Eat And Be Thin!

By: Jason Johns

Ok, so there are a few pounds hanging around on you that you'd like to get rid of. You could diet, you could exercise, but that's a lot of hard work, requires effort, and besides, you are a bit busy and don't really have time for that at the moment.

So what can you do to shed those extra pounds and become slimmer? How can you lose weight nice and easily?

Well you can Eat and Be Thin!

Yes, you’ve heard me right, you can eat food and become thinner.

No, this doesn’t mean a diet of chocolate, cakes and fatty foods. It means watching what you are eat and balancing your food. By eating the right types of food at the right time of day you can actually lose weight – and not be starving.

The traditional approach to weight loss is to reduce your calorie intake. Unfortunately your body has an evolutionary response to this. Your body immediately thinks there is a famine coming and starts to store fat so that you can survive throughout it.

So therefore by reducing your calorie intake you are actually putting on fat and sabotaging your efforts at weight loss!

By eating the right foods at the right intervals you can actually eat yourself slim without going hungry and piling on the fat.

Of course you can always go on a low carb, high protein diet, but think about what that does for your body? The human body is not meant to survive on that kind of diet and when you do so your arteries will fur up and it will damage your health in the long term. Sure you can lose some weight with it, but the problem is, you start eating any carbs again the weight comes straight back on.

New research has shown that an effective method of weight loss is to rotate your eating patterns, which forces fat to burn. By shifting the types of calorie you eat, you can shift the weight much easier.

As your metabolism has no idea how many calories you will eat tomorrow or the next day, it bases its calorie burning pattern on what you have consumed in the last few days. It makes the assumption that you are going to continue to eat in the same pattern.

So what you do is shock your metabolism by doing the opposite of what it expects, that is, you are not going to continue eating the same types of calories and meals. In order for this to be effective you have to eat foods that are fat burning compatible, which means your body can burn these foods entirely and then switch to burning your fat.

Through the Idiot Proof Diet you can learn more about these fat burning foods and how you can use them to get rid of that excess weight permanently without starving.

Take A Hint From the Hunzas: Diet Is Key to Health, Vitality

by Dr. Lynn Hardy, N.D.
Director or the Global Institute For Alternative Medicine

Americans are sicker than ever! This is not my personal opinion but an undisputable fact. After examining the latest statistics and health forecasts, I am horrified about the future that lies before us. Even though most are preoccupied, and rightfully so, with the threat of terrorist attacks and other potential dangers, the phenomenon I'll be discussing also demands our immediate attention. Ending the atrocities of the world will not be enough to ensure a positive future for mankind. We must work just as hard to put a stop to the total deterioration of our food, water, and environment.

Based on scientific literature and the latest research, I will try to shine a light on the rapidly deteriorating state of health in America in contrast to a nation that has unwittingly discovered the secrets of supreme health and longevity.

The land of the sick

The United States, and on a smaller scale Europe, is being propelled towards total disaster through the deliberate poisoning of our most essential basic need - our food. Within the last hundred years food manufacturers, through their clever and aggressive marketing, have completely changed the way we look at food. In fact, they've been so successful in their campaign that people actually believe they're getting a healthy nutritious meal when they devour a McDonald's or Burger King hamburger. They don't realize that what they're actually eating is almost completely deficient of any nutrients and full of harmful ingredients. These junk foods don't nourish the body in any way - as food should - they just barely keep the person from starving. (I mean this in a nutritional sense because the obese humans these foods produce look far from starved!) The situation has become so critical that the majority of people simply dismiss those of us fighting for clean food, water, and air as blind fanatics. Paradoxically, supermarkets are actually starting to devote a tiny little section to so called "Health Food". But then what exactly are they selling in the remaining 99% of the store, "Sick Food"? My answer is "yes" and I will go on to prove my point and risk being called a fanatic or an idealist.

But am I, in fact, being fanatic when the latest statistics show that every second American is chronically ill? How could we have let things get so out of hand?

Partnership for Solutions, a new initiative of Johns Hopkins University and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, collects health statistics and calculates future projections. (See http://www.chronicnet.org.) They define "chronic illness" the following way:

"A chronic condition lasts a year or longer, limits what one can do and may require ongoing care. More than 125 million Americans have at least one chronic condition and 60 million have more than one condition. Examples of chronic conditions are diabetes, cancer, glaucoma and heart disease.

"The number of people with chronic conditions is growing at an alarming rate. In 2000, 20 million more people had one or more chronic conditions than the number originally estimated in 1996. By the year 2020, 25% of the American population will be living with multiple chronic conditions, and costs for managing these conditions will reach $1.07 trillion… The number of people with chronic conditions is projected to increase from 125 million in 2000 to 171 million in the year 2030."1

These statistics are not only frightening but rather shocking as well! And even though data about the prevalence of chronic illness is available in many health publications, most people are simply not aware of it.

