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Mark Bunn

Mark Bunn

Mark Bunn – is a leading natural health researcher specialising in Ayurvedic medicine, author of the three-time best-selling ‘Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health‘ and one of Australasia's most popular health and performance speakers.  Mark is also CEO of David Lynch Foundation Australia.

Friday, 11 March 2011 20:49

Nasal Breathing and Swimming

Good afternoon wisdom of health seeker.

A few people who have read my first book, which talks about the Ayurvedic (and yoga) wisdom of nasal breathing during exercise, have asked about nasal breathing while swimming. It’s a great question, so I thought I would post a quick answer here.

Friday, 18 March 2011 20:38

Organic Food – Healthier or Not?

I was walking past the fruit & veg section in the supermarket the other day, and seeing those shiny, oversized, plastic looking, almost fake, pieces of fruit made me think of Hollywood actresses (shiny, oversized, plastic looking …but generally fake!). Then I thought, “I wonder if people like you, stop to consider how those tomatoes look so shiny (chemical sprays), how those apples get as big as Texas (growth accelerants) and why those strawberries left over from World war II, still haven’t rotted (irradiation)!!!”

Anyway, should you or shouldn’t you eat organic? Is there much of a difference & is the added cost really worth it? Let’s have a look.

Sunday, 03 April 2011 20:37

Sunlight… Avoid It At Your Peril!

A Natural Wisdom Guide to the Importance of Sunlight, Why Getting ‘Too Little’ Midday Sun Can Be Fatal and a More Holistic View of Skin Cancer

This article is an extended version of what appears in Mark’s first book of his ‘Wisdoms of Health’ series: ‘Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health’ – the simple secrets of the world’s healthiest and longest living people

Do you think that the only problem regarding the sun is getting too much…as opposed to too little?

Do You Know That Different Foods Nourish Different Organs?

Have you ever wished you knew what foods were good for what things, without needing to do a nutrition course for years or consult a dietician?

If you want to strengthen your bones, improve your eyesight or nourish your heart, would you like to have a good idea of what foods nourish those organs without needing to consult some external expert or book?

  1. Pasco, JA. Henry, MJ. Nicholson, GC. et al. Vitamin D status of women in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study: Association with diet and casual exposure to sunlight. Med J Aust 2001; 175: 401-405.
  2. McGrath, JJ. Kimlin, MG. Saha, S. et al. Vitamin D insufficiency in south-east Queensland. Med J Aust 2001; 174: 150-151.
  3. Grover, S. Morley, R. Vitamin D deficiency in veiled or dark-skinned pregnant women. Med J Aust. 2001: 175: 251-252.
  4. Nowson, C. MacInnis, R. Stein, M. et al. Vitamin D deficiency in residential care facilities in Australia. Proc Nut Soc Aust. 2000: 24: 154.
  5. Parfitt, AM. Osteomalacia and related disorders. In: Avioli LV, Krane, SM. eds. Metabolic bone disease and clinically related disorders. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1990:329-96.
  6. Holick, MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2004. Vol. 79, No. 3, 362-371.
  7. Puchacz, E. Stumpf, WE. Stachowiak, EK. Stachowiak, MK. Vitamin D increases expression of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in adrenal medullary cells. Brain Res.Mol. 1996. 36:193-6.
  8. Gloth, FM 3rd. Alam, W. Hollis, B. Vitamin D versus broad spectrum phototherapy in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. J Nutr Health Aging. 1999. 3(1):5-7.
  9. Holick, MF. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2004. Vol. 80, No. 6, 1678S-1688S.
  10. Merlino, LA. Curtis, J. Mikuls, TR. Cerhan, JR. Criswell, LA. Saag, KG. Vitamin D intake is inversely associated with rheumatoid arthritis: Results from the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2004. 50: 1.PG: 72-77.
  11. Pappa, HM. Gordon, CM. Saslowsky, TM. Zholudev, A. Horr, B. Shih, MC. Grand, RJ. Vitamin D Status in Children and Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Pediatrics Nov 2006. 118(5). 1950 – 1961.
  12. Munger, KL. Zhang, SM. O’Reilly, E. Hernán, MA. Olek, MJ. Willett, WC. Ascherio, A. Vitamin D intake and incidence of multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2004; 62:60-65.
  13. Munger, KL. Levin, LI. Hollis, BW. Howard, NS. Ascherio, A. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis. JAMA 2006; 296:2832-8.
  14. . Grant, WB. An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation. Cancer. March 2002; 94:1867-75.
  15. Grant, WB. An ecologic study of dietary and solar ultraviolet-B links to breast carcinoma mortality rates. Cancer 2002 Jan 1:94 (1):272-81.
  16. Lamprecht, SA. Lipkin, M. Cellular mechanisms of calcium and vitamin D in the inhibition of colorectal carcinogenesis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. Dec 2001, 952:73-87.
  17. Mokady, E. Schwartz, B. Shany, S. A protective role of dietary vitamin D3 in rat colon carcinogenesis. Nutr Cancer. 2000: 38(1):65-73.
  18. Polek, TC. Weigel, NL. Vitamin D and prostate cancer. J Androl. 2002 Jan-Feb;23(1):9-17.
  19. Tuohimaa, P. Lyakhovich, A. Aksenov, N. Vitamin D and prostate cancer. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2001 Jan-Mar;76(1-5):125-34
  20. see Reference 14 – Grant, WB.
  21. US National Institutes of Health website – https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp
  22. Grant, WB. An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation. Cancer. March 2002; 94:1867-75.
  23. Grant, WB. Insufficient sunlight may kill 45,000 Americans each year from internal cancer J Col Dermatol. 2004: 3.176-78.
  24. Grant, WB. Garland, CF. Holick, MF. Comparisons of estimated economic burdens due to insufficient solar ultraviolet irradiance and vitamin D and excess solar UV for the United States. Photochem Photobiol. 2005. 81:1276-1286.
  25. . Grant, WB. Garland, CF. The association of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) with reducing risk of cancer: multifactorial ecologic analysis of geographic variation in age-adjusted cancer mortality rates. Anticancer Res 2006; 26:2687-99.
  26. Godar, DE. Landry, RJ. Lucas, AD. Increased UVA exposures and decreased cutaneous Vitamin D(3) levels may be responsible for the increasing incidence of melanoma. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Apr;72(4):434-43.
  27. Dr Holick is the author of the books, ‘The Vitamin D Solution’ and ‘The UV Advantage’
  28. Gilchrest, B. Eller, M. Geller, A. Yaar, M. The Pathogenesis of Melanoma Induced by Ultraviolet Radiation. The New England Journal of Medicine. April 29, 1999.
  29. Refer 26. Godar, DE et al.
  30. Moan, J. Dahlback, A. Porojnicu, AC. At what time should one go out in the sun. Advanced Experiments in Medical Biology 2008; 624: 86-88.
  31. Sullivan, K. Naked at Noon, Understanding Sunlight and Vitamin D, 2002.
  32. There are a number of correlation studies suggesting a link between chemical sunscreens and increased melanoma. A couple of good examples include

