Make Health Your Priority!

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Make Health Your Priority!

JoAnn Guest Jul 20, 2006 18:03 PDT

 

You Deserve It!

by Wayne Pickering, N.D., Sc.M.

 

Most of us would agree that there are miracles in nature, but how

manyof us have a sense of wonder for the amazing creature that we

are? Whenwe hold a thing in high regard, we give it deferential

treatment. If youowned 100% of the stock in a blue-chip corporation,

would it make sense to sell your stock cheap? Yet, with little regard for the

laws of nature(i.e., cause and effect), we too often do not

take responsibility forour own health, and in this act of omission,

we throw it away.

 

To cite just a few of the miracles in nature: did you know that ocean

waves come in sets, precisely 18 to the minute, exactly 300 feet

apart;or that all beans grow from left to right. If you unravel them and attempt

to force them to grow from right to left, they will die

within 72 hours; this is the nature of beans. Did you know that birds flying in

formation are able to fly at greater velocity with less effort when they do

that?

 

You are aware that all life knows instinctively how it is to

sustain and propagate itself. There is every reason to be in awe of

the many miracles in nature that surround us. There is also ample

evidence to convince us that the human creature is no less marvelous. Consider

just the body.

 

Look at your hands. Nothing that man has created

excels the human hand in dexterity. Did you know that our fingernails grow at

exactly the same rate that the earth's plates move? Some kind of rhythm

connection? Have you considered that there are over 5 billion people

on this planet and no two fingerprints are alike? Each one is unique.

Doesn't that mean you're special?

 

We have a brain that would require a land mass the size of the state

of Texas to recreate in its full function. Dr. Wayne Dyer. ) To

duplicate just the memory portion would require a computer in excess of the size

of the Empire State Building.

 

An impressive miracle, in my mind, is the simple requirement for this

body's maintenance. No machine can approach its flawless design.

When weeat, we put food into one orifice (usually the mouth) and all 260 bones

are lubricated. Over 50 different chemicals are replenished. To maintain your

automobile you need axle grease for your axle; oil; transmission

fluid; windshield wiper fluid; water for the radiator; gas; and

anti-freeze where the temperatures drop, but the body, at one stop,

gets t all - the digestive juices, the blood, the lymph, the sperm or the

egg,the tear drop.

 

If all 600 of our muscles pulled together in one direction, we could

lift as much as 25 tons. Actually, in times of perceived need, men

and

women have, without stopping to think about whether they could or

not,

lifted weights far beyond what usually is considered possible.

 

Every day our blood travels 168 million miles. That's 6,720 times

around

the earth's globe. We have enough carbon for 9,000 lead pencils and

sufficient calcium to completely whitewash a chicken coop. Every five

days, our whole intestinal lining is renewed. Every eleven days, our

respiratory lining is replenished. Every fifteen days, all our white

corpuscles are replaced; it takes 120 days for the red corpuscles.

Every

six months, we have a new bloodstream. Every eleven months, we have a

new cell structure, and we get a new set of bones every two years. An

entirely new body is recreated every seven years. Without considering

any aspect other than our physical bodies, we are splendid creatures.

 

Common sense tells us there's no wiser investment than the one you

make

in yourself. Yet, it's been estimated that only 2 percent of all

people

think logically; about 8 percent think when they begin to suffer; and

90% would rather die than think. You may be in that 2 percent since

you

are still reading this article.

 

Dr. Lester Breslow, Dean of The School of Public Health at the

University of California says you can add as many as 14 years to your

life by switching from a bad life-style to a good one. That sounds

like

a good trade-off, but don't put it off too long. Yesterday is gone; a

canceled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note as good as gold if you

make wise use of today - your legal tender.

 

Studies tell us that old age doesn't cause illness. Not everybody who

gets old, gets sick. By design we're healthy. How do we lose it?

Haven't

we all seen people who sacrificed their health pursuing wealth and

overindulging in it's " accompanying pleasures, " who then turned

around

and spent their wealth in an attempt to regain their health? Often

it's

too late. Have you noticed how even the word 'healthy' is formed

naturally by your mouth when you say it? Now say, 'sickly.' You have

to

hsss; it's unnatural.

 

The scientific community tells us that disease stems from crud in the

blood. How did it get there? I say we get it from being drunk with

junk.

We don't catch disease; we earn it. A U.S. Surgeon General's report

as

far back as 1979 warned that the Standard American Diet (SAD) is

dangerous and was related to the deaths of one and a half million

Americans that year (that's over 62%). A ground swell of people have

changed their life-styles and eating habits since then. However, the

masses are still under the hypnotic influence of advertising and the

easy accessibility and increasing variety of processed foods

promoted by

the great American food industry.

 

Recently, the FDA decided that makers of bread and grains should add

folic acid to all " enriched " products. One small attempt to put back

in

a little of the nutriment that has been removed from our food. Maybe

we

haven't consciously figured it out yet, but the vicious cycle is

somewhat familiar to all of us. We take Rolaids for stomach problems,

Listerine because the smell of it is coming out of our mouths, Right

Guard because it gives our bodies its odor, EX-Lax to get it out of

us,

and Preparation H to medicate ourselves from the unnatural strain of

it.