What's even more disturbing is that the average age of the "chronically ill" is on a constant decline. Nearly half are under the age of 45 and a staggering 15 percent of those are children. Millions of little ones are suffering from diabetes, asthma, developmental disabilities, cancer and other disorders. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting an estimated 5 million children. Among the population, children now have the highest rate of asthma, and the numbers have increased 92% over the past decade. A growing number of children are also developing Type II (adult-onset) diabetes, which was primarily found only in adults. Millions of young ones are being medicated for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) for their inability to concentrate. Cancer is still the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children under 15.

Along with countless others, all of the above-mentioned chronic conditions can be blamed on our polluted air and water, and the nutritionally deprived, chemically poisoned food we eat. Simply stated, if we were to eliminate these toxins from our lives we would not develop asthma, diabetes, ADD, cancer, etc. Thus, does this mother who works so hard to fight for clean air, water and food for her child still seem like a fanatic? Or to phrase it in a different way: What can we say about the ignorance of the person who disregards the above statistics and continues to poison herself and her children on a daily basis?

Unfortunately, our modern health care system (or "sick care system" as my husband calls it) does not really believe in the health-preserving power nutrition plays in our lives. Instead, conventional medicine often blames heredity for diseases, which actually serves two purposes: It frees the industry from any liability and deems the patient helpless and not responsible for his own health (or lack thereof). After all, anyone can change the way they eat, but we can't do anything about our genes! This is a very convenient and profitable standpoint. But as luck would have it, I have concrete evidence of what happens to a nation if it doesn't eat, drink and breathe garbage. I will now present this "other side of the coin" to the reader, so that the truth can be seen once and for all!

The land of vitality - the Hunza Valley

In India during the 1920s, British researcher Sir Robert McCarrison conducted one of the most eye-opening experiments relative to the correlation between diet and health. Dr. McCarrison spent many years in the Himalayan Mountains including the picturesque Hunza Valley. This magical fairytale-like place is found between the borders of China, India, Pakistan and Russia at nearly 8000 ft. The natives of this valley, the Hunzakuts, captured Dr. McCarrison's attention because of the their excellent health and extremely long lifespan.

"In these Himalayan Mountains is Hunza; a country slightly more than a hundred miles long and perhaps just as wide, containing approximately thirty thousand inhabitants," writes Dr. Jay F. Hoffman, the author of the book Hunza - Secrets Of The World's Healthiest And Oldest Living People, published in 1960. Dr. Hoffman was sent to Hunza under the auspices of the National Geriatrics Society.

"Here the people lived to be 100, 110, 120, and occasionally as much as 140 years of age. Here lies the real Fountain of Youth - probably the only one in the world… Hunza land is truly a Utopia if ever there was one. Just think of this! Here is a land where people do not have our common diseases, such as heart ailments, cancer, arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, tuberculosis, hay fever, asthma, liver trouble, gall bladder trouble, constipation or many other ailments the plague the rest of the world. Moreover, there are no hospitals, no insane asylums, no drug stores, no saloons, no tobacco stores, no police, no jails, no crimes, no murders, and no beggars."2

Any westerner who stepped foot on the tiny land of this friendly nation couldn't stop raving about their good nature, outstanding hospitality, not to mention the physical strength and stamina of their men. " My own experience provides an example of a race unsurpassed in perfection of physique and in freedom from disease in general." Wrote Dr. McCarrison about the Hunzkuts. "Amongst these people the span of life is extraordinarily long… During the period of my association with these people I never saw a case of asthenic dyspepsia, of gastric or duodenal ulcer, of appendicitis, of mucous colitis, of cancer."3

Not only are the Hunza people immune to serious diseases they are also spared the discomfort of commonplace conditions such as the cold or the flu. Dr. McCarrison, who specialized in nutritional diseases, was determined to learn their secret. The opportunity arose in 1927 when he was appointed the Director of Nutrition Research in India. Along with his designation he also received a well-equipped laboratory and qualified assistants.

The Doctor designed a whole series of experiments to determine how big of a role the Hunzakuts' diet plays in their supreme health and longevity. In the first experiment 1189 albino rats were fed the Hunza diet right from birth. This consisted of whole meal flatbread with a pat of fresh butter, sprouted legumes, fresh raw carrots and cabbage, unboiled whole milk, and once a week a tiny portion of meat and bones. Plenty of water was provided for drinking and bathing. The only thing the rats did not receive was fruit, which the Hunza people ate a great deal of.

No diseases, no death

The rats were fed this diet for 27 months, which would be the equivalent of approximately 45 human years. The rats were killed, and thoroughly examined at all stages leading up to 27 months. Remarkably, no trace of any disease could be found in their bodies! This astonishing consequence could best be explained through Dr. McCarrison's words as he described his findings during a lecture at the College of Surgeons in 1931:

"During the past two and a quarter years there has been no case of illness in this 'universe' of albino rats, no death from natural causes in the adult stock, and, but for a few accidental deaths, no infantile mortality. Both clinically and at post-mortem examination this stock has been shown to be remarkably free from disease. It may be that some of them have cryptic disease of one kind or another, but, if so, I have failed to find either clinical or macroscopical evidence of it."

