Being Mad as a Hatter is No Joke When it Comes to Mercury Poisoning

Do you know where the phrase "mad as a hatter" came from? It is not just a phrase, it has an actual meaning. Back in Britain, between 1600 and 1800, makers of felt hats used quicksilver, which is mercury nitrate, to make hats. It was a carefully guarded trade secret.

The only problem, of course, is that people who wore these hats became, well, mad as hatters. They developed poor memories, inappropriate behaviors, and even tremors that became know as "the hatter's shakes."

Wow! Talk about being mad as a hatter! Can you say heavy metal poisoning? So much for the "trade secret."

Before We Knew About Mercury Poisoning and Its Effects
Unfortunately, many people were negatively affected by mercury poisoning before scientists discovered that this heavy metal caused many health issues. Back in the day, mercury was used in many medications, especially those used to treat syphilis. Doctors even directly injected people with mercury and applied direct mercury ointments.

Worse, many dentists continue to use mercury amalgam fillings today, even though negative effects of mercury are well documented. What does mercury do to the body? Here's a short list:

- generates free radical cell damage and cell death
- inhibits many antioxidants, including super oxide dismutase (SOD)
- retards brain development
- speeds the development of diabetes, hypertension, strokes, and cardiovascular disease
- causes muscle weakness, include chronic fatigue syndrome

... and that's only the short list! Mercury poisoning can also lead to arthritis, depression, dermatitis, dizziness, gum disease, hair loss, and insomnia.

What to Do if You Suspect You Have Mercury Poisoning
If you are concerned about mercury poisoning, whether because of dental fillings, eating a lot of seafood, or external sources of contamination, luckily there are steps you can take to help your body get rid of mercury.

To help your body rid itself of mercury, you need to ingest foods and supplements high in:

- chlorophyll
- enzymes
- antioxidants

All of these will support the cleansing process, especially at the cellular level as well as from the liver and kidneys. Research shows that the food richest in all of these substances is AFA blue-green algae. According to Dr. Jeffrey Bruno,

"The use of algae has stimulated the excretion of some contaminants ... lead and mercury are also excreted without detrimental effects associated with conventional chelation therapy."

Other herbs that support detoxification of mercury include cilantro, yellow dock, milk thistle, dandelion, red clover, burdock, cleavers, marshmallow, and licorice.

I have successfully helped myself and other people I advise on nutrition to successfully detoxify their bodies of mercury. Of course, the first step is to remove any possible sources of mercury poisoning, including excess seafood and dental fillings made of mercury amalgam.

Then I usually suggest people take Simplexity Health Essentials, daily packs of supplements that include AFA blue-green algae, enzymes, acidophilus, and bifidus. For an extra boost, I also suggest the Super Sprouts from the same company, as the concentrated wheat sprouts have a very strong antioxidant effect in the body. Alternatively, Dragon River Herbals also has a powerful herbal detoxification program, including detailed instructions on how to use it. Both of these approaches have worked well for many people.

So ... consider trying either of these approaches if you are feeling the negative effects of mercury poisoning, or just feeling a tad mad as a hatter!

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Natural Solutions to Help You Avoid Bad Hair Days

Hair loss, graying hair, dull hair, crazy cowlicks, and split ends ... all of these can equal a bad hair day! Yuck. That's not pretty, whether you are a guy or a girl. No one likes a bad hair day.

Luckily scientists have been busy figuring out what causes bad hair days, and determined which nutrients your body needs to grow hair that is healthy, rich, lustrous, and, well, good!

Nutrition for Healthy Hair
Studies show that one of the main reasons we suffer from "bad hair days" is because our bodies don't have enough sulfur. Sulfur directly affects the health of not just our hair, but also our skin.

That's where biotin comes in. Biotin is a water-soluble B-vitamin coenzyme that incorporates sulfur into its molecular structure. So when our bodies produce enough biotin, we end up with healthier hair and skin. In fact, biotin has been nicknamed the "good hair day" vitamin.

Biotin also reduces glucose levels in the blood, which is good news for diabetics. If you're not sure whether your body is lacking in biotin, check for other signs of biotin deficiency, which include brittle fingernails, depression, and chronic fatigue.

