Ginger: It’s Not Just for Nausea Any More

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You may be familiar with using ginger for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness and upset stomach. And it is wonderful for all those things. I take ginger and turmeric capsules for minor muscular aches and pains and it works better than pain relievers for me.

I just read some interesting research that compares powdered ginger to the leading prescription migraine drug, sumatriptan (Imitrex). This is big news!

It is estimated that approximately 37 million people in the U.S. experience migraine headaches. Migraine.com says:

“Some migraine studies estimate that 13 percent of adults have migraines and about 2 to 3 million suffer from chronic attacks. Also, almost 5 million people experience at least one migraine attack per month.”

That is a lot of people affected and being able to use food rather than a drug with negative side effects is a great option. A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial put ginger up against Imitrex,  one of the world’s top-selling migraine remedies. Amazingly, researchers discovered that a quarter-teaspoon of ginger worked just as fast (in about two hours) and just as effectively.

Often people think an expensive drug has to be more effective than just food, but keep in mind, pharmaceuticals are huge money makers and researchers are willing to do these in-depth trials. Ginger is inexpensive, readily available and safe, so there’s no money to be made here.

Immitrex and other migraine drugs work by constricting blood vessels as well as blocking pain pathways in the brain. While it brings about almost immediate relief for many patients, headache recurs in almost 40% of people within 24 hours after taking the drug.

Minor side effects include nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and muscle weakness as well as the possibility of more serious side effects such as coronary artery spasms, heart attacks, stroke, abnormal heart beats and seizures. I’d say that makes ginger definitely worth considering before resorting to a dangerous drug.

Would you try ginger for a migraine before using a drug based on this information?

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Children’s Health: Getting to the Truth

The whole vaccine issue is a very controversial one with people passionately on one side or the other. As a new grandmother I am extremely concerned about the safety of all these vaccines children are given from birth onward. I know my son and daughter-in-law have researched and discussed how they feel most comfortable scheduling these for their son. However, the fact remains that often we are not told the whole truth when it comes to health or medications, and this issue is certainly no exception.

Regardless where you fall on this issue, I think we can agree that having unbiased information is most important in order to make informed decisions that can affect a child’s health and life.

I think parents are so overwhelmed by conflicting information and feel unprepared to disagree with what a health professional they basically trust is telling them, even when they don’t feel peace about it. I am not an expert in this area, but as a concerned grandmother and health coach, one of the most important things I do is to provide information so people can make their own decisions.

The bottom line is that you are the one who is responsible for your own health – not your doctor, not your spouse, or parent. In the case of our children, we are their advocate and must make the best decisions possible on their behalf.

So with that said, I want to share a resource that you can share with your doctor and hopefully will help you educate yourself and give you the confidence to make the right decision for your child.

Neil Z. Miller, is a medical research journalist and director of the ThinkTwice Global Vaccine Institute. He’s written several books, the most recent of which, published in 2016, is “Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers.”

In this work he reviews the concern about vaccine safety and efficacy raised by 400 peer-reviewed published studies in response to the common statement that “there are no studies showing vaccines are unsafe or ineffective.” Surprisingly, though you would expect to hear about this in the media, the vaccine industry is very powerful and as with most thing, money is a powerful incentive.

I believe this book is a great and very valuable resource for parents who are smack in the middle of this issue. There is also great information on his website as well.

Scripture tells us we are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). That’s always true, but never more than in relation to this issue.

Do you think a resource like this would help you to navigate this issue more confidently?

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Weight Loss: What If It Doesn’t Work for You?

When you read about different research and studies and their findings, do you automatically believe whatever the findings indicate is what is best for you?

If you read this article, would you assume that you had to give up meat and become a vegetarian in order to lose weight? It seems to say that the best diet for weight loss and reducing muscle fat is the vegetarian diet.