These results were truly staggering. But sadly, they did not have any real impact on the physicians present, whom, much like the doctors of today, have a greater understanding of disease than the lack thereof. There wasn't a sudden surge of articles and books propagating the Hunza diet and the avoidance of white rice, white flour, sugar and for the most part, meat. Their meals don't consist of pre-cooked, over-processed, and nutritionally devoid industrial chemicals - like the average American's. Instead, they enjoy locally grown organic fruit, vegetables, unprocessed fresh milk products, and green or whole grains.

As a follow up to his earlier experiment, Dr. McCarrison duplicated in his laboratory the low quality diet of a poor rural region of India. During this larger-scale experiment, 2243 rats were fed a diet deficient of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. The animal results matched the physical condition of the millions of people living in this region: Both groups developed diseases in every organ they possessed.

Diet and behavior

The most disturbing discovery of Dr. McCarrison was to come. In a later experiment, he set out to learn how the rats would react to the diet of the poorer class of England. This consisted of white bread, margarine, sweetened tea, boiled vegetables, and cheap canned meats and jams. On this diet, not only did the rats not thrive physically, but they actually developed nervous disorders before things went from bad to worse: "They were nervous," writes the doctor, "and opt to bite their attendants; they lived unhappily together, and by the 16th day of the experiment they began to kill and eat the weaker ones amongst them."

Shockingly, this diet of the lower-class English in the 1930s actually had a much greater nutrient value than the "food" the majority of well-to-do Americans stuff themselves with today.

The Hunza people did not become a household name, even though they unintentionally came to possess the mental and practical skills needed to live long, joyous and disease-free lives. Of course, most of us are not able to move to the mountains and grow our own food but we can still learn a lot from this noble, peaceful and healthy nation. We can definitely start restoring our health by modifying our food selections and by drinking pure filtered water. Staying away from dead processed foods and turning towards natural, fresh, organically grown fruit and vegetables as much as possible is a good rule of thumb for everyone, regardless of his state of health. If enough people started demanding quality foods the food industry would have no choice but to alter its manufacturing processes and start supplying us with truly nutritious options instead of the falsely labeled junk we're subjected to. But since I can't foresee that day anytime in the near future, we all need to take responsibility for our own health and educate ourselves the best we can about the importance of nutrition.

References:

1 Partnership for Solutions: Projection of Chronic Illness Prevalence and Cost Inflation. A project of John Hopkins University and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

2 Dr. Jay M. Hoffman: Hunza, Secrets Of The World's Healthiest And Oldest Living People. New Win Publishing.

3 J.I. Rodale: The Healthy Hunza. Rodale Press

Dr. Hardy is a board certified Naturopathic Doctor and a Certified Nutritional Consultant. She studied nutrition at the Packard School of Nutrition in Sudbury, ON and began her N.D. education at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. She continued her education and obtained her N.D. diploma in the United States. She is an active member of the American Naturopathic Medical Association, the American Association for Nutritional Consultants, the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and the American Holistic Health Association. Her health articles have appeared in dozens of publications in nine different languages. Her expertise and experience includes designing custom dietary formulas, researching and evaluating new health products, and educating employees in the natural health industry. For contact or other information, visit Global Institute for Alternative Medicine

12 Sources of Natural Vitamin Supplements

By: Ben Adams

Taking vitamins has long been considered as a prerequisite to good health. In fact, health experts are in agreement, that these organic molecules are needed to be taken by the human body in minute quantities, to ensure proper health. According to these experts, a person deprived of a particular vitamin would eventually exhibit disease symptoms particular to the said vitamin.

The importance of vitamins for good health is a fact well known to everybody. Even children at the primary school level are well aware of this because they are being educated on the importance of vitamins for their body. But while everybody knows how important vitamins are, not everybody knows where to get them. In fact, many believe that the only source of vitamins is the medicine bottle.

Vitamins, however, are not limited to those that are sold on drug stores as food supplements. In fact, vitamins do exist naturally. To give more light on this topic, it may be better if we give you first a background on the basic types of vitamins available today.

The Basic Types of Vitamins Available in the Market

There are three general types of vitamins being sold in the market today. These three types are the natural vitamins, crystalline vitamins, and synthetic vitamins.

• Natural Vitamins

Natural vitamins are those vitamins that can readily be found in natural foods. If processed into a commercial food supplement, the vitamin must have all of its components intact, including its enzymes, co-enzymes, minerals, mineral activators, and co-vitamin helpers.

• Crystalline Vitamins

Crystalline vitamins are those vitamins that are extracted from natural food sources but were already treated with various high-powered chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to separate the specific vitamin from all other synergistic components attached to it. As such, these vitamins have a very simple structure compared to the complex structure of natural vitamins.

