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eat more whole foods

process fats and flush out toxins the natural way

2/9/2017

 
How To Increase Your Lymph Flow and Why
8 Powerful Ways To Jump Start Your Lymphatic System
 
Dr. Christiane Northrup

 
Your lymphatic system is instrumental in keeping bacteria and other invaders in check so you stay healthy. It also carries immune cells throughout your body to help defend against infections.  Finally, your lymphatic system is essential to your body’s ability to process fats and it works directly with your cardiovascular system to keep blood and lymphatic fluid levels in balance and flush out toxins.
If your lymphatic circulation is too slow, toxins accumulate in your body and your immune cells can’t get to where they are needed.  This can cause symptoms such as aches and pains and even swelling. Over time, slow lymph flow can lead to a weak immune system and even coronary artery disease!
How to Speed Up Your Lymph Flow
Your lymphatic system doesn’t have a dedicated organ, such as the heart, to keep lymph flowing. Instead, it is dependent on stimulation from external forces  including exercise, breathing, and massage.
Here are some ways to increase lymph flow in your body:
  1. Breathe deeply and regularly. Breathing fully in through your nose and inhaling air down into the lower lobes of your lungs followed by a brisk exhalation massages the thoracic duct and all the lymph vessels and nodes in your chest cavity.
  2. Exercise Regularly.  Lymph flow depends upon the muscles in the body to move it along. Every time you walk, do yoga, breathe deeply, run, or move your muscles briskly, you are helping move the lymph along. And don’t forget resistance training.  When you increase muscle mass, you help increase lymph circulation. Finally, try not to sit for long periods of time. Women who sit for long periods of time at sedentary jobs are more likely to get heart disease because the lymphatic flow through their thoracic cavity is limited.
  3. Avoid Over-Exercise. When we exercise, we actually increase the oxidative stress in our bodies, which results in the production of free radicals in our bodies. Over time this can do more damage than good. To avoid this always breathe in and out fully through your nose as you exercise and never exert yourself beyond what is comfortable with this way of breathing. Walking at a pace of 3.6–4.0 miles per hour while nose breathing results in a balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
  4. Drink plenty of water. Circulation is vital to all of your body's functions. Drink enough water to stay hydrated.
  5. Eat a Healthy Diet.  Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats helps to protect your health in general.  The quality of lymph flow is enhanced when you are healthy and maintain a healthy weight.
  6. Get a massage. Massage stimulates the blood and lymph vessels by applying pressure to the body, helping to move fluid along and reducing inflammation. You don’t need to get a lymph drainage massage to benefit.  However, if this technique interests you, find a trained therapist. Contact the American Massage Therapist Association.
  7. Dry Brush Your Skin.  Dry skin brushing helps to stimulate your lymphatic system to remove toxins. It’s an easy but powerful addition to your daily routine. And, it can also help reduce the appearance of cellulite.
  8. Try Rebounding and Vibration Therapy.  Rebounding, or jumping up and down on a mini trampoline, improves lymphatic circulation because, in addition to it being low-impact exercise, the up-and-down motion causes your lymphs one-way valves to open and close. If you prefer to shake it up, try a vibration platform.  Use 30Hz-50Hz of vibration for 5 minutes.

sweet tooth?

7/4/2016

 
Sugar May Be Bad, But This Sweetener Called

Fructose Is Far More Deadly


By Dr. Mercola
 
A 2009 study from University of California, Davis takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all its myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.
And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst! Fructose, a cheap sweetener usually derived from corn, is used in thousands of food products and soft drinks
Dr. Richard Johnson also does a fabulous job of comprehensively reviewing this important topic in his new book The Fat Switch. In the study, over the course of 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver, and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

 
Fructose is a major contributor to:

  • Insulin resistance and obesity
  • Elevated blood pressure

  • Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
  • Depletion of vitamins and minerals
  • Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis, and even gout

  • Fructose Metabolism Basics
    Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
  • After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
  • Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is "burned up" immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), LDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
  • < >fructose is essentially consuming fat!The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
 
  • Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose interferes with your brain's communication, resulting in overeating.
     
    If anyone tries to tell you "sugar is sugar," they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes fructose and glucose. The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result. And eating sugar may accelerate the aging process itself.

What's a Sugarholic to Do?

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. I also realize we don't live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible. If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
  1. Use the herb stevia.
 
