Health Buzz Zone

How much water should you drink? If you keep up with health trends, you’ve probably heard something like eight glasses per day. There are some books that advocate even more, saying that most people are seriously dehydrated and do not know it.

There are two aspects to the water and health equation -quantity and quality. That is, how much water should you drink and what kind of water is best to drink. My own conclusion from the research I have done is that quality is the more important of these factors. This is especially true today, when so much of our water, including most bottled and even filtered water, is contaminated.

Now obviously quantity is important as well. In fact, at the most basic level, you need a certain amount of water to survive. So when I say quality is more important I am assuming you are not in an extreme situation where any kind of water at all is scarce. So assuming you have access to enough water, how much should you drink? I am going to resolve this question with a previously concealed secret scientific formula that you may not understand without advanced knowledge of mathematics and physics. Ready? Okay, here it is: “as much as you want.”

Yes, I’m going to say that, as an advocate of a natural approach to nutrition and health, the best indicator in most cases is your body’s own natural mechanism of thirst. There are some cases, such as if you are preoccupied with a strenuous activity, such as physical work or some highly aerobic exercise, and you simply forget to drink enough. This can be dangerous and lead to dehydration. So you do have to pay attention to your body’s need for water. Yet if you do pay attention, you will find that you are indeed thirsty when you need water.

So what about the quality aspect of the equation? This is a bit trickier, and cannot be reduced to a fake scientific formula, as I did for quantity. The fact is, you really cannot rely on the purity of most tap or bottled water. It is generally better to drink water that has been purified to any extent than plain tap water, but in the long run you are definitely better off investing in a good quality water purification system.

What about distilled or reverse osmosis water? Both of these de-mineralize water. This is a controversial subject, but once again I will come down on the “natural” answer. You will not find distilled water anywhere in nature; it is a laboratory creation. Now distilled water is certainly better than water that is seriously contaminated, but I’d prefer to drink pure water with the many beneficial minerals that nature intended.

So, when it comes down to it, the solution to the “healthy water” equation is fairly simple -drink as much pure water as your body asks for.

Larry Christopher is a writer and researcher on many topics, including the arts, metaphysics, cultural issues and health and wellness. For more about this topic, go to Healthy Water

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by LarryChristopher
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Fit for Life

I had never considered my fight to get fit for life as I recovered from breast cancer as particularly inspirational, but when Dr. Peter Tylee considered it worthy of a mention in his news letter, I got to thinking that maybe others might be interested in how I took the holistic approach to self healing and to get fit for life. So for those of you that are suffering from any debilitating disease, I hope you find this encouraging.

My desire to get fit for life started a few years ago when I was treated for breast cancer. After the operation I used the time while recuperating to really consider where I was at as far as my health was concerned.

I did some research and came to the conclusion that my cancer had been brought on by stress. (Just as an aside, I think stress is one of the primary causes of cancer, yet little research is being done in this area.) So as well as looking at my diet and exercise, I also looked at ways to reduce my stress levels as a constructive path towards my healing process.

As I did more research, I found that each part I looked at was linked to another. A healthy diet seemed to be a prerequisite to become fit for life. Then there was the need to do some form of exercise.

This came as no surprise, but then I found I also needed to be in the right frame of mind, to set goals , be positive, to know where I was going and what I believed in. I had thought of these things as totally different to my physical health, but I was finding out how much control our minds have over our bodies.

I had found for myself what several people already knew and that is to be fit for life you need to embrace holistic health. By this I don’t mean total alternative medicine. Just that we need to treat the body as a whole being, including the mind and soul. I liked the idea and the more I read the more I liked the idea, and the more sense it made.

I became interested in mind power and began to understand more about how attitude has such a large bearing on how we react to illness. I knew that the surgeon had done what he could, but the rest was up to me.

I had always been fit, a big part of our life has been living aboard and cruising our yacht, but even so I decided that to stay fit for life meant making a proper effort.

Part of my exercise was to cycle to work. I took up meditation and once I had mastered the relaxation technique, I was amazed at how good it made me feel. Some years previously my husband had used meditation and mind control to cure seasickness, so he was always very supportive.

Gradually I began the changes that I thought would be more beneficial to my health. I also embraced techniques and ideas, some of which are many thousands of years old, but all new to me.

