We live a stressful lifestyle 24/7 and more often we end up feeling burnout. It’s know that working out can reduce stress- a good idea- however, it’s not in this case where the body is exhausted already. By doing this you’ll be adding extra stress onto yourself taxing your adrenals glands end up feeling energy depleted.

A glass of wine-hopefully is pesticides free- can help. Listening to your favorite music or meditation/prayer can be a good answer too. But, what if you can relax and recharge in the same time?

Here’s a simple solution that brings you relief in seconds, aromatherapy.

A precious bottle of carefully selected essential oil would do it. Use any methods listed below that suits best and feel your stress begin to melt away:

– Put a few drops in a diffuser or, in a pinch, onto a cotton ball

– Sniff it right out of the bottle

– Blend it into a massage oil and massage the back of your neck, ears and feet (the bottom)

– Pritz it around your room like a natural air freshener

Click on any blend- found on Amazon- very affordable and try it out for yourself:

• Stress Relief Synergy Blend, with bergamot, patchouli, blood orange, ylang ylang and grapefruit

• Relaxation Synergy Blend, with lavender, marjoram, patchouli, mandarin, geranium and chamomile

• Anxiety Ease Synergy Blend, with lemongrass, sweet orange and ylang ylang

Adapted from The Healthy Back Institute

On the light of stress relief topic I’d like to share with you a powerful lesson I received from ‘Our Daily Bread’, a daily email devotion.

“”Our valley in Idaho can be very cold in the winter. Clouds and fog roll in and blanket the ground, trapping frigid air under warmer layers above. But you can get above the valley. There’s a road nearby that winds up the flank of Shafer Butte, a 7,500-foot mountain that rises out of our valley. A few minutes of driving and you break out of the fog and emerge into the warmth and brilliance of a sunlit day. You can look down on the clouds that shroud the valley below and see it from a different point of view”.

Life is like that at times. Circumstances seem to surround us with a fog that sunlight cannot penetrate. Yet faith is the way we get above the valley—the means by which we “set [our] hearts on things above” (Col. 3:1). As we do, the Lord enables us to rise above our circumstances and find courage and calmness for the day. As the apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil. 4:11).

We can climb out of our misery and gloom. We can sit for a time on the mountainside and through Christ who gives us strength (v. 13) we can gain a different perspective. —David Roper

Although I can’t always see You or what You’re doing, Lord, I rest in Your love for me.

Faith can lift you above your fears.”

The Difference Between Cocoa And Cacao 

Cacao is raw cacao made by cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans. The process keeps the living enzymes in the cocoa and removes the fat (cacao butter). So, cacao is simply pure, raw cacao beans requires minimal processing and preserves all the antioxidants and other beneficial phytonutrients.

Cocoa looks the same but it’s not. Cocoa is processed cacao beans that has been processed and roasted at high temperature.

Even the top quality cocoa brands, such as Rapunzel 100% Pure Organic Cocoa Powder – while being an excellent product, are roasted.

Studies show that the darker chocolate is the better choice (contains higher percent of cacao). 70% + percentage of cacao in dark chocolate has a higher concentration of antioxidants than milk chocolate. Keep in mind that milk chocolate is also higher in added sugar and unhealthy fats. Not to mention the inhibition of antioxidant absorption from cacao when adding dairy to chocolate.

Do you know?

Cacao contains far more antioxidants per 100g than acai, goji berries and blueberries.

Cacao is rich in minerals like magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, copper and manganese.

Cacao can increase levels of certain neurotransmitters that promote a sense of well-being. It is the same brain chemical (phenylethylamine) that is released when we experience deep feelings of love.

Also, of the many flavonoids in cacao, two in particular, epicatechin and quercetin, are believed to be responsible for the cancer-fighting properties. Eating real chocolate can help keeping cancer cells under check!

The easiest way to tell whether you are getting cacao or cocoa? Look for the word RAW on the packaging! And then check the rest of the ingredients.

