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Category: Natural Remedies - Organic Lifestyle Magazine Category: Natural Remedies - Organic Lifestyle Magazine

The Ultra Mind Solution – Book Review

It’s unfortunate, but true. Medical doctors tend to attribute disease to a cause-and-effect paradigm that absolves the patient of responsibility. If you get sick, well, there’s a flu or a virus going around. If you get diabetes, sorry, but you are genetically programmed to get it. You can’t help it. If you have cancer, well, we never know why these things happen to some and not to others.

The Ultra Mind SolutionWhile these aren’t direct quotes from any specific doctor, this is the mindset of conventional medicine. There is very little accountability for health these days, along with a belief that most of our health issues are incurable and a resignation that we should accept the side effects of conventional treatment. While most people do resign themselves to this belief system, others, like Mark Hyman, M.D., do not.

Mark Hyman is a brilliant man, one of those people who can multitask, easily remember, and just plain excel in whatever task relies on his intelligence. But when he was in medical school, he did what many interns are forced to do—he pushed his body to unreasonable limits, working shifts up to 60 hours. Then he went to work in China for a year, breathing in the coal-soaked, mercury-laden air. After he came back to Massachusetts, he again lived with sleep deprivation when working crazy shifts in an inner-city emergency room. Then he realized he could no longer remember things easily. Sleep became problematic. He was drained—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Depression and anxiety became familiar parts of his life.

Unlike so many doctors who look for the “one thing” that caused the problem and the one treatment to alleviate the symptoms, Dr. Hyman recognized that his problem had more than one cause. In his book he says, “It was everything piled higher and higher until my brain and body couldn’t take any more.”

The Ultra Mind Solution title is a bit misleading, but at the same time, it’s perfect. If your brain is not working right, many health problems will arise. On the other hand, if your body is overburdened with toxins, lack of quality sleep, and a lack of nutrition, at some point the whole system is going to break down. Mark Hyman took a holistic approach. He decided if his brain was broken, his whole body was in trouble. He learned that many of today’s




Emotional Freedom Technique

Tap Into Your Natural Healing Ability

Once there was a man, let’s call him Richard, who was terribly afraid of spiders.  Simply seeing a spider make the slightest movement sent Richard in the other direction, shivering in fear of being bitten. Walking into spider webs elicited a frantic whirlwind of the arms, as he’d desperately try to rid himself of the web and its fanged owner. 

Richard’s first vivid “spider memory” came from his childhood. He was hiding in a bush during a game of hide-and-seek when he realized that the little white flower on his hand wasn’t a flower at all, but a large, too-well-camouflaged spider. He watched in horrificfascination as it bit him! Decades later, he would smash spiders as they crawled across his bedroom wall, leaving their broken, lifeless bodies as silent warnings to other eight-legged pests.

One day, Richard came across an innovative technique that was supposedly quite effective for a range of ailments, including stubborn phobias. He stumbled through the motions, following a free “try it yourself” version of the process, naming his fear of spiders as theintended target. At the end of the self-led session, his skepticism in full swing, he put away the materials and went back to the daily grind.

It wasn’t until a week or two later that Richard realized something had indeed changed. He watched with interest as a spider scuttled across the wall. After it hid behind a bookcase, Richard’s awareness gave a clarion call: I didn’t jump up and smash it! A few weeks later, to his own disbelief, he found himself “rescuing” a spider by cupping it in a glass and carrying it outside to be released into his garden. And last night – several years after that single, self-led and incidental “therapy session” – while sitting at an outside concert, he watched a spider scurry across a metal bar in front of him and wondered if it would tickle to have that “little guy” run over his arm.

There had been no medical intervention, no endless hours with a psychotherapist, and no medications involved, yet Richard’s decades-old fear of spiders had virtually vanished. Could that one non-supervised self-help session have eradicated Richard’s life-long fear of spiders? Some scoff at the proposal, but new research, and arguably even more compelling personal experience, suggests that such rapid and long-term healing is possible. What’s more, it is the result of literally tapping into a system of energy that already exists within each of us.

Too good to be true? I’m sure it seems that way. But Richard’s story is actually my own. This was my initial and quite surprising encounter with an ancillary therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT.