Being fit for life encompasses the physical, spiritual, emotional and mental parts of ourselves. As we grow we need to be aware of areas that need attention. It might be hard to get your head around some ideas such as emotional health, but you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that if you dislike your job and hate going to work every day, somewhere down the line it will impact on your health.

If you are carting around emotional baggage such as guilt, resentment or grudges, they will eventually eat away at you and cause problems, not only in your life but also in your health.

I was grateful to medical science for making it possible for me to be treated for breast cancer, but at the same time I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life taking drugs. When the surgeon suggested a course of radiation after the operation, I refused.

The same went for the drugs, though I had no medical knowledge to back up my belief, I just knew it wasn’t right for me. There had to be a better way to staying healthy other than taking drugs for the rest of my life.

Being fit for life isn’t about a quick fix or instant cure, it is about getting to know yourself and finding out what is right for you. It is prevention rather than cure. Had I been following a fit for life regime earlier, I would not have got the cancer in the first place.

Once we understand that we have the tools to facilitate self healing, that it is up to us to start learning how to use them, we can stop the use of drugs and the over burdening of our hospital systems.

I changed my whole life. I not only ate a better diet and did more exercise, that was the easy part. I also got rid of the stress and emotional baggage, I changed my job to something I enjoy doing and now live a more positive life.

Having recovered from breast cancer, Trish turned her attention to health and wellbeing. Trish became an author and life coach specializing in health, wellbeing and relationships. For more information and tips on these and many more subjects go to her website at http://www.wellbeing-information.com/eye-exercises.html

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by TrishPowell
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How great would you life be if we all didn’t have any bad habits? Unfortunately, we all know this isn’t possible; no one can avoid bad habits there are so many out there. But there are ways we can reduce the number of ones we do take up.

Take for example the bad habits you may have that are making you overweight. You don’t need to be a brain surgeon to realize that if you eat badly and take no action to correct this you’ll continue to gain weight.

But as we know, we all need food to survive, so we can’t just stop eating altogether. Well you could, but you wouldn’t be around too long to show off your new figure Instead you need to look at the habits that aren’t serving you and are keeping you overweight.

Here are 6 bad habit that are keeping you fat.

1. To start to lose weight you need to think differently about food, you need to see food rather as the fuel your body needs to get through your day rather than how much of this can I pack in at each sitting.

2. Lack of exercise is another bad habit that can be keeping you over weight. You know deep down that you really should be increasing how much you exercise, and have every intention of doing it but you give up because it seems too hard or you don’t have enough energy to even start.

To start to get rid of this habit take it slowly you shouldn’t expect yourself to go straight out the door tomorrow and do a half marathon! Take it gradually and work your way up. Take up a sport or hobby that makes you have fun and makes you break out in a sweat, even if it’s only chasing the kids around the back garden.

Also it may sound like a contradiction but if you are lacking in energy, the only way you can increase your energy levels is to start to burn more energy.

3. Avoid skipping meals this bad habit can be caused by poor time management or just thinking that a meal missed will make a difference to your waistline. Unfortunately it will, but in the wrong direction. By skipping meals you usually overeat at your next meal or grab the most convenient thing that’s usually heavy in calories or fat.

4. Although I’ve talk about bad habits here a good habit you next habit you should take up is to never do your grocery shopping on an empty stomach. When you’ve got a empty stomach it can be really hard to focus on the right things to buy and you usually come home with things that really aren’t going to help with your weight loss. A way to get around this is to make up a grocery list at home and stick to it religiously, if it isn’t on the list don’t buy it!

Also as a side note always go to the fruit and vegetable section first and fill up there before visiting the rest of the store. This leaves you with less room in your trolley or basket to put other less healthy options in.

5. Never eat while standing or watching TV, this bad habit can really affect your waist line. By eating in front of a TV your mind is distracted and you’re not consciously aware of how much food you’re putting in your mouth, you look down and suddenly your plates empty and you don’t even remember eating it or even tasting it.

6. Get out of the habit of having to clear your plates during meal times. It may have been something your mother liked seeing when you were a child but you don’t need to continue this way. If you find it hard to get out of this habit just buy smaller plates, this way your conscience is clear and you’ve still eaten less.

