TriVita Weekly Wellness Reports

[BernardMaree]

By the Numbers: Healthy Blood Pressure

Recently, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Mayo Clinic issued new recommendations for ideal blood pressure: 115/75. What does that mean? Is it attainable?

We typically determine blood pressure measurements with two numbers. The higher number, called the systolic pressure, represents the pressure in the artery when the heart beats. The lower number, called the diastolic pressure, represents the pressure when the heart is at rest. Healthy blood pressure is in the range of 120/80. As mentioned, ideal pressure is somewhat lower. A key to healthy blood pressure is the ratio between the two numbers. They should remain at a 3:2 ratio whatever the actual pressure may be.

If your blood pressure is “ideal,” congratulations! Your hard work has paid off. If it is higher or lower than ideal, don’t worry: Most blood pressure problems can be solved with the right approach. Let’s dissect the common problems with blood pressure and see what we can learn about possible solutions.

Systolic too high
A healthy systolic number is 120. This number represents how hard your heart must beat to get blood out to your body. If your arteries are stiff, inflexible, inflamed or too narrow your heart will have to beat harder and this will create a higher systolic number. The most common cause of a high systolic number is too much adrenaline and other stress-related hormones in the bloodstream. These hormones have the effect of artificially narrowing your arteries in a “fight or flight” stress response.

Stress-induced high blood pressure will usually be seen with a high systolic number and a normal diastolic number such as 150/80. We will often see this number normalize with just 20 minutes of deep breathing. Some people respond well to biofeedback and supplementation with:

• Co-Q10, especially at bedtime to relax the heart
• Vitamin C morning and evening to relax the blood vessels
• Adaptogen 10 Plus morning and evening to help reduce the effects of stress

Both numbers too high
When both the systolic and diastolic numbers are high (160/110), the most common problem is inflammation leading to atherosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries.” This is a medical emergency; you should be under medical care as the disease has already progressed to the point where emergency measures are necessary. Dietary measures, such as the Dr. Dean Ornish “Reversing Heart Disease” diet, should be at the center of your self-care. Daily exercise, stress management and, very likely, medications will be needed to reverse this disease.

An anti-inflammatory lifestyle will be helpful. Include supplements such as:

• Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids from OmegaPrime at every meal to reduce inflammation
• Vitamin C and Co-Q10 as suggested above
• Betalains found in Nopalea can reduce inflammation in the blood vessels and help your body drain away the excess fluid associated with blood pressure

Achieving an optimal body fat percentage is also critical when caring for high blood pressure. The target body composition for men is 14% body fat; for women it is 23%. Remember, this type of high blood pressure is a medical emergency and it should be treated as such.

Diastolic too high
When the bottom number in your blood pressure reading is too high (120/90), but the systolic or top number is normal, it can mean that your lungs, kidneys and liver are not properly detoxifying your body.

Detoxification is an automatic process; your body does it every moment of every day. You can help support this process by reducing your exposure to toxins and supporting your lungs, kidneys and liver with daily nutrition:

• A multiple vitamin and mineral supplement (VitaDaily) to support healthy detoxification
• Vitamin C – a powerful detoxifier for the lungs, kidneys and liver
• Betalains found in Nopalea also drain away toxins

For more information on detoxification, listen to the audio books, “Body Systems 101” and “Healthy Aging.”

Too high, too long
Some people find that their blood pressure will not go down no matter what they do. This often happens because of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). With OSA, a person stops breathing during sleep. Sensing the shortage of oxygen, your brain increases blood pressure to compensate. These increases in blood pressure may last into the next day (you may awaken with high blood pressure that may go down by the evening). This type of hypertension will usually not respond to medication or alternative treatments.

Treatment for OSA begins with using a breathing machine called CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) during sleep. Using CPAP at night reduces blood pressure in most people – even those without serious OSA. Eventually, reducing your body fat to the percentages listed above will open your airways enough to compensate for OSA.

Hypertension will damage you. Eventually, it will kill you. Check your blood pressure frequently. Your body is speaking to you when your pressure is imbalanced. Learning to listen will help you feel better today and be healthier tomorrow!

