Coconut Oil



Liver Cleanse

As we begin a new year, it's a great time to consider implementing a liver cleanse to help rid your body of excess toxins accumulated through the holidays and to give yourself the best start to a healthy 2014! 

I find that completing a liver cleanse allows my body to perform at a higher level.  If you feel sluggish, tired, low energy this is a great cleanse for you!  You may want to do it just to remove toxins from over indulgence through the holidays too. Here is the cleanse that I do myself and reccommend to clients:  I find that this cleanse as compared to others though more lengthy in time is much more thorough and gentle on the digestive system.  Happy Cleansing!

Cleaning The Liver

 

The Liver is the major area of detoxification for the body.  Here, in addition to metabolic wastes, is where chemical pollutants, environmental contamination, food preservatives, etc. are removed from the body.  You should be just as concerned about th condition of your liver as you are your heart.  If you have had hepatitis, cirrhosis over the liver, infectious mononucleosis or other liver damage, you should become very protective of this vital organ.  The intake of anything which places undue stress on the liver should be eliminated.  Such a list would include:  chemicals of any kind, drugs, synthetic foods, food additives such as coloring, preservatives, MSG’s, etc..  Alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, hair sprays and chemical laden personal products are also a concern because though you may not consume your hairspray, shampoo or body lotion, the chemicals are still absorbed through your skin which is your body’s largest organ.

The Liver Flush 

One of the most important procedures for persons over 25 years of age is the liver flush.  If you are above 25 years of age, you should do this along with a good nutritional program with the consumption of copious amount of leafy green vegetables (iceberg lettuce does not count, it has NO nutritional value).  I’m talking about:  Kale, Spinach, Broccoli, Wheat grass, Alfalfa, Spirulina, Sea weed and Algae to name a few.   

This cleanse should be repeated every six months. 

1. I start my cleanse on Sunday.  From Sunday through the following Friday at noon, drink as much 100% Apple Juice as your appetite will permit, in addition to regular meals.  You may use apple juice or apple cider (organic is preferred).  Be sure to read the label and obtain a juice that has no additives whatsoever or you can juice your own (Preffered method).  Regular meals should consist of primarily vegetables (lightly steamed or raw).  Nutritional supplements should be taken when you eat.

2. At noon on Friday, eat a normal lunch.

3. Three hours after lunch, take two tablespoons of Epsom Salts dissolved in about one ounce of hot water.  If the taste is completely objectionable, it may be followed by a little bit of citrus juice (freshly squeezed if possible, again organic is preferred).

4. Two hours later, repeat the Epsom Salts.

5. For the evening meal, you may have grapefruit, grapefruit juice or preferably a fruit salad with a mixture of citrus fruits and 1/2 cup olive oil or coconut oil.

6. At bedtime, you have two choices:

A.  Take one half (1/2) cup of warm unrefined olive oil followed by a small glass of grapefruit juice with 15 drops of Black Walnut Tincture to kill parasites.

B.  Take one half (1/2) cup of warm unrefined olive oil blended with one half (1/2) cup of lemon juice with 15 drops of Black Walnut Tincture to kill parasites.

Unrefined olive oil can be purchased from your health food store.  It is best to use fresh citrus and juice but canned or bottled are permissible if fresh is not available.

7. Go immediately to bed and lie on your right side with the right knee pulled up close to your chest.  Remain in this position for at least 30 minutes.

8. The next morning, one hour before breakfast, take two tablespoons of the Epsom Salts in 1 ounce of hot water.  This may again be followed by citrus juice if necessary. 

What you can expect:

The Epsom Salts alone may work as a laxative.  Most people report slight to moderate nausea when taking the olive oil-citrus juice, which slowly disappears by the time you go to sleep.  Should you vomit the olive oil it does not need to be repeated at that time.  Chances are that you aren’t going to vomit-this only happens on a very rare occasion.  This flushing of the liver/gallbladder stimulates and cleans the liver.

