Category: Nutrition

The Magic Of Tulsi

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

Magic of Tulsi

 The Magic of Holy Basil or Tulsi
(Ocimum Tenuifloum)

Ayurveda considers that all disease is derived from stress whether environmental, nutritional, job related or mental. Because we all suffer from stress in some form it is wise to have tools to counteract the stress that seems to creep into our daily lives.

What are the tools that help control stress we already know about? There are many things that we can control, like our diet. Organic, local, fresh produce is always best. It is important to remember that our body deals with toxins that are not within our control every day. We don’t want to add to toxins by eating foods containing anti-biotics, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

How stressful are your thoughts? Do you find yourself worrying about things that may possibly never happen? There’s a difference between being prepared and worrying about a catastrophic event. We make ourselves sick with worry and that leads to other health related concerns. This is another area that we have control over, it may not seem like it at times because our mind can be pretty powerful. With training in meditation and some activity along with proper diet and herbs, you can get your “run away” mind under control.

How can the magic of Tulsi support our bodies?

We can turn our focus to herbs with properties that assist the areas we need help with. When it comes to stress it is important to support the systems of the body what are some of the things that we look for?

  • Adaptogens are great to include along with antioxidants to help rid the body of free radicals.
  • Anti-inflammitory because many stress related diseases will present at first with inflammation and then progress to a higher disease state.
  • Germicide, fungicide and natural anti-biotic to help the body fight off infections thus alleviating stress from illness.
  • Diuretic and detoxifier to cleanse the kidney and reduce uric acid in the blood.
  • Acetic acid to break down kidney stones
  • Analgesic property to help with pain.
  • Anti-carcinogenic to stop the progression of breast and oral cancers.
  • Decongestant to assist with allergies.

It may sound like we would give you an entire handful of herbs to address all of these areas. There is one herb that checks off all the boxes.

Tulsi or Holy Basil is like Magic

  1. Headaches: Helps with all sorts of headaches from sinusitis to migraine due to its decongestive and analgesic properties.
  2. Stress: Normalizes Cortizon in the body is an adaptogen (anti-stress), soothes nerves, regulates blood circulation, fights stress produced free radicals.
  3. Kidney Stones: Dissolves stones due to acetic acid, diuretic, detoxifier, reduces Uric acid in blood good for Gout, analgesic.
  4. Quit Smoking: Reduces urge to smoke due to stress. Chewing the leaves when urge arises reduces stress.
  5. Diabetes: Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, helps beta cells in pancreas to regulate release of insulin, increases the sensitivity to insulin lowering the blood sugar levels, helps cells overcome oxidative stress.
  6. Protects Heart: Tulsi is shown to lower cholesterol, especially LD types, keeps blood pressure lower, Eugenol (anti-oxidant) helps keep free radicals from damaging heart tissue.
  7. Fever: Germicide and a fungicide as well as an anti-biotic so it helps relieve fevers from the common infection to more serious diseases.
  8. Respiratory: Anti-bacterial, Anti-fungal, anti-allergetic, fights infections, relieves congestion and cough it a good expectorant and is immunomodulatory (good for the immune system)
  9. Hair and skin: Last but not least because of it’s purifying properties it is good for reducing acne and pimples. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties assist in preventing break outs. It purifies the blood when the leaves are chewed raw and it reduces excess hair fall and itchy scalp.

Enjoy the magic of Tulsi in your diet

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Seasonal Cleansing, Get The Spring Back into your step.

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

images-1Kapha season is late winter and early spring, time for seasonal cleansing.

At that time of year our Kapha energy is more likely to go out of balance. Kapha is immobile and stable and strong. During the late winter Kapha tends to accumulate, we become less active and many times we crave comfort foods which tend to be Kapha-genic. This is usually a time that suggests it’s time for seasonal cleansing.

With spring comes a shift in the weather and it becomes time to rid our bodies of excess Kapha. In order to do that we plan some seasonal cleansing (ridding ourself of excess Earth and water elements in order to avoid imbalance).

