Monday Motivation: Positive versus Negative Stress!

Written by Dr. Caroline Leaf

We have been told stress is always detrimental to our bodies. Not so!
There is such a thing as positive stress! Let me explain.


Stress is the bodies reaction influences coming from outside or inside
the body. Stress has three stages. Stage One is positive. In this
stage we become alert and focused to the task at hand. This is normal.
It is a temporary state.


Stage Two and Three, however, are negative. In Stage Two, the Stress
Response is prolonged. Hormones like cortisol, which are only supposed
to be increased for a short time, persist at high levels in the blood
stream causing damage to our brains and bodies. If Stage Two becomes
chronic and is maintained for a longer period it becomes Stage Three.
At this point the body's resources are exhausted, leading to disease
and even death.


So what is the key to staying in positive and out of negative stress?
It is our thought life, it is how we think. Research has shown that
how we think about stress can affect whether we live or die.


The emerging fields medical specialities of psychoneuroendocrinology
and psychoneuroimmunology are shedding light on the how thinking
affects stress, the brain, the immune system and hormones and how
these things determine our psychological and physical wellbeing. See
http://drleaf.com/about/scientific-philosophy/ (under 'Thinking
Affects Health') for more on the science. Because Mind controls
Matter, therefore, thinking is the pre-eminent influence on health. In
fact 78% to 98% of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct
result of our thought life.



Watch Episode 4 of my TV Show for more details.
http://drleaf.com/blog/positive-versus-negative-stress/

Read More

Is There Any Direct Benefit of Chlorophyll To The Human Being?

Sometimes people think eating vegetables is over-hyped and I really
don't blame them.

So I decided to investigate green vegetables, the chlorophyll they
contain and what it really does for humans.

When it comes to preventing the body from degeneration and disease
green leafy vegetables come on top of any synthetic supplement.
They actually heal and rejuvenate the human body.

This now draws our attention to the chlorophyll that is contained in
these "green foods".
From our biology days we learnt that chlorophyll is the "green
colour/pigment in plants.

The name chlorophyll is derived from the Greek words chloros which
means 'green' and also phyllon which means 'leaf'.

The oxygen we breathe comes from the chlorophyll in plants.

It is quite interesting to note that chlorophyll is just like the
human blood with only one exception: the binding element in
chlorophyll is magnesium, whereas the binding element in blood is
iron.

Some researchers have said that chlorophyll has the ability to release
magnesium from its center and absorb iron, and thus become
haemoglobin. So the chlorophyll literally becomes human blood.

I believe this because I have actually refused blood transfusion
before. My PCV (packed cell volume) was just 17%, against the normal
40% but for reasons best known to me I refused to be transfused.
When I got home I had someone extract the juice from ugwu leaves (dark
green vegetables) and took a mug of that twice a day (really tasty
with milk). I don't remember how long I took that drink but I know it
wasn't long before I did another test and my PCV went up to 31%!
Now I know what happened.

So chlorophyll definitely helps in treating anaemia.

Other Benefits of Chlorophyll


...Chlorophyll increases oxygen levels throughout the body by taking
carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and converting them into oxygen;
this helps prevent disease incubation and also promotes recovery.


... It enhances energy because of increased oxygen supply.

...Chlorophyll has antioxidants that are important in the repair and
growth of new tissues and cells. It is also great in neutralizing
harmful free radicals that can damage cells and tissues. It helps
detoxify the liver.

... Chlorophyll can be used as a deodourizer to deal with bad breath.
It also reduces the smell of urine, the smell of faeces and also awful
body odour.

... It cleans the digestive tract and colon.

" According to aome researchers, it seemed that chlorophyll may block
the absorption of its look-alike molecule, heme, in the colon, helping
to keep the colon walls smooth and healthy."

...It is valuable in the prevention and treatment of certain cancers.
It acts primarily as a blocking agent against chemical initiation of
carcinogenesis. Studies have linked chlorophyll to the prevention of
cancer; it can reduce the ability of carcinogenic chemicals to cause
harm in the many organs of the entire body.


" Researchers in the early 1980s discovered that chlorophylls and
related chemicals could inhibit the ability of certain DNA-damaging
chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria."


...In the March 2001 study by Virginia Commonwealth University's R.E.
Merchant and C.A. Andre, supplementation with chlorophyll-rich
chlorella was shown to reduce high blood pressure, lower LDL ("bad"
cholesterol).