Often, people who have suffered for years from gall stones, biliousness, backaches, nausea and other symptoms find gall stones in the stool the following day.  These objects are light green to dark green in color.  They tend to be irregular in shape, in size from “grape seeds” to “cherries”.  If there seems to be a large number of these objects in the stool, the liver flush should be repeated in two weeks.

The first cleanse may rid you of them for a few days, but as the stones from the rear travel forward, they give you the same symptoms again. You may repeat cleanses at two week intervals. Never cleanse when you are [acutely] ill.

Sometimes the bile ducts are full of cholesterol crystals that did not form into round stones. They appear as a ³chaff² floating on top of the toilet bowl water. It may be tan colored, harboring millions of tiny white crystals. Cleansing this chaff is just as important as purging stones.

How safe is the liver cleanse? It is very safe. My opinion is based on over 500 cases, including many persons in their seventies and eighties. None went to the hospital; none even reported pain. However on occasion, it can make you feel quite ill for one or two days. Most people report no adverse side effects once the cleanse is completed. 

 

As you reintroduce food to your system.  GO   S - L-  O - W.  Begin by drinking a little bit of broth or warm lemon water.  Add raw or lightly steamed veggies and gradually build back into eating grains and meat, if you eat those things.

 

 

 

Detox Pathways

Source:


Juice up your life

Back in the Swing of Things

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and you are looking forward to a properous and HEALTHY New Year!  I hope 2014 is your springboard to health and longevity!
For me, it's time to get back into the swing of things!  I've been neglecting this blog, some additions to my website, etc and now it's time to do inventory and taxes too....ughhhh.

The quicker I get started however, the better it will be and the sooner I will get done and move on to all the fun things like inspiring you to be more healthy too!  Soooo, grab your shoes and let's head out for a refreshing walk to get this day started!!  Add some twists, skips and jumps for additional strength training and to get a little pep in your step!

 

*** 146 REASONS WHY SUGAR DESTROYS YOUR HEALTH ***

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you lose.
7. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9. Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
32. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
33. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
34. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
35. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
36. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
37. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
38. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol) in the blood.
39. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
40. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
41. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
42. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
43. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
44. Sugar causes food allergies.
45. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
46. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
47. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
48. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
49. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
50. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
51. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
52. Sugar can cause cataracts.
53. Sugar can cause emphysema.
54. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
55. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
56. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
57. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
58. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.
59. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
60. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
61. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
62. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
63. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
64. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
65. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
66. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
67. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
68. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
69. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
70. Sugar can adversely affect school children’s grades and cause learning disorders.
71. Sugar can cause depression.
72. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
73. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
74. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
75. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
76. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low-sugar diets.
77. A diet high in refined sugar reduces learning capacity.
78. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
79. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
80. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
81. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become under active and others become overactive.
82. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
83. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
84. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
85. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold-increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
86. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
87. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
88. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
89. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
90. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
91. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
92. Sugar is an addictive substance.
93. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
94. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
95. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
96. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
97. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
98. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
99. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
100. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
101. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
102. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
103. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
104. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
105. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
106. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
107. Sugar may induce cell death.
108. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
109. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
110. Sugar can lead to prostrate cancer.
111. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
112. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
113. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
114. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
115. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
116. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
117. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
118. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
119. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
120. The more sodas a 10 year old child consumes, the less milk.
121. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
122. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
123. Sugar causes constipation.
124. Sugar causes varicose veins.
125. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.
126. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
127. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
128. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
129. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
130. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
131. Sugar can affect the brain’s ability to deal with rewards and consequences.
132. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
133. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
134. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
135. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
136. Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the blood stream of overweight people.
137. Sugar can lower Vitamin E levels in the blood stream.
138. Sugar can increase your appetite for all food.
139. Sugar plays a role in the etiology and the continuation of acne.
140. Too much sugar can kill your sex life.
141. Sugar saps school performance in children.
142. Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness and depression.
143. Sugar is common choice of obese individuals.
144. A linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients is associated with increasing total sugar intake.
145. High fructose consumption has been linked to liver disease.
146. Sugar adds to the risk of bladder cancer.

