Your newsletter from Michael van Straten

Michael van Straten is an osteopath, naturopath, acupuncturist and nutritional consultant. He's also one of the UK's most respected medical authors, broadcasters and journalists and has written more than 40 books, which have sold over a million copies worldwide.

Welcome to my summer newsletter. After all the hype and excitement of the footie, tennis and cricket, now is the time to be a doer not a watcher, so get in the fresh air, take the kids and be active. In these harsh economic times there is so much you can do that is not only-free, but also so good for the mental and physical state of us all, from toddlers to great grand parents.

I have also had the Le Mans 24 hour race on my doorstep and still to come is the Le Mans Classic with all the fabulous old cars that I much prefer. Not forgetting that little bike race round France which brings the Nation to a standstill.

With the summer come the problems of sleeping in the hot nights and there is one of your questions on this topic. You will all be happy to know that tea and coffee are good for your heart, but less pleased to hear about Venetian blinds and how they can be fatal to toddlers.

You may be surprised to learn that not getting enough folic acid in your-diet can cause deafness and even more surprised to find out that divorced over 45's are getting more-sex and more sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) than most of the rest of the population.

Going on a summer holiday? You may not be able to take Cliff, but you can take an Alternative Medicine Chest. And if you do not want to poison your family, friends or the dog, read my tips on how to have a safe BBQ.

Don’t miss the Shopping trolley of Lisa Scott-Lee and lots of tips on growing your own tomatoes, even in a pot in the back yard. There are some fab recipes for using up all the toms you are growing and a selection of health giving and delicious juices.

This Months News

Keep up to date with the latest from my research, find out when I'm broadcasting and download my latest healthy information:

• If You Use Painkillers
• Sex-And The Over 45's
• Venetian Blinds Can Kill
• Releaf From Heart Disease - Don't Be A Has Bean!
• Lack Of Folic Acid Causes Hearing Loss

Latest Articles:

• The Celebrity Shopping Trolley
• Macho Man And Skin Cancer
• Natural Help For Holiday Health
• Your Questions Answered

Healthy Eating:

• Grow It, Cook It, Eat It - Tomatoes
• Bar-B-Heaven or Hell

Recipes:

• Mediterranean Barramundi
• Tommy Tofu
• Four Tomato Salad

HEALTH NEWS HEADLINES!

If You Use Painkillers
The University of Derby needs your help with a National Survey To Assess Painkiller Habits.

People using over-the-counter or prescribed painkillers at least monthly for aches and pains, or for an injury or medical condition, are needed to take part in a University of Derby survey.

The research is led by Professor James Elander and Joana Duarte. They want to get a better idea of the things that affect how people use painkillers, and the types of concerns or issues that people might have with their use of painkillers.

If you want to take part in the survey, which will only take a short time, fill out the online questionnaire at website www.surveymonkey.com/s/C5XBR5L. The deadline is July 31 (2010).

» Read more here

Sex-And The Over 45's
New research shows that the over 45s are less informed than teenagers when it comes to safe-sex practices. And they suffer because of their ignorance. Over 70% of over 40's have never had a test for STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). Those that do are 50% more likely to get a positive result than all other age groups.

So, its true, life does begin at 40 and gets even better after 45. With 45% of marriages expected to end in divorce there are an ever growing number of foot loose and fancy-free men and women looking for fun and frolics. And by Jove they get it!

» Read more here

Venetian Blinds Can Kill
Dr Mahesh Masand, consultant paediatrician at Dr Grays Hospital in Elgin, Scotland, is calling for Venetian blinds to be redesigned to safeguard babies and toddlers from accidentally being strangled to death by the looped cords.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he tells of a 22-month-old girl rushed to A&E after her mother found the toddler hanging from the looped cord of a Venetian blind in her bedroom.

