Stress. It’s an awful word and a worse feeling isn’t it? The thing is, stress isn’t all bad. Without it, we wouldn’t be motivated to protect ourselves or perform. A certain level of stress helps us to adapt to our environment and pushes us to excel. The stress that is worrisome is chronic stress and it can affect you negatively in multiple ways.
Health Care
10 Ways Chronic Stress is Killing Your Quality of Life
Natural Cold and Flu Prevention
It’s that time of year again where people all around us are starting to get sick. Of course, not you or I, because we’ve been loading up on healthy foods all year and building up our immune systems… But maybe your neighbor or friends are starting to get sick, and need to see this video.
There are certain nutrients you need to prevent a cold. There’s also some foods you need to eat to fight a cold if you do get one.
In the video I’ve laid my diet for fighting (or preventing) the cold and flu. It’s pretty straightforward and I think you’ll be able to implement it right away.
You already know you need to load up on Vitamin C rich foods. Broccoli, Kale and Red Bell Peppers top the charts for Vitamin C rich vegetables. Check out the video for the fruits I recommend and the ENTIRE anti-cold-and-flu diet!
Natural Remedies for Fibromyalgia
If you’ve suddenly been feeling aches and pains in your body for some inexplicable reason, then you have to stop and read this. You could be suffering from fibromyalgia, which affects people between the ages of 20-50.
Now, you may be wondering, what is fibromyalgia and how did you get it?
Avoiding Fluoride and How to Detox it from your body
For decades, fluoride has been considered the “knight in shining armor” in the battle against tooth decay. Children were encouraged to brush their teeth with fluoride, and it was even added to the public water supply. In 2008, an estimated 62% of the US population were receiving fluoridated water. However, over time it became apparent that fluoride is not the natural safe supplement that most people were led to believe.
Excessive fluoride has been linked to stained and mottled teeth along with a variety of chronic and acute health issues. Let’s find out more about this possibly harmful soluble salt.
What is Fluoride?
There are two types of fluoride: calcium fluoride and sodium fluoride. When taken in excess, both types can be harmful to health.
Calcium fluoride is found naturally in underground waters sources. In sufficient concentrations, it can actually weaken bones and teeth rather than protecting them. However, it is less toxic and damaging to health than its counterpart.
Sodium fluoride is much more insidious. Created as a synthetic waste byproduct from the fertilizer, aluminum and nuclear industries, this type of fluoride is added to many public water supplies. Already laden with lead, aluminum and cadmium, sodium fluoride has the ability to combine with other toxic materials and increase their potency. Far from healthy, the side effects of taking fluoride may have far-reaching negative effects on health as you will see, yet until recently it was advocated by both the American Dental Association and the US Public Health Service.
What does Fluoride Affect?
Fluoride, particularly sodium fluoride, has been found to weaken the immune system and can damage the kidneys and liver. Symptoms of sodium fluoride toxicity are similar to fibromyalgia, including fatigue, muscle pain, memory loss and insomnia. It can also cause nausea, diarrhea, sickness, abdominal pain and increased thirst.
Worse still, sodium fluoride acts as a “Trojan horse”, carrying aluminum across the blood brain barrier where it can be responsible for lower IQ and Alzheimer’s disease. Once in the brain, fluoride can calcify the pineal gland which is responsible for the natural production of melatonin. Without sufficient melatonin, the body is deprived of sound sleep and the thyroid will not function correctly.
How to Avoid Fluoride
Even in areas where sodium fluoride has not been added to the water, it may still be part of your daily diet. Fluoride is used as a pesticide and fumigant and is sprayed onto food crops. It is a component of home insecticides and is even added to bottled water, toothpaste and baby foods. Crops watered by fluoride-laden water are even more heavily contaminated, yet as consumers we have no control over what we are buying and consuming.
Some steps towards curbing your fluoride intake can be taken. Drinking purified or distilled water is recommended if you live in an area of fluoridated water, although all minerals are then removed which is not altogether a good thing for your overall health. Consider taking a supplement of Fulvic acid to counter this issue. Installing a water purification or fluoride filtering system to your home is well worth considering. It is worth noting that Brita and Pur water filters do not remove fluoride.
Choose organically grown local produce over commercially grown, sprayed crops. Avoid processed foods such as grape juice products, instant tea and even soymilk as they all contain high levels of sodium fluoride, as do many over-the-counter medications.
How to Detox Your Body of Fluoride
As well as taking in less fluoride, you need to detox your body to eliminate existing fluoride.