source:

natural safe weight loss

How To Handle Food Cravings

Exercise

1. Strength equals self-sufficiency.  Being strong – particularly as a woman – is empowering.  It will feel good someday to be able to carry your own luggage down the stairs if the airport escalator is broken, and it will be important to have a solid shot at outrunning a stranger should you meet one in a dark alley.
2. Fitness opens doors.  Being healthy and fit can help you see the world differently.  The planet looks different from a bike or a pair of skis than it does from a car or an airplane.  Out in the elements you have the time and space to notice details and meet people and remember smells and bugs and mud and rain and the feeling of warm sunshine on your face.  And those are the moments that make up your life.
3. The bike is the new golf course.  Being fit may help you get a seat at the table.  Networking is no longer restricted to the golf course, and the stronger you are – and the more people you can hang with on the road and trail – the more people you’ll meet.
4. Exercise is a lifestyle, not an event.  Being an active person isn’t about taking a class three times a week at the gym, although working out at the gym is not a bad thing! The lifestyle aspect is about things like biking to the grocery store and parking your car in the back of the lot and walking instead of taking a cab and catching up with friends on a hiking trail instead of a bar stool.
5. Health begets health.  Healthy behavior inspires healthy behavior.  Exercise.  Healthy eating.  Solid sleep.  Positive relationships.  These things are all related.
6. Endorphins help you cope.  A good sweat session can clear the slate.  You will have days when nothing seems to go right…when you’re dizzy with frustration or crying in despair.  A workout can often turn things around.
7. Working out signals hard-working.  The discipline required to work out on a regular basis signals success.  Someone recently told me they are way more likely to hire marathon runners and mountain climbers because of the level of commitment that goes into those pursuits.
8. If you feel beautiful, you look beautiful.  Looking beautiful starts on the inside.  And being fit and strong feels beautiful.
9. Nature rules.  And if you’re able to hike/run/bike/swim/ski/snowshoe, you can see more of it.
10. Little eyes are always watching.  We learn from each other.  You may have a child—or a niece/nephew, a neighbor or a friend with a child.  Whatever is is, that little person is watching and listening to everything you say and do.  What messages are you sending?

adapted from:

wellfit

Metabolic Acidosis

Cancer, chronic fatigue, diabetes, osteoporosis plus many other degenerative diseases are caused by 'metabolic acidosis.' Is your body pH slightly alkaline? If not, this is a serious health condition - that needs to be addressed immediately.

Shocking 'sick care' statistics! The top 10 reasons for seeing a doctor include: skin disorders like acne; joint problems; back aches; cholesterol issues; upper respiratory conditions; depression; neurological disorders; hypertension; headaches and diabetes. Do you see a common thread to all these health problems?

A wake up call for conventional medicine - most health problems have a simple solution
Most health-related problems are directly connected to being too acidic. 
The typical American diet involves too much animal protein, processed grains - in the form of bread and pasta plus lots of sugar and artificial ingredients. This toxic sludge places stress on the immune system and kidney function. Eventually, as the body becomes more and more acidic, we experience disease and even premature death.

It's such a shame - when you think about it - how easy it would be for doctors to tell people the real cause of their dis-ease. Simply put, eating too many acid forming foods will lower the pH of your bodily fluids and cause a host of serious health problems like de-mineralization of the bones. But I guess that advice would piss off the pharmaceutical industry which profits greatly from the ignorance of the general public - and medical profession.

Does your family physician talk about the value of 'pH balancing' and emotional wellbeing?
Ideally, the pH of our blood should be around 7.35 - 7.45 or slightly alkaline. This balance is so delicate - believe it or not - when the pH drops below 7.0, you could slip into a coma and die. If your pH is too high, you could experience a life-threatening seizure. Along with a poor diet, previously mentioned, emotional stress and toxicity issues (i.e. heavy metal poisoning) can cause pH imbalances which decrease cellular energy and increase the risk of disease.