Ayurveda provides a nourishing and effective approach to seasonal cleansing of the body that seeks to balance and restore harmony to the system.

Ayurvedic Suggestions for Seasonal Cleansing:

Drink lots of water and shift your diet to lighter fare. What we eat has the greatest overall impact on our health and Most Americans get less than half the required amount of fiber-needed daily.

Ayurveda suggests a diet that support the bodies natural purification systems. Including complete servings of fiber and protein in order to stave off hunger between meals. Herbs and spices are used to help detoxify and cleanse the body as well as make the foods tastier.

What are some signs that you need Seasonal Cleansing?

  •  Crave Junk food and sugar but have a poor appetite
  • You notice it takes longer to feel hungry after a meal
  • You find yourself eating  large portions
  • Feeling heavy, congested or constipated
  • Bloating and gas cause discomfort
  • Feeling tired with little energy
  • Mind feels a little foggy and “spaced out”
  • Lack of motivation.

What is the first thing you need to do when preparing for a seasonal cleanse?

The first thing is to remove the foods that create sludge or Ama in the system such as foods with preservatives and additives, junk food, sugar, cheese, deep fried foods, carbonated drinks and left overs. These may be things that you normally do not consume but you may have found that some of them have snuck into your diet.

Do not eat raw foods, they are harder to digest and we are trying to cleanse the system. Foods that are cooked are partially digested since digestion is our systems way of cooking. Eat plenty of cooked vegetables and eat fresh fruits (ripened fruit is not considered raw as the ripening process is the plants way of “cooking” the fruit until it is done).

Eat foods that are whole, fresh and organic as much as possible and make sure you are eating according to your dosha. When we eat according to our dosha it makes the food easier to digest for each of us individually.  Make sure and eat your cooked food warm and drink only warm or hot water.

Tea is a great way to help detoxify your body. Boil equal parts of coriander, cumin, fennel and ajwain, take it from the heat and let it set for about 20 minutes to seep. Drink the tea throughout the day, make fresh tea every day.

For seasonal cleansing the best vegetables are cabbage, celery and cilantro, and fresh ginger, and lemon are excellent herbs to assist the system your detox.

Get plenty of rest because a rested body will digest and assimilate the foods more effectively. Exercise is very important as it will increase your metabolic levels, help sweat out toxins and increase energy levels.

Using healthy oils on your skin and in your diet will help to loosen toxins embedded deep in the layers of the bodily tissues. Generally coconut oil for Pitta and Sesame oil for Kapha and Pitta.

Regular elimination is also important when seasonal cleansing, including lots of vegetables and fresh fruits in your diet will help such as cooked apples and pears, prunes, pomegranates and pineapple.

Within a week you will feel the fog lift and you will feel more energetic, as you continue you will feel lighter and release weight. When you began you may have been craving your old lifestyle, after a while you will wonder why you would ever want to go back to unhealthy eating again.

 

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What’s For Dinner?

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

images-3In our fast paced world with all of the conveniences at our fingertips it’s hard to imagine having enough time to actually cook a nutritious meal that doesn’t have some ingredient that is processed. Many recipe’s today include opening a can of this or a box of that. I may be a cooking snob but when I see these things I usually discard the recipe unless I can make the ingredient fresh.

The media helps us in this thinking that we need nothing but convenience when it comes to our meals. I love the Olympics so I dusted off the TV and turned it on and really enjoyed the stories of the athletes and their competitions. What I didn’t enjoy is the bombardment of the media and their convenience foods. The Mom talking about how “toasted” she is at the end of the day so she stops by KFC and gets her family a meal.

I was thinking now she isn’t only toasted she’s fried too!!

With a little bit of planning it is not difficult to cook healthy meals with nutritious single ingredient simple foods. The best place to start is on the weekend, this is a great time to plan the weeks meals and strategize about how to make it more simple and convenient. Planning ahead will guarantee you will have all ingredients at hand and any prepping can be done ahead of time.

Todays meal is Cajun Chicken Gumbo so I planned ahead.
This take about 7 hours to cook in a slow cooker so the best part about it is that you put everything together and leave it. When you get home, dinner is cooked.

