Six Week Slim Down Promotes Anti-Aging

 In my  Six Week Slim Down we aim not only to shed pounds, but also to clean out our digestive systems of junk, help the body reestablish healthy patterns and also protect the body from disease and degeneration... AGING. Here's how...

1. WE GET ENOUGH PROTEIN

Protein is the chief building material of your body. Eighteen per cent of your total body weight is pure protein. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, then approximately 27 pounds of you are pure protein that needs constant repairing, replacing and rebuilding-with more protein, of course.

If you were to analyze a single cell taken from any part of your body-a hair in your head, the tissue in your heart, the lining of your intestines, the muscles in your legs- you would find this tiny cell composed mostly of protein.

In the laboratories, nutritional scientists and biochemists have proved that a diet poor in proteins speeds aging in the human body. Protein foods are the main factor in prolonging youth for the past-forty group, and in maintaining physical vigor and mental alertness in the aged.
Several things start happening to your body cells as we hit and pass age forty. Biologists tell us that "aging is a matter of changes in your tissue cells." First, the tissue cells in older bodies are less elastic, less resilient, less able to recover quickly from fatigue and injury than the cells in younger bodies. Second, the active cells in the older body (especially those in your glands and muscles) gradually grow fewer.

2. WE DON’T EAT SUGAR AND REFINED STARCH

In Six Week Slim Down, we avoid sugar like the plague. According to Dr Nicholas Perricone; “Sugar is exceptionally damaging to your skin because it attaches to the proteins of collagen, causing collagen to “cross-link.” When collagen cross-links, it becomes stiff and inflexible, leading to the wrinkling and stiffness of old skin.”
Dr Nicholas Perricone also says: “Eating sugary and starchy foods shows up on the skin as a loss of radiance, dark circles under the eyes, the loss of tone, puffiness, an increase in fine lines and wrinkles, the loss of facial contours and increased pore size. These foods can also exacerbate acne, which is a systemic, inflammatory disease. I am not exaggerating when I say that sugar can rob you of your youth, health, and beauty.”

3. WE INCORPORATE THE FOLLOWING ANTI_AGING FOODS

Flavonoids are the brightly colored pigments found in most fruits and vegetables. When consumed, they have antioxidant properties and have been associated with improved lung function. We eat LOTS of these! You will see in my recipes how delicious it can be!  Eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower you risk of age-related macular degeneration, the primary cause of vision loss in older adults.
Garlic can counteract the usual result of high fats in the diet and to help reduce high blood pressure.
Raw Cacao is the REAL CHOCOLATE in its purest form and has some of the highest levels of antioxidants of any known foods. We use this in many ways including brownies, chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate pudding! 
Green tea contains natural antioxidant compounds know as polyphenols useful in fighting tumors as well as helping prevent and treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Vitamin D is also an extremely important vitamin when it comes to controlling the rate your body ages. Unlike other vitamins, Vitamin D is actually manufactured inside your body but only if you receive enough sunlight. Sunlight is necessary to signal the body to produce its own Vitamin D but remember that prolonged exposure to direct sunlight actually accelerates aging.
All of this is built in to the Six Week Slim Down program, and all of my WELLNESS PROGRAMS, all you have to do is follow it.
Start the SIX WEEK SLIM DOWN PROGRAM NOW!
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Wellness From Love, Sex and Romance

As a Holistic Health Educator, people are used to reading my wellness blogs that cover things related to nutrition, foods, herbs, and essential oils and sometimes exercise. However, in honor of Valentines Day... we are going to get physical!

Wellness comes has many aspects such as emotional wellness, physical wellness, spiritual wellness, social wellness and even financial wellness.  However, health does not come from food and exercise alone!  One of the major sources of wellness that is rarely promoted is that which comes from SEX!

Although we all love it, we don't all get enough of it! Luckily, there are other areas of romance and relationships that offer health benefits.  Here are some of the ways to get wellness out of your relationships

1.     Love and Support – One article published in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that men in loving relationships had less risk of stomach ulcers and also less risk of angina (chest pain)

2.     Hugging – Hugging someone releases the cuddle hormone, oxytocin. This promotes feelings of trust and bonding. Hugging also lowers heart rate, lower blood pressure; huggers have fewer feelings of stress and anxiety!