But, when it comes to the 'right' diet, it can be a bit confusing for the general public. For example, citrus fruits - which are acidic by nature - actually have an 'alkalizing effect' on the body. In fact, many 'acidic' vegetable juices - like, carrot/apple juice - are quite alkalizing in its effect. Conversely, most animal meats are alkaline - before consumption - yet cause lots of acidic residue in the digestive process. Interestingly, when it comes to emotions and lifestyle habits, meditation, prayer, peaceful thoughts, kindness and love are alkalizing. And, quite the opposite effect, being overworked, angry, feeling fearful, jealous or 'stressed out' can make you too acidic.

If you're suffering with any chronic health problem - find a holistic healthcare practitioner with experience in balancing pH levels.


Adapted from:

Natural News

THIS “MIRACLE HEALTH FOOD” HAS BEEN LINKED TO BRAIN DAMAGE AND BREAST CANCER

November 25th, 2013

If you were to carefully review the thousands of studies published on soy, I strongly believe you would reach the same conclusion as I have—which is, the risks of consuming unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.

Notice I said unfermented soy products.

For centuries, Asian people have been consuming fermented soy products such as natto, tempeh, and soy sauce, and enjoying the health benefits. Fermented soy does not wreak havoc on your body like unfermented soy products do.

Unfortunately, many Americans who are committed to healthy lifestyles have been hoodwinked and manipulated into believing that unfermented and processed soy products like soymilk, soy cheese, soy burgers and soy ice cream are good for them.

How Did Soy Foods Become So Popular?

If it seems like soy foods appeared out of nowhere to be regarded as the “miracle health food” of the 21st Century, it’s because they did.

From 1992 to 2006, soy food sales increased from $300 million to nearly $4 billion, practically overnight, according to the Soyfoods Association of North America. This growth came about due to a massive shift in attitudes about soy. And this shift was no accident—it was the result of a massive investment in advertising by the soy industry that’s been wildly successful.

Soy is indeed big business, very big business.

From 2000 to 2007, U.S. food manufacturers introduced more than 2,700 new soy-based foods, and new soy products continue to appear on your grocer’s shelves.

According to the survey Consumer Attitudes About Nutrition 2008 (by the United Soybean Board):

• -As of 2007, 85 percent of consumers perceive soy products as healthful
• -33 percent of Americans eat soy foods or beverages at least once a month
• -70 percent of consumers believe soybean oil is good for them
• -84 percent of consumers agree with the FDA’s claim that consuming 25 grams of soy protein daily reduces your risk of heart disease

This is a tragic case of shrewd marketing and outright lies taking root among the masses with the end result of producing large profits for the soy industry and impaired health for most who have been deceived into using unfermented soy long-term..

As you can see from the extensive list of articles below, there is a large amount of scientific research showing that soy is not the nutritional panacea of the 21st Century.

The Dark Side of Soy

The vast majority of soy at your local market is not a health food. The exception is fermented soy, which I’ll explain more about later and even worse GMO soy that is contaminated with large pesticide residues as the reason it is GMO is so they can spray the potent toxic herbicide Roundup on them to improve crop production by killing the weeds.

Unlike the Asian culture, where people eat small amounts of whole non-GMO soybean products, western food processors separate the soybean into two golden commodities—protein and oil. And there is nothing natural or safe about these products.

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

Here is just a sampling of the health effects that have been linked to soy consumption:

• -Breast cancer
• -Brain damage
• -Infant abnormalities
• -Thyroid disorders
• -Kidney stones
• -Immune system impairment
• -Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• -Impaired fertility
• -Danger during pregnancy and nursing

Soy proponents will argue that soy-based foods (they lump the fermented ones with the unfermented) will protect you from everything from colon, prostate and breast cancer to strokes, osteoporosis, and asthma.

But said enthusiasts never mention the studies that illuminate soy’s downside and all of the dangers posed to your health, which are based on sound research.

Another unfortunate fact is that 80 percent of the world’s soy is used in farm animal feed, which is why soy production is contributing to deforestation. Some soy propagandists have suggested that the solution to this is for all of us to become vegetarians—a reckless recommendation rooted in total ignorance about nutrition—whereas a far better solution is a major overhaul in how farm animals are fed and raised.