I go to visit my sweet little grandson every month for a few days. My daughter-in-law is a vegetarian but because of how some of the foods were affecting the baby as she is nursing him, she has essentially been eating a vegan diet. So when I visit I eat what they eat.

I am not a vegetarian – I consider myself a “qualitarian.” I eat meat and animal products but I am most concerned about the quality of my food. That being said I have no problem eating what they eat for a few days. What I find very interesting is that I usually gain a pound or two when I am there even though I probably eat far fewer calories than usual. Actually I was close to being a vegetarian when I was younger because I just preferred grains and veggies. But in my early 40’s I began gaining weight even though nothing else changed and that was when I created my Today’s the Day Plan. I got back to my healthiest weight and have easily remained there for over 20 years.

So for me, this research doesn’t hold true. I think it’s wonderful to do research and to be open to making changes. However, we have to always keep in mind that we are each unique and what works for 99% of people may not work for us! And that’s fine. Just as “one size fits all” clothing doesn’t usually fit everyone well, one size fits all diets don’t work for everyone either.

So definitely be open to learning from research. It seems something new is discovered every day. But even more important, in my opinion, is to know yourself and your makeup. Keep it simple. Employ a few basic principles such as eating only fresh, high quality, one-ingredient foods; use spices and herbs liberally to flavor foods and boost nutrition and create meals from clean protein, non-starchy green veggies and healthy fats.

The details are open to interpretation but if you start with the basics you will find it much easier to stick with the plan that works for you.

Does it frustrate you when you don’t get the same results research says you should?

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

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Health: Being the Salt of the Earth

Earlier this month I did several posts about how salt impacts physical health. I find it fascinating that what we’ve been told for years about salt being bad for you, causing high blood pressure, heart disease, making you thirsty and dehydrated are now being proven to be false!

As with all things, I believe quality is the key issue. For example, choosing the cleanest, high quality foods. Eating CAFO beef and grass-fed and finished beef are two very different things and will have dramatically different effects on your health. As I said in the previous posts, the quality of the salt you use is definitely very important.

I was thinking about the posts on salt and its health benefits. It made me think of the verse in Matthew where Jesus calls us the “salt of the earth.” I wanted to look at the parallels and find them quite powerful.

We know that sodium chloride (salt) is the only trace mineral found in every cell of the body and that life is not possible without it. It is critical for fluid and electrolyte balance. Salt was once considered so valuable it was used as currency! Roman soldiers were paid in salt. You’ve probably heard someone say a person is “worth their salt” and that comes from this meaning.

Salt adds flavor (not just “saltiness” to food if it is unprocessed) to our food. Each of us is created to add “flavor” to our world, to season our relationships, circumstances and conversations in our own unique way. We are to enhance everything and everyone we come in contact with and act as life-preserving agents! Our unique life experiences become our testimony to share with others and add our particular flavor to our relationships. The most important way I do this is by sharing the love of God to everyone I come in contact with.

Offering a smile, a kind word, encouragement, support and sharing someone’s sadness are all beautiful ways to be salt in the world.

Salt was and is still used as a cleansing agent for wounds. When someone has dental work done or has a sore throat, rinsing or gargling with salt water is still one of the best ways to kill germs and reduce infection. I think about being able to be a purifier in certain situations and conversations. If people are getting angry or negative, I can add my “salt” and attempt to turn the direction of the conversation.

Scripture also tells us that our speech is to be “gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Too much of anything is not good for you! Without water we will die, but drink too much too quickly and the same thing can happen! Too much salt in a dish and rather than be flavorful, it’s just salty and inedible. Knowing when to speak and when to be quiet and what to say and how to say it is another way we can be salt in the earth.

I don’t know about you but I enjoy thinking about these types of analogies for how we can be a positive influence in the world we live in. It’s an undervalued aspect of our purpose for being here. When you feel you have little to offer in a situation, try remembering that you are the salt of the earth and that’s more than you realize.

Are you the salt of the earth in your sphere of influence?

