Vitamin D is essential to the human body, it is imperative to get adequate supply every day. They should realize that sources of Vitamin D are the key to good health maintenance, and it plays a lot of key roles in one’s health development. It maintains the body’s immune function, and it regulates the calcium and phosphorous levels in the body which reduces risks of bone diseases. Vitamin D is vital to a balanced and healthy diet. The body can get Vitamin D from various natural and supplemental sources. The sources of Vitamin D are somewhat limited yet easily obtainable.

One of the most common sources of vitamin D is the sunlight. Adults must be open to the elements of the sunlight for atleast 20 to 30 minutes per day to get enough vitamin d. People with darker skin or use sun blocks with high SPFs should be aware that they need to stay longer under the sun for their daily Vitamin D dosage. Now, if you are living in the utmost northern or southern hemisphere of the globe then it is best to get as much sunlight as you can, especially if the sun shows up for only six months of a year.

The second sources of Vitamin D are food sources. Cod liver oil is the best food source followed different kinds of fishes that include salmon, tuna and mackerel. In addition to that, dairy products are available but make sure that the label indicate that it is fortified with vitamin D. Foods like cereals, juices, yogurt and margarine are also rich in vitamin D.

Lastly, dietary supplements are also good sources of vitamin D. Some people opt for multivitamins while others prefer single supplements in the form of D2 and D3, which health experts suggest that D3 is more effective than the former. D3 produces the pre hormone calcidiol and a steroid hormone called calcitriol.

It is important to note the sources of Vitamin D because one should always make use of them as a way to prevent certain diseases from ravaging our systems.

By Health Articles

What are the Sources of Vitamin D? is a post from: by the pines

The concept of ceviche can create a little bit of a block for many people, “so you like soak raw fish and stuff in lime juice and then eat it?” The lime juice is like a pickling liquid that ‘cooks’ and preserves the seafood. Yes it’s considered to be cooked in its own way, even though it is never heated. In fact, just as if you were boiling shrimp, the lime juice will turn the shrimp from gray to bright lobster red. And it is most certainly safe to eat as the lime juice will destroy bacteria and any parasites. In fact, it’s much safer to eat than raw fish as in sashimi, which is of course a widely accepted safe food – but if raw fish scares you, don’t equate sashimi and ceviche because they are truly very different.

The reason ceviche is such a healthy dish to incorporate into your life is primarily because of enzymes. Enzymes are an essential component of food that most people are drastically lacking, especially with the widespread pasteurization of dairy products, juices, etc. which at one time were almost always served fresh, unheated, and teeming with enzymes. So having a few raw staples in your life is vitally important, and the quantity of enzymes that you’re receiving can best be measured by calories, not by quantity. Most people attempt to get raw foods from lettuces and vegetables, but these have the lowest enzyme contents and don’t get you too far in meeting your raw food quota.

As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, your best sources of enzyme-rich foods are high-calorie goodies like full fat raw dairy products, avocadoes, coconut, lacto-fermented foods, raw and rare meats, raw seafood, and ripe fruit in moderation (never eaten alone). Fresh squeezed juices, raw honey, and dried fruit are also potent sources of enzymes, but should certainly be consumed in very limited amounts as most people desperately need to recuperate from a lifetime of sugar over-consumption. I personally have gorged myself on sugary enzyme-rich foods in an attempt to eat mostly raw natural foods, but I eventually crashed and burned until switching gears on my sources of raw calories.

Without going any further on yet another rant about enzymes, here’s how to make ceviche at home, in a manner which will, what did I say, “make every citizen of Mexico kneel before your bowl?”

Ceviche (4 servings)

Ceviche is basically a seafood salsa that can be served alone (smile) as an appetizer or even an entrée, or eaten with chips (frown) or on a tostada (scowl).

½ pound raw shrimp; peeled and finely chopped
½ pound other seafood; diced (sea scallops and white fish like Halibut are the best)
Fresh juice from 6 limes

5 Stalks celery, diced (unless your name is Pippa)
1 small onion, diced
1 large tomato, diced
Kernels freshly cut from 2 ears of corn (optional)
1-2 avocadoes, cut into large chunks
Large handful of cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped roughly
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1T or so of Celtic sea salt
1T Hungarian paprika
Cayenne pepper, chipotle powder, or sauce from canned chipotles to desired spiciness

Preparation:

1. Mix the first 3 ingredients together and let soak, refrigerated, for at least a couple hours.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together like a nice chunky salsa.
3. Once the seafood and lime mix has soaked long enough, mix the two bowls together and get down on it.

