AIDS—A New Frontier In Research

“Aloe is to an AIDS patient such as insulin is to a diabetic.” ~ Terry Pulse, M.D.

Aloe Vera in Body Balance

Our present emerging state of holistic health consciousness is due, in part, to people who are willing to look beyond traditional thinking in health care.

An open mind among health professionals is only one stage in the holistic health movement. The education of the patient is also paramount in the new health consciousness.

This is the day of individuals being responsible for themselves and their health expression. Information is the key to knowledge. Only you can determine: Is Aloe vera (and its properties) mythical, magical, or medicinal?

AIDS – A NEW FRONTIER IN RESEARCH

Since 1987, it has apparently been relatively common knowledge among AIDS victims in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that Aloe juice or a drug (POLYSACCHARIDE or ACEMANNAN), derived from it, will provide relief from the symptoms of the disease and will keep those who have the virus but who do not have any of the symptoms of AIDS from developing the disease.

Even though the evidence available is preliminary, we feel that because the work was done at the Dallas-Fort Worth Medical Center, Grand Prairie, Texas, and because of the status of the physicians involved, the work is important. We believe we would be remiss in not reporting the results achieved thus far. It is very important to understand that this research does not show that Aloe vera is a cure for AIDS, but it does indicate that in all cases examined, excellent results were achieved, and that in a majority of test cases, Aloe vera stopped the progress of the disease.

In other words, Aloe is not a cure for AIDS, but is a highly effective treatment.

This premise was first put forward in an article titled “Aloe Drug May Mimic AZT Without Toxicity” in Medical World News, December, 1987. The article reported on the research work of Dr. H. Reginald McDaniel. According to Dr. McDaniel, “A substance in the Aloe plant (acemannan) shows preliminary signs of boosting AIDS patients’ immune systems and blocking the human immune-deficiency virus’ spread, without toxic side effects.”

The results of Dr. McDaniel’s pilot study showed that the symptoms of sixteen AIDS patients were significantly reduced when given 1,000 mg. a day of the drug for three months. After three months, six patients with advanced cases of AIDS showed a 20% improvement in symptoms, while less seriously ill patients improved by an average of 71%. Dr. McDaniel has also reported his research findings at the combined meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and College of American Pathologists. He says, “Fever and symptoms of night sweats, diarrhea, and opportunistic infections were either eliminated or significantly improved in all patients, with corresponding drops in HIV antibody positive cell cultures and HIV core antigen levels.” Red cell mass increased in all but one patient and twelve initially leukopenic patients had a slight rise in white count after treatment.

No toxic effects have been noted in a total of twenty-nine patients who have now received the experimental drug. There is also evidence that good quality Aloe vera juice can relieve the symptoms of AIDS. This is not surprising, since the drug (POLYSACCHARIDE or ACEMANNAN) is produced by the plant and would be present in the juice.

An article by Irwin Frank in the July 12, 1988 edition of The Dallas Times Herald, quotes Dr. Terry Pulse as saying that twenty ounces of Aloe vera juice, with the drug stabilized in the Aloe, was administered orally to sixty-nine AIDS patients. (Apparently, the doctor means stabilized Aloe vera juice.)

According to the article, Pulse says the patients treated with the drug were classified as those who would “never improve or get better,” but following treatment, were able to “return to normal work.” The article quotes Dr. Pulse as saying that these patients, “…go back to their standard energy level, their symptoms disappear almost completely—and that’s in 81% of the patients that I put on this drug.” He adds that those patients with the AIDS virus who showed no symptoms of the disease remained free of symptoms while taking the drug, which is derived from the Aloe vera plant.

“The sooner you can get patients on this drug, the better off they are,” says Pulse. He said his patients take twenty ounces of the liquid a day “and I keep them on it indefinitely. I’ve had some of them on it for over two years.”

“We have had deaths,” he says, “but in those patients (who died), most can be attributed to having gone and gotten chemotherapy for skin cancers or whatever, or have taken other drugs in combination that knocked out the immune system, such as AZT.”

When asked what his study and treatment meant as far as an AIDS treatment or cure is concerned, Pulse replied, “It means that until there is a magic bullet, this is a stopgap measure, and it buys them (the AIDS patients) time at a fraction of the cost” of AZT.

After reading this article, I obtained copies of the actual research data published by Dr. Pulse, together with his colleagues, H. R. McDaniel and T. Reg Watson, all of the Dallas-Fort Worth Medical Center.

This information was evaluated to eliminate the confusing aspects concerning exactly what was used in the study, whether the product was Aloe vera juice or the drug, or both, and in what percentages.

From this data and further investigation, it appears that Aloe vera juice in its natural state is just as effective as a treatment for AIDS as the freeze-dried drug derived from it.

It is obvious that any AIDS patient who believes that Aloe vera might help his condition should be very careful to buy only real, 100% Aloe Vera Juice which, as we have noted repeatedly elsewhere, neither looks nor tastes like water. Real Aloe,  has a rather tart taste.

Body Balance by LifeForce International combine organic Aloe Vera juice with a blend of 9 wild harvested sea vegetables. The Best Of Land And Sea

Chronic Fatigue and Anemia

I feel that I have made the case for proper whole food nutrition on this blog. I have posted many articles espousing the nutritional power of aloe vera and sea vegetables, but nothing speaks louder than hearing from someone whose life was irrevocably changed through the gift of proper nutrition.

I give you Andrew Goforth from Boulder Colorado.

Enjoy…

Anemic No Longer With “Body Balance”

My name is Andrew Goforth and I live in Boulder Colorado .

When I was 18, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and Anemia (low iron/ferritin levels in Blood). Both of these diagnoses together have packed a heavy punch over the years concerning my level of endurance and stamina.  If I went for a long hike or exuded too much energy in one given day, then next two to three days would be spent resting or on the doorstep of contracting whatever was the latest bug out there. I began seeing a Naturopathic doctor for some solutions three years ago. We had new blood tests run on my ferratin levels in 2008.

The normal range of iron in the human body ranges from 30-300. My level since 1999 has not been above 9!!!

I have been on all sorts of different iron supplements and have tried many different solutions. Even my Naturopathic doctor was stumped and didn’t quite know what to do for me.

After six months of drinking “Body Balance” I realized that I was feeling much more energized than I had in several years. I decided it was time to get my blood retested. I got my results by email from my doctor and when I read that my ferratin level was at 63, I cried with joy!  Not only had I moved within a normal range but my level bumped up 54 notches!!! Needless to say I have been so inspired by my involvement with Lifeforce International since these results!

