Have you heard of the 3-5-7 healthy heart principles?

Here’s an advance Christmas present for you.

Download your copy here: Healthy Heart Principles

Till my next post… stay healthy!

What Killed Ranjan Das, CEO of SAP India?

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai.

Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India.

He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner.

Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

What is the Cause of Ranjan’s Untimely Death?

It was reported that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep.

In an earlier interview on NDTV in the program ‘Boss’ Day Out’, Ranjan admitted that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

Lack of sleep will certainly lead to more stresses and other diseases and thereby putting stress on our bodies and hearts!

Here’s some findings:

· Short sleep duration ( <5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills.

· Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

· Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

· Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

· Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep

Sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I’ve been there, done that ).

Finally, if you are a long-distance runner, like Ranjan was, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know whether you are getting adequate sleep, you can try the Epworth Sleepiness Test at http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/epworth.html

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. :-0

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours.

If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance.

Do you have enough hours of sleep each day?

Sleep is as important to the human body as food and water, but most of us don’t get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep or disruptions to the sleep¬wake cycle (such as those that occur with shift work or travelling to a different time zone) cause the physiological state known as fatigue.

A fatigued person is accident prone, judgement impaired and more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions. Staying awake for 24 hours leads to a reduced hand-to-eye coordination that is similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1. This is why sleep deprivation contributes to road accidents and work injuries.

How much sleep is enough?

Sleep requirements differ from one person to the next depending on age, physical activity levels, general health and other individual factors. In general:

• Primary school children – need about nine to 10 hours. Studies show that increasing your child’s sleep by as little as half an hour can dramatically improve school performance.
• Teenagers – need about nine to 10 hours too. Teenagers have an increased sleep requirement at the time when social engagements and peer pressure cause a reduction in sleep time. Lifestyle factors such as early school start times deprive them of the required sleep-in. There is evidence that around the time of becoming a teenager, there is a shift in the sleep – wake cycle to being sleepy later in the evening with a preference for waking later.
• Adults – need about seven to eight hours, depending on individual factors. We tend to need less sleep as we age, but be guided by your own state of alertness – if you feel tired during the day, aim to get more sleep.

Comments:

This is one cheap and easy way to keep fit. Highly recommended. Check out the following report to find out more.

SINGAPORE: It is the reason behind Fann Wong’s svelte figure, and her long-time boyfriend-turned-husband Christopher Lee’s fabulously taut body.

As fans of the sport and fitness experts can attest to, jumping rope – a popular childhood sport which you might have once engaged in – is one of the best and cheapest forms of exercise.

“Rope skipping is an excellent cardio exercise which is far less hard on the muscles and bones than jogging, according to the United States Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council,” said Mr Lim Hun Teck, a senior physiotherapist at Raffles Hospital.

Not only does it improve your heart rate and blood pressure, it also beefs up bone density, strength as well as endurance, Mr Lim added.

It is also one of the greatest calorie-burners. “From an energy standpoint, rope skipping helps in burning about 70 to 110 calories for an exercise session of 10 minutes,” he said.

In fact, just 10 minutes of rope skipping is equivalent to that torturous 1.5km run, said Mr Hansen Bay, the programme director of Vitage Fitness and founder of Rope Sports Singapore.

Mr Bay founded the SkipFit System – a synchronised skipping programme which has been used in various schools here – with his coaches Alex Goh and Fifi Hana.

He said the childhood rope sport seems to be gaining popularity among Singaporeans. Since its launch in 2007, over 10,000 students and adults have participated in the skipping programme.

While the sport may look easy, getting started can be humbling and even frustrating.

“Many of us remember our first experience with rope skipping in school where we were simply given a rope – often a lousy one – and told to jump with no further guidance.

“As the exercise requires a good dose of arm-leg coordination, beginners may become frustrated when they continuously get entangled in the rope,” said Mr Bay.

From his coaching experience, Mr Bay said skipping novices may even become afraid of rope skipping when they accidentally “whip” themselves with the rope.

“Beginners also tend to develop bad habits such as jumping too high and landing incorrectly, thus resulting in injuries,” he added.

That’s why it is important to “start slowly”, advised Mr Lim.

