Fred Samorodin is impressed with XanGo, a mangosteen health drink for antiinflammatory benefits.

abc news:  Sunday, January 17, 2010

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Profile

 - One of the things that’s very popular right now are these super juices. A lot of people are talking about acai berry, goji berry, but the one we’ve chosen to study is something called Mangosteen. The leading manufacturer is a company called XanGo, and we’ve worked with them to evaluate their product, which is a Mangosteen juice. It includes not only the fruit but also the rind of the fruit.
  And it’s that rind that contains some unique anti-inflammatory agents called xanthones.

Well in many animal studies and in some anecdotal human experiences we’ve seen pretty remarkable anti-inflammatory effects. So we’re actually conducting a large trial of about 220 patients, all of whom have atrial fibrillation and as they go to cardioversion, where they get a shock to the heart to restore normal rhythm, those people are then going to either drink the juice or a placebo juice and the idea being that recurrent atrial fibrillation is often driven by how much inflammation is in the body.

So if Mangosteen does what we think it will, reduces the inflammation, we anticipate we’ll see less atrial fibrillation recurring in those patients drinking the actual juice. We’re also looking at a number of markers for inflammation and antioxidant capabilities, so there’s a lot of interest, because if it’s positive, this’ll really be the first clinical trial to validate the use of this novel juice and there’s plenty of other applications that we’ll pursue in other research studies.

Dr. Brent Bauer, M.D.

Mayo Clinic–Rochester, Minnesota

This website does not take any responsibility for the opinions expressed. Always consult your physician or healthcare provider for any medical advice.

by Jill BarkerThe reasons to stop doing sit-ups continue to mount.

First, Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, declared the sit-up more harmful than helpful. And now a study out of Youngstown State University in Ohio says sit-ups don’t build strong abs.

The goal of the study was to find the most effective method to strengthen the rectus abdominus, the long flat muscle that runs between the sternum to the pubic bone and forms the much-coveted “six-pack.”

Despite the fact we have been doing sit-ups for years, there’s a shortage of definitive research stating the optimum training protocol necessary to maximize stength gains.

Some experts suggest that the abs, like any other muscle, benefit from an every-other-day training routine.  Others maintain that a daily diet of sit-ups yields the best results.

Then there’s the question of whether a traditional sit-up done without any added resistance (beyond body weight) provides the necessary training stimulus to strengthen the abs.

The Youngstown State University study, published in the October, 2009  edition of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, separated 71 men and women into three groups.  The control group did no sit-ups.  The other two groups performed three sets of 20 repetitions (30 seconds” rest between sets) of three distinct abs exercises for 11 weeks.  Group One performed the sit-ups three times a week on non-consecutive days and Group Two trained the abs six days per week.  The ab exercises increased in difficulty every four weeks and speed was regulated by a metronome.

The results surprised even the researchers.  None of the three groups of exercisers demonstrated any strength gains. Nor did they reduce their waist circumference or percentage of  body  fat.

“This finding suggests that training the abdominals with resistance levels short of fatigue is inadequate to produce strength gains, and may be consistent with findings suggesting that pushing a muscle to repetition failure is more effective in producing strength gains,” said the study’s authors, Jennifer Pinter, Ken Learman and Renee Rogers.

The authors did acknowledge that the exercise regime may have improved muscular endurance, but it was not measured in the study.

What does that mean for anyone who wants a stronger set of abs?

The message is clear:  Sit-ups aren’t going to get the job done.

Muscles need to be sufficiently fatigued before they can build strength.  That fatigue is notable only when the muscle has reached its repetition limit, at which point  your abs are so fatigued, you can’t perform even one more sit-up.

That being said, when it comes to well-conditioned abs, strength may not be your ultimate goal.  McGill suggests that building muscular endurance is more important than building muscular strength–at least initially.

Which means training the abs to work harder, longer is better than developing strength without endurance.  He also says repeated bending of the spine (similar to the action that occurs during a sit-up) increases the risk of back pain.

If you want a better-conditioned set of abs,  substitute curl-ups for stability exercises such as the plank, or try McGill’s modified curl-up.

Time in the gym is too precious to waste on exercises that fail to live up to their billings.

Canwest News Service

Breaking News: VancouverSun.com/ Monday, March 29, 2010

[The use of the Mastermoves Core Training Program "Masterdisc" to tone up the abdominal muscles follows the principle of exercising the "abs" to fatigue when following a comprehensive Core Training program. This is a major reason that Fred Samorodin, RPT recommends this program instead of ineffective sit-ups! http://mastermoves.com/fred.html ]

Fred Samorodin,RPT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ_RvGB3TFU

by barralinstitute.com

• Did you know that the attachments of the sigmoid colon and the caecum on the anterior sacroiliac joint could be the cause of your client’s sacroiliac joint dysfunction?
• Did you know that the ligaments that attach from the superior border of the lungs to the cervical spine and the first rib can tighten due to scar tissue from a lung infection, and this can cause brachial plexus issues?
• Did you know that Jean-Pierre Barral, DO, the developer of Visceral Manipulation, has found that 90% of all musculoskeletal disorders have a visceral component?

Visceral Manipulation blends into all types of manual therapy practices…The fisceral system relies on the interconnected synchronicity between the motions of all the organs and stgructures of the body,.  At optimal health, this harmoniuous relationship remains stable despite the body’s endless varieties of motion.  But when an organ cannot move in harmony with its surroundings due to abnormal tone, adhesions or displacement, it works against the body’s other organs, as well as muscular, membranous, fascial and osseous structures.  This disharmony creates fixed, abnormal points of tension that the body is forced to move around.  These fixed points create viscero-somatic interactions, which present as musculoskeletal or neuromuscular symptomology.

Clinical Study on the Effrects of VM for Low Back Spinal Dysfunction

Gail Wetzler, Registered Physical Therapist studied the effects of visceral manipulation on low back pain in 30 patients.  Some patients has previous manual therapy treatment, but did not include visceral manipulation.  Wetzler treated patients with VM (visceral manipulation) an average of 6-7 times.  Resutls were measured via a pain scale the patient completed, neurological testing, and standard movement and strength tests of the low back.  The results showed marked improvement in all but 2 of the cases across all tests.  The conclusion was “low back spinal dyusfunction may be more effectively and efficiently resolved with the addition of Visceral Manipulation into the treatment program.” Complete study can be found at www.barralinstitute.com