Dr. Wakefield’s work has been discredited over the past several years, and ten of the eleven doctors who were involved in the study have removed their names from it. The Sunday Times reports that Dr. Wakefield “changed and misreported results” in his research, according to “confidential” medical documents and interviews with witnesses.

Dr. Wakefield’s study was published in February 1998 in The Lancet medical journal, causing widespread concern among parents that the MMR vaccine—for measles, mumps, and rubella—was linked to autism. According to The Sunday Times, the impact of the article was “extraordinary,” with vaccination rates decreasing from 92% to less than 80%, while “herd immunity” from measles occurs when 95% of the population has been vaccinated.

After a British journalist, Brian Deer, published the results of his investigation calling Wakefield’s study an “elaborate fraud,” Wakefield denied these allegations as false in an interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Wakefield continues to stand by his findings, saying that the results have been replicated in studies in five other countries and that Deer has received financial support from a pharmaceutical company. Check out the link below to see the interview yourself.

CNN Video Clip

Tina Turbin

www.DannyTheDragon.com

b.a.

In addition to my work as a children’s author, I am dedicated to bringing awareness to celiac disease, which is caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, leading to damage to the small intestine and a variety of serious physical and mental symptoms.

I had the honor and pleasure of delivering a teleseminar on celiac disease with Anne Holmes, the “Boomer-in-Chief” of the NABBW, National Association of Baby Boomer Women.

Follow the link below to have a listen or download the teleseminar as an MP3:

http://attendthisevent.com/?eventid=14823489

Enjoy!

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

     So what exactly are omega-3 fatty acids and what do they do? Essential omega-3 fatty acids are found in cold-water fish and fish oils. Fish oil contains docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), while some nuts (English walnuts, for example) and vegetable oils (such as canola, soybean, flaxseed, and olive oils) contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Research now supports taking DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements for an abundance of health benefits, such as promoting heart health, reducing age-related risks, and improving your mood and the ability to handle stress. The body can’t produce it, so these essential fatty acids must be part of your daily diet.

Tina Turbin

     Eating more plant carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, can have a significant impact on your slumber. These foods help to produce a gradual, steady rise of blood insulin, helping the entrance into the brain of the amino acid tryptophan, a neurotransmitter that helps induce sleepiness and improve mood. (This explains why a glass of warm milk before bed can help to improve sleep, as it provides a dose of tryptophan while also inducing a release of insulin.)

     It’s important to eliminate the foods and drinks that can disturb sleep. Caffeine—found in soda, coffee, some teas, and chocolate—will interfere with sleep if you ingest it within four hours of bedtime—sometimes even within six hours. Alcohol can cause drowsiness, but metabolizing the sugar can disrupt slumber and also cause body temperature to rise too much. Sugary foods eaten right before bed can also raise body temperature and leave you restless during the night.

     Diet can also indirectly affect your sleep. If you’re overweight, you’re more likely to experience sleep apnea and its symptoms of heavy snoring and interrupted breathing. Eating a lot of simple carbohydrates (sugary treats) and refined starches (white flour and white rice), which cause blood sugar to spike and fall, may cause an imbalance in the hormones that regulate metabolism, disrupting the body’s natural rhythms and thus disrupting sleep.

     It may not require a total makeover of your diet to reap the benefits of good sleep, but even some minor adjustments with these tips in mind can be helpful. The changes you make will not only improve your sleep but your overall health. There’s nothing to lose in making these changes—except your sleep troubles!

Tina Turbin

Getting more sleep is the most effective way of naturally increasing growth hormones. Usually seven to eight hours of sleep is sufficient. Go to bed a little earlier or get up later by getting certain morning activities out of the way the night before, such as showering and packing your lunch before bed.

A diet change is also an effective way to change the balance of your hormones. Eliminate all artificial sweeteners, making sure to take fish oil and vitamins D, B and CoQ10 in your daily supplements, and avoiding foods that stress your adrenals such as alcohol and caffeine. As you age, you may also need to begin avoiding dairy and wheat products, as the body can becomes less able to process them, causing physical stress. I maintain a gluten-free diet and find that my hormonal levels have benefited from this diet change.