Ceviche is well preserved by the lime juice and will keep for a week or so without its quality decreasing. It is easy to prepare, it only requires some chopping and squeezing – no dirty pots and pans, and it is muy rico when it’s done just right. So please give it a shot. It’s truly hard to screw up and I promise you won’t die.

Ceviche is also served in most Mexican restaurants (where it also won’t kill you), but I’ve never been overly impressed with it except in Mexico (where it almost did kill me, actually, on second thought, it was probably the giant mound of raw oysters I ate with it…some people like to learn the hard way I guess). Still, it’s a great thing to order if you’re looking for healthy food at a restaurant. Guacamole I might mention, while we’re on this here Mexican food tangent, is also a fine, enzyme-rich nutritious home and restaurant item. And by the way, if you omit the celery, lime, and raw seafood and add a bunch of mashed avocadoes and extra sea salt to the above recipe, you got yerself a damn fine bowl of guac.

And, before departing from the world of ceviche, I’ll also mention that drowning your ceviche in tomato juice and adding some whole cooked shrimp will make a fine Mexican- style seafood cocktail.

May all who read this have the huevos to try this at home, and I welcome any and all feedback as always. Buen suerte amigos…

Ceviche, tu amigo is a post from: by the pines

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is primarily caused by exposure to certain types of asbestos, a material once used in building construction. Symptoms of Mesothelioma do not appear immediately after being exposed it takes about 25 to 50 years after the initial exposure to develop those symptoms. It is a slow progressing disease that usually occurs to middle age groups and senior adults after their exposure to asbestos. Like other types of cancer sometimes the disease is asymptomatic, that means there are no symptoms.

The symptoms of Mesothelioma vary greatly from person to person and also on the type of Mesothelioma (pleural, peritoneal, or pericardial) the patient is affected with.

Symptoms of Pleural Mesothelioma

Pleural Mesothelioma affects the pleura, the lining of the lungs. It is the most common type of Mesothelioma. One of the most common and specific symptoms of pleural Mesothelioma is the accumulation of fluid between the lungs and chest cavity. This causes shortness of breath and requires a doctor to drain the fluid with the help of a fine-needle that makes breathing easier and relieves chest pain. Symptoms of pleural Mesothelioma include:

* Persistent cough
* Shortness of breath
* Chest pain
* Wheezing

People with mesothelioma, chest x-rays may reveal pleural effusion. This is a condition where fluid begins to accumulate outside lungs. Blood clots can also occur in some cases.

Symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal Mesothelioma affects the peritoneum, the lining of the abdomen. Symptoms of peritoneal Mesothelioma include:

* Abdominal pain
* Abdominal swelling
* Abdominal mass
* Nausea or vomiting
* Change in bowel habits

As peritoneal Mesothelioma advances, a person might experience night sweats, anemia, fever, or even a bowel obstruction.

Symptoms of Pericardial Mesothelioma

Pericardial Mesothelioma affects the pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. The pericardium is a cell that produces a lubricating fluid that protects the heart. They allow the heart to move freely when it is pumping blood to other parts of your body. It is the least common type affecting about five percent of people with the disease. Pericardial Mesothelioma symptoms include:

* Chest pain
* Shortness of breath even when not exerting energy
* Heart palpitations or irregular breathing
* Fatigue

Prompt Medical Treatment after Diagnosis

In most cases, the spread of cancer has already occurred even if detected by current and sophisticated medical tests. When all Mesothelioma stages are considered together, 5 year survival rate is only about 14%. Early Mesothelioma is diagnosed incidentally. It is found as a result of the tests that are done for an unrelated medical condition. .When any worker, a friend, or a family member of a worker having worked in an asbestos environment seem to fall ill without a reason should ensure that they get themselves checked for Mesothelioma cancer..

Unfortunately Mesothelioma does not cause any symptoms until it has spread too far to be cured. Symptoms do occur in some patients with early Mesothelioma. Prompt attention to symptoms especially if there is a history of asbestos exposure. Early diagnosis and treatment can cure some patients who are in initial stage of cancer. For others, prompt attention to symptoms can improve the livelihood. Proper treatment can extend their life and relieve then from many symptoms.

Symptoms of Mesothelioma Cancer is a post from: by the pines

If you notice people generally avoiding you whenever you are around, then it is high time that you assess yourself and find out what is wrong about you? Have you been aware about your breath? Maybe you got bad breath that’s why they never get physically close when people talk with you. Bad breath, medically called as halitosis, can significantly affect your social life, so don’t allow it to become a hindrance to you.