Last night because we had a planned out meal it was simple to chop up the onions, peppers, celery and garlic and seal it up in the fridge. Then this morning I took 15 minutes to make my roux and cook my sausage at the same time and drain. A small amount of Italian sausage is the only processed item in this recipe, Gumbo just isn’t the same without it. When it is pre-cooked and drained it is much healthier than cooking it in the gumbo like most recipe’s call for.

Another thing that I do for convenience is that I can organic chicken breast meat in jars. It is amazing for quick meals where chicken is called for. I only use it if time is an issue or there is no chicken on hand, it is an amazing time saver. I will go through the steps for you so you can learn how to can your own chicken in an upcoming blog but for now lets stick to the gumbo.

Shelli’s Cajun Chicken Sausage Gumbo:

1/3 cup Flour
1/3 cup Canola oil/ cooking oil
3 cup Water
12 OZ Cooked Italian Sausage
1 1/2 cup Cooked Shredded Chicken
1 cup Onion chopped
3/4 cup Sweet Green Pepper chopped
1/2 cup Celery chopped
6 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red peppers
3 cups cooked rice

Prep time 30 minutes
Cook time 7 hours

DSC_0174

 

To make roux: combine oil and flour in pan, cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes stirring constantly until it is a rich dark reddish brown color like the photo, set aside and let it cool (hint: take if off the heat before it is to the finish point and it will finish as the pan cools, make sure and stir it occasionally)
Cook and drain the sausage and cook and shred the chicken (or open a jar of home canned chicken)
Chop all vegetables.DSC_0176
Add 3 cups of water to a pan, add the roux, it will look like the photo

 

Add the sausage, chicken and vegetables and let it simmer all day.
When you get home it will be done. Serve over rice. it’s delicious!

 

Because dinner was so easy tonight, you can plan for tomorrows meal and prepare anything that needs to be chopped ahead of time.

A great hint if you don’t have a timer on your crock pot is to buy one for the wall and plug the crock pot into that, set the time for 7 hours and head off to work.

There is no substitute for fresh locally grown food that is cooked freshly delicious.

Bon Appetite!

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Lower Cholesterol Naturally

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

 

Are you one of the 255 million people a year filling prescriptions to the tune of 19 billion dollars annually? This is just in the United States alone. Many do this instead of looking for ways to lower cholesterol naturally.

What do you know about the drugs you are currently taking? Are you aware of all the side effects? Some of them you can’t even feel.

I like to ask people, “What Do You Know About Pharmaceuticals?”

Let’s take a moment to take a look at statins for instance.  Over the age of 45 years 1 in 4 americans take statins. That’s 25% of the population, that’s incredible.  In fact it horrifies me that some doctors think this is a “miracle drug”.  They joke that they would like to see it injected into the water supply. The only problem I see is that statement is it’s NOT funny. We should find ways to

lower cholesterol naturally.

I was surprised to find out statins are routinely prescribed for people over 45.  Some of whom only have a slim chance of developing heart disease. I decided to educate myself on the side effects.  It concerns me because my parents take statins.

First I wanted to look at the risk reduction and I was surprised to find that taking statins only lowered the POSSIBILITY of having a heart attack by 25% to 30%.  The fact is that long term users are 50% more likely to develop diabetes.  Another reason to

lower cholesterol naturally.

What Are You Doing To You?

In my mind the pro’s do not out weigh the cons.  I decided to continue digging and this is what I found.

Statins caused these side affects

Short term memory loss
depression
mood swings
liver disfunction
kidney failure
cataracts
muscle myopathy…..Chronic muscle pain.

Continue reading “Lower Cholesterol Naturally” →

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A Day You Eat, Is an Exercise Day

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

On any day that you Actually eat, that my friend is an exercise day.

Got it?  Eat, exercise.  now, I don’t mean that you eat and exercise.  You have to plan out your day properly.  If you even just PLAN on eating you get your exercise done EARLY as possible.  Any one Planning on eating today?