Exercise is good, allowing the body to eliminate all types of toxins, including fluoride, from the body in sweat. I’ve put together a workout plan that I personally use (Burst Training Plan)
Tamarind is commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine. The pulp, bark and leaves are used to make teas, which have been shown to eliminate fluoride through urine.
Magnesium is a useful supplement as it inhibits the absorption of fluoride into the cells. Boron is known to be an effective way to detox fluoride. It can be added to pure water in small amounts of around 1/32 to ¼ teaspoon per liter.
Iodine has been clinically shown to increase the amount of fluoride in urine, expelling it from the body as calcium fluoride. However, this may be depriving your body of calcium so make sure that you take calcium supplements to counter this problem.
Liver cleanses are very effective for eliminating not only fluoride but also other toxins that congregate in the liver. Take a product that thoroughly cleanses the liver over one to two weeks for maximum effectiveness. Chelation therapies are also recommended for removing heavy metals for the body along with sodium fluoride.
Sources: Natural News, drninafoley.com, wikipedia, alignlife.com, curezone.com
How to Fight Candida the Natural Way
According to Dr Mercola, up to 75% of women suffer from candida during their lifetime, and many suffer from repeated bouts of this unpleasant personal health issue. I’ve also previously written about treating Candida with fermented vegetables. But, why is it that so many women (and men too) suffer from this problem? Research from the Journal of Medical Microbiology suggests that Antibiotics may promote yeast infections, including gastrointestinal Candida overgrowth, and penetration of the GI mucosa.What is Candida?
Candida, also known as candidiasis, is a common yeast infection which can lead to many health problems from a sore throat to serious stomach problems. Although the body normally produces yeast in the mouth, vagina, rectum and digestive tracts, in normal amounts it remains harmless. However, if the body’s natural pH balance is upset, candida can quickly grow out of control.
If you are suffering from headaches, inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, chronic fatigue, sugar cravings and stomach problems you may be suffering from an over-production of yeast and candida. A common symptom is thrush, which is an overgrowth of yeast in the mouth and/or vagina. If left untreated, candida will weaken the immune system allowing more serious disease to take hold.
Major Causes of Candida
Once conditions are right, candida will thrive and your general health will suffer. There are various causes that trigger or feed a yeast infection including:
- Overconsumption of processed and sugary foods
- Oral contraceptives
- Overuse of antibiotics
- Steroid use
- Alcoholic beverages
All these create an acidic environment that encourages yeast growth and the presence of candida.
Many people opt for over-the-counter anti-fungal creams, but they only treat the symptoms, not the environment that allows candida to flourish. You need to eliminate the underlying cause in your diet or medication, restore your body’s pH balance and boost the presence of good bacteria.
All-Natural Remedies for Candida
Processed and refined foods create the acidic environment that candida and other diseases need to survive. Replace foods high in gluten, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup with fresh fruit and vegetables. While treating candida, restrict your intake of alcohol, vinegar, bread, high-sugar foods, peanuts, mushrooms and aged cheese. Nuts, seeds, wild-caught fish and other food fresh from Mother Nature will all fight candida, along with garlic, turmeric and cinnamon. Changing to a healthier lifestyle, whether or not you have candida, can only lead to a healthier body with the added benefit of countering any future yeast infection.
Garlic is a natural anti-fungal and a powerful antibiotic while turmeric, also known as curcumin, is a powerful treatment against candida, according to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Tests performed at the Department of Microbiologia at the Centro de Engenharias in Brazil showed that turmeric was a more potent anti-fungal than the commonly prescribed drug fluconazole (source).
Best Candida Fighting Foods
- Amasai / Kefir
- Garlic
- Turmeric
- Raw Vegetables
- Cinnamon
- Kombucha
- Yogurt
Overuse of antibiotics not only kills both good and bad bacteria in the body, allowing candida to flourish, it also means that the body builds up a resistance to them. Substitute antibiotics with a natural probiotic such as Kombucha or Kefir to restore the balance of bacteria in your body. Kefir is particularly high in probiotics. Amasai, a similar fermented dairy product, is a highly digestible beverage which promotes good bacteria and restores balance in the digestive tract. Adding other naturally fermented foods such as natto to your diet will soon restore your body’s natural balance to a state where candida simply cannot survive.
Sources: Garlic Central, Natural News, Candidainfo.org, oxfordjournals.org
4 Reasons You Should Drink Enough Water
You can go without food for days, weeks and even months, but going without water for just one day can negatively impact your health. Many people don’t realize just how important water really is. The human body is made up of 2/3 (66%) water and when we lose just a little bit of water through sweat and elimination, and we do not replenish lost liquid, we’ll begin to notice the effects to our health right away.