• Synthetic Vitamins

Synthetic vitamins are those vitamins that were chemically formed in laboratories by scientists. While they are not derived from any natural source, the structure of these vitamins would usually resemble that of their crystalline counterparts.

As you can see, vitamins are not limited to those found on drug stores and medicine bottles. In this article, we’ll concentrate on those vitamins that can be found on natural food sources—the natural vitamin supplements.

Natural Vitamin Supplements

According to studies, our body needs 13 vitamins for proper bodily functions. These vitamins are composed of the vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins. The B vitamins, on the other hand, are composed of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate.

Now, all these vitamins are available in drug stores in various concentrations. However, all of these 13 vitamins can also be found on natural food sources. In fact, a person having a variety of foods in his diet must already be taking minute amounts of these vitamins everyday. And as have previously been said, only a minute amount of all these vitamins are needed by the body to function properly.

So if you are interested on keeping your health at its prime, then you can bank on the natural vitamins that nature has to offer. Here is a list of the food sources from which you can extract natural vitamin supplements:

1. Vitamin A

Vitamin A can be found from meat sources and dairy products like milk, cheese, cream, liver, kidney, and cod liver. But since all of these are high cholesterol products, you may want to try getting vitamin A from its precursor, beta-carotene. Common sources of beta carotene are raw carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, cantaloupe, spinach, mango, broccoli and other red- or yellow-skinned fruits and vegetables.

2. Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

Common sources of thiamine are fortified breads, cereals, pasta, whole grains, lean meats, fish, peas and dried beans. Some dairy products, fruits and vegetables are also rich in vitamin B1.

3. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

Dairy products like milk and yogurt are the primary sources of riboflavin. Other sources are chicken meat, green and leafy vegetables, fruits and almonds.

4. Vitamin B3 (niacin)

Food products that are rich in niacin include dairy products, poultry, fish, lean meats, nuts and eggs. Some legumes and cereals also contain traces of niacin.

5. Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)

Vitamin B5 rich foods would include, fish, dairy products, poultry, lean beef, yeast and vegetables in the cabbage family. Also rich in vitamin B5 are white and sweet potatoes as well as peanuts and peas.

6. Vitamin B6 (pyroxidine)

Fruits like bananas, watermelons and tomatoes are known sources of vitamin B6. Other common sources are chicken, broccoli, spinach, potatoes, white rice, peanuts, oats and fortified cereals.

7. Vitamin B12

Meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and dairy products comprise the rich sources for vitamin B12.

8. Folate

Green and leafy vegetables are the largest source of folates, although this vitamin can also be found on tomato juice, peas, wheat germ, oranges and mushrooms.

9. Vitamin C

The most common sources of vitamin C are the citrus fruits and their juices like strawberry, melon, cranberry, grapefruit and others. Most other fruits and vegetables also contain small amounts of vitamin C.

10. Vitamin D

The largest sources of vitamin D are dairy products, poultry, and cereals. Aside from these food sources, the body also synthesizes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the heat of the sun.

11. Vitamin E

Vitamin E is mostly derived from plant oils and products made from it, like margarine and mayonnaise. Other sources include peanuts, whole grains, wheat germ, corn, nuts, olives, spinach and other green and leafy vegetables.

12. Vitamin K

Leafy and green vegetables like cabbage and spinach are the primary source of Vitamin K. Other sources include soybeans, cereals, fruits, beets, potatoes, dairy products, meat products and poultry. Bacteria found in the stomach and in the intestines can also synthesize vitamin K.

Why You Can't Stop Eating Fast Food

By: Jeffry Weiss

This is far more than some philosophical discussion. America is standing at a precipice. Two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese . . . and those numbers are growing every day. Our health care system is going broke, the average 9 year old child in our country has half their arteries closed by fat, people are having heart attacks in their thirties, diabetes in their twenties. This research, which began as an interesting article, quickly became imperative.

Here is what I found:
As I discuss in my book, Why We Eat . . . and why we keep eating, there are numerous ways in which the body signals the brain to switch the appetite center off and on. Sugary foods trigger an endorphin reaction, which, as we have explained previously induces feelings of euphoria. Sugary foods, and foods high on the glycemic scale, also signal the release of insulin, which causes food cravings. Protein high in saturated fats trigger endorphin release, while foods low in saturated fat trigger the release of CCK, a hormone that signals the brain to shut down the appetite center. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish curb the appetite. Monosaturated fats in olive oil, nuts, and free-ranging animals shut down the appetite. Fiber expands the stomach that turns off the appetite. Chocolate is a powerful endorphin trigger.

Now comes new research by Dr. Alan Hirsch, M.D., a neurologist and founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, in Chicago. Dr. Hirsch has uncovered some amazing facts. He explains that the taste and smell of the foods we eat can effectively turn off the appetite center in the brain. His research showed that certain smells caused overweight people to reduce their cravings, and therefore eat less. He found that foods cooked with aromatic ingredients like garlic, onions, herbs and spices satisfy the appetite more completely.