If your bad breath is causing you embarrassment already, it is not going to do you good in any aspect. Psychologically and emotionally, it’s bound to disturb you until you lose your confidence. That is going to be very bad since a person with less confidence seldom succeeds and gets happy in life. So before all these terrible things happen to you, be sure to check on some of the ways on how to get rid of bad breath:

1.) Before anything else, you should the right thing by consulting your dentist or physician. Bad breath is usually developed when one indulges in poor hygiene habit; however, there are more cases wherein the condition is the result of some medical conditions. Therefore, checking with your physician will help you to assess what is the cause of your halitosis.

2.) Stick to your proper dental hygiene everyday. Brushing every after meal helps take away food and drink debris, which turn into bacteria inside the mouth causing bad breath to occur. Most dental hygienists recommend brushing in the morning and at night before retiring but some prefer to do it every after meal to stop any chances for the debris to turn into bacteria.

3.) Floss at least at night. Brushing alone does not completely remove all debris in the mouth. Flossing removes food particles stuck in between teeth; thus, inhibiting them from growing into germs.

4.) Brush tongue too. Experts say that most of the germs convene on the tongue. That is the reason why it is as much important scraping your tongue off with dirt as brushing teeth. There are tongue scrapers available in store, but you can use your toothbrush as well.

5.)Use mouth wash. There are anti-bacterial mouth wash available in stores. You can use it as after-brushing rinse to completely clean your whole mouth. Brushing and flossing are good for removing food particles in between teeth, but they don’t clean the other parts of the mouth. Most use mouth wash not only to kill bacteria in the mouth but also for that lingering fresh smell.

However, if bad breath still persists only after a brief time, there is really something wrong. Once again, checking your dentist or physician is the best thing to do.

6.) Don’t smoke. Needless to say, smoking tobacco or cigar is one of the biggest contributory factors to bad breath. It does not only make your breath smell foul but also ruins your teeth.

7.) Drink and drink water. Doing this does a lot of benefits to your body. That is already a fact. Don’t you know that it can prevent bad breath too? That’s because by keeping your mouth moist with water, it inhibits it from becoming dry; hence, keeping those germs away.

If you practice these things, bad breath will never be an issue hampering your social life. But remember that these things listed above are meant for those who have simple cases of bad breath. Chronic ones must be treated according to the recommendation of the medical experts as they can be more serious than expected.

How to Get Rid Of Bad Breath is a post from: by the pines

You will find lots of individuals who come across a symptom of gout without having actually realizing they do have gout. It is simple to blame work, eating habits, or stress as trigger to the signs of gout which you’re experiencing. Many individuals believe gout is a issue encountered simply by old people, which is not accurate at all. Lots of people, irrespective of age group and sex are afflicted by gout without actually realizing they’ve got it. So can you be sure that what you’re experiencing are symptoms of gout?

The first manifestation of gout is usually the sudden sensation of a red, hot, swollen joint. The most frequent joint to very first experience this is the base with the big toe. But it does not go to say that not other joints are involved. For some individuals the discomfort is so intense that even a bed sheet touching the large toe can cause extreme discomfort. Gout discovered at the base with the with the large toe is called podagra.

The first episodes of gout will gradually disappear even without treatment. The attacks stop after one to 2 weeks. So does the swelling and discomfort. Gout usually appears at the same spot where you first experienced the first gout attack.

However gout attacks become much more frequent as time passes by. The very first round of gout attack lasts only a week and involves only one joint or area; the next gout attacks can involve multiple joints simultaneously.

Uric acid may also form outside joints. These formations are known as tophi, can be found in the earlobes, elbow, and Posterior muscle group. Usually these tophi aren’t painful but can be a great indicator that you have gout. The crystal formations could be removed and examined through microscopic examination.

Gout attacks generally begin at night while you’re sleeping the synovial fluid accountable for cleaning your joints is not flowing properly to assist clear out the excess debris. This in turn allows uric acid crystals to build up that causes swelling that lead to extreme discomfort. Should you awoke simply because with the discomfort, then odds are you have got gout.

Should you see yourself suffering from these signs and symptoms of gout, it is advisable which you go see a doctor for advise and treatment. If you still aren’t certain that what you are experiencing is gout, you still require to see a physician to get yourself diagnosed and acquire proper treatment.

Signs and symptoms Of Gout: An Overview is a post from: by the pines

The best treatment for travel sickness is to prevent it – since once one develops the full symptoms, drugs will be of virtually no use. To minimize the symptoms after they occur, try breathing in fresh air – going out on deck on the ship, or opening the car windows. Avoid cigarette smoke and food smells, since these aggravate nausea. When traveling on land, as in a car or train, face in the direction of travel and fix your gaze on the road ahead or close your eyes. Reading in a moving vehicle should be avoided.