Finally

I hope this short article has given you some ideas of habits you can change in your life to lose weight in a healthy way. Remember for every habit there is a way to avoid it or a way around it, you just need a bit of creative thinking.

Barry J McDonald is the author of “The Conquering Cellulite Guide”, a free 41 page report that shows you the best and the worst treatments for cellulite. Drop by www.EscapeFromFat.com now for your copy while its still available.

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by BarryMcDonald
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Being healthy, in shape, and taking care for your own body combines to equal fitness. Which is something wonderful that people can do to enhance their lives – commit to fitness!

The Bible describes our body as being our temple, which is why it is so important to maintain it. Staying fit is a noble act.

This will take a lot of effort and action, but there will be an excellent payoff. Only those who work at it are lucky enough to have a life full of peace and happiness.

Fitness exercise is vital to any routine. Fitness exercise helps fight many diseases, some of which are serious enough to kill, like heart disease.

Unfortunately, greater numbers of people tend to pay no attention to this type of activity. This is why so many people are coming down with different ailments. So of course the hospital business is booming, even if it’s on the backs of these patients.

In fact, high school students don’t generally follow the recommended activities for fitness and health by the Council of the President on Physical Fitness and the Surgeon General nowadays. This amounts to 33% of the United States population.

More often than not, their disregard to health continues into their adulthood. Since more and more people are not staying fit, there will be even more people with weakened resistance, thus more diseases.

As discovered by the National Institute on Aging, a mere 58 % of Americans are taking part in a lifetime fitness program. More often than not, they put the program last, squeezing it into their free time. Of these people, there are only 26 % regularly participating in the fitness program, and even then it is only an average of three times per week.

Commitment to a lifetime of exercise is paramount, but sadly, far too many people often neglect it. People ignore the fact that their lives’ could be greatly enhanced.

Heart disease, stroke, injuries from accidents and mishaps, cancer, and chronic lower respiratory illnesses are common causes of deaths in the U.S., as you may be aware. The CDC reported these as the five most common causes of deaths each year.

What’s worse is that all these causes of death could be avoided all together. People should pay attention to the importance of fitness and exercise and reap the benefits of a lifetime commitment to being fit. Deaths occurring due to accidents are not included.

Physical exercise is not the only part making up a lifetime fitness program, but this program includes a diet that needs to be watched. Anyone that commits to physical fitness will defiantly live a longer healthier life. Of course, they will be happier overall as well. Life is more enjoyable and relaxing when you have a healthy mind and a healthy body.

The choice is yours – do you prefer to commit to a lifetime of fitness to live a healthy, pro-longed life, or would you rather suffer the consequences of not taking care of yourself?

Layne Stoops is an accomplished fitness enthusiast and educator, focusing on innovative and unique techniques for living a healthy life-style. For a limited time, you can claim the “Fitness: Guide to Staying Healthy” e-book absolutely free Free Fitness Guide

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by LayneStoops
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It has been to people attention of having healthy food for better life, due to the busy work and rush during the day unable many of us to concern on what we eat until we get sick and sometime come to the worse case that it is too late to cure. But when the disease was cured we seem to get back to normal life again without realizing the importance of having health food and tend to continue to eat the food that has no benefit such as any kind of fast food.

According to this reason, if you want to be healthy and do not want to get any kind of disease, it’s the time to pay more attention on what you eat and if you take this very seriously, you don’t even take any kind of medication. The good food that always the best for human are vegetables and fruit that we can find in every day life such as cabbages, tomato, peanuts and so on.

Then questions come after the advice about how these things benefit to our health.

Then the answer is many of benefits that you will get from them. This due to the fiber in fruit and vegetables. Even though these fiber are not absorbent, but due to this reason, it is the most important characteristic that benefit to our health. For example, remain of these fiber in our intestine will help to move and digest the food that has no fiber and reduce the accumulate toxic in the body, which sometimes cause intestine cancer.

In the case of there are a lot of accumulated non-digest in the intestine and if those accumulations live longer, the chance of intestine cancer is greater. Therefore, it is necessary to eat fruits and vegetables which has a lot of fiber to reduce to number of those accumulation and get rid of the disease that is the cause of cancer.

