi pen (epinephrine) with them.

Medium term management

There are some extremely good natural products available via a naturopath or homeopath for reactions not as severe as above.

Medical options include anti-histamine (stop histamine being released which causes the mucous and swelling reactions. Adrenaline is reserved for severe cases but used frequently in hospitals, steroids can help (not the gym/muscle building ones).

Longer term approach to decreasing allergies

Natural medicines offer more options compared to conventional medicine.

Mainstream medicine grapples a little and tends to go down the avoid-if-you-know-what-causes is and if you goof it up, take an anti-histamine.

Natural medicines including decreasing the body’s over-amplified immune reaction either by retraining, decreasing TH2-cells or decreasing allergens and seem to offer the best overall result. Building a person’s immunity is key in managing allergies. This can be done via probiotics, zinc, a range of herbs and diet elimination. Ask a naturopath or nutritionist for guidance.

Women feel love – not words

When I talk with women I find that they can feel depressed but not often. Most women have sad feelings instead.

Intrusive and repeatitive sad thoughts centred around love.

Usually they have the following feelings:

“I don’t feel that I show love “

“ I am not worthy of love”

or “I am not loveable”

Mostly feelings of guilt or low self esteem.

When I feel like this I say to myself “I am loved, loving and lovable , I am happy and healthy, I am safe and secure, I am.”

Sam BP