What Makes Soy Such a Risky Food to Eat?

Here is a summary of soy’s most glaring problems.

• 91 percent of soy grown in the US is genetically modified (GM).  The genetic modification is done to impart resistance to the toxic herbicide Roundup. While this is meant to increase farming efficiency and provide you with less expensive soy, the downside is that your soy is loaded with this toxic pesticide. The plants also contain genes from bacteria that produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply. GM soy has been linked to an increase in allergies. Disturbingly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have a potentially allergenic protein continuously being produced in your intestines.Even more frightening is the potential for GM soy to cause infertility in future generations, which has been evidenced by recent Russian research.
• Soy contains natural toxins known as “anti-nutrients. “Soy foods contain anti-nutritional factors such as saponins, soyatoxin, phytates, protease inhibitors, oxalates, goitrogens and estrogens. Some of these factors interfere with the enzymes you need to digest protein. While a small amount of anti-nutrients would not likely cause a problem, the amount of soy that many Americans are now eating is extremely high.
• Soy contains hemagglutinin. Hemagglutinin is a clot-promoting substance that causes your red blood cells to clump together. These clumped cells are unable to properly absorb and distribute oxygen to your tissues.
• Soy contains goitrogens Goitrogens are substances that block the synthesis of thyroid hormones and interfere with iodine metabolism, thereby interfering with your thyroid function.
• Soy contains phytates. Phytates (phytic acid) bind to metal ions, preventing the absorption of certain minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc — all of which are co-factors for optimal biochemistry in your body. This is particularly problematic for vegetarians, because eating meat reduces the mineral-blocking effects of these phytates (so it is helpful—if you do eat soy—to also eat meat).
• Soy is loaded with the isoflavones genistein and daidzein Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, which is a plant compound resembling human estrogen. These compounds mimic and sometimes block the hormone estrogen, and have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues. Soy phytoestrogens are known to disrupt endocrine function, may cause infertility, and may promote breast cancer in women.Drinking even two glasses of soymilk daily for one month provides enough of these compounds to alter your menstrual cycle. Although the FDA regulates estrogen-containing products, no warnings exist on soy.
• Soy has toxic levels of aluminum and manganeseSoybeans are processed (by acid washing) in aluminum tanks, which can leach high levels of aluminum into the final soy product. Soy formula has up to 80 times higher manganese than is found in human breast milk.
• Soy infant formula puts your baby’s health at risk.Nearly 20 percent of U.S. infants are now fed soy formula, but the estrogens in soy can irreversibly harm your baby’s sexual development and reproductive health. Infants fed soy formula take in an estimated five birth control pills’ worth of estrogen every day.Infants fed soy formula have up to 20,000 times the amount of estrogen in circulation as those fed other formulas!

There is also the issue of pesticides and genetic modification.

Soy foods are both heavily sprayed with pesticides and genetically modified (GM). More than 80 percent of the soy grown in the United States is GM. And more than 90 percent of American soy crops are GM.

Since the introduction of GM foods in 1996, we’ve had an upsurge in low birth weight babies, infertility, and other problems in the U.S. population, and animal studies thus far have shown devastating effects from consuming GM soy.

You may want to steer clear of soy products for no other reason than a commitment to avoiding GM foods… unless you wish to be a lab animal for this massive uncontrolled experiment by the biotech industry.

What Soy Products are Good For You?

I want to be clear that I am not opposed to all soy. Soy can be incredibly healthful, but ONLY if it is organic and properly fermented.

After a long fermentation process, the phytate and “anti-nutrient” levels of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system.

You may have heard that Japanese people live longer and have lower rates of cancer than Americans because they eat so much soy—but it’s primarily fermented soy that they consume, and it’s always been that way.

Fermented soy products are the only ones I recommend consuming.

These are the primary fermented soy products you’ll find:

-Tempeh a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.

-Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).

-Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.

-Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.

Please note that tofu is NOT on this list. Tofu is not fermented, so is not among the soy foods I recommend.