Apart from fruits and vegetables, you can have rice instead of them. Because a lot of fiber can be found in rice too!. Not only a lot of fiber in rice but there is also vitamin B, which also helps to prevent you from cancer and the most important thing is that rice has very low of cholesterol, which is the common cause of heart disease. The result of the research conducted by an English researcher found that the food that contain a lot of fiber also reduce the chance of heart disease. Therefore, now you should aware of this and start to eat more fruits and vegetables in order to be healthy and stay way from diseases.

There is one way that will make it easier for you to recognize your real feelings of satisfaction. That is by concentrating on the food when you eat, chew slowly, put down knife and fork and pause and breathe in between each bite. It is best if you do this “awareness” exercise with the utmost concentration, which means: Do not do other things while you are eating - no watching TV or reading the newspaper, etc.

Jack Vallieres is the professional freelance writer. He’s also the webmaster of Ladyhappyhealthy.com/

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by JackVallieres
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This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s The Healthiest Year of Your Life Program which can be found at http://www.thehealthiestyearofyourlife.com. In this excerpt, Mike Adams shares his personal health transformation and an important look at shopping for and choosing healthy foods.

The Healthiest Year of Your Life Excerpt with Mike Adams, founder of the Consumer Wellness Center and on-line retailer, Better Life Goods. An author and speaker, Mike’s mission is to spread the message of natural nutrition and healing.

Kevin: Here’s what scares me a little bit here and let’s start talking about dairy, because it’s a big argument, or just even like people are almost dogmatically either believe dairy is what they need to eat, or they dogmatically believe that it’s not something that you should eat at all. What are some other things that we should really be cautious about when dealing with milk and cheese and things like that?

Mike: Well, the first thing we should be cautious about is what you hinted at. There’s sort of a psychological momentum. This is a well-known phenomenon in human psychology, which is that tend to find reasons to justify own behavior. So if we are drinking milk right now and we’re enjoying it, we’ll find reasons to support that and if we’re not drinking milk and just avoiding all dairy products entirely, we tend to find reasons to support that and we tend to be dogmatic about that, too. So there are very few people in the center, but the first point is take a very close look at your own psychology and ask why am I supporting this, or not supporting it. What’s behind my decisions? In other words, most people drinking milk should ask themselves why am I drinking milk. Why do we take the liquid from another species that is infant formula? Let’s be clear about this. Milk is infant formula. Why are we taking that and processing it? We’re homogenizing the milk fat. Why are we killing it? We’re pasteurizing it to kill it, so that it can be put in the stores and then consumed by humans, adult humans.

In other words, why are we, as adult human beings, drinking infant formula for a furry, bovine species? That’s the real question. You can honestly ask yourself that question and start investigating it and then you can make some progress into this issue, but if you have resistance to that very idea, because you’re enjoying your milk with your cereal in the morning, then you’re not ready to go down that path yet.

At some point, hopefully you’ll be ready and you can check it out. You can start looking at the issue. Now, here’s the conclusion that I’ve come to. I don’t do any dairy at all anymore, other than fermented raw dairy. I only do that occasionally, but my conclusion is that processed milk is very dangerous for human health. I think the epidemiological studies have really shown that. There’s a book called The China Study that’s a good one to look at it that talks about that.

Secondly, raw milk that fresh, farm milk, right out of the cow, once it’s fermented so that the proteins are more digestible and it’s a living food that can be very beneficial to human health. So you see, you can’t just say milk is this, or milk is bad. You have to look at different profiles of milk. There’s living milk and then there’s dead milk. Dead milk, dead, processed milk to me is just like dead, processed snack food. It’s very dangerous to your health, but living milk is like eating sprouts in a way. It’s alive. It’s got friendly flora in there and it’s more digestible in that way. Those are the conclusions that I came to, but I always invite others to draw their own conclusions. I drank milk most of my life, but I certainly don’t touch it now unless it’s fermented and raw and fresh milk. So how’s that, Kevin?

Kevin: It sounds great. When it comes to dogmatism is just questioning the best way to get through to the answers, or just investigating more, because I see it across the board. I see it from people who eat steak and eggs for breakfast, to people who eat nothing but 100% raw food even to the point where they only eat one specific food at a time and they don’t eat anything else. To me it seems that each side is almost too stiff.