Be powerful but remember time is more powerful than you

Stop waiting for things to happen go out and make them happen

Wake up with determination

Be the best version of you

Be successful:

Accept responsibility

Set goals

Look for opportunities to grow

Be grateful

Welcome change

Forgive others

Complement others

Give credit when credit is due

Wish success to others

Always appreciate and be thankful of what you have. There are a lot of people out there who wish they had what you have.

When you feel stressed out remember that you’re never giving anything in this world that you can’t handle

Be strong, be flexible, and love yourself and others

And always remember to let go and keep moving forward

Sometimes bad things happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us

Every problem comes to us should make us not brake us

Every test in our life should make us better not bitter

The choice is ours to become victors but not victims

Happy & Healthy 2016!

Holidays are around the corner, and, you’ll be using and consuming a quite good amount of vegetable oils. Are you getting the good healthy or the bad ones?

Have you been lied to about the health benefits of canola oil?

Many people believe that canola oil is a good healthy vegetable oil choice. But, the truth is the mainstream media has been influenced by heavy handed marketing tactics by big food companies.

Canola oil is cheap for them to produce so they want to fool the media into thinking it’s a “health oil” so that people, restaurants (use it heavily), etc will buy it up as their main oil of choice.

The dirty truth about canola oil

Canola oil is anything but “healthy”.

Canola oil is made from something called rapeseed. Rapeseed actually had to be bred over the years to reduce the percentage of a problematic component of rapeseed, which is erucic acid.

The REAL issues with canola oil:

Canola oil typically ranges between 55-65% monounsaturated fat and between 28-35% polyunsaturated fat, with just a small amount of saturated fat.

While we’ve been led to believe that high monounsaturated fat oils are good for us (which they’re in the case of virgin olive oil, avocados or from unprocessed nuts or seeds), the fact is that canola oil has more detriments than it does benefits.

The biggest problem with most popular vegetable 0ils are highly processed and refined vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil, and yes, even canola oil, is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, solvents, and pressure, and this heavily oxidizes the polyunsaturates which increases free radicals in your body.

The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory (inflammation is today modern life ‘silent killer’) in your body when you ingest them, damaging your cell membranes, contributing to heart disease, weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

The reason that extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is good for you is that it is generally cold pressed without the use of heat and solvents to aid extraction, and also contains much less polyunsaturated fats than canola oil, so is therefore more stable.  EVOO also contains important antioxidants that help protect the stability of the oil.

Canola oil, on the other hand, is typically extracted and refined using high heat, pressure, and petroleum solvents such as hexane.  Most canola oil undergoes a process of caustic refining, degumming, bleaching, and deoderization, all using high heat and questionable chemicals.

Does canola oil even have trans fats?

Even worse, all of this high heat, high pressure processing with solvents actually forces some of the omega-3 content of canola oil to be transformed into trans fats.

According to Dr. Mary Enig, PhD, and Nutritional Biochemist, “Although the Canadian government lists the trans fat content of canola at a minimal 0.2 percent, research at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found trans fat levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid canola oil“.

And this is the crap that they are marketing to you as a “healthy oil”!

As you can see from the details above on how canola oil is processed, it is barely any healthier for you than other junk vegetable oils like soybean oil or corn oil.  The bottom line is that it is an inflammatory oil in your body and should be avoided as much as possible.

Alternative, best and truly healthy oil choices:

• Extra virgin olive oil – for lower temperature cooking and salad dressing
• Virgin coconut oil – great for all temperatures of cooking due to its super high stability under heat.  A great source of healthy saturated fats in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), one of which is Lauric Acid, which helps support the immune system and is lacking in most western diets.
• Organic grass-fed butter –  Grass-fed butter is a great source of the healthy fat, CLA, which has even been shown in studies to have muscle building and fat burning properties, along with anti-cancer properties.  Grass-fed butter also has a much healthier omega-6 to omega-3 ratio than standard butter at your grocery store.  Kerrygold Irish butter is my favorite grass-fed butter, and Organic Valley pasture-raised butter is my 2nd favorite!
• Macadamia nut oil & avocado oil – Both of these oils have a high ratio of monounsaturated fat making them moderately stable for use with heat.

