What do I mean by that?

Where are you now with your health? We have been brought up to live with a collected set of beliefs that we have all subscribed to from a young age.  The sad thing is that we subscribe to these beliefs at the points in our lives when our minds do not have the capacity to question them. Much as we subscribe to almost anything adults tell us when we are children. At the same time comments like, ‘it is my genetics’ or ‘that’s just the way I am’ are excuses and give more power to these belief patterns.

We are living each day trying to please someone or trying to impress someone with our knowledge, our looks, our intellect, our wittiness, our charm.  We are all wearing 5 or 6 social masks every single day of our lives, depending on who are with.

Your social mask is not the same when you are speaking to your work colleagues than it is when you are speaking with your loved ones or when you are speaking with a close friend.  We have been brought up learning what masks to wear and in what situations.

The only reason we are wearing these social masks is to be accepted in a society that doesn’t like masks.  So what can we do to break free from a reality that has been built for us, but not built by us?

Make a choice!

There comes a time, or several times, in your life when you have to make a choice between living in a health reality that has been created by others, their choices and beliefs ….. or you can create your own reality. Which one would you prefer?

Right this very second our health has been formed by the beliefs that have been passed down by others, mainly our parents, teachers, siblings and peers.  Right now you can decide that you no longer want to live the health reality created for you and it’s time to create your own levels of health, not average or statistical…. your own high standard.

How on earth do you create your own high health standards?

Wake up!

The very first thing to do to change your health is  to wake up to the fact that the world in which you live is made up of belief systems.  Someone believed that it was possible to fly and went on to master flight, someone believed that it was possible to illuminate the world with light and went on to master the light bulb, someone believed that we could be connected with computers and went on to create the internet, someone believed that we no longer needed horse and cart for transport and invented cars. Some people believe that it is OK to smoke or drink and eat poor food, it doesn’t have to be you belief if you actually choose not to.

It’s time for that someone to be you, it’s time for you break the spell of someone’s beliefs and start making your own spells.  You live in a reality created by others, their ideas of health, of fun, of exercise and socialising – have the courage, the belief, the mental strength, and the power to change your own health.  Don’t join someone else’s revolution, start your own revolution and become the leader and not the follower.

Imagine how you’d look, how you’d feel, what you could do?

What things are you going to do to do to get your health, weight or fitness to the level you want? Who can you get information from? What action will you take now?

In a way, simplifying your life for vagabonding is easier than it sounds. This is because travel by its very nature demands simplicity. If you don’t believe this, just go home and try stuffing everything you own into a backpack. This will never work, because no matter how meagerly you live at home, you can’t match the scaled-down minimalism that travel requires. You can, however, set the process of reduction and simplification into motion while you’re still at home. This is useful on several levels: Not only does it help you to save up travel money, but it helps you realize how independent you are of your possessions and your routines. In this way, it prepares you mentally for the realities of the road, and makes travel a dynamic extension of the life-alterations you began at home.

“Travel can be a kind of monasticism on the move: On the road, we often live more simply, with no more possessions than we can carry, and surrendering ourselves to chance. This is what Camus meant when he said that “what gives value to travel is fear” — disruption, in other words, (or emancipation) from circumstance, and all the habits behind which we hide.
– Pico Iyer, “Why We Travel”

As with, say, giving up coffee, simplifying your life will require a somewhat difficult consumer withdrawal period. Fortunately, your impending travel experience will give you a very tangible and rewarding long-term goal that helps ease the discomfort. Over time, as you reap the sublime rewards of simplicity, you’ll begin to wonder how you ever put up with such a cluttered life in the first place.

On a basic level, there are three general methods to simplifying your life: stopping expansion, reining in your routine, and reducing clutter. The easiest part of this process is stopping expansion. This means that – in anticipation of vagabonding – you don’t add any new possessions to your life, regardless of how tempting they might seem. Naturally, this applies to things like cars and home entertainment systems, but this also applies to travel accessories. Indeed, one of the biggest mistakes people make in anticipation of vagabonding is to indulge in a vicarious travel buzz by investing in water filters, sleeping bags, and travel-boutique wardrobes. In reality, vagabonding runs smoothest on a bare minimum of gear – and even multi-year trips require little initial investment beyond sturdy footwear and a dependable travel bag or backpack.

While you’re curbing the material expansion of your life, you should also take pains to rein in the unnecessary expenses of your weekly routine. Simply put, this means living more humbly (even if you aren’t humble) and investing the difference into your travel fund. Instead of eating at restaurants, for instance, cook at home and pack a lunch to work or school. Instead of partying at nightclubs and going out to movies or pubs, entertain at home with friends or family. Wherever you see the chance to eliminate an expensive habit, take it. The money you save as a result will pay handsomely in travel time. In this way, I ate lot of baloney sandwiches (and missed out on a lot of grunge-era Seattle nightlife) while saving up for a vagabonding stint after college — but the ensuing eight months of freedom on the roads of North America more than made up for it.

