”Mom, I’ve Never Had a Sore Throat Like This Before!”

That Thursday morning, I woke up my son at six o’clock in the morning as usual. Even in the dark of the room, with only little brightness from the night light in the hall, I noticed right away how pale he was. In the next moment he clutched his throat and could barely whisper: “Mom, I’ve never had a sore throat like this before!”

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.dariasworld.info/never_had_a_sore_throat_like_this_before.htm

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Disadvantages of Using Tap Water for a Drinking and Cooking Supply

Water is the most abundant and the most important medium on Earth as well as in the human body. Because water is universal solvent, all the other substances are found in it, dissolved to different degrees and that is why pure water can not be found in nature. Mineral content of natural waters (and waters in our bodies) varies.

Water is fundamental to all the living creatures and in human body it is the primary component of every bodily fluid and involved in almost every bodily function.

Water requirements depend on our diet, activity level and climate in which we reside.
Regardless of our personal water requirements and geographical location of our residence - how to keep water clean and safe (how to heal polluted bodies of water) for human consumption should become everybody’s concern because there is no optimum health without clean water.

Most of the tap water in U.S. comes from surface sources (rivers, streams and lakes) and the rest is from groundwater (subterranean reservoirs). Water from both sources (surface and subterranean) most likely contains many environmental pollutants: animal wastes, local fertilizers (i.e. nitrates), insecticides, industrial chemicals and wastes, air pollutants (i.e. lead and radon), toxic organic chemicals, petroleum spills.

All the city tap water is treated in local treatment plants which in many cases use an obsolete process of settling tanks, filtration through sand and gravel and adding chemicals to purify the water for human consumption.

After the treatment our “drinking” water might contain all or most of the following, most likely hazardous chemical additives: chlorine (to kill the germs), fluoride (to prevent tooth decay), calcium hydroxide or other alkaline substances (to change pH of the water and prevent pipes from corroding).

Unfortunately, all of these processes may still not clean up the water of all the environmental pollutants.

To make things worse, chlorine and other chemicals are likely to react with other organic chemicals in the water and form new substances that may act as carcinogens. Even some water pipes might contribute toxic chemicals or metals.

It doesn’t come as surprise that bottled water is one of the fastest growing businesses all around the world. Anyhow, the synthetic materials, used for manufacturing of plastic bottles are also a growing concern, so - home-filtered tap water (using solid carbon filtration) is at the moment our safest source of fresh drinking and cooking water.

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Bankruptcy: Adding Insult to Illness and Injury

“Debt can feel like the heaviest burden in life.” ~ Suze Orman

Declaring bankruptcy is a very serious action with stressful consequences even beyond the challenges of life before filing for bankruptcy and credit repair after bankruptcy. Unfortunately, this still seems to be the only way out of debt for millions of American families every year.

It is especially shocking that the major cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills. And even more shocking is the fact that most of those forced into bankruptcy by medical expenses actually had medical insurance!

Modern medicine is becoming more and more expensive for patients due to hi-tech procedures and methods of medication, vaccination, surgeries and diagnostics. In fact, it is becoming financially more and more difficult to afford advanced treatments for the majority of the population. In addition, many times unexpected or unpredictable side-effects are on the increase, which simply means extended care and more expenses.

Traps of Health Insurances

And if it is not enough to become seriously ill or injured, unable to work, with job and income in jeopardy, it also seems like the health insurance companies do not really stand by their clients’ side when most needed. Too many times an insured individual doesn’t even realize the extent of uncovered medical conditions until the doctor’s office/hospital checks the insurance policy and starts sending bills.

And it doesn’t really make any difference if you were paying your premiums for decades and never used your insurance to cover a medical bill before. Clever rules (hidden in fine print), including high co-payments and deductibles the health insurance companies use, are written not just to make a decent return, but to make vast profits for medical insurance providers, not to support the insured and their families in times of need.

At the same time, approximately 9 million children in the United States are uninsured. Parents do not take them to the doctor at the first signs of disease because they are afraid of the cost. In some cases, the child’s illness worsens to the point where the parent is forced to miss work or even quit a job to nurse the child until it gets well again.

Unfortunately, nursing a family member (by a family member) back to health does not help this family’s financial health in any way.In short, one can lose everything because of illness in the richest country in the world – and the only advanced country with no universal health insurance. That is not very likely to happen in Canada or Europe, where medical insurance is separated from employment.