So, lets combine what we know concerning fast food. First, they are high in saturated fat, which is one of the strongest endorphin releasers. Two, sugar, another endorphin trigger, is used liberally in fountain drinks and shakes. Three, all breads and buns contain gluten, another famous endorphin trigger. Four, many of the foods (think French fries) are high on the glycemic scale. Five, most of the foods available in fast food chains are not cooked with any of the spices (see above) that signal the satiety center in the brain to shut down the appetite.

Fast food chains use all of the available tricks to get you to eat their fare . . . and to keep eating. We have to fight back with the knowledge of how they do it, and to have ready alternatives at hand. Our book, Why We Eat . . . and why we keep eating, provides you with the information and the motivation to use the information! There’s a synergy that occurs when you’ve got the info, the inspiration, and the products that minimize your appetite so you can regain control of your diet and your life. Our proprietary line of products can help you to get and keep control of your appetite and rev up your metabolism so you can lose weight even when you’re not on an exercise program.

Tid-Bit: The power of pistachios
A new study found that pistachios contain a significant amount of lutein, an antioxidant that may play a major role in preventing cataracts and macular degeneration. Lutein is commonly found in dark green leafy vegetables and fruits and vegetables that are yellow or orange. One ounce serving of pistachios contains about the same amount of lutein as one-forth a cup of fresh broccoli.

Boost Your Brain Power With A Balanced Diet

By: Ray La Foy

Just like any other organ in your body, your brain must be properly nourished to work correctly. When it comes to the brain, however, this particular organ is especially important to feed correctly as it controls all other parts of the body. The better fed the brain, the quicker and more effective your reactions, actions and abilities will be.

Brain foods are simply those foods that contain nutrients that are vital for brain function. These include those with omega-3 fatty acids, proteins and so on. Just like every other part of your body, your brain needs fuel to keep going and going strong. The brain relies on complex sugars to keep it working right, and proteins as well.

For those who think good food must by default taste awful, think again. Some of the best brain foods are those we rely on every day to round out our diets with taste, variety and pizzazz.

Some of the best brain foods include such things as bananas, lean beef, broccoli, cheese, chicken, greens, legumes, milk, oatmeal, oranges and brown rice. Eggs, peanut butter, peas, yeast, yogurt and spinach, too, are considered great brain foods.

In general, the best brain foods are good proteins and complex carbohydrates. The brain needs a steady supply of healthy sugar to keep going all day long, but the sugar shouldn't be processed and refined. Rather, the sugars supplied by complex carbs are the best. Proteins found in meats, nuts, beans and dairy products, too, provide a great boost for the brain.

Complex sugars are better because they feed the body a steady supply of power. Simple, processed sugars give the body a boost, it's true, but they can also make it crash. Ever feel really, really sleepy after lunch? That's a crash.

If the brain isn't properly fed it will not function right. Some foods are even considered bad for mental acuity. These slow down the thought process and they can get in the way of every day function. Foods that are generally not the best for the brain include soda, alcohol, those that contain artificial sweeteners and corn syrup, high sugar foods, white bread and fats. Drugs such as nicotine, too, can cause problems for the brain.

When it comes to feeding the brain, the best thing a person can do is feed the entire body. This means eating a healthy, balanced diet. Of course, it's okay to splurge once in a while, but to ensure overall better health, balance is key.

A diet rich in fruits, whole grains and cereals, vegetables, beans, dairy products and proteins is the best way to go. Be smart and balance it out. Mix up foods so you keep variety high and interest in a healthy diet even higher.

Here are some of the best brain foods for each of the major groups:

Fruits: oranges, cherries and grapefruits.

Grains: oatmeal, bran, brown rice.

Vegetables/beans: Soy, kidney and chickpeas are all fantastic brain foods.

Dairy: Milk, cheese, yogurt.

Meats: Salmon, turkey, chicken and other lean meats.

Eating right is not only good for your brain, but your entire body. Balance your diet, have fun with recipes and be smart with your choices. Brain foods aren't boring.

Your Food Consists of Several Awesome Parts

By: John Savage

Do you know what is in your food? Did you ever think about what could be there and not there, and do you know what it is doing to you or your loved ones? Is there something good in your food other than making you not hungry? Lots of questions, but are there any answers? Well, yes there are.

Your food is consisting of several awesome parts, and I want to persuade you to start looking at your food differently from now on. Try looking at it as a challenge and a conquest for better health and life.

Many people today do not have a lot of time for vegetarians, but I wonder why. They are very healthy and happy. Vegetarians are getting more of the daily recommended dose of vegetables and fruits than the meat eating population. They are also getting more of the phytochemicals that help fight off the viruses that are in society today.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, legumes are all words you may well make you think to yourself what is that? Well they are the support system of your body. Fruits and vegetables have lots of phytochemicals in them and you can get about 100 different phytochemicals per serving of fruits and vegetables.