» Read more here

Releaf From Heart Disease - Don't Be A Has Bean!
The Tea leaf and the coffee bean may reduce the risks of dying from heart disease. Now, isn't that just the sort of health news to put a spring in your step? For once there is something you enjoy that actually does you good.

» Read more here

Lack Of Folic Acid Causes Hearing Loss
The importance of folic acid in pregnancy and the protection against birth defects that it gives, is well known. But a new Australian study published in the Journal of Nutrition, now shows that it is also vital for the prevention of some forms of deafness.

Researchers found that low blood levels of folate are associated with a 35 per cent increase in the risk of hearing loss.

» Read more here

Macho Man And Skin Cancer

Last month I promised you help for skin sun and cancer - here it is
Sunshine - Be Safe But Not Scared

One weekend of sunshine and Bob the builder gets his shirt off. All over the country there are scaffolders, bricklayers, roofers, road workers who are probably nursing pink backs and shoulders. And this is one factor that accounts for a dramatic increase in the number of men developing skin cancer. In six years the number of men diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, has gone up by 12 percent whereas the increase in women is just over 2 percent. The total now runs at around 6,000 cases a year for the most easily preventable form of cancer. Men think it’s macho to get their shirts off and definitely not macho to ask their work mates to spread factor 20 on the bits they can’t reach.

» Read more here

Grow It - Cook It – Eat It - Tomatoes

Just like chocolate, tomatoes are a gift from the high mountains of the Andes. You can't grow cocoa beans but there is nothing in the world like the smell and taste of a home grown tomato.

The ancestral home of the tomato is the western coast region of South America, stretching from Ecuador to Peru and Chile. Even in the high mountains wild varieties abound and these are cherry tomatoes, the forerunners of all modern varieties.

The first domestication probably happened in Mexico and tomatoes were introduced to Europe by the Spanish during the 16th century, after which they rapidly rampaged across Southern Europe. As members of the Solanaceae family, which includes the deadly nightshade, they were treated with suspicion at first, but soon achieved their rightful place as a delicious and health giving food.

» Read more here

Tomato Recipes

The ubiquitous tomato can be used in so many ways, but no matter how much you think you know and love these fab fruits there is always a surprise lurking round the corner. There are books devoted to recipes for nothing but tomatoes, whole websites dedicated to the pursuit of tomato happiness and best of all there is a growing mass of evidence for their extreme health giving properties.

Here are a few of my favourite recipes and I hope you enjoy them. If you have a family favourite do send it to me and the best three will be published in the Newsletter and the senders will get one of my books as a-prize.

Try some of these quick and easy recipes:

Tommy Tofu

Mediterranean Barramundi

Four Tomato Salad

Bar-B-Heaven or Hell

My old next door neighbours in the UK loved their BBQ and Denzil was a Welsh Wizard with the hot coals. But! . . .  every time he said the magic word, it rained. Morgan and Merri, the young daughters of the house renamed the whole affair Kallamazoo, after which the word BBQ was outlawed. The result? No more rained off treats in the garden and lots of Denzil's fab food for all, neighbours included.

And don't we all love it - a sultry summer evening, the wonderful smell of meat and herbs cooking gently over the ash grey coals of a barbecue, condensation glistening on an ice cold jug of Pimms, lounging in a deckchair while the man of the house handles the cooking with all the expertise of Masterchef.

Dream on! - it'll probably rain, the steak will be incinerated, the chicken raw, the burgers bursting with bugs and you'll have to send the children inside to avoid the frequent outbursts of bad language from the cook. The reality seldom matches the dream but you can make the barbecue dreams come true with a few simple precautions.

» Read more here

Natural Help For Holiday Health

With the best will in the world, holidays can produce a host of minor medical problems. Here I show you how to use herbs, spices and homeopathic remedies to boost family holiday health.

Holidays are fun but can be ruined by minor health problems. As well as plasters, bandages, antiseptics and headache pills, add these remedies to your alternative medicine chest. Even the Queen never travels without homoeopathic pills.