Major Cause of Bankruptcy

Several studies show that medical expenses are a major cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. not just among the poor, but also among the middle and working class – families who often have medical insurance. For most uninsured the insurance premiums are simply unaffordable.

Since a bankruptcy stays on one’s credit report for a decade, it makes other payments like mortgage and car insurance more expensive or even out of the reach, and makes applying for another (much needed) job much harder. Many debtors continue having troubles paying their mortgage or rent and utility bills, all that mirroring in emotional and financial exhaustion.

“During the two years before filing 40.3 percent had lost telephone service; 19.4 percent had gone without food; 53.0 percent had gone without needed doctor or dentist visits because of the cost; and 43.0 percent had failed to fill a prescription, also because of the cost. Medical debtors experienced more problems in access to care than other debtors did; three-fifths went without a needed doctor or dentist visit, and nearly half failed to fill a prescription.” (David Himmelstein, Health Tracking Marketwatch)

The Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was supposed to prevent abusive bankruptcies. What it really did was make the filing process harder. “Harder not just in terms of requirements, but in also that filing became harder to afford.” (Gayle Ronan, MSNBC.com)

According to Boohaker (bankruptcy attorney and a certified financial planner) ‘the biggest misperception surrounding bankruptcy remains that bankruptcy is a lifestyle choice overspending consumers use to absolve themselves of debt obligations so they can spend anew.’ She says that typically, ‘any excessive use of credit occurs after a catastrophic event like a divorce, job loss or medical issue sends them scrambling to pay bills.

’These unhappy events are not something anybody wants in their life but they do happen at least once in a lifetime to most people. Therefore, an act, even though it dictates protection in its title, is not really protecting or helping the ones who are unfortunate enough to need the help.

Alternatives

In Western societies most people believe that the health-care system is accountable for responding and taking care in times of uneasiness or disorder. These so-called modern civilizations were training their citizens for centuries to become more and more dependent on different institutions and medical care is no exception.

Luckily, there are still different choices available to anyone who is open for possibilities and willing to take charge and responsibility.Naturopathic and holistic health procedures are a lot more user-friendly and by far cheaper than traditional biomedicine’s ones.

They take into account the whole life-style (body – mind approach) which means the improvement of our eating and exercising habits, the elimination of addictions and the adoption of a healthier attitude toward life. This alternative approach to wellness can greatly reduce if not completely eliminate most disorders. It’s easy to find the best providers: just ask at your local health-food store.

For those who are ready to take charge of their lives completely, some more research in the area of ‘working with the Secret’ or the ‘Healing Codes’ would be something to look into. Choose to live your life the way you want and at the same time be happy and healthy, without being dependent on any-one or any-thing – whenever possible.

Sources:
1. Orman, Suze, The Ultimate Protection Portfolio – Credit: Cards, Records, and Debt. Carlsbad, California: Hay House, Inc., 2003. 45 pages
2. Mitchell, Stewart. A Practical Guide to Naturopathy. London, UK: Vermilion, 2001. 146 pages
3. Himmelstein, David. "Health Tracking Marketwatch." Health Affairs. 2 February 2005. Project HOPE–The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc. . 3 Jan 2007 .
4. Ronan, Gayle B.. "Bankruptcy is no longer a financial lifeline." MSNBC.com. 2 November, 2006. MSNBC.com. 3 Jan 2007 .

Which Water Filtration System to Choose?

Necessity of Filtering

Most of America's tap waters are not very healthy. According to Elson M. Haas, M.D., "Many local treatment plants use a very old process of settling tanks, filtration through sand and gravel, and then chemicals to clean up the water so it is fit for human consumption."

Chemicals and minerals, used for "purification" by treatment plants, may not clear from drinking water pollutants like animal wastes, fertilizers and insecticides, chemicals from tons of drugs, flushed down the toilet, industrial chemicals and wastes, lead and radon - besides recent concerns: asbestos and uranium.

Unlike some other countries, in which the biggest threat is infectious water (polluted by bacteria), our main concerns are toxic chemical and farming wastes, and heavy metals - all the results of modern technology.

At the same time, adding fluoride (which does prevent tooth decay but also causes serious health problems), is still in use while European countries removed fluoride from water years ago, after studying the consequences closely.

Home Water Purification/Filtration

Water purification means removing of contaminants from water to produce drinking water. By law, "purifier" has to remove 99.75 percent of incoming bacteria. A few millions of home water filters are sold every year in U.S. alone and there are several different water filter systems to choose from.

