Sage spa

Warm Compresses During Labor Help Prevent Trauma

Help me pass the word to all of our moms-to-be.  New research shows the warm compresses on the pelvic floor during the second stage of labor help prevent tears.  This is really good news, and it's such a nice low-tech solution.  Midwives have been doing this for generations; but, the medical establishment is just starting to get a clue.  According to the research, warm compresses reduce the incidence of tears by 52%. Unfortunately, they don't give the details of what materials, what temperature or how often to use the compresses; but, I bet your midwife can tell you  If you want to read the scientific data look here MORE

Looking for an excuse to get a massage?

Low back pain is one of the most common complaints of our Sage clients ... and the rest of America too so don't feel alone.

New research shows that massage alleviates low back pain better than traditional medicine treatments like medication or physical therapy.

 This is important because low back pain is a major cause of absenteism, disability and 'presenteeism" (you're actually at work but can't perform well because of the pain.  The massage participants in the study were required to get (lucky them) one massage a week for 10 weeks.  At the end of that time, their back pain was significantly reduced or gone entirely.  If you're looking for an excuse to get a massage, I think you've found it!

Acupressure Is Good Pressure

At Sage we have several different treatments that include shiatsu/acupressure points. These treatments are Massage for Menstrual Cramps, Massage for Headaches and Massage To Encourage Labor.  We believe in the effectiveness of point work not only because our extensive experience at the massage table shows that it works but because research studies have proven it to be so .  We are not "just winging it" although we certainly use our creative intuition when we need to in order to personalize a treatment that will be most effective just for YOU.    

If you're interested in reading the research (and I know there are some science nerds like me out there who are), here are a few studies that prove the effectiveness of shiatsu/acupressure:

Acupressure is more effective than physical
therapy for low back pain: MORE

Acupressure effective and reduces the need for pain medications in
migraine and tension headache.  MORE

Meridian Massage (shiatsu points) relieves
PMS/menstrual cramps:  MORE

 

Cap'n Crunch No More: CC Sabathia And His Surefire Weight-Loss Plan

The following article by Dr. Nick Campos from Optimal Health Blogspot, was written earlier this past year at the start of the 2011 baseball season. A thinnned CC Sabathia (lLEFT) reported to camp, 15 lbs thinner. He said that he lost the weight by backing away from his favorite cereal. Now some ten months later, the baseball season has ended, and CC (RIGHT) has gained back all of the weight plus more. Again, he blames Captain Crunch cereal. ONE 16 oz. lg. box per day with milk was his favorite snack. Sugar is the culprit in more than one way.

CC Sabathia Before & After

The Average Adult Male needs approx 2000-2500 Calories/ DAY! 

CC's Snack

One 16 oz. Box of Captain "Crunch Cereal = 1365 Calories/ 151 g. Sugar
2C. 2% Milk= 260 Calories /16 g. Sugar (lactose is a Sugar)
 Grand Total - 1625 Total Calories/ 167 g. Sugar
THAT'S AN AMAZING 41.75 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR!

 ____________________

Changing the Way the World Thinks About Health
by Dr. Nick Campos
February 17, 2011 

New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia is reporting to spring training 25 lbs lighter.  The secret: He kicked the Cap'n Crunch.  

Aw yeh, the former fat-boy is weighing in at a svelte 290, not bad for a 6'7" frame.  And to think he did it all with one simple change.  Just think of what that might mean for you or your kids!

Sabathia, the Yankees ace, weighed in at a whopping 315 lbs last season, when he was knocking down a full box ofCap'n Crunch every day!  Each box of Cap'n Crunch has 12.59 servings, each serving has 12 grams of sugar, making a box of the sugary cereal contain a total of 151 grams of sugar.  Further, the nutritional info on the box lists the number of calories at 217 per double serving.  Therefore, a full box of Cap'n Crunch contains 1,366 calories.  Dang!

To put this into perspective, a soda (Coke, let's say) contains 40 grams of sugar and 150 calories per 12 oz. can.  More perspective: one teaspoon of sugar equals about six grams; therefore, a can of soda has about seven teaspoons of sugar.  Even more perspective: Most sugar packets found in the U.S. have approximately 4 grams of sugar, thus a can of soda contains ten packets of sugar (U.S.).

Now back to Sabathia.  His one full box of Cap'n Crunch a day gave him a sugar equivalent of drinking 4 sodas, 25 teaspoons of sugar, or 38 sugar packets.  Nice, CC...nice.

*A report released in 2009 by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale gave Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries the worst nutritional score of any cereal marketed to children and families. ~ from Wikipedia

How about your kids?  Do they eat Cap'n Crunch?  Fruit Loops?  Frosted Flakes?  Do they drink soda?  These cereals and soft drinks have been staples in the American diet for the last fifty years, and it's not because people aren't consuming them.  It's not just 6'7" professional athletes eating this junk, either.  It's little Timmy, and little Rainflower, and maybe even you.

