The mind/body connection is something that has been under great debate for millennia. How does a person's mental state affect their physical self? Terms like psychosomatic have emerged as medical justifications for the mind's seeming ability to have direct consequence on the body. In keeping with that discourse, researchers from the Medical School Hannover in Hannover, Germany have found evidence to suggest that there is, in fact, a mind/body link -- particularly when it comes to the psychological effects of heart surgery.

In an article recently published in the journal Congenital Heart Disease, the researchers posit that a patient's perception of illness and conviction for recovery is of great import. Quoting Dr. Kambiz Norozi, M.D., lead author of the article, "Patient's subjective appraisals of the severity of the disease and to what degree the operated heart may be depended on are potentially important determinants of psychological state." Moreover, based on the research, it seems equally important that patients' maintain a positive perception of their overall recovery.

Thank you, Spain!

The regional government of Madrid has put the worlds first ban on anorexic-looking models from the catwalk of its upcoming fashion week. The ban comes in response to an eating disorder awareness group protest. Eating disorders can cause severe damage to the heart and nervous system.

The fashion industry strongly influences the self-image of many girls and women -- and with 30 percent of models turned away from the event based on an underweight BMI rating, the new message is healthy is beautiful.

In a fit of ridiculous desperation, Cathy Gould of New Yorks Elite modeling agency claims that the fashion industry is being scapegoated for eating disorders, and demands a stop to discrimination against models!

A statement from the mayor of Milan calls for a similar ban against sick looking models -- however, London claims it will issue no such restrictions on the size of models the designers choose. Moo.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement is not the most accurate predictor of heart disease, revealed a recent study. While excess weight gain is still a high risk factor for heart problems -- a new method of determining how much body fat is too much may be necessary to predict who is really at risk.

BMI, the classic measurement tool since 1850, classifies obesity based on a weight-to-height ratio. According to a review of 40 studies on over 250,000 heart disease patients, survival rates based on BMI calculations were grossly inaccurate. The topsy-turvy statistics in the studies showed that people with a low BMI had the highest risk of death from heart disease -- while those classified on the BMI charts as overweight had the best survival rates.

Researchers suggest that the best way to determine who is most at risk and who will survive the best may be the waist-to-hip ratio -- a method of measurement based on the way the body stores its excess fat.

Your heart health risk factors go up depending on your level of body fat; how much abdominal fat you carry and other health factors like high blood pressure, high LDL/ low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood glucose, family history of premature heart disease, lack of exercise and cigarette smoking.

As part of the Obesity Education Initiative, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute offers the Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI) that calculates your body fat based on height and weight. You will then be able to compare your score against the BMI chart to determine if you fall into one of four categories: underweight; normal weight; overweight or obese.

To figure out if you are at higher heart health risk based on abdominal fat, measure your waist. For women, a waistline above 35 inches increases health risks, for men it is any measurement above 40 inches.

According to experts, even a ten percent reduction in weight can significantly begin to reduce the heart health risk factors associated with being overweight or obese. To find out what your BMI is, the Calculate Your Body Mass Index is a free tool available online to help you determine your BMI.

Intuitive Eating is about making peace with food. Fostering a healthy relationship with food. Giving yourself permission to eat anything you want. The philosophy is more practical common sense than it is revolutionary -- but perhaps it is revolutionary in the common sense of learning to listen to your body when it sends you both hunger signals and then when it tells you it is full. The very nature of dieting teaches us to ignore all signals. Over time, we lose touch.

In the book Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works, Evelyn Tribole, former nutrition expert for Good Morning America and currently a dietitian with a counseling practice, and Elyse Resch, nutrition therapist for 24 years, specializing in eating disorders and preventative nutrition states that you can learn how to reject the diet mentality forever; learn how the three eating personalities define our eating difficulties; and how to honor hunger and feel fullness by following their program.

To begin, they offer the Are you an Intuitive Eater? quiz on the Intuitive Eating website. While there, you can read research and articles that explain more about learning to unlearn everything most of us have been taught about losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Although eating anything you want might seem absolutely backwards, it might be the most forward approach suggested in the last 40 years.