Now that sounds good, but, what are phytochemicals? Well the most commonly known phytochemical is the antioxidant. Antioxidants help to protect our cells from toxic substances and free radicals. You want to keep your cells strong for the long haul of life ahead.

Cholesterol. Yes we all have it and no we dont want to have to worry about it. Well unfortunately we all must in this day and age worry about our cholesterol. A good way to lower your cholesterol is with oats. Just by eating three grams of soluble fiber a day, the same amount found in a large bowl of one hundred percent oat bran or three packages of instant oatmeal, can lower your LDL cholesterol by at least five point six percent in six weeks. That is an awesome decrease in LDL cholesterol and can save your life.

Still worried about your cholesterol and hate the thought of oatmeal three times a day? Try cooking with olive oil. If you are unhappy with the flavor of olive oil then try canola oil. Both are a great source of monounsaturated fat. A great reducer of cholesterol.

Other sources of monounsaturated oils are Peanut oil, Walnut oil, Sesame Oil, and Soybean oil. What ever you do though do not, I repeat, do not go overboard with any oil. They all have fourteen grams of saturated fat and one hundred twenty calories per tablespoon. Lets face it we are an obese society; we need all the help we can get to not add extra fat to our bodies.

Did you know the benefits of Nuts? They are surprisingly good for your heart. Macadamia nuts are the best for you as far as monounsaturated fats go. Walnuts are the lowest on the scale for monounsaturated fats. Apparently replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats found in nuts reduces your risk of heart disease.

Omega three fatty acids found in fish oils are superb at lowering blood fats such as triglycerides. Omega three fatty acids also help reduce blood pressure and may ease the symptoms of arthritis. You should eat fresh fish two to three times a week, however do not take fish oil supplements with out talking to your doctor first.

Vitamin E, is the great protector. Vitamin E helps to fight cancer, heart disease, and cataracts. Now that is one tough antioxidant!

Spinach! I know why Popeye ate his spinach, because it is a powerhouse in the antioxidant family. Not to mention it has every nutrient out there. It is a great source of folic acid, which can reduce the risk of neural tube birth defects. It also protects against cervical displaysia which is a condition that precedes cervical cancer. Women! You must eat your spinach.

Women who eat spinach daily are forty three percent less likely to suffer from a stroke, than those women who only ate spinach once a month or less. Now I dont care those numbers are hard to beat. Eat your spinach ladies and live long happy lives. Women you also need to eat your squashes, which are high in beta carotene. Those of us who eat fruits and vegetables high in carotene reduce our risk of cataracts by thirty nine percent.

Maximizing One's Health with Nutritional Supplements

By: Trevor Mulholland

In this day and age, most of us find ourselves failing to take in the recommended daily amount of nutrients that we should be getting. Nutritional supplements help to fill this gap by providing the vitamins, minerals, and other substances that we may be missing out on. In addition, personal food preferences, lifestyle habits, or special health needs may prompt a person to take nutritional supplements in order to remain in the pink of health.

It's a common practice among cultures of different countries to give multivitamins or other supplements to their children (many grown-ups nowadays still wrinkle their noses at the memory of cod liver oil). Giving vitamins and minerals to children is a good idea more than ever today, simply because of the types of food many of them eat -- fast food, junk food, food that is full of empty calories and which do not provide them with the nutrition they need to develop properly. In addition to the basic vitamins and minerals, many children's supplements today include ingredients that would enhance growth, such as chlorella growth factor (for height) and taurine (for proper physical development).

Adults who partake of similarly nutritionally-deficient food also need to take a dietary supplement. Eating convenience foods like take-out or microwave dinners is fine once in a while if you're pressed for time, but not always. A person should remember that being nutritionally deficient will make him or her more prone to a variety of diseases.

Sometimes our food or drink choices influence the degree to which we need nutritional supplements. For instance, vegetarians forego a significant source of protein and iron -- meat -- and they do not get the necessary amounts of these nutrients in vegetables; so protein and iron supplements are suitable for them. Those who avoid dairy products, on the other hand, whether because of lactose intolerance or a general dislike for this type of food in general, should make sure to take a calcium supplement to correct any calcium deficiencies. Smokers and alcoholic beverage drinkers need a greater supply of vitamins B and C since they find it harder to absorb these nutrients. Those on a weight loss diet should use supplements to ensure that their nutritional needs are being met even as they eliminate or reduce the amount of certain foods in their diet. And women who are pregnant are advised to take supplements that contain ingredients beneficial to them and their babies, such as folic acid, vitamin D, iron, phosphorus, and calcium; women's needs for them increase as much as twofold during pregnancy.