“Very many people spend money in ways quite different from those that their natural tastes would enjoin, merely because the respect of their neighbors depends upon their possession of a good car and their ability to give good dinners. As a matter of fact, any man who can obviously afford a car but genuinely prefers travels or a good library will in the end be much more respected than if he behaved exactly like everyone else.”
– Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

Perhaps the most challenging step in keeping things simple is to reduce clutter – to downsize what you already own. As Thoreau observed, downsizing can be the most vital step in winning the freedom to change your life: “I have in my mind that seemingly wealthy, but most terribly impoverished class of all,” he wrote in Walden, “who have accumulated dross, but know not how to use it, or get rid of it, and thus have forged their own golden or sliver fetters.”

How you reduce your “dross” in anticipation of travel will depend on your situation. If you’re young, odds are you haven’t accumulated enough to hold you down (which, incidentally, is a big reason why so many vagabonders tend to be young). If you’re not-so-young, you can re-create the carefree conditions of youth by jettisoning the things that aren’t necessary to your basic well-being. For much of what you own, garage sales and on-line auctions can do wonders to de-clutter your life (and score you an extra bit of cash to boot). Homeowners can win their travel freedom by renting out their houses; those who rent accommodation can sell, store, or lend out the things that might bind them to one place.

An additional consideration in life-simplification is debt. As Laurel Lee wryly observed in Godspeed, “cities are full of those who have been caught in monthly payments for avocado green furniture sets.” Thus, if at all possible, don’t let avocado green furniture sets (or any other seemingly innocuous indulgence) dictate the course of your life by forcing you into ongoing cycles of production and consumption. If you’re already in debt, work your way out of it – and stay out. If you have a mortgage or other long-term debt, devise a situation (such as property rental) that allows you to be independent of its obligations for long periods of time. Being free from debt’s burdens simply gives you more vagabonding options.

And, for that matter, more life options.

To learn more from Tim Ferris The 4-hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich

[Note from Tim: I took Walden with me, along with Vagabonding, when I traveled the world beginning in 2004. Less is More came a few months later, and I still reread it every six months or so.]

Walden: Or, Life in the Woods (Dover Thrift) by Henry David Thoreau
The philosophical account of Thoreau’s experiment in anti-materialist living. An American literary classic for over 150 years.

Less is More: The Art of Voluntary Poverty: an Anthology of Ancient and Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity
Quotes and essays on the value of simplicity, from the likes of Socrates, Shakespeare, St. Francis, Benjamin Franklin, and Mohandas Gandhi — as well as the Bible, the Dhammapada, the Tao Te Ching, and the Bhagavad Gita.

Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and Updated
A best-selling book that uses a nine-step process to demonstrate how most people are making a “dying” instead of a living. Practical pointers for achieving financial independence by altering your lifestyle.

Voluntary Simplicity Second: Revised Edition: Toward a Way of Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich
First published in 1981, this is a popular reference and inspiration for those looking to live a simpler life. Strongly themed toward environmental sustainability.

The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living
Luhrs is the founder and publisher of The Simple Living Journal (and the companion website). Book contains tips for living fully and well through simplicity.

It has been known in the fitness industry by savvy trainers for some time that doing hundreds of crunches does not ‘spot reduce fat’ around the mid section, lunges, squats and running, whilst great forms of exercise do not specifically reduce fat on the legs etc, you did know that didn’t you?  The good news is cutting edge scientific research has found in the last decade or so that knowing a persons specific hormone balance, we can possibly optimize their body composition, following site-characteristic protocols. Here are four example indicators:

1. Fat around thighs indicates high estrogen levels, very common in today’s world full of plastics and xeno-estrogens (biological estrogen mimickers).

2. Fat on the front of the tummy or umbilicus represents high or imbalanced Cortisol or stress hormone problems, again modern day stressful lifestyles!

3. High levels of Insulin are shown in Fat storage areas around the ‘love handles’ this is a reflection of blood sugar problems and poor diet.

4. A poor Thyroid function and high goitrogen levels can commonly lead to high levels of Fat storage around the neck, mid back and low shoulder blade area.

5. The fifth clinical pearl is that high Androgen levels, promote Fat storage around the upper arms and mid-section area.

If all this sounds complex, the real solutions are healthy, regular levels of exercise and following a good balanced diet and stress management, you can’t beat your body into submission, it just doesn’t work. Work smart, not simply hard. The truth is you can get better results with the same time spent working out, sounds good doesn’t it? If in doubt speak to someone about your nutritional intake!

Excess levels of hormones found in the body are not being processed correctly by the liver, usually due to stress and poor diet, genetics does play its part but normally the former two are more influential. Laboratory testing is usually the best way to find out your hormones levels, and ‘If you’re not assessing, you’re guessing’ as a teacher of mine likes to say. Speak to your GP or a qualified Nutritionist if you need clarification. Again I’ll stress the importance of balancing stress, nutrition and exercise, they are key in getting the body you deserve.

