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Enhancing Lives

Category: Healthy Living

Maintaining Your Personal Energy

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No matter who you are or what you do; your energy levels (and motivation) will hit flat spots. This article below from “Whole Life Challenge” will give you some insight and tips on dealing with these energy flat spots and reenergize yourself when they “rear” their ugly heads.

The energy we refer to is not just physical. It is a combination of physical, mental, emotional and professional phenomena. Physically the signs can be fairly obvious; fatigue, headaches, slowing of reflexes and even blurred vision. Mentally and emotionally, it can produce moodiness, irritability, and lack of focus and concentration.

All in all, these symptoms can dramatically affect your personal and professional lives. It can even make you more susceptible to illness and disease. It is easy to see why guarding against these energy “valleys” is to your advantage. But, how do you do it?

Physically: Eat well, move well, and sleep well. Manage your ultradyne rhythms (our energy cycle repeats every 90-120 minutes). Take regular breaks, a 5-minute walk; stretching, and deep breathing can all help. Avoid distractions; believe it or not, multitasking is a myth. It is not efficient or productive.

Emotional and mental levels can be restored, by feeding your mind. Stop negative self-talk. Be conscious and aware of the things that drain you both emotionally and physically. Make a list of the things that uplift you and do them often. Then, there are the people who drain your energy…avoid them. Aim to connect with the people who make you feel happy. Finally, set some time aside to decompress.

Professionally, manage the physical mental, and emotional challenges you face daily and it will manifest solutions to your professional energy problems. My company has a coaching construct, which allows me to turn to others whom I respect for advice and support. But remember, these flat spots are, for the most part, temporary so do not let them defeat you. Victory is around the corner.

www.wholelifechallenge.com/your-personal-energy-plan-how-to-protect-manage-and-boost-it/

Benefits and Needs for Fiber

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While there is a wide range of foods that provide fiber, in today’s world, it is difficult for most of us to consume enough fiber to satisfy the daily minimums. The article below from “Food is Medicine”, shares twenty foods that provide high levels of fiber.

Today’s Western diet probably satisfies only about half of the recommended amount of fiber that you need. As the article states: this is a big deal because high fiber foods guard against a number of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and obesity. Many processed foods are “fiber enriched”, but these are not the most desirable source of this valuable (and indispensable) dietary need.

The article makes the case for foods high in fiber as the best way to satisfy your needs, it admits that it is unlikely that you will be able to satisfy minimum needs with diet alone; and suggests that you will need a supplement to meet your daily requirements. It also points out that the quality of the supplement can, and will, make a big difference.

An effective supplement will contain a recommended balance of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber provides bulk in the digestive system which helps the elimination process, expelling carcinogens and toxins from the bowels. Soluble fiber is actually retained in the bodily system, creating a gel that prolongs elimination so that key nutrients can be absorbed more efficiently.

Some fiber supplements do not contain soluble fiber at all. Still, others do not contain enough insoluble fiber to do the job properly. It is important to have the correct balance of both. As has been stated, a healthy diet is best and this list of high in fiber foods provides a handy guide for healthy meal planning.

The company with which I am associated, offers a complete array of supplements and high-in-fiber snacks that allows me to effectively control my fiber intake daily. These products and supplements contain both insoluble and soluble fiber. I am convinced that my good health is as a result of these indispensable products. Here’s to your health!   

draxe.com/high-fiber-foods/

Men’s Skin Care and More

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In the past, Men’s toiletries were largely deodorants, fragrances and shaving products. As this CNBC article points out, that is no longer the case. In fact, the men’s skin and personal care market is booming.

Since 2012, beauty and personal care products targeting men has grown by more than 70% and now represents close to 10 billion dollars. Many companies are, understandably, now paying attention, with a 100 million a year in growth, the industry has even “coined” a word for it: Mampering.

While many national and global companies are investing millions into developing products specifically targeted to the men’s segment, many men are using products that are used by women.

