health

Want to control your weight? The key to this may be simpler than you think: get more sleep. A brand new study of 1800 sets of twins reveals that the twins who slept nine plus hours a night had a drastically increased ability to combat genetically-predisposed weight gain compared to the twins who slept less than seven hours. What this means is that when you do get enough sleep, your genes become less critical in determining how much weight your body lays down. But you need no longer be at the mercy of your DNA. If at the same time you make good lifestyle choices like eating a healthy diet and getting some regular, enjoyable exercise, this can set the stage for living a long, slim, healthy life. If you’ve long struggled with weight control, this is great news. A few extra hours of sleep a night could throw the ball of weight control right back in your own court. The word leptin means “thin” in Greek. Leptin is an important hormone that helps regulate your metabolism. It tells your brain when you have had enough to eat—an experience known as satiety. A number of early studies have shown that when you are sleep deprived, the body’s levels of this hormone drop and you develop what is known as leptin resistance—a condition that interferes with fat burning. Meanwhile, levels of another important hormone ghrelin (leptin’s hunger-signaling counterpart) rise. This results in you experiencing increased appetite and food cravings—especially for carbohydrates like grains, cereals, sugars, and junk food—all the stuff that makes us fat and destroys our health. John Keats, in his Sonnet to Sleep, called sleep the “soft embalmer,” praising its “careful fingers” and “lulling charities.” How right he was. The benefits that sleep bestows on us extend far beyond weight control. Sleep heals our body and our mind, enabling us to integrate new information with ease. But when we are sleep deprived, our bodies can come under powerful biological stress. They begin to respond in negative ways in an attempt to protect us: Muscles get tense. Heart rate and blood pressure go up. Digestion is disturbed and the stress hormone corticosterone floods your system. Then your body lays down yet more fat deposits while refusing to let go of the ones already there. But here’s the rub about sleep deprivation. In case you think you can “catch up” after prolonged periods of too little sleep, you can’t. For sleep to become an ally in your fat-fighting armory, you need to get plenty night after night. The new twins research shows that some of us need nine or more hours sleep a night to receive weight control benefits. But there are no hard-and-fast rules. So instead of trying to adhere to a strict eight or nine-hour-a-night regime, listen to your own unique body. When you do, it will tell you how much sleep you should be getting. Life factors such as age, stress or illness, occupation, sex, diet, and pregnancy mean that some people will need more sleep and others less. Check this out: Are you often tired upon waking? Do you get sleepy throughout the day? Experiment. See how you feel after different amounts of sleep and find what works for you. Your entire being—not least of all your slimmer waistline—will thank you for it.

Long before Ayurvedic medicine arrived in the west, I made a journey to hospitals throughout India where it was practiced. I was determined to learn all I could about this remarkable ancient healing tradition. I was bowled over by all the marvelous things I did discover. Near the end of my trip, I arrived at an Ayurvedic Hospital in Kerala—land of the coconuts, in the south of the continent. There, hundreds and hundreds of acres, interspersed with twisting waterways, grow organic coconuts. It was while at this hospital that the doctor’s taught me how coconut oil, rich in health-giving natural properties, can be used to heal a whole body. The protocol they used for this was then known as “oil gargling”—a serious misnomer, for in truth it has nothing to do with gargling. Nowadays, we call it “oil pulling”. It’s important that you know about it, since oil pulling has improved the health of thousands of people including me. GIFTS FROM THE COCONUT It’s the oil of the coconut that wields life-promoting powers. What few people know is that coconut oil is naturally antimicrobial. It’s an efficient destroyer of all sorts of bacteria, viruses and protozoa that damage human health. The oil pulling technique has been used for some 5000 years, not only because it reduces plaque in the mouth, but as a means of healing conditions throughout the whole body—from inflammation, pain in the joints, chronic fatigue, sinusitis, back pain and diabetes, to migraine, PMS, and chronic skin problems. Coconut oil is highly responsive to temperature changes. In a cool room it becomes a solid. But set it in the sunlight or immerse a jar of it in hot water for a few minutes and it will turn into a crystal clear liquid oil. POWERHOUSE OILS There are literally thousands of types of bacteria in the mouth, including Streptococcus mutans—an acid-producing bacterium that is a major cause of tooth decay. During oil pulling, the breaking down of coconut oil by enzymes produces acids which are toxic to these pathogens. Each of these brings its own unique health-promoting support. When you take coconut oil into the body via oil pulling, your system converts one important ingredient, lauric acid, into monolaurin, with its antibacterial, antiviral and antiprotozoal properties. Coconut oil contains the largest amount of lauric acid of any fruit or vegetable on the planet. Monolaurin is a monoglyceride with the ability to destroy negative invaders in the body that have a lipid coating. The lipid-coated viruses and bacteria that it attacks include the HIV virus and the influenza virus as well as a number of other pathogenic bacteria and protozoa. Another ingredient in coconut oil, capric acid, also boasts antimicrobial properties. Finally, coconut oil is about 66% medium chain triglycerides or MCTs. These offer a huge variety of health benefits, including sating appetite and helping to establish ketogenic-adaptation. Oil pulling is believed to reduce plaque by at least 50%. It involves rinsing your mouth with coconut oil, much the way you would use a mouthwash. You put from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of oil in your mouth. Even in its solid form the coconut oil will quickly change into a white liquid as it responds to the heat of the mouth. Then you swish it around your teeth for 20 minutes. A SUPERB DETOX Oil pulling is powerfully detoxifying to the body as a whole. The mouth is home to billions of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other parasites and other toxins which undermine health and can trigger disease. It is these beasties and their toxic waste products that create gum disease and tooth decay. They are then passed on to the rest of the body. The immune system is constantly fighting off these pathogens. When we become overloaded from excessive stress, poor diet, or environmental toxins, they leak into the whole system and can create secondary infections, as well as a wide variety of other health issues. Pathogenic oral bacteria, and the toxins that they produce, harm far more than just your mouth. They circulate through the bloodstream and are carried all over the body. WIDESPREAD HEALING Reported health benefits which oil pulling is reported to bring to the body: Increase overall energy. Improve the health and look of skin. Support the health of the immune system. Improve the utilization of blood sugar. Kill viruses that cause flu, herpes, and other illnesses. Improve digestion. Alleviate arthritic pain. Support the thyroid gland. Protect the health of the heart. Foster healthy metabolism. Even help counter diabetes. MY OWN EXPERIENCE I began doing coconut oil pulling out of frustration with leaking root canals in my mouth. Many years ago—trusting my dentist—I foolishly agreed to allow root canals to be carried out for four of my teeth. This is something I would never do now. Why? Because, although most dentists continue to deny this, virtually all root canals eventually leak. As they leak, they pour poison into your mouth and the rest of your body. This is why the hygienist asks you before she begins her work if you have any heart conditions. So virulent can be the poisons produced by a leaking root canal that they destroy the gums, give you bad breath and make you highly susceptible to illness. (No hygienist wants you to die of a heart condition in her chair while she is cleaning your teeth!) When I discovered that my own root canals were leaking, I started to do a lot of research into the subject. I must have read at least four dozen papers on root canals and their problems. My dentist looked at me and said “We just need to remove the leaking root canals out and put in new ones”. Well thank you very much—but I did not want to go through that again and have the next root canals leak even more health-destroying