...It is also an anti inflammatory and accelerates wound healing (it
can be used on wounds externally) .


There are no known side effects of chlorophyll.

Plants are the only source of chlorophyll but cooking and various food
preparations destroy most of the therapeutic effects of chlorophyll.


One of the best sources of chlorophyll is "Chlorella"(a type of algae)
but you can also make do with your dark green leafy vegetables; Ugwu,
Ewedu, Spinach, Sukuma, broccoli, celery, kale, lettuce, leaks,
scallions. chlorella, blue-green algae, spirulina, kelp, green barley,
wheat grass and alfalfa.

Clean up your system with chlorophyll, it's a blessing.

Read More

Ebola Treatment Update: Consultant Says Ewedu Is Capable of Preventing And Treating Ebola

Oh no ewedu (vegetable) is going to become scarce very soon with this news:

A consultant at the Lagos University Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba,
Professor Adebukola Ositelu, has said Ewedu ‎which is known in English
as the Long-Fruited vegetable, is capable of preventing and curing the
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) by boosting the immune system.

Ositelu stated this at the annual African Traditional Medicine Day
organised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) on Thursday, at Ikeja, Lagos.

According to her, the vegetable had a high potency to boost the immune
system such that it's usage would prevent an individual from being
infected with Ebola, or get rid of the virus in the case of an
infected person.

She, however, noted that chances of being cured by an intake of Ewedu
when a victim has gotten to the stage of vomiting was low, but could
still be administered.

Ositelu, who is a professor of ‎Ophthalmology at the University of
Lagos, Akoka (UNILAG), said to administer the 'treatment', the Ewedu
should be rinsed thoroughly with liquid vinegar "blend and cook with
drinkable water, without adding salt or kaun (pottash) or any other
ingredients; then take a 25cl or half a tumbler measure once a week,
first thing in the morning before any meal" for prevention, adding
that those already infected should take it every morning for seven to
five days.

(the sun news)

Read More

Wearing A Bra Has No Link With Breast Cancer

I had no idea that the media had always carried the news that wearing
a bra could increase the risk of cancer. Well I'm glad I had no idea
about that...

Now scientists have come out to with contrary reports:

'To determine if concerns that have surfaced in the past over whether
wearing bras might increase the chances of tumors, the researchers
looked at types of bras women wore, when they began wearing them and
how long they wore them each day.

"We found no evidence that wearing a bra is associated with breast
cancer," said study author Lu Chen, a researcher at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She's also a doctoral
student in epidemiology at the University of Washington School of
Public Health.

Chen decided to look at the issue because media reports have suggested
that bras may hamper lymph circulation and drainage and interfere with
waste removal, thereby boosting breast cancer risk. In a book
published in 2005, the authors claimed to have evidence of a link
between bras and breast cancer risk. And there are concerns that
breast cancer may be more prevalent in developed countries, where
women are more likely to wear bras, she said.

But the topic has rarely been studied scientifically, Chen noted.

The new research, funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, is
published Sept. 5 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &
Prevention.

Chen's team evaluated more than 1,000 women who had been diagnosed
with breast cancer between 2000 and 2004, comparing them to 469 women
without breast cancer.

All of the study participants were past menopause, ranging in age from
55 to 74. Those with breast cancer had one of two common types --
invasive lobular cancer or invasive ductal cancer.

The researchers gathered information about bra cup size, whether the
bras they wore had underwires, how long each day they wore them and
when they started wearing a bra. Women also told the researchers about
any family history of breast cancer, their height and weight,
education level, race, income, whether they used hormone replacement
therapy and whether they had had a recent mammogram.

The bra-wearing habits were not linked with breast cancer risk, Chen found.

"Our study found no evidence that wearing a bra increases a woman's
risk for breast cancer," she said. "The risk was similar no matter how
many hours per day women wore a bra, whether they wore a bra with an
underwire, or at what age they first began wearing a bra."

The new study is solid, said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, a professor
of cancer prevention at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

"This study tells the obvious, the logical, that it is safe to wear a
bra," he said.

When another Internet scare story crops up about bras and breast
cancer risk, women would be wise to ignore it, he added.