Sources of Biotin for Healthy Hair
Now the question becomes, "Where do we get biotin?" Lucky for us, the beneficial bacteria in our guts produce biotin. That is, if we have enough acidophilus and bifidus in our intestines, then we tend to have enough biotin, and we also avoid bad hair days.

You can also eat foods high in biotin to increase the levels of biotin in your body. Foods high in biotin include:

- AFA blue-green algae
- brown rice
- mushrooms
- eggs
- liver

There are also topical biotin salves on the market, however studies indicate that biotin is not easily absorbed through the skin. So rubbing biotin salves on your scalp won't help you as much as eating foods rich in biotin, or increasing your intake of probiotics like acidophilus and bifidus, which help your body increase its production of biotin.

Having good hair days isn't difficult. At 73, I still have a full head of rich dark hair, and I have eating acidophilus, bifidus, and blue-green algae for over 25 years. I'm also fond of eggs and brown rice, too. Eating healthy for "good hair days" doesn't have to be complicated ... in fact, just follow the guidelines above for a convenient approach to healthy, shiny, lustrous hair. Enjoy!

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SOD: Cuss Word, Green Grass, or Anti-Aging Wonder?

One of my British buddies is very fond of saying, "You sod!" or "Sod that!" so naturally when I first came across the acronym SOD in a nutrition book I thought that it referred to the British cuss word.

Here in our farming community, the word "sod" means green grass. People around here cultivate sod, which they then sell to developers to create new lawns.

But my favorite definition of the word "sod" is Superoxide Dismutase, the acronym for which is SOD. Neither green grass nor a cuss word, SOD is an extremely important antioxidant in the body. In fact, we pretty much can't live, at least not well, without SOD.

So What the Heck is SOD Anyway?
SOD is an antioxidant, which basically means that it's the body's police and cleanup crew. SOD goes around the body and neutralizes free radicals, specifically the superoxide free radical, and other destructive antioxidants. So far that all sounds good, if a bit boring. So let me put it in terms that are a little more stark:

Throughout our lives, our bodies produce about 3 TONS of superoxide free radicals.

That equals a lot of damage to the body, since the superoxide radical can attack cells, damage DNA, and even be a pre-cursor to cancer. All this makes SOD super important. In fact, it is such an important part of keeping our body's healthy that whenever we are stressed, our brains immediately increase the production of SOD.

What Else Does SOD Do for Us?
In addition to general policing of free radicals around the body, SOD has many other important functions, including:

- keeping cell membranes and tissues supple
- keeping gums healthy and protecting them from gingivitis, especially among smokers
- protect our DNA from the superoxide free radical

SOD is one of our body's first line defenders against free radicals, and basically protects the body from free radicals on all levels, from the cellular level to organ systems.

Where Do We Get SOD?
All organisms contain and produce SOD, some more than others. There are actually three kinds of SOD, one each associated with copper, zinc, and manganese. When we suffer from deficiencies in any of these minerals, then our bodies can't produce SOD.

Well sod that!

Luckily, we can get SOD in the foods we eat. Foods that are high in SOD include:

- concentrated wheat sprouts
-AFA blue-green algae

You can also boost your intake of copper and zinc by eating foods including:

- crimini mushrooms
- collard greens, spinach, and chard
- asparagus

To boost your intake of manganese, try these foods:

- oats and brown rice
- berries like strawberries and raspberries
- green beans
- collard greens, spinach, and chard

For humans and animals, I have personally found that supplementation with wheat sprouts is a particularly convenient "all in one" solution that doesn't require a lot of shopping or cooking. Wheat sprouts also supports joint health and has many antioxidant properties of its own. Enjoy!

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Do You Have a Fat Brain? If Not You Should

Seriously, everyone needs a fat brain. In a world where "skinny" is good, if you want a healthy happy brain, you need a fat brain. Get this:

Did you know that 60% of your brain is made of fat?

No kidding. It's a scientific fact. Look it up if you don't believe me. Most of those fats are polyunsaturated fat, so, sorry, but eating Twinkies isn't going to help your brain.