poisons into my body. I figured I had to do something to help myself. I remembered oil pulling and began to use it twice each day for 20 minutes. Within a few days, wonderful things started to occur. I had, for a long time, been experiencing pressure and discomfort in my cheeks—not exactly sinusitis, but something that I was certain shouldn’t have been there. This disappeared within a week. Meanwhile, I had also been experiencing pain in my legs as a result of five serious accidents which had damaged my lower body. That too began to get better. LIFELONG BENEFITS At this point, I realized that I was on to something pretty amazing. I asked other people about their own experience with oil pulling. Some told me that their asthma had cleared up; so had their chronic fatigue, migraines, PMS and skin problems. What appears to happen when you practice this technique is the coconut oil detoxifies and cleanses the body, promoting the release of toxins encouraging the body to heal itself. I continued to do my oil pulling for perhaps eight months, after which my teeth were whiter, my breath was fresh and my tongue and gums had a healthy pink color to them. I was so pleased that I figured “I probably don’t need to do oil pulling any more”. So I stopped. After about three months, I realized that I was getting some slight swelling in my mouth. So I resumed oil pulling and have continued ever since. I actually enjoy it. I love the fresh, strong feel of my gums and teeth after finishing it. HOW TO DO COCONUT OIL PULLING The practice consists of swishing coconut oil in the mouth, working and pulling it, and drawing it through the teeth. You’ll need a container of organic raw coconut oil that is natural and has not had any fragrance taken out of it. Put a teaspoon to a tablespoon of oil in your mouth. It will probably be in its solid state. But it will melt as soon as you get it in your mouth. Swish the oil around in your mouth for around 15 to 20 minutes. Then spit it out completely. Finally, brush your teeth. You must NEVER swallow the oil. By the time you’ve done the oil pulling exercise each time, the oil will have become loaded with bacteria, toxins and mucus. You must spit it out. There are a couple of good books I can recommend if you want to learn more. In the meantime, may the blessed coconut bring you as many health blessings as my own it has brought to mine. Do let me know how you get on if you decide to use it. OIL PULLING THERAPY Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Bruce Fife Buy Oil Pulling Therapy THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO OIL PULLING Nature's Therapy: Learn How to Heal Your Body By Using An Ancient Oral Detox Therapy [Kindle Edition] by Kate Evans Scott and David Pearson Buy Beginners Guide To OIl Pulling My Favourite Coconut Oil (organic) Cold-Pressed & Pure White: Not refined, deodorized, or bleached! Savor its natural rich aroma and enticing light taste. Adding a pinch of salt reduces coconut flavor. Organic: Made without pesticides, GMOs, or hexane. Versatile: Ideal as a medium-heat cooking oil, as nutritious substitute in baking, and as "better-than-butter" replacement on bread, vegetables, or popcorn. Also a luscious for skin care, hair care and massage. Buy Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil

By now you will have grasped the principles of meal spacing. It’s time to get specific about putting it all in into practice. TWO MEALS A DAY Put behind you that old adage that you must eat a good breakfast to keep you going through the day. This is untrue. It never has been true, despite all we’ve been taught. The word breakfast literally means the meal at which you “break-a-fast.” That is just what you will be doing on meal spacing—breaking a fast of 12 or more hours after eating dinner the night before. The timings of your two meals each day will need to take into account what your days are like. Is it an easy thing for you to prepare your first meal at home—say between 11am and 1pm? Or do you work away from home all day? If so, does your job require you to eat in restaurants frequently? On days when you don’t, can you make your first meal before leaving for work—say, a salad complete with good quality protein which you can take to work with you, or maybe a delicious smoothie you can carry in a thermos? The rule of thumb for success with meal spacing is to allow 5 to 6 hours or more between your first and second meal of the day. Longer food-free periods are fine too. If you can schedule your second meal in the early evening—say 6 or 7pm, this is ideal. If, on the other hand, you don’t get home until later in the evening or you have been invited out for the evening, then the period between meal one and meal two is likely to be longer than 6 hours. That is fine too. EAT STOP FAST It is essential that, as soon as you finish a meal, you stop eating. And, just in case you have a habit of munching through a couple of biscuits or a bowl of chocolate ice cream between dinner and bedtime, now is the time to break this habit. It’s important to have ended your eating for the day at least 3 hours before you climb into bed. You need an absolute minimum of food-free 12 hours during the night before eating the first meal of the next day. How you plan your eating and fasting periods depends on you. Your timings may change a bit from day to day depending on what is happening in your life. That’s OK. Just don’t forget that, to become lean and healthy and stay that way, and to protect yourself from early aging and degenerative conditions, your body needs extended food-free periods day after day. And the longest and most important is at night, while you sleep. START GENTLY Many people are afraid they will not be able to make it from one meal to the next when they are just beginning to explore what condensed eating can do for them. I recommend when you are just learning the practice of meal spacing that you feel free to eat a snack or two between meal one and meal two if you feel you need to. That being said, the sooner you come to adopt fully this food style and make it your very own, the better. I predict that it won’t take long before you will have no trouble remaining food-free between meals. SNACK SUGGESTIONS Half an avocado with 2 oz (50 g) of Cheddar cheese A no-sugar smoothie made with Vital Whey, sweetened with English Toffee Stevia if you like 1 cup of sliced cucumbers with vinaigrette dressing made with extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/4 cup raspberries 4oz (100g) plain cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s yogurt with half a grated apple sweetened with stevia and sprinkled with cinnamon. TAKE YOUR TIME Your body will need some time to adapt itself to this kind of eating—sometimes only a few days and other times two or three weeks. Just be patient and stick with it. Have your healthy snacks between meal one and meal two until you sense that you no longer need them. But right from the beginning, make a commitment to yourself to end completely the convenience carb foods that undermine health, provoke weight gain and predispose all of us to sluggishness and depression. Eat as many of the good fats as you like while eliminating sugars and the carbs that turn into sugar when people eat them. What are good fats? Coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter from grass-fed cows. These can strengthen your body, bring you energy you can rely on, and will never make you fat so long as you avoid the life-force draining carbohydrates which still make up the bulk of most people’s meals. These include breads, pastas, potatoes, bagels, cookies, chips, cakes and the rest. Meanwhile, eat lots of good fats If truth be told, we humans have little need for carbs. When our bodies are fed quality proteins, the good fats, green vegetables and low-sugar fruits, their bodies will quite naturally derive any glucose that they need from these foods. (For more information about this see my book Healthy And Lean For Life, which you can download for free on the homepage of curaromana.com.) By the way, if while your body is adapting to your condensed eating program, you experience light headedness, muscle cramp, fatigue, or grumpiness along the way, make sure you increase the amount of sea salt or Himalayan salt (not ordinary table salt please) that you are using on your foods. LESLIE’S RECIPES Let me now share with you some of my own favorite recipes that are good for any meal spacing program. I hope you enjoy them. When it comes to radiant wellbeing, nothing carries the power of fresh raw foods. Not only are they higher in essential nutrients than their cooked counterparts, the quality of the phytochemicals they contain is the best in the world. Contrary to what a lot of people think, raw fruits and vegetables are easy to digest. Each fruit or vegetable carries within it the exact enzymes necessary for us to digest it fully and efficiently. Bircher Muesli serves 1 This recipe, which is great for either of your