"The Internet is a treasure, but it contains plenty of nonsense,"
Trichopoulos said. "Women have enough to worry about without having to
worry about wearing a bra [or not]."

More information

To learn more about risk factors for breast cancer, visit the American
Cancer Society.'

(SOURCES: Lu Chen, M.P.H., researcher, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center, and doctoral student, epidemiology, University of Washington
School of Public Health, Seattle; Dimitrios Trichopoulos, M.D.,
Vincent L. Gregory professor of cancer prevention and professor,
epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Sept. 5, 2014,
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention)

Source: Health Day News

Read More

Take A "Coffee Nap" and Stay Alert All Day In Your Workplace

For those workers who get to the office really early because they want
to beat the early morning traffic this is a very good idea.

Most times you want to catch a little nap just before work begins so
you can feel more active, but have you tried a coffee nap?

Scientists have observed that taking a "coffee nap" will help to
maximise your brain's alertness and is more effective than taking a
nap or coffee alone.




How Do You Take a "Coffee nap"?

First, drink a cup of coffee as quickly as you can (tea and soda have
less caffeine than coffee).

Then immediately take a nap; the usual nap you would have taken anyway
just that you took a cup of coffee before.
So lay your head on the table or relax in your staff lounge and take a
20minute nap (even if just a half-sleep stage)




How Exactly Does The Coffee Nap Work?

After caffeine is absorbed through your small intestine and passes
into your bloodstream, it crosses into your brain.
There, it fits into receptors that are normally filled by a
similarly-shaped molecule, called adenosine.

Adenosine is a by-product of brain activity, and when it accumulates
at high enough levels, it plugs into these receptors and makes you
feel tired. If caffeine (which takes about 20minutes to reach the
brain) blocks the receptors, then adenosine is unable to do so.

So the caffeine competes with adenosine for these spots, filling some,
but not others.

Now when you sleep adenosine is cleared from the brain. If you nap for
longer than 15 or 20 minutes, your brain is more likely to enter
deeper stages of sleep that take some time to recover from. But
shorter naps generally don't lead to this so-called "sleep inertia".

So if you nap for those 20 minutes, you'll reduce your levels of
adenosine just in time for the caffeine to kick in.

The caffeine will have less adenosine to compete with, and will
thereby be even more effective in making you alert.




This is one great move you can make to keep you alert throughout your
work period.
Try it and let's know how it goes.


(Photo-credit: http://www.wszhuxian.com/furniture/office-chair-you-can-sleep-in.html)

(Thanks to http://www.vox.com/science)

Read More

Mid-week Nuggets: Let's Burst Some Anger Myths and Face Facts

Myth: I shouldn't "hold in" my anger. It's healthy to vent and let it out.

Fact: While it's true that suppressing and ignoring anger is
unhealthy, venting is no better. Anger is not something you have to
"let out" in an aggressive way in order to avoid blowing up. In fact,
outbursts and tirades only fuel the fire and reinforce your anger
problem.


Myth: Anger, aggression, and intimidation help me earn respect and get
what I want.

Fact: True power doesn't come from bullying others. People may be
afraid of you, but they won't respect you if you can't control
yourself or handle opposing viewpoints. Others will be more willing to
listen to you and accommodate your needs if you communicate in a
respectful way.


Myth: I can't help myself. Anger isn't something you can control.

Fact: You can't always control the situation you're in or how it makes
you feel, but you can control how you express your anger. And you can
express your anger without being verbally or physically abusive. Even
if someone is pushing your buttons, you always have a choice about how
to respond.


Myth: Anger management is about learning to suppress your anger.

Fact: Never getting angry is not a good goal. Anger is normal, and it
will come out regardless of how hard you try to suppress it. Anger
management is all about becoming aware of your underlying feelings and
needs and developing healthier ways to manage upset. Rather than
trying to suppress your anger, the goal is to express it in
constructive ways.

(http://m.helpguide.org/articles/emotional-health/anger-management)

Read More

Communication Tips: 7 Types of Body Language to Master

The message you pass through your body language will affect how others
see you, if they will like, respect you or even trust you.

Interestingly, many people send confusing or negative signals without
even knowing it. When this happens, both connection and trust are
damaged.

There are many different types of non-verbal communication:

1. Facial expressions

The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless
emotions without saying a word. And unlike some forms of non-verbal
communication, facial expressions are universal. The facial
expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust
are the same across cultures.