Boiling of water destroys most of the microorganisms but does not remove technological wastes or heavy metals.

Different Kinds of Drinking Water Filters and what They (don't) Do

Granulated Activated Carbon (activated charcoal, active coal) has a large surface on which contaminants from the water attach themselves. Active carbon can only filter cold water and is relatively effective in removing larger bacteria and microorganisms, chemicals, and toxic minerals with higher molecular weights. Activated loose carbon filters are not very highly recommended by leading nutritionists because they might collect bacteria and dump them back into the water. Although granulated carbon filters are economical, they are short-lived and their safety uncertain.

Solid Carbon Block water filter does not breed bacteria and traps more pollutants than granulated carbon filter. To prevent dumping bacteria and chemicals back into the water, they need to be changed regularly. Solid carbon block purifiers are economical, effective and highly recommended by leading nutritionists also because they leave in the water natural trace elements, beneficial to our body.

Reverse Osmosis water filtration is considered by many to be the most effective way of purifying drinking water. The pores in special membranes let pass through water molecules but stop larger, organic and inorganic materials. This process under pressure is followed by carbon filter and basically all the organic particles are removed along with almost all the minerals.

Distillation means turning water into steam first and in the separate chamber cooling it down and turn back into liquid. This procedure supposedly removes all the chemicals, minerals and organisms from the water. Although, there are many concerns regarding distillation. One of them is that regular intake of distilled water can cause mineral deficiencies. In addition, pre-filtering by solid carbon is necessary - to remove evaporating chemicals. On top of everything, distillers are quite expensive and inefficient.

Clean water is the essence of life and our ultimate human right. Therefore, we should know what our drinking water contains to make quality decision about proper filtration or proper water source.

Solid carbon block filter seems like our best choice. It's cost effective and removes out of our tap water most of bacteria, chlorine and other chemicals. But only reverse osmosis also removes fluoride ions.

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Mineral Waters – What Are They?

In nature, most waters are mineral waters because they contain minerals. In sales, on the other hand, every country has its own regulations to define which waters can be considered and sold as bottled mineral waters.

Generally speaking, mineral waters contain different kinds of minerals, trace elements and gases. Minerals in water give it its taste and sometimes therapeutic value. Often, natural mineral waters can be effervescent which means that in water dissolved gas is escaping from the liquid with fizz. When this is the case, water is sometimes called sparkling mineral water or natural sparkling water.

Mineral waters can also be created, by adding minerals and carbonation. Seltzer is any water with added carbon dioxide. Club soda usually also has minerals added in addition to carbonation. Both are filtered tap waters.

Researches on heart diseases and cancer show that healthy water is the one that is relatively hard and high in total dissolved solids (TDS). Distilling, de-ionization and reverse osmosis units remove during the purification process the harmful agents as well as beneficial minerals.

According to Dr. John Sorenson, leading authority in the area of mineral metabolism, "Minerals in drinking water are more easily and better absorbed than minerals from food."

Minerals are essential in optimal mental and physical health but our body cannot make any. Wholesome foods, like fruits and vegetables, grown in rich soil containing all the nutritious minerals, are our best source, along with clean, hard water. Processed, hi-sugar and refined foods, caffeine and alcohol deplete body of its minerals.

Experts of course disagree about benefits of mineral water. One of the objectives is that minerals in water are not easily absorbed in the body. Also, the elements contained in every mineral spring water should be closely monitored for contaminants like asbestos and uranium.
Unfortunately, the existing labeling on water bottles does not yet give enough information to consumers.

While in U.S. advertising of mineral water as beneficial to your health is against the law, the story is way different in Europe. Mineral water spas have many centuries long tradition and they are used for therapy and rehabilitation as one's own choice as well as prescribed by conventional medical doctors (and mainly paid by health insurance).

The best and safest mineral water bottle is, like all safe containers, made out of glass.

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The Role of Nutrition in Prevention of Illness and Health Maintenance

"Given the history of Western medicine to date, many people seek empowerment in the health care of themselves and their families; nutrition is really basic component of preventive medicine and also an area that can be effective in corrective medicine for many common health problems." *

Nutrition is a basic element of health and should not be overlooked during disease. Some well renowned practitioners state that every disease is a result of improper dietary habits.

