Seeking and Finding Wholeness

When it comes to hair, skin and nails, health equals beauty. One of the best ways to look good on the outside is to be good on the inside, in other words, to be healthy.

It’s no surprise that nutrition plays a crucial role towards our the health. Below you will see six tips that will help you give your body the nutrients it needs to keep it healthy on the inside and looking good on the outside:

• Stay Hydrated:
  Drink 64+ ounces of water every day
• Make Meals as Healthy as Possible:
  Eat fresh veggies and fruits. Avoid processed foods. Avoid fast foods. Avoid artificial flavors, preservatives, colors etc.
• Boost Nutrition and Energy:
  Try protein powder in a shake or a smoothie and take organic/all natural multi vitamins (not made in china).
• Get Good Fats Daily:
  Omega 3 and GLA essential fatty acids help keep your skin looking healthy and elastic. Learn more about fats here Fat the good and bad
• More Antioxidants:
  Antioxidants help you avoid skin damage from the sun, poor diet and pollution.
• Reduce Stress:
  Stress can easily lead to breakouts and wrinkles. Try meditation, yoga or other ways to achieve healthy relaxation

I was fortunate enough to have grown up eating home made wholesome meals that my grandmother cooked. I have, however, had my share of fast food.

I ate burgers from every fast food chain that I can think of, not to mention the french fries, smoothies, hot dogs, fish or chicken sandwiches, tacos, just name a (pre-2007) fast food and I probably have eaten it.

After moving out of my college dorm, I lived on cheap hamburgers and other fast food diets for a couple months. I clearly noticed how my health declined, how I gained weight and had cravings often. I got sick, so I purchased the college meal plan. I didn’t get that plan because I was a smart kid, as I just said I did get sick. I give total credit to my doctor who advised me to eat at the cafeteria for a while until my health improved, so I did. I loved that decision; going to the campus cafeteria was often a relaxing and nutritional daily venture. I kept eating there until I graduated.

Had I seen this picture and had I known what I know now about fast food, I would have likely purchased that meal plan right away, without getting sick, without the doctor having to suggest it.

I am not comparing McDonalds to BurgerKing or DQ or …anything else. I put them all in the same bucket. Well, just imagine a KFC family meal bucket, close your eyes and reach in, grab the first greasy thing you touch, whatever you get, you would have gotten that same from any other fast food joint. I mean, you get bad food. Now that we established that ‘all’ fast food is the same, i.e. ‘bad for you’, you will love this one:

This lady has saved a McDonald’s hamburger from the year 1996. The 1996 McDonald’s hamburger is on the left side of the picture. A 2008 McDonald’s hamburger is on the right side. Do you notice anything strange about the picture? If you said that the 1996 burger looks quite preserved to be 12 years old at the time the picture was taken, then you win — sorry, no-prize!

If you eat home made food, or even restaurant food, you know that if you don’t eat something eventually it goes bad. We are all familiar with mold in all its colors and varieties. Then, how come this burger doesn’t go bad? Isn’t food supposed to go bad?

Had this food been natural, or nutritional, you’d expect to see so much mold, in fact we’d have a bona fide eco-system thriving on that burger.

I teach a workshop titled Healthy Choices for Children. It’s a class for parents seeking solutions to how to improve the way they eat. It’s about the alternative food market, organics, and the top ten food additives to avoid and why, menu planning and more. It’s a 3 session fabulously informative interactive class.

Below is my absolutely favorite prop.

People are always astounded when I share this.

I have used this as show and tell for a very long time.

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MSG is harmful to many; countless people get migraine headaches after consuming MSGs, including  myself. These people are more aware of the ingredients in their food. We read food ingredient labels carefully to make sure our food doesn’t contain MSGs. We also avoid Chinese food, fast food burgers, and Lipton soups, etc..

Did you know that “MSG” is only one term used to refer to Monosodium Glutamate and that other words and numbers are used?

When you read the ingredients, if you are looking for MSGs, you should know all the terms used to identify MSG.

MSG can be referred to as:

• sodium glutamate (sodium salt of the non-essential amino glutamic acid)
• HS code 29224220
• E621
• Ajinomoto
• Vetsin,
• Accent

Are there other words used to indicate the presense of MSG in food that I missed?

