Eat Some Greens, Don't Break a Hip - The Importance of Vitamin K

Did you know that eating a serving of lettuce or some other green leafy vegetable per day cuts your risk of getting a hip fracture in half? That's as compared to eating just one serving of green leafy vegetables per day. This is reported in the "Harvard Medical School Guide to Eating Healthy."

If you're wondering how green leafy vegetables and hip fractures are related, then you'll be interested to know that the magic link is Vitamin K. Vitamin K is one of the key vitamins in a protein necessary to maintain build bone health.

Recent research shows that low levels of circulating vitamin K in the body has been linked to low bone density. In fact, people who supplemented their diet with foods rich in Vitamin K showed increased bone density. The Nurse's Health Study indicates that women who don't get enough vitamin K in their diet are twice as likely to break a hip as women who do.

Unfortunately, the average American does not get enough Vitamin K in their diet, even though, when surveyed, most adults thought they got plenty of Vitamin K. The younger members of the population are particularly at risk for low intake of Vitamin K, since their diet generally has fewer leafy green vegetables. The average American adult eats just under the recommended daily amount of Vitamin K, which is 120 mcg for men and 90 mcg for women.

The leafy vegetables highest in Vitamin K are kale, collards, spinach, and turnip greens. For those who don't like salads all that much, other sources of this vitamin include blue-green algae, chlorella, and wheat grass.

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Study Shows High-Protein Diets Easier to Follow

The South Beach Diet. Jenny Craig. The watermelon diet. The peanut butter diet.

Yikes!

With all the diets and diet plans out there, it can be really hard to figure out which diet is going to work the best for you. You might have to use some trial-and-error to figure it out for yourself, and obviously, if you have specific health conditions, you want to follow the advice of a health professional.

New Study on High-Protein Diets
Here's something that might help you out. A new study shows that a diet moderately high in protein (30%) works better than a conventional one with high-carbohydrates and only 15% protein. The study, led by nutrition professor Donald Layman at the University of Illinois, was reported in the March 2009 issue of "Journal of Nutrition."

The study put 130 overweight folks on diets with the same number of calories. The people on the high-protein diet lost 38% more body fat than the other group. The high-protein group also significantly reduced their LDL cholesterol while increasing their HDL, or good, cholesterol.

Participants in the high-protein diet found that diet easier to stick to. Researchers explain that this is because protein helps preserve muscle, which burns fat and helps people feel full for longer periods of time.

Which Source of Protein?
The research proves that a high-protein diet is better, but some nutritionists question whether the source of protein should come primarily from plant or animal sources. Says Maudene Nelson of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, "because there's so much evidence that a plant-based diet is healthier than an animal-based diet, aim for more plant sources of protein."

Examples of plant sources of protein include nuts, seeds, soy products, whole grains. Vegetables that are high in protein include broccoli, kale, spinach, and squash. If you'd rather pop a pill or drink your protein, consider blue-green algae or wheat grass, which is served as a juice.

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Why You Should Go "Wild" With Supplements

A lot of people come to me for nutritional counseling and I always suggest that they "go wild" when they choose their supplements. When I say "go wild," I don't mean that they should go buy up everything in the vitamin aisle, I mean that they should consider supplements that are made from wild, organic, whole foods. These kinds of supplements benefit is in four different ways.

1. Wild Foods Fit Our Bodies
Foods from nature are made to suit our bodies. We are all part of the same ecosystem and wild foods, especially ancient foods that have been on the planet for millions of years, strengthen our genetic and cellular integrity.

2. Whole Foods are Easily Absorbed
Our bodies often require enzymes, co-enzymes, and other co-factors to absorb and use vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Synthesized supplements often lack these co-factors, so our bodies can't use the supplements. They often just come out the other end. On the other hand, whole foods have a much higher absorption rate, so we get more nutrition for every bite.

3. Balanced Mineral Ratio
It's very important for the food we eat to have balanced mineral ratios. Many disease conditions are caused by imbalanced mineral ratios, so taking supplements that don't have a balanced mineral ratio can worsen pre-existing health conditions. Luckily, Mother Nature produces foods that tend to have balanced mineral ratios, so whole foods are always better than artificially created supplements.

4. Organic Foods Are Not Polluted
Many of the chemicals used in farming cause the vitamins and minerals in our food to be unavailable for our bodies to use, not to mention that these chemicals can cause serious health problems. Organically-certified foods meet a rigorous standard of testing and contain far fewer harmful ingredients.