Mike: I think the main thing that I encourage people to do is to be skeptical consumers and always question their own beliefs. So we need to have this philosophical flexibility. Otherwise, we too become stuck in our own ways and we become dogmatic and that drives everybody else nuts. No one likes a vegan that marches around insisting that everyone else has to be vegan just like them.

So I always encourage people to take their own journey discovering things on their own and in the meantime I’m happy to hear some of what I discovered. It doesn’t mean that it necessarily is going to apply to you. The other thing, Kevin, is that we’ve got to be sensitive to what our bodies are telling us. If we are sensitive, then we can experiment with these dietary changes. We can try milk for 30 days, or try no milk for 30 days and see which one feels better. In fact, I used to do something. I would put this on the website and challenge people to a 30 day dairy free diet. Just challenge them. You’re going to live many, many decades. Take 30 days and go without milk and see what happens. Find out if it’s better, or worse and people would write me after the 30 days and say, “Wow. My sinuses cleared up. My constipation went away. My joints feel better. I have more energy. My acne disappeared.” It’s just one benefit after another and my answer back to them would be, “That’s great. Now that you discovered that, which way do you want to live the rest of your life?” It’s pretty simple at that point for those people. They chose to live without milk. There might be others out there who are immune to the negative effects of milk for some reason, so maybe they have no benefit and that’s fine, too.

The important thing is to listen to your body and be aware of what kinds of effects you are getting. It’s that feedback mechanism. If you have a health goal of where you want to get to, how do you know if you’re getting there? You know by paying attention to what your body is telling you and then you can just start experimenting with your diet, or with nutritional supplements, or super foods, or exercise, or sunlight, or meditation, yoga, Pilates. You name it. You can put all these things in and find out what’s working for me and that becomes the basis for personal growth.

Kevin: I think you’ve done a good job at providing information to people who don’t necessarily have the time, or have not been able to justify the time to being able to really learn about their health and you have a few different resources. I just want to talk about them now, The Herb Reference Resource. Just why don’t you run down a few of those where people can go? The Drug Side Effects Resource, as well that you’re putting together. Let’s just run down those and just tell everyone what they can see when they go to each one of those.

Mike: Oh, yeah. Well, there is a lot of information out there, but we’ve tried to condense it as much as possible. Herbreference.com gives you look at all the benefits of various herbs, all the health benefits and this is taken from dozens of different books. I’ve studied herbs. There are probably 10,000 scientific studies in all behind that information. Newstarget.com is the main website where we put up daily news about super food nutrients and how to prevent and reverse and even cure degenerative diseases. We also talk about the dangers of pharmaceuticals and the dangers of Western medicine and actually, if you go to newstarget.com it will actually be naturalnews.com. That’s what we’re shifting to. That’s our long-term URL, naturalnews.com. You can find a lot of resources there. So I just encourage people to go there, register for the free e-mail newsletter and they’ll be kept informed of what we’re working on and I’ve approached this, by the way, Kevin, I want to mention I approach this from kind of a nonprofit standpoint.

I made my fortune in the software industry. I started a software company in 1993 and it earns millions of dollars a year. I took that money and the benefits from that and I put it into creating newstarget.com several years ago and so I do this without taking any money from supplement companies. I don’t sell vitamins. I don’t sell supplements, or herbs, or are herbs, or anything like that. I don’t ask for money from these companies to write about their products. So that means I approach this from a really independent viewpoint and when I make a recommendation on a product out there that I really like, like Ron Teeguarden’s Dragon Herbs, you know I’m making that recommendation with 100% objectivity. It’s an honest, independent, genuine recommendation and that’s why people like the website, because they know they can trust it. They may not always agree with everything I say and that’s fine, but they know I’m not taking a bribe to push some junk product out there. I wouldn’t do that just for my reputation. I wouldn’t even think about pushing a junk product out there.

Kevin: We’re shifting gears into supplements now. How do you know? There are hundreds out there and I know how easy it is to make a supplements lie. What kind of knowledge can you impart to everyone to explain the whole process and what it takes to make something really good?

Mike: Okay. I’m going to reveal a secret here and this is one of my little industry secrets of how I know who to trust and who to recommend. First off, you’ve got to look at the ingredients, but that’s obvious. You look at what goes into the supplement. A lot of supplements are junk. The form of vitamin B12 they use, for example, is cyanocobalamin, which is a cyanide molecule combined with a cobalamin.

