Tapping Into Possibilities

Any One Who Had a Heart….

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America is a country of broken hearts. Since the beginning of the 20thcentury, heart disease has been the number one killer of men and women. A few years ago, it was the cause of one in four deaths, now its one in three and the cost has soared to over $400 billion per year. The American Heart Association reports that more women die from heart disease each year than from all cancers combined.

And only in America do we have a month or a day to celebrate everything from Hug a Ginger Day (a redhead) on February 22 to Valentine’s Day to American Heart Month.  Did you know there is actually a calendar available that lists the day, week or month that we celebrate, or should I say, try to make you aware of, more than 100 diseases/infections/problems, called The 2019 National Health Observances Calendar! Today is National Donor Day, last week it was Congenital Heart Defects and next week it’s National Heart Valve Diesease.

But back to the Heart….

Open Your Heart. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Total Eclipse of the Heart.  Unbreak My Heart. My Heart Wasn’t In It. Broken Heart. Heart Attack. Heartless. Faint of Heart.  Anyone Who Had a Heart. The word HEART is used in so many songs, expressions, slogans that we’ve almost become immune to its importance.

We’ve become a country of not just physically broken hearts but of emotionally and spiritually broken hearts.

Since Hearts  are getting lots of attention this month and especially today, I thought it would be appropriate to work on opening my own heart and not just that pulsing, pumping muscle in my chest.

And just how will I do this? With deep listening and with mindful breathing.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.     Buddha

Thicht Nhat Hanh wrote in True Love, A Practice for Awakening the Heart (1997), Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I am smiling at my heart. Breathing in, I know that you are there; Breathing out, thank you for being there.

Pro ProBiotics

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Why? The evidence is strong that Probiotics benefit the digestive and immune systems and there are many other reasons to consider taking a probiotic.

Green Med Info  www.greenmedinfo.com  has over 240 studies relating to 170 health issues that have benefited from a probiotic supplement

The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported  a study of adults with high cholesterol. Those that took a probiotic twice a day for nine weeks reported total cholesterol levels dropping 9% and LDL by 12%. (Men’s Health News, 11/26/12)

And for those of you who endured a bad and lengthy cold this winter…… A double blind study at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in NJ monitored college students for 12 weeks. Those taking the probiotics had cold symptoms for a shorter time, less severe symptoms and missed fewer days of school. (News-medical.net, 10/24/12)

What are Probiotics? Non pathogenic bacteria that naturally live in your gut or more simply put Good Bugs. Your body has give or take a 100 trillion friendly bacterial cells. Some of their functions include digestion, battling viral, bacterial and yeast infections, protecting us against disease i.e. stimulating the immune system and producing vitamins K & B.

Why Supplement? The sad American diet filled with sugar, flour, fast food not to mention stress and antibiotics all contribute to the growth of the bad bugs and don’t provide the food the good bugs need to flourish.

Good vs Bad

Good bugs release an acid that keeps bad bugs in check. Good bugs need high fiber foods, plant based foods, healthy fats and fermented foods. Probiotic rich foods include kefir, kombucha, yogurt, fermented vegetables such as kimchi and sauerkraut. The Nourishing Traditions cookbook has a easy recipe for fermented ketchup which is delicious.

Bad Bugs release toxins into your system. Bad bugs love sugars, fats from processed food, stress.

What we do: We eat plain yogurt & kefir because added sugars cancel out much of the good. We eat some fermented foods but not enough. We supplement.

What we take: American Health Probiotic CD with 10 strains and 12 billion CFUs but there are many good brands out there including Innate Response Formulas Flora 50-14, MegaFood MegaFlora and Nutrition Now PB8. All can be purchased at www.iherb.com (use BOT164 at checkout for discount on first order).

What to look for: A brand with multiple strains of bacteria and at least 5000 CFUs. CFUs are Colony Forming Units.

Because we have trillions of good bacteria and hundreds of strains, it is good to rotate formulas every 3 months once you have a good foundation.

You really are what you eat.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

 

 

Machine or Fiesta?

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For years I have used the analogy of a car, a computer or a machine to help people relate to and understand the intricacies of their bodies. I have referred to our bodies and health in terms of hardware, software, viruses and worms and virus protection – language that, we obsessed with technology people, can relate to.