Ancient Roots, Modern Branches

EFT is one of a body of alternative therapies within a growing area of specialty called “Energy Psychology,” which focuses on how your body’s unique energy can dramatically affect your emotional health, your success in the world, and your level of personal joy and wellbeing. As a field, Energy Psychology is both relatively new and well-received. The journal Clinical Psychology called it “an exciting and rapidly developing realm,” concluding that “emerging research suggests that [Energy Psychology’s] methods are very effective indeed, extremely rapid, and thoroughly gentle.” 1

Most techniques that fall under Energy Psychology’s umbrella – and certainly this is the case with EFT – are at least partially founded on the ancient Chinese medicine theory involving the circulation of energy in the body. Just as there are fluids that flow through your body (i.e., blood, lymph), there is an unseen system of energy that circulates as well. Eastern medicine has long acknowledged the presence of this energy flow and has, over 5,000 years, steadily perfected its approach to utilizing these energies to affect health and healing. Acupuncture and acupressure, two well-known and respected natural health therapies, are part of this long legacy. The latest “cousin” in the family, EFT, is rapidly gaining respect and validity as a tool for quick, efficient, and relatively painless healing.

One of the primary principles of EFT is that all emotional disturbances are caused by a disruption in the body’s energy system. It follows that smoothing out or “fixing” that disruption should “heal” emotional troubles. This makes EFT an excellent ancillary therapy for issues such as depression, anger, jealousy, phobias, paranoia, addictions, performance anxiety, low self-esteem, and a host of other mental and emotional ailments.

But EFT also connects the brain with this dynamic energy system. In their groundbreaking book The Promise of Energy Psychology, authors David Feinstein, Donna Eden, and (EFT creator) Gary Craig explore the connection between the human brain and emotional health. Their conclusion is that “every thought or emotion that you experience causes a reaction in a specific area of your brain.”2 Through EFT, practitioners help their clients shift their brains’ responses to both external and internal stimuli. The result is that the things that used to emotionally disturb a person suddenly elicit a more rational emotional response. (Remember my spider phobia?)

As EFT started its undeniable and inevitable blooming into the world of holistic and natural health, practitioners and clients alike noticed another startling fact: EFT hasthe capacity to help with many physicalailments as well! People suffering from conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, neck pain, backache, headaches, PMS, toothaches, migraines, IBS, the common cold, high blood pressure, and many other health concerns can find relief through this new and exciting technique.

In large part, this may be due to the mind-body connection, which has been the focus of many studies in recent years. It’s become an undeniable fact that our minds can affect our bodies in both positive and negative ways. As we discover and heal mental “triggers,” many physical issues can clear up seemingly on their own.

Another reason EFT may help heal physical maladies is due to its unique ability to smooth out the energy system in the body. People with significant health issues may have developed an energy system disturbance that has actually, in time, become part of the problem itself. Recalibrating the energy flow with regard to the particular illness or disease in question may actually allow the body to more easily heal and rejuvenate itself. This is, after all, the aim, function, and success of acupuncture, which has a long and distinguished history of helping a wide range of physical ailments.

All of the above boils down to something like this: EFT allows people to change both brain chemistry and energy patterns surrounding psychological problems, which in turn “disarms” emotional and mental triggers and can rapidly and effectively help treat emotional, mental, and sometimes even physical issues. Positive results are often rapid, painless, and long lasting.

It does sound too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, for once, it’s not.

Granted, EFT may not cure every ailment and may not work in every situation, but the ease of its use, the painlessness of its delivery, and the odds of its success certainly make it worth investigating. But let’s nip the skepticism in the bud. Most people assume that if EFT works at all it’s due to the “power of suggestion,” some kind of subtle hypnotism, or perhaps even the charisma and enthusiasm of the practitioner. While these are understandable arguing points, the truth is that EFT recalibrates a person’s energy system around negatively charged thoughts so that undesirable emotional responses are eliminated. In fact, EFT’s effectiveness with infants, children, and even animals has been documented. In these cases, it certainly isn’t a placebo effect at work or hypnotherapy. Rather, it’s the direct action of EFT on the recipients’ energy systems.

Incredulous? That’s fine! I didn’t believe it myself, at first. And in my opinion, that only adds to EFT’s credibility: you don’t need to believe in it for it to work. EFT can affect positive changes in people who have zero faith in it. How can this be? Because your energy system and your brain’s neural pathways don’t rely on your value judgments to perform. As an Advanced Practitioner, I will certainly suggest that a positive outlook or “hope” may increase a client’s rate of success due to the power of intention, but I have yet to see proof that incredulity keeps EFT from working its magic on at least some level.

