Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Inconveniences

 
I encourage people to eat better.  To buy and eat fresh whole foods.  Most are not opposed to this concept, however they are put off by what I call the convenience factor.  Spending time in the kitchen preparing food takes too long and is not as convenient as opening a box and sliding something in the microwave or stopping on the way home for some fast food take-out.  I am the first to admit that eating healthy may not appear to be convenient at first glance.  From a time and energy standpoint, preparing healthy food doesn’t need tto ake any longer. However, it will take some planning.  The biggest obstacles is that changing your diet requires change.  And for most of us, change is hard.  It is much easier to do the same old thing, because, well because, it’s more convenient.
This inconvenience and unwillingness to make positive and healthy changes, is, I believe, very short sighted.  Sure it may take an extra hour or more out of your day to eat extremely healthy and exercise.  But let me tell you about real inconveniences.  Inconvenience is losing your health.  Inconvenience is not being able to play with your children or grandchildren.  Inconvenience is diabetic neuropathy and not being able to feel your hands and feet and losing your eyesight.  Inconvenience is obesity and heart disease and not being able to enjoy a brisk walk or run.  Inconvenience is cancer and arthritis and sexual dysfunction.  Inconvenience is poor health that is brought on by living a “convenient lifestyle”.  None of these conditions come on suddenly, but one mouthful at a time.  You see, most Americans eat their way to disability.  About 80% of disease, disability and chronic illness, is the result of poor lifestyle choices.  
Some argue that they enjoy the food that they eat.  Of course, I can't disagree.  Who hasn’t enjoyed pizza and donuts, sweets and treats, soda pop and bagels, etc.  Many complain that they don’t like fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread, etc. like they do “normal food” (although I personally don’t see anything normal about burgers and fries).  My wife and I would love to be able to put up our children as shining examples of kids who love to eat only healthy food.  But like you, we live in a world that continually wants to put sweets and grease in our children's hands.  They can hardly go to church or school without being given candy or cookies as rewards (bribes) by their teachers.  It’s frustrating.  Give a kid a choice between cookies and carrot sticks and very few will choose the “rabbit food”. 
When I began to improve my diet in earnest, many years ago,  I discovered that my tastes began to change (and yours will too).  Trust me nothing tastes as good as fresh whole natural food.  I’ve enjoyed both junk food and good food and good food is better.  But it takes some time to re-acquire the taste for health.  Not only did ‘rabbit food’ (aka salads) become very satisfying for a meal, but my craving for junk food diminished.  Mind you, the smell of flame-broiled burgers is still enticing and inviting, however after a bite or two I’m disappointed.  Also, understand that I am not advocating a vegetarian diet.  Rather, whole natural foods.  In essence, the type of diet our great grandparents ate on the farm a hundred years ago. This was in the days before pesticides, food additives and processed foods. The quality of the food we eat is probably more important than you think.
Did you know that there is a whole sub-field within food manufacturing devoted to flavor? These skilled scientists, called Flavorists or Flavor Chemists, create chemical compounds that can smell heavenly and excite the taste buds.  The olfactory sense (sense of smell) is the only one of our senses that neurologically goes straight to the emotional centers in the brain.  That is why when I smell cinnamon rolls baking, I am transported back to my Grandmother's kitchen forty years earlier.  When I eat a cinnamon roll it is done with grandma in my heart. 
Anyway, the aroma of the burgers and fries that is seductively vented out to the streets from the fast-food joints is not coming from the food as much as from the flavor chemistry added by shrewd businessmen, who understand human nature and our weakness at resisting emotional triggers.  Get this! It is the chemicals they add to many of the fast foods that make them smell so good, NOT THE FOOD!  How sinister is that!  Boy if that’s not cheating, I don’t know what is.  Look up Flavorist or Flavor Chemist on the internet.  Pretty amazing stuff!
We live in the most technologically advanced society that has ever graced this planet (that we know of).  And yet we tolerate and even embrace things we know are harmful and wrong.  We turn a blind eye to things such of fluoridation of our water, promotion of tobacco and alcohol, irradiating our foods and using poisonous pesticides on our farmers crops.  We regulate and mandate things that desensitize and pollute, all in the name of fair business trade. 
Sometimes I wonder how any of us can be successful in our struggle for health.  The odds are certainly against us when the primary objective is wealth over providing a good product or service.  Far too often industries are full of lies and deceptions.  
Scientist have identified over 8000 – That’s EIGHT THOUSAND! vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, co-factors, buffers, etc. that are found within whole foods.  Food manufacturers remove, heat, irradiated and denature the raw whole food destroying the nutritional quality, then they add 11 or 18 vitamins and minerals (which are usually in a totally inorganic form and poorly assimilated) and have the audacity to call their product “enriched”, implying that the finished product is better than the original.  What about the other 7,982 nutrients they removed?  Did Nature goof?  Are brown rice and whole wheat flawed and imperfect foods?  Has science or technology ever improved the quality of our food?  What they have done is prolong the shelf life.  That is one of the primary goals of food manufacturing.  To produce a product that can sit in a can, jar, box or bag for a long long time without seriously altering its taste (which just may be chemicals designed to tickle and please your taste buds).