I get this all the time……”I just can’t seem to get it done after work”…..I say get up early and get ‘er done!  Before your brain starts to reason with you why you absolutely can’t get it done.  You ever heard that voice before?  Yea, I know you have!

GET UP EARLIER for crying out loud.  If you are lucky you will will be 1/2 way to 3/4 through the work out before your brain wakes up and starts to give you all the reasons you CAN’T work out.

By that time you can slam the door on the negative thoughts and finish up in style!

You know what I found out?  It took me years of teaching, being at a gym, talking to the clients.  I found out…….

That voice with the reasons why not, get stronger throughout the day.  ya ever notice that one?

It takes the will of a super hero to get to the gym on some nights after work.  The car wants to head for the barn so you have to fight that AND the voice of reasons why you shouldn’t take time on your self. You get to the gym and you burn say 300 to 500 calories?

Okay, So…..Does anyone have any idea of how many calories equals a pound?

 3,500 calories. 

That sounds like a lot of calories.  I think it is, I consume maybe half of that.  Are you aware of what you consume?

We have this little burger joint in Portland.  The receipt has calorie information and I was very surprised  to see that a meal with 2 burgers, small fries and medium soft drink equaled 75% of a 2,000 calorie diet. What if you did something similar to this 3 times a day?  and then you snacked, had an extra pop, had desert after eating….get my drift?  Do you think you would exceed the 3,500 calories???

By the way…I have a rule, NEVER eat food that is delivered or can be delivered through a window.……there are exceptions but very few……

So now we talked about calorie input.  Understand although I am into fitness and I believe it is very important, 80% of everyone’s health is nutrition.

So we go to the gym, we are literally trying to work our ass off!  We tell our self we will do what ever it takes no matter what, even if we don’t like it……

That’s a story for another Blog!

Stay well my friends and stay tuned.  Another blog is on it’s way!

Find out where those Extra pounds come from

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Humans, Hard-Wired For Fat

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

We Human’s today evolved from a species that lived in an environment in which food was not abundant.  We had to hunt and forage to find sustenance and it wasn’t always guaranteed.

Food that is cheap, abundant, tasty but lacking the correct nutrition that takes absolutely no physical effort to obtain has upset the balance we have within our bodies to be able to know how much of the Right foods to eat.  This balance within the body is the very existence of our beings.

In recent decades the population has bloated to a point that lean people are a minority.  Scientist are trying to figure out why and about all they have figured out is that there is no easy answer.  It is a combination of Biology, physiology, genetics, and environment, they all need to be counted to a certain degree.

In an environment of unprecedented food excess and a steady diet of pizza’s, doughnuts and hamburgers can trigger in some the same cravings as a drug addict.  Some people may think that is a lack of willpower or self control, these could be reasons but it is much more complicated than that.

As anyone who has battled obesity realizes, the battle is mental as much as physical.  Sadness, disgust, frustration, self-hatred and many other negative emotions accompany obesity.  Bad health encourages a bad frame of mind and a bad frame of mind causes illness and disease.

Continue reading “Humans, Hard-Wired For Fat” →

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Build a Healthy Legacy that Lasts

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

I know that people talk all the time about how we start looking like our pets or vice-a-versa and then we start to notice and realize that is indeed true. It goes so much deeper than that, it’s about building a healthy legacy.

Families are all similar. Whether they are short, tall, big, small, families, look and act like each other in undeniable ways.

It is really up to the leader of the family to take control and set a healthy example and offer healthy choices for meals and in general. This may be a parent, a grandparent or a care taker but either way they are setting up a lifetime legacy it starts us down the pathway to a healthy legacy or an unhealthy legacy.

So much of the time people don’t have a clue on what is right and that many times is due to the media, just plain old peer pressure, or the pressure from kids wanting to keep up with what everyone has or is doing.

First and foremost is that we are setting an example for the next generation, look at your self and decide if that is the legacy you would like to leave. Is it one of health or disease?
Continue reading “Build a Healthy Legacy that Lasts” →

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Simple and Delicious Poached Salmon

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

Being from the Pacific Northwest we love our Salmon dishes. We truly believe we have some of the best Salmon in the world.