Source: HTTP://ARTICLES.MERCOLA.COM/SITES/ARTICLES/ARCHIVE/2010/09/18/SOY-CAN-DAMAGE-YOUR-HEALTH.ASPX

Rawforbeauty

Study Says Nut Eaters Have Lower Cancer, Heart Disease Risk

Help yourself to some nuts this holiday season: Regular nut eaters were less likely to die of cancer or heart disease — in fact, were less likely to die of any cause — during a 30-year Harvard study.

Nuts have long been called heart-healthy, and the study is the largest ever done on whether eating them affects mortality.

Researchers tracked 119,000 men and women and found that those who ate nuts roughly every day were 20 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who never ate nuts. Eating nuts also appeared to lower the death risk, in direct proportion to consumption.

The risk of dying of heart disease dropped 29 percent and the risk of dying of cancer fell 11 percent among those who had nuts seven or more times a week compared with people who never ate them.

The benefits were seen from peanuts as well as from pistachios, almonds, walnuts and other tree nuts. The researchers did not look at how the nuts were prepared — oiled or salted, raw or roasted.

A bonus: Nut eaters stayed slimmer.

"There's a general perception that if you eat more nuts you're going to get fat. Our results show the opposite," said Dr. Ying Bao of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

She led the study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institutes of Health and the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation sponsored the study, but the nut group had no role in designing it or reporting the results.

Researchers don't know why nuts may boost health. It could be that their unsaturated fatty acids, minerals and other nutrients lower cholesterol and inflammation and reduce other problems, as earlier studies seemed to show.

Observational studies like this one can't prove cause and effect, only suggest a connection. Research on diets is especially tough, because it can be difficult to single out the effects of any one food.

People who eat more nuts may eat them on salads, for example, and some of the benefit may come from the leafy greens, said Dr. Robert Eckel, a University of Colorado cardiologist and former president of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Ralph Sacco, a University of Miami neurologist who also is a former heart association president, agreed.

"Sometimes when you eat nuts you eat less of something else like potato chips," so the benefit may come from avoiding an unhealthy food, Sacco said.

The Harvard group has long been known for solid science on diets. Its findings build on a major study earlier this year — a rigorous experiment that found a Mediterranean-style diet supplemented with nuts cuts the chance of heart-related problems, especially strokes, in older people at high risk of them.

Many previous studies tie nut consumption to lower risks of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and other maladies.

In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration said a fistful of nuts a day as part of a low-fat diet may reduce the risk of heart disease. The heart association recommends four servings of unsalted, unoiled nuts a week and warns against eating too many, since they are dense in calories.

The new research combines two studies that started in the 1980s on 76,464 female nurses and 42,498 male health professionals. They filled out surveys on food and lifestyle habits every two to four years, including how often they ate a serving (1 ounce) of nuts.

Study participants who often ate nuts were healthier — they weighed less, exercised more and were less likely to smoke, among other things. After taking these and other things into account, researchers still saw a strong benefit from nuts.

Compared with people who never ate nuts, those who had them less than once a week reduced their risk of death 7 percent; once a week, 11 percent; two to four times a week, 13 percent; and seven or more times a week, 20 percent.

"I'm very confident" the observations reflect a true benefit, Bao said. "We did so many analyses, very sophisticated ones," to eliminate other possible explanations.

For example, they did separate analyses on smokers and non-smokers, heavy and light exercisers, and people with and without diabetes, and saw a consistent benefit from nuts.

At a heart association conference in Dallas this week, Penny Kris-Etherton, a Pennsylvania State University nutrition scientist, reviewed previous studies on this topic.

"We're seeing benefits of nut consumption on cardiovascular disease as well as body weight and diabetes," said Kris-Etherton, who has consulted for nut makers and also served on many scientific panels on dietary guidelines.

"We don't know exactly what it is" about nuts that boosts health or which ones are best, she said. "I tell people to eat mixed nuts."

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Fox News:  Associated Press

Gut Bacteria May Cause Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gut feelings. Intestinal bacteria may train the immune system to attack joints.