2. Body movements and posture

Consider how your perceptions of people are affected by the way they
sit, walk, stand up, or hold their head. The way you move and carry
yourself communicates a wealth of information to the world. This type
of non-verbal communication includes your posture, bearing, stance,
and subtle movements.

3. Gestures

Gestures are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. We wave, point,
beckon, and use our hands when we're arguing or speaking
animatedly—expressing ourselves with gestures often without thinking.
However, the meaning of gestures can be very different across cultures
and regions, so it's important to be careful to avoid
misinterpretation.

4. Eye contact

Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact is an
especially important type of non-verbal communication. The way you
look at someone can communicate many things, including interest,
affection, hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in
maintaining the flow of conversation and for gauging the other
person's response.

5. Touch

We communicate a great deal through touch. Think about the messages
given by the following: a weak handshake, a timid tap on the shoulder,
a warm bear hug, a reassuring slap on the back, a patronizing pat on
the head, or a controlling grip on your arm.

6. Space

Have you ever felt uncomfortable during a conversation because the
other person was standing too close and invading your space? We all
have a need for physical space, although that need differs depending
on the culture, the situation, and the closeness of the relationship.
You can use physical space to communicate many different non-verbal
messages, including signals of intimacy and affection, aggression or
dominance.

7. Voice

It's not just what you say, it's how you say it. When we speak, other
people "read" our voices in addition to listening to our words. Things
they pay attention to include your timing and pace, how loud you
speak, your tone and inflection, and sounds that convey understanding,
such as "ahh" and "uh-huh." Think about how someone's tone of voice,
for example, can indicate sarcasm, anger, affection, or confidence.

Important Points to Note:

Improving your awareness of the signs and signals of body language
will help you understand people better and communicate more
effectively.

Body language is not necessarily always loud sometimes it can be subtle.

Body language helps reflect on the outside whatever is happening
inside, so this is one important skill you need to learn when dealing
with people, especially in the workplace.

(special thanks to helpguide.org)

Read More

UK Deputy High Commissioner Slumps, Dies at Lagos Airport

The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Peter
Carter Leslie, slumped and died Tuesday from a possible heart attack
on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The deceased who arrived Lagos on United Airlines Flight UA143 at 3.50
pm local time slumped in the avio-bridge while he was alighting from
the aircraft.

THISDAY gathered that officials from British High Commission and the
Port Health Services tried to resuscitate him with oxygen but the
effort failed.

"We have an incident here. The UK Deputy High Commissioner who just
arrived this afternoon on a United Airlines flight just slumped as he
was coming out of the aircraft and died. He is being evaluated at this
moment," an informed source told THISDAY.

Nobody knew the cause of the death or if he was sick onboard the
aircraft, but a worker with one of the aviation handling companies
disclosed that he saw the gathering of officers from the high
commission who kept mum and looked solemn, before he learnt about the
tragic incident.

THISDAY learnt that as the deceased was leaving the aircraft, he
started gasping for breath and needed oxygen which was brought to
resuscitate him but failed to recover.

Efforts to get the confirmation of the British High Commission in
Lagos and Abuja, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, proved
unsuccessful yesterday, as calls to the commission and the ministry
were unanswered.

However, a letter written by the Federal Ministry of Health Port
Health Services, which was signed by Doctors E.E. Ukatu and Abdullai,
and was made available to THISDAY by airport sources, stated: "The
Port Health Services was called today (2/9/14) by a FAAN (Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria) medical nurse at about 4.07 pm from the
D arrival screening point to see a passenger (the deceased) said to
have arrived onboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas.

"It was reported that after disembarking, the passenger was observed
to be clutching his chest and asking for help.

"In the course of examination, he was asked if he was Asthmatic, and
he said 'MAY BE'.

"On examination, he was found to be pale, in respiratory distress
(gasping for breath), his pulse was rapid and thready. Based on his
response to the question if he was asthmatic, a Ventolin inhaler was
administered, but was not effective, as the patient was restless and
threw off the inhaler to the floor. He was placed on the left lateral
position and at the same time, oxygen was called for.

"Efforts were made to administer oxygen, while a second doctor was
called and suction applied via a suction machine to clear the airway.
"Subsequently, the patient suffered a cardio-pulmonary arrest; the
radial and carotid pulses were no longer palpable and patient was
observed to be cyanosed. Attempts at resuscitation proved abortive.
Pupils were fixed and dilated and patient was certified dead at 4.26
pm."