Often, repeated exposure to the motion which brings on travel sickness helps one’s body to adjust and in a sense immunizes it so that one’s symptoms are minimized. However, there are experienced sailors who never get over their sea-sickness! There are several drugs that can help prevent travel sickness but they must be taken before one sets out, since they almost always have no effect once symptoms come on.

Travel Sickness Remedies #1
The most effective drug to prevent travel sickness is Hyoscine (also called Scopolamine). It can have side effects such as drowsiness, blurred vision, dryness of the mouth and retention of urine but these are generally not prominent with the doses employed. A tablet of 300 microgrammes is taken approximately half an hour before commencing the journey; the dose may be repeated in six to eight hours if necessary. Children require smaller doses; a quarter tablet from two to five years, and a half tablet from five to ten years.

Travel Sickness Remedies #2
Recently, a convenient method of taking Hyoscine has become available. The drug is incorporated in a small adhesive dressing (like a piece of sticking plaster) that can be pasted on to the skin behind the ear; this allows a small, steady dose of the drug to be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream over a period of 72 hours. The patch is applied about six hours before commencing the journey – and delivers enough medication to last a three day period. One word of caution though Hyoscine should not be used by pregnant women, or those suffering from prostate problems or glaucoma. Other drugs such as the antihistamines Cinnarizine, Cyclizine, Promethazine and Dimenhydrate are also used in preventing travel sickness especially in those who find the side effects of Hyoscine unpleasant.

Travel Sickness Remedies – What Should You Know?
All these drugs can be quite effective but it must be admitted that there is no 100%effective way of preventing travel sickness. Unless, of course, one confines oneself to traveling only on one’s own two feet!

Travel Sickness Remedies is a post from: by the pines

A bit of stress is normal for everyone and is basically expected. However, when your stress gets out of control and you start to feel like you are spinning out of control, then you know that you need to do something about it or it is only going to get worse. A lot of people don’t even know where their stress comes from, but they feel as though they are going to lose it.

Stress can do more than just get to you and start to make you feel out of control, it can mean that you are going to cause problems in your personal and professional life.

Dealing With it

That is why dealing with stress is so important. There are some great things that you can do no matter what type of stress you are dealing with and to get yourself feeling back to normal. First you will want to take a stress test at your doctor’s. This test is basically going to let them know just how stressed out you are.

This test is very quick and simple and is going to give your doctor all the information that they need here and this is after you go through a physical stress test. The stress test is going to let the doctor know how your heart works and they know that if you are under a lot of stress, your heart is not going to be able to handle it that well and this is going to show up on the test.

Once you find out the results of your test, your doctor is going to let you know whether or not you have to do something about it. If you are in a critical state, they may even tell you that you are going to have to start taking medication so that you can calm down while you are working to find a more long term treatment.

At least you can know that there are a lot of different things that you can do if you want to get treatment and find relief from your stress. Your doctor is the one who is going to work with you here and make sure that you are going to find what you need to get better and work with you even though it may take a bit of trial and error to find the best treatment for you. Having stress is not something that you have to deal with, and you need to make sure that it is not taking over your life.

Dealing With Stress is a post from: by the pines

“The cruel irony is that although we become totally obsessed with the daily measures of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ we are (refused dessert = good; didn’t have time to go to the gym = bad), there is no finish line. This weight preoccupation will never lead us anywhere. It is a maniacal maze that always spits you out at the same point it sucked you up: wanting. We keep chasing after perfection as if it is an achievable goal, when really it is the most grand and painful of all mirages.”


“Spontaneity is crucial to health. Listening to when your body is hungry, and for what, is a mindful act anathema to most young women. In fact, the majority of those I interviewed for this book don’t even know how to identify when they are hungry or when they are full. They have so intellectualized the rights and wrongs of feeding themselves that they can’t feel a damn thing.”

-Courtney Martin; Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body

It made a huge impression on me when I first heard Human Behavior expert John Demartini say that you must plant flowers in the garden of your mind or you will be “forever pulling weeds.” Although the guy has a lot of cutesy sayings that fall somewhere in between Cheddar and Provolone, there is no doubt that many of his sayings, like this one, are very well thought out and meaningful.

This saying in particular means that you must fill your life and your mind with what is important to you, and what you are passionate about doing/experiencing/exploring or distractions and annoyances will end up filling your mind and your life – just like a garden with nothing planted in it will quickly be overrun with the stuff you don’t want in your garden. When I first heard this, and the truth of it sank in, it was only a matter of weeks before I purchased 30 health and nutrition books online and started this blog. I’ve been dedicated to filling up as much of my life and mind with what I find to be the most interesting subject on earth ever since. For no other reason than because I really love and enjoy it.