“Try skipping for 20 to 30 seconds, then march on the spot for 30 minutes. Repeat the sequence. As your fitness improves, you can increase the time you skip.”

Going slow, and proper warm-ups and cool down stretches, would also allow one’s leg muscles to get accustomed to the new exercise, he added.

If you have joint problems or if you’re exercising for the first time, Mr Lim said it might be worth checking with the doctor prior to starting a new exercise regimen.

If you haven’t skipped since, say, primary school, consider these expert tips:

1. You need a lightweight rope with a cord that straightens easily, some fitness attire and a pair of well-cushioned shoes.

2. Founder of Rope Sports Singapore, Hansen Bay, recommended doing rope turns – simply swinging the rope while you bounce to the beat of music – prior to doing actual skipping. “You are more likely to experience success when you eventually jump into the rope. In addition, learning to skip to the tempo of popular songs is also fun and engaging,” he said.

3. While skipping, keep your elbows tucked into your sides while the rope turns around smoothly. Also keep your back straight and avoid leaning forward, said Raffles Hospital’s senior physiotherapist Lim Hun Teck.

(If you like these articles, you can use the “Email to a friend” feature below this post to email the information to your contacts).

Health Bytes

The Importance of Muscle Spasm Relief

Here’s what Dr. Williams shared about muscle spasm relief:

“Do you know that muscle spasm can trigger spasm in blood vessels (vasospasm)?

For example, it can cause vasospasm in the brain, if you have muscle spasm in your neck and shoulders.

It can also be in the arm or in the leg or in the abdomen, depending on where the muscle spasm is.

Vasospasm can then create its own problems and limit the blood supply to an area, limit its function and also limit its ability to heal.

And there are many times when it can create a great enough problem that it can kill a person, either by seizure or stroke.

Or it can kill an area of the body to where it has to be amputated.

Over the years, using very simple breathing techniques, we’ve had people that have had cold, swollen painful legs that were scheduled for amputation. And just by a breathing technique and a gentle muscle spasm relief technique, we were able to turn off the vasospam and in 15 to 20 minutes the leg was warmer, softer and less painful and the doctors immediately could see that amputation was not necessary.”

For more information on how to turn off muscle spasms,  please check out Guide to Physical Wellness – Simple Pain Management Techniques.

Wealth Bytes

Recipe for Success – How the Rich Becomes Rich?

The rich are not necessarily more clever or luckier than others. The reason that they are rich is their thoughts and action!

1. What is your goal in life?

Most people are confounded when asked this question.

“To be rich” or “To be famous” are worthy goals but they are vague.

If you want to be rich, the first thing that you have to do is to decide your life’s goal and direction.

Bill Gates when asked before he was rich what his goals were, replied that he wants every personal computer in the world to use his operating system software. And now, 90% of the computers in the world use his operating system and he is the wealthiest person in the world today.

2. To be passionate and never, never give up!

Many people give up at the first sign of trouble or hardwork.

Do you persist through to see your projects to fruition.

Edison failed 9999 times before succeeding in bringing light bulb to us.

His passion led him to try and try and try and try and try again!

3. Turn your failure into action

Successful people view failures differently.

When asked what he thought about his failures, Edison replied that he did not fail but had simply discovered 9999 ways that won’t get the light bulb to be lighted!

If you don’t give up, success will be yours ultimately.

4. Leverage

Most people could only think of their limitations.

Many people wants to be rich or to be their own boss.

However, when asked why they have yet to start their ventures, they replied that either they don’t have money or they don’t have the know-how.

Successful people know the power of leverage.

If you don’t have money, you can partner with those that have the money.

If you don’t have the skills, you can engage those that have the skills.

Henry Ford was not an engineer or a mechanic but he was able to start a car empire because he employed engineers who know what to do.

5. Believe that you can be rich

Successful people know that setbacks are but temporary.

Like fine gold that must be purified through fire, setbacks can help to propel us forward.

Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki are two examples of individuals who bounced back even stronger and become even richer after their initial failures.

6. Learn and learn

The rich has a passion for continuous learning.

Many people after leaving school threw their thinking caps behind them.

In this rapidly advancing times, it is crucial that we continuously upgrade our skills.

Learn before you Earn!

