Last night as I was flipping around the channels I ran across Larry King on CNN talking to Dr Andrew Weil about health and specifically about the Swine Flu.

For anyone that has not seen or heard Dr Weil, he is a very interesting guy. He is not a big fan of drug companies, is really interested in alternative medicines and therapies and has the research to prove his point. And he really has the hippy look to him.

Anyway Dr Weil mentioned that Astragalus is available in health food stores as a capsule and that he would be taking it starting soon to avoid the Swine Flu (H1N1). Also he was very clear that to avoid any flu that you should do the following:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after using it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you do get the flu (or any contagious illness, for that matter), stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

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Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Andrew Weil, Bird flu, CNN, contagious illness, cough, H1N1, health food stores, Larry King, Swine Flu

If you are wondering which foods can help in your weight loss goals, these ten superfoods for weight loss may be just what you’re looking for. First, a few words about superfoods and losing weight in general.

As a rule, when it comes to losing weight, the focus is on what you should not eat rather than on what you should. The reason for this is obvious enough. When you want to shed pounds, you have to cut back on calories, which means eating less. Some foods, however, can help to regulate your metabolism. This can make your body burn fat more efficiently.

One rule to follow when it comes to superfoods is that you should consume superfoods instead of other, less healthy foods, not in addition to them. If you continue to eat junk foods, it will be difficult to lose weight no matter what else you do. It’s also important to get regular exercise. Again, no matter what you do or don’t consume, if you aren’t getting enough physical activity it will be almost impossible to lose weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: energy, flax seed oil, food, health food stores, healthy oil, less healthy wheat products, natural food stores

Thanks to the Mayo Clinics Katherine Zeratsky for this info on Flax Seed. I am sure that you may have heard somewhere about how great Flax seed is for Omega vitamins and fiber,this info will help you make the most of using Flax seed

Most nutrition experts recommend ground flax seed because your body is better able to digest it. Whole flaxseed may pass through your intestine undigested, which means you won’t get the health benefits of flaxseed.

Flax seed is high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals called lignans. Flax seed can help reduce total blood cholesterol and LDL (”bad”) cholesterol levels — and, as a result, may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Flaxseed oil also contains omega-3 fatty acids, but it doesn’t have the beneficial fiber that the seeds have. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: flax seed oil, ground flax seed, health benefits of flax seed, health food stores, heart disease, Institute of Medicine, oil

MSN has a Q and A with Dr Andrew Weil about the different kinds of teas and what they are good for. The thing that I like about Dr Weil is the huge depth of knowledge that he has about alternative medicines and I remember reading one of his early books and just reading that book changed a lot of my preconceptions about the voodoo behind alternative medicines

Green Tea Alternatives – MSN Health & Fitness – Diet & Fitness

Black Tea

The color refers to the leaves; the beverage is deep amber. Black tea varieties include Darjeeling and Earl Grey; flavors range from spicy to flowery.

Benefits: May lower risk of heart disease and colon cancer; inhibits bacteria that cause cavities and bad breath.

Green Tea

If you find the flavor too “grassy,” try my favorites: jewel green matcha, which I enjoy every morning, and Japanese sencha.

Benefits: Has been shown in numerous studies to help prevent many kinds of cancer, lower cholesterol, and boost immunity.

Oolong Tea

Midway between green and black tea in color, flavor, and antioxidant action, oolong has a fresh floral or fruity aroma.

Benefits: Drinking 3 cups a day can help relieve itchy skin rashes.

Pu-Erh (poo-air) Tea

This dark red tea has an earthy flavor that reminds me of coffee and tobacco. It’s considered a delicacy in China (you can purchase it online), where its processing is a highly guarded secret. The most oxidized of teas, pu-erh is said to mellow and improve with age, like wine.

Benefits: May reduce cholesterol.

White Tea

Rare and expensive, this least processed tea has a flavor that’s a bit too subtle for me.

Benefits: Contains more antioxidants than other teas. Test-tube studies show that it blocks DNA mutations (which trigger tumor formation); a study on rats discovered it prevented precancerous colon tumors.

All of these Teas are readily available at most health food stores or even in some supermarkets

Tags: Alternative Medicine, Andrew Weil, beverage, cancer, China, colon cancer, colon tumors, Darjeeling Grey, Earl Grey, health food stores, Health Issues, heart disease, tumor

Acne cures are few and far between. Most of the time trying to get rid of your acne is mostly a matter of taking care of your hormones and cleaning up your body. Really what else can there be? Here are five steps that should help you get rid of your acne.