What saddens me is thinking about all our culture’s wasted time and head space that gets wrapped up in “what am I going to eat today” and “gosh life would be better if I lost 20 pounds.” To me, this neurotic and obsessive behavior (that first struck me at around age 14) has become one of the primary diseases of modern humans, no doubt a direct result of being bombarded with a barrage of marketing messages that are totally unrealistic (and of course cloaking serious health problems and eating disorders – because you can’t see those in a picture or commercial) and the yardstsicks of self worth that are generated based on that.

But after researching stress in greater detail, it’s become apparent to me that this fixation on weight, body image, diet, and so forth is a much greater health liability than any known junk food. I also wouldn’t disagree with Shawn Talbott, author of The Cortisol Connection, who states that stressing out about your diet too much is a leading cause of excessive cortisol production. It’s probably an even more prevalent problem than eating a truly crappy diet, and is a problem that humans have probably never immersed themselves in to such a degree until now.

But it gives me great joy to bring my research full circle. In fact, I applied for an LLC name in Hawaii in 2005 called “The Body Trust.” It was based in part on an epiphany I had while starving myself out in the Wilderness, which was the climax of my war against myself to achieve superhuman fitness, leanness, toughness, and self-sufficiency. The name was turned down because the word Trust is apparently off-limits, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with Sacred Self instead – the original name of this blog.

Cheesy I know, and Woo-Woo up to Wazoo, but the meaning behind it was truly revolutionary. My main sermon was to form a pact with yourself, make a conscious effort to avoid feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse in all things in life but most importantly your exercise and food choices (I can still vividly remember how focused I was on enjoying a piece of chocolate cake for the first time instead of beating myself up over it and quickly promising to run 47 miles on my hands the next day), and to fully trust and obey cues for hunger and desires for physical activity.

That’s where this all began, and I even published a few articles in a New Agey publication about self-judgment and an article entitled, “How Much Do Your Beliefs Weigh?” which featured my strong belief that negative self-talk and the binge and repent mindset were the root of excess body fat storage. Author Linda Bacon who you can read more about at the 180 Metabolism Blog in my latest post “Devour Bacon for Christmas” would certainly agree.

All that aside, the big question is how do we overcome our neurotic fixations on body image and our diet, in the name of better health – and more importantly, a better and more empowered and fulfilling life – filled “ful” of flowers and not weeds?

First, we must break down some of the myths surrounding leanness. We clearly have a totally delusional infatuation with it.

Why is leanness attractive? Leanness is attractive because it is more scarce. Scarcity is what gives all things value. At times in history, and in many countries still today like Mauritania which is the most extreme, it was much harder to be big, strong, and full-bodied than it was to have a 6-pack. Being voluptuous was more attractive, not being lean. In some cultures it’s hot to put a big plate inside your bottom lip or get your face really scarred up. Beauty is mostly a subjective matter and is based almost purely on being rare and difficult to obtain – just like diamonds, gold, silver, art, boutique wines, etc.

Shaved (no pun intended) down to its core, attraction is all about VALUE. What makes a person attractive is based on how valuable they are to the prospective “buyer.” The two most common virtues that are valued in today’s society are wealth (and the status and sphere of influence that accompanies it) and physical beauty (which again, is mostly subjective). For mutual attraction to emerge between two people, there has to be a state of value equality between two people… and equal exchange. When the exchange is equal, the two people have matching self-confidence (self-worth, the prime determinant of your attractiveness), and they feel equally lucky to be in the relationship because each possesses something that the other values.

When there is a power shift however, like one person getting a huge promotion or say, being in the National spotlight for overcoming testicular cancer and going on to win a worldwide athletic competition that inspires a billion people, the balance is totally thrown out of whack. When this happens a whole set of instinctual behaviors emerge that try to achieve balance once more. The lesser person in the relationship will often be quite irrational in trying to bring the other down to his or/her level (via resentment, infidelity, depression, alcoholism, abusive and/or combative behavior) or bring himself or herself up in value (by getting leaner, trying to seduce another, more powerful person, plastic surgery, or whatever desperate measures can be conjured up).