Are Flu Vaccines a Scam?
Winter is soon approaching upon on us and with the colder weather comes the vaccine industry pushing their flu shots, again. By mid October we’re going to be bombarded with all the media hype telling us to get a flu shot! Ever wonder why, if the flu shot worked so well, people are revaccinated year after year? The CDC claims their vaccines work super well and that if vaccinated a person is immune from contracting the flu, and yet, in the same breath they let us know we need to be revaccinated. Huh?
Aloe: Nature’s Medical Kit
“There are factors in aloe that help the cells regenerate and heal faster,” said Dr. Lawrence D. Rosen, a pediatrician at the Whole Child Center in Oradell, N.J., who recommends it to his patients. Aloe Vera is an amazing plant with valuable medicinal purposes that aid in healing a variety of ailments. Aloe has been used for thousands of years for skin issues, from soothing burns to healing wounds. The aloe plant produces two properties that are important to healing, gel and latex.
Is sleepy driving as impairing as drunk driving
“One complete night of sleep deprivation is as impairing in simulated driving tests as a legally intoxicating blood-alcohol level.” Are you having trouble sleeping? So are 60 million other Americans. Any amount of sleep deprivation will diminish mental performance, cautions Mark Mahowald, a professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
That’s scary to think about considering if there are 60 million Americans who are having trouble sleeping and a third of them are driving on our byways and highways at any given time. Research has also shown that chronic sleep deprivation will result in serious health issues. At the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting in June 2001, Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D., reported that people who regularly do not get enough sleep can become less sensitive to insulin. “This increases their risk for diabetes and high blood pressure – both serious threats to the brain”.
The Real Price of Beauty
Women want to be beautiful and are willing to spend a lot of money to get it. According to a YWCA report, in one year American women spend about $7 billion on beauty products. That’s a lot of money spent on numerous products put on the skin. From creams and lotions to eye shadows and lipsticks many of these products contain ingredients that are questionable at best.
5 All Natural Ways to Beat Gout
Today gout is affecting more and more people. From the rich to the poor, gout is rising in America and other developed countries. It’s estimated that between 2 and 5 million Americans are suffering with gout today.
What is Gout? Gout is a painful, arthritic condition mainly afflicting the big toe. The big toe becomes stiff, inflamed and painful as a result of excess uric acid leading to crystals formed in joints. These high levels of uric acid are called hyperuricemia and the pain comes from the body’s natural anti-inflammatory response to the crystals.
Elevated levels of uric acid also lead to other health problems too. Some of the most commonly associated health problems from hyperuricemia (high levels of uric acid) are the following:
High Uric Acid Levels Lead to Health Issues
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Kidney disease
- Heart disease
Gout seems to run in families so if your parents had it you’re more likely to one day developing gout. This also predisposes your children to getting gout.
Causes of Gout
Gout is said to be caused by lifestyle and eating choices. Today the staple American diet has shifted to one full of highly processed foods. Many of these highly processed foods contain high fructose corn syrup which is believed to be a leading contributor to gout.
In fact, a recent study showed that men who consumed two or more sugary drinks per day were 85% more likely to develop gout than those men who only consumed less than one sugary beverage a month. This high sugar intake increases the levels of uric acid in the body. High levels of sugar in the body lead to a number of serious health problems including gout.
It’s also been shown that half of all gout sufferers are obese or overweight. And again, a high intake of sugar is shown to lead to obesity.
Another cause of gout is consuming too many high purine foods. These are organ meats, anchovies, herring, asparagus, and even mushrooms. Eating less high purine foods is one way to try to ward off gout.
Treatment of Gout
There are pharmaceuticals that are used to treat gout but I urge you to use these as a last resort. Some of the pharmaceuticals used to treat gout are NSAIDs, Colchicine, corticosteroids, Corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone),Febuxostat, Aloprim, and Zyloprim.
Not only do many of these drugs not work for gout sufferers the side effects of these toxic pharmaceuticals are not worth the risk. This is especially true when diet and lifestyle changes can end or successfully help to manage gout.
Some of the side effects of these dangerous pharmaceuticals are the following:
Side Effects of Pharmaceuticals Used to Treat Gout
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Rash
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Drowsiness
- Fluid retention
- Shortness of breath
- Kidney failure
- Liver failure
When there are all natural alternatives available to you to fight off gout I suggest you try these methods before you opt for pharmaceuticals and their dangerous side effects.
6 All Natural Ways to Beat Gout
Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.