(thisday live)

Read More

5 Signs Entrepreneurship is Not For You

I have always had this thought
that being an entrepreneur is a calling. The road of an entrepreneur
is not "bread and butter" and takes a strong conviction and inner
vision to keep going.

Wanting to be your own boss is not a good enough reason to think
entrepreneurship is for you. You can be successful working for another
person, infact there are many who have run companies like it was
theirs...But you know what the company is actually theirs because
they've become a part of it.

So how do you know if being an entrepreneur is not for you?

According to Enterprise54:

"Many people are seeking ways of diversifying income, seeking
alternative or multiple streams of income. Many are turning to
entrepreneurship and small businesses for this reason.

However, with the volume of data available about small business or
startup failures, it is important to determine if starting a small
business is the best way for you.

This article seeks to identify 5 key pointers that will help the
reader, determine if entrepreneurship is really their forte.

1. You Are a Habitual Latecomer

If you are a habitual latecomer in your present job, entrepreneurship
isn't for you. The reason is not far fetched. Entrepreneurship
requires efficient time management, consistency and punctuality. These
are skills and attitudes you need to develop while on a paid job. If
you are late to a paid job, you'll be late in your business. When you
are late to close a deal, you begin to lose respect and client base
keeps reducing. When that happens, you won't be in business for too
long.

2. You Need Constant Supervision

The good thing about having your own business is the freedom and
authority that comes with it. You can decide to delay a task because
no one is breathing down your neck. However that same freedom could be
the death of your small business. If you are not careful, it signals
the beginning of sloppiness. Indiscipline is one of the reasons
startups fail in Nigeria. If after years on the job, you still need
monitoring and supervision, entrepreneurship isn't for you. Don't even
bother, because you will run down your startup. Entrepreneurship
requires thinking on your feet, innovations, doggedness and
discipline. No external supervision, (except mentoring).

3. Your Input in Your Present Job is minimal

As a business owner, you need to be able to multi-task. Especially
when you are starting out, You do a whole lot of things. If your input
in your present job is minuscule, entrepreneurship isn't for you.

4. You Don't Do More Than Your Job Roles

Entrepreneurship requires hard work, doing more to beat your
competition. Not for lazy asses. If all you do in your present job is
what you are given and nothing more, entrepreneurship isn't for you.
It simply means you are not ready to take more challenges, you are not
ready to solve more problems and entrepreneurship is about solving
problems.

5. You Are Happy With Your Job

If you are happy and fulfilled in your paid job, entrepreneurship
isn't for you. The rule of the thumb in choosing a career or starting
a business is to do something that you are comfortable with. Something
that makes you happy. Entrepreneurship requires a clear head & healthy
mind. If you are happy with your current Job, stick to what you are
good at."

(credit:http://enterprise54.com/5-signs-entrepreneurship-is-not-for-you/)

Read More

Watching Action Films Make You Eat More

Watching action films makes you eat more than viewing boring TV, a
study has found, as being distracted means you don't notice how much
you've eaten

People eat twice as many calories while watching fast-paced action
films like Ewan McGregor in The Island than a TV talk show, a study
has found.

It is well known that watching a lot of television encourages a
generally sedentary lifestyle which can lead to weight gain but one of
the first studies to look at eating habits during viewing has found
that the type of programme has an effect on what people eat.

A team at Cornell University in America found that volunteers watching
The Island ate twice as many calories as those watching a talk-show.

It is thought that the distracting effect of being engrossed in the
film meant viewers paid less attention to their snacks.

The researchers found that it did not matter what the viewers were
eating. If given carrots and grapes during the film, they ate more of
those than during the talk show.

So they suggested swapping chocolate and crisp snacks while watching
TV or when at the cinema for healthy alternatives could cut their
overall calorie consumption.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lead author Dr Aner Tal said: "We find that if you're watching an
action movie while snacking your mouth will see more action too.

"In other words, the more distracting the program is the more you will eat."

In the study, 94 university students were given chocolate M&M sweets,
biscuits, carrots and grapes while watching a 20 minute segment of The
Island or a chat show called the Charlie Ross Show, or The Island
without sound.