1. High lower body (upper thigh skin fold and gluteal fold) fat measurements; indicate high amounts of so-called Alpha-2-receptors, (more common in women) plus high levels of estrogens. The recommended treatment for this would be clearing the liver from high circulating levels of estrogen. Also by locally blocking alpha-2 receptors we maximize fat loss, and minimize fat accumulation.  I also suggest the supplement indole-3-carbinol, (found in Broccoli type vegetables) as an estrogen detoxifier, as well as some isoflavones . A healthy liver naturally cleanses the body of unwanted hormones so keeping it healthy is paramount.

2. High umbilical (abdominal) skin fold measurements alarmed health care professionals because one study consisting of 30,000 women over a period of 12 years discovered that women with higher umbilical fat measurements, (abdominal fat accumulation) were more likely to develop heart disease than other ordinary overweight women. As I mentioned before, this group had to deal with high stress and chronically elevated cortisol. Stress reduction and regular sleep patterns are key. Also the supplement phosphatydylserine has shown a dramatic reduction of circulating cortisol, (as well as improved mood, memory, and motivation  to fight stress and depression). Fish oils rich in essential omega-3 oils and Liquorice Root, which helps the regulation of cortisol production. Glycyrrhizin is a component of liquorice, which is capable of inactivating cortisol. Another good idea for any person belonging to this particular group is to limit (reduce) their caffeine and simple sugars consumption. These are factors that could impact (increase) their levels of cortisol in the body.

3. People with a high, mid-axillary (upper outer lat region) fat measurement, usually have some form of thyroid problem. This can measured in blood test by your GP. The supplements that I recommend to treat this particular problem are: the Ayurvedic herb Guggul, which stimulates synthesis of T3, the active form of thyroid hormone. Also a good choice would be a Bladderwrack a natural source of Iodine, Zinc and Selenium, all responsible for thyroid hormone production. Finally, Ashwaganda and Coleus root(a member of the mint family) both used frequently to stimulate the thyroid gland.

4. If a supra iliac (love handles) skin fold is high, then the person could have a circulating insulin problem, so a glycemically balanced diet is recommended here. Take frequent smaller meals, consisting of essential fats and high fibre. Supplements such as chromium, fenugreek and flax seeds will control levels of blood sugar and insulin. So, to remind you once again of the importance of good nutrition as it makes your life in the gym much easier or the body you have much stronger and healthier!

Speak to Guy about creating a balanced nutrition plan to suit your personal needs with the possible inclusion of testing, and the recommendation of certain herbal supplements. www.successfulhealth.co.uk

Call on 07980 865 892

References:

Your guide to Healthy Hormones 2003 – Dr D Kalish,

The Body Typing Diet 1999 Dr Sandra Cabot

Biosignatures Information 2005 – Poliquin Performance Institute

1. Be honest

You don’t need lies in your life, and being honest only gets easier with practice.

2. Make a list of just 7 things that are irreplaceable

Once you know what’s important to you, you’ll probably get rid of some things that aren’t.

3. Make a list of just 5 people who matter the most to you

Once again, keeping in touch with the people who really mean something to you will help you realize your true priorities.

4. Move into a smaller living space

You’ll throw out some stuff during the moving process, and a small home means you’ll be faced with clutter on a daily basis until you get rid of more.

5. Quit or change your job

Or just pretend for a while and make some plans. You might be surprised by what you come up with.

6. Train for a fitness goal
   

Whether this is training for a 5k fun run, a 2k row, restarting an old or beginning a new sport. This can provide an amazing amount of stress relief too.

Sources:

Lifehack March 30, 2010

What’s sad about this is that many people feel like they are doing everything necessary to get the result they are looking for. They are resigned to the fact that this is how it’s going to be and there isn’t anything that can be done to correct their deficiencies. If you were to ask them what results they would like to get out of their workout, the number 1 answer is “losing weight or getting thinner.”

When I am asked what it takes to look “fitter,” the first question I ask is: “How long have you been doing your current training program?”

The usual answer I receive is “somewhere between 6 and 12 months.” The typical program they follow is “30 – 60 minutes of continuous aerobic work 3 to 5 times per week.” This is a combination of treadmill, stepper, elliptical, rower and bike.

Our training tells us that this is not a good approach to take for the client seeking improving results over time. World renowned strength guru Charles Poliquin has identified 6 reasons why aerobic training is counterproductive to fat loss:

(1) Continuous aerobic work plateaus after 8 weeks of training so anything more is counterproductive.

This is quite an “eye opener” for most people who immediately recognize that they may have been wasting their time for such an extended period. To quote Charles, “using this principle in preparation for the 92 Olympics, the Canadian Alpine Ski team actually surpassed the Cross-country team on aerobic scores as measured by third party University labs.” Who wouldn’t want to perform as well as the Canadian Alpine ski team?

