Letter to: White House Office of Health Reform

January 2009
The White House Office of Health Reform
Attn: Sen. Tom Daschle & Deputy Director Jeanne Lambrew
c/o Center for American Progress
1333 H St. N.W. 10th FloorWashington, D.C. 20005

Re: The Indispensable Role of Natural Health

Dear Sen. Daschle and Deputy Director Lambrew:

I am a citizen for health care reform. Like you, I consider health care reform one of the most important issues we've faced in a generation. As someone dedicated to natural health practicesand principles, I urge you to include natural holistic health care strategists on your team that will determine the future of health - and the health of our future.

For instance, it's important for you to know the following:

1) The well-respected Lewin Group conducted not one, but four evidence-based studies proving that responsible use of dietary nutritional supplements will save our health care systembillions of dollars.

2) To be more effective, our system must include an essential principle of natural health care, i.e. health is not a commodity.

3) Natural holistic health practices, although complementary withallopathic medical interventions, deserve different regulatory and legal policies than patented medicine.

4) True dis-ease and disease prevention involves not just early detection. It also requires policies and strategies that support self-care education, that leverage our innate healing resource and that respect individual choice. See the Guiding Principles from the 2002 White House Commission report on Complementary & Alternative Medical Practice.

These are just a few of the strategies and policies that the natural health community has been promoting for decades. It's time to bring the wisdom of natural health care forward. We'recitizens for health reform, and we look forward to working with you.

Thank you.

Kindest regards,

Cleansing = Water, Here's a trick to get MORE

by Courtney Dwyer-Client Advocate
Happy New Year Health Queen readers! My name is Courtney and I am a new face and name on the Health Queen newsletter, but NOT new to the Fountain of Health. I have been with the Fountain of Health for about 5 years now and have recently been working hard as the client advocate. I look forward to seeing all of you and offering my part in nutritional education as I pursue my continuing education toward nursing.

Since it is the New Year, every where I turn I hear so much about cleanse this and cleanse that. The New Year is an opportunity for people to make a fresh start and for many that includes a fresh start for their bodies. Cleansing is an awesome way to bring in the New Year and something that we should do as often as we can during the entirety of a year. It's optimum to cleanse every 3 to 6 months since we are constantly being bombarded by pollution in the air and in the water we drink, and may not be eating as much organically grown fresh fruit and vegetables as we should be.

So as some of us pursue these cleanses at the beginning of this New Year, there is one very important part of the cleansing process that can not go to the way side. I recently attended a class on detoxification taught by a doctor, and he said something that has resonated with me ever since that I want to pass on to all of you. WATER! Some of you may be thinking, “I know I have to drink water, I drink a lot.” Does the amount of water that you're drinking during your cleanse equal to 90 OUNCES EVERY DAY?!? Yes, that’s right. If you're undertaking a cleanse right now or plan to in the future, it's imperative that you drink at least 90 ounces of filtered water every day. This helps the body flush out the toxins that being eliminated by of the cleanse.

If you aren’t consuming enough water the toxins can just re-accumulate in the body and your cleanse won’t be as efficient or effective as it could have been. For some people the lack of water may be the cause of a sick feeling they experience during their cleanse. That makes so much sense!! So how do you tackle 90 ounces of water? We have discovered a little secret about water consumption that we try to share with as many clients as possible, and now I’m passing it on to you.

First thing in the morning, when you wake up, before you have any coffee or tea (which you're not doing anyway on your cleanse, right?), before you brush your teeth or eat breakfast, DRINK AS MUCH WATER AS YOU CAN! It would be awesome if you could drink 32 ounces or more every morning. Now you may have to work up to this, like I did. Start out with16 ounces or 24 ounces and before you know it you’ll be able to take on that 32 ounces or more with out breaking a sweat! This little trick is key. It results in every thing being flushed out of the body more effectively, and you’ll be absorbing much of that water. It’s like your body can absorb the water better when consumed before anything else. You won’t have to drink all that water when you're not doing your cleanse.