7. Luck is reserved for those who are prepared.

In mathematical terms, LUCK = Preparation + Opportunity

So there you are, 7 powerful tips to becoming Rich!

Did You Know?

The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes Ben Underwood lost his sight after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes when he was just 3. However, this youngster could skate, play video game, do horse riding and dance at school events. How did he do it?

Omega 3 Fatty Acids Protects Against Parkinson’s New research finding on omega three fatty acid preventing the misfolding of a protein resulting from a gene mutation in diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.

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How You Too Can Win the Anxiety Battle… If You Follow These Simple Instructions. Click here to find out how…

Testimonials

How has Dr Williams made an impact in your life?

Because of his work with noni and noni drinkers, Doc has been frequently on the road. Since today is father’s day, and Dr Williams is a father too, we would appreciate if you could show your appreciation to Dr Williams by submitting a short testimonial on how Dr Williams and his program of health and wellness, muscle spasm relief, for example, has helped you. You can do so by filling in the form here:

Testimonial for Dr Williams

Thank you!

AskDrRichardWilliams.com

Do you have a question for Doc?

You can reach Doc by filling in the form here: Ask Dr Richard Williams

We look forward to touching base with you again in our next issue of Sunday Chat.

Here’s wishing you a healthy week ahead. Remember to practice your breathing techniques and start to relief your muscle spasm!

Health Bytes
(If you like these articles, you can use the “Email to a friend” feature below this post to email the information to your contacts).

As the saying goes, “Health is Wealth”. Today I would like you to take some moments to reflect and answer the following health questions. It is only in knowing your goals or your health conditions that you can formulate your health plan/program.

1. What does being healthy mean to you?

2. What is the definition of health?

3. What are your top 3 personal health and wellness goals?

4. How do you rate your health?

[1 - Very poor; 2 - Poor; 3 - Neither good nor poor; 4 - Good; 5 - Very good]

5. List the factors that helped you to arrive at the above conclusion.

———————

Q&A

Question: Some people say that Noni doesn’t seem to benefit them anymore. What should we do?

Answer: That’s because they are volume depleted. Let me explain the mechanism of that. Many people run around a quart low on the water that’s supposed to be in their body. A very senior physician did a survey in Australia before doing some work there, and 85% of the people that he examined were significantly dehydrated and volume depleted, 85%.

Now, before Noni, your blood vessel will contract down around that smaller volume and you still get a degree of perfusion out into the tissues, out to the tips of your fingers, up into your brain. It’s not full perfusion. Once you start to exercise and do things, you become fatigued very quickly.

As soon as you take Tahitian Noni® Juice, it dilates the blood vessels all over the body. It doesn’t shrink down to accommodate that smaller volume. Your volume actually got another quart bigger, so you went from being a quart low to two quarts low.

Now, you will not get low blood pressure. Noni supports the blood pressure systems so that you will not get low blood pressure. But what happens is the rate of forward flow of blood, of oxygen, of food into your tissues then slows down.

The rate of washout of the wastes slows down and you feel achy and tired, and you don’t feel the great benefits that you had from Noni because you’re not having full speed, full volume flow out to your finger tips and up to your brain.

You fill back up with electrolytes and water the way we recommend, and in three or four days you say, “Wow, all my energy’s back again. What a miracle.”

Wealth Bytes

We have only a limited 24 hours each day.

Do you manage your time well?

Poor time management is a major contributing factor for a lot of people.

We have prepared a special time management tool to help you manage your time. I learned this from my mentor and friend, Cynthia a few years back.

You can download the form here: 3 Rocks

Did You Know?

Another Island Where People Live To Their 90s You may have heard about the many centaurians living in Okinawa, researchers have found what could be the newest of the world’s so-called blue zones — places where residents live to their 90s.

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Getting Things Done

AskDrRichardWilliams.com

Do you have a question for Doc?

You can reach Doc by filling in the form here: Ask Dr Richard Williams

We look forward to touching base with you again in our next issue of Sunday Chat.

Here’s wishing you a healthy week ahead. Remember to practice your breathing techniques and start to relief your muscle spasm!

Health Bytes

Latest Update H1N1 Flu Virus -How to strengthen your immune system with TNJ

Read about it in the blog post here: Strengthening your immune system with TNJ

You can use the “Email to a friend” feature (below this post) to email the information to all of your friends and loved ones!