(2) Aerobic training worsens power locally and systemically – in other words, it can make you slower.

If you are an athlete or a “weekend warrior” who likes to participate in athletic events or team sports that require speed and jumping ability, this is the last thing you want from a cardiovascular training program. Coach Poliquin adds that “the more lower body aerobic work you do, the more your vertical jump worsens (reduced leg power). The more upper body aerobic work you do, the more your medicine ball throws worsen (reduced upper body power).”

(3) Aerobic training increases ‘oxidative stress’ which can accelerate aging.

According to Endocrinologist Dr. Diana Schwarzbein (author of The Schwarzbein Principle ,) “oxidation” is a process that forms free radicals in the body. Normally the body can neutralize free radicals with substances known as antioxidants. It is only when there is an excessive build-up of free radicals that the body cannot neutralize all of the free radicals. This leads to changes to your metabolism which can accelerate aging in every cell of the body, from heart right through to skin cells.

(4) Aerobic training increases adrenal stress – raise cortisol and reduce DHEA, which can make you fatter and produce other undesirable health consequences

According to Dr. James Wilson (author of Adrenal Fatigue – The 21st. Century Stress Syndrome,) “normally functioning adrenal glands secrete minute, yet precise and balanced, amounts of steroid hormones”. When one does too much continuous aerobic exercise, the adrenal glands are stressed in a way that can upset this delicate balance which could lead to adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is associated with such symptoms as: tiredness, fearfulness, allergies, frequent influenza, arthritis, anxiety, depression, reduced memory, and difficulties in concentrating, insomnia, feeling worn-out, and most importantly- with respect to this article – the inability to lose weight after extensive efforts.”

(5) Aerobic training increases body fat in stressed individuals by contributing additionally to stress.

If you are already going through a lot of stress in your life then adding more “stress” by doing too much continuous aerobic work will actually add more body fat thus making it hard to reach a weight-loss/body fat goal.

(6) Aerobic training worsens testosterone/cortisol ratio which impedes your ability to add muscle & burn fat.

When the testosterone/cortisol ratio is lowered your ability to add lean muscle tissue, which helps to increase caloric expenditure, is again hampered making weight loss much more difficult. Coach Poliquin notes that “continuous aerobic work is basically exercise induced castration!”

Coming up in “Part 2” of this article: I’ll examine alternative exercise strategies which can help you break through a plateaus as well as being healthier for you.

urprise: Research suggests that becoming more grateful could make each of us 25% happier — and that being happy is the key to a longer, more successful life.

Our lives do not just seem better when we are happy — they actually become better, according to a 2005 analysis of hundreds of psychological studies. Happy people tend to have longer, more loving marriages… are healthier… live an average of seven to nine years longer than chronically unhappy people… and have more successful careers. According to one study, happy college graduates had annual salaries £15,000 higher than unhappy graduates 16 years after graduation.

While an endless procession of self-help gurus have claimed to know the path to happiness, psychological studies generally have failed to confirm that proposed happiness strategies actually work.

One notable exception: Research conducted in the past decade appears to indicate that we can become happier by feeling more gratitude. As we feel happier in our daily lives, we become less stressed and thus the body’s own destructive stress chemicals have less negative effect on our brain, muscles and fat storage abilities.

In a recent interview we asked psychology professor Robert A. Emmons, PhD, of the University of California, Davis, for more information…

What is “gratitude” to a psychologist?
In simple terms, gratitude is our affirmation of a benefit that we have received and our recognition that this benefit has come to us from outside of ourselves.

You say that becoming more grateful will make us happier. How do we know that it isn’t the other way around — happiness creates gratitude?
Our research suggests that increases in happiness do not lead to increases in gratitude, but that increases in gratitude do in fact increase happiness. We designed a study to test this. Participants were divided into two groups, each of which were initially identified as equally happy. Members of one of these groups were asked to write in a journal the things that they were grateful for, which made them more conscious of and grateful for the good fortune that came their way. At the end of the study, the journal-keeping group was 25% happier than members of the group that did not keep gratitude journals.

Why does feeling gratitude make us happier?
Primarily, I believe, it is because gratitude increases our sense of connection to other people. Having strong relationships is the single best predictor of happiness, and our relationships become stronger when we acknowledge the support we receive from those around us. Acknowledging the support we receive from others provides us with confirmation that we have value in other people’s eyes. Gratitude also buffers us from envy, resentment and regret, emotions that inhibit happiness.

Why do people often have trouble being grateful for what they have?
Lots of reasons. Most of us are fortunate to have pretty good lives, so our default reaction might be to take the benefits that come our way for granted. Consumerism and other cultural pressures can foster a sense that we deserve even more than we have. Our desire to see ourselves as self-sufficient makes it difficult to admit that someone else has helped us. And admitting gratitude can create uncomfortable feelings of indebtedness.