So when you go to the health food store to pick out your daily supplements, go wild, go green, go natural, go organic. In other words, go healthy!

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Have a Good Laugh! Medical Humor

Don't you think it's unnerving that doctors call what they do "Practice"?
-- George Carlin

"I finally quit smoking by using the patch. I put six of them over my mouth." - Wendy Liebman

A male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who never owned a car.
-- Carrie Snow

Who ever thought up the word "Mammogram"? Every time I hear it, I think I'm supposed to put my breast in an envelope
and send it to someone.
-- Jan King

What do you give a man who has everything? Antibiotics

A man walks into a psychiatrist's office wearing only underwear made of Saran Wrap.
The psychiatrist says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."

Photo credit: gap tooth

Vicarious Dieting - See Good Food, Choose Bad Food

A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals a disturbing new trend in our food choices: vicarious dieting. What is vicarious dieting? It's the act of looking at healthy food choices on the menu, and then ordering junk food instead.

The authors of this new study are Keith Wilcox (City University of New York), Beth Vallen (Loyola College), Lauren Block (City University of New York), and Gavan J. Fitzsimons (Duke University).

Healthy Items on Menu = Bad Food Choices
According to the authors of this study, the presence of healthy items on the menu may actually increase the chances that consumers will order unhealthy foods. For instance, in one study high-control participants (meaning people who normally exercised good self-control) were presented with three side-dishes:

- French fries
- chicken nuggets
- baked potato

Participants were told that all side dishes were the same price, and were asked to choose a dish. As predicted, most avoided French fries, the least-healthy item on the menu.

However, when a salad was added to the list of side-dishes, the participants were significantly more likely to choose the fries. Weird, no? It gets even stranger. For participants with low self-control, the opposite effect happened. Go figure.

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Got Milk? Maybe You Shouldn't

Did you know that humans are the only mammals to drink milk as adults? All other mammals in the world consume milk only as babies. As they grow up, they transition away mother's milk and start eating solid food.

We're Not on the Prairie Anymore
We humans, on the other hand, drink milk because our culture has taught us to do so. In the pioneer days, people drank milk because milk was a source of much-needed calories, and thus a valuable resource on the frontier. Unfortunately, we don't live on the prairie anymore and drinking milk isn't as good for us as we might think.

Human mother's milk is good for babies. Mother's milk provides the baby a great deal of immunity, and helps to populate the baby's large intestine with the friendly bacteria so necessary for health. Mother's milk is also high in simple carbohydrates and low in protein, which is ideal for humans.

Humans Don't Have Hooves and Horns
Cow's milk, on the other hand, is high in protein. It is especially high in a protein called casein, which calves use during the first six months of their lives to grow hooves and horns. Humans, as you've probably noticed, have neither hooves nor horns, so we don't need the casein. In fact, we can't digest casein because we lack rennet, which is what digests casein. Instead, the casein builds up as mucous in our tissues and tendons, as well as forming kidney stones and clotting up our blood vessels.

What If You Gotta Have Milk?
So what should you do if you love milk and cookies? No worries. While you should consider limiting your intake of milk, especially if you experience mucous-based symptoms like bronchitis or joint pain, if you just have to have milk then consider taking additional enzymes to "clean up" the mucous in your system.

Consider taking a few capsules of high-quality full-spectrum enzymes (that contain cayenne, if possible) between meals. When taken between meals, these enzymes don't remain in your gut but move around your body as "scavengers," cleaning up toxins, mucous, and other junk in your system.

Life should be lived with passion, and if milk and cookies are your passion, then do indulge. Just throw a few enzymes into the mix as well to keep your body healthy and happy!

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3 Proactive Steps You Can Take to Reduce Allergy Symptoms

Achoo! Bless you! Are you coughing and sneezing? Do you have a runny nose and itchy eyes? Then you know that spring is here. Allergies arrive at the same time as the spring pollen. Luckily, you can take proactive steps right now to drastically reduce your allergy symptoms.

A Little About Pollen
First though, let's take a look at what's happening when you experience allergies. What is the essence of an allergic response? Simple. Your body is reacting to the intentional or unintentional ingestion of pollen and pollen-like substances such as pet dander, mold spores, dust-bearing dust mites. In reaction to the ingestion of pollen and pollen-like substances, the body produces histamine, which is a chemical responsible for the creation of watery mucous in an attempt to wash away the irritating pollens. Anti-histamines block this natural response of the body.