Exercise helps to stimulate the body’s production of hormones, making you feel better. Going for fast-paced walks for at least thirty minutes three times a week can make a big difference, especially if you’re usually sedentary.

It is becoming clearer with increased research that hormone levels have a lot to do with how a person feels physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s also becoming clear that not regulating these hormones can have serious effects on your health and well-being. Try these natural remedies to bring balance to your hormones!

Tina Turbin

     I truly believe that the quality of your sleep determines the quality of your waking life. Just as you can’t afford to not eat right and exercise, it’s imperative to handle any sleep problems you may be having.  

Tina Turbin

So how much should you take? The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends eating fish twice a week, especially fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon. These are high in EPA and DHA. The AHA also recommends eating tofu and other soybean products and canola, walnut, and flaxseed, and their oils, which contain (LNA), which can become omega-3 fatty acid in the body, but more research is needed in order to establish that there’s cause-and-effect relationship between alpha-linolenic acid and preventing heart disease. On the AHA website, you can find exact recommendations on how much omega-3 oils to eat each day.

As with a many good-for-you supplements, you may not notice changes right away, but within a few weeks, I suspect you’ll start to reap the benefits of an improved complexion, higher endurance, and increased ability to concentrate. In the end, you’re investing not only in your current physical and mental well-being, but also in your future as you age.

Tina Turbin

     It all begins with a little planning. Some restaurants offer menus online. This way, you can choose a meal ahead of time; this makes you more likely to choose something healthy, just in case you are pressured to decide quickly what you want while you’re at the restaurant or in case you arrive super hungry with your eyes bigger than your stomach, so to speak. Avoid arriving hungry by staying well-fed throughout the day between meals with small, high-protein snacks, so you don’t over-indulge when you eat out.

     So what should you choose? Avoid fried and battered foods, which are high in calories and fat. A lot of American restaurants will accommodate your individual needs, so you can ask to have your food prepared another way such as grilled, broiled, roasted or steamed. As a healthy side, you can ask for steamed vegetables or a salad instead of greasy French fries.

     So you’re at the restaurant and you’ve ordered yourself a delicious healthy meal of grilled chicken and steamed vegetables, for example. Your next challenge? The generous portions are two to three big as what you’re accustomed to. Go ahead and split it with someone or ask to have half of it already packed to-go so you can enjoy it later.

     You will be plenty satisfied with your lean protein-packed, low-fat, low-carbohydrate meal, but if everyone else is ordering dessert, you can ask for some fruit and a coffee drink to keep yourself occupied with an item of yours instead of staring at the others’ plates.

     For a regular, well-balanced diet, I recommend home cooking, but there will be times when you’ll have to or want to eat out. If you follow these tips above, you’ll be able to stick to your healthy diet and feel great during and after your dining-out experience.

Tina Turbin

Sixty percent of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D. Your doctor will be able to test you for a deficiency with a simple blood test. An optimum level is above 35 ng/mL. The daily recommended value is about 2,200 IU a day with some sun exposure of about fifteen to twenty minutes a day. Some researchers suggest as much as 5,000 IU every day during the winter when sunshine is at its lowest levels. If you choose to take it as a supplement, make sure you take D3, which is the same type of Vitamin D your body produces. Foods that are rich in Vitamin D are milk, cold-water fish, and egg yolk.

Tina Turbin

Another important aspect of diet is increasing your daily intake of protein. Many women don’t get enough of this nutrient. Protein keeps you energized by sustaining your blood sugar level much longer than carbohydrate-packed foods. It also stimulates dopamine production, a neurotransmitter that keeps you more alert, and keeps your energy up by raising your metabolic rate. Cut out carbohydrate-packed snacks and replace them with healthy proteins like walnuts, almonds, cheese, etc.

Drinking enough water is also an essential way to keep your energy up. Some people often mistake signs of dehydration for fatigue. Your cells need water in order to function at their optimum level, and coffee or diet soda isn’t going to cut it. Tea is often a good idea, but I recommend keeping a water bottle with you and sipping from it all day. You should aim for eight glasses of water daily.

Tina Turbin