Can we consciously choose to become more grateful and thus happier?
Yes, I do believe it is a choice. Chronically unhappy people do not greatly differ from happy people in terms of their life circumstances — they just approach life with a different set of attitudes. Unhappy people tend to see themselves as victims of their past, and feel entitled or exaggeratedly deserving when good fortune comes their way. Happy people are thankful that good things happen to them — even though their lives might be no better than those of the unhappy people next door. We cannot always alter the events of our lives, but we can alter our attitudes.

What, specifically, can we do to become more grateful?
Make an effort to speak about your life using words of gratitude even if you do not feel very grateful. Though it seems counter­intuitive, we can become more grateful by forcing ourselves to feign gratefulness that we do not initially feel. Speak in terms of gifts and givers, not regrets and setbacks. Refer to yourself as blessed or fortunate, not deserving or lacking. Say that you live in abundance, not in need. For example, say “I feel so grateful when I can sleep through the night,” rather than “Most nights I wake up every few hours.”

Keeping a gratitude journal also seems to encourage gratefulness. Every day or every week, write down five or more things for which you are grateful. Be specific — “I’m grateful for my spouse” is little more than a cliché, but “I’m grateful that my spouse picked up my dry cleaning this afternoon” reminds us that we are grateful to our partner today for a particular reason. Try not to repeat entries — gratitude journals are most effective when we think of new items each day.

Incidentally, if you are struggling to get to sleep at night, don’t count sheep, count your blessings. Grateful people sleep better and longer than ungrateful people, and wake feeling more refreshed.

What is the secret to being grateful in the face of struggle or tragedy?
The secret is not to wait until tragedy strikes. Become more grateful while your life is running smoothly, so that gratitude becomes an ingrained part of your “psychological immune system.” That will make it easier to view difficulties as temporary and surmountable setbacks, or even as opportunities in disguise.

A grateful person mourns the passing of a close friend, but he/she also feels lucky to have known the friend as long as he did, and is glad that he has so many other friends remaining.

Many prayers are expressions of gratitude. So, do religious people have an advantage when it comes to actually feeling gratitude and being happy?
Yes, to some degree. One of the foundations of virtually every religion is that people should give thanks to God and to each other. Religious texts and religious teachings typically provide models of how to be grateful, such as prayers of gratitude and rituals of giving thanks. Spirituality appears to be particularly helpful for maintaining a grateful outlook in the face of suffering and adversity.

What are Anti-nutrients?
Phytates, tannins, and goitrogens are anti-nutrients (compounds in food that decrease the nutritional value of the
food by making the nutrient unavailable or undigestible for biological processes). Other anti-nutrients are
lectins, oxalates, and saponins.
“The principal goitrogens in soybeans are the estrogenic plant hormones known as isoflavones. The
antinutrients known as saponins in soy may also be goitrogens. Cooking and processing methods, using heat,
pressure, and alkaline solutions, will neither deactivate nor remove isoflavones or saponins.”9
“Strong chelating substances, such as phytic acid in grains, oxalic acid in green leafy vegetables and tannins in
tea may bind with ionized minerals in the digestive tract and prevent them from being absorbed.”10

Why soak nuts, grains and seeds?
1. To remove or reduce phytic acid.
2. To remove or reduce tannins.
3. To neutralize the enzyme inhibitors.
4. To encourage the production of beneficial enzymes.
5. To increase the amounts of vitamins, especially B vitamins.
6. To break down gluten and make digestion easier.
7. To make the proteins more readily available for absorption.
8. To prevent mineral deficiencies and bone loss.
9. To help neutralize toxins in the colon and keep the colon clean.
10. To prevent many health diseases and conditions.
“Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize a large portion
of phytic acid in grains.
Soaking in warm water also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds, and encourages the production
of numerous beneficial enzymes. The action of these enzymes also increases the amount of many vitamins,
especially B vitamins.
Scientists have learned that the proteins in grains, especially gluten, are very difficult to digest. A diet high in
unfermented whole grains, particularly high-gluten grains like wheat, puts an enormous strain on the whole
digestive mechanism. When this mechanism breaks down with age or overuse, the results take the form of
allergies, celiac disease, mental illness, chronic indigestion and candida albicans overgrowth. Recent research
links gluten intolerance with multiple sclerosis. During the process of soaking and fermenting, gluten and other
difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available
for absorption.”
What can be used to soak nuts, grains and seeds?
I have found many references to soaking nuts, grains, and seeds in water, salt water, or a warm water mixture
with something acidic like yogurt, whey or lemon juice. It seems within 7 to 24 hours the enzyme inhibitors are
neutralized and the anti-nutrients are broken down regardless of the method you choose. There is evidence that
the process works when you see sprouting begin.
“Nuts are easier to digest, and their nutrients more readily available, if they are first soaked in salt water
overnight, then dried in a low warm oven (or dehydrator). This method imitates the Aztec practice of soaking
pumpkin or squash seeds in brine and then letting them dry in the sun before eating them whole or grinding
them into meal. Salt in soaking water activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors….”1
“Soaking the nuts and seeds in water neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors and can increase the vitamin and mineral
content.”
“Because they are acidic, buttermilk, cultured milk, yoghurt and whey (as well as lemon juice and vinegar)
activate the enzyme phytase, which works to break down phytic acid in the bran of grains. Sour milk products
also provide lactic acid and lactobacilli that help break down complex starches, irritating tannins and difficult3
to-digest proteins. Soaking increases vitamin content and makes all the nutrients in grains more available. This
method has the further advantage of so softening whole meal flour that the final product is often
indistinguishable from one made with white flour.”11
I usually soak my nuts and seeds in salt water this way they will be salty and I know that salt helps digest
protein. I will soak my grains in plain water or yogurt if I am making a recipe like pancakes.