Listen, next time you're thinking about feeding Junior the Cap'n Crunch, why not just give him a Snickers bar?  Same amount of sugar as in a two-serving bowls of the Crunch.  And is it any wonder we are in the midst of an obesity (and diabetes) epidemic?

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Sugar found more addictive than Cocaine
in Bordeaux Univ. Research Study

 Refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, fructose) were absent in the diet of most people until very recently in human history. Today overconsumption of diets rich in sugars contributes together with other factors to drive the current obesity epidemic. Overconsumption of sugar-dense foods or beverages is initially motivated by the pleasure of sweet taste and is often compared to drug addiction. Though there are many biological commonalities between sweetened diets and drugs of abuse, the addictive potential of the former relative to the latter is currently unknown.  MORE>

A Woman's Sleep Is Just Different From A Man's

• Starting at birth, females have more slow-wave sleep than males. Slow-wave sleep, which occurs during stage 3 and 4 sleep, is the deepest, most refreshing, wake-up-and-feel-great sleep.

• Girls tend to wake up during the night less frequently than boys.

• Women continue to have significant deep sleep well into their 30s while men's deep sleep begins to decline in their 20s.

• Women's sleep systems appear to age more slowly than men's.

 

MORE

Not on the Doctor’s Checklist, but Touch Matters

By DANIELLE OFRI, M.D.

NY TIMES, Published: August 2, 2010

 Touch is inherently humanizing, and for a doctor-patient relationship to have meaning beyond that of a business interaction, there needs to be trust — on both ends. As has been proved in newborn nurseries, and intuited by most doctors, nurses and patients, one of the most basic ways to establish trust is to touch.

READ THE ARTICLE >

Why do we Blink?

Blink

By Radiolab

October 5, 2009

 We love Radiolab''s insightful, thought provoking podcasts. 

Why do we blink? Most of us believe it has something to do with lubricating our eyes, but in a recent study, It turned out that 30% of a movie audience blinked at  exactly the same time throughout an entire movie. That seems strange. Clearly, something more than eye moisture was at work.

When each of us blinks, the world goes black,  albeit  for a an infinitely brief amount of time. Now some researchers believe that in that brief moment, void of any visual stimulation, our brains record small packets of information- not unlike the way computers record information to disc.  

Listen to the Podcast

Charting Creativity: Signposts of a Hazy Territory

"creativity prefers to take a slower,
 more meandering path than intelligence"

  Ever wonder why someone seems so creative, or such an intellectual? In today's NY Times, Patricia Cohen reports of a brain study of individuals performing both creative and intelligence tests. Researchers  discovered clues within the brain that explain the penchant for creativity or intellect.  

Read the NY Times Article by Patricia Cohen, "Charting Creativity: Signposts of a Hazy Territory

Weighing the Evidence on Exercise

   Here's an insightful article in today's NY Times 4.19.10, written by Gretchen Reynolds, on exercise and it's effect on the body. 

" if you want to lose weight, you don’t necessarily have to go for a long run. “Just get rid of your chair.”

 " The newest science suggests that exercise alone will not make you thin, but it may determine whether you stay thin."

Read the Article

The Estrogen Dilemma

Article by Cynthia Gorney • NY Times • Published: April 12, 2010  

This is a very interesting and informative article about Estrogen, and it's affects on the cells in a woman's body. Recent studies show that healthy cells are protected by estrogen, while damaged cells are made worse when exposed to the same hormone.

 "the proposition that estrogen could bring great benefit to a woman who starts it in her 50s while having the reverse effect on a woman 10 years older — makes sense even though it is still experimental. She and other scientists know there are ways estrogen improves and protects the brain when it is added to healthy tissue. It makes new cells grow. It increases what’s called “plasticity,” the brain’s ability to change and respond to stimulation.""the proposition that estrogen could bring great benefit to a woman who starts it in her 50s while having the reverse effect on a woman 10 years older — makes sense even though it is still experimental. She and other scientists know there are ways estrogen improves and protects the brain when it is added to healthy tissue. It makes new cells grow. It increases what’s called “plasticity,” the brain’s ability to change and respond to stimulation."

 

"...but when estrogen hits cells that are already sick — because they’re dying off as part of the natural aging process or because they’ve been damaged by beta amyloid — something else seems to happen. ...“It’s like the estrogen is egging on the negative now, rather than the positive,”"...but when estrogen hits cells that are already sick — because they’re dying off as part of the natural aging process or because they’ve been damaged by beta amyloid — something else seems to happen. ...“It’s like the estrogen is egging on the negative now, rather than the positive,”

 

READ THE ARTICLE