Archive for October, 2008

A Healthy Life, the 4 Basics of a Healthy Life and the 3 Important Habits that Create Good Health

by: Drs. Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis

Good health is easy but being sick is hard. The truth is, maintaining good health is pretty simple although reclaiming it takes patience, consistent actions and smart choices. Your body heals at it’s own pace. Your job is to help that process along. There are four important components that determine a person’s level of health.

Component One: Is their body being fed what it needs to be healthy? From the point of view of the body, many meals today barely qualify as food. That’s why disease care is a trillion dollar business and over 60% of Americans are overweight.An amazing amount of the American diet is packed with calories carrying no real nutrition. Like good health, eating vital, real food is easy, but that is a decision you have to make.

Component Two: Does the person have a cork stuck up their butt? Are they constipated? Can the body eliminate toxins effectively? Other organs get constipated besides the bowels. Most diseases involve the starvation or constriction of a group of organs. Often food is clogging the machinery. Some foods clog and others clean. Some foods support the health of the organs and others destroy them.

Component Three: Do they feel loved? There’s nothing like loving when it comes to good health. People in loving relationships eat together. The quality of the food is an expression of their affection. Most of good health is attitude and self-image and they’re linked to how you love. Continuously work on improving your ability to love and good health is easy.

Component Four: Do they enjoy their work and feel they make a contribution, even if it seems frivolous to someone else? This attitude is often more important to good health than what it is you actually do, or how much you earn. It’s being connected, valued and on a mission. It keeps the inner flame alive and like love, offers that most valuable asset to healing, a sense of hope. Patiently improve these four components and good health is easy.

Now, cut yourself some slack. Health challenges make people feel guilty, stupid or victimized. Whether you believe you create your own health or that problems simply fall out of the sky, realize that these days, good health barely seems like an option for many people. Health education has fallen down on the job and the result is a trillion dollar plus medical bill. Part of the problem is that the conscious mind wasn’t designed to be responsible for your health. Read that again.

Your conscious mind doesn’t have the job skills, although it can be a good helper. Finding healthy foods and detoxification are managed by the autonomic (read automatic) nervous system. For example: When you’re low in a certain nutrient, this is what the body does. All blood flows through the liver, the largest internal organ, which notes that the blood is low in that nutrient, so it sends a message to the tongue, forming a crystalline pattern in the saliva, that mimics the food that contains that nutrient.

Now the nose, who is in the same neighborhood, sniffs out that food and then it’s lunch. This message process bypasses the conscious mind. But modern foods don’t offer the choices that the autonomic system requires to maintain good health. It’s that simple. A major portion of the American diet is glue; hybridized wheat and cow dairy, cheap, plentiful, with a great profit margin. Wheat is high in gluten (GLUtEn) and cow dairy is high in casein, like the white craft glue from Elmer’s. That’s why their logo is Elsie the Cow.

Now manufacturers have found an even cheaper food; soy, high in the estrogens that promote obesity and hormonal challenges, which is one of the reasons why today’s generation possesses half of the fertility of their grandparent’s generation. Choosing to eat these glues causes many people’s poor level of health. The body’s design requires graceful, gradual change. As you move forward in your healing, realize the pace at which the body restores itself has to do with the design of the cell.

When the body makes a new cell, it will design it for the quantity of nutrition present at the time the cell is created. The body doesn’t like to waste resources so it won’t create a cell capable of processing huge amounts of nutrition if there’s only a fraction of that floating around. When you improve your diet and add supplements, the current cells have very real limits as to what they can use. However, when you maintain high levels of nutrition, the next generation of cells will be created with an increased capability. Even they won’t be running at their full potential, because in order to fit in with the previous matrix, their lower capabilities have to overlap the higher capabilities of their weaker predecessors.

As you maintain that high level of nutrition, the following generations will push those limits up another step and another step and so on. That’s why it takes a while to reach optimal health. For example, a red blood cell has a life span of 120 days, so how many cellular generations will it take to reach your fullest potential? Then to maintain good health you need to keep providing high levels of nutrition through making smart food choices and active supplementation.

