Archived News of the Week

Aging, Superfoods, Weight and Dementia, Flavonoids, How to Raise Your Vibration

5 Signs that you are aging too fast: These are from Deepak Chopra's newsletter and since I think he looks way good, I also think that he is not so young anymore, so I am tending to listen up here about the signs of aging.

1) Red eyes. Yeah, so what. There is always Refresh eye drops, I can't help it - I live in a dry high desert climate... but I think he means that chronic red eyes could be a sign of chronic inflammation which is associated (lately) with practically every disease listed in the Merck Manual.

2) Droopy Eyelids or Fatty Deposits around the Eyes: Droopy eyelids could be fatigue, allergies, thyroid dysfunction, fluid retention or oxidative stress which allows those nasty free radicals to accumulate and cause cell damage in the body. Fatty deposits around the eyes are classic symptoms of heart disease, so pay attention if you find these yellow-ish and fatty looking globules.

3) Wrinkles and Sagging Skin: Some of these accursed signs of course are within the normal limits of aging, but not too much and not too soon, please! There is a lot you can do on a nutritional level as in drinking more water, taking a supplement called Alpha Lipoic Acid, plenty of good oils, no sugar. You know the drill. Aging skin and the nutritional care thereof could be an entire newsletter.

4) Changes in Skin Tone or Texture: The condition of your skin can signal problems inside the body and doctors are trained to look at you very carefully in a diagnostic manner  eyes, ears, mouth and skin can give you an incredibly precise symptom picture. For example flaky and dry skin which suddenly crops up could be a hypothyroid condition and in turn, a weak thyroid can indicate that your adrenals may not be making the hormones you need to feel energized and young. Then both the thyroid and the adrenals depend on the small and large intestines to efficiently remove waste from the body and the first place you see this not working is usually in the skin.

5) You Constantly Feel Stressed Out: Stress shows up both on your face and in your voice. A tightening and unrelaxed feeling in the face causing your wrinkles to deepen and perhaps a less than vibrant voice. We have all had those days. But too many of those days are not good for anything  your health, your daily life or your longevity. Please learn to take care of this. It's so important. If you think you are suffering from any of the above 5 signs of aging, please give me a call. We can figure this out and get you on the right path again.

12 Superfoods: The reason I always seem to hammer the superfood thing is this: If we would just make choices at the grocery store to include these instead of other not-so-super foods, then we are making choices with intention for health rather than just pleasure. Start with these twelve, include them in your next grocery list and not only have them around the house, but eat them. Quinoa, Chia Seeds (Ask me for my chocolate chia pudding recipe.), Pomegranate, Kale (It's on every list, isn't it?), Probiotic and enzyme salads made with fermented cabbage (google a recipe), Green smoothies, Oat Groats if you are not gluten intolerant, coconut oil, Apple Cider vinegar (make your salad dressings with this and also use as medicine for digestion), Acai, unsweetened almond milk (instead of dairy) and Stevia, my sweet tooth life saver. Nu-Naturals is the best tasting. No sugar in my household, except for stevia and xylitol.

Weight and Dementia: Unfortunate but now true. 60 million people are overweight in the U.S. and these 60 million people are either old now or will grow old and guess what? Their risk of dementia increases. After reviewing the brain scans of 94 people in their 70's, researchers from UCLA found that obese people have 8% less brain tissue than those of normal weight and their brains look 16 years older as well. (Now, who wants an old looking brain, I say. What's happening to the face is bad enough.) These heartless researchers went on to report that these old looking brains had "severe brain degeneration." So, I guess now, normal weight means smarter longer. But, the reverse is true. Too skinny  a BMI of 20 and under  also can increase the risk of dementia. I always found Plato to be wise when he said "Moderation is the key to life." A study out of England found pretty much the same thing as UCLA and had some recommendations: 1) Watch your weight in mid-life. If you are heavy lose weight sooner rather than later. 2) Being too skinny over the age of 70 increases your risk She gives the example of someone 5'4" weighing 107 as being too skinny. (Whew! Dodged that bullet!) 3) A little extra weight in later life may be protective. In fact there is a consistent finding in the medical literature that someone a bit heavy (BMI of 25-29) in later life might be less likely to develop dementia.