The Basic Recipe

eftPerhaps one of the most surprising aspects of EFT is how very simple and non-invasive it is. At the center of EFT is a working knowledge of what are called the body’s acupoints. There are at least 360 acupoints distributed throughout the body, tiny areas of the skin that, when stimulated, send signals directly to areas of the brain that are connected with our emotions and our bodies’ energy system. MRIs have demonstrated that “stimulating specific points on the skin not only changed brain activity; it also deactivated areas of the brain that are involved with the experiences of fear and pain.” 3 Further, working with acupoints has been shown to increase the release of serotonin (a natural, beneficial neurochemical), necessary from a neurochemical standpoint to minimize depression, addictions, and mood disorders.
   Acupuncture uses needles to stimulate various acupoints, while acupressure rubs them, sometimes intensely. EFT, on the other hand, uses a series of gentle taps with two or three fingertips on only a handful of these points to provide an incredible healing journey. In short, you take two fingers of one hand (typically the index and middle fingers) and use them to tap on various acupoints located on the upper body (and sometimes also on the hand). To the right, you see a picture of some of the most common acupoints stimulated in EFT.

The tapping itself is gentle; there’s no need for a forceful or high-pressured approach. Practitioners typically aim for about seven taps on each of the points, though far less attention should be paid to how much tapping is happening at each point than to what is being said during the tapping sequence.

Perhaps just as important as the tapping itself is the Set-Up Phrase used to isolate and address the issue in question. This phrase is typically comprised of two parts: the statement of the problem and a positive affirmation. For example, if you are working with a fear of spiders, you would start with the phrase:
“Even though I am terrified of spiders…”

This establishes the problem and helps trigger your body’s subtle energies surrounding this issue. The next step in the Set-Up Phrase process, however, is to tell your body/mind that, regardless of the issue, it is loved and accepted:

“…I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

This entire phrase – “Even though I am terrified of spiders, I deeply and completely love and accept myself” – simultaneously addresses the issue and primes the energy system for what I like to think of as “recalibration.” Essentially, you allow your body to slip into the negative energy pattern (by calling out the problem) then offer yourself love and acceptance in spite of the perceived negative response.

This statement is repeated a few times while tapping on a point on the hand, then the rest of the tapping sequence commences. What stands out to most EFT newcomers is that when tapping on each of the acupoints, they are asked to repeat the problem indicated by the Set-Up Phrase (e.g., “I’m terrified of spiders!”).

In my practice, most clients ask why we don’t instead repeat the positive affirmation. “Aren’t I just tapping the problem in even deeper?” is the question I usually get. Quite the contrary, by repeating the problem while stimulating the acupoints, the body is sent a signal to release the disruption in the energy system around that particular issue, in effect “recalibrating” it so that the problem (e.g., fear of spiders) no longer sends the energy system into shock.    

It’s like a massage therapist rubbing out a knot in your back – she doesn’t work just on the parts of you that are fine, she works right on the problem area. Of course, EFT is much gentler than massage, and you can do it yourself at just about any time and just about anywhere.    

The result of all this tapping and problem-repeating? The fear of spiders is reduced – sometimes dramatically and often very quickly – and what’s called a cognitive reframe occurs. That is to say that the circumstances haven’t changed – spiders still exist! But the way the client perceives them shifts dramatically. Often, fear gives way to curiosity, as people start to wonder what they were so afraid of to begin with. This, in turn, can even bloom into appreciation as other aspects of the problem shift into focus.    

Remarkably, EFT has the ability to release emotional, mental, and even physical pains that far surpass simple fears. Indeed, it has been known to help with sports performance, reduce many body aches and pains, and even disarm traumatic memories and events such as abuse and rape. The power of EFT is only now starting to become widely recognized, and I foresee its use in many situations as a first-response approach to a wide array of emotional and physical issues.

What, Where, & How?

What you can expect from a session may vary widely from practitioner to practitioner. In part, this is due to the fact that anyone can learn EFT. Many EFT practitioners are trained psychotherapists and doctors, while others are lay people convinced they have found something worth sharing with others. Naturally, that doesn’t mean all EFT practitioners are equally good at facilitating healing. Nor should one assume that only a degree-carrying practitioner can achieve lasting results. Quite the contrary, varying degrees of knowledge, skill, intuition, and finesse can be found just as assuredly in a home office as a doctor’s office.

Probably your best bet when looking for a qualified EFT Practitioner is to look for one who is certified (or certificated) on at least a basic level. Look for a practitioner who evidences some kind of proficiency: Has she written articles on the subject? Does he have a sizeable clientele? Has she been practicing long? Does he have an official “business” (including a business license from the city)? Feel free to call or email the practitioner and ask how long he or she has been using EFT with others, as well as any other questions you may have.

A well-trained EFT practitioner will help you become comfortable and adept with the technique within a session or two. Your questions about EFT and what you can expect during the healing process should be answered during the first session, and you should experience some kind of identifiable emotional or psychological “movement” with regard to the problem for which you’re seeking EFT help (i.e., easing of anger, removal of guilt, lifting of embarrassment, etc.). Initial sessions should include an introduction to EFT, to the tapping points and the Set-Up Phrase, and several runs through the system targeting your specific issue.