I know from experience that doctors encourage that a patient on blood thinners continues to eat a balanced diet, including green and leafy veggies.  If you like salad and lettuce you wont have to give them up. The only important thing is to be stable in your diet, don’t eat  a ton of lettuce in one week and no lettuce in the other.

Don’t take my word for it. Below you will see captions from a fredericksburg.com article that talk about this issue:

Veggies not off-limits when taking blood thinners

Americans filled about 30 million prescriptions for the drug Coumadin, also called warfarin, in 2004, according to the Warfarin Institute of America. This medicine helps prevent unwanted blood clots called deep vein thromboses and pulmonary embolisms.

Vitamin K, found in foods such as broccoli and spinach, decreases the effects of warfarin, and this makes many people taking the drug think they can’t eat green vegetables at all

But, don’t give up your veggies. In fact, eating more vegetables and fish, and less red and processed meat, is linked with having fewer clots. That’s according to a letter from acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven Galson, published in this month’s Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

It’s true that large amounts of vitamin K, found in leafy green vegetables, can interfere with warfarin and increase the risk of clots. But it’s not necessary to avoid these foods entirely, according to a statement in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation.

GREENS VARY

It may also be helpful to know that some green veggies are low in vitamin K. While most vitamin-K-rich foods are green, not all green foods have the same amount of vitamin K.

For example, these green vegetables are relatively low in vitamin K, having less than 100 micrograms per serving: peas, green beans, celery, iceberg lettuce and green peppers.

Vegetables with moderate amount of vitamin K, 100 to 300 micrograms, include asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green cabbage, endive, green onions, Romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce and parsley.

Dark green leafy veggies, such as spinach, kale, collard greens and must-ard greens, have the most vitamin K, more than 1,000 micrograms per serving.

Other ways to help prevent clots, according to the acting surgeon general, including staying active, exercising leg muscles during long trips and not smoking. And, keep eating your veggies.

Alcohol and cranberry juice, while not high in vitamin K, can affect clotting. If you take warfarin, don’t drink alcohol–it may cause bleeding.

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EV Satie Guest Blogger

My Artificial Sweetener Nightmare

By EV Satie, Guest blogger

I was recently reading a great post on Dr. Mercola’s web site about the dangers of Splenda and it got me to thinking about my own personal experience with these harmful sweeteners.

Having had a weight problem my entire life and not being able to tolerate sugar (it made me want to eat and eat!), I did what most people do in my situation- I used artificial sweeteners. On top of that I am quite compulsive, so I used a lot of it. Drinks sweetened with Equal and Splenda were a daily staple, as well as packets and packets of Splenda, which I put in my coffee and on my food. It took me many years to face up to the fact that these so called “safe” sweeteners were really poising my body, and on top of that I had a chronic illness, which was exacerbated by anything chemical and highly processed.

Needless to say, I finally was willing to let all of them go about a year and a half ago, and although it was difficult, it wasn’t the hardest part of my withdrawal from them. About three days into it, I had a severe liver attack which lasted for almost an hour, and I had to lie on my back and deep breathe the entire time so that I didn’t throw up or have to head to the hospital. I had terrible stabbing pains in my side, burning in my intestines, and hot and cold flashes running through my body. Not a pretty experience at all! It has taken me months to heal my liver, and it still gives me trouble now and then.

The reason that I am sharing this with you is because I really want to get the word out about just how toxic these substances are! Splenda may be derived from sugar, but the end result is that it becomes chlorinated artificial sweetener once it has been molecularly altered.

Do you really want something like that in your body?

Please go to the following websites for more information:

• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/10/New-Study-of-Splenda-Reveals-Shocking-Information-About-Potential-Harmful-Effects.aspx
• www.truthaboutsplenda.com

Do yourself a huge favor and stop using these poisons as soon as you can!

Written by EV Satie

Of

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Garlic, Good or Bad?

I came across this today, does anyone out there have more info on this?

From GARLIC – TOXIC SHOCK! Reprinted from Nexus Magazine, Feb/Mar 2001. Source: From a lecture by physicist Dr. Robert C Beck, DSc, given at the Whole Life Expo, Seattle, WA, USA, in March 1996.