OK, so what is pollen? Pollen is "a micro-spore of seed plants." Pollens are microscopic "seeds" and like all other seeds are surrounded by a protein skin that protects them from sprouting prematurely. Your body is reacting to this protein skin, which is an irritant.

The classic "allergic response" to any over-ingestion of pollens is about the same for everyone: sneezing, watery mucous, and the urgent need to blow your nose and clear your throat of the nasty little pollen spores.

Under ideal circumstances, the body possesses enough digestive and metabolic enzymes (particularly the enzyme protease) to break down the protein skin of the pollen, thus neutralizing its antagonizing effects. Then, the histamine flows in order to escort the neutralizing, and downsized (digested) pollens out of the body. This usually happens within a matter of minutes, and can be over within a matter of minutes, with no further irritation or "allergic response" until the next over-exposure to pollens.

Why Do We Have Allergic Reactions?
People who suffer from "persistent allergic reactions"(i.e., symptoms that linger for more than the normal few minutes immediately following the over-exposure) suffer from two basic causes:

- deficiencies in digestive and metabolic enzymes, particularly protease and protease partner enzymes.
- not enough histamine production, or histamine that is not strong enough when it is produced and needed.

3 Proactive Strategies to Reduce Allergy Symptoms

1. Drink More Water
Drink half your body weight in ounces per day (with a pinch of organic sea salt per ounce if you need for taste). Drink even more during the allergy seasons. The histamine production centers of the body are controlled by our internal hydrologic (water) cycles.


2. Take More Enzymes
Consume adequate amounts of digestive enzymes (with protease) to help your body cope with all the pollen. Consuming digestive enzymes throughout the day is a really good idea, either every hour or every other hour, and before going to bed. This constant inflow of "protease" and other digestive enzymes will provide the needed assistance when pollens are ingested.

3. Add Antioxidants
Strengthen your body's defenses by adding antioxidants into your daily regimen. Wheat sprouts, blue green algae, and green tea extract are all good examples of helpful antioxidants. These antioxidants will help reduce the inflammation in your body, so you sneeze less and your eyes itch less. What a relief!

Just taking a few proactive steps now, at the beginning of spring, will help you sail through the season with much fewer symptoms.

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Photo credit: Sneeze Weed

Better Healthcare: Surgery with a Warranty

When you go to your local superstore and buy an mp3 player, it comes with a limited warranty, right? Everything from a toaster to a pup tent comes with a warranty. If something breaks within the warranty period, you take the item back, and the store either fixes the problem or gives you a new one. I know I tend to shop at places that handle warranty issues with a "no questions asked" policy, don't you?

Well, now the concept of warranty is moving into the area of healthcare. At certain places in the U.S., like the Geisenger Health System in Pennsylvania, you now get a warranty with your surgery. Really.

90 Day Warranty on Surgery
Suppose you go in for elective coronary bypass surgery. Your surgery literally comes with a 90-day warranty. What this means is that your insurance company pays a flat rate for the surgery, and you pay the associated co-pay. If any complications show up within the first 90 days after your surgery, and you have to go back into the hospital, the Geisenger Health System pays for the hospital stay and associated procedures. A warranty, after all, is a warranty.

Of course, to make this system work the Geisenger Health System has to do some fancy footwork in advance to ensure that patients don't have complications after surgery. For the bypass heart surgery, director of cardiothoracic surgery Alfred Casale, M.D., worked with a team to create a 40-point checklist of best surgical practices. Every point on the checklist has to be met before the surgery can proceed. If not, the procedure is cancelled. Period.

Rewarding Good Results
The results are stunning. The rate of patient readmission after surgery has dropped by 44% and the result hospital net revenues have gone up by 7.8%. The really neat thing about this concept is that it rewards physicians and healthcare providers for better care, which is the opposite of the current system. For instance, under the current insurance system, if a physician fails to give the patient an antibiotic and complications arise, the patient has to come back to the hospital. The healthcare provider then has a second opportunity to treat the patient, and to bill the insurance company. In a sense, poor care often leads to higher billings. In the case of the warranty, poor care only results in a net loss for the healthcare system. As a result, physicians are motivated to get it right the first time around.