meals, calls for an apple. But you can use almost any fruit. Berries work very well. The recipe serves one, but can just as easily be made for twelve. This particular form of muesli is dairy-free. If you prefer to use dairy products, try plain unsweetened cow’s yoghurt, or sheep or goat’s yoghurt if you have a problem with cow’s milk. What You Need 2 tablespoons grated fresh coconut (if you are buying coconut commercially, make sure it contains no sugar) handful of raisins, soaked overnight 1 apple, grated or chopped juice of ½ lemon 3 tablespoons coconut milk or sheep or goat’s yoghurt ¼ teaspoon powdered cinnamon or grated fresh ginger Here’s How Mix together the coconut and raisins and combine this mixture with berries or a grated or chopped apple, lemon juice and the coconut milk or yoghurt. Sprinkle with cinnamon or ginger. Serve immediately. Vanilla Nutmeg Smoothie Serves 1 This meal-in-an-instant is surprisingly filling and the vanilla makes it a warming drink, despite being made with ice! You can make the smoothie with or without the egg. If you do use the egg, make sure it is free-range and organic. Use only the best whey (see recommendations below). Most of what you find out there is junk. Don’t touch it. What You Need 6 ice cubes 200ml clean water 1-2 scoops natural or vanilla-flavored micro-filtered whey protein (see resources) 1 free range, organic egg 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (the real thing, no sugar, preferably organic) a pinch of grated nutmeg stevia to taste Here’s How Put all the ingredients into a blender, but blend for no more than 20 seconds as this can change the nature of the whey protein. Sprinkle a little extra grated nutmeg on top and serve immediately. If you like, you can add 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds to this smoothie for a fiber boost. Warm Bacon and Spinach Salad serves 2 I used to live in Wales. This recipe is based on the great Welsh stalwart—spinach. It’s so often cold in Pembrokeshire, so I made this salad a warm one. What You Need 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 oz (100g) naturally cured bacon, cubed 2 tablespoons raw walnuts, broken into small pieces 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1lb/450g spinach leaves 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated Maldon sea salt or Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Here’s How Heat half of the oil in a heavy pan and add the bacon until golden brown and cooked through. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then add the walnuts, vinegar and the rest of the oil. Throw in the spinach at the last minute, and toss with the other ingredients in the pan until the spinach has begun to wilt. Serve immediately with the grated parmesan on top. Salmon Delight serves 2 This recipe came from a friend—Belinda Hodson. Salmon is such a delightful fish with a unique and delicate flavor. I love this dish because it is easy to prepare and very tasty. The marinade enhances the natural flavors of the fish and the spring onion really gives it its own special zest. What You Need 2 fillets of salmon juice of 4 medium-sized lemons 2 large spring onions pepper and salt 1 dessertspoon of coconut oil zest of 1 lemon plus 2 lemon wedges parsley (for garnish) Maldon sea salt or Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Here’s How Finely chop the spring onions and place in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, pepper and salt and blend. Place the salmon fillets into the marinade (flesh-side down) and leave for 45 minutes. Turn the fillets onto the other side and leave for a further 15 minutes. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan. Drain the fillets and place in the pan, cooking until tender. Serve with parsley garnish. Crudités It may sound completely mad, but when dipping crudités, it matters what shape you cut your vegetables into. Some vegetables want to be sticks, some want to be sliced diagonally into rounds. They simply taste better. Keep your crudités in the fridge in a bowl of cold water with a squeeze of lemon. Here’s a selection of some fruits and vegetables that make good dippers Sticks carrots turnips courgettes/zucchini green and red peppers Slices cucumber white radish beetroot Jerusalem artichoke kohlrabi apples Whole button mushrooms—stalks left on baby carrots young green beans, topped and tailed cauliflower florets spring onions Wedges tomato chicory small lettuce endive Serve them with a good dip. Here are a couple of my favorites: Curried Avocado Dip This dip is great for crudités. I serve it together with a platter of fresh phyto-nutrient filled vegetables such as endive, bulb fennel, crunchy lettuce, celery, slices of red, green, and yellow capsicum and anything else I happen to have around. What You Need 2 large ripe avocados, peeled and cubed 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 3 tbsp of lemon juice 1 tsp of vegetarian broth powder 1/8 tsp of Cajun seasoning Celtic or Maldon sea salt to taste freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 tsp of mild to medium curry powder 1 tbsp of lemon zest Here’s How Add chunks of avocado plus garlic, lemon juice, broth powder and other seasoning to the food processor— everything except the lemon zest. Blend until creamy and add lemon zest and serve. This recipe makes about 1 cup, which will keep up to 3 days in the fridge. Sesame Miso Dipping Sauce What You Need 125 ml of rice wine vinegar Granulated stevia to taste 1 tbsp miso 2 tbsp of sesame seeds, ground in a coffee grinder or food processor 1 garlic clove, crushed Here’s How Combine all the ingredients. Can be served immediately. Cool Cucumber Dip What You Need 1 small cucumber ¾ cup of yoghurt (cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s) squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar 1 tbsp minced onion Spoonable stevia to taste 1 clove garlic (optional) fresh mint Celtic or Maldon sea salt to taste freshly ground black pepper Here’s How Peel and grate the cucumber, then drain off any excess extra juice (you can use it as a drink). Mix with the yoghurt, lemon juice or vinegar, onion, stevia and garlic. Finely chop a few mint leaves and add. Season and serve in a dish with sprigs of fresh mint. FOLLOWING YOUR NATURE It may surprise you to learn that the eating pattern which you are aiming to create for yourself is what the human body has been genetically programmed to thrive on for hundreds of thousands of years. It can enable you to eat well and plenty of food without suffering any sense of deprivation or hunger once you get accustomed to it. This is the way our hunter gathering ancestors, whose genes we have inherited, lived. They ate and then fasted, depending on when food was available and when it was not. When you get into eating quality protein foods at mealtime along with plenty of good fats like those in the above recipes, luscious green vegetables and low-sugar fruits day by day, you are likely to find yourself going from strength to strength. Your body gets firmer and leaner. Your health improves as vitality steadily grows. Your mind becomes clearer. You look younger and better than you may have done for years and you feel happier with yourself and your life. Try it and see. USEFUL PRODUCTS: BEST LIQUID STEVIA Wisdom Natural, SweetLeaf, Liquid Stevia, English Toffee Sweet Leaf liquid stevia with all natural flavors is convenient and easy to use. As a supplement, add this nutritious stevia to water, tea, coffee, milk, sparkling water, protein shakes, plain yogurt or anything else you can imagine. It comes in many different flavors including lemon but English Toffee flavor is the best by far. Buy SweetLeaf Stevia BEST MICROFILTERED WHEY Well Wisdom, Vital Whey, Natural Vanilla, 21 oz (600 g) Vital Whey is a delicious, 100% natural nutritional protein supplement. Vital Whey is a proprietary, non-denatured, native whey protein that is produced to maintain the full range of all the fragile immune-modulating and regenerative components naturally present in fresh raw milk. The milk for this product is derived from cows that are grass-fed and graze year-round on natural pastures. Our whey does not contain genetically engineered materials. It is hormone-treatment-free, pesticide-free, chemical-free and undergoes minimal processing. Grass-Fed Year-Round Hormone-Treatment-Free The Finest Biologically-Active Non-Denatured Whey Protein Dietary Supplement Comes in Natural. Vanilla and Cocoa Buy Vital Whey BEST GRANULATED STEVIA Spoonable Stevia by Stevita uses only stevia extract with at least 95% pure glycosides (extremely sweet tasting ingredients of the Stevia herb leaves), and a little erythritol, a crystal granulated naturally produced filler found in fruits, vegetables and grains. It is best for baking and sprinkling Buy Stevita