The reason garlic is so toxic, the sulphone hydroxyl ion penetrates the blood-brain barrier, just like DMSO [a sulfoxide], and is a specific poison for higher-life forms and brain cells. We discovered this, much to our horror, when I (Bob Beck, DSc) was the world’s largest manufacturer of ethical EEG [electroencephalography] feedback equipment.

We’d have people come back from lunch that looked clinically dead on an encephalograph, which we used to calibrate their progress. “Well, what happened?” “Well, I went to an Italian restaurant and there was some garlic in my salad dressing!” So we had them sign things that they wouldn’t touch garlic before classes or we were wasting their time, their money and my time.

I guess some of you … are pilots or have been in flight tests… I was in flight test engineering in Doc Hallan’s group in the 1950s. The flight surgeon would come around every month and remind all of us: “Don’t you dare touch any garlic 72 hours before you fly one of our airplanes, because it’ll double or triple your reaction time. You’re three times slower than you would be if you’d not had a few drops of garlic.”
Well, we didn’t know why for 20 years later, until I owned the Alpha-Metrics Corporation. We were building biofeedback equipment and found out that garlic usually desynchronises your brain waves.

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Water has the ability to be altered by conscious attention, as evidence seems to indicate. Schwartz reported that Dean Radin had recently replicated Masaru Emoto’s groundbreaking research, demonstrating that the shape of water crystals can be affected by thoughts and music.  Water was tested in an experiment involving 14 healers and patients and showed changes in its hydrogen bonds that were not present in the control group (water not exposed to the healing thoughts), Schwartz detailed. His research indicates that the consciousness of all living things from humans to plants is connected.

If consciousness can alter water, and we are made of more than 70% water, can consciousness and water be used in healing?

Watch 10 you tube videos (coast to coast radio interview with Stephan A. Schwartz) and discuss this topic further here (login not required to join the discussion). The interview is very interesting I recommended listing to the whole thing.

Stephan A. Schwartz is research associate in the cognitive science laboratory and a leading expert on the practical application of remote viewing and aspects of extra ordinary human functioning, he is also a co-author of over 30 papers, and is involved in energy medicine work and a member of the parapsychology association

Read five (5) news articles on this topic. Here

ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2007)

Immune System Can Drive Cancers Into Dormant State

A multinational team of researchers has shown for the first time that the immune system can stop the growth of a cancerous tumor without actually killing it.

Scientists have been working for years to use the immune system to eradicate cancers, a technique known as immunotherapy. The new findings prove an alternate to this approach exists: When the cancer can’t be killed with immune attacks, it may be possible to find ways to use the immune system to contain it. The results also may help explain why some tumors seem to suddenly stop growing and go into a lasting period of dormancy.

This news article reminded me of something I heard Dr. Beck say once. Watch part 1 of a youtube video of Dr. Beck entitled “how to cure cancer & HIV (Dr. Bob Beck)”

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Keep your eyes on vitamin B3 news. Vitamin B3 also known as Nicotinamide (AKA Niacinamide) have been found to prevent Alzheimer’s pathology and improve memory in transgenic mice. Studies are on the way to find if the same effect is found in humans.

Nicotinamide decrease levels of phosphorylated tau which is one of the key neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Tau is involved in the formation of mircotubules which can be thought of as the train tracks (or key transportation system) along the length of the cell. Without it, both intracellular and extracellular communication can’t occur. It also increases the stability of this transportation system via other mechanisms, and works to increase p25, a protein which has been linked to improved learning and memory.

Phase 2 trials at UC Irvine have started, this phase is looking for patients who are in the early stages of alzheimer’s. Keep your eyes on phase 2 and 3 of these clinical trials

Vitamin B3 is easily found in meat, fish, beans, potatoes and cereals, comparable [to the mice] doses for humans are far higher than is found in one’s diet.

Investigators at UC Irvine are starting a phase 2 trial in humans by giving their subjects 1,500 mg twice a day. That is 3000 mg a day. Common multivitamins contain about 10mg only. The recommended daily dose is 16mg for men and 14mg for women.

Taking 1000mg a day or more could induce liver toxicity and other side effects, thus caution and more information on safety is needed.

Nicotinamide belongs to a class of compounds called HDAC inhibitors, which have been shown to protect the central nervous system in rodent models of Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Clinical trials are underway to learn whether HDAC inhibitors help ALS and Huntington’s patients.