While the concept of offering surgeries with warranties hasn't caught on yet in the rest of the country, it's an idea that is worth promoting. It definitely promotes better healthcare for fewer dollars, a concept that would please not only President Obama, but everyone else who is concerned about the quality and cost of healthcare in this country. That's you and me.

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Why You Should NEVER Ice an Injury

Surprised? Let's look at what could happen when we apply ice to an injury and then see what other options we might have. With most injuries there is a heat buildup, or inflammation, that occurs often followed by localized swelling of the tissue - and pain, of course. While it is true that putting ice on the damaged part seems to cool it and alleviate some of the swelling and perhaps some of the pain, there is a price to pay.

When we cool an area in this way, we slow the circulation, which slows the healing process and tends to "trap" the heat in layers around the injury, as well as the liquids or the lymph, which we generally refer to as the "damp." This can cause additional symptoms to manifest and become chronic, preventing a complete healing. Often times the layer of cold or damp, as well as the heat, that remains can stay in the surrounding tissue for years until it is taken out by using appropriate techniques for doing so.

3 Ways to Clear Heat from an Injury
A better way to deal with the injury is to "pull" or clear the heat as a first aid technique as quickly as is possible, using direct energy handling methods, herbs that dissipate heat, and antioxidants.

Clearing the Heat Energetically
The heat that corresponds to fever, pain, or inflammation, and also anger, is fire energy of the color RED-ORANGE. What we do is to locate a source of that color to visually identify what we want to get rid of from the area of the injury, and then get a good "ground" to flow that energy out of the body. Anything that will ground electrical energy will do, such as a stove, refrigerator, wall switch, water pipe, outlet (the cover will do - you don't need to stick your finger in the outlet), or if we are outside, a street light, power pole. Put one hand just below the injury, the other hand on the energy ground. While looking at the color red-orange, start a flow of that energy from the wounded area through your body and into the ground. You can do this procedure for yourself or for anyone else. Even though it may sound curious at best, the good news is: IT REALLY WORKS !!

Herbal Approach
External poultices and plasters can be made up easily with the combination of heat-clearing herbs such as Arnica, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Angelica and Comfrey. You can also add astringent herbs such as Yellow Dock, Wormwood, Witch Hazel, Calendula, Shepherd's Purse, and Prickly Ash Bark, to mention a few. There are, of course many of these herbs that can be ingested to work from inside to clear heat as well, such as Boneset, Comfrey Root, White Willow Bark, Valerian, Myrrh, and Lobelia.

Antioxidant Approach
When your body says, "ouch," what it is really trying to tell you is that it doesn't have enough resources to detoxify itself. Excess toxins in the body are often the cause of soreness, stiffness, headaches, and even allergy-type symptoms. To give your body a helping hand, beef up your antioxidant intake. Some common antioxidants include wheat sprouts, coenzyme Q10, stem-cell boosters, and mangosteen juice. All of these, taken with plenty of water, help your body cleanse and refresh itself.

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Spring Cleaning for Body, Mind, and Spirit

Are you ready for summer yet? The change of seasons, especially spring, seems to bring about some major adjustments in our bodies - allergic reactions, colds and flus.

In ancient tribal times, people understood that our bodies, minds and spirits needed a little help to transition between seasons. To make the transition, they would celebrate with moving and energizing rituals, dances and ceremonies. These moving celebrations helped to clear the old energies of the past season, and bring in fresh energies of the coming season.

We, being much more sedentary in our daily lives, have fewer moving factors in our lives. To compound the problem, many modern approaches to health actually introduce stagnation rather than movement. Consider the practices of icing injuries and putting casts on broken bones - both of these practices force the body to be still, rather than encouraging movement. Considering that movement is life, this approach only leads to further problems during the change of season.

Stagnation = Illness
In fact, if you consider many of the common illnesses and discomforts in our society today, you'll find that the majority of them are caused by stagnation and lack of movement. These include: headaches or migraines, shortness of breath, heart irregularities, bowel obstruction, depression, allergies and urogenital problems. Given our current lifestyles, we have to introduce factors to move our chi, our blood, our lymph, not to mention our minds and spirits. You can imagine what happens if we fail to clear the old energies season after season - we get the stagnation that causes the discomforts listed above.

