HOME > ARCHIVES & ARTICLES ON ALTERNATIVE HEALERS > COMPANY BLOG > SUBSCRIBE
Dear Readers,
Wouldn't it be nice if the only thing that felt stuffed this Thanksgiving was the turkey? It is that time of year again when resolve and family traditions meet face to face, shake hands, and take on a force all of their own. No matter how conscientious our eating patterns have been over the course of the year, holidays challenge nearly all of us.
Over the course of many years, I have included colon hydrotherapy as a seasonal practice in my health and wellness program, (alongside enzyme supplementation). It seemed an appropriate topic during this time of year for those of us unfamiliar with the benefits of regular colon cleansing.
The art of pooping may seem like an unsavory topic to many, however, if you have ever suffered from one of the many digestive and eliminative symptoms, you know all too well that when that part of you is not working, every part of you is affected.
Chad Sarno, raw foods chef, and one of our featured writers this month (see below), has great insight on not judging others for their eating. We serve others and ourselves best when we focus on our own attitudes and expectations around food, and allow others to do the same. Our job is really only our own life--the rest is simple projection, and creates only separation. Being compassionate with yourself allows you to be compassionate with others. Compassion allows more love into your life, and there will always be space for that!
In vibrant health,
Shay Arave
President
Pure Energy Rx
Dear Shay,
I don't think the Releasezyme is doing anything, should I keep taking it? Sincerely, Julia K. Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Dear Julia,
Given we shipped your box 5 days ago, my guess is you have used the Releasezyme for maybe 2 days in a row, at most. You have chronic long term constipation, and nothing is going to make an overnight difference other then consistent healthy eating patterns, combined with regular exercise and perhaps the use of the Releasezyme. Releasezyme is not a laxative. Laxatives do nothing but dehydrate the bowel and colon. They may give temporary relief, but will not solve the chronic constipation we spoke about earlier this week. So here's the deal: Commit to a daily regime of wellness. There are no magic pills, so continue with the Releasezyme in addition to improved eating pattern and that 30-minute walk we spoke about. Give yourself a 30-day window for improvement. Consistent effort equals better results. Keep me posted on your progress and how things are going (no pun intended). --Shay
FREE Women's Health booklet with any enzyme formula purchase (a $3.95 value - offer expires 1.30.06). This booklet is a definitive look at the relationship between digestive enzymes and hormones, and how hormonal imbalances in women can be traced back to enzyme deficiencies. A logical, no-nonsense evaluation of the current medical approaches that overlook enzymes as an ultimate solution. Dr. Fuller-Looney makes her case by showing that the symptoms of protein malabsorption are the same as the symptoms of menopause. Softbound booklet, 32 pages. EXCERPT: "Every woman should play an active role in her own balance. Hormone balance is an art. It is to be controlled or regulated by both her and her doctor."
Feng shui it...
Donna Stellhorn is a Feng Shui Expert and Interior Designer with more than 16 years experience. She is a best selling author, a board member of the Massachusetts chapter of the International Feng Shui Guild and she has been heard and seen on radio and television. In this fascinating interview, Donna gives us some practical, easy-to-do tips from the feng shui world to help straighten the energies of our lives, from bringing prosperity to our homes to attracting a mate. >>> MORE
Meet Charly Emery...
We are thrilled to introduce writer, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, Charly Emery, to the Vibrant Living Newsletter. She will contribute articles regularly about life coaching and the inner search for peace and prosperity. Charly's early experiences as a multi-ethnic woman in the midst of prejudice led to her desire for inner acceptance and understanding of the purpose of her life. Always enthusiastic about education, it was her sexual assault in college and subsequent departure from the university she attended that impacted her life the greatest. After several years of denying herself the ability to aspire to the goals she'd envisioned prior to her trauma, Charly underwent an intense emotional and spiritual journey to recapture the power of her spirit. >>> MORE
Judge not what people eat...