Bioflavonoids: I don't know about you, but as I age, I find that I have much thinner skin, esp. on the back of my hands. I won't even remember hitting my hand and suddenly I find a gnarly looking reddish purple splotch that is so ugly I can immediately empathize with John Merrill, The Elephant Man, whose famous quote comes to mind: "Avert your eyes, for I am hideous."

What did I do? Was it the corner of the box I was carrying to the shed jabbing into my skin? Was it that careless but so very innocuous smack against my bedroom door frame? I have learned to recognize that a slight stinging sensation on the back of my hand  usually my working hand, my right  will indicate a big purple bruise within minutes. But, a word from the wise, if I get ice on it immed., it tends to minimize the damage.

I realized later rather than sooner, that I might have a bioflavonoid deficiency. Flavonoids are a kind of antioxidant, concentrated in fruits and vegetables and there are 6,000 different kinds of flavonoids. I thought I was eating enough, but maybe not for my aging body. Not only do bioflavonoids keep your cells from damage and prevent excessive inflammation in your body, but they also enhance the efficacy of vitamin C and they also help protect your blood vessels from rupture or leakage. Apparently my blood vessels and capillaries were struggling to stay strong and were rupturing at the slightest provocation.

If you believe in random messages, as I do, from The Great Wherever, then you would believe as I do that the very minor reddish-purple blotches were a tiny yet significant warning sign that maybe my big, very essential blood vessels (as in Aorta, Carotid etc.) weren't in such great shape. I pay attention to stuff like that.

Standard Process has a wonderful product called Cyruta Plus which is their bioflavonoid product. The tablets are pretty small  the size of Min-Tran  and I started taking 10 per day about a month ago. And yes, as you may have already guessed, in one month instead of my usual steady rash of purple marks, I have had just ONE, a well-deserved one when a door closed on my hand. So if you have easy bruising, frequent nose bleeds, excessive swelling after an injury, hemorrhoids, or have had a stroke, give CyrutaPlus a try.

Ending with an uplifting spiritual note, this from the Golden Age of Gaia, June 16th, 2015: 10 ways to raise your vibration by contributor Bianca Alexander, paraphrased and personalized by me.

1) Meditate.

2) Unplug from the Matrix: This means decrease usage of all your beloved electronics as they emit subtle, invisible electromagnetic fields that can negatively impact your energy field and drain your spiritual life force.

3) Bathe often: This will cleanse unseen energy patterns from the body's aura and etheric field.

4) Spend time with positive people. It has been said that you become the sum of the five people you spend the most time with, so take a good look at your close circle of friends. Are they friends or frenemies? Be brave and get rid (nicely, now!) of the people who you feel bad around. Anyone who deserves to be your friend will lift you up and vice versa. There are just some energies that are not and will not ever be compatible with yours. That's O.K., but it's not O.K. to hang out with these people.

5) Move your body. Physical exercise can raise your physical vibration. It's all good, whether you hike, swim, jog, spin, practice yoga or tai chi. If possible also do something called earthing. Put your bare feet directly on the earth, gravel and dirt will do, grass is great, sand is even better. You will run the bad energy into the earth and take up the good energy of the Mother.

6) Organize your environment. I think the best book on decluttering is called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, The Japanese art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. Now I am not a hoarder and consider myself pretty well organized and don't have much of a qualm about taking stuff to Goodwill, except for one area and that is books. I HATE to part with any of MY books, but I must, because I buy a lot and read a lot and I would quite literally run out of space in my house. Her advice there hit the nail on the head for me. 7) Serve others. Those who volunteer and are of service to others are happier, healthier and more personally fulfilled.

8) Clean up your diet. If you have been seeing me for years or even weeks, you will know how to do that. The trick of course, is doing it.

9) Go on a news detox. The other morning the local news on channel 9 did me in. I burst into tears and who needs that? Two horrible, cruel unnecessary stories reported back to back and for no good reason other than negative titillation and turning the proverbial trick of violence and fear for profit. I just watch the weather now.

10) Practice Gratitude: Just run around blessing everyone all the time. The homeless person: "May you be blessed". The person you don't like: "May you be Blessed." Yourself: "May I continue to be blessed." Thank the Divine for your life, for the love in your life and for your everything. We are so lucky. We are so blessed.

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