Take Control of Your Health

• Test your blood pressure every month
• Check your blood pressure at different times of the day
• Eat a low-fat diet
• Eat 7, 9 or more servings of vegetables and fruits daily
• Exercise for 30 minutes on most days of the week
• If you have high blood pressure, test for OSA

[BernardMaree]

Allergies, Asthma and Your Environment

What is your experience? Does there seem to be more or less people with allergies these days? Do more or less children – and adults – seem to have asthma these days? Most people recognize that the prevalence of allergies and asthma is on the rise… and health statistics confirm it.

What are the causes of allergies and asthma? Why are we seeing so many more people suffering from these conditions? How can we find relief from these common conditions?

Antecedents, triggers and inflammation
We say we have allergies when we experience a certain set of symptoms (watery eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, etc.) in response to a trigger such as pollen or dust. We say we have asthma when we experience breathing difficulty related to constriction in our airways and inflammation in the immune system of our respiratory tract.

Antecedents – Certain people have allergies while others don’t. And certain people experience asthma while others don’t. The difference between those of us with symptoms and other people is found in antecedents (literally “what comes before”). Antecedents may be:
• Genetic (rare)
• Trauma from smoke, chemical burns, etc. (more common)
• Emotional distress (far more common)
• Toxins from the environment that permeate our air, water and food (the most common antecedent for allergies and asthma)

Triggers – Triggers are the myriad products or processes in our internal and external environment that create symptoms. For one person, wheat triggers symptoms. For another person cat dander triggers symptoms. Almost everyone reacts to ragweed! Your symptom triggers are unique because of the way your personal, internal chemistry interacts with the antecedents that come before allergies and asthma.

Inflammation – Inflammation is the final reaction in this chain. The symptoms we experience are all related to inflammation. Examples of inflammatory mediators are histamines, prostaglandins and leukotrienes. These are strange and difficult words that are all too familiar to people that suffer from allergies and asthma.

Defense strategies
We protect ourselves through the process of insulation and isolation. It is very important to isolate ourselves from trauma, stress and toxins. It is also imperative to insulate ourselves with anti-allergy nutrients.

Vitamin B-12 (especially Super Sublingual B-12) helps your body reduce histamine formation. Nopalea helps your body reduce inflammation in the soft tissues of the respiratory tract, digestive tract and pretty well all other tissues! These represent the best strategies for symptom relief.

Triggers (allergens) are sharp, jagged proteins that are like shards of broken glass in your system. The cells lining your airways (and pretty well all other tissues) are like delicate balloons that pop when allergens attack. Fortunately, we are able to resist most of these allergens. However, the ones we cannot neutralize create real misery. Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) like OmegaPrime toughen up the balloon-like cells and make them much more difficult to pop. You will likely need two to three times the normal amount of EFAs every day for several months to achieve lasting relief from allergy triggers.

Antecedents are more difficult to address because genetics, toxins and stress are pervasive: they don’t go away. With patience, though, we can develop strategies to minimize the impact of antecedents. For example, we can breathe deeply to de-stress our mind and body. We can drink pure water and eat nutritiously to cleanse toxins from our body. This can also help protect against new poisons setting us up for allergies in the future. And we can modify our sensitivity by exercising appropriately (and safely) as well as sleeping peacefully to balance our immune system.

Conclusion
Allergies and asthma are more prevalent now than ever. We can prevent much misery by addressing the antecedents that come before these reactions, by strengthening our cells to resist triggers, and by reducing the inflammation that creates so much misery!

Take Control of Your Health
• Drink pure water
• Eat nutritiously
• Practice deep breathing at least 20 minutes every day
• Take high levels of OmegaPrime to help strengthen delicate cells
• Take Super Sublingual B-12 to help your body reduce histamine formation
• Use Nopalea to help your body reduce inflammation
• Take CoQ-10 for greater energy
• Use Vital C to detoxify your body
• Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week
• Get 7 ½ to 9 hours of sleep per night

[BernardMaree]

Strength Training for Optimum Wellness

Essential #5 of TriVita’s 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness tells us to “Enjoy Activity.” Many of us enjoy long walks on the beach or through the forest. Others like square dancing or ballroom dancing. Some enjoy swimming, tennis or bowling. I personally like bicycling through the vineyards of Napa Valley.

When it comes to strength training, “enjoy” is not a word you hear often. How can you find joy in strength training? The answer may not be so much in what you do as why you do it!