Recently I came across this “poem” in Eduardo Galeano’s book Walking Words that made me re-think how I think of my own body.

The Church says: the body is a sin.                                                                            Science says: the body is a machine.                                                                   Advertising says: the body is a business.                                                                        The body says: I am a fiesta.                                                                                                        From Walking Words by Eduardo Galeano, 20th c Uruguayan writer,                                        journalist and “poet laureate” of the anti-globalization movement.

What if, instead of thinking of our body like a machine, a car or a computer that can be replaced, we treated our body (and I mean the whole thing, inside and out) as our most prized and valuable possession, as a precious, irreplaceable gem?

The body is a sacred garment. Martha Graham

The machine analogy may help us to understand the body  – there are many moving parts to putting on a good party as we all know, but treating the body like a fiesta, like a really good party, not just a sum of its parts, it certainly a lot more fun.

Take a moment to be still, to listen, to observe. Feel the pulse, hear the breath.

J. Ruth Gendler, writes in Notes for the Need for Beauty, the body is “like a Mayan festival with many different musicians playing throughout the village, the rhythms weave in and out of each other creating a music of many layers and depths.”

C is for Cacao cont’d…..

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What’s important to know are the health benefits of cacao and what form is the best way to get those benefits.

If you read part 1, you’ll note that for centuries cacao was consumed in liquid form though not the Swiss Miss instant variety. Look for Raw Unsweetened Cacao Powder. Look for Dark Chocolate with 70% cacao. And my favorite, Cacao Nibs.

To be considered “dark”, the chocolate must have at least 35% cacao but please note, the research and resulting benefits have all been done with dark chocolate with 70% cacao.  Although 70% is considered bittersweet, it is satisfying and you won’t keep craving more and more as in that big bag of M&Ms I used to devour at the movie theater.

Health Benefits from Recent Research:

Better Mood: The carbohydrates in cacao raise serotonin levels in the brain.  Cocoa contains tryptophan, an essential amino acid required for the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Enhanced serotonin levels can lower anxiety levels and improve mood.

Reduced PMS Symptoms: whether it’s the magnesium or the tryptophan, who cares, it works!

Eating cacao also helps to release endorphins, the “I feel good” natural high. Perhaps, this is why we have so many chocoholics.

Just the smell of cacao can increase theta brain waves. Think relaxation.

Healthy Heart and Lower Cholesterol Levels:  Cacao is full of antioxidants called flavonoids.  Flavanoids help to prevent clogged arteries and make platelets less sticky which can reduce the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.

Cacao contains healthy monounsaturated fats which help raise the good cholesterol (HDL) levels.

Suppress  Appetite: A cup of cacao before a meal will reduce your hunger. Cacao contains the mineral chromium which helps stabilize blood sugar.

More Energy: Cacao contains a substance called theobromine, a central nervous system stimulant. It helps boost your energy during that afternoon slump.

Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits.  Baron Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), German chemist

 

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

 

B is for Breath

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Life begins with your first breathe and ends with your last.

Just watch a baby breathe. Breathing is an involuntary action. Or is it?

While breathing is mostly involuntary, your breathing is nothing to take for granted. Breath is the fuel of life. Your breath carries oxygen to every cell, all 70 trillion of them. Breathing eliminates toxins and stressors.

Breath helps us to communicate, to calm, to center, to circulate (not just oxygen, but thoughts and insights).

 For breath is life and if you breathe well,                                                  you will live long on  earth. Sanskrit Proverb

Many mystics and ancient cultures have believed for centuries that breath is evidence of spirit and that working with breath is a spiritual practice. In many languages, including Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, breath and spirit are the same word.

Today, science is proving the importance of “breathing well” and its ability to heal. How you breathe affects you physically but also your state of mind and how you feel. Different breathing techniques are powerful tools.

                             We need to learn how to breathe “more slowly, more quietly,                              more deeply, and regularly”, says Dr. Andrew Weil.

How you breathe can be invigorating; it can be calming; it can bring clarity and done improperly (shallow chest breathing) can be a health hazard. We thrust our chin and neck forward especially while on the computer; we hold our breath; we stiffen our spine; we shrug our shoulders.

Healthy breathing strengthens and improves the function of your diaphragm, which will keep your spine flexible and your core strong.

