A Cup of Peppermint Tea Boosts Alertness R


esearchers from Northumbria Uni- versity, in England, have discov- ered that drinking peppermint tea can improve working and long- term memory. After 180 healthy adults filled out questionnaires about their mood, they were se- lected at random to consume one of three drinks—peppermint tea, chamomile tea or water—and then rested for 20 minutes. The subjects were then tested for memory and other


cognitive factors and given a second mood questionnaire. Those that drank peppermint tea exhibited improvements in both types of memory and were more alert than the other two groups. The participants that drank chamomile tea dis- played reductions in both memory and attention functions compared to the others. Researcher Mark Moss, Ph.D., notes, “The enhancing and arousing effects of peppermint and the calming, sedative effects of chamomile observed in this study are in keeping with the claimed properties of these herbs and suggest ben- eficial effects can be drawn from their use.”


Why Some Kids Grow Up with Fewer Allergies A


study in the journal Pe- diatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, has found that the common childhood habits of thumb sucking and nail biting can reduce the risk of adolescent and adult allergies. Researchers followed more than 1,000 individuals from 5 through 32 years old, monitoring these two habits at ages 5, 7, 9 and 11. The subjects were tested for allergies at 13 using a skin- prick test and again at 32. Of all participants, 31 percent were frequent thumb suckers and nail biters, and those children had a lower incidence of allergic reactions than the others. These results support a hygiene hypothesis suggest- ing that early exposure to microbial organisms reduces the risk of developing allergies.


natural awakenings December 2016


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