Benefits of strength training
The benefits of strength training include increased bone density, improved heart functioning, better blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, and even reduced depression, according to Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., associate chief of the Human Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. The greatest benefit, however, may be strength training's ability to build muscle.

"Starting in our 30s and 40s, people start to lose a quarter-pound of muscle every year," explains Dr. Nelson, author of the best-selling book Strong Women Stay Young. "We believe that much of this loss can be stopped or reduced with simple strength training."

Other conditions that might benefit include back pain, recovery from surgery and even mild high blood pressure.

Methods of strength training
Strength training may or may not include lifting weights. In fact, weight-bearing exercises include stair climbing and calisthenics such as push-ups and chin-ups. And rather than using metal weights, many prefer to use elastic tubing. Still, you shouldn’t be intimidated by metal weights – or by muscle-bound weight lifters!

If you have not lifted weights before, make an appointment with a certified athletic trainer to help you develop a safe strength-training program. You can find a trainer at a local gym or through a referral from your doctor or a friend.

Tips for getting started:
• Begin each exercise with very low weights and minimal repetitions.
• Slowly increase weight, never adding more than 10% in a given workout.
• Do strength-training exercises 2 to 3 times a week. Allow at least one day between each workout for your bones and muscles to rest and restore themselves.
• Gradually increase the intensity of your workout: work up to 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions with a rest period of 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
Although stiffness the day after exercise is normal, you will know if you did too much if you are in pain. Decrease the intensity or the duration of your exercise next time.

The joy of strength training
As mentioned earlier, you can “enjoy the activity” of strength training with a simple survey of your life. For example, would you like to:
• Prevent bone loss
• Improve heart function
• Improve blood pressure
• Achieve better blood sugar control
• Help reduce depression
If so, strength training is for you!

How long do you plan to live? Pick a number and look at people that age. You will see a broad spectrum of vitality: from those that are home-bound or have confined mobility to those competing in marathons and skydiving! Which group do you want to be in? Strength training can help you maintain vitality and flexibility, it can help you recover from injury and can improve your energy at any stage of life.

Do you have purpose in your life? Meeting those purposes requires health. Strength training helps you achieve and maintain the wellness you need to be effective in your life purposes: to be there for those you love, to accomplish the great works inside you, to enjoy your leisure knowing you are healthy enough to do whatever your heart demands. Strength training helps you have more to give – and giving is the truest source of happiness.

So go ahead, enjoy the activity of strength training!

Note: Consult with your doctor before starting any type of exercise program.

Take Control of Your Health
• First, decide “why” you want to do strength training
• Get professional help when needed
• Start slowly, progress wisely
• Warm up, stretch and breathe deeply
• Know “good pain” from “bad pain”
• Allow 48 hours for recovery
• Increase energy with Sublingual B-12
• Boost flexibility with OmegaPrime®
• Re-hydrate muscles and joints with OptimaFlex®
• Reduce inflammation with Nopalea™
• Lose unwanted weight with Leanology®
• Take Bone Builder to re-grow bone

[BernardMaree]

Good Sleep=Good Health

The process of sleep places a very high demand on our energy reserves. So much work must be accomplished while we sleep: innumerable cells must be replaced or repaired, the immune system must be balanced, hormones must be balanced and emotional distress must be resolved and integrated.

To accomplish all of this work we must have several ingredients that dictate our ability to achieve and maintain peaceful sleep.
1. We need sleep rituals to trigger the cascade of events that initiate sleep.
2. We must have the nutrients we need to sustain the sleeping process.
3. We need an appropriate environment for sleep.
With these elements in place we have a good chance of sleeping peacefully!

Sleep rituals
More than 100 years ago a Russian physician named Ivan Pavlov discovered that our nervous system changes our entire metabolism in response to our habits. Specifically, Pavlov measured the increase in stomach acids when dogs heard the footsteps of their feeder! Your nervous system will recognize sleep rituals and begin preparing for sleep.

A sleep ritual is something you do every night to send a message to your body and brain that you plan on sleeping soon. Your body responds to these triggers by preparing for sleep. It is exactly like your stomach getting ready to digest a meal when we begin preparing it. The sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the food trigger digestive juices. Sleep rituals trigger your brain in the same way and you begin the process of sleep.