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1. Drink plenty of water- OK I start with water because water is the first and easiest way to improve most peoples health. As we know, our environment is full of toxins that we eat, breathe and drink and just like our dishes we can start to clean our bodies and skin from the inside out by drinking water to hydrate and clean the dermis of our skin.

2. Clean up your diet You have probably heard many times now that diet has nothing to do with your acne that is crap Think about what you eat and see if you are really taking good enough care of your body by eating the right foods like plenty of fiber, fruit and green leafy vegetables. Fruit is very high in antioxidants which are good for battling free radicals that are constantly making us sicker and green leafy vegetables are high in the minerals that most western diets are very low in. Maybe your diet does not really cause the acne but it can certainly help prevent it. Oh, and one more thing, is the junk food that you are eating really helping your skin or hurting it? I will let you figure out this one.

3. Reduce stress When I was younger and visiting a dermatologist on a regular basis I found that my skin could break out from almost any stress. I actually remember one of my worst acne flareups happening on the very day that I had to do a presentation in front of my high school class. Stress is impossible to get out of our lives but the fact is that if you can manage it then stress will not be as much of a factor as it is now. Most stress is caused by us not being prepared for a situation. A job interview or a test can easily be prepared for if it is a priority. No time to prepare for things can also easily be counteracted by using better time management skills and being sure that you plan things ahead of time instead of waiting until the last minute. This planning will not only cure your acne but will help you become more successful in life.

4. Take care of your skin Well this is a critical part of your plan. Taking care of your skin means that you do not try to beat your acne into submission but instead means that you are very good at treating your skin well so that it can fight off the acne by itself. There are three important parts to treating your skin well. Firstly, make sure that you use a very mild soap, do not use harsh soaps as they are going to hurt your skins ability to repair itself, I recommend hibitane or a glycerin soap. Secondly, try to clean your skin two or three times a day even if one of these times is only cleaning with water as you want to keep your pores clean and free of bacteria or oils remember that some oil is good as it lubricates your skin and stops it from drying out. Thirdly, moisturize with a good quality moisturizer that is mostly water based and not oil based. Do not use this moisturizer always but as your skin gets dry in the spring or summer it is important not to let your skin get burnt by the sun or dry from the wind so be careful to keep your moisture there.

5. Have a fast fast Fasting is not just for hippies trying to keep a clean colon but instead take time out every now and again for a quick two or three day fast that will clean out your insides and rebalance the electolytes in your system. Some people say that a fast is good as well to let your system rest but I am not sure if that is really normal or even possible. The best kind of fast to help cure your acne would be a fruit juice fast and there are many of them on the market. Make sure that you do your research first and maybe even go to a couple of health food stores to get as much info as you can but try as soon as possible to do this. Many people believe that a fast is the one best thing that you can do to get rid of your acne so do not let a little bit of starvation get in the way of better health.

So there you have it. These five tips are the best I can come up with for acne treatment as well as acne cures. I am not sure if you are aware but Darren Rowse at problogger is having a writing contest of 5 tips type articles and I have submitted this article there. If you have any feedback on how you feel these acne tips are please comment.

Tags: acne, Acne Treatment, acnezine, acne_cures, best_acne_treatment, Darren Rowse, email marketing software, get_rid_of_acne, health food stores, junk food, oil, starvation

I was heartened by this story that has been running for a couple of weeks but the University of Guelph did a very small study that found that Conjugated linoleic acid can help weight loss. I for one am hoping that we see more bigger studies to show us more about htis popular supplement as there are also some decent reports of the antioxidant properties of Conjugated linoleic acid.

The popular supplement CLA helped overweight adults burn fat, even through the holiday season, says a study by American and Canadian researchers.

The six-month study included 40 overweight people, mainly women, who were divided into two groups. One group took a daily supplement of CLA while the other group took a placebo, CBC News reported.

Over the course of the study, the people in the CLA group lost an average of 2.2 pounds of fat and tended to lose fat from the abdomen. This type of fat is believed to increase the risk of heart disease. In contrast, the participants in the placebo group gained an average of 1.5 pounds in November and December alone.

“Despite no differences between the CLA and placebo group with regards to calorie intake or physical activity throughout the study, the CLA group still managed to lose weight prior to the holiday season and didn’t gain any weight over the holidays,” said study author Andrea Buchholz, professor of applied nutrition at the University of Guelph in Canada.