1. Eliminate or reduce sugar intake
As many studies are now illustrating, gout is common in people with excessive sugar intake, especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS.) It’s wise to read the labels of all your food and drinks. If you find HFCS then eliminate that from your diet. In addition, look for sugar added under the guise of other common names for sugar; look for ‘cose’ at the end of words and these are probably types of sugar you don’t want to be consuming.
2. Eliminate grains
Grains in the body are converted to sugars so again you want to limit or avoid grains altogether. They are also very inflammatory to your body.
3. Limit alcohol consumption
Again, alcohol becomes sugar once ingested so eliminate this completely unless you have a healthy body already. Any substance that will be converted to one or another type of sugar by the body should be avoided at all costs. In order to get your uric acid levels down you must consistently avoid sugar in your diet.
4. Eliminate soda and diet soda
Soda and diet sodas are loaded with sweeteners either natural or artificial. It’s vital to eliminate them from your diet altogether if you want to be gout. Remember the study I mentioned earlier in which just two to three sweet beverages a week increased men’s chance of getting gout by a whopping 85%.
5. Consume cherries and strawberries daily
In order to combat the inflammation try adding fresh, organic cherries and strawberries to your diet. Cherries are rich in anthocyanicns and bioflavonoids both which help to relieve and prevent arthritis. In addition, both are high in antioxidants which will help to fight off free radical damage.
6. Exercise
Since obesity is linked to gout, it’s a good idea to exercise regularly if you’re trying to relieve gout from your life. Include burst training and weight training to maximize your health benefits from exercise. Exercise should be a part of your life no matter if you have gout or not. Burst Training is the best way to get in shape and keep your body healthy. Click here for my burst workout ideas.
As with many health problems there are all natural treatment methods that often involve lifestyle changes that should take place before you opt for pharmaceuticals or other methods. The same is true for gout. Try these solutions and live an overall healthy lifestyle and you’ll be pain free from gout in no time.
Sources: medscape.com, mercola.com, mercola.com2
All Natural Treatment Options for Multiple Sclerosis
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) about 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or MS.
Multiple sclerosis or MS is an immune disease in which the body mistakenly attacks itself. In the case of MS, the body attacks the myelin, or fat that surrounds and protects the nerves. During an MS attack, inflammation occurs in random areas of the central nervous system in patches called plaques. The destruction of the myelin occurs next. Once these myelin sheaths are attacked and destroyed the delicate communication process between the nerves, brain, spinal cord and the rest of the body are compromised resulting in decreased or complete loss of function. The name, multiple sclerosis, is for many – multiple, and scars – sclerosis.
8 Reasons not to have Breast Augmentation
20% of women have silicone implants removed after just ten years of having them implanted. (FDA)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a word of caution about silicone implants for women considering them for cosmetic or reconstructive surgery. In a statement issued on June 22, 2011, the FDA warned that these ‘devices’ are not for lifetime use and cited several problems found with silicone implants for the women who have them.
Discovering the Beyond Organic Ranch
I’ve been talking a lot recently about Beyond Organics, the meat and dairy products they will be producing and how great it will all be. Knowing where your food comes from is so important, so I recently traveled to southern Missouri to the Beyond Organic Ranch Headquarters to see it all for myself. What I found is nothing short of amazing when you consider how most of our food is raised. The cattle are 100% green fed which means all their food comes from grazing, the water they drink is from an onsite spring, they are some of the best cared for cows in the world.
This letter was written by my friend Jordan Rubin, author of The Maker’s Diet and founder of Beyond Organics, to describe where the idea came from and the basic philosophy by which the business will be run.
Effective All Natural Treatments for Arthritis
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an estimated 50 million Americans have one form of arthritis or another. An estimated 50% of United States adults over the age of 65 reported being told by a doctor that they have arthritis.
5 of America’s Top Health Gurus
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (a division of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM,) 38% of American adults use a form of complementary or alternative medicine.
Do you or someone you know use complementary or alternative medicine?
Pregnant? Consider Natural Child Birth and Home Births
“The World Health Organization has repeatedly implored the U.S. medical authorities to return to a midwife-based system of maternity care as one way to help reduce our scandalously high mortality rates.” – Gentlebirth.org
If you’re pregnant, know someone who is, or plan to become pregnant in the future you’re probably thinking about how that baby is going to get here. Now of course we all know it takes nine months for the baby to grow but once those nine months are over how it proceeds from there is a matter of personal preference.
4 Ways to Cut Health Care Costs with Preventative Medicine
In 2009, Harvard Researchers found that 62% of all 2007 bankruptcies were a direct result of medical debt. (source)
It’s no secret the state of our health – as well as health care – is an ominous picture. With the outrageous costs of health care, taking preventative action with your health is more important than ever.
