Debunking supplement and aromatherapy myths

It seems like a day doesn’t go by that I don’t get another solicitation for fancy-schmancy energy drinks (such as Lance Armstrong’s FRS) containing exotic ingredients such as Quercetin, or encounter more ladies’ magazine fluff articles about the supposed benefits of aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy: NOUN, fancy, scientific sounding word developed to sell people silly smelly things they don’t need. A marketing ploy.

In my latest UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, December 2009, there is an article asking the question: ‘Aromatherapy: does it work even if it doesn’t?’

The bottom line: NO.

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A sneaky problem: inner ear dysfunction

According to the current, August issue fo the University of California, Berkeley Willness Letter

“About one-third of Americans over 40 have an inner ear dysfunction that can throw them off balance and greatly increase the risk of falling, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University researchers, who tested more than 5,000 people. The risk increases with age: for instance, those in their seventies are four times more likely to be affected than those in their fifties, and 85% of people over 80 have such a balance problem. Diabetes, which can damage the inner ear, increases the risk by 70%.

If you are over 60, ask your doctor to check your sense of balance, and if it is impaired, take steps to prevent falls at home.”

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Health and wellness factoids

Courtesy of the University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter, April, 2009 issue:

For the first time, more Americans are obese than merely overweight. about 34% of us are now obese, up from 23% two decades ago, while the percentage for overweight has stayed at 33%. And 6% are severely obese, double the earlier number. For someone 5’8” tall, overweight is 165 to 196 pounds, obese is over 197 pounds, and severely obese starts at 263 pounds, based on body mass index (BMI). To figure out where you stand, go to the BMI calculator at the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute.

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