Because of the rapid increase in cost of medical care and desire to live longer and healthier, higher and higher percentage of the population is becoming concerned about nutrition and maintaining their health. Without a doubt, nutrition plays a big role here.

Proper nutrition and regular physical activity can help us avoid taking drugs or even have surgeries to correct the results of fast-paced, fast-food consuming, multitasking life with no exercising.

Healthy dietary habits (the way we eat) are the foundation of healthy nutrition. Choosing nourishing (whole, unprocessed, without chemical additives) foods alone is not enough.
Simpler meals (with specific combination of foods for better digestion and absorption) are becoming the top-choice of many, who are oriented toward optimum health.

However, the factors that are often overlooked, but just as important in healthy nutrition are:

~the way our food is prepared and served,
~the time of the day when we eat,
~the setting in which we eat and
~how we feel when we eat.

The way of the Western world is that poor nutrition is readily available everywhere, any time and cheap. Farmers' markets and health-food stores, on the other hand, are harder to find in some areas. In the end, all comes down to common sense. Our body is sending us messages all the time and if we would only learn to listen to these messages again, there would be no need whatsoever for trying out all the countless diets which don't work.

So, even though our biofeedback is a perfect messenger, we tend to override the signals and follow heavily advertised addictions. This kind of behavior affects the way we feel now, as well as over the long term. Being overweight is mostly the result of poor nutrition and low activity level.

The only way to lose extra pounds permanently is to change the lifestyle. Choosing less fattening foods is a good choice, but not sufficient. Because certain emotions and fear of creativity and change also promote unhealthy (over)eating habits, we need to choose personal growth (over addictions), decide what we want and stay focused on our goals.

Dietary habits and eating patterns from our family's traditions affect us all in our young age. As adults, however, we are making our own choices and decisions and we should keep asking ourselves why we're doing the things we do - and keep the answers in our sight.

When body is in a detoxification stage (like during cold or flu when bowels, secreting cells and mucous membranes become more active), it is simply trying to eliminate the buildup of toxins we consumed throughout the longer period of time. Eating lightly (especially fruits and vegetables) and drinking more liquids (clean, fresh water and herbal teas), supports the cleansing process.

Our dietary needs are changing with the seasons of the year as well as with our age. Growing children need richer diet to construct and expand tissues. When we stop growing physically, we only need to maintain our body, which calls for lighter, fiber and nutrient rich natural foods. As we age even more and our metabolism slows down, our food requirements decrease further.

Just like fitness activity is equally important at any age, so is the low level of stress. While under stress, our body may not digest and absorb the necessary nutrients so well and sometimes the additional supplements are needed.

When we lose our appetite in response to the stressful situation, that is a very helpful reaction. As mentioned before, in stressful times our body does not process foods so well. Not eating will allow us to "hear" better what the only body we have for this life, is signaling us, and explore our feelings.

Human body needs food as a source of energy and as a fuel to maintain life. It is quite obvious that nutrition plays a major role in health as well as sickness. Fortunately, there are more and more practitioners available who are nutritionists. There are also more and more choices of wholesome, nutritious foods offered online and in the brick-and-mortar stores. Information is plentiful. But it's up to us to decide to do and choose what's best.

*Haas, M.D., Elson M.. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. 1. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992.

15 to 20 Minute Workout Versus Exercising for an Hour

Long Workout

Exercise programs that last for an hour or even longer per session seem to be a waste of time for many people who try to establish their workout routine. Many get bored of their exercise machines and routines pretty soon and that is just one of the strong reasons to drop-out of the vast workout plan.

"Look, we've been led to believe that, for some unknown reason, a 'workout' needs to last an hour or it's not worth doing at all.

That's nonsense!

In fact, of the many thousands of clients that I've worked with personally or through my company, I've found that those who are investing this much time are very often getting LESS of a result than those who are training for shorter periods." (Dax Moy, UK's premier personal trainer)

As soon as your long workout program starts feeling like a chore, suffering, stale or plain boring, there's a good chance you'll start looking for excuses to skip your next training.

If, on the other hand, you're enjoying your chosen long exercising activities and they don't feel like an obligation, go for it - there's no need to limit your workout time!

Short, Intense Exercise Workout

To most people, not having time to exercise for an hour, sounds quite reasonable. May-be that lack of time is not even the real reason to avoid fitness activity. But 15 to 20 minute workout can not become a time concern.

Choose to exercise shorter, more intensely. Use different sets of exercises and switch them around to avoid getting bored of them.