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

Make gradual changes. Boost health, vitality and energy. Become your best YOU.         

Food: Your Secret Weapon for Health

*This article first appeared in the No-Nonsense Nutrition Report which you can subscribe to for free right here.

Let’s begin with why and how food is the secret, yet underappreciated, weapon for a truly healthy life. Properly nourishing ourselves is the foundation of health and that’s true from conception to death!

This is why my favorite recipes and all my coaching programs revolve around creating your own healthy, unique fuel blend!

Let’s face it, eating is non-negotiable. We all have to eat each day to survive. So it makes sense that understanding how to eat properly is truly one of the most powerful tools available to help you take control of your health. Many chronic diseases can be prevented and often reversed simply due to the many health-giving properties of whole foods.

Whole Foods

That’s an important point I don’t want to just gloss over. When I talk about “whole foods” I am talking about real, fresh, unprocessed, properly raised and/or grown, clean, one-ingredient foods that are actually food! Not “food-like products.”

Learning how to put them together to create a unique fuel blend that works best with our specific makeup is the next step. Some people do best on all veggies, others need animal foods, and still others need to include some healthy carbs. We are each a one of a kind masterpiece and what works for me may not necessarily work for you. That’s why anytime I work with a client we personalize the plan to their specific needs.

Of course with the contaminated food supply we must navigate, knowing how to choose the cleanest, healthiest foods is critical. It is one of the things I try to share in the newsletters and in these blog posts.

If you look back over some of the newsletters from 2016 you will see numerous foods that are helpful for all sorts of conditions from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes prevention and reversal, weight loss, healthy vision, strong bones, beautiful skin and more! 

Here’s how I see it: God created these foods for us to nourish ourselves. We have to eat each day, so choosing the best quality foods and creating the specific fuel blend that works best for our unique makeup is the easiest, tastiest and best way to create a foundation of vibrant health. 

NO-NONSENSE NUTRITION NUGGET: “No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.” Maimonides 

“Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. There are a great many food-like items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food…stay away from these.” Michael Pollan 

“Today, more than 95% of all chronic disease is caused by food choice, toxic food ingredients, nutritional deficiencies and lack of physical exercise.” Mike Adams 

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

Make gradual changes. Boost health, vitality and energy. Become your best YOU.         

Health and Fitness: How to Boost Energy and Stay Fit at Any Age

You have probably heard of or read about HIIT, high intensity interval training, and how you can get excellent fitness benefits in a fraction of the time of conventional aerobic exercise. For most of us, who find spending hours in the gym impossible, it’s a wonderful option. But it has even more profound benefits than just improving fitness, helping with weight loss and saving time! Some of those include greater fat loss than regular exercise, improved cardiovascular health by increasing VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in while exercising) and reducing insulin resistance.

I recommend trying HIIT and including it in your exercise regimen in Today’s the Day.

One of the primary contributors to virtually all chronic degenerative disease, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer’s is mitochondrial dysfunction, which research suggests half of people under the age of 40 have! So what are mitochondria and why is this so important to health?

According to Live Science, “mitochondria are specialized structures unique to the cells of animals, plants and fungi. They serve as batteries, powering various functions of the cell and the organism as a whole.”

We each have over 1 quadrillion mitochondria, which comprise about 10% of our total body mass. They are responsible for production of energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The more mitochondria you have and the healthier they are, the more energy your body can generate and the lower your risk of chronic disease.

Studies also show HIIT is very effective for boosting mitochondria and improving their function, particularly in older people. This article details a 12-week Mayo Clinic study of 72 sedentary people aged either 30 or younger or 64 and over. The results showed that those engaging in HIIT not only had improved muscle mass, strength and endurance, biological aging was also positively impacted, particularly in the older participants.

You can perform HIIT at any age and still reap major benefits, and quickly. The older you are the lower your maximum heart rate will be, and the more gradually you will want to increase your repetitions. You can still get benefits from working out at a slightly lower intensity; you simply increase the time you work out to make up for it. Always use wisdom and listen to your body.