How long does the soaking process take?
It takes at least 7 (seven) hours to properly break the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors se compounds down. I
have soaked for as little as 7 hours and as long as 48 hours.
“As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in
grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their
nutritional benefits.” “Flour products should be soaked at room temperature for at least 12 hours but better
results may be obtained with a 24-hour soaking.”
Are the nuts, grains and seeds used wet?
I have enjoyed almonds wet. If you choose to try consuming anything in the soaked state, make little batches
and store them in the refrigerator. Usually everything that is soaked is dried in a dehydrator or oven on the
lowest possible setting for 24 – 48 hours to remove all moisture.
Wheat berries can be soaked whole for 8 to 22 hours, then drained and rinsed. Some recipes use the whole
berries while they are wet, such as cracker dough ground right in the food processor. You can also dry sprouted
wheat berries in a low-temperature oven or dehydrator, and then grind them in your grain mill and use the flour
in a variety of recipes.15
Nuts, grains, seeds and legumes can be ground up to use as flour in many recipes after they have been dried.
Any advice on what to do with legumes?
Maureen Diaz recommends soaking any beans or legumes in water and vinegar for at least 12 hours before
cooking. Soaked and dried beans (white and navy have the most benign flavor) may be ground up and used as
flour for thickening and baking. This is helpful for those on a gluten free diet.
Paul Pitchford in his book, Healing with Whole Foods, has a wonderful chapter on legumes that explains the
healing properties of each bean, how to improve the digestibility of legumes (11 tips), techniques for cooking
legumes (Beans, Peas and Lentils) and a nice collection of recipes. The end of the chapter also covers Miso,
Tempeh and Tofu recipes, healing properties, nutrients, uses, words of caution and best results in preparation.17
One of his recommendations includes placing soaked kombu or kelp seaweed in the bottom of the pot when
soaking legumes. Add 1 part seaweed to 6 or more parts legumes. This is for improved flavor and digestion,
more nutrients, and faster cooking.
His recommendation for soaking: “Soak legumes for 12 hours or overnight in four parts water to one part
legume. For best results, change the water once or twice. Lentils and whole dried peas require shorter soaking,
while soybeans and garbanzos need to soak longer. Soaking softens skins and begins the sprouting process,
which eliminates phytic acid, thereby making more minerals available. Soaking also promotes faster cooking
and improved digestibility, because the gas-causing enzymes and trisaccarides in legumes are released into the
soak water. Be sure to discard the soak water. After bringing legumes to a boil, scoop off and discard foam.
Continue to boil for 20 minutes without lid at beginning of cooking to let steam rise (breaks up and disperses
indigestible enzymes).”
The added step of soaking may seem like an inconvenience, however, all the added health benefits
will make this preparation wisdom well worth the effort!

Doctors like statins because they reduce cholesterol levels in your blood – and they work quickly and easily. But, as they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Yes, statins reduce cholesterol levels – but at what cost to other functions in your body?

Certainly, they are expensive in monetary terms, and they continue to make big pharma companies lots of it – but I’m really talking about the physical toll these drugs can take on the body. We know some of the obvious side effects they cause in some people, like memory problems, muscle damage, liver damage, sexual dysfunction, and peripheral neuropathy. But now a new study shows that statins can also have more subtle effects on the body – ones that can trigger a whole cascade of health problems down the road.

Do statins’ results justify their collateral damage?

In this Finnish study, doctors researched the effects of the statin drug simvastatin (Zocor) and dietary changes on 120 men between the ages of 35 and 64. All of the men had high cholesterol (fasting serum concentrations between 232 and 309) that had previously been untreated. The men were randomly divided into two equal groups: one group was advised to continue following their usual diet, while the other group was advised to follow a Mediterranean-style diet. Specifically, the dietary intervention included keeping saturated fat intake below 10 percent of total calories, cholesterol intake below 250 mg a day, and increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids, fruits, vegetables, and soluble fiber.