In the next few minutes, I want to share with you white hot secrets about two natural plants that you can use to alleviate menstrual, peri-menopausal and menopausal issues gently, safely and effectively. Not once in the last 20 years have they failed to do their job. Both plants have been used to help women for centuries and their therapeutic actions have been scientifically validated. Motherwort The first, and one of the most remarkable natural healing plants on the planet is Motherwort—Leonurus cardiaca—commonly known as Lion’s tail. It gets its name from its ancient reputation for reducing anxiety. Motherwort has all the feel of a loving, caring mother when you take it. It can calm your nervous system while acting as a tonic to your whole body. This lovely blessing from nature is full of mind-altering natural biochemicals which studies in China have shown to have a regulating effect on the womb and the heart, bringing calm all round. It’s effective for easing hot flushes, banishing insomnia, and restoring elasticity to the walls of the vagina. It’s also an excellent natural treatment for many heart conditions in both men and women. Let me tell you how it’s used: Motherwort is rich in alkaloids and is bitter when drunk as an infusion. It’s easiest to take as a store-bought tincture, but you can also grow the plant yourself and turn it into a homemade herbal vinegar. Take 10 to 25 drops of the tincture made from the fresh plant every 2 to 6 hours, or 1 to 2 teaspoons of the herb vinegar as you need it. How To Use There is something so calming and balancing about motherwort that it is hard to imagine if you’ve never used it. It’s a blessing during any stressful time. For best results with hot flushes, use it regularly for 12 weeks or more. That being said, just 10 drops of the tincture in a little spring water will often ease a hot flush while it is happening. Motherwort is also a great help when you awaken in the night in sweat and have trouble dropping off again. Use 10 to 20 drops of the tincture (keep it at the side of your bed with a glass of spring water) and swallow some each time you wake up. Sometimes, it even helps banish bad dreams. Want to know more? Motherwort improves circulation and strengthens tissues that have lost elasticity. You can use it to rejuvenate the tissues of bladder, womb and vagina, for instance, when you take it a couple of times a day for as little as 2 to 4 weeks. Finally, it’s great for clearing cramps when the menstrual flow is light to moderate or even completely absent. Use 5 to 10 drops of tincture or ½ to 1 teaspoon of the homemade vinegar every few minutes until the cramps have gone. Then repeat whenever you need to. There’s one important caution you need to be aware of, however. Motherwort is not an herb to use when a woman is experiencing menstrual flooding, since it can aggravate this tendency. Chaste Tree The other amazing natural plant I love is Chaste Tree. Its proper name is Vitex agnus castus or Monk’s Pepper. Chaste Tree originally gained its name from its ability to calm the lascivious desires of men. On women, however, it exerts the exact opposite effect. It can stimulate your libido while balancing your emotions and energizing your whole body. Chaste Tree is one of the most helpful plants in the world for peri-menopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal women. It does the job, whether your hormones are deficient or in excess, thanks to its actions on the pituitary that harmonizes any imbalances. Chaste Tree is better known in Europe and the Orient than in Britain and the United States. There, its berries have been used for centuries to help protect from and even cure cancers of the breast and womb, as well as to reduce breast lumps and tenderness. It can banish edema, clear skin problems, moisten vaginal tissues that have dried, and clear hot flushes. Unlike many healing plants, Chaste Tree is not rich in phyto-hormones. It relies for healing on the glycosides, micronutrients and flavonoids it contains to work its wonders. This humble plant goes deep in its effects on your body and psyche but, like most natural treatments, will take time, so be consistent with its use. Expect results after using it daily for 8 to 12 weeks. In a year to 18 months you can stop using it completely as improvements are likely to have become permanent. Here’s how Here’s how to use it. As a homemade infusion, drink one cup of tea made from its freshly ground berries a day. In capsule form, take 1 capsule 3 to 4 times a day. Or use 15 drops to 1 teaspoon of a tincture 1 to 3 times a day. German researchers discovered that Chasteberry stimulates progesterone synthesis, and this in turn balances excess estrogen which can trigger hot flushes. Chaste Tree’s anti-inflammatory capacities have been known to shrink fibroids when used regularly for 12 to 36 months. Sluggish digestion and constipation are no match for the Chasteberry, which can restore digestion easily and permanently, provided you take it for long enough. It can even clear skin troubles that develop as a result of hormonal change, and banish fluid retention. To top it all off, this amazing plant is known for its ability to clear depression and balance mood: Typical PMS problems, from migraines and depression to ordinary headaches and anxiety, yield slowly but often permanently to Chaste Tree. This usually takes about 6 months, but it is wise to continue with the plant for another 6 months afterward to make benefits permanent. Make sure you choose only the best products. There are too many poor wannabes on the shelves. Here are the ones I recommend. Use them. I think you’ll love them as much as I do. Here are the ones I recommend Eclectic Institute, Motherwort Organic, 2 fl oz Fresh, ORGANIC Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) flower top. ORGANIC grape alcohol content: 45%. Filtered water. Fresh Herb Strength: 1:2. Order Motherwort Organi from iherb Gaia Herbs, Vitex Berry, 60 Veggie Liquid Phyto-Caps Healthy hormone levels are necessary for a woman's physical and emotional wellbeing. Chaste Tree Berry, also known as Vitex, has long been used to support hormone production and balance. Gaia Herbs uses certified organic Chaste Tree berry to provide a full spectrum herbal extract for women's health. Order Gaia Herbs, Vitex Berry from iherb

You know the old saying: “Good things come in small packages.” Well, it’s true. Flower essences are sold in little dark-glass dropper bottles. Open one. You’ll discover that, unlike herbal tinctures or essential oils, the liquid inside—from a chemical point of view—is nothing more than water mixed with a little alcohol. This is the medium in which the vibrational energy of a flower (or a gem) has been preserved. You see, the healing power of a vibrational essence depends not on its chemical constituents, but on the frequencies and energies it carries—the spirit or soul energy of the flowers or gems themselves. ENERGETIC FIELDS Where herbs and essential oils bring about direct biochemical and physiological changes, vibrational essences—rather like homeopathic remedies—influence the body via its energetic fields and electrical pathways. So do acupuncture, pulsed electromagnetic treatments, prayer and the laying on of hands. They can all transmit vibrational life-force energy. Dyed-in-the-wool materialists, still totally unaware of fifth entity physics, are surprised by how profoundly healing such energy treatments can be. Provided the vibrational essence chosen is an appropriate one, its health-enhancing effects are deep and long lasting—sometimes even permanent. Let’s examine flower essences carefully. They are made from living blossoms, harvested at the peak of their vibrational power. They influence our emotional and mental states by changing our body’s own vibrational state as well as altering our consciousness. These changes then filter down to a physical level, where they can do many things: energize, stop erratic eating patterns, clear chronic fear and anxiety and increase self-confidence, to name only a few. They can even—to me most interesting of all—help us align our outer lives and the way we choose live them with the nature of our unique innate essential being. When this happens, not only do we experience natural joy and creativity, we experience a sense of expanding freedom. We find it easier to live life by our own rules. We gain access to our unique authentic power. This helps us become aware of what we feel most passionate about, and empowers us to live an authentic life. VIBRATIONS AND WHOLENESS Flower essence healing is only one aspect of what is now known as vibrational medicine—a form of treatment about which have been hearing more and more as the century 21st century develops. British physician Peter Mansfield, one of its pioneers, describes this rather well in his book Flower Remedies. “Vibrational healing,” Mansfield says, uses “the different energy patterns present in nature to modify the vibrations within living bodies, leading indirectly to changes on the physical plane. This encompasses on the one hand methods which use the vibrations directly—light, sound, magnetism etc.