Other good resources include,

Krispin Sullivan’s book, Naked at Noon
www.sunarc.org
https://sunlightandvitamind.com
https://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/23/vitamin_d.htm
Dr. Michael Holick’s books, The Vitamin D Solution & The UV Advantage.

4. Make Diet/Lifestyle Changes Gradually

In contrast to our modern Western way of wanting to go ‘cold turkey’ or change bad habits ‘overnight’, in Ayurveda, it is recommended that any behavioural change is done gradually. Doctor Raju even mentioned that this applies when wanting to give up or change some ‘unwholesome’ or ‘health compromising’ behaviour. E.g. smoking, weaning off drugs or eating yoghurt at night.

I’ve just returned from a month in India with one of India’s greatest exponents of Ayurvedic medicine – Doctor JR Raju. It was said that there are only five families in India/the world that possess the full knowledge of Ayurveda, and that Dr Raju belongs to one of them. Anyway, I thought this month (and next) you might enjoy some of the more ‘everyday’ health wisdoms as recounted by Doctor Raju in a few of the seminars and private meetings I was fortunate enough to have with him. I have started with three tips. I hope you enjoy.

Three people get stressed at work, one has a nervous breakdown, one has a heart attack and the other develops diabetes.

Why do three different people on the same exercise program get three completely different results?

Have you ever wondered why any of the millions of diets that have been invented, none ever work for everyone?

In fact, if you looked closely, you would find that any diet or exercise regime etc, works great for about one third of the population, is averagely successful for another third, and for the other third, they are downright damaging to one’s health.

Why is this so?

In the news this week was a major article about whether raw milk (unpasteurised) was healthy or harmful. If you are not aware, there is quite a large underground movement of people who drink raw milk. I.e. milk that is unpasteurised. However, because unpasteurised milk is considered illegal by authorities (in Australia), health food shops that sell it, can only sell it for ‘cosmetic purposes’, often labelling it as ‘bath’ milk (e.g. Cleopatra’s Bath milk)..

What do I think?

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 13:40

Spices for Health

Would you like to add massive anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant & digestion / metabolism boosting activity to your body each day?

Sometimes we can get so consumed analyzing calories, fat ratios, vitamin %’s etc, we forget about the unbelievable power of traditional herbs/spices – not the KFC variety!!!

As a rule, we westerners don’t use spices nearly enough, so this week, if you are not already, add some or all of the following into your cooking to start reaping some amazing benefits.