Most of us are well aware of certain herbs that purge, cleanse and move specific areas of the body. For instance, psyillium is an herb often used to move and cleanse the bowels. Such a narrow focus, however, doesn't serve us well during the change of season. We need to have a much broader approach that takes into account body, mind and spirit. There are techniques in many hands-on healing modalities (including massage, chiropractic and acupuncture) that have general moving and clearing effects. These approaches range from general to specific, with massage tending to be more general, and acupuncture tending to be more specific.

Don't Wait, Spring Clean Now
So, instead of waiting to get sick or allowing layer after layer of stagnation to build up, plan for your change of season. Plan to get a series of "tune up" massage, acupuncture or other kind of healing treatments. Take a tai-chi or karate class - or even a bellydancing class. Anything that moves you will heal you through the change of season. Healing techniques that move your body will also move your mind and spirit (by the "as above, so below" universal law). Planning a change of season will help you stay on top of your health and prevent future illnesses. You'll get a lot more mileage out of prevention than you will out of curing an illness that has already manifested!

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Photo credit: Spring Blossoms

Sighing, Groaning, and Yelling Your Way Out of Stress

Are you stressed! If so, I have good news for you! Did you know that you can sigh and groan your way out of stress? Really. Sighing is a way of vocalizing the stress we feel, and releasing the pent up energies of the heart. Contrary to popular opinion, sighing is not always the sound of self-pity. Sighing actually releases excess energies and can be very uplifting.

Groaning is the primary sound of the kidneys, so groaning releases the pent up energies of the kidneys. Keeping the kidneys free of excess energies actually prevents kidney problems such as kidney stones, since the kidney reflects fear and the wrong use of will in our lives. An example of the wrong use of will is pushing yourself to do something even if it doesn't feel right.

The primary sound of the liver is shouting. Vocalizing by shouting in an upbeat sound like "Haazzaaa" (pronounced with the same intonation as Hooray) can release the pent up energies of the liver. Excess liver energy is the primary cause of infections as well as a source of anger, so releasing liver energies promotes peace. Wheat sprouts are also beneficial in releasing excess liver energies, and can promote the rapid healing of infections.

Generally these sounds also clear the lungs because of the expelling of the air from the lungs and movement of sound through the lungs. So, you can really sigh and groan your way out of stress right now!

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Get Your Skin in Shape for Summer

Summertime comes before you know it and it's never too soon to get your skin in shape for the beach! As you probably already know, great skin starts from the inside out. Skin is the largest organ of the body, and it reflects our general health. If you're body is functioning well, your skin will glow. If your body isn't healthy, your skin will reflect that poor health. So how can you have great skin? Here are three easy tips:

Drink Water
You need at least 64 ounces of water a day to have really glowing skin. Water flushes out toxins, increases circulation and refreshes your whole body (including your skin).

Sweat
Sweat is how your skin "breathes" and refreshes itself. Drinking plenty of water helps, but you actually have to sweat to move the water through your skin. So, get out there on the beach and run, jog, and play. Your skin will thank you for it.

Antioxidants
If your skin has wrinkles, sagging or poor tone, you probably need antioxidants. Antioxidants prevent free radicals and other toxins from building up in your skin, allowing your skin to look fresh and young. Try Super Sprouts and Algae, CoQ10 and ImmuSun from Simplexity (formerly Cell Tech) for great antioxidant protection.

Photo credit: beauty girl in towel with rose after shower

Enzymes - The Key to Longevity

If you want to live longer, look younger, have more energy and lift your metabolism, you need enzymes! Enzymes are the workhorses of the body and literally keep us going. Here are just some of the ways.

Metabolism
To optimize your metabolism, make sure to provide your body with plenty of enzymes. Enzymes are what literally metabolize food, fat and toxins in the body. To increase your metabolism, increase your enzyme intake at and between meals.

Toxins
When you're body isn't using its storehouse of enzymes to digest food, it's sending them off to scavenge for free radicals, toxins and other harmful substances in your body - literally cleaning your body of waste at the cellular level. The lower your level of toxicity, the more energy you'll have and the younger you'll look (and feel).

Digestion
Poor digestion can be the cause of headaches, skin problems, chronic fatigue and a host of other ailments. To improve digestion, increase your enzyme intake at meals. Because so many of our foods are cooked, genetically engineered or poisoned with pesticides and fertilizers, it's essential to add enzymes to our diet. Improved digestion, with the help of extra enzymes, can literally change your health from bad to good.