It is possible to enjoy your home exercise without any exercise equipment or workout clothes!
This can be an entirely free workout routine because you can exercise in your jammies, at home.
A good set of exercises will stretch every muscle in your body and if you primarily train to lose weight, you might choose the meltdown exercises.

Short routine makes it easier to enjoy every move, to stay focused and to feel every muscle that stretches.

To make things even better, appreciate and be grateful for your every breath and every sip of clean, fresh water and you'll be well on your way to new you, fit and healthier.

Copyright © 2007 Daria Perse. All rights reserved.

Linden Flowers Tea for More Warmth in Your Body and Your Soul

My grandfather was the biggest linden expert I’ve ever met in my life. In my memories, I can still see him, standing in the front yard, smoking his ever present pipe and looking with love and admiration upwards, in the greenness of the linden tree, growing above the road passing by, in the curve of the driveway.

After a few minutes of observation and several neatly shaped clouds of smoke, he would tell me how many days before the linden flowers are going to be ready for picking and drying - for year-round supply of delicious tea that (at least in my experience) provides more warmth to your body than any other herbal tea.

The picking of the linden flowers took a few days and he would always start on the south side, where the leaves reached that mature golden color which meant they were filled with sunshine to the max and ripe, first.

Drying was also a delicate process because my grandfather wanted to keep every fragile linden flower whole, without crumbling. Just with as much caring attention as he was paying to the linden tree before picking the flowers, he was now supervising the drying process.

I am quite sure that winter was my grandfather’s favorite time of the year. Small farm was a lot of hard work from dawn till sunset. Only in winter he was able to sit next to the welcoming wood-burning stove, smiling while reading an article about a distant country in the newspaper and enjoying a cup of his linden flowers tea.

This memory leaves me wondering if my grandfather was smiling like that because he was cozy and warm, because the newspaper story reminded him of something pleasant, or was it the mildly sweet taste of home-grown and home-made linden flowers tea that was making him feel so happy and relaxed.

Copyright © 2007 by Daria Perse. All rights reserved.

Clean, Fresh Water – Essential Nutrient for Life

By far the largest percent of human body's volume consists of water, which is also the solvent for all soluble essentials that maintain life and enable cell and tissue growth. Water is present in almost every process in the body, helps to eliminate toxins out of your body, helps regulate the temperature of the body, lubricates and cushions joints, keeps our skin healthy and more.

Water requirements are different from person to person. It's obvious that we need more water when engaged in physical activities or if we live in hot climate. The quantity of water our body needs also depends on our diet.

The rule of thumb used to be eight (8 oz.) glasses of water per day or 1 quart (1 liter) for every fifty pounds of weight. Lately, Dr. Mercola and other practitioners recommend obeying your thirst and watching the color of your urine, which is supposed to be very light-yellow (unless you're taking riboflavin - vitamin B2).

Clean water is a must for optimum health and bottled water recently grew into a major industry. Consequently, several companies are competing in offers of designer waters, fluoridated waters, spring waters, flavored waters, juice waters, vitamin enriched waters and the list goes on and on.
It's no surprise that consumers are confused and many times choose (in good faith of buying healthy liquid) waters that might do more bad than good to their body.

Like, for instance, fluoridated water which causes fluorosis (excessive fluoride gets incorporated in the structure of the bones and teeth), especially in children. Or water bottles made of polycarbonate plastics which can leach an unsafe chemical called BPA into supposedly clean water - to mention just a couple.

So, what is the safe, healthy solution?

The only water we should be drinking is clean, spring water and filtered water. When bottled, glass bottles are the best. At home, home filtering system is the most cost effective and safest way to provide good drinking water. Well water source should be analyzed for bacteria, minerals and organic chemical pollutants before using it freely, with no filtration.

A Cup of Tea to Nurture Your Body and Lose a Pound or Two

Even though a soothing cup of tea is a perfect treat any time of the year, the beginning of the season of the cold, short, sun-lacking days is especially good time to pamper yourself with a cup of hot tea and even better, try a new taste.

Think of it not just as an intake of hot liquid but more as a relaxing therapy, which will feel good to your body with the welcoming warmth, your mind because you're doing something kind for yourself and taking some quiet time off, as well as your soul. If you're not able to quiet your mind's chatter and completely and exclusively enjoy the aroma, color and taste of your chosen tea, then try to smile and recall a pleasant memory.