I bring this all up because, in today’s day and age, one thing you don’t want to use to attract another person is physical beauty. Physical beauty, unlike most other qualities that can have value and therefore be attractive to someone else, is a DEPRECIATING ASSET. I semi grew up in Aspen, CO for the love of Pete. What I’m about to say is not a stereotype, but a fundamental law of interpersonal relationships…

The more attractive you are based on society’s definition, the higher your probability of attracting people more fixated on physical appearance and less fixated on personality characteristics. Most people probably have a percentage. Some are 10% physically attracted, 90% attracted to other values – some are 90% -10% in the other direction.

And I’m telling you, the more attractive you are, the more likely you are to attract someone whose attraction is more heavily weighted on physical appearance.

In Aspen, the typical scenario goes one of two ways…

Wealthy young man marries hot young woman. This is a common exchange because these are the two most prized “scarce” attributes in modern society. Her accessory is the large diamond she gets out of the exchange and the increasing social status. His accessory is the woman herself and his personal feeling of self-confidence as every man obsessed with physical appearance (there are many) wishes they could be him. Both enter into the top tier in the pecking order for their respective genders (and yes, men and women’s pursuit of stupid leanness is more in competition with people of their own sex for power and thus increased self-worth, not necessarily because it is what the opposite sex finds attractive – but again, self-worth is the overall prime determinant of attractiveness).

Man gets increasingly wealthy. Hot woman becomes increasingly less hot. Woman goes crazy dieting and getting plastic surgery and blowing enormous amounts of money on things that make her feel more attractive and confident (jewelry, botox, designer clothes) trying to maintain equality. Both stop getting along and start becoming unfaithful. It is a mess. Inequality of self-worth cannot exist in a healthy relationship.

Or the man of course just cashes out and seeks out a younger, hotter piece of ass that equalizes his ever-growing self-worth.

You may not see this play out much where you live, but it has taken over places like Aspen and parts of So Cal and South Florida with jaw-dropping consistency. It’s probably no coincidence that Lance moved to Aspen where he can bar tender bartenders.

I bring this all up because being attractive is just as much of a curse as it is a blessing. To be fixated on it as if life will be made better by becoming more attractive is a tragic error. Rather, the more attractive you become the more you attract those who care more about physical appearance than anything else – and as the love you receive from your partner slips away with your beauty over the years, and your partner starts spending lots of time checking out other people and wishing to do a trade in for a younger model, you will get to experience what it feels like to be on the short end of the relationship stick.

So based on the grounds of relationships, or attracting a wonderful mate, there really is no grounds for thinking you need to improve your appearance. Even if physical attraction is important to you, and you want to “tie down” a hottie, you’ll be more likely to achieve it by generating an asset more valuable to a hottie – like material wealth, or being a great musician, entertainer, intellectual, etc (trust me, Orianthi could gain 50 pounds and still be more desirable than any supermodel on earth).

And let’s not forget that…

1) Dramatic attempts to become super lean and hot usually end up with you becoming more fat and ugly with more health problems and more emotional instability.

2) We are usually pretty limited in our ability to change our physical appearance more than slightly – not enough to make any real difference in the grand scheme of things

3) The opportunity cost of being perpetually fixated on your outward appearance, your diet, and your exercise regimen is a huge waste of your time here on earth, keeping you from having more fulfilling experiences in your life, and cultivating self-worth via other means that are NOT DEPRECIATING ASSETS.

4) The more obsessive you become about becoming more attractive, the more insecure, self-conscious, self-critical, narrow-minded, and one-dimensional you become.

5) The more you value physical appearance, the less you will be able to connect with yourself and others and appreciate people, including yourself, for the many, diverse gifts and talents one can possess.

6) Diet obsessiveness is socially crippling and alienates friends and family members

7) Restrained eating is a serious health liability (Linda Bacon claims there were 75 studies that demonstrate this as of 2008).

Being worried about how you look is without question the single biggest turnoff to others in the world. Trying on 36 outfits to see which one makes you look the least fat is not “cute.” In my experience, seeing beauty in someone who cannot see it themselves because of some drive for the elusive perfection, is deeply heartbreaking.

9) The universal quest to obtain and express unconditional love (for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse) gets farther out of reach the more you measure yourself up to an aesthetic ideal (which, again, is mostly subjective, and is an elusive fantasy that no one can ever obtain).

10) If you diet down below your weight set point to attract someone, you will create an artificially high standard for your looks in the other person’s eyes which will lead to a lot of disappointment in the person you attract when you gain all that back plus some.

11) There are 7 million Americans, and many more millions worldwide with a diagnosed eating disorder (and an estimated 25% chance of dying from suicide or that affliction directly), and diet and body image fixation is the “gateway drug” to get there.