A key ritual leading to successful sleep is light control. Remember, we were designed to abide by seasonal changes in light. When the sun goes down we need to accept that the day is ending rather than artificially extending it with lights. This especially includes the artificial light of television and the computer monitor.

Try a warm bath and a light snack at bedtime. Brush your teeth and take your evening nutrients – nothing stimulating; nutrients should be specifically nourishing to the sleep process. Deep breathing exercises are especially helpful to foster deep sleep.

Nutrients for sleep
All nutrients support sleep in one way or another. However, two nutrients shine when it comes to achieving and maintaining sleep: the mineral magnesium and the vitamin biotin (Peaceful Sleep). Magnesium relaxes our muscles and naturally turns down the adrenaline that goes hand in hand with stressful days. Biotin stabilizes blood sugar and mobilizes protein, carbohydrate and fats for the restoring element of sleep.

Antioxidants such as CoEnzyme Q-10 (CoQ-10), Vitamin C and Vitamin E can be helpful at bedtime to support proper oxygen delivery to your brain, heart and other tissues. Anti-stress botanical preparations called adaptogens can also be useful at bedtime to dial down the influence of stress on your sleep cycle.

Peaceful environment
The most important set of rituals for peaceful sleep involves the sleeping environment: our bedroom. We simply must make our bedroom a sanctuary for sleep. If we customarily do stressful things in our bedroom such as watch TV, balance our checkbook, argue with our spouse or even read the newspaper, our nervous system will come to associate the bedroom as the place where we don’t sleep!

Make sure your sleeping environment is cool, quiet and dark for the best quality of sleep. Many sleep experts recommend a temperature of 68°F, a “white noise” generator to block out sound, and less than eight total watts of light for the best sleep.

Conclusion
Sleep Peacefully is the third of the 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness. Yet, the majority of us in North America do not get the 7 ½ to 9 hours of sleep recommended by health experts. Most people who sleep substantially less than this experience a variety of unpleasant symptoms. The most common are:
• Headaches
• Mental confusion
• Irritability
• Malaise
• Immune deficiencies
• Depression
• Fatigue
Complete sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations and mental collapse.

The best way to improve sleep involves making lifestyle changes: establish sleep rituals so your nervous system knows when to trigger the sleeping process; take the appropriate nutrients; eliminate caffeine and sugar from your diet; and create a sanctuary for sleeping in your bedroom, avoiding stimulating activities before bed.

Take Control of Your Health
• Accept sleep as essential to wellness
• Prepare for sleep with appropriate rituals
• Take nutrients that nourish sleep:
• Magnesium and biotin (Peaceful Sleep)
• Antioxidants such as CoQ-10, Vitamin C and Vitamin E
• Adaptogens as appropriate
• Create a sleeping sanctuary
• A “stress-free” zone
• Cool, quiet and dark

[BernardMaree]

An Unexpected Source of Energy: Nitrogen

Everyone creates energy. However, not everyone feels energetic.

Merely existing is not enough. Being energetic, feeling a zest for life – this is a much better way to live. It’s having the resources you need to accomplish whatever you want: to make your dreams come true, or for the smaller tasks of the day. Feeling energetic inspires optimism and healthy self-esteem. Feeling energetic makes you happy and gives you hope.

Real energy
Real energy is more than just a passing mood. It’s a complex series of biochemical and electrical processes. In order for you to feel energetic your body must carry out a long series of interactions, very much like a long line of dominos falling over in the right sequence. Each transaction requires the energy from the previous domino, and donates energy to the next domino in line. The end result contributes to the way you feel and your ability to live the life of your dreams.

The first step in the production of energy is eating the basic nutrients: sugars, proteins and fats. Sugars provide a rapid but brief donation of energy. Proteins donate five times more energy than sugar. Fats donate eight times more! These three nutrients make up the basis for energy production and the basis for your future wellness. This makes the selection of your foods very important, so choose them well.

The nitrogen cycle
To make energy from protein we must first process it through the nitrogen cycle. You may remember that the air we breathe is about 78 percent nitrogen. Bacteria in the soil “fix” nitrogen into the earth to grow healthy plants (so does lightning). Fertilizers are mostly made of nitrogen. Without it, plants will not grow and humans cannot process protein; nitrogen is a very important basic building block of life.