The message of world-renown raw food chef, Chad Sarno, who writes, "If we choose to take a walk through the forest, the animals will never judge us nor will the plants and trees judge us. Then why is it that when an overweight person walks by us on the street eating a greasy burger, we think, 'How could they eat that? Don't they know the truth? I feel pity on their ignorance.' Immediately we judge." Sarno discusses a symbolic issue of raw foodists, yet it is bitingly applicable to all of us, regardless of our diets. >>> MORE
|
F.Y.I. - Interesting Health News Tidbits
|
This is your brain on meditation...
 The regular practice of meditation appears to produce structural changes in areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing. An imaging study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers showed that particular areas of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, were thicker in participants who were experienced practitioners of a type of meditation commonly practiced in the U.S. and other Western countries.
"Our results suggest that meditation can produce experience-based structural alterations in the brain," says Sara Lazar, PhD, of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program, the study's lead author. "We also found evidence that mediation may slow down the aging-related atrophy of certain areas of the brain."
Studies have shown that mediation can produce alterations in brain activity, and meditation practitioners have described changes in mental function that last long after actual meditation ceases, implying long-term effects. However, those studies usually examined Buddhist monks who practiced mediation as a central focus of their lives.
To investigate whether meditation as typically practiced in the U.S. could change the brain's structure, the current study enrolled 20 practitioners of Buddhist Insight meditation, which focuses on "mindfulness," a specific, nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings and state of mind. They averaged nine years of mediation experience and practiced about six hours per week. For comparison, 15 people with no experience of meditation or yoga were enrolled as controls.
Using standard MRI to produce detailed images of the structure of participants' brains, the researchers found that regions involved in the mental activities that characterize Insight meditation were thicker in the meditators than in the controls, the first evidence that alterations in brain structure may be associated with meditation. They also found that, in an area associated with the integration of emotional and cognitive processes, differences in cortical thickness were more pronounced in older participants, suggesting that meditation could reduce the thinning of the cortex that typically occurs with aging.
"The area where we see these differences is involved in both the modulation of functions like heart rate and breathing and also the integration of emotion with thought and reward-based decision making--a central switchboard of the brain," says Lazar. >>> SOURCE
Hands emit light...
Human hands glow, but fingernails release the most light, according to a recent study that found all parts of the hand emit detectable levels of light. The findings support prior research that suggested most living things, including plants, release light. Since disease and illness appear to affect the strength and pattern of the glow, the discovery might lead to less-invasive ways of diagnosing patients.
Mitsuo Hiramatsu, a scientist at the Central Research Laboratory at Hamamatsu Photonics in Japan, who led the research, reported, "Not only the hands, but also the forehead and bottoms of our feet emit photons," Hiramatsu said, and added that in terms of hands "the presence of photons means that our hands are producing light all of the time."
The light is invisible to the naked eye, so Hiramatsu and his team used a powerful photon counter to "see" it. The detector found that fingernails release 60 photons, fingers release 40 and the palms are the dimmest of all, with 20 photons measured. Hiramatsu is not certain why fingernails light up more than the other parts of the hand, but he said, "It may be because of the optical window property of fingernails," meaning that the fingernail works somewhat like a prism to scatter light.
To find out what might be creating the light in the first place, he and colleague Kimitsugu Nakamura had test subjects hold plastic bottles full of hot or cold water before their hand photons were measured. The researchers also pumped nitrogen or oxygen gas into the dark box where the individuals placed their hands as they were being analyzed. Warm temperatures increased the release of photons, as did the introduction of oxygen. Rubbing mineral oil over the hands also heightened light levels.
Based on those results, the scientists theorize the light "is a kind of chemi-luminescence," a luminescence based on chemical reactions, such as those that make fireflies glow. The researchers believe 40 percent of the light results from the chemical reaction that constantly occurs as our hand skin reacts with oxygen.
Fritz-Albert Popp, a leading world expert on biologically related photons at The International Institute of Biophysics in Germany, agrees with the findings and was not surprised by them, "One may find clear correlations to kind and degree (type and severity) of diseases." Popp and his team believe the light from the forehead and the hands pulses out with the same basic rhythms, but that these pulses become irregular in unhealthy people. A study he conducted on a muscular sclerosis patient seemed to validate the theory. >>> MORE
Buyer beware:
American doctors not measuring up...