  1. Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
  1. Use organic raw honey in moderation.
  1. Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
 
  1. Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave's rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.
 
  1. Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium, and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.

A Word of Warning About Infant Formula


And finally, be extremely careful about the infant formula you are feeding your baby. Nearly all infant formulas have as much or more high fructose corn syrup than a can of soda -- in addition to many other things that are extremely detrimental to your baby's health and development.
You have learned that, metabolically, there is very little difference between ethanol and sugar, so by giving your baby infant formula, you might as well be giving him a bottle of beer or soda!
And studies have shown that the earlier you expose kids to sweets, the more they crave them later.
It is important for pregnant women to keep their blood sugars well managed not only for their own health, but also for the long-term health of their children.
Researchers have found that children born to mothers with gestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy) had an 82 percent chance of becoming obese between the ages of 5 and 7 through a phenomenon called "metabolic imprinting." Even mothers with elevated blood sugar, short of gestational diabetes, had children with a significantly increased risk for obesity.
I advocate breastfeeding if at all possible -- it is by far the healthiest option.
One of the most clear-cut, non-debatable topics in health care is that breast milk is the best source of nutrition for newborns. The benefits to the baby and the new mom are enormous. Breastfed infants have shown lower obesity rates in later childhood.


Acknowledgements


I would like to thank Dr. Robert H. Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California, San Francisco. Much of the above information came directly from Dr. Lustig's work related to central regulation of energy balance, and I am very grateful for his willingness to share it with me so that I can pass it along to you.
 

My Favorite Morning drink

4/25/2015

 
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I put two tablespoons of Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar in a 32oz cup of water and drink this first thing in the morning an hour before I have my cup of coffee. I will have another 32oz cup of water with only one tablespoon of Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar one hour prior to lunch.

a healthy delicious parsley tea with honey  & lemon

4/19/2015

 
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*Benefits of honey:
*Contains antioxidants
*Help ward off allergies
*Helps stabilize blood pressure and balance blood sugar levels
*boost immune system
*Helps heal skin condition
*Promotes digestive health

*Benefits of Lemons:
*Lemons are packed with
vitamins, calcium, magnesium,   potassium, and fiber.
*Gives your immune system a boost
*Helps flush out toxins in your body & stimulates your liver

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Benefits of Parsley Tea

  • This tea may help with the treatment of arthritis and rheumatism, by ridding the inflamed articulations of toxins.
  • It makes a wonderful cleansing tea because Parsley is rich in vitamins A, C and E and minerals, acting as an antioxidant.
·         It acts as a diuretic, fighting water retention. Remember that water retention may be an indication that you may have kidney problems. So if it has been a while since your last checkup, why not make a visit to the doctor just to make sure that your urinary system is ok?

·         It may help in cases of kidney insufficiency. This tea flushes out toxins in your body, cleansing and purifying the blood.

  • Parsley tea may help reduce cholesterol.
  • Traditionally, it has been used to lower blood pressure.
  • It is great as a cure for cellulite and as a help if you searching for a weight loss tea.
  • As it is a uterine tonic, it helps you with irregular and painful menstruation. 
  • It may help with contracting the uterus after childbirth.
  • Its wonderful minerals and vitamins are of great help when you feel physically exhausted.
  • It is rich in iron, so it’s a natural way for you to fight anemia.
  • As a digestive aid, parsley herbal tea treats flatulence and helps to eliminate bad breath.
  • And it is said to inhibit cancerous tumor growth.

    Other external uses of Parsley Tea:
  • It is good to clean and heal light bruises, such as insect bites for example.
  • Parsley infusions can be used externally to treat skin ulcers.
  • This tea is a great way to flavor rice, potato and fish dishes, meat and vegetable stews. 
Ø  Fill a small pot with water and set on your stove. Turn the stove to medium-high heat.

Ø  Bring the water to a rolling boil.      

Ø  Measure out a quarter cup of fresh chopped parsley and place it in a mug. Do this while you wait for the water to boil.

Ø  Pour one cup of boiling water over the fresh parsley leaves you've put in the mug. Leave the water and parsley to steep for 10 minutes.

Ø  Remove the parsley leaves from the mug. Use a slotted spoon or dump the contents into a strainer placed over a small bowl. If you use a strainer, transfer the strained tea back into the mug. 

Ø  Discard the parsley leaves and enjoy your mug of tea immediately.

***Add a tbs of organic honey and a fresh squeezed lemon.
                  

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