Will Warm Milk Really Help You Sleep?
Everyone has trouble falling asleep sometimes, and up to 15 percent of the population has chronic insomnia.
But what you eat — especially what you have for dinner and as a late-night snack — can help you catch the Zs you need. But it’s not as simple as drinking a warm glass of milk, which the Mayo clinic says has no evidence of helping you drift off.
But the experts there do think that having a small snack a few hours before bed time can help you get to sleep and make it through the night. Doctors there suggest a small bowl of oatmeal or cereal, or yogurt with granola.
The Mayo Clinic says that a large meal or spicy foods too close to bed time can make it too uncomfortable to get too sleep.
More than anything, it says to stop drinking caffeine eight hours before you plan to go to sleep.
HealthAssist.net says that one thing you should look for in an evening snack is food with tryptophan.
The site says that amino acid helps calm the brain, and high-carb foods help clear other acids that compete with tryptophan. Good foods, according to the site, include dairy products such as cottage cheese, cheese and milk.
It also suggests, among many others, almonds, bananas, whole grains, beans, otalmeal, hazel nuts, avocado and eggs.
And when you’re planning your dinner with an eye toward getting to bed on time later, AskDrSears.com says you need meals that are high in carbs and low in protein. Those help you relax through the evening and set you up for slumber.
Some balanced meals include pasta with parmesan cheese, scrambled eggs with cheese, tofu stirfy, hummus with whole-wheat pita.
But if you don’t plan ahead, another report gives you a reason to give the old standby — warm milk — a try, despite what the Mayo Clinic says.
WCCO-TV reported that since the milk is a dairy product with high tryptophan, it could encourage melatonin and serotonin in your brain, helping you travel to the land of Nod.
Decide What Type Of Business
If you’ve been thinking of starting a business, it’s really hard to decide where to get started. You may be discouraged because there’s so much information available. Hence, the first step in getting started is to decide what type of business you will start and this will help you avoid studying information that may not be related to what you want to do.
As a matter of fact, one of the newest trends nowadays is conducting business online. Lots of people today have found out that using Offshore Company Incorporation can actually save them money. This is mainly due to the fact that there are no requirements to maintain their accounts and it also has diminished the need for an accountant that promptly double their monthly savings. Further, since most respectable offshore service providers are legal ad visors which is why there is no longer need for a local attorney eliminating retainers and of course excessively high hourly rates.
What makes it more amazing is that they provide clients with their full expert assistance throughout every step of the formation process; however, their service does not stop there. They will give you any assistance or advice from the moment you choose to incorporate the company and as for long after incorporation as you require. They will advise you on which jurisdiction is best for you and if necessary provide nominees and help you open a bank account.
High-Fiber Diet Can Prevent Diverticulitis
Q: I need information on how to avoid flare-ups of diverticulitis. I am a 53-year-old female. I was diagnosed with diverticulitis after suffering for months from discomfort. The doctor gave me an antibiotic that cleared up the problem. What I need to know is this: How long after eating a problem food does discomfort ensue? I’ve tried to tie discomfort to a particular food. I just can’t figure out which ones cause the problem.
For instance, if I have a problem on Tuesday afternoon, would that be from food I ate Tuesday morning, or the day before?
A: You need a clearer picture of what causes diverticular pain. Diverticula are small bulges on the colon’s outer wall. The bulges are the lining of the colon that has been pushed through the muscular colon wall and has popped out on its outer surface. They are pea-size to marble-size. When the necks of diverticula become obstructed, bacteria within the diverticula cause swelling and pain. Prevention of diverticula formation and diverticula obstruction centers on a high-fiber diet.
A particular food isn’t usually the culprit. A lack of fiber is the troublemaker. Fiber holds on to water and keeps the food residue soft. If the residue hardens, the colon has to generate great force to move it along, and that force is responsible for diverticula formation. You need to get 25 grams to 30 grams of fiber daily. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are fiber sources. Whole grains retain their outer coat — bran. Bran is excellent fiber.