Homoeopathic remedies are safe, effective, without side effects and ideal for children. Use aconite for colds, flu and chills; rhus tox, for sprains and strains; arsenicum, for stomach upsets; belladonna, for fevers and headaches; arnica, for bruises and damages muscles.

Herbs are great holiday healers, so pack some tincture of calendula (marigold) - a few drops in cold water make an ideal compress or lotion for minor burns and scalds. Camomile teabags will soothe sore eyes and the tea helps relieve insomnia and fevers - great for kids - and painful periods. For mild sunburn, put three teabags in a tepid bath.

Use Echinacea ointment for grazes and sore skin. Take garlic tablets to protect against traveller’s tum and pack a bulb of fresh garlic - one clove crushed in warm water is great for athlete’s foot, sweat rash and other fungal infections.

» Read more here

SUPPLEMENT BOX

Two great natural remedies to pack in your holiday suitcase for tummy upsets, over-indulgence and food you may not be used to are DigestHerb and Turmeric Xtra.

DigestHerb is the only registered traditional herbal medicine with artichoke extract for the relief of bloating, flatulence and indigestion is your first step to self help after a night out on the Costa.

Turmeric Xtra is a new formulation from one of Europe’s leading herbal companies, Schwabe Pharma and contains standardised extract of turmeric with the added bonus of artichoke leaf extract too. Artichoke is one of the most widely researched herbal remedies, and has been used to aid many digestive problems, especially those linked to liver function.

Your Questions Answered

Question 1:
My husband and I have a really embarrassing problem. It's supposed to be the women who use headaches as an excuse for saying ‘no' but with us it's my husband. Every time we make love he says he gets a violent headache. Can this really be true and if it is, what can we do about it?

Answer:
Yes, it really can be true. There is a condition called benign sex-headache, or orgasmic cephalgia if you want to be technical.

» Read more here

Question 2:
I am helping out with my baby Grandson for a few months, but he is teething and has taken to waking up every morning at about 4.00. My daughter and her husband take turns going to the baby, but I wake up too. They seem to get back to sleep without any problems but I toss and turn until they get up for work at 6.30. It has been much worse during the hot weather and my menopause symptoms don't make things easier. Help?

Answer:
Although my two are long past the teething stage, the memories of those broken nights stay with you for ever. I think your problem is anxiety about not waking in time to see them off to work, but you can overcome this with a very loud alarm clock or using the BT wake up call system.

You can help control the Menopausal symptoms by eating much more soy based foods. There are also two great natural medicines that I have used for patients and they are really worth a try. NiteHerb with Valerian to help you sleep and MenoHerb with Black Cohosh for the menopause symptoms, especially the hot flushes. Both are registered herbal medicines.

» Read more here

THE CELEBRITY SHOPPING TROLLEY

Lisa Scott-Lee

Maybe it’s because she was born on the 5th of November and in Wales, that this sparkler ended up as a singer, but there aren’t many damp squibs in Lisa’s shopping trolley.

Breakfast is usually Bran flakes and sliced banana with a glass of fresh orange juice, so she has already had 2 of the essential 5 a day. But why bran flakes? Weetabix has less than half the sugar, less salt and more than twice the fibre, or try cholesterol-lowering porridge. However, poached egg on wholemeal toast when it is going to be a busy day, provides plenty of protein.

For me, lunch is a genuine firecracker! The prawn and avocado salad or spaghetti in olive oil with Parma ham that Lisa makes for herself and son, Jaden because has lots of protein, omega 3 fatty acids, good carbs and loads of antioxidants from the avocado. I will never understand why so many ill-informed women avoid avos because they think their fattening. They are one of the great Superfoods for women.

» Read more here

Enjoy a safe summer. Eat well - live longer.

Michael van Straten Osteopath, Naturopath and Acupuncturist D.O., M.R.N., M.B.Ac.A.

Copyright © 2010 Michael van Straten ~ all rights reserved
 

 
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