When you've finished your cleanse, go back to drinking 64 ounces of water or whatever ounces equals ½ your body weight. Yes, we should be drinking ½ our body weight in ounces every day! Water is our life force. It’s the universal solvent. Our body AND our planet are made up of mostly water, so doesn’t it make sense that we should consume more than the 8 ounces or 16 ounces that many of us drink in a day? Happy cleansing to all of you and I commend and admire all of you that are taking on a cleanse for the New Year. They can be challenging, but you are doing a wonderful thing to support your body and it will help you to get to optimum health. Just make sure to drink your water! Happy New Year to you all and may it be a year full of love and prosperity and HEALTH!

Date Your Significant Other and Get Healthy

by: Eve Mayer
My husband I have been married for 25 years and dated for 2 years prior to getting married, so I guess you could say I have a little experience in this department. People – well, mostly women -- think my husband is the greatest. Why? Because he takes me out for a date every week, without fail, unless there is some reason we cannot go out alone together and if that happens, he will usually make it up during the week. Now I’m not talking some big deal, just a dinner out or a movie, but it’s a night out for just the two of us, alone, no kids, no phones, no work. We hold hands, make eyes at each other, hug and generally act like teenagers. It’s super fun.

I have to tell you it wasn’t always this way. I used to feel very sorry for myself because my new husband never asked me out on dates. He would come home from work, plop down on the couch and ask what’s for dinner. I thought my life was over! I was 21. I was lamenting my plight to an older married woman and she told me how to make my husband successful and me happy. HOW? I asked most sincerely. First and foremost stop feeling sorry for yourself. Okay, check. Then decide what you want. She told me that we (women) are the leaders and the glue of the family; we are the happiness of the family. I could agree with that. So, I needed to decide what would make me happy. Well, I wanted my husband to take me out once a week on a date. Okay. Then in the nicest, sweetest voice, with so much love in my heart, I told my husband, “Honey, you know what I’d like to do this Friday night?” (I think I might have been kissing his neck at the time but I can’t be sure). “Mmmmmm, what sweetheart?” “I’d like you to take me out on a date.” “Hmmm, that sounds like it could be fun, what do you want to do?” “Oh, I was thinking maybe we could go to the movies and then maybe for a little drive.”

This is how it started oh, so long ago. I still say, “How about a date this weekend?” and he jumps right on board. Now he’s the one who comes up with all the ideas about what we should do. When special days are coming up, I remind him way ahead of time. The bottom line is I want him to be successful and I don’t want to have hurt feelings. He is a wonderful husband and I want to spend time with him. All I have to do to get what I want is tell him; no game playing. He is grateful for the reminder because he wants to make me happy and he likes being successful, he feels like a KING when he is and like I said earlier, we have Super Fun.

Want to Change? It takes a moment-Here's How

This New Year, allow yourself to own your resolutions and to support those around you by allowing them to create their own changes in themselves.
It’s the time of year when people reflect on their lives and the changes they would like to make in the coming year. Some say New Year’s resolutions date back to 153 B.C. during the time of mythical King Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. Janus had two faces and was able to look forward to the future and to reflect back on the past at the same time.
One of Janus’ gifts was the ability to be in present time. While able to learn from the past and to envision change in the future, he was grounded in the present moment. This gift allowed Janus to be in his truth.
When you are stuck on the past and are focusing on what you have not accomplished or what you have failed to do, you live with limiting beliefs of who you are. Being in the future can cause you to become paralyzed by “what ifs” and other details. It is only in present time that what you want to create is your truth. In the past or future it vibrates as a lie and can not be manifested.
Do you allow yourself to be the change in the world that you wish to see? Do you allow others to be the change in the world that they wish to see?
Another way to describe this is when you or someone else has a belief or picture about who you are. If the picture is vibrating in the past or future, such as who you were or who you might become, it does not allow you to create changes. For example, my sister was notorious for always being late. At one point she made the decision to be on time and to be that change. She was proud of her decision and began to practice it. When she stated that she was prompt a friend laughed and said, “You are always late!” Her friend was viewing my sister in the past and not seeing or validating the change she had created. Do you practice being in present time, seeing yourself or others here in the now, validating growth?
Imagine a jacket that represents the change you want to create. See yourself put on the jacket and become the change. In the present moment that is all there is; that is your truth. It is that simple when we stay connected and in the moment. The energy of the past or the energy of future possibility of failure does not exist in the present.
Be the change in the world you want to see. It only takes a moment, this moment, to make the decision!