Then each group was further divided into two subgroups that took either 20 mg of simvastatin each day or a placebo. They followed this protocol for 12 weeks, and then each subgroup “crossed over” to the other treatment. At baseline and at the end of each 12-week treatment period, the researchers assessed each participant’s blood pressure, weight, and exercise frequency, as well as blood levels of cholesterol, insulin, and antioxidants.

There’s no denying that simvastatin was effective at reducing cholesterol levels. On average, the drug brought total cholesterol levels down 20.8 percent. In contrast, dietary intervention alone decreased total cholesterol by only 7.6 percent.

Statin drug’s surprising side effects lead down a dangerous road.

But here’s a revealing finding: simvastatin treatment also INCREASED fasting serum insulin levels by 13 percent, and DECREASED serum concentrations of important antioxidant vitamins by as much as 22 percent.

Among participants in the dietary intervention group, blood tests revealed significantly lower serum levels of critical nutrients like alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and co-enzyme Q-10 while taking the statin drug, compared to the period when they took the placebo. At the same time, glucose levels were not affected, suggesting a decrease in insulin sensitivity.

We know that decreased insulin sensitivity leads us down a dangerous road: insulin resistance, which leads to Type II diabetes, and finally all the disease’s associated conditions like kidney disease, heart disease, even blindness.

But not getting the antioxidants you need could be equally troubling. We’ve learned so much over the past decade about antioxidants’ critical role in good health; these nutrients help protect us from atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease – even cancer.

You could argue that statin drugs protect us, too – by reducing cholesterol levels and reducing the risk of heart disease. But it seems like a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Ok, so your cholesterol level comes down – but your insulin levels could go up and your body could be robbed of essential nutrients. Considering all of that, is the net effect of statins positive, negative – or just a very expensive wash?

You have to make that decision for yourself, after weighing the options with your doctor. But consider that there are safe, natural ways to lower your cholesterol WITHOUT running the risk of insulin resistance, nutrient loss, or other dangerous side effects.

If you have high cholesterol, give diet, exercise, and natural remedies a try before resorting to statins. You may have to be a little more patient; you may not see results as quickly and dramatically as you might by taking the drugs. But in the end, you’ll know for sure that you’re netting positive results for your heart – and for your overall health.

“The potential adverse effects of the entire class of these widely used drugs are particularly worrying considering that the new guidelines for treating high cholesterol, recently published by the US National Cholesterol Education Program, recommend treatment with cholesterol lowering drugs for a considerable portion of mankind,” states Uffe Ravnskov, MD, author of The Cholesterol Myths (New Trends, 2000).

However, there is currently no indication that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be following Europe’s lead and look into the safety of the entire Statin class, despite the fact that they have been petitioned to do so by the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, among others.

“These drugs may cause muscle damage by interfering with the body”s production and metabolism of Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone),” says Stephen Byrnes, PhD, author of Diet & Heart Disease : It’s Not What You Think (Whitman, 2001). “This substance is crucial for the proper functioning of muscle tissue, which includes the heart.”

The statins that are most commonly available are Lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), and Lescol (fluvastatin). Have a think before you pop the pill, speak with your doctor & try natural methods first.

Can Drinking GreenTea Affect Your Biological Age?

A new study carried out by Chinese researchers at the University of Hong Kong has found that the cells of people who regularly drink tea may actually have a younger biological age than cells from non-drinkers.

The study involved 976 Chinese men and 1,030 Chinese women aged over 65. Their dietary habits were evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire. The researchers analysed telomere length as a marker of biological age.

Elizabeth Blackburn, a telomere pioneer at the University of California, San Francisco has likened telomeres to the ends of shoelaces, without which the laces would unravel. The ageing and lifespan of normal, healthy cells are linked to the telomerase-shortening mechanism. This limits cells to a fixed number of divisions; with each cell replication, the telomeres shorten, and when the telomeres are completely consumed, the cells are destroyed (cell apoptosis). Many experts believe telomere length to be a marker of biological ageing.

The researchers found that people who drank an average of three cups of tea daily had telomeres which were about 4.6 kilobases longer than those who drank an average of a quarter of a cup per day.

Lead researcher Ruth Chan commented that the average difference in the telomere length corresponds to “approximately a difference of 5 years of life”.

In this study, Chinese tea refers to both black and green tea, but the majority of tea drunk by the participants was green tea, which is known to be rich in antioxidants.

The authors speculated, “the antioxidant properties of tea and its constituent nutrients may protect telomeres from oxidative damage in the normal ageing process”.

Sources:
British Journal of Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1017/S0007114509991383
Chan, Woo et al. ‘Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men’

If after a few months’ exposure to the post 2008 economy, in which housing markets spontaneously combust, coworkers mysteriously disappear and the stifled moans of dying pensions plans can be heard through the floorboards, you have the awful sensation that your body’s stress response has taken on a self-replicating and ultimately self-defeating life of its own, congratulations. You are very perceptive. It has.