When my clients leave my office after an initial visit, they not only have used EFT, they feel comfortable trying it out on their own, too. This is one of the most surprising and fantastic aspects of EFT: once you learn it, you can use it in your daily life without the help of a professional. While it may take a seasoned and skilled EFT Practitioner to help with some issues, many people can learn EFT effortlessly and use it successfully in their own lives when they need it most. This unique combination of ease and effectiveness promises to make EFT a popular technique with anyone who is eager to explore and tap (quite literally!) the healing power within.

For a free manual on EFT, and to learn more about this dynamic healing technique go to www.emofree.com

1Phil Mollon, Review of Energy Psychology Interactive. Clinical Psychology42 (2004): 37-39

2David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 13

3David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 21

EFT In Action

Laura had an intense  fear of heights.

The first time we walked out onto the balcony of a local concert hall, she held onto both the railing and me with a white knuckled grip, her fear of falling so severe she’d get sick from looking down.

“After we had reached our seats, and with only ten minutes before the start of the concert, I asked her if she’d like to lose her fear of heights. She was incredulous but open to the idea and proceeded through the basic steps of EFT with me as her guide.

“After only two rounds of the technique, a peculiar look crossed her face and she said, ‘It’s gone.’ To prove it, she grabbed the railing in front of us and bent over so far that I was uncomfortable! During intermission and after the concert, she tested the results and was able each time to lean over the railing without any hint of the crippling fear she’d experienced earlier.

“To this day – and that was several years ago – her fear of heights in such settings has stayed a thing of the past. So much so, in fact, that she hardly remembers what it was like before our quick, impromptu EFT session.”




How to Make a Tincture

It does not matter what size jar you use as long as the top one quarter is liquid.

Dry herbs lose their potency within a year. Fresh herbs rot soon after harvest. Tinctures preserve and extract the medicinal properties of an herb in an alcoholic extract. Tinctures may last more than a hundred years.

tinctureYou can purchase tinctures through Organic Solutions, or you can make your own. They are very easy to make, but the process is time consuming, and it takes months to brew a strong tincture.

All of our formulas are available to the public. If we lose business and gain competitors, so be it. We need more herbalists and natural healers in this horrid world of huge pharmaceutical companies and pill pushers in white coats. Be the family herbalist. Be your own doctor. Maybe if enough of you make your own herbal preparations, we’ll drive them out of business.

I’ll drink to that! (Herbal tea of course.)

Stuff for making:

  • Blender
  • 100 proof alcohol (vodka works well)
  • Glass mason jar
  • Organic dried or fresh herbs

Stuff for straining:

  • Wooden spoon
  • Fine kitchen strainer or cheesecloth
  • Bottle to put the finished tincture in

Note: Make on the new moon; strain on the full moon. Shake tincture at least once a week

It’s really easy:

Put herbs in blender. Add 100 proof alcohol to cover ¼ inch over the herbs. Blend well to a soupy consistency and pour into a glass jar. Screw on lid.

Let herbs settle for a day to see how much liquid is on top. 3/4 herbs to 1/4 liquid on top is best (see diagram). Screw the lid on and let it brew in the dark for at least 4 weeks or for months if you desire (but remember to strain on the full moon). To strain, pour the entire contents of the jar through your strainer and press all liquid out of the soaked herbs with a wooden spoon. Keep finished tincture sealed as the alcohol will evaporate if left unsealed.

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Cheers,

If you want to purchase Organic Solutions tinctures and other products check out our online store, Green Lifestyle Market.




Foot Bath Detox Review

If you Google foot detox, foot bath, Ionic Detoxification, Aqua Chi, or Bionic Hydrotherapy, you will find a lot of information about a new detoxifying treatment, the ionic foot bath. You will also find a lot of websites that emphatically state this treatment is a hoax, that you can’t draw toxins out of your body through the soles of your feet. I decided to test it myself.

The idea is that in 30 minutes, The Detox Foot Spa Purifier will pull toxins, including heavy metals, out of your body. The water in the foot-bath changes color. Each color relates to toxicity of a different organ or system of the body.

  • Brown = Liver and Joints
  • Green = Gall Bladder
  • Yellow = Urinary Tract
  • Orange = Joints
  • White = Lymphatic and/or Yeast
  • Blue = Kidneys
  • Black Flecks = heavy metals toxins

So if the water turns blue, your kidneys are the most toxic part of your body, and the foot bath is pulling toxins from your kidneys through the soles of your feet.