Instead these fats are omega-3 fatty acids, and form the cell membranes that cover neurons and other cell organs. These fats are also the main ingredient in your synapses and dendrites, which are the connections between your neurons. In short, these fats form the parts of your brain that allow you to think. Huh, imagine that!

So What Kind of Fat Does Your Brain Need?
Omega-3 fatty acids are what your brain needs to function. Specifically, the brain needs two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids: EPA and DHA. There's been a lot of news lately about DHA, and that is because studies show that a low intake of DHA fats can lead to depression and other brain impairments, while increasing intake of DHA relieves these problems.

Why Are Omega-3 Fatty Acids Hard to Get?
Unfortunately, because of food processing methods and industrial methods of raising livestock, most of the omega-3 fatty acids have been removed from the foods we eat. I'm not just referring to Twinkies here, but basically any packaged food and meats that are not organic.

So unless you are eating food out of your own garden and raising your own livestock, you may need to supplement your body's natural supply of omega-3 fatty acids ... that is, if you want to have a fat brain. In fact, your brain needs to be really fat to function well.

Here's another interesting fat fact: fat makes up 25% of a healthy brain's total brain. That's pretty fat!

Healthy Sources of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
If you want to supplement your body's omega-3 fatty acids, look to the ocean and think Eskimos. As a population Eskimos have been shown to have some of the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Why? Because they eat a lot of coldwater fish like cod, mackerel and salmon. These cold-water fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids because they, in turn, eat a lot of blue-green algae.

So to increase your levels of omega-3 fatty acids, you can eat fish, take fish oil supplements, or go straight to the source and eat blue-green algae. In fact, going to the source may be best because many fish suffer from environmental contamination, and many fish oil supplements degrade by the time they reach your local health food store's shelves. The University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter strongly recommends eating AFA blue-green algae as an alternative to fish oil supplements.

Personally, although I quite like to cook and eat fish, especially salmon, I find that taking blue-green algae capsules to be a convenient daily supplement to ensure that my brain's getting enough fat.

I've never wanted to be fat in my life, but these days, I'm thinking being fat in certain parts of my body is a good thing.

I'm going for a fat brain ... what about you?

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Can Nutrition Change Our Genetics? No Doubt

We are born with a genetic "blueprint," and the argument goes that our bodies must grow and develop according to this blueprint without change; our fate is locked. Right?

Wrong!

Just because we may be born with a genetic disposition toward Alzheimer's, heart attack, stroke, or diabetes does not mean that we are destined to have these diseases. In spite of our genetic blueprint, we can most definitely take action to stop these diseases from manifesting.

How Can Genetics Be Changed?
Just because we may carry a gene that predisposes us to a certain disease does not mean that we will "get" the disease. This is because these genes have to be "turned on" for the disease to occur. As long a gene that makes us prone to a disease is "off," we are safe.

Now the question becomes, "How do we turn genes on and off?" Research shows that there are multiple factors that affect whether a gene is on or off, which include:

- stress
- physical trauma
- environmental agents and toxins
- NUTRITION

The word "nutrition" is capitalized because studies have shown it to be the most effective factor in determining whether genes are on or off, so much so that good nutrition can override chemical and environmental triggers for disease-causing genes.

Two Examples of Genes Being Turned On or Off by Nutrition
It's well known in the scientific community that the juvenile diabetes (type I) gene is turned on in children who frequently drink cow's milk or eat foods high in MSG. Yet children who eat a healthy diet high in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals tend not to get juvenile diabetes.

At the other end of the spectrum, research shows that the development of cancer is the result of many genes being switched on over a period of time, making older people more likely to develop cancer. Phytochemicals, the colored pigments in plants that protects them from the harmful effects of UV radiation, have been shown to inhibit the activation of cancer genes or by preventing the cancer gene's instructions from reaching its destination.

For instance, one kind of cancer gene may send instructions to certain enzymes to produce a special protein that will promote the growth of cancer. In the presence of phytochemicals, however, those instructions never reach their destination, the special protein is not formed, and cancer never occurs.