Download the updated free report here: Click here

Wealth Bytes

Thought for the Week: Your income can grow only to the extent you do!

If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.

Did You Know?

Rise In Autism Linked To Environmental Exposures

California’s sevenfold increase in autism cannot be explained by changes in doctors’ diagnoses and most likely is due to environmental exposures.

Check it out here.

Recommendations

One of the most important trait that we must develop is FOCUS. You can start by downloading your free copy of The Power of Concentration here.

Did You Know You Can Strengthen Your Immune System Against the H1N1 Flu? Check out our special promotion.

AskDrRichardWilliams.com

Do you have a question for Doc?

You can reach Doc by filling in the form here: Ask Dr Richard Williams

As Doc is currently away, our response might be slow in forthcoming. Appreciate your understanding… but do keep your questions coming in.

We look forward to touching base with you again in our next issue of Sunday Chat.

Here’s wishing you a dynamic week ahead!

Update from Doc

TNJ can prevent and abort Swine Flu.

This is based on accumulated clinical experiences preceding and following the SARS outbreak.

This includes SARS, Bird Flu, Fujian Flu, West Nile Virus in humans and animals, other acute viral syndromes, and reported success with Chikungunya Virus.

TNJ 8 oz/day for 4 or 5 days will prevent casual exposures from developing into Flu.

Acute exposure can be given TNJ 8oz initially, 4oz 2 hours and 4 hours later and followed by 8oz/day until safe.

Suspected early adult cases can be given TNJ 8oz initially and a total of one bottle in the first day, a whole or 1/2 bottle for the next 2 days based on clinical condition and response to TNJ then followed by 8 oz/day for 5 to 7 days. Expect recovery in 3 to 5 days. Children under 6 years can be given 1/2 the adult amounts and those under 2 years 1/3 the adult amounts.

The Muscle Spasm response to the acute stresses will be dramatic and should be relieved by Breathing. For more info on muscle spasm relief techniques, click here.

Standard clinical hydration should be adequate.

Updated: I’m posting an update and this post will be Part 1 of 2.

Here are some simple guidelines to keep your immune system in optimal working order:

1. Drink your Noni

Boost your immune system. Check out our blog post on how you can give your immune system a full boost.

2. Optimize your vitamin D levels

Optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the best way to avoid infections of ALL kinds. In fact, vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE cause behind the seasonality of the flu — not the flu virus itself. Your vitamin D level should be around 60 ng/ml.

3. Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods

Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, so it’s important to keep your immune system strong.

4. Have Sufficient Rest

Lack of sleep will weaken your body’s immune system and make it harder for you to fight any infection.

5. Address Your Stress

We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.

6. Exercise

Exercise improves your physique, strengthens your immune system and increases your circulation and blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system will be better circulated to detect any intruders.

7. Omega-3 Fats

Take a good source of animal based omega-3 fats like Krill Oil or the Omega 3, 6, 9 blend. This is crucial for maintaining good health.

8. Wash Your Hands

Washing your hands will decrease the likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure to use a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

9. Eat Garlic Regularly

Garlic functions like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. Unlike antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use.

10. Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines

Hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to the swine flu.

Vaccines will not be available for six months at the minimum but when available they will be ineffective and can lead to crippling paralysis like Guillain-Barré Syndrome just as it did in the 70s.

Today, the Singapore government gave an update of the Mexican Swine Flu.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, the Health Minister, spoke about the difference between SARS and the current Mexican Swine Flu. Describing it as a new war, he cautioned that the swine flu is more challenging, giving three reasons.

“Firstly, the swine flu is more contagious. Secondly, patients can be infectious before symptoms appear. Hence, border controls may not be fool-proof and there may be leakages.”

Lastly, Mr Khaw said that historically, flu pandemic tends to come in waves. While the initial wave may look mild, the second one can be quite lethal.

So the swine flu pandemic is likely to be long-drawn, and Mr Khaw added that the people must be mentally and psychologically prepared for the long haul.

I’ve just added a slideshow with information on the swine flu and how Tahitian Noni® Juice can help to strengthen our immune system.

Check out the slide show below.

Have you downloaded the free report on Swine Flu?

If you have not, please click here for more info.