Nutritional supplements are also recommended for those who are at risk for a certain disease or health problem. For instance, people who are in their thirties and forties are advised to take calcium supplements to head off osteoporosis. Regular intake of vitamin C and B would help prevent scurvy and beriberi, respectively. Studies have also shown that vitamin C can aid in the prevention of eye disorders, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin D, on the other hand, has been shown to have preventive effects against some cancers, including colon, prostate, and breast cancer, while some studies suggest that vitamin E is helpful in preventing colds and other upper respiratory tract infections.

Did you know that dietary supplements can also help a person psychologically and emotionally? At the American Psychiatric Association's 2003 meeting, papers were presented on the effects of vitamin and mineral supplements on the mental state of young adults. For instance, study subjects in a prison population started exhibiting less anti-social behavior after going on a supplement regime. Another experiment showed that female college students had faster reaction times and less mood swings after taking a larger amount of thiamin or vitamin B1. Further, young adults who took selenium found themselves less depressed, anxious, and tired. Finally, a group of young female adults who were given the recommended amounts of nine vitamins exhibited improved cognitive functions after one year.

Nutritional supplements are an essential part of today's diet for the vast majority of us. But remember that not all supplements are created equal. Offerings by other companies are pharmaceutical-grade; meaning that they have more active ingredients and that they underwent more rigorous quality control. Also keep in mind that taking although vitamins and minerals are more often than not safe and good for one's health, taking too much of them could produce toxic effects and result in complications.

Health and nutrition wisdom throughout history (continued)

"Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws." Leonard Da Vinci

"When you're green inside, you're clean inside." Dr. Bernard Jensen

"If people only knew the healing power of laughter and joy, many of our fine doctors would be out of business. Joy is one of Nature's greatest medicines. Joy is always healthy. A pleasant state of mind tends to bring abnormal conditions back to normal." Catherine Ponder

"DO GERMS CAUSE DISEASE? Or could it be the other way around...first the disease, then the germs. Natural Hygiene contends that germs do not cause disease. They are not the originators. Most diseases occur when people allow themselves to become enervated, that is, low in nerve energy. As a consequence, the organs of excretion fail to function normally and waste material accumulates in the body. When this waste continues to build up, exceeding the body's toleration point, a crisis arises. The body, to offset this overabundance of poisonous matter, begins to react. The result of this reaction is sometimes a cold, the flu, pneumonia, or some such, depending on the individual. At this crisis point of elimination, germs may or may not be present. They are sure to come later, not to attack, but to assist in the cleanup or cleansing process." Dr. Alec Burton

"Disease is the warning, and therefore the friend - not the enemy - of mankind." Dr. George S. Weger

"Actually bacteria are our symbiotic partners in both health and disease. They serve a useful role. As scavengers, they make harmless or remove undesirable substances within our bodies. They also elaborate certain of our body needs. That is, they help build complex organic compounds from simple ingredients. A notable example of this is the production of vitamin B-12 in our intestines." T. C. Fry

"Infection is no war in which the body is fighting invaders. The bacteria that come to these sites are symbiotic and help the body in elaborating dead cells and tissues for expulsion - they are partners in the cleanup process. When this has been accumulated, the bacteria disappear and the wound heals. Infection...is a body cleaning process for a body burdened with toxic materials." T. C. Fry

"Germs do not cause disease! Nature never surrounded her children with enemies. It is the individual himself who makes disease possible in his own body because of poor living habits... Do mosquitoes make the water stagnant; or does stagnant water attract the mosquitoes? We should all be taught that germs are friends and scavengers attracted by disease, rather than enemies causing disease... As their internal environment is, so will be the attraction for any specific micro-organism... The germ theory and vaccination are kept going by commercialism." Dr. Robert R. Gross

"The cell is immortal. It is merely the fluid in which it floats that degenerates. Renew this fluid at regular intervals, give the cells what they require for nutrition, and as far as we know, the pulsation of life can go on forever." Dr. Alexis Carrell - Nobel prize winner

"We need to re-direct our perspectives of microbes and see them in a new light. In terms of bacteria, for example, we need to appreciate them as: Bodily inhabitants who assist us in such ways as protecting us from other organisms (e.g. fungi), assisting in digestion and metabolism of food, synthesizing vitamins, and helping to eliminate waste materials." Dr. Paul Goldberg

"The absorption and organization of sunlight, the essence of life, is derived almost
exclusively through plants. Since light is the driving force of every cell in our bodies, that is why we need green plants." Dr. Bircher-Benner

"Warmth, moisture, food -- these are the causes that activate latent germs and arouse them to activity. They exist, all except the food, in the mouth, nose and throat at all times. The food is thrown out into these, as excretions, in disease. The germs feed on the excretions. They are scavengers. They were never anything else and will never be anything else. They break up and consume the discharge from the tissues. This is the function ascribed to germs everywhere in nature outside the body and is their real and only function in disease. They are purifying and beneficial agents.
The medical profession has worked itself into hysteria over the germ theory and is using it to exploit an all too credulous public. Germs are ubiquitous. They are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink. We cannot escape them. We can destroy them only to a limited extent. It is folly to attempt to escape disease by attempting to destroy or escape germs. Once they are in the body, the physician has no means of destroying them that will not, at the same time, destroy the patient. We cannot avoid germs. We must be proof against them. We have to accept them as one of the joys of life." Dr. Herbert Shelton