Blue-Green Algae: One of the Richest Sources of Genetic Nutrition
Blue-green algae is one of the richest sources of phytochemicals on the planet, for very good reason. About 2.5 to 3.8 billion years ago, when blue-green algae was Earth's only inhabitant, the effect of solar radiation was immense since the planet's protective ozone layer was less than 1% of present levels. To survive the sun without being burned to a crisp, blue-green algae had to develop powerful antioxidant pigments and protective agents.

Today blue-green algae, especially aphanizomenon flos-aqua (AFA) algae, remains one of the most dense sources of phytochemicals, as well as providing 20 amino acids our cells need to repair damaged DNA and RNA. In fact, nucleic acids (the ones needed to repair DNA and RNA) form between four and seven percent of the algae's dry weight. Taking blue-green algae thus doubly protects our bodies from harmful genes by:

1. Preventing harmful genes from being turned on
2. Repairing damaged DNA and RNA, which prevents harmful genes from being turned on by mutation

Nutrition for Your DNA and RNA
Taking in the amino acids that make up our DNA and RNA keeps our genetic material health. In laboratory tests, mice in injected with RNA and DNA lived almost twice as long as those not injected.

If you don't feel like injecting yourself with amino acids everyday, the good news is that you can take them orally. Scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine demonstrated that when blue green algae was taken orally, large quantities of nucleic amino acids survived the digestive process and were integrated at the cellular level.

So these days, when there are so many environmental toxins to worry about, not to mention high levels of stress, you can do one simple thing to protect, support, and enhance your genetic blueprint ...

... eat AFA blue green algae.

How simple can it get?

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Can Nutrition Affect and Improve Your Baby's Brain and I.Q.?

Definitely.

Many studies have been conducted on this topic, and two studies done in Guatemala and Cali, Colombia, demonstrate that poor nutrition can negatively affect an infant's brain development and I.Q.

For instance, the study done in Guatemala, as quoted by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., studied babies in four different villages. In two of the villages, babies and young children up to age seven were given a nutrient-rich drink supplement. In two other villages, similar-aged children were given a drink supplement lower in vitamins and minerals. All the children were the nutrient drinks twice daily.

The study reached two pertinent conclusions:

1. In all the villages, small babies with low intrauterine growth rates showed slower growth, had lower verbal scores, and many performed worse on memory tests.

2. The small babies who received the nutrient-rich drink supplement had reversed most of these effects by the time they reached adolescence. These children had excellent cognitive function as well as strong information processing abilities.

Overall, the researchers concluded:

Children fed excellent nutrition early on, even those with low birth-weights and other possible disadvantages, can overcome brain development issues that include verbal skills, memory, and cognition.

How Do You Boost Your Baby's Brain with Nutrition?
Good question. Researchers have narrowed down the list of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals that are more important to brain development at an early age. These include:

- folate
- vitamin B12
- thiamine
- riboflavin
- panthothenic acid
- biotin
- ascorbate
- vitamin A
- carotenoids
- vitamins D, E, and K

That might sound like a lot of alphabet soup, so let's see if we can translate that into actual foods that you can feed your kids. Foods that contain many of the above mentioned vitamins and minerals include:

- whole grains
- berries
- lean meats like salmon and chicken
- leafy greens
- beans and peas
- fortified cereals

If you're not sure whether your child's brain nutritional needs are being met, one of the best supplements you can feed is blue-green algae. According to Dr. Jeffrey Bruno, "at least six studies have demonstrated the benefits of AFA algae (aphanizomenon flos-aqua) on improving children's cognition, mood, behaviors, and academic performance."

Just in case you think your kid might be trading the "healthy brain food" lunch you packed for him for a couple of Twinkies at school, supplementing his diet with a couple capsules of high-quality freeze-dried AFA algae will make sure his nutritional needs are covered!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.

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Are You Tired of Cleaning Up Dog Puke? 3 Ways to Avoid It

I hate cleaning up dog puke.

Literally abhor it. Worst of all, I usually end up cleaning up this foul substance in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, when, let me tell you, I am less than at my best! Oh yes, and I usually have to step in it first! Are you like me? Hate cleaning up dog puke?

Then I've got three words for you: acidophilus, bifidus, and enzymes.

These three little words will prevent you (mostly) from having to wipe slime off your bare foot in the middle of the night because you have stepped in a pool of dog puke on your way to the bathroom. Just about anything is worth avoiding that experience in my book.