These are much healthier oils than canola or other vegetable oils. Now, you know to NOT be fooled by food labels claiming that they contain “healthy canola oil”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Source:

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/the-canola-oil-deception.html

Some doctors are referring to this food product as the ‘New Anti-Aging Product of the Century’!

This food can:

√ Promote youthful skin, healthier hair, and stronger nails

√   Help keep bones healthy and strong

√   Support joint health

√   Regenerate cartilage

√   Build lean muscle

√   Contribute to a balanced diet and help maintain weight

√   Support healthy inflammation response due to over exercise

√  Improve sleep quality

Discover more here!

Know Your Plastics

Plastics are everywhere – in food containers and toys, in cosmetics packaging and household utensils. While some plastics are eco-friendly and may be safe for kids, others contain harmful chemicals or cause dangerous pollution during manufacturing.

It’s just about impossible to avoid plastics altogether, but you can look for plastics that are safest for your family and the environment. So get to know the recycling codes imprinted on the underside of plastic products.

Look for these numbers before you buy:

• Safer choices are coded 1, 2, 4 and 5.
• Avoid 3, 6 and most plastics labeled 7.

Here’s what you should know about each code:

CODE 1: PET OR PETE (NYLON)

Qualities: Thin, clear

Common usage: Bottles for water, cooking oil, peanut butter, soda 

Studies indicate that this plastic is safe for one-time use. As a precaution, however, these bottles should not be reused or heated. This plastic can be recycled once into new secondary products such as fabric, carpet or plastic lumber.

CODE 2: HDPE (HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE)

Qualities: Thick, opaque

Common usage: Milk and water jugs, juice bottles, containers for detergent, shampoo and motor oil, and toys

Limit how often you refill containers made of HDPE. It can be recycled one time into products similar to those made of recycled Code 1 plastic.

CODE 3: PVC (POLYVINYL CHLORIDE)

Qualities: May be rigid or flexible

Common usage: Bibs, mattress covers and commercial-grade plastic wrap, as well as a few types of food and detergent containers

Avoid it. The manufacture of PVC creates dioxin, a potent carcinogen that contaminates humans, animals and the environment. PVC may also contain phthalates to soften it. These hormone disrupting chemicals have been linked to male reproductive problems and birth defects. PVC is not easily recycled, but some recycling plants may accept it.

CODE 4: LDPE (LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE)

Qualities: Soft, flexible

Common usage: Grocery store bags, plastic wrap for household use and garbage bags

LDPE is one of the safer plastics, but recycle it – and limit waste by bringing reusable bags when you’re shopping.

CODE 5: PP (POLYPROPYLENE)

Qualities: Hard but flexible

Common usage: Ice cream and yogurt containers, drinking straws, syrup bottles, salad bar containers and diapers

PP is one of the safer plastics, but be sure to recycle wherever possible.

CODE 6: PS (POLYSTYRENE)

Qualities: Rigid

Common usage: Styrofoam coffee cups and meat trays; opaque plastic spoons and forks

Avoid it. PS can leach styrene, a known neurotoxin with other harmful health effects.

CODE 7: OTHER (INCLUDING POLYCARBONATE, BIOPLASTIC AND ACRYLIC)

Code 7 is a grab bag. It includes polycarbonate, a plastic made from BPA, a harmful synthetic estrogen. Manufacturers use polycarbonate to make five-gallon water bottles, sports bottles, clear plastic cutlery or the lining of metal food cans. New plastic alternatives to polycarbonate, such as co-polyesters, are marked Code 7 as well.

This code also includes some new, compostable green plastics, such as those made from corn, potatoes, rice or tapioca. Bio-based plastics hold promise for reducing waste, but you must put them in regular trash or your city’s compost containers, not in standard recycling bins. Bio-based plastics cause huge problems if they enter the normal plastic recycling stream.

Investigate #7 and avoid polycarbonate. Don’t heat or reuse bio-plastics unless they are expressly designed for that.

Remember: Whatever plastics you choose, never heat them in the microwave or subject them to other extreme stresses, like being kept in a hot car. Always recycle or throw away containers once they start to crack or break down.

Adapted from:

http://healthychild.org/know-your-plastics/?inlist=Y