I can tell you from experience that there is nothing like fresh Salmon pulled right out of the river. There are so many ways to prepare it but I love the simple things in life and this is one of the simplest recipes I know.

Have fun and Bon Appetite!
Continue reading “Simple and Delicious Poached Salmon” →

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Weekend Warriors Increase Performance

Posted on by Shelli Thompson
Weekend Warriors Racing for The Cure

Are you a weekend warrior?  Training for marathons, playing basketball with friends or just doing wild and crazy things.  You won’t be able to do those things if you don’t take care of your body.  Your performance can be increased for more fun, less tiredness and more competition.  It’s not hard to do and many of the things we do on the weekend can be enhanced in much the same ways.

 I’ve worked with a lot of weekend warriors, and there is one thing I tell all of them: you won’t get the best performance out of your body or have the most fun you could have if you limit your exercise to your weekly activity. by only exercising on the weekend you actually increases your chances of injury.

Here are some simple tips that I’ve found work for pretty much everyone.  These tips will allow  you to improve your performance and stay in the best possible shape for your weekend-warrior adventures.

 Stretching.

No matter what sport you’re into, your body will perform better if you continue to have your full range of motion. Supple muscles simply work better. I’ll be happy to give you advice on stretching exercises to enhance your performance at your chosen sport, or else you can look up Yoga stretches online. Just be sure to follow this simple rule: do not continue stretching into pain. Pain means you’re doing damage, and that won’t help your performance at all.

 Weight training.

 Weight training improves our bodies’ overall performance by making us stronger and increasing our endurance. Even if your sport depends on speed – like competitive running or swimming – you need strong muscles to make that speed happen. Weight training also improves our bone density and keeps our bones strong.

 Cardio work.

Cardio work is the ultimate means of improving your performance by increasing your endurance. There are a lot of possible cardio exercises you can try, from dancing to kickboxing. The point here is that you can’t expect your body to perform its best on weekends if you’re not working on your cardio fitness at least one or two times a week in between competitions.  Strengthening your heart is a great way to increase your performance.

 I know that these tips may sound as though I’m trying to take your weekend fun and turn it into a chore and we don’t like chores. But that’s not the case!  Any of these activities that you can do during the week will  improve your weekend performance and make your weekend activities more fun for you.

 You don’t have to decide to devote your life to fitness to achieve improved performance. Even if you spend a total of three hours a week on some combination of stretching, cardio, and weights, you’re going to see a measurable improvement in your ability to enjoy your weekend activity.  You will also feel better and more fit and there is nothing better than that.

 Now, if you do want to go all-out – for example, if you want to improve to the point you’re running 10ks instead of 5, or you’ve decided that, just once, you’re going to be able to dunk that basketball – of course you’re going to need to work harder. The more effort you put into anything, the more you’re going to improve.

 But if you just want to enjoy what you’re doing on the weekends more and perform a bit better, just scale the exercise tips I’ve given you to a level that will help you meet that goal. You can improve performance and your health with any additional amount of exercise than what you are doing right now.  Continuing to exercise during the week can be a challenge with work, family and a million other things that can get in the way.

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On Taking A Handful of Vitamins and Jumping Off A Cliff

Posted on by Shelli Thompson

 

No Choice but To give an Interview...=D

We all are comfortable in our routines, at our homes or at work. We do certain things to keep us comfortable, healthy and happy.

But what happens when you are away from home and out of your natural routine? It can be easy to ignore all of the little things that we are used to, like for instance 8 hours of sleep. Sometimes we completely loose our routine and we find our self out of whack.

You see when you allow this to happen, not only are you heading down hill to the “outta whack” place but it also takes time to come back from that place and all of that time reduces your productivity.

It is imperative that you bring some comforts of home with you when you are away, maybe some food that you are familiar with or it could be as simple as your pillow.

I had the pleasure of interviewing a friend of mine, Wayne Allyn Root. He talks about the ways he keeps him self in top notch condition and about his “healthy addictions” and how they work positively in his life.