WASHINGTON [REUTERS] - Patients in the United States reported higher rates of medical errors and more disorganized doctor visits and out-of-pocket costs than people in Canada, Britain and three other developed countries, according to a survey released last week. Thirty-four percent of U.S. patients received wrong medication, improper treatment or incorrect or delayed test results during the last two years, the Commonwealth Fund found.
Thirty percent of Canadian patients reported similar medical errors, followed by 27 percent of those in Australia, 25 percent in New Zealand, 23 percent in Germany and 22 percent in Britain, the health care foundation said. "Driven up by relatively high medication and lab or test errors, at 34 percent, the spread between the United States and the countries with the lowest error rates was wide," Cathy Schoen, senior vice president of Commonwealth Fund, wrote in the journal Health Affairs, which published the study on its Web site.
Researchers, who conducted the poll between March and June, questioned adults who had experienced some kind of serious condition that required "intense" medical treatment or had been hospitalized for something other than routine pregnancy. "Overall patient experiences often paint a picture of no person or team responsible for ensuring that care is coordinated and continuous, with a focus on patients' needs," Schoen said. Patients in the United States reported the highest rate of disorganized care at doctor's offices--33 percent--followed by Germany with 26 percent, Canada with 24 percent and New Zealand with 21 percent. Patients in Britain and Australia reported 19 percent.
U.S. patients also stood out for shouldering more medical expenses than those in the other countries. More than half said they did not take their medicines or see a doctor because of costs. In the United Kingdom, where health care is subsidized by the government, 13 percent of patients polled said they went without care. Overall, "shortfalls were particularly evident for people when discharged from the hospital, and for patients seeing multiple physicians," Schoen said. >>> MORE
Waist smaller than your hips?
You're safe...
The international team of investigators that conducted the ten-year INTERHEART research recently finished a new analysis of their data, gathered from more than 27,000 participants among several major ethnic groups in 52 countries. More than 12,400 of these subjects had suffered acute heart attacks. The other subjects--included as controls--were in good health. Incidence of heart attack was assessed in relation to subjects' BMI (Body Mass Index) and waist-to-hip ratios (WHR: a comparison of the circumference of the waist to the circumference of the hips).
The results showed a "modest" association between high BMI and heart attack risk. But for waist-to-hip ratio the results were more dramatic. When subjects were grouped from lowest WHR to highest, the risk of heart attack steadily rose as well. Subjects with the greatest WHR were found to be at two and a half times greater risk compared to subjects with the smallest WHR. According to an accompanying article in the Lancet, "This result suggests that previous estimates of the impact of obesity as a cardiovascular risk factor have been too low."
An association between protein intake and a trimmer waist was confirmed in a study published in the Journal of Nutrition. Researchers from Canada's Population Health Research Institute recruited more than 600 male and female subjects with a variety of ethnic backgrounds. After subjects completed food frequency questionnaires they were measured to determine WHR. Energy intake from protein averaged less than 16 percent in subjects with the highest WHR. Those with the lowest WHR averaged 17.4 percent energy intake from protein. In their conclusion the authors wrote: "Substituting a modest amount of protein for carbohydrate may reduce abdominal obesity. Smoking was positively related to abdominal obesity after accounting for BMI."
And in the
say-what-you-gotta-say category...
Andrew Briscoe, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, has recently been righteously harangued by health care professional. And rightly so... Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Sugar Alliance (ASA) last month, Mr. Briscoe said, "The Sugar Association promotes the consumption of sugar as a part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. We believe in calories-in-and-calories-out. Sugar is not a part of obesity issues." He added that lack of exercise and increased consumption of calories are the causes of obesity. And although he's absolutely right, but it doesn't excuse the lipstick on the pig.
Nutritionists have constantly provided evidence that sugar intake will contribute to health problems over the long haul. Two of sugar's negative effects on the body are nicely illustrated by a study in the August 2005 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers in Denmark for 10 weeks, studied more than 40 overweight men and women who consumed food and drink supplements containing either sugar or artificial sweeteners. Over the study period, those in the sugar group increased sugar intake by more than 150 percent, while sugar intake was decreased by more than 40 percent in the artificial sweetener group. Contrary to what Mr. Briscoe and the Sugar Association would have us believe, subjects in the sugar group gained more than three pounds (on average), while subjects in the sweetener group lost more than two pounds.