In other words, once you start dancing, keep dancing! The three habits that lead to good health are: Be consistent, be patient and always aim to improve all four components; good nutrition, effective detoxification, good loving and good work.

About The Author

Excerpted from The Ten Minute Herbalist by Drs. Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis © 2004 For more information about their books, educational programs & Nature’s Sunshine Products visit : www.spaceandtime.com. This information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or prescribe. If you are suffering from a health challenge the authors suggest that you consult a competent health practitioner of your choice who will work with you to optimize your level of health.

You want to gain health and lose weight? But you are too anxious due to the usual misinformation that
flies around about vegetarian diets, like you cannot get enough protein, iron or calcium on a vegetarian
diet? Or “it is all too hard! “ You certainly can get complete nutrition from a vegetarian diet.
Here are three steps that get you going today.

You want to gain health and lose weight? But you are too anxious due to the usual misinformation that
flies around about vegetarian diets, like you cannot get enough protein, iron or calcium on a vegetarian
diet? Or “it is all too hard! “ You certainly can get complete nutrition from a vegetarian diet. It is not
hard and you can start today.

Take three steps to see yourself on the way to a healthier life. It’s simple: know why you want to try a
vegetarian diet; get the right information without being overwhelmed by it; then… do it.

A good vegetarian diet is indeed a good thing. But as with everything an unbalanced one is not. Just
any low calorie and vegetarian recipe or easy vegetarian recipe will not do. If you have been a meat
eater for many years your body may need to adjust to a supply of minerals that are of different
proportions to vegetarian diets. That is why it is important to set out on the road of vegetarianism with
some knowledge about its benefits and pitfalls.

But first, if you want to commit yourself to anything, it is important to know your motivations for
doing just that. No motivation, no perseverance. Here are some reasons that motivate millions of
people to eat their vegetarian meal today:

Weight loss.
Many people take to a vegetarian diet or specifically a low calorie and vegetarian recipes regime
because they think a “carrot-and-lettuce’ diet will slim them down. They may see vegetarianism as a
kind of punishment for a body that has gone off the rails. Consequently, unless they are lucky and
stumble across information that shows them how delicious a true vegetarian diet can be, they are at risk
of returning to their old diets as soon as some weight has come off. A balanced vegetarian diet may
indeed give enduring weight loss benefits.

Health reasons
Studies suggest that vegetarians have a significantly reduced risk of death from heart disease (about
30%) than meat eaters, including those who eat fish and poultry. As the iron in meat is more available
to our bodies than in plants, it is more likely that iron-overload occurs in our blood as meat eaters age.
This is a problem as high iron levels are associated with cancer risk. Some studies show a reduced
cancer risk for vegetarians. But because many vegetarians also exercise, do not smoke and do not drink
much alcohol, that benefit is a bit hard to pin down. Do it all, and be sure to be healthy! There are many
more health reasons to go vegetarian.

Religious reasons
Some religions proscribe a vegetarian diet, with some going to great lengths to destroy as little life as
possible (What’s that? Oh, no, of course I am not talking about destroying human lives as a result of
their diet… smartie! But you do have a sense of humour, often a typical vegetarian trait). Reasons can
include reaping good karma but some also maintain a healthy body so their spiritual life may have
better chances to flourish.

Environmental reasons
Meat production is many times more energy-intensive than is growing of plant food. Great swathes of
forest land have been cut to run cattle and the grazing of cattle on marginal lands causes soil erosion. In
ur overpopulated world where our use of energy has already outstripped the earth’s capacity for
renewal, overemphasis on meat consumption is self-destructive. Particularly when there are no
compelling health reasons not to abstain from meat altogether. Many more environmental reasons exist,
including reduction of suffering to animals.

Your reasons
There are many reasons for going vegetarian. You may be motivated by a combination of the above
reasons or have a completely different, and valid reason. Be clear in your mind what that reason is and
use that as your driving force.