Just so you know, the reason I'm writing about this right now is because we adopted a Chihuahua mix (nicknamed "Mouse") a while back (that's his adorable mug above), and he went through a long spell of "dog puke-itis." Not pleasant. Being a street dog in Denver for his first year of life, he literally eats anything ... and then pukes it back up later. It's like having a goat in a dog suit.

Luckily, having been a nutritional counselor for years, I knew to immediately supplement his diet with Enzymes, Acidophilus, Bifidus.

How Acidophilus, Bifidus, and Enzymes Help Your Dog's Digestion
Basically no matter what you feed your dog, adding Acidophilus, Bifidus, and Enzymes to his diet will help decrease the chances of dog puke. Of course, the better quality food you feed him, the healthier he will be, and the less he will puke. However, this article isn't about debating the ins and outs of feeding a raw diet versus serving up Alpo. This article is about how to prevent yourself from having to clean up more dog puke. So here goes. We'll start at the top of your dog's digestive track and work our way backwards!

Enzymes and the Stomach
Once food enters your dog's stomach, dozens of different kinds of enzymes start to break down the food. For instance, there are separate enzymes for digesting proteins, starches, and lactose. If your dog's body does not naturally produce enough enzymes, or the right kinds of enzymes, to digest the different kinds of substances in his food, then you get all kinds of "feedback," including vomiting, burping, bad breath on the front end, and all kinds of unmentionables on the back end. Adding a full-spectrum potent enzyme supplement to your dog's feed will prevent these problems from occurring.

Acidophilus and the Small Intestine
Acidophilus (more properly called lactobacillus acidophilus) is a probiotic, a beneficial bacteria that lives in small intestine of healthy dogs (and healthy people, too!). Acidophilus manufactures the enzyme lactase, which digests sugars. This beneficial bacteria also produces lactic acid and natural antibiotics, which can keep your dog healthy. Acidophilus helps your dog better digest his feed, no matter what you feed him. It has also been shown to improve coat condition, and kill off Candida yeast as well as 27 kinds of harmful bacteria, including salmonella. Best of all, Acidophilus prevents gas (yay!), bad breath, and, oh yes, dog puke.

Bifidus and the Large Intenstine
Like Acidophilus, Bifidus (properly called bifidobacterium bifidus) is a friendly probiotic. This strain of bacteria lives in your dog's large intestine, and is responsible primarily for aiding in digestion (especially of fiber) and preventing harmful viruses and bacteria from taking up residence in your dog's large intestine. Bifidus is even effective against nitrite toxicity (nitrites are present in packaged meats and many dog foods) as well as the bacteria that causes toxic shock syndrome. Bifidus even addresses the opposite end of the dog puke problem: diarrhea. If your dog suffers from diarrhea, Bifidus tends to "soak up" the excess fluid in the bowel and firm up loose stools.

High Quality Enzymes, Acidophilus, and Bifidus
So there you have it. That covers the gamut of your dog's digestive tract, and gives you three ways to avoid cleaning up dog puke. Enzymes, acidophilus, and bifidus are perfectly safe to feed your dog on a regular basis, and should be fed in increased amounts if your dog will be under stress.

For instance, when we brought Mouse home, his diet changed from "street dog fare" to home-cooked meals. That definitely put his digestive tract under stress, not to mention the fact that he was probably already deficient in enzymes, acidophilus, and bifidus. Other activities that may stress your dog's digestion include travel, boarding, or visiting the veterinarian. If you increase your dog's dose of these three digestive aids before any of these activities, you drastically reduce your chances of having to clean up dog puke.

Finally, if you are going to feed your dog enzymes and probiotics, go for the best quality you can afford. The best quality probiotics are the ones that are kept and sold in refrigerators. This maximizes the number of live bacteria present in each capsule. I have found that enzymes and probiotics from Simplexity Health work best and can be ordered online. However, there are also many health food stores that carry high quality enzymes and probiotics (stored in the fridge). Feeding straight yogurt usually won't provide enough density of probiotics to really improve your dog's digestion, so I suggest sticking with straight supplements.