Long Term Health
Because enzymes play such an essential role in keeping the body clean, maintained and functioning, having the appropriate levels of enzymes is a crucial key to long term health. Most adults get less than 50% of the enzymes they need from the foods they eat, leading to degenerating health and illness.

Since the body is born with a limited supply of enzymes, and since our food supply no longer provides the adequate level of enzymes necessary for optimum health, adding enzymes to our diets can drastically improve our health.

Ready to get and stay healthy? Add 2 enzymes with each meal to your diet, or, to really clean your system, add an additional 2 enzymes between each meal.

Order Simplexity (formerly Cell Tech) premium enzymes online.

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Permission to Eat Chocolate

OK, so when we think of chocolate, we all think of fat, weight gain, sugar and foods banned from the diet list, right? Well, guess what? Chocolate can actually be good for you. Here are some little known facts about chocolate. Chocolate is.

RELAXING
Chocolate contains a natural compound called theophylline that's similar to what the brain produces when it feels warm and loving. Theophylline can actually relax you and lift your mood.

A GOOD SOURCE OF MINERALS
Chocolate has lots of iron and is second only to seaweed in the amount of magnesium it has. Magnesium relaxes the muscles and keeps blood pressure low.

GOOD FOR YOUR HEART
Chocolate is incredibly high in phytochemicals, which can help prevent plaque buildup in the heart, free radical damage and stroke. Chocolate also boosts HDL or "good" cholesterol.
But, and this is a BIG but, you have to eat high quality chocolate to get all these benefits. High quality chocolate has only cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and soy lecithin. It can also have milk, vanilla, and fruit for flavoring. Also, buy organic chocolate to get the maximum health benefit. Ready, set, eat (chocolate)!

~ based on an article from "Transition," 2002/2003 no. 31

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Be Kind to Your Knees

Being a former ballet dancer, I have seriously abused my knees such that, later in life, they can sometimes hurt. So I'm writing a post on how to be kind to your knees in everyday life.

According to noted Tai Chi master Michael Chou of Los Angeles, CA, improper use of or failure to use the knees is one of the primary causes of back pain, leg pain and joint pain in the lower body. In a recent workshop, Chou explained that the knees form a major part of the body's shock absorption system, and that proper use of the knees prevented excessive strain on the other joints and the spine.

He also pointed out that most people bend over at the waist when picking something up off the ground rather than bending the knees to get closer to the ground. Because the knee joints are such a vital part of the body's structural system, it's important to consciously use them as much as possible. More importantly, the knees tend to deteriorate from lack of use. Chou added that one should use the knees frequently -- or eventually lose the use of them at all! Use 'em or lose 'em.

Finally, if you are like me and have already abused your knees, nutrition is one natural way to address any knee pain you might experience. Antioxidants like wheat sprouts and nutrients that stimulate your body to produce stem cells both help joint mobility and decrease pain. Natural nutrition is a better solution than over-the-counter inflammatory drugs, which can suppress healing and cause side effects, such as stomach ulcers.

Be kind to your knees. They will thank you!

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3 Simple, Silly, Serendipitous Ways to Create Joy in Your Life

"Nagflation: The incessant gloom-and-doom predictions from economic analysts who feel compelled to issue updates even if nothing has changed." (from Buzzwhack.com)

Tired of the all the nagflation going on these days? Sick and tired of being sick and tired? Then stop it! Turn off the television, stop reading the news, and start creating some joy for yourself. Here are 3 simple ways you can do that.

1. Check Yourself: You Still Alive?
If you are not sure if you are still standing, living, and breathing, give yourself a good pinch. Ouch! Does that hurt? Good. It means you are still alive and breathing. That means you are ahead of all those people who are 6 feet under. That means you can still move, work, and do something with your life. Maybe it's not what you were used to doing, but just remember this: a rut is only a few inches shallower than a grave. Any changes in your life, forced or not, may be just the kick the pants you need make a life change. What have you always wanted to do in your life that you have never had time to do? Do it now. Create some joy in your life. Now is your big chance!

2. Pop a Pill (or Two)
We do live in a day and age where pill-popping is a solution to just about every problem. No, don't reach for the Valium or Prozac. Instead, reach for bifidus and coenzyme Q10. Why?