We get nitrogen from eating fruits and vegetables. We can also get it from whole-food supplements such as Adaptogen 10 Plus. In our body, nitrogen is stable as nitrate and active as nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is probably the most important source of energy for the heart, vascular system and immune system. Nitric oxide interacts with CoEnzyme Q-10 (CoQ-10) to produce energy inside each and every one of our body’s millions of cells. In fact, the death of each cell occurs because nitric oxide and CoQ-10 cannot balance the cell’s energy.

Protein and nitrogen needs
We need about 50 to 65 grams of protein each day (about 1/3 gram of protein per pound of body weight). However, we can only digest about 25 grams at a time (the amount that fills the palm of your hand). One reason for this is that we have only a limited reservoir of nitrogen. As mentioned, we get nitrogen from eating fruits and vegetables, but, like many important nutrients, we cannot store it. Since processing protein will use up large amounts of available nitrogen, we need to replace it by eating more fruits and vegetables. So, if we want energy from protein, we simply must eat our fruits and vegetables.

Nitrogen is also manufactured by bacteria in the human body. So, this is why probiotics and enzymes are needed − they also help convert protein into energy through the nitrogen cycle. TriVita’s Digestive Complex serves to encourage healthy bacteria in the gut for protein metabolism and increased energy.

The nitrogen danger
There is a dark side to protein metabolism that’s found in a particular form of nitrogen: ammonia. Excess ammonia may be formed in our body and brain if we eat protein but do not have enough nitrogen to complete the energy process. This is often seen in people who experience bloating or uncomfortable fullness after a healthy, protein-rich meal. It may also be seen in those who experience excessive fatigue after a meal.

The remedy is to encourage protein digestion with probiotics (as found in Digestive Complex). We can also eat extra servings of fruit and vegetables. Plus, supplements can provide a lot of help. I would suggest one serving of Adaptogen 10 Plus and CoQ-10 at each meal until the fatigue eases and vibrant energy replaces it!

Take Control of Your Health

• Eat enough high-quality protein every day
  • One-third of your body weight in grams daily
  • Never more than 25 grams per meal
• Eat enough nitrogen (fruits and vegetables) every day
  • 5 servings for children
  • 7 servings for women
  • 9 servings for men
  • Adaptogen 10 Plus as a supplement
• Encourage healthy bacteria
  • Eat fermented foods such as olives, kimchee, sauerkraut, yogurt, pickles and pickled mushrooms often
  • Take probiotics (Digestive Complex)

[BernardMaree]

Causes of Hidden Inflammation

Inflammation is the number one medical issue facing people in North America today. There are four sources of inflammation and each one requires a pretty lengthy explanation. Rather than presenting our Weekly Wellness Report as an exhaustive list of “what may go wrong” I would like to cover:
1. The major categories of inflammation
2. How you can protect yourself
3. Nutrients you can use to help reduce inflammation

Cause #1: Toxins
Toxins cause inflammation by penetrating healthy tissue in your body and hiding there. Your immune system knows they are there and responds with acute inflammation to eradicate them – even killing healthy cells to get rid of the toxins. Toxins create death when more cells die in a single day than your body can replace with healthy cells.

Sometimes this happens very quickly, as with infection from the H1-N1 flu epidemic. The virus inhabits the lungs and airways. Your body responds with immune cells which douse the viral toxin with inflammation. So many lung cells are killed in the process that the host simply can’t replace the sick, toxic cells with new, healthy cells and the patient dies.

Sometimes toxins kill more slowly, as with air pollution causing lung cancer. Inflammation kills diseased cells but at such a slow rate that a few replacement cells keep the lungs functioning. However, over time the rate of cell replacement cannot keep up with the rate of cell death and the patient dies of a chronic lung disease such as cancer or emphysema.

Toxins are produced outside our body as well as inside our body. We must insulate ourselves from external toxins and keep our body shiny and clean on the inside through vigorous application of the 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness. Supplements such as Nopalea and Vitamin C can be very helpful in releasing hidden toxins.

Cause #2: Deficiency
Your body must replace millions of cells every hour. Building healthy cells requires that we have healthy building materials in our system all the time: oxygen, water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and many other elements. We must give our body time to rebuild with 7 ½ to 9 hours of peaceful sleep every night.

