Class extras for rexburgyoga.com

In class today we recapped the last of the foundation of health: stress. I discussed a book I had read many years ago from Dr. Dean Ornish. I believe the book is called “Dr Dean Ornish’s program for reversing heart disease.” I found it at the Madison District Library and is still available there. The #1 factor in preventing heart disease and in reversing heart disease is having a loving social network.

This loving social network is one way to handle stress. Family, friends, groups, church, classes, teams, are all examples of social networks that we must have if we want total good health. When we are that loving network for others we insure the good heart health of others, when we are fully involved in those groups then they support our own heart health. The important thing here is LOVING social networks.

During these holiday celebrations, if there are occasions where we know we are going to be with people that the relationship is contentious, then now is the time to do whatever we can to harmonize and turn that relationship into a loving one. It might require prayer, forgiveness or another spiritual practice to accomplish that but our own heart health depends upon it. Holding grudges and bitterness gives US heart disease so let those feelings go.

At the end of class I gave a general recommendation that for men it is necessary for them to serve another person and act in a loving way sometimes before they develop the feelings of love. Action first then the feeling comes.

For women, in general, the feelings must come first. So women, do what you need to to first generate the feeling of love for the other person before you serve, that way the service is given from the place of love rather than obligation and resentment. Feelings first then action.

After researching and deciding what supplements might be useful to you, how do you pick the brand and the combination? Money is wasted if you have a product that does not dissolve or is not absorbed well. So how can a person answer these questions? Leslie’s answer to this is asking the body and testing the energy field, also known as body talk or muscle testing.
I do this with a biotensor. I have one that was given to me by a friend who lived in Germany, and another one I purchased from UT. It is my preferred method of muscle testing because it does not rely upon the perceived strength of any muscle.

I would be happy to test anyone in the class to determine if 1)you need supplements at all, 2)your brand of supplements is good for your body,
3)one or another brand is better. Just bring in the supplements with you, or if you don’t have them from the store yet, pick up each brand and hold them in the store, and make a list of the choices and we can test them from the list.

Besides the biotensor, two other easy body tests can be done. One is for calcium in the tissues and blood and iron. Both of these are important minerals that are absolutely necessary for healthy functioning of blood, bones, muscles and other body systems. These tests are easy and then if you are deficient you can check that your supplements have these 2 minerals. If you are not deficient in iron it is best to avoid supplements that do have iron. Don’t take iron if you don’t need it.

The calcium test:
Hold your arms out straight and thumbs down. The tester pushes moderately down on both wrists once or twice. If the arms are strong and springy then the calcium level is fine. If the arms feel weak or it is easy to push them down because the shoulder muscle feels weak, then the calcium level is low.

The iron test:
Scrape a pure gold ring across the face. If it leaves a gray or black streak, you are low in iron.

One class member has already brought her supplements in to be tested. What we found was that the 2 brands that were generic drug store brands – (affordable for us regular people) tested weak or no. So that means even tho the supplements were affordable, her body was gaining nothing from them, and the money spent was wasted. She had one supplement that was quite expensive, but it tested a yes or strong. What she was getting was being helpful and useful to her body. If someone wants the name of this brand, ask in class. Not every expensive brand is going to work for everyone but in doing the testing I have found that the brands we get at the heath food store are more likely to be useful. But even these brands should be tested because they absorb differently with different people.

A few more considerations for supplements: Notify your physician or pharmacist if you change or add supplements. These can sometimes affect any medication you are taking.

Take one day off during the week from taking supplements. This gives your body a rest and a time to “reset.” This does not apply to medications, but just to food supplements.

In an ideal world we would be able to get all our nutrients from our foods.  This is, however, not possible and the need to supplement our diet is crucial.  In a culture where processed foods are becoming the norm, much of the nutrients in our foods is lost.  Other factors include the overcooking of food, storage of food, toxins, depleted soils, and overstressed lifestyle choices. 

Four common nutrient deficiencies are Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D and Vitamin K.  All four of these nutrients work together in order to supply the body with what it needs.  For more information see the following sources.

Seven Pillars of Health             Don Colbert, MD          www.drcolbert.com

Nutrition Action Health Letter     http://www.cspinet.org/nah/01-03/spin.pdf

National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council for the recommended Dietary Allowances for Women

The liver’s main function is to filter toxins and excessive or poor quality fatty acids.  When we take in more chemicals or fats than the liver can handle, it stores them.  One way of releasing these stored toxins and fats is with a healthy diet.  Foods that support the liver include, leafy green vegetables, carrot juice, radishes, mushrooms, artichokes, green apples, pears, whole grains, beans, sprouts, and garlic to name a few. 

This is a cleanse I (Shelly)  recently did.  I liked this cleanse for a number of reasons.  One, all the ingredients are living foods.  Second, it did not require me to fast for a long period of time, stay close to a bathroom or be uncomfortable.  It is important to note that this should not be done if you are pregnant.  If you have had any problems with your liver or gall bladder it would be best to seek medical advice first.

Fresh juice from 1 lemon—(Lemon aids digestion by stimulating the flow of saliva, thus easing the work of the liver)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil–(Olive oil is known for its ability to support the functions of the liver and gallbladder).

1/2 cup fresh citrus juice or apple juice  (I used apple juice) 

1 clove of garlic–(Garlic eliminates toxins from the body including metals such as lead and cadmium)

1/2 t. fresh ginger juice or a dash of dried ginger—(Ginger is anti-inflammatory, normalizes blood pressure and helps support the liver

dash cayenne—(Cayenne has antioxidant properties that help preserve and detoxify food.