You can expect to see results from these supplements in four to eight weeks, depending on your dog's original level of digestive health. After that, prepare to experience a life free of dog puke, bad breath, and stinky farts! Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.

Ever See a Yoga Train Wreck? Things That Help and Hinder a Yoga Practice

I never thought I would see a yoga train wreck like I saw the other day in class. I have been doing yoga daily for almost 50 years, and never has it made me laugh like this. So here's what happened.

I happened to join a beginner yoga class (the only one I could make that day because of my schedule) and we were packed in like sardines. We get to the tree pose, you know, the one where you stand on one leg and have the other one crossed in front. This being a room filled with beginner yoga students, there was a lot of wobbling involved in the tree pose.

All of sudden ... bam! One lady tilts left and hits her neighbor. Her neighbor immediately collapses into the person to the left of her, and so on, until about six people had crumpled to the floor in a giant human pretzel! We all laughed like crazy and got a better workout for our abs by laughing than we did during the whole rest of the class.

So if you ever get a chance to join a packed beginner yoga class, watch out for that tree pose ... or at least be prepared to laugh your butt off when the whole thing implodes in on itself! Of course, all of this is just a way to make you smile, and a segue way into the topic of how to make your yoga practice easier and more effective.

3 Ways to Make Your Yoga Practice Easier and More Effective
Yoga is definitely a healthy practice but if you are just getting into it, or if you tend to run hot and cold in your practice, yoga can be downright painful. Stretching muscles, tendons, and ligaments that haven't been stretched in a long time is painful ... but it's also good for you. Plus, done right, yoga doesn't have to be painful, and it can help your body feel more at ease all the time. So here are 3 tips on how to make your yoga practice easier and more effective.

Yoga Tip #1: Do Yoga Often or Not At All
This may sound harsh, but it's true. If you only do yoga once a week, the practice may be more painful than beneficial. Yoga's true benefit to body, mind, and spirit occur, in my experience, when you practice yoga at least 3-4 times per week. Even if that means you have to scale down your practice to a very simple routine that you won't mind doing on a regular basis, that's OK.

One yoga master with whom I studied said not to bother with yoga unless you were going to practice it at least 3 times per week. At 3 times per week, he stated that your body would feel better. If you practice yoga 4 times per week, you begin to notice mental and meditation effects. At 5 or more times a week, yoga becomes a spiritual effort that also benefits body and mind, and the effects can be truly spectacular.

Find ways to keep yourself motivated to do yoga often. Some people follow a yoga DVD while others sign up for classes at the local recreation center. I know a couple of gals who live in different states but practice yoga at the same time each morning. They call each other before starting their routines to ensure that each one is up and ready to go. So do what you need to do to stay motivated ... find a buddy, find a sado-masochistic teacher, whatever. Just get it done, or why bother with a yoga practice?

Yoga Tip #2: Feed and Treat Your Body Right
The practice of yoga is made much easier when you feed your body ingredients that allow your tendons, ligaments, and muscles to stretch more easily. Antioxidants and enzymes are excellent supplements to add to your daily regimen if you are serious about improving your flexibility. Good antioxidant sources include:

- wheat sprouts
- coenzyme Q10
- mangosteen juice
- adult stem cell enhancers

All of these support your body's ability to stretch without damage. It's so easy to tear muscles and ligaments if you get too enthusiastic about yoga but are not treating your body right.

If you have a particularly tight area in your body, consider doing castor oil packs on that area. For instance, I have always had problems with yoga poses that involve the knees because I damaged my knees during my ballet career. I do regular castor oil packs on my knees to keep them limber and flexible, which helps with poses like the Hero, Lotus, and Camel. You get instructions on how to do a castor oil pack HERE. You can also order full castor oil pack sets from www.caycecures.com.

Yoga Tip #3: Practice as Early in the Day as Possible
This is a tip I picked up from a particularly good yoga instructor I studied with in Boulder, Colorado. She told us that our bodies were less flexible early in the day, and that by doing our yoga practice early, we got more benefit than if we practiced later in the day. Of course, being that we are less flexible in the morning, doing a yoga routine is more difficult so you have to be more careful not to push too hard. You don't want to tear anything by pushing too hard.