If any element in your health routine is missing for even a moment, a cell will be created without critical building materials and the cell will be weak. A single weak cell will be eliminated by the acute inflammation of our immune system. However, poor nutrition day after day and poor sleep night after night will create a deficit between the number of healthy cells you have and the number of healthy cells you need to live. Chronic inflammation is the way your body deals with this deficit. It is the seedbed for infection, disease and an early death.

Pay close attention to the 10 Essentials and support your body with Healthy Aging nutrients. A multiple vitamin/mineral supplement, OmegaPrime, Vitamin C and Sublingual B-12 are basics for wellness.

Cause #3: Emotional Distress
Stress describes the forces trying to tear us apart: toxins and deficiencies, gravity and weather, injuries, expectations and time pressures. These are examples of things that pull us apart. The forces trying to pull us back together – homeostasis – are seen in the 10 Essentials: deep breathing, pure water, peaceful sleep, nutritious food, daily activity, emotional and spiritual support.

Emotional distress is based on how we appraise or evaluate changes in our environment. All changes are stressful – even “good” changes such as a raise at work or a new, healthy grandbaby! The changes that threaten our health and create long-term, chronic stress are those that may cause pain or loss to ourselves or to someone we care about, or that may overextend our coping resources.

Support yourself against this dangerous cause of inflammation by creating a healthy community of people around you. Use Healthy Aging supplements to create a solid foundation for coping with daily stress. Especially consider adaptogens to build a bulwark against the onslaught of daily stress from outside, inside your body and even inside your mind.

Cause #4: Injuries and Trauma
Acute inflammation is the normal response to trauma. Acute inflammation is characterized by pain, swelling, redness and heat. Using Quick-Relief Formula and Quick-Relief Gel can expedite the repair process by supporting homeostasis during the early days following an injury. I often see people benefit from taking Quick-Relief capsules (while awake) for three days following an injury. Keep the external region bathed in Quick-Relief Gel during this crisis stage.

OptimaFlex is another excellent source for a more chronic injury. OptimaFlex combined with Nopalea is an excellent combination for the discomfort and loss of mobility that characterizes chronic inflammation.

Conclusion
There are four basic causes of inflammation; therefore, there are four basic causes of chronic disease. Work to insulate yourself from these malevolent influences with appropriate nutrients and emotional/spiritual nurturing and you will improve the quantity and quality of your life!

Take Control of Your Health
• Practice the 10 Essentials each day
• Use Nopalea to detoxify
• Create a nutrient base with Healthy Aging supplements:
• VitaDaily AM/PM
• Sublingual B-12
• Vital C
• OmegaPrime
• Use Adaptogen 10 Plus to thwart stress
• Use the Quick-Relief System for acute injuries, Nopalea and OptimaFlex for chronic injuries

[BernardMaree]

Learn why we consider Vitamin C to be “Vital C”

Would you like to hear something interesting about Vitamin C? Almost all mammals produce Vitamin C as ascorbic acid in their livers. But not humans. In fact, almost all animals in the Animal Kingdom produce Vitamin C every day to maintain their health. Why don’t humans produce Vitamin C? How much Vitamin C do you need to take? What effect does Vitamin C have in your body?

How much Vitamin C do you need?
Let’s answer the easy question first: How much Vitamin C does a person need to take? Well, when animals produce Vitamin C it is according to their needs at that time in their lives. A young dolphin may produce much more Vitamin C than an older sibling or parent. However, all dolphins – and all other animals – produce more Vitamin C when they have an infection, when they are exposed to toxins and when they are under stress.

So, we understand that people need different amounts of Vitamin C at different times in their lives. They also need more Vitamin C when they face challenges to their health and well-being. In past Weekly Wellness Reports, we discussed how a Vitamin C flush can help you determine how much Vitamin C you can use during a given period of your life. The Vitamin C flush was actually recommended by Linus Pauling protégé, Dr. Alfred Libby, and by the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Russell Jaffe. See below for more information on the benefits of the Vitamin C flush.

How your body uses Vitamin C
What does your body do with all that Vitamin C? Well, Vitamin C makes things happen. In the human body, Vitamin C makes almost everything happen!