"(Natural) Hygienists object to the germ theory of disease because germs do not cause
disease. They may be present in disease processes, and they may complicate a disease
with their waste products which can be very toxic at times, but the germ or virus alone is never the sole cause of disease." Dr. Virginia V. Vetrano

"Forgiveness, love and our connection with the Divine is the medicine that is healing the sickness of our time." J. Artos Roske

Health and nutrition wisdom throughout history (continued)

"I find medicine is the best of all trades because whether you do any good or not you still get your money." (Moliere: "A Physician in Spite of Himself," 1664)

"Never, no never does Nature say one thing and wisdom another." Johann Christolph Frederick von Schuller

"Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom." Benjamin Rush, MD., a signer of the Declaration of Independence and personal physician to George Washington

"The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition." Thomas Edison

"If we doctors threw all our medicines into the sea, it would be that much better for our patients and that much worse for the fishes." Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendel
Holmes, MD

"It is not... that some people do not know what to do with truth when it is offered to them, but the tragic fate is to reach, after patient search, a condition of mind-blindness, in which the truth is not recognized, though it stares you in the face." Sir William Osler, physician, 1849-1919

"We must admit that we have never fought the homeopath on matters of principle. We
fought them because they came into our community and got the business."
Dr. J.N. McCormack, AMA, 1903

"It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within." Albert Schweitzer, M.D.

"One of the biggest tragedies of human civilization is the precedents of chemical therapy over nutrition. It's a substitution of artificial therapy over nature, of poisons over food, in which we are feeding people poisons trying to correct the reactions of starvation." Dr. Royal Lee, January 12, 1951

"The human body heals itself and nutrition provides the resources to accomplish the task." Roger Williams Ph.D. (1971)

"What makes me so certain that the natural human lifespan is far in excess of the actual one is this. Among all my autopsies (and I have performed over 1000), I have never seen a person who died of old age. In fact, I do not think that anyone has ever died of old age yet. We invariably die because one vital part has worn out too early in proportion to the rest of the body." Dr. Hans Selye

"God, in His infinite wisdom, neglected nothing and if we would eat our food without trying to improve, change or refine it, thereby destroying its life-giving elements, it would meet all requirements of the body." Jethro Kloss

"You cannot poison your body into health with drugs, chemo or radiation. "Health" can
only be achieved with healthful living." T.C. Fry

"Health requires healthy food." Roger Williams

"Nutrition can be compared with a chain in which all essential items are separate links. We know what happens if one link of a chain is weak or is missing. The whole chain falls apart." Patrick Wright, Ph.D.

"What is impossible to see from the viewpoint of those who believe in cures is that the very symptoms the good doctors have suppressed and turned into chronic disease were the body's only means of correcting the problem! The so-called "disease" was the only "cure" possible!" Dr. Philip Chapman - 1981

"It is time to lay to rest the notion that germs jump into people and cause diseases." Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., D.M.D.

"It seems that some consideration should be given to the cause of our mounting physical disabilities, but instead of going to the root of our troubles -- wrong habits of eating and drinking -- we rush to the medicine shelf and smother our uncomfortable and distressing symptoms under an avalanche of pills, potions and palliatives." Brother Roloff

Health and nutrition wisdom throughout history

Below are quotes dating back thousands of years. Why haven't most doctors been listening?

"One-quarter of what you eat keeps you alive. The other three-quarters keeps your doctor alive." (Hieroglyph found in an ancient Egyptian tomb.)

"At the end of times the merchants of the word will deceive the nations of the world through their Pharmacia." (sorcery) - Rev 18:23

"Doctors give drugs of which they know little, into bodies, of which they know less, for diseases of which they know nothing at all." Voltaire

"The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it." Maimonides

"Of several remedies, the physician should choose the least sensational." Hippocrates

"Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food." Hippocrates

"And we have made of ourselves living cesspools, and driven doctors to invent names for our diseases." Plato

"When you are sick of sickness, you are no longer sick." Old Chinese Proverb

"The carpenter desires timber, the physician disease." Rig Veda IX. 7.9

"What ails the physician that he dies of the disease that he would have cured in time gone by? There died alike he who administered the drug and he who took it, and he who imported and sold the drug, and he who bought it." (Verses upon the death in Baghdad of the physician Yuhanna ibn Masawayh in the year 857)

"The work of the doctor will, in the future, be ever more that of an educator, and ever less that of a man who treats ailments." Lord Horder

"All drugs are poisons the benefit depends on the dosage." Philippus Theophrastrus Bombast that of Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541)

"All that man needs for health and healing has been provided by God in nature, the challenge of science is to find it." Philippus Theophrastrus Bombast that of Aureolus Paracelsus (1493-1541)