In the early stages I experienced energy increase, sugar cravings decrease, caffeine intake decrease, mental clarity increase, and all are still present six months in.

If there is anything else that you may need from me please let me know by either email or phone

Smiles and blessings

Andrew

It is stories like Andrew’s that keeps me  sharing my knowledge, insights and personal experiences about whole food nutrition like the product Body Balance.

Calcium: That “Miracle” Mineral ~ It’s not just for strong bones and healthy teeth

When you were a child, your mother probably told you: “Drink your milk. You need the calcium for healthy bones and teeth.”

Well, mom was right. Calcium does help keep bones and teeth strong, and it also plays a key role in other vital bodily functions. But what your mother couldn’t have predicted are the recent headlines heralding calcium as a possible player in the fight against many ailments.

Now the bad news: nearly half of all Americans don’t get enough of this essential mineral.

Here’s how calcium can help protect your health—and how to be sure you’re getting enough.

Lowering Blood Pressure

More than 50 million Americans have high blood pressure (hypertension). What’s so frightening about this so-called silent killer is that it often does not produce symptoms for years, secretly damaging arteries and organs throughout the body until it erupts in the form of stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure or kidney disease. If left untreated, even mild hypertension can reduce the life expectancy of a 35- year-old by several years. (Readings of 140 to 159 over 90 to 99 are mildly high; about 120/80 is normal.)

That’s why high blood pressure is commonly treated with antihypertensive drugs. But studies suggest that in some people an increase in calcium consumption can help control blood pressure without medication.

Calcium also seems to help prevent high blood pressure. Evaluating the results of a 13-year survey undertaken by the National Center for Health Statistics, James H. Dwyer, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, found that people who consumed 1300 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day were 12 percent less likely to develop hypertension than those consuming only 300 mg a day. In people under age 40, risk was reduced by up to 25 percent.

Soon doctors may urge some hypertension patients to increase their calcium intake, much the way they now advise sodium restriction. “It’s easier to add food or supplements than to go on a low-sodium diet,” asserts Dr. David McCarron, professor of medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. “Our studies show that people who try the low-sodium approach don’t stay with it very long.”

Preventing Heart Disease

Several studies suggest that there’s another way calcium may shield the heart from harm: it may help lower blood cholesterol. In a study led by Dr. Margo A. Denke, associate professor of internal medicine at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, 13 men with moderately high cholesterol levels were given a low-calcium diet (410 mg of calcium daily) for ten days, and had their cholesterol levels checked.

Then, over another ten days, the men were on a fortified diet that supplied 2200 mg of calcium daily. End result: the high-calcium regimen reduced their levels of total cholesterol by six percent and slashed “bad” LDL cholesterol by 11 percent.

What’s more, “good” HDL cholesterol levels stayed the same. Denke and her colleagues report that getting plenty of calcium may be an effective adjunct to traditional cholesterol-lowering diet therapies.

McCarron agrees: “If you increase your calcium intake—whether with diet or supplements—your cholesterol gets better.”

Easing Menstrual Woes

There’s no cure yet for pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)—those unpleasant physical and mental complaints some women endure every month prior to menstruation. But several studies suggest that calcium can help tame PMS.

Researchers led by psychologist James G. Penland at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, N.D., studied ten women suffering common menstrual and premenstrual symptoms. All the women spent half the study period on a diet containing 600 mg of calcium daily, and half on a diet containing 1300 mg daily.

While on the high-calcium diet, 70 percent reported less pain, such as backaches and cramping, during the menstrual phase, and 80 percent had less water retention during the premenstrual phase. Ninety percent experienced less crying, irritability and depression throughout their monthly cycles.

Avoiding Kidney Stones

For years doctors have told patients who suffer from kidney stones to limit calcium. The reason: calcium is a major component in about 80 percent of all stones.

But controversial new research suggests that the way to reduce the risk of kidney stones may be to increase calcium intake. (personal note here: I have been taking a liquid calcium supplement for over 5 years daily…no stones…no hypertension etc.)

In a Harvard School of Public Health study, Dr. Gary C. Curhan and colleagues followed 45,510 men with no history of kidney stones for four years. Those on diets high in calcium (a daily average of 1326 mg) were found to cut their risk of developing stones by one-third, compared with men who consumed the least calcium (516 mg per day).

Skeptics stress the difficulty of establishing calcium as the factor in this reduction of risk. They caution kidney-stone patients to consult with their physicians before changing their dietary habits.

Fighting Osteoporosis

Characterized by a gradual thinning and weakening of the bones, osteoporosis affects more than seven million Americans—most of them women—with another 17 million at serious risk. In the disease’s advanced stages, vertebrae can become so fragile that they easily collapse, often leading to a debilitating curving of the
spine. Increasing fragility can also mean greater risk of fractures, especially crippling fractures of the hip.

Dozens of studies show that increasing calcium intake can be vital in slowing bone loss and reducing fracture rates brought on by osteoporosis. This is especially true when calcium is taken with vitamin D, which increases the ability of the body to absorb the mineral.

In a 1992 French study of 1765 women over age 69, those who were given supplements containing 1200 mg of calcium and 20 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D had an average 2.7-percent increase in bone mass in the hips and thighs after 18 months. Women taking only a placebo suffered a 4.6-percent loss in bone mass.

Over the same period, the women taking calcium and vitamin D had 43-percent fewer hip fractures than the control group. Many experts think that the time to start increasing calcium intake is in adolescence, when most adult bone mass is being formed.

According to Dr. Robert P. Heaney, professor of medicine at Omaha’s Creighton University, “There’s very good evidence that at least the last two generations of American women have consumed an inadequate amount of calcium beginning
in puberty.” As baby boomers grow older, says Heaney, osteoporosis could become an epidemic. Luckily it’s never too late to start getting plenty of this vital mineral.
Do You Get Enough Calcium?

The current recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of calcium are 400 mg for children under six months; 600 mg for children six months to a year; 800 mg for children one to ten and men and women over 25; 1200 mg for people 11 to 24 and pregnant or lactating women.

In light of recent findings, however, experts are reevaluating the amount of calcium needed to maintain good health. Scientists assembled by the National Institutes of Health in 1994 found that the RDA may be too low for many people. And, on average, Americans get considerably less than the RDA.