I must admit, it sounded pretty ridiculous. I’m a skeptic when it comes to this kind of thing. That’s why I decided I was the best person to try it out.

I am very in tune with my body. I know when something isn’t working right and I know why. I know if my kidneys are hurting, I know if my liver is over toxic, and I know if I am not getting enough minerals. I’ve always paid attention to my body and developed a good understanding through my own experiences and through research about how the body works, and how the body gets sick. I am not a doctor, but I do know my body.

I spent a few weeks living a not so “organic lifestyle” which included some alcohol and a lot of “regular” food. When I say some alcohol, I mean a good amount. In fact, this part of my experiment began during the Christmas holidays, and I did celebrate New Years Eve.

After three weeks of living a toxic lifestyle, my kidneys where not happy. Every time I woke up, my back was stiff. Urination was difficult, and my urine was nearly brown and had a strong odor. If I pushed an inch below my belly button I felt intense pain. I also had diarrhea off and on. I defiantly had kidney problems.

I went to see Dr. Tim Kelly, one of Organic Lifestyle Magazine’s contributors. I didn’t tell him I had been living a toxic lifestyle. I got all set up, put my feet in the water, and watched as the water began to turn a yellowish tint. Interesting. In about 5 minutes the water was a dark thick yellow. But then it turned blue, a nasty, dark, murky blue with big, black flecks in it. It was gross.
Those websites who call this treatment a hoax said the water would have changed color whether my feet were in there or not. But I never told Dr. Kelly my kidneys were hurting, and the water turned the right color. And after the treatment, I did feel better. Before the treatment I couldn’t stand upright after sitting for long periods of time. But after thirty minutes in the foot bath, I was able to stand right up without stiffness. The next day I woke up with about ½ the lower back stiffness and had no trouble peeing.
Step two was to go back to Dr. Kelly after I spent a few weeks detoxifying. I ate nothing but healthy foods, concentrating on raw, fresh organic vegetables. I took herbs to help cleanse my body. I felt like a new man. I regained my health. My sleep improved, my energy was up, and my kidneys were fine.

I went back to Dr. Kelly and again, told him nothing, just got myself hooked up to the foot bath equipment, put my feet in, and sat there for thirty minutes with a magazine. At the end of thirty minutes the water was yellow. Not a deep dark yellow, just a light yellow as if I had urinated in it. There were no black flecks.

One more test was in order. I wanted to see what would happen if my liver was toxic. I went back to eating crap, drinking, and I took some over the counter medications for allergies and to treat the headaches my new lifestyle had triggered. I also ate a lot of food with high fructose corn syrup. After a couple of weeks, I had deep dark circles under my eyes, regardless of sleep (a sign of a toxic liver). I was getting regular headaches (about three a week) and I was also stiff, tired, and achy all the time. I had gained 9 pounds. Throughout this time, I was drinking cranberry juice (organic, unsweetened), and taking Standard Processes Phosfood to keep my kidneys from getting backed up. I was also keeping my body alkaline. I was doing my best to keep the rest of my body relatively healthy, while overburdening my liver. Not very scientific, I know, but I got the results I wanted.

The third time the foot bath changed from green to orange and then to dark brown for the last 25 minutes—the color of a toxic liver. Once again, I felt a little better immediately and the next morning I felt and looked much better.

Coincidence? No. Not when the colors matched the symptoms. Not when the relief was so significant.

Dr. Timothy Kelly’s treatment center is located in the Buckhead community of Atlanta, Georgia. He is available for phone consultations. Check out his website at www.drtimkelly.net.




Household Toxins

The problem of bioaccumulated toxins is reaching crisis proportions. Residues of more than 400 toxic chemicals have been found in human blood and tissues, many of them at levels that cause disease in animals. Recent medical and scientific studies show disturbing correlations between chronic low-level exposure to synthetic chemicals and allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, birth defects, developmental delays, cancer, and a host of other problems. Thousands of chemicals permeate our everyday life.

Fortunately, we can minimize these toxins through education and common sense. We must learn how to stop bringing toxins into our homes, to rid ourselves of toxins we have already introduced, and to help our bodies detoxify.

We accumulate toxins from air, water, and food. Surprisingly, most of our toxic load comes from sources in our own homes. Indoor air pollution poses a serious threat to the health and safety of families—especially to children. Indoor air is usually five times more polluted than outdoor air. The EPA has measured many indoor air samples to be 70 times more polluted.

