elnathan Blog

Babies who are breastfed have lower arsenic exposure than babies who are fed formula, according to a new study. The powder and water used to make the baby formula may be sources of arsenic, which occurs naturally in the environment and in large doses is linked to serious health problems, the researchers write in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It's not clear, however, whether the low levels of arsenic exposure in the study will turn out to be harmful, the researchers say. Parents who need to use formula to feed their infants shouldn’t feel badly about the new findings, said Kathryn Cottingham, one of the study’s lead authors. Instead, they should pay attention to the water they’re using to make baby formula. “People who don’t know what’s going on in their water should test their water,” said Cottingham, who works at the Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire

A study from Finland suggests that saunas might have health benefits – at least, for men. During the study, men who spent time in a sauna seven times a week were less likely to die of heart problems or to die at all, compared to those who only visited the sauna once a week. Researchers followed more than 2,000 middle-aged men in eastern Finland for about 20 years. The more often the men went to the sauna, and the longer they stayed, the lower their risk for sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease and fatal cardiovascular disease over those 20 years. The association was strong even after many potentially interacting factors were taken into account, said senior author Dr. Jari Laukkanen, a cardiologist at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. Starting in the 1980s, more than 2,000 men filled out questionnaires about their weekly sauna use. About 1,500 men reported using a sauna two or three

The minute you become a mom you’re faced with so many questions about your baby’s health. From breastfeeding, cord blood banking and bottles to circumcision, vaccines and beyond, there’s so much to think about. Plus, there are the decisions that also affect your health— physically, mentally and emotionally. Here, experts sort through some of the most common conundrums new moms deal with and offer up easy ways to help make the choices a bit easier. 1. Exercise or sleep? Even though you know a sweat session can give you energy and help you feel strong, you’re probably just too exhausted to muster up the stamina to get to the gym. In fact, 50 percent of new moms are still fatigued during the day even 18 weeks after giving birth, according to a study in the journal PLOS One. On top of that, lack of sleep can affect two hormones that affect your appetite. When you’re sleep deprived your body makes more ghrelin, “the hunger hormone” that tells your body to eat and mak

In the great Amazon rainforest, native people have long used a large array of psychoactive medicinal agents, from frog secretions to potent snuffs, to various items that can be smoked, applied to skin, or otherwise ingested. Among these agents, the best-known of all is ayahuasca, a fluid potion. Also known as "La Medicina" (The Medicine), ayahuasca is a combinatory preparation, made from the pounded vines of Banisteropsis caapi, and the leaves of Psyhcotria viridis. Large quantities of both are placed into a pot with a large amount of water, and the entire potion is boiled down, until the remaining fluid is thick, bitter, a bit oily, and sadly quite nasty to the taste. In recent years ayahuasca, which has been prepared by native people for well over 1,000 years, has become vastly popular. Today, two large Brazilian churches utilize ayahuasca as a sacrament. Both churches, Santo Daime and Uniao de Vegetal, boast millions of followers, and on weekends bot