Newsletter

PROBIOTICS ARE IN THE NEWS….AND IN THE STORES

So what are they?  In the human body there are billions of microorganisms, most of which reside in the colon.  While some of these organisims are helpful, others can create havoc.  Troubled by….gas?  bloating?  constipation?  diarrhea?  lactose intolerance?  “cold-like symptoms”?  You could probably benefit from the good bacteria in probiotics.

Eighty percent of the human immune system IS in the colon.  So if the immune system is compromised due to chronic illness or the use of antibiotics, the use of probiotics does seem to repair the damage restoring the immune system to balance.  Probiotics can help the natural flora (good bacteria) to keep the body in balance.

Waseca Integrative Therapy at Healing Hands carries a variety of quality probiotics.  Remember, your health choices are your decision and your health IS your greatest asset.

 

LET’S CUT THE SALT

Scientists have been trying to get our attention for awhile about the hazards of salt.  We’ve been warned about the high blood pressure and salt link.  Did you know that high salt intake increases calcium and protein loss in the urine?  Is it possible THAT could be a contributing factor to osteoporosis or kidney disease as well as heart disease?

Pay attention to labels and beware of hidden salt!   Look for sodium content.

For example:  many brands of poultry are saturated with salt which can greatly increase your daily intake.  No need to add more.

If you get take out food or purchase pre-packaged specialty foods…consider adding fresh or frozen vegetables, beans, quinoa noodles or brown rice to diffuse the salt content.

Get into HERBS!  Too many of us limit seasonings to salt and pepper.  Try Braggs Liquid Amonos or Tamari sausce as sodium alternatives when cooking from “scratch”. 

(Taken from Nutrition Action, April 2010.

Ask Not What the Flu Can do to You…But What You Can do to Skip The Flu!

Your best defense against any acute viral illness (including H1N1 Swine Flu) remains:

1       Make yourself strong.  Whole food nutrition, lots of pure water everyday; routine exercise and a clean work and home environment

2      Cleanliness.  The best defense remains good handwashing.  A thorough hand washing should take at least 13 seconds to scrub and    rinse.   (Sing  I’m A Little Teapot) to time yourself.

3       Be Prepared!  If you develop early flu symptoms you might be able to avert the illness by taking a natural remedy called Oscillococcinum.  Another effexctive anti-viral is Monolaurin.  Both of these products are available at Healing Hands and you’ll be glad you have them in your medicine cabinet if flu symptoms show up!

Food Rehab?  In “The End of Overeating”, author David Kessler suggests the following:

  • Replace chaos with structure.  Determine ahead of time what you will eat for meals and snacks.  (Block out everything else!)
  • Practice just right eating.  (Chew.  How much food do you need?  Eat.  Wait 20 minutes before choosing to eat more)
  • Pick foods that will satisfy, not stimulate you.  (Sugar, fat, salt vs. dark greens & whole foods.  Drink BETWEEN means)
  • Rehearse.  Play mind games lke an athlete before a competition.  (If I encounter a gooey sugary substance….I’ll keep onwalking; or, is this something I’d feed my pet?  Would my car run well on this?)
  • Sieze control!  Recognize emotions that might contribute to evereating (sadness, fatigue, anxiety)
  • Stop that thought!  (Change the channel.  Turn off the image of trigger food before you start to debate whether to eat it)
  • Think negative!  (Pair the unhealthy food with a stream of unhealthy imaes.  Flip side of linking an Olympic athlete to a pair of shoes, or an attractive female to a new car or piece of technology)

July/August ‘09 Nutrition Action cover story is about why people overeat!  Who knows?  According to David Kessler, former commissioner of the FDA, the food industry knows!!

In his book, “The End of Overeating”, Kessler reports that when suger is combined with a fat, lab rats will work twice as hard to get the “food”.  He adds that complex or “multi-sensory food” is even  more difficult to resist!  Kessler reports that the average weight for women between age 20 and 29 in 1960 was 128 pounds and by the year 2000, it had reached 157 pounds.  For women between 40 and 49 the weight moved from an average of 140 pounds to 169 pounds during the same time period.   Weight loss schemes do not work because ….we do no fully understand why eating certain foods make us want to eat more of them.  What captures our attention and why?  Is it a memory, a smell, an experience?  Why do we eat what we eat when we eat?

Most of us agree that excess weight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, gallbladder disease, arthritis, etc.  So why do we continue to crave and eat foods we know are not healthy and nutritious?  Interestingly enough, when we omit them from our die t for 10 eays it becomes much easier to resist them!  That is what the 90 Days to Better Health program at Waseca Integrative Therapy works to address.  Is it possible to get this under control?  Yes!  Contact Jane Coleman for an assessment today.

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Did you know that osteoporosis drugs actually contribute to weak and brittle bones?  Susan Lark, MD writes in Women’s Wellness Today that bisphosphaes do nothing to build new bone.  Bones become visibly denser, however, that denseness is composed of old, weak, brittle bone tissue.  Dr. Lark has been delivering this warning for yeas and hopes that more people will heed her advice.

What can we do to prevent bone loss and build bone?  Weight bearing exercises, Spring Forest Qigong (exercise and meditation) minimize stgress, learn to balance your pH, learn about proper food combining.  More alkaline systems function better.  Try the 90 Days to Better Health program.  It is a fact that people who completed the Coleman Spring Forest Qigong and Chronic Pain study were able to decrease blood pressure and thyroid medication as well as pain medication.  One person reported a measurable increase in bone density.   There are healthy alternatives to taking drugs for osteoporosis.

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