An observational prospective study conducted by Martha. C. Morris at Rush University showed that in their Chicago population of 3718 subjects that those who consumed more niacin (a precursor to nicotinamide) over a 5.5 yr period had substantially less cognitive decline. This same study showed in a smaller subset that those who consumed more niacin also had a 70% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Stay Informed

There seems to be enough promising results so far to warrant keeping a close watch on B3 research. Many people, including myself, would like to see their memory improved and would like to decrease their chances of getting Alzheimer’s.

What Is The Truth – Will It Be Known?

Due to the simplicity of this solution (i.e. over the counter vitamin that is not expensive or patentable) I hope that the research is not influenced in any way by large corporations that would rather patent a drug to make a profit.

The Best Things Are Simple (or Natural)

It is my observation and belief that MOST good and beneficial things in life are simple and found in nature. Most of the time, naturally occurring things and simplicity do miracles. This observations is true in many fields, from medicine, to wellness, to physics and math, computer science, and chemistry, etc… The best equations and solutions out there are simple, and esthetically appealing (pretty, just as is Nature).

For more information & resources check out:

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Based on recent findings mentioned in this article, I would like to start taking B3 (Nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide and nicotinic acid amide) and see if it improves my memory. I bought the vitamin, I believe the needed dosage is 1000mg a day, I read this could harm the liver so I’d doing more research. I also need to do 1 memory test before and 1 after. How long should I take the vitamin for?

I’m writing this here to bounce this idea off you, any suggestions you wanna share?

This is not an exact scientific study, I don’t have a clone of me that can take a placebo, etc.. I’m only hoping to get an improvement on memory.

I will post back here with more research info and an update on my little experiment.

I am a guy that loves soup, I have soup when I’m cold, when I’m sick, when I have a migraine, at restaurants, for dinner, over lunch, etc… I have been migraine free for more than a week now, and a couple days ago I ate soup. Within an hour of eating it I had a headache. Luckily, the headache did not develop into a full blown migraine, I considered it a mini migraine, this prompted me to check the ingredients on the soup.

I always read ingredients, but somehow I assumed that all soup was healthy and I overlooked reading the ingredients. I was surprised to find MSG (Monosodium glutamate) in the ingredients of my soup. I decided to take action.
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I just received this info from a friend:

Vitamin B3 Reduces Alzheimer’s Symptoms, Lesions: Clinical Trial On Nicotinamide Effect In Alzheimer’s Patients. It also improves memory. Over the counter B3 should WORK!

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2008) —

An over-the-counter vitamin in high doses prevented memory loss in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, and UC Irvine scientists now are conducting a clinical trial to determine its effect in humans.

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Fats are essential to your body and health. Fats help your body absorb nutrients, they help your nerves function, they keep your cells’ membranes (walls) healthy, keep your skin and hair healthy, and much more. The most important organ in your body, your brain, is basically made off 50% fat.

All fats are not created equal, however. Some fats promote your health, others increase the risk of heart disease, cancers, and even cause aging and general sickness.

So what should we do? Your goal is to replace all bad fats with good fats in your diet. This article provides some guidance

The Bad Fats:

• Saturated Fats are Found In:
  Animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. Some plants are also high in saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.
  Effects:
  Raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
• Hydrogenated Fats/Oils
  When liquid oils are “hydrogenate” trans fatty acids are formed.

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Most holistic dentists prefer to extract a tooth than to do a root canal mainly because they believe root canals are never a 100% sterile and bacteria left behind could flourish if your immune system is compromised. My (non-holistic) dentist said that 95% o root canals are successful, this leaves 5% of root canals to fail. If they fail, an infection can occur at the bone structure that may not be easily detectable.

I found that not all holistic dentists have this position, almost none of the traditional dentists prefer extraction over a root canal. Over 95% of root canals are successful. So many people have had root canals, multiple of them. These root canal procedures are done routinely and safely. However, just because every body else is doing something doesn’t mean that it’s the best choice. For instance, take drinking pop, or using cell phones, eating fast food, eating lots of meat, smoking, getting drunk, need I continue?.. Many people take actions that negatively impact their well being for whatever reasons, be it lack of information, disinformation, ignorance, lack of interest, etc…

Here, in trying to decide if root canals are good or bad, IMHO (In my humble opinion), we are faced with a lack of information, making deciding what’s best a little tricky. I shared what I know here and ask you to contribute what you know so we can all benefit.