The committee has recommended raising the RDAs to these levels: 1000 mg for women 25 to 50, women 51 to 65 taking hormone replacement therapy and men 25 to 65; 1200 to 1500 mg for people 11 to 24, and pregnant and lactating women; 1500 mg for women 51 to 65 not taking HRT and for people over 65.

Pregnant women need extra calcium to help the fetal skeleton form and, several studies suggest, to help prevent pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, a major cause of premature, underweight births. The elderly need more calcium to make up for a decline in the body’s ability to absorb the mineral.

One of the best sources of calcium is dairy products (one cup of skim milk equals 96.3 mg of calcium; 8 oz. of nonfat yogurt equal 96 mg). Other calcium-rich fare includes: tofu with calcium (1/2 cup equals 80 mg); pink, canned salmon with bones (3 oz. equal 58 mg); Chinese cabbage (1/2 cup equals 42.5 mg); kale (1/2 cup equals 27.6 mg); sardines (1 oz. equals 29 mg); rutabaga (1/2 cup equals 22.1 mg); white beans (1/2 cup equals 19.2 mg); and broccoli (1/2 cup equals 18.4 mg).

It can be difficult to get enough calcium from food alone—especially if you don’t like or are allergic to milk.

Two possibilities for those who need to boost calcium intake are calcium-enriched products (such as fortified cereals, juices or breads) and supplements.

The safety of calcium supplements, however, has been controversial. Some types—particularly those made from bone meal—may contain lead, which at high levels can stunt young children’s growth and I.Q.

The most commonly recommended calcium supplement is calcium citrate. However calcium citrate contains low levels of elemental calcium and therefore would require that you take more than the daily amount listed on the bottle. Plus the majority of this type of supplement is in  a hard to absorb pill form.

Some people recommend  antacids that contain calcium carbonate. MY PERSONAL OPINION IS THIS IS  A WASTE OF TIME, MONEY AND THE OTHER INGREDIENTS IN THE ANTACID ARE UNNEEDED.

PLUS, calcium carbonate is the hardest type of calcium to absorb…UNLESS IT IS COMBINED WITH AN ACID SUCH AS OROTIC ACID.

Calcium carbonate contain the HIGHEST amount of elemental calcium available and when chelated with orotic acid you come up with CALCIUM OROTATE; WHICH IS THE HIGHEST ABSORBABLE  FORM FOR A CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT.

“Taking 500 to 1000 mg of calcium in supplement form can be an insurance policy,” says Dr. McCarron, “especially for older people and pregnant women.”

Getting enough of this “miracle” mineral every day may require a small effort. If you consider the payoff—good health—it’s worth it.

Whole or Synthetic: The Truth Behind Food Supplements

Americans are now spending more than $17 billion a year on supplements for health and wellness. Strangely enough, the rates of some forms of chronic disease have not changed, while the rates of others have actually increased. There are a number of reasons for these poor statistics and many things remain a mystery.

One thing seems fairly clear, however…

Most supplements aren’t helping very much.

I’m not saying there are no helpful supplements out there. There certainly are. What is becoming more apparent, however, is supplements will not help much if one does not first address the necessary basics of health and healing.

What is also clear is that not all supplements are created equal.

Whole Food Nutrients vs. Synthetic, Isolated Nutrients

Most people are at least somewhat familiar with the idea that whole foods are better for you than refined foods. Although there are numerous viewpoints on what kind of foods we should or should not be eating, as well as the ideal ratio of these foods, everyone from all corners of the diet and nutrition world seems to agree on one thing: No matter which foods we choose and in what ratios we eat them, whole foods are better for you than refined foods.

This fact has never really been argued. Everyone agrees raw honey is better for you than white sugar or that brown rice is better for you than white rice. Why should it be any different for vitamins?

Often, I have been puzzled by the health care professional who goes on and on about the value of whole foods and how refined foods—having been robbed of all the extra nutrients they naturally come with—are not healthy for you. Then, they go on to prescribe a shopping bag full of isolated, refined vitamins for you to take!

Just like refined foods, these refined vitamins have been robbed of all of the extra accessory nutrients that they naturally come with as well. In turn, like refined foods, they can create numerous problems and imbalances in your body if taken at high levels for long periods of time. They can also act more like drugs in your body, forcing themselves down one pathway or another. At the very least, they won’t help you as much as high quality food and food-based supplements.

Whole Food Supplements

Whole food supplements are what their name suggests: Supplements made from concentrated whole foods. The vitamins found within these supplements are not isolated. They are highly complex structures that combine a variety of enzymes, coenzymes, antioxidants, trace elements, activators and many other unknown or undiscovered factors all working together synergistically, to enable this vitamin complex to do its job in your body.

Nutrients from within this complex cannot be taken apart or isolated from the whole, and then be expected to do the same job in the body as the whole complex
is designed to do.

The perfect example of this difference can be seen in an automobile. An automobile is a wonderfully designed complex machine that needs all of its parts to be present and in place to function properly. Wheels are certainly an important part of the whole, but you could never isolate them from the rest of the car, call them a car or expect them to function like a car. They need the engine, body and everything else.

The same analogy applies to the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or vitamin E (delta tocopherol) you can find on most health food store shelves. They are parts of an entire complex that serve a purpose when part of the whole. However, they cannot do the job of the entire complex by themselves.

With similar logic in place, one can analyze what a typical multivitamin truly is. The automobile equivalent of creating a multivitamin would be going to a junk yard, finding all of the separate parts you would need to make up an entire automobile, throwing them together in a heap (or capsule in terms of the multivitamin) and expecting that heap to drive like a car!

Obviously, there is a difference…

Science cannot create life. Only life can create life.

Synthetic or Isolated Nutritional Supplements

Isolated nutrients or synthetic nutrients are not natural, in that they are never found by themselves in nature. Taking these isolated nutrients, especially at the ultrahigh doses found in formulas today, is more like taking a drug. Studies show the body treats these isolated and synthetic nutrients like xenobiotics (foreign substances).

By the same token, food-based supplements are never treated like this by your body. For example, your urine will never turn florescent yellow, no matter how much meat (a good source of B vitamins) you eat. This sort of rapid excretion happens only with foreign substances in your body.

Not only are isolated nutrients treated like drugs or other chemicals by your body. Like drugs, they can create problems for you too. Nature does not produce any nutrient in an isolated form. The nutrients in foods are blended together in a specific way and work best in that format. For an isolated nutrient to work properly in the body, it needs all the other parts that are naturally present in the food too.

