It's well known that many women remain in abusive relationships with their male partners. A new study by researchers in Toronto and New York suggests that many who live with chronic psychological abuse still see certain positive traits in their abusers - such as dependability and being affectionate - which may partly explain why they stay.

"We wanted to see whether survey information from women who were not currently seeking treatment or counseling for relationship abuse could be a reliable source for identifying specific types of male abusers," says Patricia O'Campo, a social epidemiologist and director of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

She adds that past research has underscored abused women's personal evaluations of their intimate relationships - specifically, their commitment to the relationships and positive feelings about the abuser and/or the relationship - as critical in their decisions to continue or terminate abusive relationships. "We wanted to learn more," says Dr. O'Campo, who co-authored the study with researchers from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

Newly published research by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University demonstrates that simply reducing caloric intake is not enough to promote significant weight loss. This appears to be due to a natural compensatory mechanism that reduces a person's physical activity in response to a reduction in calories.

The research is published in the April edition of the American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

"In the midst of America's obesity epidemic, physicians frequently advise their patients to reduce the number of calories they are consuming on a daily basis. This research shows that simply dieting will not likely cause substantial weight loss. Instead, diet and exercise must be combined to achieve this goal," explained Judy Cameron Ph.D., a senior scientist at OHSU's Oregon National Primate Research Center, and a professor of behavioral neuroscience and obstetrics & gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine, as well as a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.

Birds such as sparrows, thrushes and warblers are apparently experts on preventing disease and optimizing their bodies to deal with stress. If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider this: scientists at the University of Rhode Island (URI) have discovered these migratory birds eat certain nutrient-packed berries instead of their usual diet of bugs at certain times of the year. Why would this change in eating habits be beneficial? It turns out, according to the URI researchers, that the superfood fruit the birds eat offers protection against oxidative stress that occurs during long flights. This news is important because oxidative stress is known to trigger inflammation and a host of serious diseases -- in both birds and humans.

The new research, recently announced at the American Chemical Society's 239th national meeting held last month in San Francisco, revealed that birds stopping over on Block Island specifically go after arrow-wood berries which contain more anti-oxidants and pigments than the 11 other berries that grow on the island. That means the migratory birds somehow know to specifically zero in on arrow-wood berries, the richest source of nutrients in the area.

Navindra Seeram, assistant professor of pharmacy and head of the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory at URI, and Scott McWilliams, a URI professor of wildlife ecology and physiology who has studied migratory birds for over a decade, are researching migratory birds' eating habits to see how this knowledge could help human health. The two teamed up after McWilliams learned that Seeram was researching oxidative stress and inflammation and the effects berry fruits can have on reducing those disease-linked problems in people. Anti-oxidants found in berries are believed to play an important role in preventing cancer and other serious diseases.

A recent study published in the British medical journal, Lancet, has found that placebo, or fake, medical treatments exhibit a noticeable biological effect on patients. A panel of international researchers pored through a series of studies they believe illustrate concrete evidence that physical changes in patients occur in response to placebos.

One of the studies included in the research involved Parkinson's disease patients whose brains released dopamine in response to placebo treatment. The dopamine release triggered a series of other changes throughout the brain, resulting in improved health for these patients.

"When you think you're going to get a drug that helps, your brain reacts as if it's getting relief," explained Walter Brown, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Brown and Tufts University, in an interview. Brown believes that people with mild depression or anxiety are perfect candidates for placebo treatments because such patients benefit just as well from fake treatments as they do from drug treatments.

The importance of glutathione or GSH, considered the master antioxidant and an important immune booster, has been discussed in previous Natural News articles. But this follow up clarifies the differences between externally administered glutathione and glutathione produced within the body's cells, and how to boost that production.

External Glutathione

Glutathione production wanes with aging, but GSH is what you really need as you age. It could be considered nature's dirty trick, but it's probably due more to the increased oxidative stress from our increasingly toxic environment.

There have been a couple of older famous TV and sports personalities mentioned in the news for using injected or IV glutathione. Naturally, there are more to whom youthfulness is important who can afford it that don't make the news. Glutathione does have desired anti-aging properties.