Nature intended food to be eaten as it came from the earth.  Some foods can naturally be stored for longer periods, such as grains and legumes.  Fruits and vegetables should be consumed within relatively short periods after harvesting – from days to weeks to months, depending on the fruit or vegetable.  A root cellar (cool temperatures about 50 degrees F) will keep winter squash, carrots, beets and apples fresh so they can be eaten clear into Spring.  Peaches, strawberries and lettuce must be eaten within a short time after harvest.  With modern refrigeration we can extend the life of most fresh produce.  We live in dietary abundance.  We can eat fresh, wholesome food every single day.  Always Feast.  Never Famine. Many of us can drive a short distance to one of many farmers markets and get produce picked fresh that day.  But instead, most choose to eat food that has been manipulated and nutritionally devalued. Because it is more convenient.
From our earliest days Western Botanicals has understood the value of whole food supplements.  Whole herbs, like whole foods, contain vitamins and mineral in a complete balance and are far superior to supplements made from isolated ingredients. Our daily supplements Earth's Nutrition and Bountiful Blend contain nature's perfect balance of whole concentrated nutrition.   Our bodies were designed to eat the foods created by nature and as sophisticated as science has become it does not improve on what nature freely gives us.  In fact, some of the best science is devoted on trying to copy or mimic nature.  Check out this months specials for some great deals on whole food supplements. 
So what’s is going to be?  A little inconvenience now or a whole lot later. Like many, you may just hope that somehow you will escape the results of poor diet and lifestyle choices and try to push the whole issue from your mind. I understand change is hard.  You may even have family members that are resistant. Your children may cry and accuse you of meanness for giving them fruit instead of cookies.  You will need to spend more time planning meals.  You may need to try new foods.  However, you may discover that you like it.  You may have more energy.  You may even lose weight.  You may become more active and enjoy life and nature more. And you just may reap the consequences of good choices. 

May God Bless Us All in Life’s Adventures.


Dr. Kyle Christensen
Western Botanicals, Inc.
July 2011


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Men's Hearts Failing Them for Fear

 Walking to our car after my son’s high school graduation, I noticed a couple of people complaining about the difficult walk and how their hearts were pounding.  Mind you, the quarter mile walk from the football stadium to the parking lot would not give many of us a second thought, but I was struck by limitations of life brought on by poor health.  We enjoy many freedoms here in America, but when we exercise our freedom to make poor choices, it does not absolve us of the consequences of those choices.
I recall reading in the Bible when I was young (probably in the 1960's) the verse in Luke in relation to events of the "last days" of "men's hearts failing them for fear".  At the time I remember thinking that events would become so intense, that people would be scared to death.  Almost 50 years later, understand that heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women in America.  Prior to this past century, heart disease and death from heart attacks was hardly a blip on the mortality radar.

Certainly we live in stressful times, but they are no more stressful than times previous.  Let me briefly share with you some of the current information regarding heart health and what you can do to reduce your risk.  Following these recommendations will not only reduce your risk for heart disease, but can also reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
*Start point if Continuing from Email*

Diet

Diet – Simple, but not easy.  Simple, in that you should be eating “whole, natural foods”.  Not easy, in that you will have to prepare food yourself rather than relying on fast food, processed foods out of cans, boxes and bags.  Here are some keys:
  • Eggs are heart healthy.
  • Sugar and a diet with a lot of carbohydrates such as breads, cereals and grains can lead to heart disease. 
  • Healthy animal fats from poultry, beef and lamb, it turns out, are also heart healthy. Coconut oil - a medium-chain saturated fat, can actually help you to lose weight, lower cholesterol, improve diabetic conditions and reduce your risk of heart disease. Avoid processed oils such as canola while emphasizing oils such as olive oil, coconut oil and natural animal fats.
  • Use sea salt, which provides you with the full array the mineral and avoid table salt. 
  • Eat a diet with plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds.
  • Animal products from healthy sources such as raw milk, and organic beef and poultry.
For more information go to our article on High Blood Pressure.