If the parts are not all there from the start, they are taken from the body’s stored supply. This is why isolated nutrients often work for a little while, then seem to stop working. Once your body’s store of the extra nutrients is used up, the isolated nutrient you’re taking doesn’t work as well anymore. Worse yet, a deficiency in these extra nutrients can be created in your body.

And, because most nutrients are isolated from the foods they come in — using a wide array of potentially nasty solvents and other chemicals — taking high amounts of these products can also expose you to these potentially toxic chemicals, if care is not taken to remove them. With the burden we are already facing from the high number of chemicals in our environment, why would anyone want to add more?

Synergy and Potency

The various parts of a natural vitamin complex work together in a synergistic manner. Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Separating the group of compounds (in a vitamin complex) converts it from a physiological, biochemical, active micronutrient into a disabled, debilitated chemical of little or no value to living cells. The synergy is gone.

In other words, the automobile, in its original form, will drive better than a pile of its individual parts.

Most people don’t follow this logic when examining a nutritional supplement!!!

Supplement makers typically try to stuff as much as possible in a capsule, telling us that the more we take, the better it is for us. This is simply not the case. As you now know, it is not necessarily the amount of a nutrient you ingest that is important, but its form and how much is bioavailable that counts the most. In fact, remembering that ingesting single nutrients can actually create imbalances in the body, logic would dictate the higher the level of a single nutrient that you take in, the quicker this imbalance will occur.

What all of this means: The potency of a supplement has much more to do with synergy than with actual nutrient levels. It is a combined effect of all the parts of the food, rather than the chemical effect of a single part, that is most important.

Body Balance: Nutrition as Mother Nature intended!

Click here for more information and data sheet

Aloe Vera and Sea Vegetables Medical References

There are literally thousands of scientific research papers and data on the powerful health benefits relating to Aloe Vera and wild ocean sea vegetables. While current laws are very specific about what substances can be said to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent a disease, it is crystal clear from the following medical references that many of the compounds/ingredients contained in Aloe Vera and Sea Vegetables have very powerful health supporting benefits.

It should not take too long a leap of faith to come to the logical conclusion that any product in the marketplace that contains Aloe Vera and Sea Vegetables like Body Balance, should be an essential part of your personal health/wellness program.

Pub Med is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.

PubMed is on the NCBI…National Center for Biotechnology Information webpage.

NCBI was Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information – all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.

Fucoidan

1. Research has shown that Fucoidan is a natural anti-coagulant that helps prevent thickening of arterial walls. Fucoidan was researched as a natural alternative to the anti-coagulant drug Heparin for post-angioplasty intimal hyperplasia (thickening of blood vessel walls after reconstructive surgeries and the main reason for late bypass graft failures)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1315533

2. PubMED has over 130 medical articles on the anti-tumor properties of Fucoidan

One anti-cancer research report summarized its findings on Fucoidan saying, ” These results suggest that the anti-tumor activity of fucoidan is related to the enhancement of immune responses. The present results indicate that fucoidan may open new perspectives in cancer chemotherapy. Antitumor activity and immunological properties of marine algal polysaccharides, especially fucoidan, prepared from Sargassum thunbergii of Phaeophyceae

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8297113

3. Carrageenans…have antibacterial and antiviral properties. Medical research has shown that Carrageenans can kill both the bacteria Streptococcus and the Herpes Virus. http://www.bryantlabs.com/redmarinealgae-treatments.htm

4. Antitumor active fucoidan from the brown seaweed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7772818

Palmaria palmate and Porphyra or Nori

Extracts from dulse (Palmaria palmate) are effective antioxidants and inhibitors of cell proliferation in vitro.

School of Nutrition, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5B 2K3. yyuan@ryerson.ca

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of extracts from a variety of edible seaweeds.

Yuan YV, Walsh NA.

School of Nutrition, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, Ont., Canada M5B 2K3. yyuan@ryerson.ca

Dietary Laminaria and Porphyra sp. have been reported to reduce the risk of intestinal or mammary cancer in animal studies.

Aloe Vera

1. Identification of five phytosterols from Aloe vera gel as anti-diabetic compounds.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16819181?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

2. The inner gel component of Aloe vera suppresses bacterial-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines from human immune cells.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17560326?ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

3. The in vitro immunomodulatory effects of glyconutrients on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9829439?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

MINERAL DEPLETION TIED TO HEALTH ISSUES

1. IANA (International Academy Nutrition & Aging) task force on nutrition and cognitive decline with aging.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17435956?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

2. The role of diet in cognitive decline.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12541015?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

3. Metabolic and functional defects in selenium deficiency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6118889?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

4. Selected vitamins and trace elements support immune function by strengthening epithelial barriers and cellular and humoral immune responses.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17922955?ordinalpos=18&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

5. Nutrient intakes in women and congenital diaphragmatic hernia in their offspring. March of Dimes, California Research Division, Oakland, California 94609, USA. WYang@marchofdimes.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18181217?ordinalpos=14&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

PubMed PMID 7022654…says, “nutrient depletion in soil is leading to a continual decline of nutrients in foods”…”Humans need essential trace elements…they are indispensable for life”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7022654

Ocean Vegetables For Health

You may be more familiar with the term seaweeds (and the first thought following that may be ugh!), yet the history of these beautiful ocean plants tells a different tale.

Incredibly mineral-rich, they have been harvested for centuries and used as an important part of daily food and ceremony in many cultures around the world. In fact, at one time sea vegetable gardens were maintained in Hawaii specifically for royalty, and in Japan, kombu and nori were available to nobility only!

Because they use the sun’s energy for photosynthesis, sea vegetables are considered plants. However, they do not have a land-plant’s conducting tissues or root system; instead they absorb everything they need directly from the ocean around them.

Probably the most ancient of foods, the composition of sea vegetables is like a mirror of the blood and body fluids of a person in good health. Our blood contains all one hundred or so minerals and trace elements that exist in the ocean. Seaweeds contain these in the most assimilable form because their minerals and elements are integrated into living plant tissue.

As a result of chemical usage and depletion of our soil by modern agricultural methods, food grown today contains fewer minerals and nutrients. Seaweeds can supply many of these missing nutrients. In fact, as a group they contain the greatest amount and broadest range of minerals of any organism and hence make superb mineral-rich foods.