Men, particularly millennials, say that the use of personal care products boosts their self-esteem. But the use of these personal care products are not limited to the millennial segment, more and more adult men are using these products to counteract the effects of dry and aging skin.

One of the biggest challenges that companies have in developing these products is that men want their grooming routine to run no more than 30 minutes. Combining products seems to be the answer they have found. Stay tuned for the compromises that must be made for combination products.

Results will always be the way these products will be judged. For that reason, it may make sense to use female-targeted products as a unisex solution. After all, billions of dollars have been invested in the development of these women’s products and solutions. The results are what you are seeking regardless of whether you achieve them with a woman’s or a men’s product. 

How can a clean house have a negative effect your health?

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Since I switched stores nearly 15 years ago, I enjoy clean living, clean eating and having a safer and healthier home without toxic chemicals. Switching to healthier products improved my and my family’s health and now, recent studies have shown that many popular everyday products can be toxic to many individuals, especially women.

Why?

Because cleaning your home with common, well-known grocery store products made with ammonia, and chlorine bleach, quaternary disinfectant compounds, and other dangerous chemicals significantly damages lung tissue in women—who are usually the home’s primary housekeeper.

The study also showed that cleaning with such products as little as once per week over time was as damaging to respiratory health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years!

Are you really aware of what you are exposing your family to on a daily basis?

This attached article explains the pitfalls of chemical cleaners much better than I can, but it’s no wonder so many cancers and diseases are on the rise.
https://www.melaleucajournal.com/cleaning-product-study-lungs-smoking/

It may be time to take a long hard look at the cleaning products you use and consider
switching like I did!

Green Tea: A miracle beverage

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Tea is already the world’s most-consumed beverage, second only to water, and its popularity is on the rise around the world. With gourmet tea leading the way, more and more people are discovering the magic of tea.

Green tea could be considered a miracle beverage because it is effective at fighting everything from cancer to acne.

Among the many health benefits of green tea may be boosting to the immune system. Green tea seems to have an impact on reducing the instance of catching a virus as well as reducing the duration of a virus. The antioxidants in green tea have been found to block the various phases of infection of healthy cells, weakening a virus and reducing the duration of cold-like symptoms and fever. This may be because green tea’s antioxidant polyphenols could affect regulatory T-cells that play a key role in immune function, according to research from Oregon State University.

Research on the benefits of green tea and cancer prevention is still in early stages, but the results are promising. Researchers suspect that polyphenols in green tea help kill cancer cells and stop their progression, an important role to prevent various cancers. The attached article from Readers’ Digest outlines many of the benefits researchers discovered.

In a study of 472 women with breast cancer, those who drank the most green tea experienced the least spread of the disease. Researchers also found that women in the early stages of breast cancer who drank at least five cups of green tea every day during their diagnoses were less likely to have the disease recur after they completed treatment.

In looking at more than 35,000 women in the Iowa Women’s Health study, those who drank two or more cups of tea a day were almost 30 percent less likely to develop colon cancer than those who rarely drank tea.

One Chinese study found that men who drank more than three cups of tea a day reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 70 percent.

In another study funded by the National Institutes of Health, 79 men with prostate cancer were told to either drink six cups of green tea a day or six cups of water. After three to eight weeks, the levels of prostate-specific antigen, a protein that may indicate cancer, were lower in the men who drank green tea than those who drank water. An indicator of inflammation, nuclear factor-kappaB, linked to cancer growth, was also lower in the men who drank the green tea.

In skin cancer studies, lab animals that were given green tea developed one-tenth as many tumors as animals that were given water. The EGCC in green tea inhibits the production of urokinase, an enzyme that cancer cells need in order to grow. It also seems to stimulate the process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in cancer cells.

Studies show that tea can help make your heart healthier; soothe arthritis; boost your brain; clear up acne; fight UTIs; relieve allergies; reduce puffy eyes; reduce asthma symptoms and reduce stress overall because of the high levels of antioxidants Green Tea provides.