Bifidus
It's never too late to have a happy childhood, even now. Bifidus is the beneficial bacteria that lives in our gut during the first 1.5 years of our life. Studies show that bifidus is what protects our health during that time, and also provides a sense of nourishment, protection, and support. It's what helps us feel safe as babies and toddlers. In fact, in healthy mothers the birth canal coats the baby with bifidus during delivery. Bifidus is hugely important to a sense of well-being early in life. If you didn't get this early in life, then later in life you may feel less than confident and abundant. The good news is that it's not too late to change that. By adding bifidus to your daily regimen now you can begin to restore that sense of well-being.

Coenzyme Q10
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the heart shen is the source of joy. If your heart isn't as healthy as it should be, then you are probably not as joyful as you could be. Clinical studies show that people with heart conditions are often depressed, moody, and despondent. Coenzyme Q10 is a crucial nutrient for heart health, and as we age our bodies produce less and less of this vital nutrient. By adding Conezyme Q10 into your daily regimen you can support your heart health and boost your heart shen, which in turn equals joy. Coenzyme Q10 also boosts your energy level because every cell in your body uses Q10 for energy production.

3. Crawl Your Way Back to Joy
Did you know that getting down on your hands and knees and crawling around can actually restore your feeling of well-being. Cross-crawling, where your opposite hand and knee strike the ground at the same time, actually rebalances the two sides of your brain. And, since your brain is the "hardware" for your mind, a rebalanced brain means a rebalanced mind, which ultimately leads to more joy. People like John Paul Getty have used cross crawling and similar techniques to maintain clarity, focus and attention under pressure. If John Paul Getty can crawl, so can you. Your joy is at stake. Isn't that worth getting down on your hands and knees?

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Photo credit: The Earth is God's Canvas.

Natural Solutions for Zits and Pimples

How many times have you made plans to go to a big party only to wake up on the morning of the big day and discover that you have a giant zit or pimple on your face? No doubt the zit or pimple shows up in a totally inconvenient place, like the tip of your nose, just left of your chin, or in the middle of your forehead. Yikes!

Before you run to your local drugstore to get an over-the-counter remedy, you might try these simple home remedies for zits and pimples:

Toothpaste
Believe it or not, toothpaste tends to dry out zits and pimples, and reduce swelling and redness. Apply toothpaste and allow the area to dry. Wash off with warm water.

Goldenseal and Myrrh
Many people have this combination at home for other skin issues. Applying a goldenseal and myrrh salve will cause the pimple to burst quickly, and then recede.

Aspirin Mask
Crush a few aspirin and mix with spring water until it forms a paste. Apply the mixture to zits, and allow it to sit dry for 10 minutes. Wash off with warm water.

Enzyme Mask
Nothing "eats" through the gunk in zits and pimples faster than digestive enzymes. Mix enzyme powder (you may have to empty it from the capsule) with spring water and apply to your face. Allow the area to dry before rinsing it off with warm water.

Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
Both of these liquids will help dry out zits and pimples. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to dilute the juice or vinegar with spring water. Apply to your zits for 5 minutes, and then rinse with warm water.

What to Do Before Zits and Pimples Appear
If you are a high-stress kind of person and you KNOW that zits and pimples will pop up on your face on any big day, then take steps before they appear. Here are 3 action steps to take several days before "the big day":

Probiotics
Add extra acidophilus and bifidus to your daily regimen. These probiotics are the "friendly bacteria" in your gut and they keep your internal system healthy and clean. When your gut is clean, your face is clear. Your facial skin is always a reflection of your internal health. Taking extra probiotics will help keep your system running clean during times of stress, which means a shiny, happy face! Tip: the strongest probiotics are the ones kept in the refrigerator (don't buy the ones stored at room temperature at your local grocery store).

Hydrate
Your body works extra hard when you are under stress, and needs extra water to help flush toxins out of your system. Drink up to a third more water than you usually do when you are under stress. This helps your body regulate itself so you don't end up with signs of stress (like dark circles under your eyes or zits).

Energize
When you are stressed, your cells tend to run down like worn-out batteries. To energize your cells, give them the fuel they need to do their jobs: coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is a crucial ingredient in your cells' energy production. It is literally the "gas" that powers your cells. Adding extra CoQ10 to your daily regimen will help you feel more energized, alert, and ready for action. It will also nourish your heart and help keep your skin clear.