On account of this unusual mineral content, they are effective in relatively small, supplementary amounts. Normally, the ideal way to use seaweed is regularly as an ingredient in meals. They have a remarkable ability to combine with other vegetables, grains and legumes to provide better utilization of protein and all other nutrients. In addition to a wealth of minerals, vitamins and amino acids, seaweeds are especially excellent sources of iodine, calcium and iron. So… Still not so sure you’re ready to try them?

Take a look at just a few of the incredible benefits you can expect to get from these gifts from the sea. When compared to plants that grow on land, sea vegetables are 10 to 20 times higher in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Hijiki (also known as hiziki), arame and wakame contain 10 times the calcium of milk; when compared to the iron available in beef, sea lettuce has 25 times more, hijiki 8 times more, wakame and other kelps four times more. Nori, familiar to most as the dark green sea vegetable sheet used at sushi bars, can pack a walloping protein content as high as 25-50% of its dry weight-the highest of any ocean vegetable, and it is also high in vitamin A.

Dulse (so commonly eaten in the Canadian coastal area that you can find it next to the fruits and vegetables of any grocery store!) is also rich in vitamin A, as well as iron.

This should get your attention: After the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia, sea vegetable companies’ sales shot up. Why? Studies have proven that the sodium alginate found in sea plants in the kelp family (kombu, sea palm, wakame, and others) can bind with radioactive strontium to pass it out of our intestinal tracts with the stool.

After the Nagasaki bombing occurred, people who ate a strict macrobiotic diet—including brown rice and miso soup with sea vegetables—did not suffer from radiation poisoning, even though some were within a mile of the explosion!

The high iodine content was helpful here as well: If proper amounts of natural iodine already exist in the thyroid gland, then it cannot absorb any other forms of iodine, such as radioactive iodine, a toxic pollutant. The natural iodine in seaweeds is an easy, nontoxic way to meet the requirement of iodine in your diet.

The symptoms of iodine deficiency include: chronic fatigue, apathy, dry skin, intolerance to cold, weight gain and enlargement of the thyroid (goiter). These symptoms are the same as those of thyroid hormone deficiency. Just two tablespoons of a kelp seaweed taken daily (kombu and digitata kelp are especially high in this nutrient), or a few kelp tablets, can supply all the iodine you need. And while iodine supplements can be toxic if taken in excess, there is no need to be concerned when eating your sea vegetables. Have as much as you like!

Truthfully though, bringing sea vegetables into your diet can be a bit daunting at first. The newness of texture, taste and smell even stopped a few of us veteran ocean plant chompers in the beginning! Don’t be afraid to start with the one to which you are the most attracted. We veterans can tell you from experience that some of the “sea-weeds” we initially found the most difficult to make friends with, we now find the most delicious!

No matter how you choose to bring these wonderful plants into your diet, you will be glad you did… and your body will certainly be blessed with the addition of this ancient, nutritious food.

The Body Balance supplement I write about is a blend of 9 wild harvested sea vegetables in organic Aloe Vera juice. This is the easiest way to enjoy the nutritional power of these wonderful sea plants. Just take 4- 8 ounces of Body Balance a day and your body will thank you for the rest of your life.

Medicine From The Sea

Every day I come across health articles, some are informative, some are intriguing, and some are downright BS. However, the article I am sharing with you here is not only informative, but I believe vital to our health and wellbeing. Here in the U.S. pharmaceuticals are King. I was brought up the same way, you feel sick you go see the doctor, they write you a prescription, you take the prescription and you feel better. The problem is, what if the drug doesn’t work? We are seeing more and more resistant strains of bacteria that our current line of antibiotics have little if no effect on. What is the solution?

I believe the solution lies in nature. Our bodies are miraculous biological machines that are designed to be in good health. The problem is the fuel, i.e. food “we” have been putting into our bodies has been substandard for several years, if not decades and we are now reaping this low octane food intake with drastic increases in heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. What is the solution?

With the severe depletion of minerals in our farm soils, where does one find a whole food supplement that still contains these essential minerals and ultra-trace minerals that are VITAL for our body to run at peak health efficiency? Answer: the ocean.

The following article was written by Ginger Webb in “Vegetarian Times” back in April of 1997. This article was way ahead of its time and sadly too many people still are not aware of the health benefits mentioned in this article. Enjoy!

“Seaweed is a healing food for the modern era,”observes John Lewallen, an herbalist, from his kitchen in Mendocino, Calif., where he is packaging seaweed at the kitchen table. John and Eleanor Lewallen are owners of the Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company, a small, direct mail company that specializes in “wildcrafted” seaweeds, which means seaweed responsibly gathered from the wild.

“Seaweed contains a wide spectrum of organic material including trace elements that are lacking from Western diets,” says Lewallen while sipping a cup of wakame tea prepared by soaking the seaweed in boiled water.

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Md., agree with Lewallen that sea plants contain a remarkable spectrum of components valuable for human health. David Newman, Ph.D., a chemist with NCI’s Natural Products Branch says his research team is currently testing 15,000 compounds from about 6,000 marine species including algae, fungi, coral and seaweed for their biological activity. Many appear to have powerful anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer and immuno-suppressive (useful in treating autoimmune
diseases) properties.

Newman is particularly intrigued by the powerful anticancer properties of an algae found off the coast of Curacao, named Curacin-A, that appears to be more potent than taxol, a substance isolated from the bark of yew trees that is used to treat breast and prostate cancer. To date, the algae has not been developed as a pharmaceutical agent because the highly insoluble substance can’t be extracted from the algae to “deliver” it in drug form. Newman hopes that, eventually, scientists will find a way to extract Curacin-A (a process requiring the help of an as-yet undiscovered solvent), noting that it took almost 10 years for scientists to find the right solvent to extract taxol. Once the material can be extracted, Newman adds, it can be “packaged” in a suitable, standardized pharmaceutical form for clinical evaluation.

Fortunately, the pharmaceutical industry’s difficulties don’t have to be yours. Even though drug manufacturers cannot patent an entire plant and therefore cannot make a dime on them, you can still receive amazing health dividends by consuming this and other natural products from the sea. And you don’t have to wait.

They’re available now at natural food stores and by mail.

The Other Seafood

To people whose cultures have evolved by the sea, where seaweed has been a dietary staple for hundreds, if not thousands of years, the benefits of , sea plants are well-known. In the West, seaweed is best known as an exotic ingredient in Japanese and macrobiotic cuisine.

To coastal people everywhere, however, it’s a dietary staple, enjoyed in iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands and coastal regions of the
United States. A treasure chest of good nutrition, seaweed absorbs nutritive elements directly from the ocean water in which it lives.