We drink Hidden Garden Green Tea, iced or hot, it is a sweet, smooth Chinese green tea with a clean, refreshing finish. It’s light but satisfying, perfect for our evening treat.

Pour a cup, and let the health benefits commence!

It’s National Iced Tea Day!

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National Iced Tea Day is  June 10th.

This day is set aside to celebrate one of summer’s favorite drinks. Whether it is sweetened or unsweetened, with or without lemon, it is loved and enjoyed all summer long.

Tea is already the world’s most-consumed beverage, second only to water, and its popularity is on the rise around the world. With gourmet tea leading the way, more and more people are discovering the magic of tea. In the United States, iced tea is popular as an alternative to carbonated soft drinks and makes up about 85% of all tea consumed.

It is believed that iced tea started to appear in the United States in the 1860′s and became widespread in the 1870s where it was offered on hotel menus and on sale at railroad stations. Recipes for iced tea have been found in The Buckeye Cookbook, published in 1876 and Housekeeping in Old Virginia, published in 1877. The popularity of iced tea drink grew rapidly after it was introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Today, iced tea can be found in many flavors, including: lemon, peach, raspberry, lime, passions fruit, strawberry and cherry.  It is found in restaurants, convenience stores, vending machines, grocery stores and self-serve soda fountains.

Both black and green tea have been recommended for a variety of positive health benefits, such as: reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and certain forms of cancer. Tea’s antibacterial and antiviral activity helps maintain good oral health and normal blood pressure aand in some cases help;manage weight control.

We like to make our iced tea with Hidden Garden English Breakfast Tea. It’s a full-bodied, invigorating blend of Indian and Ceylon black tea. It makes a delicious tall glass of iced tea and it is our go to summer cooler. What’s yours?.

 

 

 

 

It’s never been more clear: Spraying a toxic chemical around your house is breathtakingly dangerous!

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If you’re using Windex® Original Glass Cleaner in your home, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Ammonia is a known toxin that doesn’t belong in any home. But many folks who wouldn’t dream of bringing ammonia into their home use Windex Original Glass Cleaner without a second thought—and yet, Windex is powered by ammonia!

As Windex cleans, inadvertent spray enters and irritates your respiratory system and eyes. Fumes fill the room you’re cleaning. Skin contact is warned against, but as you mist the product into the air, how can you help some of it settling on your skin?
If it gets on your hair, you continue the exposure until you wash your hair again. Imagine your hair getting it on your pillowcase and you breathing it in all night long!

Does all this really matter?

YES—more than we ever knew before. A recent study based on 20 years of research reveals a shocking truth: Cleaning your home with common, well-known grocery store brand cleaning products like Windex Original Glass Cleaner as little as once per week over time is as damaging to respiratory health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years!

You would never give your children cigarettes to smoke, so don’t give them ammonia to breathe.

My company launched and led the green movement to replace toxic cleaners with safer ingredients, and our glass and window cleaner is one of those highly effective and much safer products. This product will give you the sparkling windows, mirrors, fixtures, appliances,
stainless steel, and aluminum you want without any of the unhealthy side effects you don’t. It cuts through everything from grimy fingerprints to toothpaste, and breaks up and washes away more dirt and smudges—all without ammonia.

Instead, our product is powered by 99% biodegradable cleaning agents and contains absolutely no ammonia, chlorine bleach, formaldehyde or toxic chemicals of any kind. It’s so safe, no childproof cap is required! A gleaming, streak-free shine is all that is left behind.

Warning! All but two Windex Glass and Multi-Purpose Cleaners contain ammonia, so go through your house and garage, and dispose of them responsibly, then replace them with a glass-and-more cleaner that will take better care of your home, your family’s health, and our precious environment.

Another powerful reason to avoid drinking diet sodas

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We already knew drinking sugary drinks was bad. Nutrition experts believe high levels of sugar contribute not just to rising levels of obesity, but also other health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, dental cavities and cancer.

