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Natural Health Article from Science Daily

A new study shows that people who eat a diet that includes at least half a serving per day of foods high in flavonoids like strawberries, oranges, peppers and apples may have a 20% lower risk of cognitive decline. The research is published in the July 28, 2021, online issue of Neurology the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at several types of flavonoids, and found that flavones and anthocyanins may have the most protective effect.

Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds found in plants and are considered powerful antioxidants. It is thought that having too few antioxidants may play a role in cognitive decline as you age.

"There is mounting evidence suggesting flavonoids are powerhouses when it comes to preventing your thinking skills from declining as you get older," said study author Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, of Harvard University in Boston, Mass. "Our results are exciting because they show that making simple changes to your diet could help prevent cognitive decline."

A Colorful Plate Gives You More Life
Dr. Fun-gi Saves the World 2 Mins

The study looked at 49,493 women with an average age of 48 and 27,842 men with an average age of 51 at the start of the study.…

By Eva Milic - NWS9 NEWS 2018

A young Queensland woman has silenced her doubters by dropping half her body weight, and now she is hoping her story will inspire others.
Twelve months ago, Josie Desgrand made a promise to herself to lose weight and gain confidence.
"Seeing myself now compared to what I was a year ago, it's insane," Ms Desgrand told 9NEWS.

Josie Desgrand Shares Her Weightloss Story - 9NEWS

That's because she's half the girl she used to be - quite literally.
Her secret?
"I found out that sugar was horrible and sugar was in a lot more things than I thought it was," she said.
Once Ms Desgrand cut sugar completely out of her diet, she said weight was just falling off.

At her heaviest, she was 120 kilograms. Now she is a happy and healthy 60 kilograms.
And she did it all on her own - including some light exercise in her lounge room.
"I didn't want to go to the gym at all I felt too embarrassed at that size," Ms Desgrand added.

Now she's fearless and feeling fantastic, with a brand new goal to inspire others through her Instagram page "No Longer Fat Josie".…

By Janet Vargas - Owner Of This Website

Adopting some things from Yesteryear and some of us have not even been brought up with, like having a Clothesline and drying our Clothes Naturally, for instance. In this Article, I hope I can Inspire you towards some beneficial changes that will make a difference in your life or family some time in the very new future. Makes for more Family Orientation - Constant Use of too many Modern "Conveniences" don't.
Shall we go?

Lets Enjoy Sunshine - Nature and Good Old-Fashioned Values!

Here's How Much Money You Save With A Clothesline And Some Advantages

You can Save 20% on your Electricity Bills here in Australia. Your Clothes and Sheets and Towels etc are Fresher. Especially your Tea Towels. You Enjoy the Sunshine and Fresh Air more often - they're actually Good for You, and everything feels fresh and lovely to wear and place on your beds etc. If you've never experienced that before, you're missing something.

Also, a little exercise benefits your health as well. On Autumn, Spring and Summer days, you get to Enjoy the nice Blue Sky and maybe some white fluffy clouds.…

HOW DO I STOP THINKING OF THINGS OVER AND OVER - LIKE A GEAR STICK THAT REFUSES TO SHIFT? SEE IF THESE HELP YOU. MANY PEOPLE RUMINATE - IT MAY HELP YOU TO KNOW THAT.

Tips to Help You Stop Ruminating
By Erica Cirino from Healthline.Com

What is rumination?

Has your mind ever been filled with one single thought, or a string of thoughts, that just keep repeating… and repeating… and repeating themselves?

The process of continuously thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be sad or dark, is called rumination.

A habit of rumination can be dangerous to your mental health, as it can extend or intensify depression as well as impair your ability to think and process emotions. It may also cause you to feel isolated and can, in reality, push people away.

What causes ruminating?

People ruminate for a variety of reasons. According to the American Psychological Association opens in a new window, some common reasons for rumination include:

belief that by ruminating, you’ll gain insight into your life or a problem
having a history of emotional or physical trauma
facing ongoing stressors that can’t be controlled
Ruminating is also common in people who possess certain personality characteristics, which include perfectionism, neuroticism, and an excessive focus on one’s relationships with others.…

We live in a kind of performance driven society in some respects, don't we? Where so much is expected of us - how we do this and the way we do that? A day of A Distinctions at School, High expectations in the Workplace, Entrepreneurs, how we present ourselves over Social Media. Etc. So many feel the Pressure of really high standards being imposed upon them, who aren't Perfectionists by nature. This Post should really benefit some of you - I chose two articles, so the positive is presented.

Perfectionism Is Destroying The Mental Health
Of My Millennial Generation

By Daisy Buchanan

It began at school, with A-Star expectations and a dread of failure. Now we’re on social media platforms, locked into a game of mutually assured depression.

During many work interviews, it’s common to be asked: “What’s your biggest weakness?” It’s an awful question to respond to on the spot. We know it’s a trick, and the answer isn’t: “Sometimes it takes me more than two hours to stop looking at my phone and get dressed after a shower” whatever.

The cheat’s answer of choice, the panicky pick that puts you in a better light than the truth might, is along the lines of: “I’m a perfectionist.”…

A new study suggests that frequent gardening may be linked to increased health benefits.