As though it weren’t bad enough that chronic stress has been shown to raise blood pressure, stiffen arteries, suppress the immune system, heighten the risk of diabetes, depression and Alzheimer’s disease and make one a very undesirable dinner companion, now researchers have discovered that the sensation of being highly stressed can rewire the brain in ways that promote its sinister persistence.

Reporting earlier this summer in the journal Science, Nuno Sousa of the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute at the University of Minho in Portugal and his colleagues described experiments in which chronically stressed rats lost their elastic rat cunning and instead fell back on familiar routines and rote responses, like compulsively pressing a bar for food pellets they had no intention of eating.

Moreover, the rats’ behavioral perturbations were reflected by a pair of complementary changes in their underlying neural circuitry. On the one hand, regions of the brain associated with executive decision-making and goal-directed behaviors had shriveled, while, conversely, brain sectors linked to habit formation had bloomed.

In other words, the rodents were now cognitively predisposed to keep doing the same things over and over, to run laps in the same dead-ended rat race rather than seek a pipeline to greener sewers. “Behaviors become habitual faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach,” Dr. Sousa said. “I call this a vicious circle.”

Robert Sapolsky, a neurobiologist who studies stress at Stanford University School of Medicine, said, “This is a great model for understanding why we end up in a rut, and then dig ourselves deeper and deeper into that rut.”

The truth is, Dr. Sapolsky said, “we’re lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren’t working. Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it’s time to try something new.”

And though perseverance can be an admirable trait and is essential for all success in life, when taken too far it becomes perversation — uncontrollable repetition — or simple perversity. “If I were to try to break into the world of modern dance, after the first few rejections the logical response might be, practice even more,” said Dr. Sapolsky, the author of “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” among other books. “But after the 12,000th rejection, maybe I should realize this isn’t a viable career option.”

Happily, the stress-induced changes in behavior and brain appear to be reversible. To rattle the rats to the point where their stress response remained demonstrably hyperactive, the researchers exposed the animals to four weeks of varying stressors: moderate electric shocks, being encaged with dominant rats, prolonged dunks in water. Those chronically stressed animals were then compared with nonstressed peers. The stressed rats had no trouble learning a task like pressing a bar to get a food pellet or a squirt of sugar water, but they had difficulty deciding when to stop pressing the bar, as normal rats easily did.

But with only four weeks’ vacation in a supportive setting free of bullies and Tasers, the formerly stressed rats looked just like the controls, able to innovate, discriminate and lay off the bar. Atrophied synaptic connections in the decisive regions of the prefrontal cortex resprouted, while the overgrown dendritic vines of the habit-prone sensorimotor striatum retreated.

According to Bruce S. McEwen, head of the neuroendocrinology laboratory at Rockefeller University, the new findings offer a particularly elegant demonstration of a principle that researchers have just begun to grasp. “The brain is a very resilient and plastic organ,” he said. “Dendrites and synapses retract and reform, and reversible remodeling can occur throughout life.”

Stress may be most readily associated with the attosecond pace of postindustrial society, but the body’s stress response is one of our oldest possessions. Its basic architecture, its linked network of neural and endocrine organs that spit out stimulatory and inhibitory hormones and other factors as needed, looks pretty much the same in a goldfish or a red-spotted newt as it does in us.

The stress response is essential for maneuvering through a dynamic world — for dodging a predator or chasing down prey, swinging through the trees or fighting off disease — and it is itself dynamic. As we go about our days, Dr. McEwen said, the biochemical mediators of the stress response rise and fall, flutter and flare. “Cortisol and adrenaline go up and down,” he said. “Our inflammatory cytokines go up and down.”

The target organs of stress hormones likewise dance to the beat: blood pressure climbs and drops, the heart races and slows, the intestines constrict and relax. This system of so-called allostasis, of maintaining control through constant change, stands in contrast to the mechanisms of homeostasis that keep the pH level and oxygen concentration in the blood within a narrow and invariant range.

Unfortunately, the dynamism of our stress response makes it vulnerable to disruption, especially when the system is treated too roughly and not according to instructions. In most animals, a serious threat provokes a serious activation of the stimulatory, sympathetic, “fight or flight” side of the stress response. But when the danger has passed, the calming parasympathetic circuitry tamps everything back down to baseline flickering.

In humans, though, the brain can think too much, extracting phantom threats from every staff meeting or high school dance, and over time the constant hyperactivation of the stress response can unbalance the entire feedback loop. Reactions that are desirable in limited, targeted quantities become hazardous in promiscuous excess. You need a spike in blood pressure if you’re going to run, to speedily deliver oxygen to your muscles. But chronically elevated blood pressure is a source of multiple medical miseries.

Why should the stressed brain be prone to habit formation? Perhaps to help shunt as many behaviors as possible over to automatic pilot, the better to focus on the crisis at hand. Yet habits can become ruts, and as the novelist Ellen Glasgow observed, “The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions.”

Time to relax, rewind and remodel the brain.