Your most important tool for well being and reducing stress is your breath. You may not be able to see it but it is an invisible force.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.                                                                             Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist Monk

And the good news is you don’t have to be in a yoga class or have a dedicated meditation practice (though it’s a good idea), to begin breathing well.

 

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

S is for Stress

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Some stress is good. Exercise, for instance, is a form of stress but it can help brain cells grow.

It’s the chronic stress, that’s not so good. Stress can come from many different sources. Work, relationship and financial problems and physical trauma are not the only causes.

Perhaps the more insidious causes of stress are the not so obvious, or at least the ones not talked about so much, such as toxicity, pathogens, allergies and nutritional deficiencies as a result of poor quality food, water and air. All can cause imbalances in the body.

When the body becomes ill, the body’s first signal that all is not well is through vibrational or electromagnetic waves. Our body is a network of bio-photons, which acts like an extremely fast super computer. Every thought and action is accompanied by an electrical activity in the nervous system and by bio-photon communication between cells.

Our cells network together to keep our body in balance (remember homeostasis from high school biology?). When any kind of stress enters the body, it produces erratic vibrations which lead to imbalances which leads to disease.

Stress worsens and/or increases the risk of many diseases including diabetes, Alzheimers, depression, GI issues, obesity and heart disease and of course, it accelerates aging.

Don’t assume stress is a way of life, something you have to live with. You can learn to change much of what is happening inside you without drugs or invasive procedures.

Natural Forces within us are the true healers of disease  Hippocrates, 4thc BC

What’s the first step? Stillness.

Whether you want to call it meditation, mindfulness, breathe work, prayer or just quiet time without any distractions, that’s the place to start.

Silence is something more than just a pause; it is that enchanted place where space is cleared and time is stayed and the horizon itself expands. Pico Iyer

 

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

A is for Asheville & Art

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Now,  you might be wondering what in the world Asheville, North Carolina and maybe even Art have to do with Health & Wellness. Well, think again.

Western North Carolina is breathtakingly beautiful. The air is clean; the food is spectacular and the art and music communities are bustling.

Asheville is the largest city in western North Carolina. It was founded in 1784 and prospered until the Depression. The city and its amazing Art Deco architecture remained virtually unchanged from 1930-1980.

When most people think of Asheville NC, they think of another era and the Biltmore Estate and it’s opulence and materialism and, yes, beauty built by a single visionary named George Washington Vanderbilt II.

But the Asheville of 2013 is a town full of many creative visionaries.

“A visionary sees what is and sees through what is to what could be”

Eric Weiner in his 2008 The Geography of Bliss wrote, “it is big enough to have a thriving art scene and choice of restaurants, yet not so big it is burdened with big city problems.” Some think it’s the happiest city in the U.S.

It has a Sustainability Master Plan with a focus on a “green” economy and becoming self sufficient food wise. There are dozens of farm markets and “farm to table” restaurants. They even have a “Five Day Weekend Movement” (less stress, more fun) and support the Strive Not to Drive movement.  Add 4,000 artisans and craftsmen, many of whom are multigenerational, and the River Arts District along the French Broad River. Add gorgeous natural surroundings and a relatively mild climate (think not too hot, not too cold, just right, as well as little snow though very close to a number of ski resorts).

Someone described it as a city of southern civility & spiritual tolerance; to some that may sound like an oxymoron, but it really is a happy and peaceful place.

The takeaway message here, even if you can’t live in Asheville, NC, is that we can all find ways to soothe our souls, to manage our stress and live a happier life by surrounding ourselves with beauty, good food , creativity and art.

 

ABC it’s as Easy as 123

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A is for Avocado. Avocados are not just for guacamole; they are a super food and delicious. They have the “good” fats, the ones your body needs in order to absorb and use the fat soluable vitamins A, D, E & K. They have protein, fiber, B vitamins, antioxidants and more potassium than a banana. Studies show they are anti-inflammatory and promote heart health. Dr. Susan Blum, MD., author of The Immune System Recovery Plan believes than ¼-½   of an avocado per day will balance your cortisol levels (think stress) and relieve adrenal fatigue.