Another smart benefit of enjoying a cup of tea is here for you to use if you don't mind losing a pound or two. When you feel hungry, brew a cup of your favorite tea, sit down and enjoy it as described in the previous paragraph. For a few minutes stop working, talking on the phone, answering emails and foremost, thinking angry or any other negatively-charged thoughts. If you really have to think, at least focus on what you really want in your life.

However, it is very important that you really enjoy your cup of tea or you might not even notice that you've consumed anything. On the other hand, if you pay attention, that one cup of pleasantly tasting, warm liquid will feel you up and you can go on for a few more hours doing what you're doing without stuffing your body with some highly processed boxed-or-bagged food that lacks all of the nourishing ingredients.

Naturopathy - The Five Basic Principles

Advantages and Disadvantages

The basic principles of naturopathy are slightly different than other common recommendations for healthy living. Naturopathy was rediscovered in 19th century by the people who couldn't agree with traditional medical practices. At the time, regaining health with the minimum of doctoring, using diet, exercise, bathing and massage was officially declared as ‘ungodly' or ‘unscientific'...

Modern medicine evolved relatively recently in the evolution of mankind. Its therapeutic goal is to eliminate the symptoms. Decidedly, in this short period of time of its existence, it became so influential that is now the conventional way of healing all around the world.

This modern (biomedicine) approach assumes that one's body becomes ill because of outside virulent attacks and uses medicines, vaccines, surgical and other hi-tech procedures to fight and remove the symptoms.

In spite of all the sophisticated technological methods of diagnosing and treating diseases, the lifestyle disorders are becoming a major health issue and modern medicine appears to be ineffective and even handcuffed in addressing them.

Therefore, public's leaning against more natural methods and taking charge of responsibility for one's own health is about to become prevailing.

Five Basic Principles

*Healthy Eating
According to the philosophy of naturopathy, our health is determined by nutrition. Failing to thrive in gardening, caring for domestic animals and farm livestock is also an outcome of unfit nourishment.

*Fasting
Reducing our concentrated (energy) food intake completely or partially when we feel ill is supposed to have several benefits. The strength gained from fasting is hormonal - a natural anti-inflammatory response. Fasting helps increase the hormonal strength (body's natural anti-inflammatory reaction). Drinking easy digestible raw food juices is recommended.

*Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is the external use of water to treat injury and illness. For example: bathing hands and feet in cool water might help you become more relaxed for sleep.

*Self Massage
Daily self massage of face and abdomen is easy to do and pleasing. You can trade the lower back and shoulder massage with a friend or spouse. For muscle and joint disorders, seek professional help.

*Gentle Exercise
Naturopathy states that problems of pasture and movement are mostly the result of underuse or abuse. Gentle exercising like yoga is beneficial both physically and mentally.

Being well is an intimate sensation and taking care of our wellness should start on a personal level. Instead, we became so dependent on the health-care system that we simply expect an institution to take-over and fix the problem almost every time our organs communicate disarray - without even considering other options.

But I firmly believe that in the future more and more people will be turning to their inner selves, learn to love and respect their bodies, listen to their bodies and take proper care of them, enjoy healthy foods and re-discover how to shine and express their individual uniqueness in contribution to the world.

Simple Living Guide: An Essential Ingredient of Healthy Dieting

It happens to be quite overwhelming nowadays to choose the right diet for ourselves when we start to feel like we need one. There are so many offers out there (diets are obviously a big business) that one can easily feel confused and lost among the loads of information bombarding us via all sorts of media’s advertising.

This writing is not a dieting tip and does not recommend a new (or tested) dieting program. I am not here to persuade you how a certain dieting food works great for weight loss dieting, in case of weight-gain caused by hormonal imbalance or even explain what a healthy dieting is.

Personally, I prefer natural methods and natural foods (my ideal is to grow and eat my own home-grown fruits and veggies). But even in the area of more holistically-oriented pursuits, there are different trends, healing methods and philosophies. Luckily, the natural methods don’t differ that much and have some basic principles in common.

My gut’s feeling tells me that we should learn from the famous physicians and researchers, their studies and experiences with the patients. But at the same time, whatever diet or detox program we decide on, it’s best when customized for us and especially - is user-friendly.

Whenever we introduce some drastic changes to our eating habits that better be done under the professional’s supervision. The step-by-step changes like staying away from sugar, alcohol or cigarettes (one at the time) are safe to try on your own. However, any support you can get in breaking these kinds of addictions might greatly improve your chances for success.