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Photo credit: 8/365 Yay for Pimples!

Organic Foods Defined – More Than Natural

In the last post, we looked at "natural foods" and discovered that the quality and production methods of natural foods were left completely to the food producer's discretion. Natural foods can mean almost anything. But "organic" is a term that is clearly defined and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Here are some quick definitions for the term "organic food" in crop production and livestock:

Organic Crop Production
- Land must have no prohibited substances applied to it for at least three years before the harvest of an organic crop.
- Use of genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge is prohibited.
- Soil fertility and crop nutrients must be managed through tillage and cultivation, supplemented with animal and crop waste materials and allowed synthetic materials.
- Preference must be given to use of organic seeds and other plant stock, but a farmer can use non-organic seeds and plant stock under certain conditions.
- Crop pests, weeds and diseases must be controlled primarily through management practices including physical, mechanical and biological controls. When these practices are not sufficient, a biological, botanical or synthetic substance from a specific list of approved synthetics may be used.

Organic Livestock
- Antibiotics and synthetic hormones are prohibited.
- 100% organic-feed is required with some vitamins allowed.
- Animals for slaughter must be raised organically from birth, or no later than the second day of life for poultry.
- Vaccines are allowed.
- Access to outdoors, including access to pastures for ruminants, is required. Animals can be temporarily confined only for reasons of health, safety or to protect soil or water quality.
-Withholding treatment from sick animals is prohibited; animals treated with prohibited medication (e.g., antibiotics) must be removed from the organic operation.

Regulations quoted from "Dairy Foods," Jan, 2001, by Donna Berry.

Want whole foods that you KNOW are organic and natural? Check out Simplexity Health's blue green algae whole food supplements.

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Photo credit: Magic Floating Organic Broccoli

Natural Foods Defined

With so many people concerned about natural and organic foods these days, it's useful to stop and really take a look at what "natural" and "organic" foods really are. We all know that natural and organic foods are better for us than highly processed or artificial foods, but do we really know which foods are natural and organic? When you buy food that is labeled "natural," what does that really mean? What about "organic"?

What Does 'Natural' Mean to the FDA?
It turns out that the term "natural" doesn't mean all that much. Because it's only been broadly defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it's a fairly arbitrary term, the meaning of which is left up to the conscience of the food manufacturer. The FDA says that any food can be labeled as natural so long as it doesn't include added color, synthetic substances or artificial flavors.

This definition sounds good-until you realize that it can be stretched to include such definitely non-natural substances such as aspartame, the artificial sweetener. More liberal food manufacturers argue that "natural" means any material that exists in nature. While aspartame does not exist in nature (you have to use a chemical process to create it), manufacturers say that the resulting product is made up of two amino acids, both of which do exist in nature. Never mind that they don't exist glued together as aspartame!

So what can the savvy nutritionally-conscious consumer do about this? Go with a term that is clearly defined and regulated by the FDA: organic. In the next issue we'll delve into the intricacies of organic foods, including basic regulations and differing levels of organic production. In the meantime, avoid foods that are only labeled as "natural" and go for those labeled "organic" or "natural and organic." It's the real stuff.

One whole food supplement that I particularly like is the blue-green algae from Simplexity Health. It's both natural and organic. Some of the products from this company are even kosher. Learn more about these products here.

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Photo credit: Natural Foods

Anti-Doom and Gloom Essential Oil Bath Recipes

Are you working hard? Or maybe hardly working? Either way, the end of the day is the perfect time to cast away your recessionary blues with an "anti-doom and gloom" bath. Light some candles and grab some essential oils. Mix up a soothing combination to calm your frayed nerves or kick it up with a stimulating combo to rev you up for an evening out on the town.

My Favorite Essential Oil Bath Recipes
Here are five of my own favorite essential oil bath recipes. I add 4 drops of each oil in 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Soothing Frayed Nerves: Lavender, chamomile, sage, and cypress

Invigorating and Refreshing: Eucalyptus, bergamot, and grapefruit

Fortifying Body and Spirit: Marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sage

Meditative: Sandalwood, frankincense, and cedarwood

Cleansing: Bay, eucalyptus, ginger, lemon

The first four recipes work well in all temperatures of bath water, from cold to hot. The last recipe for cleansing can work very well in a cool or cold bath, especially in the summer. Enjoy!

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