B is for Basil. Basil is so much more than just a seasoning herb that is native to India and tropical Asia. Basil’s flavonoids protect cell structures. It is a good source of vitamin A and magnesium. It is anti-inflammatory; it’s volatile oils have been shown to inhibit the COX enzyme, the same mechanism as anti-inflammatories NSAIDs such as Aleve and Motrin.

C is for Cantaloupe. All orange flesh melons are excellent sources of vitamins C & A and good sources of potassium, many B vitamins, vitamin K, magnesium and fiber. One study showed lower c-reactive protein (CRP) levels in those who ate more cantaloupe and CRP is the best marker of inflammation levels in your body.

I wish we had an Avocado tree as my daughter does in southern California but no such luck for us east coasters. However, Avocados are readily available wherever you live and the bonus is that the rough skin that gives it the nick name Alligator Pear means you don’t have to buy it organically (it’s not on the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Dirty Dozen List).

You really have no excuse for not growing your own Basil. It will easily grow year round on a window sill.

Its Cantaloupe season in the mid-Atlantic and as I try to eat locally, seasonally and organically as much as possible I’ll eat as many DelMarVa melons as I can this month.

ABC it’s as easy as 123 Smoothie  

¼- ½ Avocado                                                                                                                                 2-5 leaves Basil                                                                                                                                   1 ½ cups cubed frozen Cantaloupe                                                                                                   1-3 Tbs honey                                                                                                                               Juice of 1 lime                                                                                                                                   ¼-½ cup coconut water or water                                                                                                 ½ cup ice cubes

1. Partially thaw Cantaloupe and add to blender

2. Add remaining ingredients to blender, starting with 2 leaves Basil

3. Add more Basil, ice, water depending on your taste and desired consistency

Refreshing, Thirst Quenching, Nutritious & Delicious – this is what DIY Health & Wellness is all about.

 

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

 

 

 

 

Food As Medicine

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Even though Hippocrates said, Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, 2500 years ago, “modern” medicine has been slow to acknowledge the relationship between what you eat and what diseases you get.

Talk about ignoring one of the most basic of the universal laws: Cause & Effect.

Every cause has an effect; every effect has a cause.

Finally, after decades of research and study, the “experts” agree bad food and good food grown in bad soil (or with sin-thetic means) affect our health.

People, this is not rocket science; this is common sense.

Put sugar in your gas tank and your motor gunks up and your car doesn’t run.

Author Barry Sears, PhD. wrote, Food is far more important than just something you eat for pleasure or to appease your hunger. Rather it is a potent drug that you’ll take at least three times a day for the rest of your life. When food is broken down in to its basic components (glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids) and sent into the bloodstream, it has a more powerful impact on your body and your health than any drug your doctor could ever prescribe.

I’m not going to tell what you what to eat and what not to eat (well maybe a little bit). Use your common sense, not mine, but consider the 80/20 Rule.

Eat mostly what’s good for you and very little of what’s not.

The Pareto Principle, commonly called the 80/20 rule, was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who noted in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the people. It is now commonly used in business/time management (80% of work is done by 20% of the people) but it certainly applies to what you eat as well.

Most effects (diseases) have a small number of causes (bad food).

Try, 80% real/20% processed; 80% alkaline/20% acidic, etc.

We may find in the long fun that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine gun. George Orwell (1903-1950)

 

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.

 

 

 

 

CHEAP & EASY MEDICINE

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No, this is not a cheap way to buy toxic, man-made pharmaceuticals that may help your symptoms, but certainly won’t cure you……

What is Medicine? It’s quite interesting when you start looking at definitions. In fact, it is a synonym for pharmaceutical and the “modern” definitions include “a drug or remedy for use in treating, preventing or alleviating the symptoms of disease”.

I am, however, partial to the older definitions including “the art and science of dealing with the maintenance of health” or “the art or science of restoring or preserving health”.

In fact, the roots of the word medicine are old French from Latin, medicina, the art of healing and mederi, to heal.

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. Voltaire  (French writer, 1694-1778)

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.                                                                   Lord Byron (British poet, 1788-1824)

Breathe Right, Sleep Tight, Eat Right & Light, Meditate, Laugh Out Loud, Spend Time Outside………DIY Health & Wellness…..

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for medical counseling. Intentional Health and DIY Health & Wellness does not treat, prevent, cure, or diagnose any disease or ailment.