—and on the other, methods which involve the preparation of essences from the source of the vibration, which can be absorbed into the body.” PROOF OF THE PUDDING Psychologists and doctors examining the effects of carefully chosen flower essences report that they are completely safe. They can be remarkably effective in helping patients deal with simple troubles—like insomnia, low energy, and fear of flying—as well as deeper issues. Dr Jeffrey Cram at the Sierra Health Institute in California gave subjects either a flower essence or a placebo and then exposed them to stress-inducing fluorescent lighting for long periods. He found, that unlike the placebo which had little effect, flower essences significantly reduced the muscle tension and erratic brainwave activity associated with stress. Meanwhile, Italian medical researchers who tested the effects of flower essences on patients suffering from depression and anxiety found that a surprising 89 out of 115 anxious, depressed and stressed patients who took part in the experiment were greatly helped by flower essence treatments. MAKE IT SIMPLE One of the best practical descriptions I have come across of how flower essences work, comes from the highly respected American researcher, and flower essences creator, Patricia Kaminski. “Just think about a hologram,” she says. “Each separate part of a holographic picture contains images of the whole. This is how it can be used to recreate a three-dimensional image. So it is with a flower essence. One drop of a flower essence holds within it all the energy characteristics of the flower it was made from.” An essence carries the spirit or soul of the flower in its energetic architecture. It communicates this healing blue-print at a very deep level to the energy fields of a human being using it. VISIONARY DOCTOR The first flower essences were created in the 1920s by a highly respected British immunologist and bacteriologist. Dr Edward Bach had become dissatisfied with the way orthodox medicine so often seemed unable to help patients suffering from both chronic and acute illness. Studying the work of the father of homeopathy, Dr Samuel Hahnemann, Bach discovered that many of his own beliefs about the nature of healing echoed Hahnemann’s findings. Like Hahnemann, Bach insisted that it works best to treat the patient, not the disease. Early in his career, Bach prepared bacterial vaccines then administered them to people homeopathically. The results of his work were widely acclaimed by his peers. They carved out a place of high esteem for him in the medical world. The vaccines he made were widely used—some still are. But Bach was not satisfied. He knew in his heart that there is more to healing than treating symptoms. He was convinced that the most effective healing can only take place at the very deepest levels. Bach knew that mental states like anxiety, worry, unhappiness and fear not only undermine vitality, they compromise the immune system, making us highly susceptible to illness and degeneration. He reasoned that, if he could find methods for clearing such negative states, this might well be a key to preventing and curing both acute and chronic illnesses. No matter what symptoms it presents, Bach insisted that any illness is the result of disharmony deep within. RESTORING HARMONY In 1928, Bach began to explore the possibility that the energy of flowers could do this for human beings. He chose to turn his back on a successful career in London and retreat into the wilderness of Wales in search of ways to help suffering people. Bach fasted, he walked in the hills, he opened his mind and his heart to nature, calling out for her help. His intuitive gifts were greatly expanded by the way he was living and eating and by his having abandoned a sophisticated industrial world for raw simplicity. As he came face to face with one herb and flower after another, he became aware of the vast life-force each carried. He also noticed that the healing energies which each held intensified greatly at just the moment when these plants blossomed. Over the next seven years, he worked with these plants in search of a way of collecting their life-healing energies. Gradually, he was able to identify the unique characteristics of each and to understand the kind of disharmony which they help clear. He formulated a group of 12 now-famous flower remedies known as ‘Twelve Healers’. Later he went on to expand them until finally he ended up with a group of thirty-eight flower essences. They are still today known as the Bach Flower Remedies. HEALING FOR THE MASSES So impressed was Bach by the results he got using these flower essences that he decided to leave behind forever his successful orthodox medical practice to devote himself full-time to their development, as well as to teaching people how to use them. Bach had observed that people were becoming more and more divorced from nature—and therefore from their own essential soul nature as well. He believed that in an industrialized world, flower essences are an effective way to counter the destructive processes that resulted from “desensitization” of people which he saw happening all around him. This was a process which he became certain was central to the development of disease. His flower remedies helped re-establish bonds not only between people and nature, but between a human being’s outer personality and his intrinsic soul nature—his innate essence. Before long, Bach’s beliefs would lead him into serious conflict with the medical establishment—especially his insistence that flower remedies should be available to everyone, not just to trained medical practitioners. LIVE YOUR TRUTH The Bach philosophy is simple. It says that each of us has incarnated on the earth to live out a unique divine purpose—our soul’s destiny, if you like. When we are diverted from doing so, either by our own resistance or by learned thought patterns, trauma, emotional repression, inner conflict, or the influence of others, then our personality is not able to become a free expression of our unique soul energy and we get sick. We become anxious, fearful, irritable and angry, thereby lowering our resistance to disease. In time, depending on our genetically inherited weaknesses, we often end up in pain, ill, and degenerating rapidly. Illness, Bach insisted, has its purposes. It is there to warn us when we are going in the wrong direction—to help make us aware of what needs to be honored in our lives that we may not yet be honoring. To be healed, a harmony between our outer life and our inner purpose needs to be re-established. Flower therapy is a powerful way of doing this. Not only does it release stress and trauma. It can help clear repression of our innate life energy and creativity. Most important of all, it can help us realign ourselves with our essential being as well as with nature herself. When this happens, much illness is healed and many degenerative processes are reversed. FOUR-FOLD WAY To Bach, health is not the absence of illness so much as it is an ability to identify its messages and act on them. This does not mean that we should blame ourselves if we become ill. Doing so would only result in further emotional repression. Instead we need to become aware of whatever emotional discord hides beneath a persistent cold or stomach upset and then be prepared to address it and finally let it go. To Bach, healing is a four-fold process. It asks that we: Recognize that we can overcome all difficulties Realize that illness is an expression of disharmony between our outer life or our personality and our soul Discover the cause of this disharmony Clear the cause of disharmony and strengthen the areas in our lives where the expression of our soul nature has been weak. ALCHEMY OF FLOWERS Bach’s explorations into the healing power of flowers, like the work of Kaminski and other flower essence developers, harks back to the ancient art of the alchemists. According to alchemy, when the four elements—earth, air, fire and water—come together in balance then a fifth substance, a quintessence, is created. This quintessence in turn becomes the healing force for body and soul. Bach collected the dew that gathered on plants in the early morning. This dew, he believed, contained the quintessence he had been looking for. It was a perfect fusion of the four elements. In these sparkling drops, he identified the earth that feeds the plant, the natural air in which it grows, the water element in the dew, and fire from the energy of the sun—on which all life depends for its existence. In his healing work, Bach relied strongly on his intuition when figuring out how to work with these elements in relation to extracting the essential healing body of each flower. For days before he investigated the healing potential of a flower, he would himself welcome into his body the physical and mental symptoms of the condition he was seeking to make a remedy for. Then searching for the right plant, he would place a petal or flower in the palm of his hand or on his tongue, register