The key here is that he refers to what he does as a habit. He has made a habit of having healthy, affirmative, positive things in his life and because it has become a habit, he doesn’t leave his habits behind when he leaves home. He continues to exercise, watch his nutrition, take his supplements, meditate and all of the other healthy habits he talks about in the video.  Make sure and check it out.

We had a wonderful day on the zip lines in Jamaica and we were all able to do that because we were all fit enough to go and we were all below the 250 pound weight limit. Not only that but we were all willing to try something new and adventurous, with terrific friends and I have to tell you there is nothing better for your health.

I really appreciate the time that Wayne took to talk about his healthy habits because as you can tell, He is a very busy person, he is generous with his time and such fun to hang out with.

Wayne is the economic advisor to Wealth Masters International and lends his name to that organization because he believes in what we are doing collectively, in addition to what he tells you on the video which is impressive all in itself.  He has written several books, his latest is Conscious of a libertarian and I suggest you pick it up and read it, it’s an eye opener.

Wayne is someone worth following so I suggest you find him on Face book and connect, he has some great things to say and he makes it his business to find out what is going on and keep all of us informed.

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How You Can Change Your Biochemistry

Posted on by Shelli Thompson
Get Your Body Moving

It seems that there is new information every day about the newest, the latest, the greatest diet, exercise, new past time or sport but what really doesn’t change at all is what our bodies really need.

First and foremost is good positive thoughts, wholesome nutrition, body movement and exercise, and stimulation for the brain of some sort.

We read all of the time how this benefits that and that help this and so on and so forth but if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty it seems to be a nutrition issue.  What to eat, when to eat it, what combinations are good and how much.

Lowering intake of sugars will certainly help you to loose belly fat.  The reason for that is belly fat is closely related with blood sugars and insulin.

However there are ways that you can do more.

When measuring biochemical changes in our bodies, scientists look for alterations in the metabolites. Some of these metabolites help us to stabilize our blood sugar and burn fat, to stay brief.  While studying exercisers they found changes in more than 20 different metabolites.

What that means is that being in optimum weight and exercising 4 to 5 times a week helps us maintain healthy glucose and insulin levels because of the sensitivity of our insulin receptors.

In order to enjoy good health it is essential to maintain healthy insulin levels.  In doing this we prevent all sorts of disease such as diabetes, heart, cancer you name it.

So even if you appear to be in good shape and don’t exercise you are putting yourself at risk.

The good news is that if you are out of shape or over weight, you can regain your health it just takes longer depending on how far you have to go and how determined you are to get there.  It isn’t an easy road so the best thing to do is watch it and don’t let it get out of control.

If you are really out of shape it’s nice to know that even 10 minutes of brisk walking will lead to beneficial biochemical changes and they last up to an hour.  So what if you were able to take several 10 minute brisk walks throughout the day?  You could accomplish a lot.

If you are already in good shape, chances are you go for a good “steady state” work out several times a week, but what would you say if I told you there was a better way to get results?

What if I told you that you could CUT BACK on the time you work out each week and get better results than what you are getting?

You would be interested wouldn’t you?

Stay tuned and we will talk about this more next time, we will make some changes and see how it works for you.

For now check out the importance of weight training here

to find out more about us make sure and visit us here

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Sick and Eating

Posted on by Shelli Thompson
Too Good to leave it?

You have heard of Sick and Tired I’m sure but how about sick and Eating?

Americans are eating their way to obesity and all of the illness that comes with it.

We have heard so much recently about Health Care Reform and how all of the unecessary proceedures and tests, the greed factor and the lack of major competition are such an issue that will make reform very difficult.

Even the most thoughtful and efficient plan that Obama can come up with is going to be up against the rising tide of diet related disease.

So if the Government thinks that it’s going to be tough to get insurance to come around, how do they think they are going to go up against the agricultural quadrants?

The USA spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care and that can be directly related to diet induced diseases such as diabetes, hypertention, high cholesterol, and the various cancers that have been linked to the western diet. We know it is because we are fatter.

one tenth of all health care spending is spent on obesity or the results of it.