One way to work your way toward doing a yoga practice early in the day is to start with an evening yoga practice. During the evening, your body is looser because you have been moving around all day. Gradually, over a number of months, see if you can move the time of your yoga practice so that it becomes earlier and earlier. Alternatively, if you want to start with an early morning yoga practice, you can decrease the difficulty of your routine in the beginning. Slowly increase the difficulty as your body becomes more flexible.

I hope these yoga tips help you get the most out of your yoga practice. Yoga is a most beneficial practice, and I have found these three tips help me maximize the time I spend bending my body into a pretzel!

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Snot and the Common Cold: 3 Things You May Not Know

Tis the season of tissues, snot, coughing and sneezing. Oh how jolly! Actually, these symptoms of the common cold should be welcomed as signs your body trying to get healthy ... even if they make you miserable!

Facts About the Common Cold
Obviously no one likes to catch cold and very few people appreciate the purpose of cold symptoms. When you "catch cold" and have cold symptoms, you are actually experiencing your body trying to get rid of toxins, foreign invaders, and other unhealthy substances in your body.

Without a cold, all of these toxic substances would literally be "stuck" in your body forever, wreaking further havoc and leading to more chronic illnesses. Hooray for the common cold! So that you can more fully appreciate the "value" of a cold, here are three things you probably don't know about snot and the common cold.

#1 - Snot is Good, Really
Whenever the body encounters something unwanted in the body, one of its first forms of defense is to dilute the substance and then move it out of the body. Hence, you get snot, as well as mucous, phlegm, and other such goodies. Diluting an unwanted substance in the body, like bacteria or viruses, makes the substance less harmful, and also helps move it out of the body.

Even though having a runny nose or watery eyes may make you feel miserable, you can be glad that your body is strong enough to put up this kind of defense. A less healthy body would not be able to mount this kind of defense, and the toxic substance would remain in the body. So every time you catch cold, instead of feeling miserable, you can congratulate your body on being healthy enough to defend itself!

#2 - Fevers Help Your Body "Clean House"
Although many western cultures don't acknowledge this, tribal cultures have long understood the value of a controlled fever (104 degrees Fahrenheit or less). A fever is another way your body rids itself of bacteria, viruses, germs, and other toxic materials. Fevers literally "burn off" toxic substances and kill foreign invaders, many of which cannot live at such high temperatures. That just about makes all the aches, pains, and crazy dreams associated with fevers worth it!

#3 - Germs Don't Cause Colds
Saying that germs cause colds is kind of like saying that fire trucks cause fires; since fire trucks are always at the scene of a fire, then they must be the cause of the fires, right? Not really. The same goes for germs. Germs are often "at the scene of the crime" when you catch cold, but that doesn't mean they are the root cause of the common cold.

You only catch cold when your body's immune system has been weakened, which then allows germs to set up residence, giving you the common cold. This explains why not everyone exposed to the same germs catches cold. Only people with weak immune systems catch cold. So there you have it ... the poor luckless germ has been blamed this whole time for the common cold when it is actually a wimpy immune system that is at fault.

3 Things You Can Do About the Common Cold
If you do end up with a common cold, for whatever reason, you can take steps to move the cold through and out of your system more quickly and effectively. Here are three things you can do:

1. Don't Suppress Cold Symptoms
If you try to suppress cold symptoms, you interfere with your body's defense mechanisms. This allows foreign invaders to stay in your body. Instead, your goal should be to help your body push these invaders out of your system faster. Just accept that you have a cold and try not to suppress the symptoms with too many over-the-counter medications. If you need relief from cold symptoms, try taking Echinacea tincture or Vitamin C.

2. Support Your Body's Immune System with Beta-Glucan
Beta-glucan is a substance made from brewer's yeast that has been shown to activate and support the body's microbe-killing capabilities. In studies, beta-glucan increased the body's ability to identify microbial invaders and also increased the communication among various parts of the body's immune system. Note that this effect was only achieved with beta-glucan that had been separated by a special process from brewer's yeast. Ingesting brewer's yeast alone with not have this effect. ImmuSun by Simplexity Health is an excellent source of beta-glucan.