Women who accept and appreciate their bodies as they are also exhibit healthier eating habits, reports a new study from Ohio State University. A positive self-image can help women maintain the healthy habits that prevent heart disease.

Obesity in women -- which can lead to heart problems -- often results from emotional eating, used to cope with stress and other unpleasant feelings. In past research, intuitive eating, defined as eating to relieve hunger and achieve fullness, instead of emotional eating -- was found directly linked to a lower body mass index measurement in women.

This new study found that women who exhibited intuitive eating habits also reported a much higher appreciation and acceptance of their own bodies.

Rebounding exercise -- jumping on a mini trampoline -- is 68 percent more efficient than jogging, improves digestion and acts to eliminate cellular waste, according to a NASA study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

In addition, the repetitive rhythmic motion of bouncing up and down offers these physical benefits to good health:

• Accelerates metabolism that allows for more calories to be burned and more weight loss to be realized.
• Increases oxygen uptake promoting detoxification of the body through the lungs, skin and lymph system.
• Acts as a pain reducer by increasing circulation and oxygen flow.
• Lowers blood pressure, triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
• Reduces stress and promotes relaxation by increasing endorphins.
  

Mini trampolines are an inexpensive portable form of exercise that can be done indoors or outdoors, and offers the benefit of being low impact on joints. Rebounding is an exercise that can be done by people of any age and you have to admit, it just looks like fun!

To learn more, Rebounding: Aerobic Resistive Exercise, written by Tina Wellman, Ph.D, is available as a PDF document.

According to a new study, the contraceptive vaginal ring does not carry a higher risk of causing a blood clot, compared to oral contraceptive pills. Researchers note that the effects on the liver of steroids found in contraceptive pills may increase the incidence of blood clots. They propose that non-oral applications could change this occurrence. However, the study reports that liver exposure to the drugs delivered by both the vaginal ring and birth control pills were largely the same -- thus, blood clot risk in women using the vaginal birth control ring is no greater than oral contraceptive pill use. The ring is a newer form of contraception celebrated due to the fact that it's easier to use than the pill, and is just as effective and safe.

A well-balanced diet can prevent heart disease by helping maintain a healthy weight and motivation to exercise. Inadequate fruit and fiber intake has been shown to contribute to obesity, according to a new study. The diets of a group of normal-weight adults were compared to a group of overweight and obese adults to determine the composition of daily intake that may cause excess weight gain.

The results found that the obese group consumed more total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. They also ate less fiber and complex carbohydrates than the normal-weight group. On average, the obese group ate one less fruit serving a day compared to the normal-weight group -- contributing to their lack of dietary fiber, which is strongly associated with an increase in body fat percentage.

The normal-weight participants consumed 33 percent more fiber and 43 percent more complex carbohydrates. High fiber foods are generally low-fat and low-calorie. They also slow digestion and prolong the feeling of fullness, decreasing frequency of appetite.

Heart disease is rampant worldwide, and 38 percent of Americans exhibit two or more risk factors. It is often difficult for people to transform old negative habits into new healthy ones-- shame and guilt over avoiding a doctors recommendations can keep a patient in dire need from revisiting their doctor or receiving treatment. Simple self-treatment using acupressure can aid in reducing six of the big heart risk factors.

Acupressure works by applying pressure using the fingers, thumbs and hands to specific points on the body that correspond to particular energy channels, also called the body's energy meridian system, or chi-- life energy. Gary Craig, a Stanford engineer, developed Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), a self-applied acupressure technique. The EFT pressure points neutralize unresolved emotions from the past and present, eliminating the need to cope by binge-eating, for example.

Balancing the body's energy channels has proven to lower blood pressure, cholesterol and stress levels. It also has the ability to aid in weight loss and help smokers finally quit. To read about all six risk relief benefits, click here. EFT is not a replacement for living a healthy lifestyle. It acts as a support system to help muster and maintain motivation to develop and commit to healthy new habits to prevent heart disease. 