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity.

CLA is a form of naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat found in meat and dairy products. CLA supplements are available in health-food stores and pharmacies. While animal studies have suggested that CLA helps burn existing fat and impedes proliferation of new fat cells, previous research in humans has yielded inconsistent findings, CBC News reported.

Tags: Andrea Buchholz, Canada, dairy products, health food stores, heart disease, obesity, professor of applied nutrition, professor of applied nutrition in Canada, study author, the International Journal, University of Guelph

I just ran into a couple of great articles on Hoodia and thought it would be great to share them. Why do I care about Hoodia? Well I keep getting spam about the “Greatest weight loss product ever” and man do I hate unfounded hype.

It seems that Hoodia may be a good product but if there is ever a wonder drug that will stop people from eating and help them lose weight than the lack of exercise will surely kill people. I t is very important to remember that even if Hoodia does a great job in helping you lose weight that you still need to exercise regularly to stay or regain health. I have made my own notations here in bold from this great article at about.com written by Cathy Wong

Introduction to Hoodia

Each year, people spend more than $40 billion on products designed to help them slim down. None of them seem to be working very well.

Now along comes hoodia. Never heard of it? Soon it’ll be tripping off your tongue, because hoodia is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away. It’s very different from diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia doesn’t stimulate at all. Scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you’ve eaten just a morsel.

Hoodia is a cactus that’s causing a stir for its ability to suppress appetite and promote weight loss. 60 Minutes, ABC, and the BBC have all done stories on hoodia. Hoodia is sold in capsule, liquid, or tea form in health food stores and on the Internet. Hoodia is also found in the popular diet pill Trimspa.

Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Much like a cactus it has recently been turned into a cash crop in Namibia where there are hundreds of acres of it being grown to meet the demand in North America.

It takes about 5 years before hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although hoodia was only marketed recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn’t until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia. Initial results were promising — lab animals lost weight after taking hoodia.
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Tags: 60 Minutes, ABC, Africa, Angola, anthropologist, BBC, Botswana, Brown University in Rhode Island, Cathy Wong Introduction, correspondent, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, cramps, depression, diabetes, energy, health food stores, Hoodia plant, hypertension, indigestion, Kalahari desert, Leslie Stahl, liver disease, Namibia, north America, pfizer, pharmaceutical giant, Rhode Island, South Africa, South Africa's national laboratory, supplement, tough product, Trimspa, tuberculosis, Unilever, USD, weight loss product, weight loss solution

Many of us eat energy bars, protein bars or the like, I found this short article at  eVitamins  and though I would throw it in

Energy bars are fortified foods containing a blend of protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. The primary source of protein in energy bars is usually soy or milk, with fiber provided from grains, oats, apple pectin, or other sources. Some bars also contain additional herbs or nutrients thought to enhance energy, promote weight loss, or increase endurance. Energy bars can be consumed before, during, and after athletic events to ensure sufficient energy and replace expended nutrients. They may also be used as a snack or meal replacement.

Varieties
Energy bars come in a wide variety of flavors and textures. They may be high in protein, high in carbohydrates, low in fat, or contain a balanced ratio of these nutrients. They may have a taffy-like texture, or may be baked for a cookie-like consistency. Many are coated with chocolate, carob, vanilla yogurt, or other flavors. Natural energy bars with natural sugars, flavors, and colors are also available.

Buying and storing tips
Look for energy bars in the snack foods or supplement section of health food stores, or in the specialty foods section of most supermarkets. Store energy bars in a cool, dark location for 6 to 12 months.

Availability
Energy bars are available year-round.

Preparation, uses, and tips
Combine natural energy bars and a handful of grapes or cherries for a fast breakfast or healthful mid-day snack. Energy bars are easy to transport, so if youre going for a long bike ride or hike, pack some energy bars to satisfy your snack attacks.

Nutritional Highlights
Energy bar (High carbohydrate), 1.3 oz. (37g)Calories: 130Protein: 2.0gCarbohydrate: 26gTotal Fat: 2.5gFiber: 0.5g
Energy bar (Low carbohydrate), 2.5 oz. (72g)Calories: 290Protein: 30gCarbohydrate: 17gTotal Fat: 6gFiber: 0.0g
Vitamin and mineral content varies among bars.

Tags: energy, Energy bar, energy bars, health food stores, Highlights Energy bar, Natural energy bars, Store energy bars, sufficient energy, What