Water and Your Heart

Drinking high levels of water can significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, say researchers at Loma Linda University whose research was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 155, No.9). This exciting study reveals that drinking high amounts of plain water is as important as exercise, diet, or not smoking in preventing coronary heart disease.

"Basically, not drinking enough water can be as harmful to your heart as smoking," warns Jacqueline Chan, DrPH, principle investigator and lead author of the article. Dr. Chan and Synnove Knutson, MD , PhD , second author, chair of epidemiology department, found that California Seventh-day Adventists who drink five or more glasses of plain water a day have a much lower risk of fatal coronary heart disease compared to those who drink less than two glasses per day.

The results from this study show that by drinking more plain water, healthy people without any history of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes-- reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack by half or more . This is as much or more than if they had adopted any other well-known preventive measure, including stopping smoking and lowering cholesterol levels, increasing exercise or maintaining ideal weight.

Because drinking more plain water is a simple lifestyle change that anybody can do, this simple practice has the potential of saving tens of thousands of lives each year with minimal cost . Neither total fluid intake, nor intake of other fluids combined showed this reduced risk. Instead, for women, high intake (5 or more glasses a day) of other fluids showed a greatly increased risk of coronary heart disease.

"People need to be made aware that there is a difference, at least for heart health, whether they get their fluids from plain water or from sodas," says Dr. Chan.

Posting to the Universe

by Eve Mayer
How many times have you thought something negative about a situation that is coming up only to have the exact negative situation play out right before your eyes? You know what I mean, a thought like; every time our family gets together for Thanksgiving we have a fight and you do. How about; my husband/wife never says anything nice to me. My son/daughter always does horrible on his English tests. My boss is such a jerk; he never pays attention to what’s actually going on in the office. Are you getting my drift about negative thoughts? Just take a moment and think of some of your more common negative thoughts. Let them out, don’t hold back. I know you have them.

To be clear I want you to know that everyone has these types of negative thoughts. We are human and we talk to ourselves. Negative thoughts are natural in other words. What I want to talk to you about is what we do after we have the negative thought. There is a wonderful word I learned, it’s called POSTULATION, what does postulation mean? The dictionary defines it as, “a declaration of something that is self-evident, a formal message that is submitted to an authority.”

When we have thoughts be they negative or positive, it is very much like throwing a pebble in a pond. For a moment think about throwing a pebble in a pond, can you see the rings the pebble makes in the water? The concentric rings keep going out from the center. Now imagine your thoughts like a pebble being thrown into that pond, they too radiate out into the universe and the universe, at your beck and call goes about delivering what you thought about. The more times you think a specific thought the more pebbles are thrown and the message is that much more powerful. The universe could care less if the thought is negative or positive it only wants to fulfill what you want. Pretty powerful stuff. This is your experience here; you can create your experience any way you like. Now, I love this thought: “I am in control of my own destiny via the thoughts I think!”

I could teach a whole class on thoughts and postulating, today I want to give you some tools that can make your life more happy, right now. I want to help you learn how to pivot out of a negative thought and replace it with a positive one. Let’s go back to our negative thoughts at the beginning of the article.

Every time our family get’s together for Thanksgiving we have a fight. This maybe true but I want you to change it at least in your own mind. You can think something after this negative thought like; when our family gets together for the holidays we all get along and there is an abundance of love and camaraderie. We enjoy each others company, the food is fantastic and we all have a blast. We can’t wait till next year to be together. WE HAVE SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!! How does this thought feel to you?

My Husband/Wife never says anything nice to me. How about thinking: my husband/wife loves me crazy. He says the nicest things to me always finding ways to compliment me and let me know I am adored. I am so happy and in love. I have married my perfect partner. I could go on and on about the ways you should think about your spouse even if at the moment things are horrible, pivot out of the negative thought and POSTULATE what you want to have happen as if it’s already happening. If you don’t, you will keep creating the negative in your life. A husband or wife who never says anything nice to you. This will become the universal truth. YIKES!

My Son/Daughter always does horrible on their English tests. UhHuh, maybe so but again what do you want for your son or daughter? Do you want them to always do horrible? Of course not. We have to think positively for them and if possible teach them how to see themselves in a positive light. Teach them how to see themselves succeeding, doing well, and being the best person they can possibly be. Maybe say instead; my son/daughter learns with ease. When he takes the test, he is relaxed and comfortable. He has all of the knowledge at his fingertips waiting to jump out. He does incredibly well on his English test and has fun while taking it. He is calm and self assured. I am so proud and so is he.

And last but not least. My Boss is such a jerk; he never pays attention to what’s going on in the office. Hopefully by now you are getting how to pivot out of negativity and into something positive that you want to have happen. How would you change this negative postulation into a positive one? The more you let your mind flow into the zone of what you want the easier it is to postulate.