The bacteria that live in your intestines are a mixed blessing. Scientists have known for decades that this so-called microbiota helps us digest our food and crowds out infectious germs. The bugs have also been implicated in allergies and obesity. Now, a new study adds one more potential malady to the list: rheumatoid arthritis.

"It's been suspected for years and years, both in humans and in the animal model, that the development of autoimmune diseases like arthritis is dependent on the gut microbiota," says immunologist Diane Mathis of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Now, she says, those suspicions are beginning to be confirmed in humans. "It's a very striking finding.”

Rheumatoid arthritis is a mysterious disease. It can strike at any age, typically beginning in young and middle-aged adults and causing painfully stiff, swollen joints in the hands and feet. It can also destroy bone and cartilage and damage organs like the lungs and kidneys. Scientists aren’t sure what causes rheumatoid arthritis, but they do know that it’s an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the body's immune system is attacking its own tissues. And that's where gut bacteria come in.

Gut bacteria have an intricate relationship with our immune system. We need to be able to tolerate helpful microbes while still recognizing and fighting invaders. Immunologist Dan Littman of New York University knew that gut microbes are important to the development of a particular type of immune cell his team studies, known as a Th17 cell. Mice that are reared in sterile conditions produce very few of these cells, and his group had previously found that mice bought from one supplier had far more Th17 cells than those that came from a different supplier. The difference turned out to be due to the rodents' gut microbes.

When Littman presented that result at a conference several years ago, Mathis, who was in the audience, told him that she had seen a change in her lab animals when they were moved to a lab in a different town. Instead of spontaneously developing a mouse version of arthritis, they remained healthy. Littman and Mathis collaborated to find out why and tracked down the difference to a particular type of bacterium that, when present in the intestines, trains the immune system to produce Th17 cells, which in turn release molecules that cause inflammation and bone damage in arthritis.

Littman wondered if rheumatoid arthritis in humans might also be due to specific gut microbes. His team tested fecal samples (which reflect the population of gut bacteria) from 114 residents of the New York City area. Some subjects were healthy; others had been living with rheumatoid arthritis for years; still others had psoriatic arthritis, a different autoimmune disease whose causes are also unknown; and some had been recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Members of this latter group were especially important because, although they had rheumatoid arthritis, they hadn't yet been treated for it. In this group, a bacterium namedPrevotella copri was present in 75% of patients' intestines. P. copri only appeared in 37% of patients living with either rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis and 21% of healthy controls. This last number is similar to the prevalence ofP. copri that previous studies found in the general population in industrialized countries.

"That they were able to associate one bacterium with one pathology is remarkable," says Yasmine Belkaid, an immunologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, who was not involved in the work.

But the results aren't enough to convict P. copri as the mastermind behind rheumatoid arthritis, she notes. The authors can't ethically give the bacterium to healthy subjects, so they couldn't prove that P. copri caused arthritis in patients, just that the bacterium and the disease tend to occur together. Genetics and other environmental factors, like smoking, have been associated with rheumatoid arthritis, so even if P. copri is the culprit, it doesn't necessarily act alone. "The next step is to be able to understand how causative these microbes are," Belkaid says. That would require surveying people's microbes and waiting to see who develops the disease.

To build its case against the bacterium, Littman's team gave a lab-grown strain of P. copri to mice and watched what happened in the rodents' guts. P. copri easily took up residence, and the researchers found that the mice developed increased inflammation, especially in the gut. They didn't get arthritis, possibly because the strain of P. copri was different from the human ones, but Littman says the gut inflammation corroborates the idea that gut microbes are prodding immune cells to develop and that those cells then go forth and lead an attack on other parts of the body.

That is the most exciting possibility, Mathis says. But, she explains, other hypotheses can't be ruled out. It's possible that arthritis patients' immune systems allow P. copri to grow out of control, or perhaps a third factor affects both the microbes and the immune system independently. Rheumatoid arthritis, Littman says, seems to have several environmental triggers, but how and whether they combine is not well understood.