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It is no surprise that our daily use of manufactured chemicals such as plastics and cosmetics poses a health risk by introducing toxic and harmful substances to our bodies. Your body, and the body of every person you know has a plethora of toxics, a mixture of chemicals that are known toxins and ones that have not been tested on humans yet, meaning that we don’t know how they affect us.

The Test

Healthy Legacy Coalition*(1) conducted a test to measure the levels of 20 common chemicals, from three chemical families, in about three dozen people across the U.S. about a year ago; Minnesota contributed Five test subjects.

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CSA is a socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It is also a method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market. CSA’s focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and even milk or meat products in some cases. A variety of production and economic sub-systems are in use worldwide.

How The CSA System Works

CSA generally is the practice of focusing on the production of high quality foods using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods. The system has many variations on how the farm budget is supported by the consumers and how the producers then deliver the foods. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss.

In its most formal and structured European and North American form, CSAs focus on having:

• A transparent, whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year;
• A common-pricing system where producers and consumers discuss and democratically agree to pricing based on the acceptance of the budget; and
• A ‘shared risk and reward’ agreement, i.e. that the consumers eat what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

Individuals, families or groups do not pay for x pounds or kilograms of produce, but rather support the budget of the whole farm and receive weekly what is seasonally ripe. This approach eliminates the marketing risks and costs for the producer and an enormous amount of time, often manpower too, and allows producers to focus on quality care of soils, crops, animals, co-workers—and on serving the customers. There is little to no loss (i.e. waste) in this system, since the producers know in advance who they are growing for and how much to grow, etc.

Some confusion about the CSA system has arisen as some CSAs are less whole-budget, whole-farm oriented and have more the character of subscription farming. This kind of arrangement is also referred to as crop-sharing or box schemes. In such cases, farmers often simply set the weekly prices and retain a high level of risk, marketing costs and so on. Thus there is an important distinction between the producers (farmers, gardeners, etc.) selling shares in the upcoming season’s harvest or selling a weekly subscription that includes x, y, z amounts of produce. In all cases, participants contribute a pre-agreed amount (sometimes an equal amount, sometimes variable) and in return receive a weekly harvest.

Some farms are dedicated entirely to CSA, while others also sell through on-farm stands, farmers’ markets, and other channels. Most CSAs are owned by the farmers, while some offer shares in the farm as well as the harvest. Consumers have organized their own CSA projects, going as far as renting land and hiring farmers.

Typically, CSA farms are small, independent, labor-intensive, family farms. Many CSAs practice ecological, organic or biodynamic agriculture, avoiding pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

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There are some foods that people should avoid. Health researcher Mike Adams said, people should avoid foods that contain ingredients known to cause cancer, such as refined sugars, refined grains, hydrogenated oils, MSGs, and nitrates. This is all common-sensical. Check the list to see if you already knew about these foods.

This article lists five foods that may just be the worst foods ever.

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The following brands contain high levels of toxic lead in them: L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red,” L’Oreal Colour Riche “Classic Wine”, Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor “Maximum Red” and Dior Addict “Positive Red.”

L’Oreal had the highest lead results in the samples tested by a consumer advocacy group. You should be upset at L’Oreal, Cover Girl, Dior and other cosmetic companies, also at the FDA for not monitoring the substances that we use (and ingest) more carefully, and ultimately for corporations caring more about profit than the health of their consumers.

We live in a “Consumers, be Aware” world. But, how could we have known that lead existed in a product if lead isn’t listed as an ingredient? Consumers should always be cautious, but how could they make decisions if they are being deceived when information such as lead levels are not disclosed?

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If you enjoy the buttery smell of freshly cooked microwave popcorn like millions of people do, you must read this.

Dr. Cecile Rose, pulmonary specialist at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center, in a letter, warned federal agencies or regulators that consumers are in danger of suffering the fatal popcorn lung disease from buttery flavoring fumes in microwave popcorn.

At least one heavy popcorn consumer has been diagnosed with the same disease affecting workers exposed to the substance, Bronchiolitis Obliterans.

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