its effects on mind and his body, and record his findings. Gradually he developed a method for transferring a plant’s healing energy to spring water rather than continuing to collect morning dew. It is simple: You can easily learn to do it yourself. To identify the emotional states that each flower essence helps clear, Bach relied on intuition, as has every natural healer, wise woman and mystic throughout the ages. But being a fine scientist, he also “proved” or tested them out on one person after another until he became clear about their actions and confident of their effectiveness. The best of the flower essences prepared today are made in very much the same way—inspired by intuition, observation, conjecture, folklore, herbal tradition, sometimes even shamanic journeying, where the person expands their consciousness to connect with the spirit of the flower and learn from it. Then, once made, each flower essence is rigorously tested on volunteers and colleagues, the sick and the well, and information about its effects is recorded. DEEPEST HEALING Flower essences have been in existence for almost a century now—ever since the visionary Doctor Bach wandered in the Welsh hills in search of a new way to heal the fundamental underlying cause of all illness—classic splits we all have to deal with sooner or later, between soul purpose and the outer life; between mind and body; between emotions and enforced behavior. It’s at this deepest level of human life that flower essences work their finest magic. They bring greater integration and access to authentic power. They can help us shrug off much of the polluting physical, mental and emotional rubbish that prevents each of us from living out the essential beauty and creativity of our true nature. Bach himself knew that once we heal these splits within, the body’s innate tendency to restore harmony will encourage healing to take place on a physical level as well. That is just how flower essences work. They are gentle yet powerful catalysts. They can not only be used to shift emotional or spiritual patterns which we get stuck in. They can also help us remember at the most fundamental spiritual level who we are, then teach us to allow our unique inner radiance to shine forth. Next week we’ll explore how to connect with the essence of flowers yourself, how to make your own flower essences—it’s simple to do—and all the wonderful ways to make use of them enhancing your wellbeing and enriching your life. See you then...

Our energy is balanced between dynamic, outpouring energy—which is exciting, creative, fun and challenging—and inner, moving energy, which is receptive. It’s a kind of quiet expectance that allows the universe to give you the gifts that it has to give. And of course, we can’t receive those gifts unless we know how to move from the dynamic state into the real receptive one. One of the things that’s important in helping us learn to do this—and almost everybody I know needs to learn to do it in our hectic, overstressed, dynamic world—is using water. Water itself is a powerful energy balancer. For instance, when you apply hot and cold water alternately to the surface of your skin, this stimulates circulation through the cardiovascular system, and it also spurs really good lymphatic drainage. From an electromagnetic point of view, by stimulating these systems you are increasing electricity at the heart of your cells, heightening your body’s ability to produce energy at a cellular level and to produce vitality in your life. Hydrotherapy works in other ways too. Like a really good way of eating, high in fresh green vegetables and low or no processed and convenience foods, water helps detoxify acid wastes which are interfering with normal energetic processes. An excellent technique that works fantastically well is Epsom salts baths. They are magical in the way they can help you to balance your energies, not only on a physical level, but emotionally. Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate. Both magnesium and sulphate molecules have an ability to leach excess sodium, phosphorous and nitrogenous wastes from the body. By reducing toxicity, your body’s energy becomes freed up for more efficient use. Magnesium and sulphur are also some of the most alkalinizing earth minerals. In practical terms, what this means is that they have the ability to create more physical space between the atoms and the molecules of your body. The greater the acidity in the body, and the more compressed the molecular space becomes, the greater the physical and emotional pressure you feel. When you get into an Epsom salts bath, the magnesium sulphate disturbs the pressure in your body, dispersing it and helping to restore balance. Magnesium sulphate dissolved in a body of water creates an electrical unified field. When you put your body into this field, it removes any excess electrical discharge from one area of the body and sends it to areas which are undercharged, creating a magnetic balance. There is nothing quite as good as an Epsom salts bath when you have been on a long flight or if you are suffering from jetlag, emotional tension, great fatigue or upset.

A detox can work miracles after a spate of too much work and too little sleep, after the over-indulgences of Christmas, in spring when all life is renewing itself, before you hit the beach in summer, or whenever you need a lift. Detoxification is just a long word for clearing out your system. A process which stimulates your body’s natural ability to get rid of the toxic waste products that build up in your cells, tissues and organs over months and years of living on the Western fare of convenience foods and polluted air. You can spend hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds on lotions, potions and treatments to improve the look of your skin, to firm your flesh and to renew your body. But none of these things is likely to bring you the same benefits as simple, natural methods for periodic internal spring-cleaning. You might think of spring cleaning in terms of carting out boxes of junk from the attic. In a way, an internal spring clean does the same thing. The human body is magnificently designed to cleanse itself automatically without ever giving thought to the process. The trouble is that the kind of food and drink most people in the West put into their bodies, the tendency we have to lead stressful but sedentary lives, and the increasing number of pollutants to which we are exposed through the air we breathe and the water we drink, have created a situation in which often far more toxins are taken into the body, and far more metabolic wastes produced in it, than we can effectively get rid of. In other words, your body is continually having to cope with more poisons than it can eliminate in the normal day-to-day course of events. Instead they are stored in the tissues where they lower vitality, encourage the development of degenerative diseases and early aging and rob the system of nutrients necessary to keep your whole body looking its best. garbage gathering Dr Dwight McKee, Medical Director of the International Health Institute in America, put it rather bluntly when he said: "anybody who has lived the mainstream American lifestyle for ten or more years has 70 trillion garbage cans for cells." McKee believes, as do a growing number of physicians, that the cells of anyone living in the West are literally chock full of metabolic and environmental wastes gathered over a lifetime. To live at a high level of health and vitality, not to mention being able to make the most of your potential for good looks and prolonged youth, we need to get rid of them. Beautiful skin, a firm and healthy body, and a clear mind are all dependent on your system being able to efficiently and effectively get rid of bodily wastes and toxins before they have a chance to do any damage. This principle forms the foundation of the long European tradition of natural medicine. Remove some of the burden of what is creating excess toxicity in your system by laying aside coffee, alcohol, and over-processed foods complete with chemical additives for a time, and you’re halfway there. Add to that a very simple and temporary regime designed to trigger rapid detoxification and quite naturally you trigger your body’s own mechanisms for clearing out the junk in the attic. good looks from within So what do you get out of it? Giving your body the chance to clear out the rubbish it has been carrying around, sometimes for years, will encourage weight loss if there is weight to be shed, will start you on the road to getting rid of cellulite, will improve the look and texture of your skin, minimize lines on your face, improve overall muscle tone, and increase your sense of vitality and well-being. It cleanses the digestive system, restores a good acid/alkaline balance to the body and generally stimulates the proper functioning of organs and tissues. In short, it puts you through the kind of transformation which leaves you sparkling