3. Hydrate to Increase the Dilution Effect
Drink, drink, and then drink some more clear liquids. Whether you are drinking water, hot tea, or warm broth, take in as much fluid as you can since this helps your body dilute the effect of microbial invaders. If you have difficulty drinking cold water, try drinking either warm water with honey and lemon, or warm water with a bit of high-grade sea salt. Either will soothe your throat and produce the desired dilution effect.

The Common Cold: A Good Thing
It's never fun to catch cold, but if you do end up with the common cold then don't hate it. It's just your body doing its job and keeping you healthy. Do everything you can to support your body's immune response and know that you will emerge on the other side healthier and with a stronger immune system!

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanj/ / CC BY 2.0

How Long to Achieve True Health?

This is a question which people who are sick or unwell really want answered. And yet it can be a tricky question to answer, depending on how long the person has been ill, the strength of the person's will to recover, and any number of other factors. In other words, there is no single answer to this question. Instead, I have three answers to this question.

Three Factors That Affect True Health
While every individual's situation is unique, in general I find there are three rules of thumb that govern the length of recovery time to true health. True health is achieved when ...

#1 ... The Years of Illness Equal the Months of Wellness
This rule of thumb applies particularly to people who suffer from chronic types of illness, such as arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and migraine headaches. For every year that you have been ill, give yourself at least one month for recovery. If you have had migraine headaches for five years, then give yourself at least five months to recover once you start on a program of wellness that improves your symptoms.

Notice that the clock that counts the months toward recovery only starts ticking when you find a wellness regimen that works for you. You can spend years experimenting with various remedies, but this rule of thumb doesn't kick in until you start a program that actually improves your health. And this leads us to the second rule of thumb.

#2 ... You Craft a Wellness Program That Works for You
Healthcare experts, doctors, and all manner of healers are great at suggesting possible solutions to restore you to wellness. However, you are your own best health advocate. You alone possess the native wisdom to know when a healthcare plan is working for you, and when it is working against you.

So while you can and should consult healthcare practitioners for advice, always consider the effects of any particular regimen from a very personal standpoint. Keep a journal, if necessary, to track the effectiveness of specific remedies or healthcare approaches. If a prescribed healthcare solution feels wrong to you, be a strong advocate for yourself and look for a solution that feels right. I find that people who actively participate in their own healing, or even spearhead their own healing efforts, are more likely to be restored to wellness.

#3 ... You Can Stick to a Regimen That Works for You
It is one thing to discover a healthcare regimen that produces good results, and entirely another thing to stick to that regimen consistently. We just attended a yoga class in which the instructor said to us, in a very frank manner: "If you only do yoga one or two days a week, you are wasting your time. If you do yoga three times a week, you will feel gradually better over a long period of time. But if you do yoga four or more times a week, you will feel healthier, stronger, and more vibrant in quantum leaps."

I agree wholeheartedly, having done yoga almost every day for 50 years. Yoga, like any other healthcare practice, produces good results only if done consistently. Doing yoga only once a week can actually be more painful than doing it four times a week, because allowing 7 days to pass between sessions means your muscles contract, and you have to stretch them out all over again (rather painfully).

So one of my rules of thumb about how long it takes to achieve true health is that you will rarely achieve true health unless you consistently practice a healthcare regimen that works for you.

The End Result: True Health
Using these three simple rules, you can fairly easily craft a healthcare regimen that can restore you to health quite quickly. For instance, I counseled one woman who sought nutritional advice for her irritable bowel syndrome, which had troubled her for over a decade.

I recommended that she add the Simplexity Health Essentials to her daily regimen. The Essentials include enzymes, acidophilus, and bifidus, all of which soothe the digestive tract and aid digestion. These daily packs also include two forms of blue-green algae, which provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals the body needs to heal the digestive tract.

This woman, having suffered from IBS for so long, was deeply motivated. She stuck with the Essentials religiously, never missing a single day. Within nine months, she had almost fully recovered and had almost normal digestive function. That's pretty close to the rule of thumb that relates years of illness to months of recovery time.

I hope that this example also provides strong inspiration for people who have chronic illnesses and feel helpless. Recovery and true health are always possible ... hopefully these three rules of thumb help!

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Photo credit: Free Digital Photos