By eating seaweed, we tap into the ancestral source of all life, the ocean, and replenish our bodies from this vast reservoir with essential and sometimes hard-to get nutrients.

Most varieties of seaweed contain between 10 and 20 percent protein and are rich in fiber and vitamins, including A, C, E, B complex and [B.sub.12], and minerals, including calcium, iodine, potassium, iron and trace minerals.

“People are like walking oceans. Our bodily fluids have the same composition as sea water,” says Ara Der Marderosian, Ph.D, professor of Pharmacognosy at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.

“Sea water has been shown to contain organic acids, sterols, carotenoids, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, peptides, amino acids, free enzymes and many other materials, including essential trace minerals.”

An Ocean Of Promise
Among Herbalists, seaweed is treasured for its ability to nourish and strengthen the body. Bladderwrack (Fucus spp.), for instance, has been used in steam baths by Native Americans for rheumatism and illness. Dulse (Palmaria palmata) is used by people in Japan to treat colds.

Because of its high iron content, seaweed is often given to anemic people by herbalists, as well as to menstruating and lactating women whose iron requirements are high. Adding seaweed, particularly wakame (Alaria spp) to the diet is believed to increase hair growth and luster and improve skin tone.

In Japanese folk medicine, the seaweed Digenea simplex has been used traditionally to rid the body of intestinal worms. Today, kainic acid, derived from this seaweed, is sold commercially for this purpose.

Laminaria , another seaweed native to the Japanese coasts and valued as a folk medicine, has been shown to be capable of lowering blood pressure.

Several studies on the usefulness of seaweed derivatives, other than Curacin-A, for protecting against cancer and heart disease are currently underway.

Despite these scientific studies, most of our knowledge about the benefits of seaweed still derive from folklore and the herbalist tradition. Western doctors
may be catching on, however.

A Manhattan plastic surgeon, Michael Joseph Pober, M.D., uses seaweed topically with post-surgical patients to restore skin texture and reduce swelling in surgical incisions.

Michael Tierra, an herbalist, licensed acupuncturist and author of The Way of Herbs (Pocket Books, 1990), explains that in traditional Chinese medicine, seaweed is considered a yin tonic, that is, it has “warming” characteristics. It is good for conditions characterized as “cold” such as poor circulation, anemia and chronic diseases of the thyroid or pancreas.

Seaweed’s antioxidant properties make it specific for prevention and treatment of cancer, supporting the immune system in eliminating the proliferation of cancer cells, says Tierra.

Seaweed is considered a medicinal substance with wet, softening properties, which, according to traditional Chinese medicine, Tierra explains, enables it to dissolve hard nodules and tumors and to reduce swelling of the thyroid and lymph glands.

Efram Korngold, a doctor of Oriental medicine and a licensed acupuncturist, adds that because seaweed helps decongest swollen or inflamed lymph nodes, it can be consumed as a treatment for autoimmune illnesses, including chronic fatigue, HIV,
arthritis and chronic allergies.

In US scientific studies in the 1970s, an entire family of red marine algae was found to possess antiviral properties. One species, Cryptosiphonia woodii, a microalgae found in inner-tidal areas along the Pacific coast, was found by Scripps Institute researchers based in La Jolla, Calif., to suppress the herpes virus and clear out Candida (Candida albicans), a systematic yeastlike fungal infection. Both Korngold and Tierra offer a supplement made of dried whole plants to clients in their clinical practices with these problems and claim exciting results.

Detoxification Duty
Seaweed may be especially important for people in the modern age because of its ability to protect us from damage caused by toxic elements in the environment, including heavy metals and some types of radiation byproducts.

Rosalie Bertell, M.D., president of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health in Toronto, believes that seaweed can help pull dangerous heavy metals out of the body.

Research at McGill University in Montreal has shown that sodium alginate, a derivative of wakame, binds with radioactive strontium 90 in the body, allowing it to be excreted. Strontium 90 is considered the most dangerous component of atomic fallout.

Ernest J. Sternglass, Ph.D., professor emeritus in Radiation Physics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, explains how strontium adversely
affects health: “When radioactivity, spread from nuclear waste dumps or fallout from other nuclear facilities, gets into the drinking water, gets into the milk and gets into the vegetables, it lodges in our bone. It goes through the food chain and concentrates.

As a result, materials like strontium [produce] an internal radiation throughout our body, [irradiating] the whole bone marrow where the cells of the immune system originate.” These internal doses of radiation can weaken the immune defenses of the body needed for fighting disease. In fact, many herbalists recommend adding some seaweed to the diet for a period of time if you plan on having X-rays taken, to encourage the excretion of any radiation products left by the treatment.

(my added note:  X-rays are a form of invisible, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation and DO NOT deposit radioactive particulate into your body. Internally taken/injected radioisotopes have very short “half-lives” and decay away into non radioactive elements)

Mindy Green, an herbalist at the Herb Research Foundation in Boulder, Colo., believes everyone can benefit from seaweed in the diet. “It’s highly nutritious and is a good source of minerals that are often short in the diets of women, especially vegetarian and vegan women, such as iron, calcium, iodine and magnesium,” said Green.

Her personal preference is for a kelp wildcrafted off the northern coast of Washington state. She either toasts the kelp or nibbles on chunky chips of it as a snack. Green also favors a thick seaweed called kombu in vegetable soups and stews along with astragalus in the winter\and uses hijiki and wakame in salads.

*One caution about seaweed from herbalist C.J. Puotenon, a columnist for the Northeast Herbalist Association Journal published in New York. She points to a commonly overlooked cause of acne flareups: iodine, which explains why herbal treatments that emphasize kelp can sometimes make the problem worse in individuals who are iodine-sensitive. So if you avoid iodine-containing salts and seafoods or iodine-based therapies because they trigger acne problems, add seaweed to the “to be avoided” list.

Ginger Webb is an herbalist and a staff writer for HerbalGram, the quarterly publication of the American Botanical Council. She resides in Austin, Texas.

BODY BALANCE is a liquid whole food and is a blend of 9 wild harvested sea vegetables in organic Aloe Vera juice.

Body Balance has been used and recommended by over 6000 medical doctors and other health care professionals for over 25 years.

* I have 2 grown boys and one teenage daughter. All of them were taking Body Balance during their teenage years and we observed no acne flare-ups. In fact we observed just the opposite, clearer  and healthier skin.