Hundreds of thousands start the day with caffeine and in spite of

profuse warnings, many are still dependent on nicotine. Some people

can't relax without alcohol and/or tranquilizers, sleep without

sleeping

pills, or begin a day without something that fizzes. Those bubbling

alkalizers wash away yesterday's brown tastes just long enough to

make

room for today's. So, why do we " do " all this junk? Right off, there

are

three obstacles that interfere with wiser choices:

 

Convenience. It 's quick, it 's easy. It's everywhere and everybody's

doing it.

Temptation! It smells good, activates your memory and your taste

buds.

You gotta have it!

Something called WION (that's Widespread Ignorance On Nutrition). I

was

the chairman of the board of that group for years.

 

I was sick, fat, poor, and miserable for half of my life. When I was

told that I'd die by thirty I got scared. I wasn't ready. There are

things I wanted to do. I resolved to do them. At forty, I got my

first

trophy in a triathlon and I left poverty to begin to share with

others

what I'd learned.

 

If you're tired of the brown taste and are ready for a new start in

life, you need to know the importance of the following:

 

A - Attitude

Go for what you want in life. Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's

all

small stuff. When you can't fight and you can't flee, then flow, says

Dr. Robert Eliot, author and director of the Institute of Stress

Medicine in Denver. Become aware of the connection between your own

values and interactions with others, and feeling good about yourself.

Forgive yourself when you don't measure up and forgive others when

they

need it. The ability to find the humor in the human situation is a

definite plus. Hearty laughter gives a sense of deep relaxation, and

tends to soften your perspective on problems. It also eases pain.

 

N - Nutrition

Your body was uniquely designed to employ a series of four processes

to

make use of the food you eat for its maintenance. Junk foods will not

serve this purpose. Overeating is further abuse of the body which

renders food indigestible and unusable to the body's needs. Combining

foods improperly can create an overload of work for the body also.

The

latter three items are unnecessary stress we place on the body which

deplete our energy.

 

E - Exercise

Action is fundamental to our well-being. Our bodies were made for it.

Everybody knows about the feel-good endorphins released by the brain

during physical exercise. There is more. The energy producing part of

the cell, mitochondria, expands during exercise. Because of this

expansion, you have more energy during exercise. I recommend walking

a

fifteen minute mile, which adds up to 4 miles in one hour. Exercise

stimulates the immune system, increases muscular strength and

flexibility, and expands cardiovascular reserves. It also acts as an

emotional and psychological defuser.

 

W - Water

Drink clean water. Dr. Melvin Beltz, a medical professor and

cardiovascular surgeon for many years, believes distilled water is

best.

Fluids are essential, meaning eight glasses, including fruit and

vegetable Juices and water.

 

S - Sunshine

Sunshine assists the body in detoxifying, revitalizes it and " is a

nutritive 'substance' of great importance (to it), " said the late

Herbert Shelton, a Natural Hygienist. Avoid it in the hottest hours

(between 10:00 am and 2:00 p.m.), but don't underestimate its

benefits.

 

T - Trust

That's the opposite of worry. Trust your own intuitive wisdom, says

research psychologist Lewis M. Andrews, who comes down hard on

value-free psychiatry. If you are true to yourself (your own

heartfelt

values of honesty and tolerance), the two will reinforce each other.

You

may call the Source of this wisdom a Higher Power. The " T " could be a

reminder to be thankful for all the gifts of your life.

 

A - Air

It is essential that we have fresh, clean air to breathe. That we

have

open windows whenever possible, especially at night. We need to guard

against becoming shallow breathers, especially when feeling stressed.

 

R - Rest

Rest is the defuser for each day. Without it, we would all be insane.

Studies show that the dream stage of sleep, REM, helps people

permanently remember skills they learned 3ust hours earlier. When it

is

interrupted, they had trouble remembering. I take an hour nap every

day,

which has the rejuvenating factor of two extra hours of sleep each

night. Various mental exercises, such as the " relaxation response "

proposed by Dr. Herbert Benson, author of several books on the

subject,

offer similar ways to relax body and mind.

 

T - Temperance

Balance in everything is the key. Work. Play. Rest. Exercise. Your

intuitive wisdom (again), if it's tuned, will help you to avoid or

correct imbalances.

 

Since we are magnificent creatures, a lot might be expected of us.

Yet,

according to former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Otis R.

Bowen, (USA Today, Oct. 15, 1993) almost half of the country's

hundreds

of thousands of death result from irresponsible or self-destructive

behavior. AIDS is relatively new, he says, but added that

cardiovascular

disease, lung cancer and alcoholism are all primarily the result of

behavior.

 

Some people don't learn early enough that the best thing in life

isn't a

thing. It's life. The 24 hours - 86,400 seconds that we have every

day.

We can play the game and we can win. Win! - that stands for: What's

Important Now? What's important now is to understand that our bodies

are

not garbage dumps. We are marvels of design with purpose. Treat

yourself

right. You're special! You deserve to be healthy!

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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