The findings, Mathis says, open the possibility of new therapies to prevent or treat rheumatoid arthritis. Current treatments for the disease include drugs with scary side effects—Remicade, for instance, seems to increase the risk of developing certain cancers and serious infections. Perhaps P. copri could be attacked with antibiotics, Littman says, or crowded out with probiotic pills full of good bacteria. Either way, patients may someday be able to relieve their joint pain by focusing on their guts.

source

Science AAAS

You can overcome debilitating arthritis or any disease by actively changing your diet, adding regular point specific exercise, and adding specific vitamin supplements to offset the lack of nutrition in your body which causes it to search for food by robbing it from internal organs and bones.  Adding juices, smoothies and more greens to your diet is a great step to better nutrition and better health!  Need more help?  Call KISST Organics (308) 254-5373 to schedule a holistic health appointment today!  We are very happy to help you get on a better path.

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

Mentally strong people have healthy habits. They manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life. Check out these things that mentally strong people don’t do so that you too can become more mentally strong.

1. They Don’t Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves

Mentally strong people don’t sit around feeling sorry about their circumstances or how others have treated them. Instead, they take responsibility for their role in life and understand that life isn’t always easy or fair.

2. They Don’t Give Away Their Power

They don’t allow others to control them, and they don’t give someone else power over them. They don’t say things like, “My boss makes me feel bad,” because they understand that they are in control over their own emotions and they have a choice in how they respond.

3. They Don’t Shy Away from Change

Mentally strong people don’t try to avoid change. Instead, they welcome positive change and are willing to be flexible. They understand that change is inevitable and believe in their abilities to adapt.

4. They Don’t Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control

You won’t hear a mentally strong person complaining over lost luggage or traffic jams. Instead, they focus on what they can control in their lives. They recognize that sometimes, the only thing they can control is their attitude.

5. They Don’t Worry About Pleasing Everyone

Mentally strong people recognize that they don’t need to please everyone all the time. They’re not afraid to say no or speak up when necessary. They strive to be kind and fair, but can handle other people being upset if they didn’t make them happy.

6. They Don’t Fear Taking Calculated Risks

They don’t take reckless or foolish risks, but don’t mind taking calculated risks. Mentally strong people spend time weighing the risks and benefits before making a big decision, and they’re fully informed of the potential downsides before they take action.

7. They Don’t Dwell on the Past

Mentally strong people don’t waste time dwelling on the past and wishing things could be different. They acknowledge their past and can say what they’ve learned from it. However, they don’t constantly relive bad experiences or fantasize about the glory days. Instead, they live for the present and plan for the future.

8. They Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over

Mentally strong people accept responsibility for their behavior and learn from their past mistakes. As a result, they don’t keep repeating those mistakes over and over. Instead, they move on and make better decisions in the future.

9. They Don’t Resent Other People’s Success

Mentally strong people can appreciate and celebrate other people’s success in life. They don’t grow jealous or feel cheated when others surpass them. Instead, they recognize that success comes with hard work, and they are willing to work hard for their own chance at success.

10. They Don’t Give Up After the First Failure

Mentally strong people don’t view failure as a reason to give up. Instead, they use failure as an opportunity to grow and improve. They are willing to keep trying until they get it right.

11. They Don’t Fear Alone Time

Mentally strong people can tolerate being alone and they don’t fear silence. They aren’t afraid to be alone with their thoughts and they can use downtime to be productive. They enjoy their own company and aren’t dependent on others for companionship and entertainment all the time but instead can be happy alone.

12. They Don’t Feel the World Owes Them Anything

Mentally strong people don’t feel entitled to things in life. They weren’t born with a mentality that others would take care of them or that the world must give them something. Instead, they look for opportunities based on their own merits.

13. They Don’t Expect Immediate Results

Whether they are working on improving their health or getting a new business off the ground, mentally strong people don’t expect immediate results. Instead, they apply their skills and time to the best of their ability and understand that real change takes time.

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NOVEMBER 13 BY AMY MORIN IN COMMUNICATION, MOTIVATION |

Are you mentally strong? What Tips or advice would you suggest to others to help them strengthen their mental outlook on life?