Toxic Heavy Metals and Cleansing

Every one of us is exposed to both external and internal toxins. We can’t avoid it. We are exposed to toxins in many forms-in polluted air and water, in the home and workplace, as well as in our food. We even form some of the most dangerous toxins within our own bodies.

 To effectively and efficiently remove these toxins is critical to our health and longevity. Every system in our bodies has its own method of detoxification. Over time, the onslaught and accumulation of these toxins, coupled with our body’s inability to deal with the clean-up adequately, takes its toll on our health and quality of living.

 Toxic heavy metals have been shown to increase free radical activity in the body, a major cause of degeneration. Many enzymes critical to good health require vitamin and mineral co-factors for proper activation. Toxic heavy metals can take the place of the proper mineral co-factors, interfering with the proper functioning of these enzymes. In this way, accumulation of heavy metals can contribute to premature aging and degenerative disease conditions. Heavy metal toxicity can also lead to abnormal immune function, learning disorders, and degenerative disorders associated with the brain.

 In the late 1980s an interesting experiment was conducted by Dr. Gary Price Todd, MD, author of the book, “Nutrition, Health and Disease”. The study involved individuals with heavy metal poisoning, specifically lead, mercury, cadmium and aluminum. Patients were placed on a program of full spectrum bio-available organic, micro trace minerals.

 After 16 months the study demonstrated levels of toxic metals in the patients were much reduced. It was concluded that organic, ionic minerals naturally chelate or remove the inorganic heavy metal form of mineral from the body. There have been other studies done with similar results. I believe Body Balance works like this in the body.

 I know two doctors who did a number of hair analysis studies on their patients who were on Body Balance and the results definitely showed a removal of heavy metals from the body. Studies done at McGill University reveal algin, a component of sea vegetation, binds to heavy metals and other chemical pollutants, allowing them to be safely eliminated from the body, including radioactive substances. Body Balance is also very high in natural carotinoids which are potent anti-oxidants that destroy free radicals and protect the cells from damage due to lead or other heavy metal poisoning. The aloe vera softens bowel movements and aids in removing heavy metals from the digestive tract. So there are many reasons to be on Body Balance!!

 The sulfur-containing amino acids in Amino Charge also act as detoxifiers and remove heavy metals from the body, and the other aminos are powerful anti-oxidants that protect the liver, kidneys, heart, and central nervous system. (There are also amino acids in Body Balance, although in a much smaller amount.) Flexeoplus contains MSM as one of its main ingredients. This also helps the body detoxify heavy metals.

 Calcium that is bio-available prevents lead from being deposited in the body tissues, and OsteOmegaCare is THE most bio-available form I know of.

 True Greens has many wonderful ingredients as well. Foods high in chlorophyll such as alfalfa, algaes, chlorella, etc. also help absorb toxic metals, as well as being rich in valuable nutrients.

 The last thing I would recommend is the colon cleanse program. The Activated Charcoal and the Intestinal Tone are both wonderful for absorbing and eliminating toxic heavy metals from the digestive tract. There are some specifics for different heavy metals, e.g., selenium neutralizes the toxic effects of mercury (it also helps with other heavy metals as well); zinc can displace lead and lower the burden on the body (low levels of zinc have been found consistently in people with high levels of lead), etc., etc. All of these minerals are found in abundance in these products.

 A little bit about why these substances are so toxic and hard to get rid of. I’ll use lead as an example. First of all, it is a cumulative poison that is retained in the body. Even at low levels, lead that is not excreted through the digestive system accumulates in the body and is absorbed directly from the blood into other tissues. When the lead leaves the bloodstream, it is stored in the bones, along with other minerals, where it continues to build up over a lifetime.

 Detoxifying from the bones is virtually impossible unless you use something that can be absorbed similarly, like other minerals. Lead from the bones may then re-enter the bloodstream at any time as a result of severe biological stress, such as pregnancy, menopause, illness or prolonged immobilization. When it is in the body, it inhibits some basic enzyme functions.

 In toxic amounts it damages the heart, kidneys, liver and nervous system. The body cannot seem to distinguish between calcium and lead. Once it enters the body, it is assimilated in the same manner as calcium. So people with deficiencies of calcium are more susceptible to lead toxicity as well, which is pretty scary when we consider how starved our population is for calcium.

Other heavy metals follow the same process, except they are retained in different areas of the body. With mercury, it is in the pain center of the brain and in the central nervous system. Aluminum is also deposited in the brain. Again, calcium deficiency really aggravates the situation.

Tips for a Healthy Life~Part 2

What we take into our bodies goes beyond just the food we eat. Although a healthy diet is the backbone of a healthy life, we need other pieces of the picture to make it more complete.

 

WATER . The human body is about two-thirds water, and it is essential for every function of the body. While we can live for many weeks without food, we can only survive a few days without water. On a micro level, water helps to transport nutrients and waste products in and out of cells. On a macro level it is the primary transporter of nutrients through our systems and is essential for carrying waste products out of the body. So it is necessary for all digestive and excretory functions. It is needed for maintaining proper body temperature and much more.

As we sweat and lose water through all of our elimination processes, it is vital that we keep replacing that with good quality, clean water. Most city tap water is NOT good quality water, and contains a lot of chemicals that could be potentially harmful to our long-term health. Invest in a good water purifier or have good quality water delivered on a regular basis. As an adult you should be drinking 8-10 full glasses of good quality water every day. If you don’t drink enough water, poor muscle tone, joint and muscle soreness, and even excess body fat may be the result.

 

SUNSHINE . Sunshine is the most powerful nutrient in our solar system and is the one we seem to be most afraid of these days. It is made up of many different rays, each with its own benefit. Almost every living thing, whether it is a blade of grass, a flower, a fruit or an animal, draws its life from solar energy. All living things depend on the sun for their very existence, and we are no exception. Sunshine is a tonic. It is a natural relaxant and also a natural stimulant to the body’s vital energies. When the body is exposed to the sun’s ultra-violet (UV) rays, a compound in the skin is activated as a precursor to Vitamin D. Exposing clean skin to the sun’s rays for about 20 minutes a day, at least every other day, ensures that we have enough Vitamin D in our bodies.

Because this is impossible in certain parts of the world, especially during winter, Vitamin D needs to be supplemented. As we will discuss a little later on, Vitamin D is required for the absorption and utilization of calcium. It is especially important for the healthy growth and development of bones and teeth in children. UV rays are also instrumental in the body’s production of melatonin, which allows us to relax and sleep. This is why we often feel tired and relaxed after sitting in the sun.