Bones – All the minerals in your bones require Vitamin C to turn them from lifeless rocks into health-building minerals.

Blood – Your blood needs Vitamin C to convert iron into hemoglobin.

Thyroid – Your thyroid gland needs Vitamin C to convert copper into thyroid enzymes that carry protein.

Collagen – All of the collagen in your skin, gums and the rest of your body requires Vitamin C to convert dead protein from your diet into living tissue. This makes you look good as well as feel good!

Immune system function – Vitamin C activates a certain kind of immune cell called a lymphocyte. Lymphocytes, as the name implies, live mostly in your lymph system. However, they can travel in your bloodstream as well. Lymphocytes that have been activated by your thymus gland can go anywhere in your body to help fight disease. The thymus gland uses Vitamin C to program lymphocytes to search out one specific target and help destroy it.

Antioxidant protection – Vitamin C is also an antioxidant. Your body uses it to make glutathione – the “mother” of all antioxidants. What’s more, all other antioxidants can be refreshed by Vitamin C. Important antioxidants like Vitamins A and E can have their lifespan extended by Vitamin C. Antioxidants protect you from premature aging.

Vitamin C has so many functions that you could spend a lifetime studying this one important vitamin. Do the Vitamin C flush and determine how much Vitamin C you can use each day. I suggest that you repeat this procedure quarterly – at the change of the seasons. You will find your need for Vitamin C will diminish when you eat fresh fruits and vegetables. It will increase when you are under stress or facing illness.

Major Food Sources
.............................................Food Serving size.......Vitamin C content (mg)
Strawberries............................ 1 cup..................... 95
Papaya.................................... 1 cup..................... 85
Kiwi.......................................... 1 medium.............. 70
Orange.................................... 1 medium.............. 70
Pepper, red or green, raw....... ½ cup.................... 65
Broccoli, cooked....................... ½ cup.................... 60
Cantaloupe.............................. ¼ medium............. 60
Kale, cooked............................ 1 cup..................... 55
Brussels sprouts, cooked ........ ½ cup.................... 50
Orange juice............................ ½ cup.................... 50
Pepper, red or green, cooked.. ½ cup.................... 50
Mango...................................... 1 cup..................... 45
Grapefruit................................. ½ medium............. 40
Snow peas, fresh, cooked........ ½ cup.................... 40
Grapefruit juice......................... ½ cup.................... 35
Artichoke, boiled....................... 1 medium.............. 30
Sweet potato, baked with skin. 1 medium.............. 28
Potato, baked with skin............ 1 medium.............. 25
Avocado.................................... 1 medium.............. 24
Pineapple.................................. 1 cup..................... 24
Cauliflower, raw........................ ½ cup.................... 23
Snow peas, frozen, cooked...... ½ cup.................... 20

Source: EBSCO

A final word on Vitamin C
The final question is: Why don’t humans produce Vitamin C like other animals? The answer is, no one knows. What we do know is that people are healthier when they eat Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables. And in this stress-filled, toxic world we have created, more Vitamin C is needed than a depleted diet can provide. This is why we have supplements to help us compensate for the special circumstances we face in today’s world.

Take Control of your Health

• Eat Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables:
  • Sweet and spicy peppers
  • Most fruits, especially berries and citrus
  • Dark green and yellow vegetables
  • Leafy green vegetables
• Eat the right amount:
  • Children: 5 servings of fruit and vegetables
  • Women: 7 servings of fruit and vegetables
  • Men: 9 servings of fruit and vegetables daily
• Remember, cooking destroys Vitamin C
• Take your Healthy Aging supplements
• Do the Vitamin C flush quarterly

[2942043249903]

xiuzhen36sickle25800moxigerizhi360steed5241

[HelenMshines]

So you know how the story goes.. I heard about this stuff from one of the moms on my sons soccer team and since I don't know her that well I figured I'd ask for some reviews. The pictures of what comes out of your colon are almost too wild to be true .. ********www.drnatura*****/picture_gallery.html .. Hopefully I don't have strings of miniature hot dogs coming out of my colon.. I don't feel that clogged... Has anyone personally tried this product?