The researchers also measured three inflammatory markers: haptoglobin, transferrin and CRP. In the sugar group these markers increased by 13, 5 and 6 percent respectively. In the sweetener group the markers decreased by 16, 2 and 26 percent respectively. So on average, ALL inflammation markers were reduced by cutting sugar consumption. So, Mr. Briscoe (and you probably know this): There's much more to sugar intake than just calories in, calories out...
Don't get cold feet...
LONDON (Reuters) - Getting chilly can bring on a cold, British scientists said on Monday, overturning medical orthodoxy that says there is no connection between developing the viral infection and a drop in body temperature.
Researchers at Cardiff University's Common Cold Center paid 90 students to sit for 20 minutes with their bare feet in buckets of cold water. A few days later the study found that 13 of the students reported cold symptoms, such as a runny nose or sore throat, compared to five in a control group of 90 students who kept their feet dry in socks and shoes. "When you dip your feet into cold water, you cause a pronounced constriction to the blood vessels in the nose," said the center's director Professor Ron Eccles.
"This is one of the factors we believe that actually can aid the virus by lowering the defences within the nose and triggering the symptomatic infection," he told the BBC.
Previous studies inoculated patients with the cold virus and then chilled them, but failed to find any link between temperature and catching a cold. Eccles said his research differed by taking healthy people from the general population and then chilling them. "We believe that when common colds are circulating in the community, for every person who's actually got a cold there are two or three who are infected but haven't developed symptoms.
"And it's when you chill these people that you can convert a sub-clinical infection or symptom-free infection into a common cold with symptoms."
"In the past our ancestors were exposed to much greater soakings and chillings than we were," said Eccles. "They would have laughed at us if we had thought there was any doubt that chilling can lead to common cold symptoms..."
Hybrid cars not a fad anymore...
TOKYO [AP] - When Toyota unveiled its first hybrid vehicle nearly a decade ago, many people were skeptical about its environmentally friendly gas-and-electric-powered engine that dramatically boosts mileage. Today, Japan's biggest automaker is scrambling to keep up with the growing demand for hybrids, especially in North America, where soaring oil prices--now double from several years ago--are suddenly making hybrids an attractive cost-saving alternative.
The greatest demand is for the Toyota Prius, which debuted in 1997 as the first commercially mass-produced hybrid. In the United States, the waiting list to buy one has grown to three or four months, the company says. Hybrids deliver great mileage by using the electric motor at slower speeds and then switching to the gas engine when the speed picks up enough for the engine to reduce pollution and deliver a more efficient drive. The vehicles charge their motor batteries while on the go. The latest Prius gets 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Demand has grown to the point where Toyota plans to raise annual production
of hybrids to 400,000 vehicles next year from 300,000 this year.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday some grumbling from a Ford official that the Dearborn, Mich.-based carmaker was having trouble getting hybrid parts because of Toyota's desire for auto parts. The report quoted Mary Ann Wright, head of Ford's hybrid program, as saying Toyota was trying to squeeze the component supply at an affiliate of Japanese manufacturer Aisin Seiki Co., in which Toyota owns a 23 percent stake. "I don't know what other carmakers are saying," Okamoto said when questioned about the report at a reception this week for the Tokyo auto show. "If they want parts, why don't they place their orders?"
Toyota's success in hybrids comes at a time when its profits are booming and its market share is growing around the world. In contrast, U.S. automakers Ford and General Motors are in deep trouble. On Monday, GM said it lost $1.6 billion in the third quarter. Three days later, Ford reported a third-quarter loss of $284 million.
Rempei Matsumoto, who wrote a book on ecological auto technology, says hybrids are a must-have these days if automakers don't want to appear out-of-date. Toyota Executive Vice President Akio Toyoda, who oversees purchasing, sensed the tide turning on the doubts about hybrids earlier this year. Until then, he said, the prevailing view was that hybrids are a tiny minority among the various options to reduce greenhouse emissions. >>> MORE
|