 

SUPPLEMENTATION . I believe that most, if not all people, should supplement their diets with the proper nutrients to achieve wellness. Nutritional deficiencies can cause a wide variety of symptoms, in addition to weakening the body’s defenses against serious illnesses. Nutritional requirements are also increased by many things in a persons life. People who smoke, drink alcohol, use prescription or recreational drugs, have a lot of stress, diet to lose weight, are at a greater than normal risk of having deficiencies.

 

 Also adolescents, elderly people, pregnant and nursing women, women taking oral contraceptives, people who have chronic illnesses, people with certain genetic disorders, and of course people with poor dietary habits all have that same risk factor. Unfortunately, a large percentage of the population fits into one or more of these categories.

 

Data compiled by the US Dept of Agriculture indicates that at least 40% of the people in America consume only 60% of the RDA of ten selected nutrients. That means that close to half of the population suffers from a deficiency of at least one important nutrient. Very likely it is a lot higher than we think. So as well as a healthy diet, we need to supplement to get the amount of nutrients our bodies need to be optimally healthy.

 

It is important to know that whenever we are looking to correct a vitamin or mineral deficiency, we need to be aware that nutrients work synergistically together. This means that there is cooperation between the nutrients.

 

Most work as catalysts, promoting the absorption and assimilation of other nutrients. Correcting the deficiency of one vitamin or mineral requires the addition of a whole host of others, not simply the replacement of the one you think you are deficient in. This is why taking a single vitamin may be ineffective, or even dangerous. And this is why a whole-food or balanced supplement should always be used whenever possible.

 

FOOD . A healthy diet, as I said, is the basis of a healthy body. Food must provide a proper balance of nutrition, and must also be free of harmful chemicals and additives. Then it must be prepared in a way that preserves the nutrients. Whole foods that are unprocessed with nothing added or taken away are the most healthy. In addition, plant foods like fruits and vegetables contain thousands of phytonutrients which help to keep our bodies healthy. They are our front-line defenders against cancer and free radicals.

The best way to eat these is fresh and raw as much as possible, and the most healthy are those grown organically without harmful chemicals. If you do cook your vegetables, then just cook them lightly so they retain most of their goodness, and limit your intake of table salt.

The bottomline is this: drink plenty of clean, pure water, eat as close to nature as you can, get some exercise…outdoors in the sunshine as often as possible and take a wide spectrum whole food supplement to fill in the nutritional gaps. ( I recommend Body Balance)

Do a little each day, every day and don’t expect the quick fix. Time will expose what you are doing or are NOT doing. This *”Slight Edge” approach will change your life…but YOU decide how it changes.

* I advise everyone to read the book by Jeff Olsen called, “The Slight Edge”. Give this book as a Holiday gift, it will change people’s lives more than any tie or pair of socks ever could and will not get eaten by the dryer.

 

Tips for a Healthy Life-Part 1

We have been given a wonderful gift called life. Our responsibility is to honor this in the best way possible by doing whatever we can to take care of ourselves in a healthy way. Basically, our modern lifestyles have gotten us somewhat off the track, with fast foods, a polluted environment, high-tech stress, chemical dependencies, etc. Nature’s intention is to fuel our inner healing force with the right natural resources to enable us to function to our fullest potential. However, as most of us have a profound lack of knowledge as to what we need to do that, we find ourselves out of balance.

I believe that we all need to take an active part in the maintenance of our health. The following suggestions are simple things that most of us can accomplish in some form or another.

EXERCISE: Get regular exercise. It improves digestion and elimination, increases endurance and energy levels, burns fat, and promotes lean muscle mass. In addition, studies have shown that regular exercise increases feelings of well-being and reduces stress. There are many different forms of exercise including walking, bicycling, swimming, jogging and even regular gardening. Choose activities that
you enjoy. Don’t look at exercise as a chore. Select things that you look forward to doing. Try doing things with a friend. Whatever you choose, start out slowly, listen to your body, and gradually increase the intensity and duration of your workout.

According to a 1996 report published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, low fitness may pose as great a risk to health as smoking, and a greater risk than high cholesterol, high blood pressure or obesity. Interestingly, regular exercise has been shown to significantly impact those particular health issues.

REST AND RELAXATION-All too often these days, people think that taking time to
rest means wasting time, or is not productive, or certainly is not on top of the priority list. Rest is nature’s curative process, and our most perfect rest comes during sleep.
Healing, restoration, rejuvenation and revitalization take place most efficiently when the body is allowed to rest. Adequate rest is essential for good health. Nothing can take the place of rest.
It is during sleep that our sympathetic nervous system takes over complete control. It is during this time that our body’s healing energy is allowed to carry on the work of cleansing, healing, regulating and restoring the body and mind. It’s interesting to note that the hours before midnight are much more beneficial for resting and revitalization than the hours after midnight. Relaxation is something most of us need to learn to do, and there are many techniques and ways of relaxing.

Meditation is a wonderful example when done regularly. And meditation doesn’t have to have spiritual or religious connotations. For example, you can meditate on a word such as “calm” or “peace,” or you can meditate on a beautiful place in nature. And you can draw on these words or thoughts any time you want to, especially if you are feeling stressed. Each of us has favorite things we love to do that are relaxing. Find what works for you and do it regularly!

STRESS MANAGEMENT-It is estimated that stress contributes to about 80% of all major illnesses. Stress is a part of life. However, how we respond to it, and how much of it we have in our lives are things we can totally control. How we manage stress can be the difference between having a life or just having an existence.
Some things I have found useful are, first of all, to identify the sources of stress in your life. This helps you understand where the stress is coming from. When you have identified them, either eliminate them from your life or prepare yourself to deal with them as easily and healthily as possible.

For example, if rush-hour traffic is a stressor, then use that time to listen to a tape or a favorite piece of music that will calm you, or join a carpool. Work on creating a stress-free home environment. For example, keep the noise level down as much as possible as this contributes to stress. Also use as much natural lighting in your home as possible. Unnatural florescent lighting can be especially aggravating.

Certain colors in a home are more calming and soothing than others.
Monitor your internal conversations. The way we talk to ourselves has SO MUCH to do with how we see our lives and situations, and how we feel about ourselves and our environment. For example, telling yourself that you should be able to do something or you should be able to handle a situation better, only adds to the stress. Take a day off or take regular time just for yourself. Do something that is relaxing and fun, and don’t think about whatever is causing the stress.