A major pitfall of vegetarianism is that some people who change abruptly from meat eating to
vegetarianism find that this does not make them feel any better. Don’t blame the vegetarian diet and
give it some time. Treat your body with the respect it deserves. If your motivation is right, meaning
you know why you are becoming vegetarian, you will put some effort into finding the right information
and do not proceed in a hurry. Reduce your meat intake gradually and set yourself a reasonable time
limit to get used to your vegetarian diet.

You can buy books on the subject or see a naturopath who can map out a transition plan for you. Talk
to some vegetarians you know and you’ll find they are happy to share some recipes with you. Heck,
they may even invite you to share their experience directly with them and invite you to dinner. If they
don’t, take yourself (and them?) to a good vegetarian eating place. You can see that even just finding
out about vegetarian food can be fun!

Yes, a vegetarian diet can easily contain all the nutrition that a human body needs. Therefore, the secret
is in being clear in why you want to become vegetarian, get good information on any vegetarian recipe,
low calorie and vegetarian recipe that you can find. There are many easy vegetarian recipe books out
there that inform you on how to obtain all the nutrition you need and take you little time to prepare.

Of course there are unhealthy vegetarian diets. A balanced diet is the key. Having some basic
knowledge about what foods you should include in your vegetarian diet is an essential starting point.

Vegetarian food can be absolutely delicious. Do it right from the start and you won’t look back. And…
depending on how you eat now, a vegetarian diet can be easier on your wallet too!

Here’s to your health!

Do you know that the color of your nails indicate the statues of your health? That’s true. While transparent and rosy nails indicate good health, a little pale and brittle nails imply lack of it. Moreover, diet plays an important role in maintaining the health of your body as well as of your nails. This also means that you need to take care of your nails and include all essential vitamins and minerals if you want to get healthy and beautiful nails.

First of all, you must make minor changes in your lifestyle and try including more healthy fruits and vegetables, nuts, eggs, and fish in your diet. These small changes may go a long way to help you get the perfect nails that you had always dreamt of.

Here are a few tips for getting healthy nails:

• Remove nail polish every week as this allows the nails to breathe.

• Give a natural massage to your nails using coconut oil or warm castor oil.

• Dip your nails in warm water mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice before you manicure them.

• Apply a base coat with smooth strokes before applying nail paint and then let the coat dry before you apply nail paint.

• Use an acetone-free nail polish remover so that your nails don’t lose their natural oils. Use a nail polish remover only 3-4 times in a month.

• Massage your cuticle twice a week using a rich cream. If your cuticle is damaged, you can use alpha hydroxy cream. Moisturize your nails and cuticles at bedtime and then cover them with cotton gloves.

• If suffering from nail fungus or infection, use a mixture of lavender oil and Tea tree oil to treat it.

• Whenever you get time, rub your nails with lemon to make them look lustrous and provide them with essential nutrition.

• A right diet plays an important role in maintaining healthy and beautiful nails. Therefore, you should include hard-boiled eggs and a glass of milk in your diet. If your nails have white spots, you should include food rich in zinc.

• While filing your nails, file in a single direction. Avoid filing nails just after taking bath as wet nails tend to break more easily.

• To keep your nails well-hydrated, rub your nails and skin surrounding them with a petroleum jelly. If you don’t want to use a petroleum jelly, you can use Castor oil instead. Castor oil is rich of vitamin E, which is also good for your cuticles. You can also use olive oil for the same purpose.

• Use rubber gloves while performing household tasks, such as washing dishes or clothes. To maintain extra softness, you can also apply a good hand -ream before wearing rubber gloves.

• Taking diet rich in vitamins A, E, and Biotin makes your nails stronger. Vitamin A is present in green, yellow and orange vegetables, while nuts and leafy green vegetables offer vitamin E in good quantity. Biotin is a vitamin, which is primarily found in almonds, eggs, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.

• Drink nine to ten glasses of water every day. This is because water helps in keeping your nails well-hydrated and maintaining their luster. If you want to strengthen your nails, you can consume Gelatine, which is available in a drinkable form. Gelatine helps in building nail strength and thickening weak nails.