Don’t hold back when you think about what you want, let your mind go. The main point of this article is to help you pivot out of a negative thought and replace the negative with a more appealing positive thought. You can’t just say to yourself, “No don’t think like that.” The universe does not hear that. It hears your thoughts, be they negative or positive. YOU MUST REPLACE THE NEGATIVE WITH THE POSITIVE! This can not be stated emphatically enough. Have fun being positive, even when you’re frustrated. It certainly makes you feel better and definitely more in control of your life. Now who doesn’t want that?

The Great Egg Debate

by: Courtney Dwyer
Eggs are the greatest food ever created by god to nourish our brains and our bodies. And Eggs have come to my attention, a lot recently, in the form of egg whites. It seems like there are a lot of people still concerned about the health “risks” associated with eating the whole egg, and therefore wanting to only consume the “whites”. The stores even go so far as to sell just the whites in plastic containers next to the carton of eggs to support those consumers eating just the whites. If I may…PLEASE EAT THE WHOLE EGG!

What the egg represents in itself is a perfect package of nutrients that changes into a living being, the chicken, and wouldn’t be able to do so if it didn’t contain all of the essential nutrients that help a body to thrive. In one egg there are 6 grams of protein, with all 9 essential amino acids, and 5 grams of good fat including 1.5 grams of saturated fats.

Now if the words; SATURATED FAT scares you, please come to Dawn’s ABC’s of health class to get further clarification on the difference between naturally occurring saturated fat and the kind that is man made, & how to tell the difference. Personally, I welcome this fat with open arms since learning over the years how much it helps me to thrive. Eggs are good for the EYES because they contain lutein and zeaxanthin, and according to one study, may help prevent macular degeneration due to these carotenoids. Both nutrients are more READILY AVAILABLE in eggs than in any other source.

I’m sure you have heard the scary word “CHOLESTEROL” as being one of the reasons to stay away from eggs. New research is surfacing that contradicts that false information done by Harvard who found “no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease’ and according to another study ‘regular consumption of eggs may help prevent blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks.” Other new research shows that “regular consumption of two eggs a day does not effect a person’s lipid profile (cholesterol level), and may in fact improve it, showing that dietary cholesterol DOESN’T raise cholesterol.” YES!!!

Eat your Eggs! Another significant piece of information; listen closely egg white lovers, the yoke of the egg, that’s right the yoke, not whites, is where something called choline is found in eggs. Choline is a very important nutrient that is the building block for important neurotransmitters in the brain and it also helps regulate the rest of the nervous & cardiovascular system as well as regulate the brain! EGGS ARE BRAIN FOOD!!!!

One egg yolk contains 300 micrograms of choline. Did you know that in Asian cultures, they have they’re pregnant moms eating 12 eggs a day!!! They want their babies to be smart!! No wonder that culture is so stereotyped as being smart! Their babies are fed brain food before they even enter into the world. They’re getting brain food as their brains are being developed! So that’s the secret! From personal experience being in very challenging classes for nursing and medicine, when I eat eggs for breakfast or otherwise, I can notice a difference in concentration compared to when I don’t eat eggs.

So egg white lovers; you’re missing out!! You’re missing out on key brain food that may help you focus better or be quicker witted, or be anything better that requires brain use! (By the way, that’s everything!) Eggs could be a super food! I recently discovered that eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D! So you want to improve your immune system for this flu season…EAT EGGS!

Eggs may also help to prevent breast cancer, according to one study, “women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%”. Besides all of these amazing qualities, eggs promote healthy hair and nails with its high sulphur content and the wide array of vitamins and minerals, including B12 (And as previously mentioned, Vitamin D). According to a study, “many people found their hair growing faster after eggs were added into the diet, especially if they were previously deficient in foods containing sulphur or B12.” So those people wanting their hair & nails to grow faster; don’t look to those synthetic vitamins, EAT EGGS!

I know one of my girlfriends who will be happy to hear that information. With this great nutrition that comes with eggs, I must say, please get the best quality eggs you can find and afford. Chickens that are fed a diet that it wouldn’t naturally eat aren’t as high in essential nutrients then eggs by chickens fed grass and bugs. I have been blessed to have a mom who goes out to farms and ranches to get the best of the best free ranch, organic eggs. Oh Man! Are those eggs good! High quality eggs will have an orange yolk instead of yellow by the way.

Do what you can though. There are many grocers out there that have great organic, free range eggs that are easily accessible. Again, Knowledge is power! Discover for yourself the benefits, or deficiencies, that are in the foods you eat on a regular basis. Can you tell I love eggs? In the words of Reading Rainbow (I grew up watching that show), you don’t have to take my word for it. To your Health!