Kevin: Okay.

Mike: Not a good thing. So I can look at a label and see what level of quality they have for that supplement. The other is the source. If you’re looking at herbs, like Chinese herbs in particular, you don’t want them to be sourced from China probably, because I’ve been to China. I speak Chinese and I know what goes on over there and it’s some scary stuff.

Kevin: Really? With mercury and lead right? That’s two of the big issues.

Mike: Not only that, but I’ve even seen cases where, for example, black sesame seeds were not really roasted sesame seeds. They were just white sesame seeds that were coated with black ink. The stuff I’ve seen, you would not believe it.

The third thing is, this is a secret part. This is why I go to trade shows, because I can meet the person and when I see that person I’m assessing their health. That is, the founder of the company, the CEO. Are they healthy? Are they vibrant? Are their eyes clear? What is their level of health and if they’re not healthy, I don’t recommend their product. I’m looking for really healthy people with fantastic ingredients.

To read the rest of this transcript as well as access The Healthiest Year of Life experts just like Mike Adams please click here! Kevin Gianni is an internationally recognized health advocate, author & film consultant. He has helped thousands of people take control of their own health naturally. For more information visit raw food diets and holistic nutrition

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by KevinGianni
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“Organic,” we see the sign everywhere. It’s become a buzzword used to sell everything, including produce, juice and even clothing items to a public bent on living a lifestyle of health and wellness. But what does “organic” really mean, how can you be sure you’re getting what you pay for and is it really all that important?

The simplest way to put it is, organic produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms or ionizing radiation. Animals are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. The USDA National Organic Program defines “organic,” in part, as using renewable resources and conserving soil and water to enhance environmental quality.

So, now we know what organic means, what about all the rest of those nagging questions? As people start looking into healthier lifestyles, they start hearing words like antioxidants and probiotics; along with the desire for organic products often comes interest in maintaining health and treating common ailments with herbs.

Getting the “Organic” Label

When it comes to items regulated by the USDA, there are three categories, “100% Organic” means just that—100% organic, “Organic” means at least 95% organic materials and ingredients and “Made with Organic Ingredients” means a minimum of 70% organic ingredients and the remaining 30% must include no genetically modified organisms.

Studies are just beginning to prove that organic products are more nutritious and there is little denying that they are healthier, as they contain no synthetics or potentially harmful chemicals. Most also find organic foods taste better. Organic products also reduce the toxic load on our environment, keeping harmful chemicals out of the air, water, soil and our bodies. It also helps reduce farm pollution, as traditional non-organic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers affect even nearby non-farm communities with an onslaught of chemicals. Organic farms promote greater biodiversity as well as using less energy and producing less waste than their non-organic counterparts.

While all the media and marketing buzz about “organic” products may have some folks confused, and many get discouraged by the sea of confusing advertising, it’s easy to see that making organic choices is not only better for your own health and wellness, it’s also a smart choice for the long term, preserving resources for future generations.

Interest in homeopathic and complementary medicine has increased along with the interest in an organic lifestyle. As a result, people are more interested in natural supplements.

Choosing organic, homeopathic remedies doesn’t mean turning your back on modern medicine. Instead, it’s embracing a more natural, time-honored and body-conscious way of life where balance is the key. Modern antibiotics, while at times necessary for our health, also kill the “good” bacteria that normally flourish in our systems. Consuming foods that have been treated with antibiotics has a similar result—our bodies natural balance is thrown off. Reintroducing healthy, or “good” bacteria in the form of probiotics into the system becomes a necessity. Adding these beneficial bacteria back into your system can also reduce the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and reduce the risk of colon cancer. It seems choosing a more organic, natural lifestyle is good for us.

Choosing to go organic doesn’t have to break the bank—buying produce locally, finding reputable online sources for supplements and other items, shopping at farmer’s markets, using fewer pre-packed foods and buying in bulk are just a few ways you can start making the switch to an organic lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be hard either. The next time you see you need to buy an item—simply make the choice to buy organic. Whether it’s a head of lettuce or a bottle of vitamins, each time you choose organic, it becomes easier and easier, and slowly but surely, you make the transformation to a more natural, organic lifestyle.