Common household products contribute some of the most dangerous chemicals. One class of products is aerosols. A new study in the Archives of Environmental Health looked at the effects of aerosol air fresheners on the health of more than 10,000 young mothers and their infants. Formaldehyde and phenol are components of air fresheners that interfere with the ability to smell by coating nasal passages with an oil film or by releasing a deadening nerve agent.

Aerosol products, from air fresheners to cleaning products and shaving cream, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can include known carcinogens such as benzene and known neurotoxins such as xylene. Studies have shown that within 26 seconds of exposure to such products, traces of these chemicals can be found in every organ in the body and daily use of such aerosols causes a gradual increase in the amount of VOCs in the home air.

Daily use of air fresheners has been shown to cause adults to experience a 10 percent increase in headaches and a 25 percent increase in depression. Infants living in these homes suffered significantly more earaches and were 32 percent more likely to suffer from diarrhea. Keep in mind that these symptoms were the result of toxins seriously harming normal cell chemistry. The solution is simple: don’t use aerosols! (If you feel you must, use them sparingly with very good ventilation.)

Furniture and carpets made of synthetic materials are significant sources of indoor pollution and VOCs; they will off-gas toxic chemicals for decades. New carpets are especially toxic. Chemicals outgas from the fibers as well as the adhesives, backing, and padding. Researchers at Anderson Labs measured the effects of carpet toxicity on 110 families and found that within three months of installation, 82 percent of those people developed diverse health problems including irregular heartbeat, fatigue, rashes, memory loss, muscle pain, blurred vision, and tremors.

The problems with carpets first gained attention in 1988 when the new headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency caused “sick building syndrome.” The problem was eventually traced to chemicals outgassing from the backing of their new carpets. Synthetic-fiber carpets can contain as many as 200 different chemicals, many of which outgas into a home’s living space.

Mice exposed to fumes from new carpets died in a matter of hours, while carpets up to 12 years old caused severe neurological problems. If carpet fumes can kill mice, what are carpets doing to you, your children, and your pets? And if all this isn’t bad enough, it gets worse when carpets are cleaned.

Carpet cleaning products usually contain a multitude of toxic ingredients, including high risk hazardous chemicals such as 2-butoxy ethanol, formaldehyde, and perchlorethylene. During application and while drying, these chemicals evaporate and pollute the air. Carpet shampoos also leave a residue on carpet fibers. Such residues can disperse into the air or be picked up by pets and children who are close to the carpet. Children play on the floor and they tend to put everything in their mouths. They are more susceptible to toxins because their detox systems are still developing.

Carpet cleaning also leaves carpets wet for too long, encouraging the growth of mold. Once mold begins to grow in a carpet or its pad, it is impossible to adequately remove it. Even when mold is not actively growing, mold particles and spores can cause health problems such as fatigue, headaches, allergy symptoms, and asthma attacks. Chemicals from molds can cause cancer and mimic hormones.

Dangerous gasses and particles are also generated by household appliances. Gas stoves, water heaters, furnaces, space heaters, and fireplaces all release toxins such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and other gasses along with fine particles into the air. Furnaces and gas water heaters should be kept outside the living space, in a shed or an unattached garage. If that is not possible, consider switching to an electric water heater. This is what I had to do. Gas stoves should be used only with good ventilation. Electric stoves are preferable. Use fireplaces sparingly and never use artificial logs as they put a heavy VOC load into the living space and the neighborhood.

The list continues. Paradichlorobenzene, found in mothballs and deodorizers, is another common indoor pollutant and carcinogen. Pesticides are very toxic. Never use them in or around the home. Tobacco smoke, perfume, cosmetics, cleaning products, aerosol products, and all manner of scented products are toxic and should be avoided. Biological contaminants include mold, animal dander, dust mites, and cockroaches.

Attached garages pose another problem. Exhaust fumes and hydrocarbon vapors coming from the engine can enter the living space. The interiors of vehicles, especially new vehicles, are exceedingly toxic. Even tap water is dangerous. Most tap water is contaminated with aluminum, arsenic, pesticides, chlorinated hydrocarbons, chlorine, and fluoride. In addition to damaging the brain and lowering IQ, fluoride also causes cancer, weak bones, poor teeth, and soft tissue calcification.

Exposure by breathing these chemicals in your bath can rival or exceed exposure from drinking the water. Breathing the fumes from dishwashers, clothes washers, bathtubs, and showers is particularly bad, and bleaches and detergents used in washing add to the toxic load.

Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. Indoor air pollution is creating an epidemic of undiagnosed chronic disease that is mystifying medical doctors. Too often the medical response is to prescribe medications that only add to the toxic load.

Even if we could stop putting all these toxins into our bodies today, we would still be in toxic overload. Since toxins are now unavoidable, we must reduce our toxic exposures and help our bodies detoxify.