with vitality. Regimes like this keep world-famous health-spas making money hand over foot as they take in worn, tired, stressed people and transform them using healthy foods and natural treatments into more energetic, younger looking, better functioning versions of themselves. Yet you, too, can get that health-spa lift by doing a simple detox in a weekend at home for – believe it or not – the price of a few pounds of apples. Following such a regime two or three times a year can be enormously helpful in transforming the way you look and feel, reducing excess weight, increasing your energy, and generally getting you back on track. It is particularly useful when you have been under a lot of stress, when you have overindulged, or to get you looking and feeling your best before exposing your body on holiday. Detoxification can bring you a new sense of vitality and regenerate all your systems for maximum good looks and energy. The theory is simple. Stop putting into your body as much as possible those foods which encourage the production of toxic wastes which clog the system. Take two days – a weekend - to relax, spoil yourself, and get your natural elimination processes going with an apple fast. Follow with a few days of taking in lots of delicious living foods to really put you on top form. It’s a cheap, effective program which fits perfectly into a normal working week.  Too good to be true?  Check out Apple Magic and find out for yourself. To Find Out more About The Apple Detox Click Here

Osteoporosis is a terrible disease. A progressive loss of minerals, bone mass and bone density, it affects men as well as women, and can result in fractures of the hip, shoulder, ribs, vertebra, forearm or wrist. In women, it is believed that bone loss begins several years before menopause and then gets worse afterwards, creating an ever-increasing risk of debilitating breakages. Osteoporosis is now the most common bone disorder. Worldwide, the illness causes more than 8.9 million fractures annually—in effect, a fracture every 3 seconds. SILENT KILLER In Britain, the incidence of the illness has increased six times in the past 30 years. One in three women and one in eight men develop it. In the United States, statistics are even worse: The illness currently costs the country more than 11 billion dollars a year. 25% of women whose hips fracture die within two years—not always directly from the fracture, but from ending up in nursing homes where inactivity, alienation and loss of control over their lives defeats them. Today, more women in the industrialized world die of fractures related to bone thinning than from cancers of the womb, cervix and breast put together. Now for the good news: Osteoporosis is preventable and treatable naturally, so take heart. Bone loss is no simple disorder. And it is most certainly not another so-called estrogen deficiency disease, as mainstream medicine would have us believe. Neither is it preventable or treatable by drinking milk or stuffing yourself with calcium supplements. In fact, both of these actions can actually make the condition worse. A FEW FACTS Osteoporosis regularly occurs in men who are deficient in testosterone and in women who are deficient in progesterone. Black women have less bone loss than white women, big women less than small women, and fat women less than their skinny sisters. Meat-eaters are at greater risk of the disease than vegetarians. A high calcium intake has long been toted as essential in preventing bone thinning. Yet people in third-world countries whose daily intake of calcium is less than half our own have a very low incidence of the disease. Couch potatoes are far more prone to the condition than men and women who get regular exercise—particularly weight bearing exercise. Osteoporosis is a complex condition. To prevent it, you need to understand it. And, despite all the fear-mongering surrounding the disease, learn the ropes. Then you can take action to halt bone loss and to reverse it no matter what your age. BEWARE OF DRUGS Most people believe that a prescription drug plus megadoses of calcium supplements are the answer to strong, healthy bones. But bisphosphonate drugs like Fosamax, Actonel, and Boniva carry serious side effects, including—believe it or not—an increased risk of bone fracture! Users of prescription drugs have more osteoporosis than people who do not take any medication. Bone loss is by no means inevitable as we get older, despite our being told that on average we experience about 1% loss of bone mass a year. But, like hypertension and insulin resistance, bone loss is another silent killer. How do we stop it in its tracks? It’s easier than you might think. MEET THE BIG FIVE Together, specific nutrients—omega 3 fats, vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, magnesium, and calcium help build the nutritional foundation for creating and restoring bone strength. They need to be supplied in good balance by eating natural foods and shunning the packaged convenience stuff that fills supermarket shelves. I call these nutrients the big five because, together with putting yourself on a program of regular weight bearing exercise, this combination forges strong healthy bones. Vitamin K2 is especially important, by the way, since one of its major physiological skills is moving calcium into your bones and teeth and removing calcium from parts of the body where it does not belong, such as your arteries and soft tissues. However the right nutrition can only do its stuff to protect your bones if you also you incorporate weight bearing exercise or whole vibration training in your life. MILK & CALCIUM PILLS—NO GO As for drinking milk? Forget it. We are constantly being told to drink more milk and take more tablets of calcium. Yet in the United States, the intake of calcium by supplementation or through milk drinking is the highest in the world and they have the highest rate of osteoporosis. In Oriental countries such as China where milk is not drunk and the intake of calcium is one of the lowest in the world, osteoporosis is virtually unknown. The Chinese get their calcium the way cows do—by eating green plants. Equally important not to do is take calcium pills. You need to get your calcium the same way grazing cows do by taking in lots of organic fresh greens which are full of it in a form that your body can make good use of. You see, calcium metabolism is a complex process and the absorption of calcium from water or mineral salts tends to be highly inefficient. Only somewhere between 20-30% of the calcium you take in through supplementation or processed foods will even be absorbed. And most of that will either get filtered through your kidneys then excreted in urine or sweat, eliminated through feces, or stored in your body’s tissues where it does not belong, contributing to heart disease. BUILD STRONG BONES Doing weight bearing exercise regularly at least three times a week is the second second thing you need to do if you want to protect your body from bone loss or reverse bone loss after it has started. There is something else important about weight bearing exercise—something I discovered for myself at the age of 50 when I decided I wanted to learn weight training from a Welsh champion weightlifter. It’s this: Working out with weights weights combats age degeneration and makes your body sing. There are three ways of approaching weight-bearing exercise. First, you can get yourself a few dumbbells, watch a good video for beginners and get to work. Second, you can do exercise using only your body weight to carry out the various movements so you don’t need dumbbells at all. Third, you can do accelerating training on a Power Plate. This is a great way to enhance bone density and build strength, and it is easy enough that even the weak and disabled can benefit from doing it. Also called whole body vibrational training, the Power Plate has a platform, which moves from front to back as well as vertically and horizontally. Power Plate training is readily available in studios where you can work with someone who teaches you how to use the equipment and show you how to hone your skills as you become accustomed to the process. You can also buy a Power Plate to use at home, but they are pricy. Having said that, I did buy one three years ago. I’ve used it three to five times a week ever since both for strength training and deep relaxation. In 2013 a research project involving 28 post menopausal women who practiced this kind of vibrational training three times a week for five minutes at a time, in only six months increased their bone density and strength by 2%, while the control group lost 0.5% in bone density during the same period. THE BEST SUPPLEMENTS Calcium, Vitamin K2, Vitamin D3, magnesium and omega-3 oils work together to build strong healthy bones and to restore strength to bodies that have lost strength. The best way to get vitamin D3, which builds bone density by encouraging the body to absorb calcium, is to get out into the sun for half