The IV or injections are very expensive, and require at least weekly applications since it circumvents the usual GSH production. It just quickly dies off. As a matter of fact, this type of treatment may further inhibit the body's ability to create and circulate GSH. It's like constantly recharging a battery when you need a new alternator.

Detest exercise? Tired of mind-numbingly boring minutes spent on a treadmill or endless laps up and down the pool? While the majority of us recognize that we must exercise for good health, many view exercise as just one more boring chore to add onto a day laden with "must-do" activities. Change your mindset and make exercise fun and exciting while getting the workout your body needs.

Dance Your Way to Fitness

For those who love to dance, try a Zumba Latin American dance class next time you are at the gym. Zumba is taught in 75 countries in six continents and is aligned with nationally and internationally recognized fitness organizations. People have so much fun learning to dance while toning legs, arms and raising the heart rate that they are generally disappointed when the class is over. It's more like a party than a workout.

The Zumba instructor may teach Latin dances such as the salsa, meringue, cumbia, cha-cha, belly dance, samba and Flamenco. Other dances such as African dance, hip-hip, or choreographed dances may be incorporated into the class. The instructor will continue to add onto the basic steps of each dance and teach more complicated rhythms and movements. High impact dances are combined with lower impact dances to keep the heart rate up and the muscles active. Zumba can be purchased on DVD to do at home.

It may seem counterintuitive to think that something with the word "pollen" in its title may actually be a powerful tool for combating pollen and other allergies. Yet the supporting evidence of bee pollen's prowess in helping people overcome seasonal and other allergy related conditions is impressive. In the early 90's, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa became an advocate for natural health, crediting bee pollen with helping him alleviate symptoms related to his own seasonal allergies.

Allergies result from our body's response to something it has been exposed to, such as chemicals, by-products of the natural world, things we eat, drink, or breathe, or anything that comes in contact with our skin. If the body reacts adversely, such as the case with allergies, the body will release antibodies or histamines. This response is how the immune system attempts to remove or marginalize the impact of the foreign body. With allergies, the body can develop a chronic histamine response, resulting in inflammation throughout the body's skin, membranes, tissues, lungs, etc.

A look at bee pollen's nutritional composition shows that it is comprised of approximately 35% protein, including all 22 known amino acids found in the body. It is also rich in vitamins, (particularly B vitamins), all 28 minerals found in the body (especially zinc), and is loaded with health-promoting enzymes, something largely lacking in the Standard American Diet(S.A.D.). One nutrient of particular importance is quercetin. Known for its ability to minimize or neutralize the histamine response, quercetin may be a primary reason for bee pollen's capacity to alleviate inflammation caused by hay fever or other common allergy-causing substances.

Now that health reform relying on monopolized pharmaceutical medicine has become the law of the land across America, the mainstream media is reporting on a sudden shortage of doctors. The nearly one million doctors who already treat a sick, diseased population is no longer enough, it seems, and medical schools are ramping up to churn out more doctors to treat yet more disease. There are never enough doctors to go around when everybody's sick, it seems...

What we're witnessing here is a massive expansion of the sick-care industry which already swallows 20 percent of the U.S. economy. Over the next few years, that percentage will rise to 25 percent, then 30 percent, and this financial sinkhole called "mainstream medicine" may even hit one-third of the entire national economy.

That puts the U.S. in a dire financial situation. If a third of the economic productivity is being spent on sickness and disease, and another third (or so) is being spent on war and imperialism, and another third is spent on debt interest and social security, then where do you get the money to actually build roads and schools, pay government employees or administer the business of government?

The answer, of course, is that you simply print more money and keep on spending -- a sure path to currency hyperinflation.

Stress is not always bad as commonly believed. Moderate stress during pregnancy boosts foetal brain development, a new study has claimed.

In a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland showed that stress during pregnancy inhibits neural growth.

For the research, the team led by Janet DiPietro examined 112 healthy pregnant women three times during their third trimester and asked them about their stress levels, Child Development journal reported.

A breakfast of bacon, sausages, eggs, and beans could be the healthiest start to the day, according to new research.

Scientists believe that breakfast programmes the metabolism for the rest of the day, and a fatty meal will help the body break down fat later on.

Carbohydrate rich foods in contrast appear mainly to prepare the body to break down only carbohydrates, the International Journal of Obesity reports.