There are three major approaches to detoxifying: eating a nutrient-rich diet, consuming high-quality supplements, and taking regular saunas.

Most of us are malnourished. The body’s detoxification system requires a variety of nutrients to operate efficiently. Lack of these nutrients allows toxins to build up and do harm. Nutrients critical to detoxification include vitamins C and E, magnesium, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, carotenes, quercitin, CoQ10, glutamine, choline, and glutathione. It is important to supplement with detoxification-supporting nutrients and herbs.

There is another very effective way to get rid of toxins—saunas. According to detox expert Dr. Sherry Rogers, “Saunas have become a household necessity.” Sweating is a critical detoxification pathway, and saunas are the only proven way we know of to effectively rid the body of the hundreds of manmade chemicals we bioaccumulate. Through regular saunas, people with undiagnosable and untreatable problems have been restored to health. Unfortunately, saunas themselves can be toxic.

It took me two years to find and approve a sauna that met my exacting standards for safety and effectiveness. I finally found a far infrared (FIR) sauna made of nontoxic wood with special patented heating elements. I have one in my home. Twice a week, I sauna for an hour-and-twenty-minutes.

FIR saunas which operate at lower temperatures, take out more toxins and are far safer and more easily tolerated than regular saunas. If you are unable to have a sauna in your home, you can sauna at a health or fitness club. The important thing is to sauna regularly, at least once a week.

Other household aids include water filters, shower filters, and air filters. Each of these helps to reduce our toxic exposure. Finally, eating organic foods and using safe personal-care products such as organic, non-toxic shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, deodorants, and skin creams are a must. There are safe alternatives for most of the dangerous products we use. Remember, there are only two causes of disease: deficiency and toxicity. Both of these causes are under your control.

With a modicum of education and a willingness to put it to work, almost anyone can improve their nutrition, reduce their toxic load, get well, and stay well.

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Holistic Approaches to Emotional Eating

Miranda trudges her way up the stairs to her second-story apartment, exhausted after a day’s abuse at a job that she grew tired of three years ago. Dropping her purse on the table, she hypnotically makes her way to the kitchen where, before she is even aware of it, she has opened the freezer, pulled out the triple-chocolate ice cream, and has downed a third spoonful. “There goes my diet.” Realizing her mistake three bites too late, she shrugs and skulks to the couch, hugging the ice cream carton closer as she settles down to start flipping through channels on the TV.

Sound familiar? How often have you stumbled to the kitchen, thrown wide the refrigerator door, and looked for something – anything – to put into your mouth as a way to feel better? At the top of this list are probably things like ice cream and chocolate, two “comfort foods” that typically taste great but pack more of an unhealthy punch than they are really worth. We know this. We’ve read it in magazines, heard about it on the radio, and have seen news reports all about the health dangers associated with the sweet treats we like to give ourselves when we need a fix. And yet, even though we logically know better, we continue to buy that candy bar or indulge in our favorite dessert.

Emotional Eating

Do you eat when you’re not hungry? Do you overeat on a frequent basis? Do you eat when you are bored, angry, sad, excited, or depressed? “Emotional eating” is the term given to a set of habits that all come down to the same point: food is consumed in response to feelings instead of hunger. This problem is widespread, but there is hope.

Several factors may contribute to emotional eating. A poor diet can lead to carbohydrate addiction and low levels of mood-boosting neurotransmitters. A depressed emotional state can affect energy and motivation to make healthy choices. A downtrodden spirit may not even recognize a need to pursue health. Just as any combination of these things – an ill body, mind, or spirit – can manifest as emotional eating, positively affecting one of them can cause a healthy ripple effect that helps heal the others. Healthy living is a holistic affair. Here are my suggestions for how to work with emotional eating.

Body

Good nutrition is always the basis of good physical health. Assuming your digestive system is in good working order, you really are what you eat. Additionally, your body is primed to crave more and more of what you give it. If you eat loads of sugars, that’s what it will want. Likewise, start feeding it fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and you’ll see a shift in your cravings toward these foods. A good nutritional consultant can help you determine what foods will help you turn around a cycle of poor food choices.

Exercise in proper amounts will energize you on many levels. It helps stabilize the appetite and boost the metabolism. A stronger, healthier body will also help you feel good about yourself and motivate you to stay active and make positive food choices. Even a small amount of exercise can make a big difference.
Mind

Mental and emotional concerns are at the center of emotional eating. Negative emotions tend to fuel overeating and poor food choices. Our modernized food production capabilities have changed our relationship with food. Now a growing number of people view it as a reward, compensation, or activity, rather than what food actually is meant to be–fuel.