The American way of eating is really the issue here. The president would like to see more healthy foods served in schools and his wife planted a garden on the white house grounds this summer.

Reform in the food system will need to be figured into the new health care plan but everyone is treating the problem like it doesn’t exist.

As long as our bad habbits are charged to the future there will be little notice. There will be lots of money made in the fast food industry coming up here and if the government takes over our health care then they will be paying for treating the diseases that the fast food caused. So in essence the government will be subsidizing both the treatment of type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high frictose corn syrup.


Insurance companies think it is more profitable to pay to treat a disease than to prevent it. When the playing field gets leveled and insurance is affordable, and “pre exisiting conditions” are not acceptable grounds for being turned down for insurance the relationsship between the medical and insurance business with the food industry will need to undergo a tremendous change.

When these new rules start, Health Insurance conpanies will soon discover they have a huge interest in reducing the rate of obesity and diseases linked to diet.

It won’t take long for the insurance company to figure out that they will spend more than $400,000 in a life time of a person who has diabetes. It would be $6,600.00 per year if they have a healthy client, so it will be in their best interest to educate and regulate (so to say)

This should be very interesting to watch as our Health Care debate heats up.

Are you one of the ones that are educated?

click here to find out why we over eat.

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What are you doing to you?

Posted on by Shelli Thompson
Looks can be deceiving click picture to read more

Our bodies are a miraculous thing. Sometimes we get out of whack. Our bodies start behaving “out of whack” and suddenly everything goes “crazy”. There are changes to our bodies that we would love to reverse if we just understood how. So what are you doing to yourself by…..

Drinking soda

Diet soda does NOT help you to lose weight. Quite the contrary it is actually responsible for excess eating and resulting weight gain. The sweet taste causes Insulin to be produced by the pancreas (which is a “storage” hormone) and tells the liver to stop converting fat to sugar for energy because an influx is on the way. When it does not arrive, your brain tells you to eat. This is particularly dangerous to diabetics. Sugar, wine, refined carbohydrates in our diet causes our blood sugar to go up. When it crashes quickly we release a stress hormone called Cortisol.

Cortisol is responsible for shutting down the metabolism and locking down fat. That puts the body into the mode of burning sugar instead of fat. It is the cause of “belly fat”. Cortisol creates a craving for sugar. The brain is the only organ that actually needs sugar. Without sugar we die. The sugar we Need is NATURAL SUGAR. Drink Your Water. Many of us are not sick, we are just thirsty but we have misinterpreted. Every 24 hours our bodies recycle the equivalent of four thousand glasses of water to maintain the normal physiological functions. It does this each and every day, day in and day out.

During this recycling procedure the body comes up short about 6 to 10 eight ounce glasses each day depending on environmental conditions. If we are to replace the deficit we would need to drink 1/2 our body weight daily. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WATER. Water is a nutrient. Water dissolves all proteins, starch, minerals and other compounds so that the blood can distribute them to the rest of the body. The start of many diseases in the body is caused by dehydration. The body does not know the difference between hungry and thirsty. Most people walk around severely dehydrated.

What should a meal look like? Your meal needs to include lean protein and be “vegetable heavy”, your diet needs to have some fat in it, good fats such as oil and vinegar dressing or use olive oil. 400 to 600 calories will look something like this. 6 to 8 cup salad (not ice burg) 1 1/2 cups any other vegetable Protein (5 to 6 ounces of lean meat for example).

ALL PROCESSED FOODS ARE LOADED WITH MSG.

Things like Taco Bell, Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen meals (along with the ones at the store) include MSG. MSG is a brain-toxin. It is highly addictive and affects the same receptors in the brain as Valium.

MSG stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin and it stimulates your appetite. Many people in the United States live on a “processed diet”. No wonder our nation as a whole has become more and more unhealthy. Have you seen the lines at the drive thru? When we make a habit of eating poorly it will change the way your body functions and we need to be patient in restoring our good health, sometimes the damage is irreversible.

You can have all the money in the world but you can not buy good health.

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