A recent review of research into the effects of vitamin C concludes that it is largely ineffective in preventing colds. See the article in the International Herald Tribune.

But read it carefully. They talk about people taking at least 200 mg of vitamin C. Everybody knows that if you want to fight off a cold you need several grams a day. I’m surprised they found 200 mg to be as useful as they did.

Next in the article they say that lycopene has no effect in preventing cancer. However they do not mention details of the study at all. Who knows what they were looking at.

All this is very interesting, considering the FDA is getting ready to shut down the supplement industry. They are raising safety standards above that of drugs. They even admit that most supplement companies will not be able to stay in business.

Look out America. Your health choices are going away. (And we call this democracy?)

I find it interesting that this research comes out of th US, but I found the article on the BBC News web site. Is the US media more interested in helping big Agribiz than in reporting the news?

A ten year study in the US, shows that tomatoes grown organically have almost double the flavonoids of their non-organic counterparts. Flavonoids are anitoxidants that have been shown to lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

Peter Melchett, Soil Association policy director in the UK said: “We welcome the now rapidly growing body of evidence which shows significant differences between the nutritional composition of organic and non-organic food.

“This is the second recent American study to find significant differences between organic and non-organic fruit.

“These findings also confirm recent European research, which showed that organic tomatoes, peaches and processed apples all have higher nutritional quality than non-organic.”

Here is an interesting piece of news. Apparently recent research suggests that the more hostile your ettitude, the more your lung function declines.

I like this quote from one of the researchers:

“The good news here is that unlike other exposures, like air pollution or genetic predisposition, hostility is something that can be changed.”

See the article in the International Herald Tribune.

Natural vision improvement includes various methods of improving vision through eye exercises. The movement was started by Dr. William Bates, who wrote Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920. Most teachers of natural vision improvement use techniques from the Bates Method. Medical Science of his day, and still today, deny some of his key theories. I tend to side with medical science in most of those cases. However, it is possible to improve your eyesight through exercises. Even though Bates’ theories may have been wrong, his techniques often bring substantial results. And if natural vision improvement works at all, then medical science needs to re-look at some of their own theories.

Like other parts of our bodies, improving our vision involves strength, flexibility, and relaxation of the muscles involved. And, as with enhancing other areas of performance there is a mental aspect to it as well. If you can imagine yourself seeing better, you can learn to see better. To get started on improving your vision, try doing the following exercises, and read my post on eyestrain.

• Swinging: Stand with your legs about 2 feet apart. Begin to swing your body from right to left, turning as far as you can comfortably. As you shift your weight onto your right foot, turn toward the right, and as you shift over to the left foot turn to the left. As you swing your body let your gaze become relaxed. Do not focus on anything. It should seem as if the world is turning around you, and not you turning. Do this exercise for about two minutes.

• Palming: Warm your palms by rubbing them together briskly. Then close your eyes and place your palms over them. Allow your eyes to relax into the warmth and blackness. Do this for about 5 minutes.

• Shifting: Hold your finger in front of you at a comfortable distance to look at. Shift your gaze back and forth, between your finger and something in the distance, as far as you can comfortable focus. You may also want to look at something in the middle distance, shifting your gaze between all three. Do this for about 1 minute.

• Drawing the world:Imagine you have a long pencil attached to your nose. Trace the outline of all the objects you can see. IF you feel that your gaze moves jerkily, this is an important one for you. You should be able to move your head and eyes smoothly as you follow the lines. Do this for 1 or 2 minutes

• Reading the spaces: As you read, focus on the white space between the letters instead of the letters. Imagine the white is glowing. This one is particularly good for farsightedness.

• Yawning: Practice nice wide deep yawns, regularly. This helps to relax the eyes and flush the tear ducts.

About a month after I first started doing eye exercises, I yawned one day and suddenly my vision was crystal clear. I was amazed. It only lasted a few seconds, but I am sure I had 20/20 vision at that time. That continued to occur, more regularly and for longer periods of time. However, like many people I got lazy and stopped doing the exercises. It really is quite a commitment, doing them every single day. My vision did improve, somewhat. I think I went from a 2.5 diopter to a 2.0 diopter lens. I spend most of my time without my glasses now, though I need them to drive. I am also much less prone to eyestrain now, and I am more comfortable in bright sunlight.

If you want to read a book on improving your eyesight, I recommend Natural Vision Improvement by Janet Goodrich.