The Blame Game On Raising Children

I will admit that I'm not a parent but I am a daughter, a sister, a friend and a mentor. The other day one of my coworkers and I were talking about health and convenience. We live in a society that is go go go and so we don't stop to take the time to take care of ourselves.
One topic that came up is my sister who has terrible acne scarring on her face. She spends hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year trying to get rid of it, from one treatment to the other. Last month it was microdermambrasion, which didn't help, with a side of pregnancy pills to control her hormones. This month she is continuing the pills but has replaced the microdermambrasion with an orange peel. She has a morning and night ritual of face creams and nothing has helped. I have talked to her before and recommended that she look into detoxing and changing what she eats. Her diet consists of easy to create food such as frozen pizzas, instant things, pop, beer and such. Our bodies needs more nutrients, vitamins and just plain old healthy things. Unfortunately she won't touch the vegetables I cook and her version of vegis are either frozen or from a can (filled with preservatives). One night she took a can of corn and heated it in a microwave. Intending on making me proud she pointed out she was eating vegetables. I didn't have the heart to tell her that corn has no nutritional value and the corn she was eating was not only drenched in preservatives but also it was genetically engineered. My sister is a prime example of someone who thinks she is doing what is right but isn't. Instead she wants an easy fix, an easy answer, so she can go on and enjoy her life. Detoxing means giving up somethings she likes to eat and spending the time to take care of herself.

The example my coworker had was of her children and their friends. One of her daughter's friends stayed with them. She wouldn't eat their organic chicken nuggets and said they tasted funny. Her breakfast at home was typically a poptart and when offered fruits she didn't want them and with quite a few berries have never had them. That is sad. It makes you wonder what her diet at home is. There was a video clip from a documentary that I saw a long time ago. A doctor came into a classroom of children bringing vegetables to show the children. The children didn't know what a potato was but knew what fries were. The children didn't know what a tomato was but knew what ketchup was. The world of convenience made it very difficult for people to lead healthy lives. Instead on changing ourselves we go back and try to get a pill to fix our problems.

We need to take responsibility for our actions and change ourselves instead of trying to cover up the symptoms then blame the world.

Eat Healthy and Stay Smart

This morning I opened up my mouth and swallowed a tablespoon straight of Fish Oil. I remember my doctor telling me the benefits of taking fish oil straight versus swallowing the fish oil capsules. In liquid form it will absorb more efficiently into our body. The capsule will take longer to absorb because our body has to break down the capsule first. Also in order to get the amount of fish oil I need into my body I would need to take so many more capsules. Either way I get fish oil into my body, it's a good thing. Fish oil is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Fish Oil is extracted from fish, but the fish does not produce the fish oil. It is accumulated from the fish's diet including microalgae and preyfish. There are so many benefits from fish oil that I have noticed in my life but it's always nice to find a new article that enforces why I am taking it. First of all I notice that my skin is better, I feel more awake then finally omega-3 fatty acids help with your brain.
The most recent article I found is about the elderly and their mental performance. Sound vitamins they measured beyond omega-3 included Vitamin D and B12. Keep yourself healthy and make sure you're taking in what you need.

Arsenic Consuption in our Water and Apple Juice

Arsenic is a semi-metal element that is odorless and tasteless. It was once a popular poison for assassins and unhappy widows. There has been a lot of debate lately on how harmful is the little bits of arsenic we get in water and apple juice. According to the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) that there are non-cancer effects which includes "thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness." But Arsenic has also been linked to several including bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver and prostate.
I am not sure about you but reading this makes me concern. Then why are we letting juice companies tell us that the little bits of arsenic we are feeding not just ourselves but also our children is okay? It's not. In an interview with Fox News, Michael Taylor (FDA's deputy commissioner for foods) said "We continue to think that apple juice is generally safe based on the fact that the vast majority of samples are very low. But we want to minimize these exposures as much as possible."
Currently the FDA uses 23 parts per billion as a guide to judge whether apple juice is contaminated. Consumer Reports published an article recently about arsenic in apple juice. They tested several popular brands of apple juice to find there were higher levels of arsenic. "Five samples of apple juice and four of grape juice had total arsenic levels exceeding the 10 ppb federal limit for bottled and drinking water. Levels in the apple juices ranged from 1.1 to 13.9 ppb, and grape-juice levels were even higher, 5.9 to 24.7 ppb. Most of the total arsenic in our samples was inorganic, our tests showed." Consumer groups also stated that the FDA's level is too high and isn't enforced with enough urgency.
Not too long ago popular TV Doctor, Dr. Oz did a program that did similar testings. He was criticized and the FDA responded saying that most of the arsenic were organic so they were harmless. Since then the FDA now has new research that says that arsenic was really inorganic and that makes them harmful now. Doesn't this make you concerned? Sometimes I question if the FDA is concerned about the people or are they concerned about making the big corporations happy?

Free Workshop on Water Detox hosted by Dr. Trent Iverson at Bandana Chiropractic and Wellness Center at 11:15 AM. Call 651-354-8343 to reserve a seat today.

How do you know what is good food?

That's an interesting question. I was reading an article I saw on yahoo about the "5 Worst Fast-Food Breakfasts ( and what you should order instead)" . Interesting article that goes over Starbucks, Mcdonalds, Jamba Juice, Subway and several others menus. I didn't think they could find anything that would be actually "good" but there are a few options. Besides looking at calories you should also look at content of the food you are consuming. A common themed option they approve of is oatmeal which I agree with too. It's a good alternative than any deep friend breakfast. Also when you get anything from Mcdonalds it's not really cooked for you it's usually thrown into the microwave. Same thing goes for any of the sandwiches you pick up at Caribou Coffee or Starbucks right now. How healthy can that be?

First off what is a calorie? I mean in this society we are surrounded by calorie counters. Do they know what they are counting? According to Dictionary.com is the "a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy." Now that we got that on the table how much energy does your body really need? Well if you try out the Calories Per Day Calculator  it gives you an idea and that varies by several factors such as your height, current weight and how active you are. So my final conclusion, as nice as calorie counting may seem if you aren't watching what you eat and how active you are, you're not necessaricly being healthy.

You can eat 1500 calories of candy for the day and all your meals but is your body receiving everything that you really need? You rather eat that 1800 calories of healthy stuff and trust me your body will appreciate it more. You may also see some results in weight loss too. One thing I noticed is that when I eat more greens, things that don't have preservatives and that are fresh my body responds better. I feel better, not sluggish, not sick and that is how I like it to be.