According to the study posted on ScienceDirect, gardening just two or three times a week maximized the benefits of better wellbeing and lower stress levels. Gardening Encourages Family Togetherness, and it Keeps You Company if you live on your own too - I love to do this, my plants are great company. Folks, you don't have to have a lot of Plants to do this!

Benefits Of Gardening - Discover Them

The research explored why residents engaged with gardening and the extent to which they recognized any health benefits from the activity.

A questionnaire was distributed electronically within the UK, with 5,766 gardeners and 249 non-gardeners responding. Data was collated on factors including garden typology, frequency of gardening and individual perceptions of health and well-being.

"This is the first time the 'dose response' to gardening has been tested and the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the more frequently you garden – the greater the health benefits," said Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) wellbeing fellow and lead author Dr Lauriane Chalmin-Pui. "In fact gardening every day has the same positive impact on wellbeing than undertaking regular, vigorous exercise like cycling or running.…

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IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, SOME OF US HAVE LEARNT SOME GOOD COPING SKILLS, AND OTHERS ARE REALLY COPING NOT SO WELL. MOST TIMES, YOU CAN'T CHANGE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THEM, BUT YOU CAN MAYBE MAKE THINGS A LITTLE LIGHTER BY BREAKING UP SOME POSSIBLE RUMINATION AND GIVING THEM SOME TANGIBLE IDEAS TO DISPERSE SOME CLOUDY THOUGHTS. SOMETIMES, JUST A SIMPLE INTERVENTION OF HAVING YOUR COMPANY FOR A WHILE AND DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT CAN BREAK UP A SOMBER STATE OF MIND THAT IS MAKING THEM FEEL SAD, LONELY OR VULNERABLE. IT'S SHOWING THEM SOMEONE CARES, HEY? AND THAT CAN MEAN A LOT.

Fill Someone's Day With Sunshine - There's So Many Ways!!!

From Different Authors

By Rachel Sharpe

Write Them A Card

If your goal is to cheer someone up, send snail mail and mail them a card. Let the card be a surprise. Within the card, write down all the reasons why you think that person is incredible. It’s a great way to make the person feel special and appreciated. It’ll likely be kept as a memento for years to come. If the person who needs cheering up typically doesn’t get mail, this will be a pleasant surprise for them.…

From The Guardian Website - Past Edition

Dawn Chorus Day is a good time to celebrate the benefits to mental and physical health of birdsong.
Let us all speak up for protecting the different Species of Birds needing our voice.

A Beautiful Nightingale Photo by National Geographic

When I hear the first willow warbler of the spring, the first cuckoo, or the first booming bittern on my local patch, I feel an enormous sense of comfort and satisfaction. As the poet Ted Hughes wrote about the annual return of swifts, “They’ve made it again, which shows that the globe’s still working…”

It’s International Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday 5 May, and this year the RSPB has released a single of birdsong (currentlyat number 11 in the charts) as part of a campaign to draw attention to the situation facing British birdlife. Populations of once-common species such as the house sparrow, starling and swift are falling fast, while the nightingale, turtle dove and grey partridge are rapidly sliding towards extinction in Britain.

Climate change, intensive farming and pollution are just some of the genuinely existential threats to the future of our birds.…

THIS ARTICLE COVERS TWO TOPICS, ADDRESSING THINGS WE CAN DO WITH LONELINESS, AND RELATING WITH PEOPLE.

Search Out Ways To Do Things With People.

Find ways to be around people more. Activities that involve other people — such as an Arts or Crafts Group, Walking Group, Exercise Class, engaging in Sports etc are also likely to have positive effects on our emotional and mental health. People like to share interests in common and this could prove to be a good outlet for you.
It helped me out of a state of boredom years ago when I went to see what a Craft Group had to offer. Previously, I was never a crafts person, so this was new to me.
I actually developed a passionate interest and I enjoyed the company of women there for quite some time before returning to part-time Independent Natural Health Research. Their conversation was light and this can be a welcome change from friends continuously problem sharing, for some of us.

Talk To Strangers When You Go Out.

Research suggests that even small interactions with strangers — like chatting with a barista or cashier — may be able to keep loneliness at bay by helping us feel more socially connected.…

Researchers in Germany have found that a one-hour walk in nature reduces
stress-related brain activity.

The amygdala is the brain region involved in stress processing. It has been shown to be less activated in people who live in rural areas, compared to those who live in cities, hinting at the potential benefits of nature.

Nature Walks Are Good For Your Brain

However, no study so far has examined the causal effects of natural and urban environments on stress-related brain mechanisms.

"But so far the hen-and-egg problem could not be disentangled, namely whether nature actually caused the effects in the brain or whether the particular individuals chose to live in rural or urban regions," says Sonja Sudimac, predoctoral fellow in the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience (LMGEN) and lead author of the study.

To address this question, researchers from LMGEN examined brain activity in regions involved in stress processing in 63 healthy volunteers before and after a one-hour walk in Berlin's Grunewald Forest and a busy city street using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The results of the study revealed that activity in the amygdala decreased after the walk in nature, suggesting that nature elicits beneficial effects on brain regions related to stress.…