So, no matter what kind of diet and nutrition you choose for yourself, there’s one essential ingredient of every healthy dieting and applies to any kind of dieting: Always listen to your body.

Since there is no such thing as universal cure or universal diet, the smart choice would be to use your body as a guide. According to Deepak Chopra, M.D. the Eskimos get rotten teeth, hardening of the arteries and bad tempers if you give them fruits and vegetables (considered the healthiest foods in western societies).

Your body is your best friend, teacher and guide. It keeps "talking" to us, using the variety of sensations. It keeps teaching us what’s good for us - if only we would listen… Nevertheless, there is one simple, two-step way to start listening (and act accordingly) again:

1. Simply pay attention to how you feel an hour or two after eating a certain food.

2. Observe how you feel in the morning when on a new diet.

Paying attention, listening and observing to what our body is communicating to us is the most reliable way to avoid the dangers of dieting whether you adopt the blood type diet, famous "Shore" one, "Jessica’s" or any other. The one rule to follow in decision-making is: select the diet program that is tolerable in your current situation, lifestyle and wellness.

Nutrition: Nourish Your Body and Reduce Digestive Problems - 4 Basic Principles

An easy plan can implement your everyday eating habits and greatly improve the whole eating and digesting experience:

1. Take your time and focus on the food you're eating
2. Enjoy your food no matter what it is
3. Take really small bites and - finally -
4. Chew well

Even if you spend a really short time for your meal, paying attention to what you're doing/eating is very important. All of a sudden you will notice that what you're consuming actually has a taste, a smell and a texture. While paying attention, try to notice the aroma and the colors of your dishes. Go ahead and relish every single quality that's offered to you in a form of a food.

Taking small bites definitely means that you'll eat less than you would while stuffing yourself somewhere on-the-go. This way of eating makes you feel full faster. If you’re trying to lose weight, maybe you should consider small-bites-idea before trying-out countless diet plans. Another great thing is that small bites do help the chewing job.

Chewing well will greatly assist your digestion. It will make your stomach's chore easier and shorter. The intake of nourishing elements into your body from the food you consume will be far greater. Benefits are countless (and too many to be mentioned in one article).

I'm not saying that these four improvements can make an overnight miracle and simply erase every single trouble you've ever encountered regarding food and eating. They can't! But they are a smart start to the healthier direction of nourishing and appreciating your figure.

By adopting a few small positive improvements in eating habits, your body is going to repay you in a very pleasant way - by serving you better.

Simple Living Guide: Break Sugar Addiction

Sugar became (according to many sources) the most common addictive food (drug) worldwide. Sugar in any form weakens the health of body tissue and decreases immunity. Since the microorganisms love simple sugars, sweet diet suits them perfectly. Bacteria, fungi and parasites have a paradise to grow and thrive…

When sugar is consumed as an occasional special treat only, that does not count as an addiction and can’t cause much damage. The problems arise when sugar starts replacing wholesome meals and nutritious foods. As a result of sugar abuse many people suffer for nutritional deficiencies, hypoglycemia and even "sugar diabetes".

There’re many theories around about how to break the sugar addiction. Studies show that vitamin B, vitamin C, zinc and chromium can help to reduce the craving for sugar. But since I’m always searching for natural methods without harmful side effects, I’m happy to tell you about this one.

Barbara Flores in her book The Great Sunflower Book claims that eating sunflower seeds instead of sugary snacks can help you break the sugar addiction. You have nothing to lose if you test this theory yourself. Raw sunflower kernels are the most nutritious and the toasted kernels are more flavorful (they have nutty taste).

A word of warning:
· One half cup of sunflower seeds has about 400 calories. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to lose weight.
· For the people with high sodium levels it’s important to stick with unsalted seeds.

John Douglas, M.D. recommends sunflower seeds to many patients with cardiovascular problems or high blood pressure and occasionally even to reduce allergic reactions - all with great success.

There’s one more interesting fact I came across while researching the sugar addiction. According to the traditional Chinese health system the craving for sugar (sweet taste) is considered as a craving for female energy (yin) - longing for comfort and security. A need for spicy, salted foods, on the other hand, means lack of the male energy (yang) - strength.

With that being said, it might be a good idea to have a closer look at our living and find out what causes the cravings - while munching on sunflower seeds…