12) Most of the compiled epidemiological health stats gathered worldwide suggest that being slightly overweight is more healthy, and yields much greater longevity, than if you are a of a “normal” weight or are underweight compared to your fellow countrymen and women.

So I propose something totally different, and hope to post a strong, affirmative presentation before the New Year to help us all frame a much more empowered mindset heading into 2011. And that something different is to take a lot of focus off of diet and body image (weeds) and make a conscious and continuing effort to replace those weeds with the things you want to do, experience, have, learn about, and spend your day doing – not just for your own sense of enjoyment, but to actually cultivate self-worth in areas that don’t depreciate.

Sure, health is important. We all want to feel good, be full of life, have the energy and charisma to do the things in life we want to do, and so forth. Health will always be the foundation for living a truly inspiring and fulfilling life. And our diet and lifestyle is a great backbone for all that. However, this desire to nourish oneself, eat the type of food that makes us feel good and perform at our best instead of for other reasons, and establishing a healthy relationship with our diets, our health, and our physical attributes – is something that stems from total dietary freedom, flexibility, open-mindedness, and lack of restraint of any kind.

You should never allow yourself to feel deprived of something so easily under your control as the food you eat or the amount of rest and/or activity you require to function at your best.

But most importantly, no matter who you are you must swear above all else that you will never betray yourself with self-deprecating thoughts. If you get one thing out of this post, it would be to replace those self-deprecating thoughts and body image fixation with time spent cultivating your greatest skill, fulfilling your greatest pleasure, touching the lives of others with whatever gifts you’ve been given, and begin taking a large dose of the wonder drug Fukitol for additional support with that.

In other words, to quote the movie Little Miss Sunshine, “Do what you love and f#!% the rest.” If you don’t love thinking about and playing around with your diet to see how it can change how you feel and function, then stop doing it. If you don’t love checking yourself out in the mirror 47 times per day and constantly thinking about that little pouch of fat on “x” part of your body, then stop doing it. If you don’t really love engaging in the endlessly interesting health conversation at this blog, then spend your time doing something you love more.  I won’t be offended.

In closing, I don’t think there’s anything much more inspirational than this as it pertains to us all trying to overcome the nagging, time-consuming, and disease-causing fixation on body image. Many people allow 100 pounds, 50 pounds, or even as little as 5-10 pounds to get in the way of them doing truly great things with the gifts they’ve been given (or even go on a beach vacation) – or the desire to be more attractive occupies so much time and energy and mental racket that it prevents people from developing valuable knowledge and skills – or even being so much as a good parent, a good friend, or just enjoy a slice of pizza.

Well, you can weigh over 700 pounds, barely be able to breathe, and still be widely loved, adored, respected, appreciated, and honored for the talented and passionate person that you are. IZ (shown above), perhaps the state of Hawaii’s greatest icon – and the only non-government official to have the state flown at half mast after death, was recently recognized by NPR two weeks ago as having one of the top 50 voices in the history of recorded music. 13 years after his death, his most beloved song has had well over 13,000,000 views in just eight months after being posted on Youtube.  I can’t embed the video here due to permissions, but you can see it by clicking below.  I highly recommend watching it if you have any image insecurities – with weight or otherwise. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I

The question is, would his time have been better spent dieting, feeling ashamed over how he looked, constantly trying to figure out how to lose weight, looking in the mirror, hiding from cameras, counting grams of trans fats or sugar in his food, and shying away from the public eye for fear of being looked upon as a glutton by a bunch of people who don’t understand the first thing about body weight regulation? If he had a 6-pack would he have been more loved or less loved? If you get that last little bit of cellulite off your ass, and you spend most of your idle time thinking about how you look, will you inspire others and leave a mark on society so profound that someone that you’ve never met will see a random video of you on Youtube 13 years after you die and have tears of inspiration rolling down their cheeks? I kinda doubt it.

In 2011, make it a resolution to first choose Inspiration, then Health (and doing what makes you feel physically good) in that order, and stop trying to lose weight. If you lose weight doing that, great. If you don’t, great. It doesn’t matter. The weight problem is the fixation on it, not the weight itself. And that can be cured in 5 seconds if you really GET what I’m saying in this post.

Besides, I still fully agree with Schwarzbein’s proclamation, “you must get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to be healthy.”  But I think it can be taken even further, in that you must cure a weight issue to lose weight, not lose weight to cure a weight issue.  Like a wise man once said, “don’t drink to solve your problems, solve your problems before you drink.” 

To further help yourself overcome any obesity myths you may be influenced by, I highly encourage everyone (not just Danyelle who has taken the following advice literally!) to DEVOUR BACON FOR CHRISTMAS as explained HERE, regardless of your religious beliefs. See, isn’t Bacon delicious?