I'm kind of skeptical about new products because I've tried stuff that doesn't work soo many times. In the last few months I've lost a ton of weight and I'm feeling really energetic lately. While I was losing the weight I was using power cleanse along with acai nutriburst and had amazing results. I'm just thinking that DrNatura might help me flush out anything that power cleanse left behind.. (If there is anything..) You can read my blog post on when I was on the acai berry and power cleanse diet - ********www.helensdiary*****

Also another thing to consider is I'm a lot more active than I was before I lost the weight.. I don't want to have any problems with diarrhea or farting in public.

Thanks in Advance! ;-)
Helen

[BernardMaree]

The Basic Building Blocks of Healthy Aging

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” - Henry David Thoreau

Healthy aging is an important topic for me as I age, and I am sure it is an important topic for you as well; no one wants to be sick as they enter their “wisdom years.” This article is about living long and maintaining optimum health.

Is that possible? Yes, it is! Even though some of our longevity depends on genetics, even more depends on the choices we make every day. Health only comes from healthy living, based on healthy choices. The best possible choices for healthy living today will give us the best chance for healthy aging – and a life filled with vitality instead of disability.

What is aging?
Look around at the wide variety of people you know. Look at the health status of each of them and you will see people of the same chronological age that are far different in their biological age.

We see seniors such as John Glenn who went into space at age 77 and former President George Herbert Walker Bush who went skydiving at age 75 and then again at age 80. Unfortunately, these remarkable people may be the exception to the rule. All you have to do is look around you and see people your own age (and younger) who are already disabled or suffering. Many chronic health concerns may be prevented with just a little care!

So, chronological aging is about the calendar and has nothing to do with our health and vitality. Biological aging is about how healthy we are and how energetic we feel. Whereas we cannot literally “turn the clock back” on chronology, we can often repair and rejuvenate our biology and reduce the speed at which we age.

Learning life’s lessons
If we are observant we can learn from people around us. For instance, don’t you see that non-smokers live longer and healthier (in general) than people who smoke? And don’t you see that people with a strong sense of community are happier and more engaged than people who tend to isolate themselves? So, it is easy for us to learn some of the lessons we need for healthy aging just through observation and common sense.

Other lessons are a little more challenging and we need to look to science and medicine for a healthy perspective. For instance, after decades of admonishing people to “just eat a balanced diet” (whatever that may be), we are now told that everyone should be taking a multiple vitamin. Why? Because science and medicine have observed that the people following the practice of nutrient supplementation are healthier than those who don’t.

So, be quick to learn the lesson of nutrients and nurturing from people around you and from your own experience. Also, set aside time to keep up on current information concerning health and aging.

Healthy aging nutrients

• Multiple vitamin
  Let’s start with a good, food-based multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. Everyone needs one! We need it because even if we eat a perfectly balanced diet, the foods we eat are grown in depleted soil. They simply don’t have the nutrients in them that they once did.
• Vitamin B-12
  We also need Vitamin B-12 in a form that is readily usable by the body. Vitamin B-12 deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in people over 50. Vitamin B-12 deficiency may cause everything from fatigue and grumpiness, to mental confusion and mental exhaustion.
• Vitamin C
  Vitamin C deficiency is the second most common vitamin deficiency among people over 50. It’s also something you should take every day, because your body can’t store Vitamin C. Results of Vitamin C deficiency include a sluggish immune system, poor dental health and easy bruising. Vitamin C helps your skin, bones and blood vessels.
• Omega essential fatty acids
  The most common cause of death in North America is cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association tells us that Omega essential fatty acids can help delay or prevent many heart and vascular diseases. So, Omega oils round out the basic recommendations for healthy aging.

A body deprived of the proper nutrients and nurturing will be more prone to disease and premature aging. Practicing the 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness gives us the healthy habits we need for healthy aging. And supplementing with the right nutrients helps us get what we need to facilitate the replacement of old cells with new healthy cells.

So, the choice is always yours. But remember, the clock is ticking...

Take Control of Your Health

• Learn, live and share the 10 Essentials for Health and Wellness
• Engage your community; volunteer often
• Take your healthy aging supplements: a multiple vitamin/mineral, Sublingual B-12, Vitamin C, OmegaPrime
• Learn more about healthy aging with our audio books. Call our Wellness Consultants at 1-800-991-7116 to order.