It’s not just about the foods we eat. More and more, people are turning to a totally organic lifestyle, choosing food items as well as clothing products made from natural, organically grown crops, cleaning items that use fewer chemicals, and vitamins and supplements made with organic ingredients. Even digestive supplements, joint support products and hair formulas can be part of a more organic lifestyle. Today, making the switch to organic is easier than ever, and the more people choose organic, the easier, and more affordable it will become.

Written by Maya Bartlett for vitanetonline.com, who sells quality vitamins and herbs with a wide selection of Discount Vitamins that are in stock and ready to ship. Please link to this site when using article.

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by MayaBartlett
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America is getting fatter and judging by the popularity of diet books, diet supplements and the dizzying array of diet programs available, America is determined to do something about it. But what’s the right answer? If you’re one of the millions who are looking to lose weight, or maybe just opt for a healthier lifestyle, how do you make sense of the diet and weight loss industry chaos? How do you find the system that’s right for you, that’s going to be a sustainable lifestyle?

Take a look around and you’ll be inundated with diet “systems”—South Beach, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast and others come immediately to mind. We’re in a battle of the bulge, and we’re losing, but not the way we want—the weight’s staying on, and our waistlines are expanding. We’re losing the battle.

We all know the simple math—in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume. Increasing exercise while decreasing caloric intake is the classic way to weight loss. Most diet plans fail in that they provide a temporary solution to a life-long problem. They offer severely restricted, short-term eating plans to produce dramatic and fast weight loss. Where they fail is in addressing long-term lifestyle needs. They don’t teach someone how to eat properly, how to make better choices and how to live, eat and exercise for health and wellness. Add to that the constant flip-flopping of studies, one week carbs are your friend and the next they’re the enemy a la the popular Atkins Diet and you’re got a recipe for failure.

Your body = Your machine

Our bodies require more than just basic fuel (food) to thrive. We need a complex combination of proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and thousands of other nutrients. The most important thing is that our bodies are trainable. We “like” what we’re exposed to. Most people find that slowly introducing healthier food choices, while at the same time slowly reducing the unhealthy choices, results in a desire for more of the healthy stuff. We can reprogram our bodies to crave the good stuff; it’s just going to take practice and patience.

Meanwhile, how can we be sure we’re getting a balanced diet? As calorie count goes down, so too do the nutrients we’re taking in. This is where savvy use of meal replacements and supplements comes in. We can also ensure our bodies are getting the vital nutrients we need by taking additional vitamins and minerals.

What about exercise? There’s no doubt that exercise is vital to a healthy lifestyle, but you can’t count on it as the only way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Remember that basic math? A pound of fat represents roughly 3,500 calories. OK, sounds basic. To lose a pound, you need to “burn” 3,500 calories more than you take in. For the average person, a “moderate” walk of about three miles per hour will burn about 300 calories an hour. Wow. I hope you like walking! For each pound you want to lose, you’d have to walk not quite 12 hours—36 miles. Take about 21 trips across the Golden Gate Bridge. Or walk around the island of Manhattan—one and a half times. Seems like a lot of work for one pound, doesn’t it?

Looking to the long-term

Exercise is a great thing, increasing your cardiovascular health and boosting your metabolism, which increases your ability to burn fat efficiently. But it’s not the only answer.

A diet that reduces how much you actually put into your systems is the first step. Increasing your activity is an important second step. But along the way, you might also consider introducing additional fiber, as well as supplements designed to help boost metabolism and reduce fat absorption. In addition to helping with weight loss, and promoting a healthier body overall, supplements can also provide joint support to help ease the aching of tired, stiff joints. Getting rid of joint aches and pains will encourage more exercise. It’s all a circular relationship—exercise helps build stronger muscles, offering better joint support, and boosts your metabolism, encouraging weight loss. The weight loss, better metabolism and pain-free joints encourage you to exercise more.

Reaching a healthy, sustainable weight is not a quick or easy task, but it’s one that’s well worth doing right as the benefits are a lifetime of health and wellness, more energy, and oh, yeah, looking and feeling better overall. And that combination is a heady motivator!

Written by Maya Bartlett for vitanetonline.com, who sells quality vitamins and herbs with a wide selection of Discount Vitamins that are in stock and ready to ship. Please link to this site when using article.

Tags: Wellness, Fitness and Diet by MayaBartlett
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