“Only through extraordinary effort and education have I been able to free myself from my obsession with weight.”


“As wonderful as food is, it is only one of many pleasures in my life. I am no longer waiting to lose weight before I live my life fully. Having freed up all the energy and time that I spent on dieting or obsessing about my weight or food and having let go of my shame about these, I have greater depth and fulfillment in my life, including deeper intimacy with others. I don’t think about my weight, and it stays fairly consistent. Oddly, after this new eating pattern became firmly rooted, I actually lost about thirty pounds.”


“Fat isn’t the problem. Dieting is the problem. A society that rejects anyone whose body shape or size doesn’t match an impossible ideal is the problem. A medical establishment that equates ‘thin’ with ‘healthy’ is the problem.”


“There is an easy way to win the war against fat and reclaim your pleasure in eating: Just give up. Yes, give up. Stop fighting.”

-Linda Bacon

For more on the futility of dieting or trying to consciously control your calorie intake to lose weight and more,  read 180 Degree Metabolism.

Weight Fixation: “Waist” of Time is a post from: by the pines

Gastritis can be considered as the most common medical condition among the general public after the common cold. But the recent findings suggest that gastritis is more found than the common cold and gastritis has become immune to the age and no age limit is applicable for gastritis. Back in the day, we did not see kids with gastritis, but these days, you see kids with gastritis. In order to control or eliminate gastritis, it is necessary to understand the gastritis cause.

There are a few categories of causes for gastritis. Medication is the first category of causes that can be found commonly. As an example, aspirin is one of the main medicines that could cause gastritis in your. But most of the times, people do complain developing gastritis after taking some other medicine other than aspirin. As a matter of fact, there are over 300 other medicines that contain various forms of aspirin. This is one gastritis cause that has been related to medication over years now. Often, doctors prescribe anti-gastritis medicines when then issue you with the medicine that contain aspirin.

We take various types of supplements during our day. Iron and potassium supplements are two types of popular supplements that we take in for different reasons. Do you know that this type of supplements can be a gastritis cause? Yes, although we know very little about it, these types of supplements can cause gastritis in us. Therefore, you may have to be careful if you take this type of supplements. If you take these supplements regularly, why not take some fruits that can cure gastritis with the supplements? This way, you tactically balance the gastritis cause and the remedy.

Infections is one other gastritis cause that can be found commonly everywhere. When it comes to TB, it has been found that majority of the TB patients do suffer from gastritis. The relation between TB and gastritis sometimes can be used for suspecting a regular cough to TB. Although this is not proper scientific approach to test TB, it could be useful at times. In addition to TB, viral infections can be considered as another gastritis cause. When there are viral infections, our body behaves certain ways and produces certain chemicals. These chemicals do arouse gastritis in us. Therefore, it is important that one gets treated for gastritis while getting treated for viral infections. This issue of gastritis is also common with fungal infections as well. This gastritis cause shares the same characteristics as the viral infection.

By Health Tips

Gastritis Cause is a post from: by the pines

Employers became suspicious and cautious about their employees using illegal drugs, this is why job applicants and current employees are required to undergo marijuana drug testing procedure. This test is necessary in keeping the whole work-environment drug free and safe for all workers at all times; and it also helps preserve the credibility and reputation of the company in providing good quality services to its clients.

Marijuana drug testing is also crucial in guaranteeing that all employees are capable of doing their responsibilities. Marijuana drug testing does not only detect mary jane’s per se but it also detects other illegal substances such as opiates, morphine, methamphetamine, cocaine and others.

The job hunter’s application status will be affected significantly by the results of the drug test. For regular employees with positive results of their marijuana drug testing, consultations with the human resource management may be required in order to resolve the issues. An employee should submit oneself to rehabilitation and other necessary therapies to resolve this problem.

It is important to impose this procedure to workers who are handling critical tasks like driving public vehicles, and other transportation utilities.

Tens and hundreds of lives are at stake if one single person, like the driver of a bus, is influenced by one of these illegal drugs. To ensure utmost safety of all the commuters and citizens, these people are mandated by the government to submit themselves to a marijuana drug testing procedure.

For establishments and companies, this is imperative for their own interests; as well as for the interests and well being of their employees. It also helps preserve corporate image and ensures optimum performance from its workers. Marijuana drug testing will not only preserve the company’s reputation but it will also uplift the morale of the employees because it can definitely make a lot of difference to a person’s life.

Do You Agree That Major Companies Use Marijuana Drug Testing? is a post from: by the pines