Boston University researchers found aspartame, a low-calorie sweetener, wreaks havoc on the arteries – as opposed to sugar-sweetened drinks. This means drinking diet soda is far worse for your health than drinking regular soda sweetened with sugar.

The results showed that adults who had one or more diet drinks a day were 2.9 times more likely to develop dementia and three times more at risk of strokes compared to those who virtually had none at all.

The team of scientists from Boston University believe the artificial sweeteners including aspartame and saccharine may be affecting the blood vessels, eventually triggering strokes and dementia.

This new study involved data on 2,888 adults older than 45 and 1,484 adults older than 60 from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The data came from the Framingham Heart Study, a project of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Boston University.

“Our study shows a need to put more research into this area given how often people drink artificially sweetened beverages,” said Matthew Pase, a senior research fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and lead author of the new study.

“Although we did not find an association between stroke or dementia and the consumption of sugary drinks, this certainly does not mean they are a healthy option. We recommend that people drink water on a regular basis instead of sugary or artificially sweetened beverages.”

Now, you have proof that  Drinking One Diet Drink A Day Can Triple Risk Of Dementia And Strokes. Only one a day!

So what to do? Drink ordinary water? That’s boring. We know getting eight glasses of water every day can be tough, but we’ve found a solution, SplasH2O.

SplasH2O® transforms plain water into a thirst-quenching, body-revitalizing, flavor sensation with tantalizing bursts of fresh fruit that will keep you making smarter choices. It’s a fantastic alternative to high-calorie, high-sugar drinks, and replaces them with sugar-free deliciousness. This fun, lively fusion of 5 classic fruits makes ordinary water taste refreshingly good—with no calories, sugar, or artificial flavors and colors.

We are so glad we found a way to turn water into a refreshing, flavorful drink that satisfies – without the sugar, calories, or cost of soda or fruit juice. We also know that we are reducing the chance of developing dementia or a stroke by switching products.

Now that’s something to consider.

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) have great information about the devastating consequences
of eating too much sugar. It is very important to Know Your Limit for Added Sugars.

81 Percent of Dollar Store Products Tested Contain Chemicals Linked To Learning Disabilities, Cancer and Serious Illnesses

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HealthyStuff, in collaboration with the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, released a report today about toxic chemicals found in Dollar store products. The report — A Day Late and a Dollar Short: Discount Retailers are Falling Behind on Safer Chemicals — includes testing results for 164 dollar store products such as toys, jewelry, school supplies and other household items, that found over 81% (133 of 164) contained at least one hazardous chemical above levels of concern.

On average the dollar store products are some of the poorest peforming from a chemical hazard perspective. There is a comparatively high percentage of products containing hazardous plasticizers. The chemicals of concern found in Dollar store products tested for this report include: phthalates, linked to birth defects, reduced fertility, cancer, learning disabilities, diabetes, and other health
issues; polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC or vinyl), which creates hazards throughout its life cycle and has been linked to asthma and lung effects; and toxic metals such as lead, which harms brain development, leading to learning disabilities, lower IQ, and cause other serious health impacts, especially in children. Combined these discount chains have sales totaling over $36 billion
and operate more stores nationally than Walmart.

The attached article from Healthy Holistic Living gives a full report and explains what consumers can do.

In the meantime, families and communities let dollar store chains know that they want safer products, and join local and national efforts advocating for nontoxic products. Most importantly, consumers should read product labels to protect themselves and their families.

My company works hard every day to make sure that our products and business practices are environmentally friendly and safer for your home and family. We are passionate about and committed to eco-friendly practices that contribute to sustaining our environment and our customers health. Instead of harsh chemicals like chlorine bleach, ammonia, and formaldehyde, our products are powered by naturally derived ingredients including essential oils.

No matter how big or how small, nations, companies, communities, and families have the responsibility and opportunity to make a lasting, positive difference for our beautiful planet.