3.     Kissing – The lips have a lot of sensory receptors that make them very sensitive. Kissing creates intimacy by being so close to the person you are kissing, and by stimulating the receptors in the lips, much like the genitals!  Passionate kissing burns calories too, and reduces stress and the effects of stress. Kissing can create feelings of lust, love and attachment.

4.     Sex – reduces stress, promotes relaxation, improves the immune system. A Pennsylvania study found that sex one or two times a week improved Immunoglobulin A (IgA) by 30%! (Charnetski CJ, BrennanFX. Sexual frequency and salivary immunoglobulin A. Psychology Report, 2004;94:839-44. Having orgasms also increases heart rate similarly to cardiovascular exercise and releases stress reducing chemicals in the brain.

It should also be pointed out that if you are single, you could get many of the same health benefits by enjoying the plutonic company of others. Being around genuine friends creates a sense of belonging. The bottom line being, relationships are important for your health on many levels. Make the time and space in your life to nurture them.

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Curry for healthy gut!

My awesome friend Barbara flattery delivered this homemade curry dish to me. What a nice treat I'm so lucky! If you're not using turmeric yet you need to start! It is been used for balancing the body's natural  flora,which is especially important if you suffer from candida related illnesses. Turmeric root is a natural pain reliever or, anti-inflammatory, protects cells from mutating (cancer) helps with digestion and improves liver function. 

Eat some curry today!

Online programs to get healthy are available at

Www.mywellnessexperience.org

10 Reasons NOT to eat bread, no matter what Oprah says...

The reason to eat or not eat bread is more than just a weight loss debate... here are 10 reasons (there are more) why you shouldn't eat bread, and only 1 of them has to do with gaining weight! 

1. Increases blood sugar levels: Wheat contains amylopectin A, a type of molecule that is more efficiently converted to blood sugar than just about any other carbohydrate. After the consumption of wheat your blood sugar levels increase and in a matter of 2-hours you’re bound to be foraging through the fridge once again in an effort to satisfy your appetite. Wheat consumption puts the body through a series of highs and lows, where the body becomes stuck in a vicious cycle of constant hunger.
2. Bread is addicting: Researchers from the National Institute of Health discovered that the gluten found in bread tickles the brains opiate receptors eliciting a sense of euphoria when consumed. Meaning quite simply, the more we eat it, the more we want it.
3. Difficult to digest: Bread almost always contains gluten, a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and other grains. Gluten is very difficult for the human body to digest and it requires a very strong acid in the stomach to process it. It can sometimes take as long as 4-weeks to digest a meal containing mostly wheat.
4. Nutritionally deficient: During the refining process, bread is stripped of its healthy elements including bran and germ. This means most of the vitamins and minerals are lost leaving you with nothing but a mucus forming, addictive slice of bread to butter your toast in the morning.
5. Bread Contains Other Harmful Substances: Most commercial types of bread contains sugars or high fructose corn syrup. Sugar causes many adverse effects and eating processed foods that contain it is likely to have detrimental effects on health.
6. Bread contains phytic acid: Phytic acid is a molecule that strongly binds essential minerals like calcium, iron and zinc, preventing them from being absorbed. Soaking grains before baking can degrade the phytic acid, which should improve the availability of minerals.
7. Mucus forming: Bread is part of the refined grain family joining other grains like barley, oats and rye all of which produce mucus in the body. Mucus is the body’s natural defense mechanism to protect our cells, tissues and organs from the harmful acid found within bread. While mucus forms as a means of protection it is not side-effect free. A build up of mucus often means the lungs and nasal passages become congested and digestion is hindered.
8. Breads (even gluten free) can cause weight gain – All breads that contain a grain are high glycemic, which means that it breaks down to sugar in the body and need to be burned off before you can use fat for fuel. The starches in bread get broken down quickly in the digestive tract and enter the bloodstream as glucose. This causes a rapid spike in blood sugar and insulin levels. Learn more about this is Six Week Slim Down.
9. Whole grain breads are not any healthier: Even whole grain bread usually isn’t made out of actual “whole” grains. They are grains that have been pulverized into very fine flour. Even though this process reserves the nutrients, it causes these products to be digested rapidly.
10. Bread can speed aging! Elevated blood sugars can also cause glycation at the cellular level when the blood sugars react with proteins in the body. This is one of the components of ageing.

To lurn more about eating healthy, visit www.mywelllnessexperience.org and take the online program Six Week Slim Down!
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