Stir all these ingredients together.  Drink this mixture first thing in the morning waiting about an hour before having breakfast.  Do this for a week to 10 days. 

Tip:  I found that after drinking this mixture if I waited for a half hour before bending over I didn’t feel the mixture up in my throat.

Something to look at when you are spring cleaning the inner body is to avoid taking in some of the things that contribute to extra toxins in the body. Here are some of the worst offenders: Alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, and products that contain MSG, and aspartame (nutrasweet). White sugar and corn syrup are not wonderful for the body either, but if its a choice between aspartame and sugar, pick the sugar.

Sometimes the detoxing process can bring on the feeling that you are coming down with a cold. This means that it’s working.   It’s called the herxheimer effect. It’s because toxins are coming from the tissues into the blood stream, or the die off of bacteria in the body.
Don’t suppress the symptoms with over-the-counter medicine. Just continue to eat healthy foods, drink plenty of warm water and get lots of rest:
the same advice for getting over any cold. You could support the detoxing symptoms with herbal or homeopathic remedies.
Here are some links about the Herxheimer effect. I have no opinion as to the product to help with the herxheimer effect. You investigate and make your own choices.
Gary Null
Herxheimer

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you have a cold or flu, or you have been fasting for a day you have a white or yellow coating on your tongue?  English doesn’t have a name for this but Ayurvedic Medicine (medical model for traditional yoga practice) calls this white coating ama (pronounce like mama)

ama coating the digestive system

I will just give a few facts on ama, and if you want to know more, you can continue to investigate online.  Ama develops from improper digestion, the biproduct of bacterial infection, or accumulated toxins in the body.  It manifests as the white, sticky substance that coats the entire digestive system and other body systems as well.  Think about all the illnesses that show a sticky white substance:  hardening of arteries, joint pain, allergies, infections, obesity, glaucoma and more.  So when you see ama anywhere in the body, you know you have some detoxing to do.

It is also something you feel in the body:  Feeling heavy, fuzzy headed, unclear thinking, aches and pains, bloating, gas, skin blemishes, fever, lack of energy,  lack of appetite or taste, or indigestion.

There are a variety of suggestions for clearing out ama from the body, but I offer just one:  drinking warm water throughout the day.  Start with a 12-16 oz. of warm water first thing in the morning.  You could add fresh lemon to this also.  Then about 30 minutes before each meal drink another glass of warm water.  This begins to flush out the ama and other toxins from the body.

One reason we want to choose living foods is that living foods contain lots of enzymes.  Enzymes are proteins that are essential for digestion.  If the food isn’t digested then food allergies are the result.  This link is to an article about digestion and enzymes.

Spring is coming at the end of this week and its now the time to begin adding greens to our diet. These contain enzymes.

Another foundation for good health is living foods. A wide subject, but Leslie will focus this week on a recipe including all awesome foods but giving details about apples and soluble fiber. The recipe:

Millet Breakfast Muesli

1C cooked millet

1small ripe banana

1 chopped apple

2 TBL walnuts, pecans or almonds

sweet white grapes, halved

Mash the banana until creamy. Add other ingredients and mix well. Its nice to have the millet warm but not necessary. 2 servings
Millet cooks in about 20 minutes. (1/2C millet and simmer in 1 1/2 C water – similar to rice.)

Apples are the best source of soluble fiber. Everything in this recipe has some soluble fiber but apples are the highest. Diabetes, heart conditions, digestive diseases can all be helped with apples. Here is some info about why soluble fiber is so important.

Why is soluble fiber so special? Because unlike any other food category, it soothes and regulates the digestive tract, stabilizes the intestinal contractions resulting from the gastrocolic reflex, and normalizes bowel function from either extreme. That’s right – soluble fiber prevents and relieves BOTH diarrhea and constipation. Nothing else in the world will do this for you.

How is this possible? The “soluble” in soluble fiber means that it dissolves in water (though it is not digested). This allows it to absorb excess liquid in the colon, preventing diarrhea by forming a thick gel and adding a great deal of bulk as it passes intact through the gut. This gel (as opposed to a watery liquid) also keeps the GI muscles stretched gently around a full colon, giving those muscles something to easily “grip” during peristaltic contractions, thus preventing the rapid transit time and explosive bowel movements of diarrhea as well.

By the same token, the full gel-filled colon (as opposed to a colon tightly clenched around dry, hard, impacted stools) provides the same “grip” during the muscle waves of constipation sufferers, allowing for an easier and faster transit time, and the passage of the thick wet gel also effectively relieves constipation by softening and pushing through impacted fecal matter. If you can mentally picture your colon as a tube that is squeezing through matter via regular waves of contractions, it’s easy to see how a colon filled with soluble fiber gel is beneficial for both sides of the IBS coin.

Knowing what is normal as we age is helpful to avoid thinking something is wrong.  Just like its helpful to know changes that happen in our children and their growth, its helpful to know what’s coming up for adult bodies.

These quotes are taken from a New York times article about sleep studies.  Here is the link to the article.

” it turns out that sleep does not change much from age 60 on. And poor sleep, it turns out, is not because of aging itself, but mostly because of illnesses or the medications used to treat them.

“The more disorders older adults have, the worse they sleep. If you look at older adults who are very healthy, they rarely have sleep problems.
Most of the changes in sleep patterns occurred when people were between the ages of 20 and 60.” People in this group tended to sleep about a half hour less than others outside this range, woke more often and slept lighter. Most changes were subtle.

So as a general conclusion, if you stay healthy, you could expect some changes in sleep like waking up more often. But if you know this, then there should not be anxiety about the changes.