Co-author Brian Wansink, professor and director of the Cornell Food
and Brand Lab said: "People who were watching The Island ate almost
twice as many snacks – 98 per cent more than those watching the talk
show.

"Even those watching "The Island" without sound ate 36 per cent more.

"The good news is that action movie watchers also eat more healthy
foods, if that's what's in front of them. Take advantage of this."

It was found that those watching The Island consumed 354 calories,
those watching the same segment without sound consumed 314 calories
and those watching the Charlie Ross Show consumed 215 calories.

Dr Tal said: "More stimulating programs that are fast paced, include
many camera cuts, really draw you in and distract you from what you
are eating. They can make you eat more because you're paying less
attention to how much you are putting in your mouth."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11067714/Watching-action-films-makes-you-eat-more.html

Read More

Workplace Stress: 5 Ideas For Handling A Bad Boss

The truth is that no one really agrees that they are bad bosses
including the bad bosses themselves.

So do you really have a bad boss? I don't even like using the word
"boss" because it is closely related to "bossy" which is already a
negative word. I prefer using "Superior" or "Leader" but because of
the context of this write-up I'll stick with boss.

Bad Boss Quiz

Does your boss:

1) take credit for your ideas or achievements?
2) major on negative rather than positive feedback?
3) behave controlling?
4) behave picky, petty or malicious?

If your answer is yes to these questions then you do have a bad boss.
The most frustrating thing in this situation is that your boss most
likely has no idea that he/she is "bad". He/She looks at himself like
a "no nonsense, get the job done asap" "staff need iron hands" kind of
person.

5 Ideas On How to Handle A Bad Boss

1) Talk to your boss(with respect ofcourse). Let him/her know what you
need to make your work more productive.
Concentrate on your needs not his/her faults.

2) Try to get a mentor who is also a manager at par with or even
senior to your boss.

3) Talk to Human Resources when your boss remains unrepentant or
unresponsive; be as objective as possible and not over-emotional.

4) If things still don't change, ask to be transfered since HR is
already aware of the case.

5) If this still doesn't produce any change then start your job
search. There's really no point working in a hostile environment.

Read More

Responding to Your Baby's Babbling Helps In Language Speaking Development

Parents pay attention to your baby's "goos" and "gees" because they
are actually communicating.

When my son was a baby we had this saying that 'no baby ever spoke
"tata" like him'. He would communicate with lots of "tata"s and we
would always respond to him like we understood what he was saying. The
interesting thing is that I never even noticed when he started
speaking properly.

Now scientists are saying that responding to your baby's language will
actually help speed up his language speaking.

According to a new study by the University of Iowa and Indiana University:

Parents who consciously engage with their babbling infants can
accelerate their children's vocalizing and language learning.
These findings challenge the belief that human communication is innate
and can't be influenced by parental feedback.

Researchers observed the interactions between 12 mothers and their
8-month-old infants during free play twice a month for 30 minutes over
a six-month period. They noted how the mothers responded to their
child's positive vocalizations, such as babbling and cooing,
especially when it was directed toward the mother.

Current research in Gros-Louis's lab has found similar levels of
responsiveness of mothers and fathers to infants' babbling.

What researchers discovered is infants whose mothers responded to what
they thought their babies were saying, showed an increase in
developmentally advanced, consonant-vowel vocalizations, which means
the babbling has become sophisticated enough to sound more like words.
The babies also began directing more of their babbling over time
toward their mothers.

On the other hand, infants whose mothers did not try as much to
understand them and instead directed their infants' attention at times
to something else did not show the same rate of growth in their
language and communication skills.

Gros-Louis says the difference was mothers who engaged with their
infants when they babbled let their children know they could
communicate. Consequently, those babies turned more often to their
mothers and babbled.

"The infants were using vocalizations in a communicative way, in a
sense, because they learned they are communicative," Gros-Louis says.

Gros-Louis and her colleagues took that research a step further by
observing the interactions of mothers and infants over a longer period
of time and without instructing the mothers how to respond. Thus, they
added a control group -- the mothers who directed their babies'
attention elsewhere versus those who actively engaged when their
infants looked at them and babbled.

Once again, the results showed infants whose mothers attended more
closely to their babbling vocalized more complex sounds and develop
language skills sooner.

So go ahead and respond to your baby...Who says you and baby can't
have a constructive chit chat?

Read More