Obesity is a major contributor to heart disease, and increases the risk of death the heavier a woman weighs, finds a new study. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study followed over 90,000 women for an average of 7 years.

The women were classified according to their Body Mass Index (BMI), or weight to height ratio -- as normal, overweight, or obese. The last classification had three categories of it's own -- obesity 1, obesity 2 and extreme obesity. Women in obese category 1 (BMI 30 to 34.9) are 12 percent more at risk of death compared to normal weight women. Those in the extreme obesity category (BMI 40 and up) are 86 percent more at risk of death than the norm. The dangerous effects of extreme obesity, which formally were not fully understood, are better known due to this study.

New research has revealed information as to why shift workers; people who suffer jet-lag; people with sleep disorders or people advancing in age seem to have more heart disease compared to people in other groups.

Researchers have discovered there is an internal body clock that regulates enzyme production in the liver. These enzymes determine how the liver handles the food we eat and potentially toxic metabolites. The problem is the enzymes function at different levels depending on the time of day.

According to Dr Michael Hastings, who led the research, "Circadian rhythms or our internal body clock adapt us to the solar and social 24 hour world by driving our daily rhythms of behaviour, physiology and metabolism. When these natural cycles go awry we perform less well and feel dreadful. In particular, when our body clocks are disturbed so as to cause a mismatch between when and what we eat and what the body is able to process at meal times, nutrients are handled less effectively, for example fats will not be cleared from the blood stream and blood sugar levels will not be regulated appropriately." This research is published in the journal Current Biology.

Obese people can cut their risk for heart disease in half by undergoing weight loss surgery, a new study reveals. These patients are also less likely to need heart surgery for unclogging arteries. This procedure is currently the only immediate and highly successful treatment for those who are considered extremely obese, or medically speaking, have 'morbid obesity'. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are just a few of the health risks of those who suffer from morbid obesity-- those classified as having a body mass index of 40 or higher.

The most common kind of weight loss surgery is 'gastric bypass', where doctors reduce the size of the stomach and a section of the small intestine is bypassed. This results in an inability to consume large amounts of food and reduces the amount of calories an obese person is able to digest, thus supporting rapid weight loss. Those who have undergone the surgical procedure have lost 67 percent of their excess body weight, and significantly reduced their chances of heart disease.

Worried about all the high cholesterol in your holiday barbeque? Researchers in Taiwan have found a simple solution-- marinate your meat before cooking to lower unhealthy cholesterol compounds and protect your heart.

As high cholesterol meat cooks, cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) form, which damage body cells. The study found that soaking meat and eggs in marinades containing 10 percent sugar, 1 percent soy sauce and 89 percent water prevented the development of COPs.  These marinade ingredients act as antioxidants that prevent body cell damage by neutralizing COPs. Soy sauce also contains isoflavones, a COP blocking nutrient. Though the sugar may add a few extra calories, the researchers note, only a small amount of salt is added-- and overall the marinades benefits are both healthful and tasty.

Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating can be detrimental to overall health, especially the heart. A new study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine reports that insecure attachment and early separation anxiety, which have a direct relation to an individual's self-worth, are key factors in developing the negative body image that leads to eating disorders.

Attachment theory explains that early experience shapes the adult personality. Babies that are not properly cared for emotionally, who are neglected or rejected by their caregiver, can develop a very low sense of self-worth and require much attention and approval from others. This insecure attachment consistently leads to a negative body image and an impossible pursuit of perfection.

Many -- more than you may be aware -- suffer from anorexia and bulimia, psychiatric conditions with the highest incidence of death. These eating disorders can result in many health problems including congestive heart failure. If laxatives or water pills are used for weight loss, heart palpitations can occur. With binge-eaters -- related to bulimics, but without the purging -- obesity will develop while trying to cope with stress and rejection using food. This weight gain can lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks and diabetes. If you have an eating disorder, do not be ashamed. It is an affliction of many, and help is available from your doctor.