an hour or more each day. If you choose to take vitamin D3 in supplement form, make sure you also supplement with Vitamin K2 to ensure that calcium from your foods are directed to bones and teeth. Vitamin K2 also helps your body remove calcium buildup in other areas of the body where it does not belong, such as the arteries. These two vitamins along with magnesium work brilliantly together to promote healthy bones. By the way, the ratio of calcium intake to magnesium in the body should be 1:1. EAT FOR YOUR LIFE Here is a quick checklist to follow if you want to build bones and keep them strong: Throw out all the packaged processed foods that the majority of the Western world still eats. The sugars, grain based carbs and artificial ingredients they contain deplete your bones of calcium and disturb the balance of nutrients you need most for increasing and maintaining bone density. Never drink sodas—even sugar-free. Eat from 50% of your foods raw and organic. Make green vegetables the cornerstone of your meals and also drink a glass of freshly made vegetable juice once a day. Replace table salt with Himalayan salt, as it contains more than 80% of the mineral elements your body and bones need to thrive—including both sodium and potassium in good balance. Get plenty of animal based omega-3 fats and avoid the golden oils sold in supermarkets or anything containing them like the plague. Use seaweeds in your salads and soups. Eat plenty of leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach, which are rich in magnesium—as are sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and avocados. Use a top quality magnesium supplement daily to work well with calcium, Vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. Do weight bearing exercise at least three t imes a week for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Recommended Reading: Ppro The Calcium Lie By Dr Robert Thompson Read The Calcium Lie by Dr Robert Thompson or Dr Kate Rheaum-Blue’s book Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life Buy The Calcium Lie On Amazon Here are some of my own preferred nutritional supplements: Zoi Research, Vitamin K2 & D3 Take 1 softgel daily or as directed by a health care practitioner. Buy Vitamin K2 & D3 Nordic Naturals, Omega-3 Purified Fish Oil, Lemon Each serving of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 liquid provides approximately 1725 mg of important omega-3 fatty acids, generously fulfilling the daily recommendation by international experts of a minimum of 500 mg per day. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for good nutrition and overall wellness. Since the body cannot produce these fats, they must be consumed through diet or supplementation. Buy Nordic Naturals Source Naturals, Magtein, Magnesium L-Threonate Magnesium (Mg) plays an essential role in supporting cognitive function and brain health as well as bone support. Suggested Use 3 capsules daily, preferably 2 capsules during the day and 1 capsule 1-2 hours before bed. Start with 1 capsule daily and gradually increase to 3 capsules day Buy Source Naturals

The World Health Organization predicts that by 2015 there will be 2.3 billion overweight adults in the world, more than 700 million of whom will be obese. At the same time, it is estimated that by 2015 the global weight loss and diet management products and services market will reach $671.8 billion We are told to eat less fat, take more exercise, pull ourselves together and develop some willpower. We do as we’re told, buy more ‘diet foods’, lose some weight and put it all back on again. WHAT’S GOING ON? Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology, published a study in American Psychologist in April 2007. "What happens to people on diets in the long run? Would they have been better off to not go on a diet at all?” Mann asked. “We decided to dig up and analyze every study that followed people on diets for two to five years. We concluded most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all. Their weight would be pretty much the same, and their bodies would not suffer the wear and tear from losing weight and gaining it all back." (Mann, T., et al, Medicare’s Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diet’s are Not the Answer. American Psychologist, Vol 6, No3, 220-233). In the meantime, purveyors of low-fat snacks and low-calorie ready meals make millions out of us all. DECEPTION RULES Virtually all obesity research carried out in the past 70 years has been conducted on the belief that, to quote the Surgeon General of the Unites States, “overweight and obesity are the result of excess calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity.” This assumption is beginning to develop all the earmarks of a fundamentalist religion. For more than a decade, the National Institute of Health in the United States has been funding trials to the tune of $150 million in an attempt to discover if "lifestyle modification" can prevent metabolic syndrome, obesity, and adult onset diabetes. All their trials have been based on these conventional false beliefs about weight control, which are highly inaccurate. At the moment, the National Institute of Health in the United States is spending $200 million on a long trial which they have named "Look Ahead". According to psychologist John Foreyt, one of the trial's investigators, the goal of this research is to test an absurd hypothesis that "overweight diabetics will be healthier if they lose weight"—an absurd thing to be doing research on since anyone with an ounce of common sense knows full well that diabetics and anyone else overweight becomes healthier if they shed the excess fat they are carrying. This, by the way, is "the largest, most expensive trial ever funded by NIH for obesity outcome research". HERE’S THE GEN There is voluminous nonsense taught about obesity, not only through the media, but even through published findings of trained scientists and doctors who should know better. If ever you decide to take time out and to plough through the voluminous research and declarations about obesity, its causes and its cure—as I have done virtually ad nauseam—you will discover a number of important conclusions about the cause of weight gain, and the difficulties of making weight loss permanent, demand to be drawn. Some of them will surprise you, I think, because we have all been brainwashed to believe the inaccurate nonsense which continues to be fed to us by the media, food manufacturers and Big Pharma. Just for starters let’s correct a few widespread common beliefs here and now: Obesity is NOT a disorder caused by lack of exercise. Nor will intense exercise prevent or cure overweight. Obesity is NOT caused by overeating or lack of will power. As the prestigious National Academy of Sciences report Diet and Health points out, “most studies comparing normal and overweight people suggest that those who are overweight eat fewer calories than those of normal weight.” Overweight and obesity are states of excess fat accumulation as a result of an, as yet officially unidentified, disequilibrium in the hormonal regulation of fat metabolism. This is the major issue which must be addressed by genuine researchers (of which, alas, there are too few around) if we are to conquer the horrific epidemic of chronic overweight worldwide. HELP NEEDED NOW To my knowledge, only one scientist chose to spend 40 years of his life grappling with the fundamental issues of obesity, its causes, its symptoms and its essential nature—A.T.W. Simeons. After doing specialized work with thousands of patients, he concluded that the accumulation of excess fat on the body is the RESULT of a metabolic disorder—a functional abnormality in an area of the brain which lies at the center of hormonal control, within the autonomic nervous system. He then proceeded to identify the means of restoring balanced functioning to this area, thereby allowing the body naturally to shed its inessential fat and restore the harmony on which radiant health depends. It was he who created Cura Romana—the Roman Cure—more than half a century ago. Unwittingly, his discoveries have challenged the nonsense promulgated by food manufacturers, posing a serious economic threat to the sale of potentially dangerous slimming drugs sold by multi-national pharmaceutical companies. As a result his work was vilified, discredited, and attacked by the powers-that-be for the past 60 years. It still is now—more than ever. This is a profound pity, since there is an urgent need for an inexpensive, effective treatment for the 2.3 billion obese in the world, whose lives and wellbeing are in deep need of help. It’s time for all of us to learn the truth about the foods we eat and their relationship not only to obesity, but degenerative diseases from cancer to coronary heart disease, diabetes and many more. I’ll tackle this next week so stay tuned ‘cause it matters to all of our lives whether we happen to be thin or fat, at 8, 14, 35 or 80 years old. Stay tuned…