Exercise

Exercise should be of a nature that is non-competitive, relaxing and inspiring that incorporates movement with breathing such as walking.  Exercise does in fact reduce the risk for heart disease, but go into it easy because for the sedentary and those really out of shape, too much exercise too quick can actually increase the risk of heart attack.  It is suggested by many that exercise, especially combined with a health diet, is the most important thing you can do for a healthy heart.

Sunshine

Sunshine - Vitamin D3 – For many years, the medical community has been preaching the dangers of sunshine for fear of skin cancer.  We slather ourselves and our children with sunscreen trying to avoid the deadly solar rays.  It has only been in recent years that we’ve discovered that sunshine is good and actually very healthy.  Sunshine converts an oil (a cholesterol) on your skin into vitamin D3 which contributes in a positive way to almost every aspect of your health and for the purposes of this article sunshine and vitamin D3 are very heart healthy.  So now the message is to get plenty of sunshine, but absolutely avoid getting burned.  Getting burned by the sun is not healthy and can lead to problems.

Fish Oils, high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, are also very healthy not only for your heart but for every other aspect of your health.  Omega-3’s are shown to assist in vascular health and normalize high blood pressure.

Aspirin it turns out is not so beneficial for your heart and the prevailing medical recommendation is to no longer take aspirin daily for your heart.  And while daily preventative aspirin is not necessarily harmful, studies now show that it is not necessarily helpful in preventing heart disease.  Some authors suggest that aspirin may be giving people who take it a false sense of security resulting in the patient not following other recommendations.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (taking estrogen) was thought for a time to benefit the heart and reduce the risk of heart disease.  More detailed follow up clearly shows taking hormones does not help the heart.
Stress has a direct impact on heart disease – particularly stress at work and stress in marriage and relationships.  While much of the stress we experience cannot be avoided, there is much that can be done in how we manage our stress.  Daily exercise is important in dealing with and managing stress.  There are also many self-help techniques that haven proven effective in dealing with unresolved emotional stress such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and The Emotion Code.

Alcohol is simply not good for you, in any quantity, in the long run. There have been studies through the years suggesting that drinking alcohol can be healthy for the heart.  With further investigation these studies have shown to be seriously flawed.  Simply put, the risks of drinking alcohol outweigh any benefit or perceived benefit of drinking.

Herbal Supplements – herbs have a long history of benefiting the heart and circulatory system.
Hawthorn Berry Syrup – supports, builds and strengthens  the heart by allowing oxygen to be better utilized by the heart muscles.*

Heart Formula – provides the nutrients and support to build a health circulatory system.  



Cardio Plus – the herbs in this formula have been traditionally used to support healthy heart function.

Cayenne– The great circulation herb, prized for its ability to strengthen and tone the entire vascular system.*

Earth’s Nutrition – Nature’s answer to the multiple vitamin and mineral supplement.  This whole food supplement is free from man-made or laboratory manipulated chemicals.*

Garlic – eat it daily if you can.  Supports healthy cholesterol levels and healthy blood pressure, helps keep the blood thin.  The king of herbs.*

Turmeric – a great natural pain reliever which also promotes cardiovascular health.*

Vascular Support – Improves vascular tone of blood vessels assisting with the normalization of blood pressure.*

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Some of the classic causes of heart disease still hold true as it relates to heart health.

Smoking is a primary risk factor for heart disease.  The good news is that those who quit and haven’t smoked for over a year have pretty much reduced this as a risk factor for them as it pertains to heart disease.

High Cholesterol, Diabetes and High Blood Pressure are all well-established risk factors.  The good news is these conditions are reversible and by following the recommendations for a healthy heart, you can also bring these conditions under control.

We invite each of you to take charge of your health.  Change can be difficult, but it can also be adventurous.  As you make changes toward greater health and activity, your rewards will be those of more energy, less pain and less stress.

Blessings in Health,

Dr. Kyle Christensen