Have you tried HIIT? If not, would you consider making it part of your exercise routine?

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

Make gradual changes. Boost health, vitality and energy. Become your best YOU.

Health: Could Too Much Coffee Be Causing this Deficiency?

Did you know that the average person in the United States consumes just over 300 mg of caffeine per day (the amount of caffeine in just over three cups of coffee)?

When people talk about whether to drink coffee or not, usually the thing they focus on is the caffeine. If you are sensitive to caffeine as I am, you should definitely limit the amount and make sure you have it early enough that it doesn’t hinder your ability to sleep.

That happened to me. My husband was given several boxes of raspberry tea years ago. Without carefully reading the package, and just assuming it was herbal tea, I made a cup after dinner. It was delicious! So delicious in fact, I had a second cup. And then found myself unable to sleep or shut my brain down for 2 days! Literally. I went back and realized it was black tea with raspberry flavor. Live and learn.

Drinking a high quality coffee in moderation, does have health benefits, if you like it. But here is something you may not be aware of. Caffeine in coffee increases excretion of sodium and chloride (aka salt) both through sweat and urine. Here’s why this could be a bigger problem than just having too much caffeine.

We’ve been told forever it seems that salt is bad for us and we have to limit it. We’ve been told salt is bad for the heart. We are learning now that the opposite seems to be true. Numerous studies have, overall, refuted the salt-heart disease connection. In fact, studies found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death. In fact, salt restriction actually increased the risk of death in those with heart failure.

Salt is an essential nutrient required for blood pressure regulation, transporting nutrients into and out of your cells, maintaining hydration and brain-muscle communication. Salt is actually a nutritional superstar, provided you consume the right kind, and maintain a proper salt-to-potassium ratio. But all salts are not equal, in terms of their impact on your health. Processed, white (table) salt is known to raise blood pressure, while natural unprocessed salt (like Himalayan Crystal and Celtic sea) is not only healing, but in fact essential for many biological functions.

So, if you eat all processed, packaged foods, then you probably do get way too much sodium. And I am all for eliminating processed foods as well as replacing processed, white table salt with natural, unprocessed salt that provides all the trace minerals your body needs, not just sodium. Of course, balancing that out with plenty of potassium-rich veggies is the other part of that equation.

However, you can also become sodium depleted, especially if you limit intake of salt or you drink too many caffeinated beverages!

So let’s put this into perspective: According to one study, 90 mg of caffeine (the amount of caffeine found in one cup of coffee) caused 437 mg of extra sodium loss. When study participants consumed the caffeine equivalent of about four cups of coffee (360 mg of caffeine) there was around a 1,200 mg additional loss of sodium. Keep in mind, the original limit on sodium intake set back in 1977 was only 1,200 mg per day. No one ever mentioned that we could lose that much sodium by consuming just four cups of coffee, which many people routinely do!

Maybe you’re wondering what the big deal is if you become sodium depleted. Well, you can experience dehydration, dizziness, fatigue, dry mouth, and cognitive impairment. One of the foundational principles of all my coaching is to drink one-half your body weight in ounces of water daily and to include ¼ teaspoon of natural, unprocessed salt for every 32 oz. It helps the water to properly hydrate your cells and every client I’ve ever worked with who balked at this, ended up telling me how much more energy they had after including the salt.

Even if you are consuming the upper recommended limit of sodium intake which is 2,300 mg per day or one teaspoon of salt, you could still become sodium depleted through the additional salt loss in your sweat as well as urine if you consume a lot of caffeine and particularly if you exercise or do work outside in the heat.

Most Americans consume caffeine every day so most of us are probably at risk of salt deficit.

Do you think you may be at risk of salt deficit?

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

Make gradual changes. Boost health, vitality and energy. Become your best YOU.