If you find yourself repeatedly craving certain foods in direct relation to an emotion, chances are you could use a bit of healing.

Fortunately, emotionally-based addictions are now very treatable. A growing body of techniques centered in the field of Energy Psychology can help transform the emotional energy around addictions. Therapies such as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) are becoming widely accepted and practiced as powerful tools to retrain the mind and constructively manage emotions. In conjunction with traditional counseling or other therapies such as hypnotherapy or the use of positive affirmations, energy psychology techniques can be incredibly effective for curbing emotional eating.

Spirit

Connecting with something deeper than yourself can have a very healing effect. The rapidly growing technological world has had an isolating effect and the resulting disconnect is one that many people feel on a deep or even subconscious level. Yet research continues to suggest that a healthy sense of personal spirituality is a powerful ally in making and sustaining positive lifestyle changes. As you work to transform patterns of emotional eating into healthy living, developing a deeper sense of self and spirituality can only strengthen your resolve, boost your results, and provide calm direction in moments of temptation.

Whichever spiritual path you choose, the result is well worth the effort! An active prayer life or meditation practice can help calm internal dialogue and help you connect with your deeper self. Frequent journaling or artistic expressions (such as painting, singing, or dancing) are wonderful ways to explore your truest feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Active people enjoy yoga, tai chi, and martial arts as spiritual disciplines, which also engage the body and mind. Whatever your choice, taking the time to connect with and expand your inner landscape and relationship to something greater than yourself can help you find your center and utilize untapped strengths and resources to help you overcome emotional eating.

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Our Toxic Loads

People who understand that there is only one disease, malfunctioning cells, are decades ahead of their doctors. While this may sound mundane, it is actually quite profound. Likewise there are only two causes of disease: deficiency and toxicity. When deficient, cells aren’t getting everything they need to support normal cell function. When toxic, cells are getting something they don’t need, which damages normal function.

Most people immediately think of toxins as things coming from outside the body, like pesticides and prescription drugs. But the truth is most of our toxic load comes from the body itself. Normal healthy metabolism produces lots of metabolic waste products, just as a factory produces industrial waste. Abnormal metabolism produces even more toxins. In fact detoxification is the biggest single item in our biochemical budget, not only for handling outside toxins, but for getting rid of metabolic products like used hormones and neurotransmitters. Otherwise, these can build up in the body and cause cellular malfunction and disease.

At some point, we have to get rid of nearly every molecule that the body encounters. To do this, our detoxification system involves a complex process to render a molecule inactive. This system is entirely dependent on the foods we eat for the raw materials it needs.

Our detoxification systems are designed to keep us in good health. Problems occur when we eat poor diets and fail to supply the system with what it needs or if we overload the system beyond its capacity with too many toxins. In today’s world, virtually every American is in some degree of toxic overload.

To achieve optimal health we have to nutritionally support the detox systems and reduce their loads to manageable levels. The first step in learning how to reduce our toxic loads is to recognize that the tens of thousands of man-made chemicals that make our every day living possible are not harmless. Many of these chemicals are invisible, odorless, and tasteless so we may not even be aware of their presence. We are exposed to toxic man-made chemicals from everyday items like magazines, newspapers, carpets, pillows, mattresses, clothes, cosmetics, toothpaste, and processed foods.

Toxic chemicals are responsible for many of our 20th century disease problems, especially the new syndromes that mystify our doctors. Fatigue, headaches, digestive upsets, flu-like symptoms, aching joints can all be caused by environmental chemicals. High blood pressure and even fatal cardiac arrhythmias can be caused by chemicals ranging from solvents to pesticides. People who wake up feeling sluggish may not realize that the cause is right under their nose, the polyester chemicals coming off their pillow.

Short of going back to living in mud huts, what can we do to protect our health? The answer is a lot! We can minimize our toxic loads. We can supply our body’s detoxification systems with the raw materials needed for efficient operation. This means eating a varied diet of fresh, whole organic foods, avoiding processed foods, and foods with known high toxic contents like meat and dairy. We can supplement our diets with high quality nutrients like folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, essential fatty acids, vitamin B12, methionine, reduced glutathione, alpha ketoglutarate, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Minimize toxic loads by avoiding pesticides, prescription drugs, tap water, and packaged foods with their additives and packaging chemicals. Don’t breathe the fumes when putting gasoline in the car. Buy clothes, furniture, carpets, bedding, and personal care products made from all natural materials.

By getting adequate nutrition and avoiding toxins, average people can reduce their toxic loads to levels their bodies can handle, thereby pushing their personal equations toward health.