Diverticulitis — inflamed diverticula — produces pain, most often felt in the lower left side of the abdomen. Sometimes it leads to rectal bleeding. An attack calls for a change in diet, either to a liquid one or one with soft foods. If you still want to track a particular food, I’ll give you the rough time sequence of food passage. It takes one to two days for food to pass from mouth to the end of the colon. At most, it takes three. Anything beyond that time is abnormal.
Q: I am a 59-year-old man. About five years ago, my spleen was removed after a traumatic injury.
I received the pneumococcus vaccine. I was told that it would last a lifetime.
A: The spleen is an integral part of the immune system.
People who don’t have one are more susceptible to infections and, in particular, to pneumococcal infections. The pneumococcus bacterium causes pneumonia and potentially lethal blood infections. People without a spleen need a second dose of the pneumonia vaccine five years after the first.
Dr. Donohue answers letters only in his North America Syndicate column but provides an order form of available health newsletters. Write him at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, Fla. 32853-6475.
Mayweather Cannot Train With Rib-Cartilage Injury
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has damaged cartilage in his ribs and will stop training for his comeback fight until a doctor says he can resume. Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, told The Associated Press on Monday that Mayweather has been in tremendous pain since suffering the injury during training on Thursday. “He tried to work through it. He really did not want to postpone the fight, but it came to the point where he could barely sit,” Schaefer said. “He could not train, he could not move and there was really not much of a choice.”
Mayweather(39-0, 25 KOs) was scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Schaefer said both fighters have committed to rescheduling and a September date has been mentioned. But promoters and the fighters won’t agree to a date without the OK of doctors.
Mayweather’s ribs are not broken, and the former five-division champ plans to see a doctor this week, Schaefer said. He said he did not know exactly how Mayweather damaged his cartilage. “Right now he cannot go and train, he cannot work out, he cannot run, he cannot hit the heavy bag and the speed bags and jump ropes and all these kinds of things,” Schaefer said. “He definitely will need some additional training but again, Floyd is such an amazing athlete– and really on top of his game — that I think it will be relatively easy for him to get right back into it.”
Cartilage connects the ribs to the sternum, and can tear away after direct blows to the chest, other trauma or particularly violent coughs and sneezes. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo injured his rib cartilage during the team’s season ending game at Philadelphia last year, a disastrous 44-6 loss in which Romo fumbled, was sacked and benched. Coach Wade Phillips said a flare-up of the pain caused Romo to collapse in the shower afterward.
Mayweather and Marquez were scheduled to fight at a catch-weight of about 143 pounds, eight more than Marquez has ever fought and the lightest weight for Mayweather since 2005. Mayweather hasn’t boxed since knocking out Ricky Hatton in December 2007. He was slated to fight a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya but instead abruptly retired last June, while still considered the sport’s pound-for-pound king.
Now, many believe Manny Pacquiao holds that title after he beat De La Hoya and Hatton in fewer rounds than Mayweather. It’s possible that Mayweather and Pacquiao will eventually meet in the ring if Mayweather beats Marquez first.
But promoter Bob Arum also wants to set up a Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight in November, the earliest Cotto can get back into the ring after the welterweight’s win over Joshua Clottey on Saturday. Cotto won by decision but left Madison Square Garden in New York with a big gash over his left eye that required six stitches.
Mad Cow Disease From Fish
Robert Herriman – In the latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 3 researchers from the United States suggest that farmed fish fed contaminated cow parts could transmit Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD), the human form of mad cow disease.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal brain disease in cattle, which scientists believe can cause Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in humans who eat infected cow parts.
Dr. Robert P. Friedland, a neurologist at University of Louisville in Kentucky and colleagues want government regulators to ban feeding cow meat or bone meal to fish until the safety of this common practice can be confirmed.
There is no proof that it’s possible for fish to transmit CJD to humans. Friedland said that even though there is no evidence, he believes the practice of feeding rendered cows to fish should be prohibited. He also said there is no guarantee it can’t happen and with the incubation of CJD being years or decades, it’ll make the association of feeding the fish cow parts and CJD infection difficult.
“Fish do very well in the seas without eating cows,” say Friedland. “Enhanced safeguards need to be put in place to protect the public,” he concludes.
Dietary consumption of fish is widely recommended because of the beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the risks of cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s diseases. The American Heart Association currently recommends eating at least two servings of fish per week