Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 Avocado
6-8 medium size Broccoli Heads
1/3 Red Onion
1 Celery Stick
Big Handful of Spinach
A thumb size piece of Ginger Root
1 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (Optional) or Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce
1 Pinch Cumin (Optional)
2 Pinches of Celtic Sea Salt
garlic & pepper to taste

Directions:
Lightly steam the broccoli (5-6 minutes) then place all ingredients in a blender. Add garlic, pepper, Celtic Sea Salt to taste.

Incorporate this recipe with your Medifast Diet. It is a great addition for your diet plans.

Many fast-food outlets and chain restaurants have been posting calorie counts… even before the provision requiring this was added to the new health-care reform bill. We’re already seeing evidence that posting calories in restaurants makes a difference — in kids’ lives, at least — as new research shows that parents are using the information to order fast food more carefully for their children.

However, it appears that we can’t trust these posted calorie counts. When researchers at Tufts University Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging investigated 18 entrées and side dishes from chain restaurants (Olive Garden, Applebee’s, P.F. Chang’s, Ruby Tuesday and Denny’s)… 11 entrées and sides from fast-food outlets (Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts, Domino’s, McDonald’s and Wendy’s)… and 10 frozen supermarket meals (from Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, South Beach Living and Bell & Evans), they discovered that the calorie counts were off — sometimes way off.

A Whopper — Or Not?

In this particular study, researchers found that there were 18% more calories in foods from restaurants and fast-food outlets than were posted, on average, and that frozen foods contained 8% more than stated on labels. Sometimes the published calorie counts weren’t all that far off — for example, Ruby Tuesday says its Asian glazed salmon contains 424 calories, and researchers found it contained 461 calories. Occasionally, however, the discrepancy was wide indeed and it varied in both directions — P.F. Chang’s Cantonese Shrimp was posted as having 330 calories, but was served with only 268 calories… while the same restaurant’s large Sichuan-style asparagus, posted at 260 calories, actually contained more than double that amount — an astonishing 558 calories (asparagus!).

When I spoke with Lorien Urban, MS, author of the study, she acknowledged that the researchers had analyzed just one sample of each dish, and that’s not optimal because a seemingly small shift in preparation can boost or cut calories significantly. For example, a chef might easily drizzle extra olive oil on a serving of pasta or a fast-food cook might use more cheese. And in the case of frozen entrées, 20% variance in calories is allowed by law, so by that standard 8% isn’t so bad. But still, it’s clear that the food industry, in general, is feeding us more calories than it says.

How to Not Get Conned on Calories

Urban suggested keeping watch for certain signs that you should adjust your calorie estimate upward when eating out…

Portion sizes. Food portions quite naturally vary from serving to serving… so instead of feeling like you’ve won the lottery when you’re served a giant portion, eat no more than you know in your heart (and stomach) that you should eat.

Side dishes. Many of these contained more calories than the entrées (witness that asparagus). And often, when an entrée came with a no-extra-charge side dish (such as mashed potatoes or buttered corn), those extra calories were not included in the posted calorie count. So ask your server specifically about calories in side dishes, including how and where on the menu they are listed. Also, if you frequent a particular restaurant, check its Web site — many offer more comprehensive calorie information than you can get from the restaurant menu.

Sauces and condiments. If you are served a dish with a cream-based sauce or one that is dripping in oil or butter, Urban suggests skepticism might be in order. While it is possible the calorie count matches what’s posted, even a little extra of these high-calorie sauces can make a big difference… so remember that nothing replaces taking individual responsibility for what goes into your mouth.

Source(s):

Lorien Urban, MS, PhD candidate, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston.

Get involved with the Medifast Diet and make drastic changes to your health. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price with the latest Medifast Coupon Codes.

American consumers receive a steady stream of advice to drink lots of water, stay out of the sun, wash hands religiously, exercise regularly and on and on. Might we actually do ourselves harm with some of these seemingly healthful habits? Yes indeed, I learned from Kent Holtorf, MD, a leading physician in the fields of preventive medicine, endocrine dysfunction and immune disorders and founder of the National Academy for Hypothyroidism. He told me that well-meaning efforts to improve our health can and often do backfire, sometimes with dangerous results. Dr. Holtorf offered advice on how to walk the line between taking steps to stay healthy and going overboard…

Drink Plenty of Water?

Not so fast — our water is not as safe as you think. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, as many as 19 million Americans are sickened each year by drinking water from the public supply. Not only has bacterial (and, though rarely, even viral) contamination been a problem, but traces of toxins including arsenic, uranium, radium, tetrachloroethylene and lead, along with minute amounts of pharmaceuticals and personal-care products, have been found. Bottled water isn’t the solution you might think, either. Most disposable plastic bottles contain bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that has been linked with an increased risk for hormonal disturbances (especially thyroid), reproductive and fetal abnormalities, breast and prostate cancer, brain development issues and diseases, weight gain, neurological changes, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver disorders.

Best solution: Invest in a water filter for your home. Prices range from $20 for a basic water pitcher to hundreds of dollars for a home-wide filtration system. Shop at Web sites such as www.brita.com and www.purwater.com. Dr. Holtorf notes that reverse osmosis home-filtration systems are most effective in eliminating contaminants. Buy reusable, BPA-free bottles (e.g., from retailers such as www.nalgene.com) to bring drinking water along when you’re away from home.

Stay Out of the Sun?

Rising skin cancer rates motivate many to avoid the midday sun and/or slather on layers of sunscreen… yet Dr. Holtorf points out that most Americans are deficient in vitamin D, a key nutrient that our bodies most efficiently synthesize through sun exposure. Inadequate vitamin D levels raise the risk for heart disease and certain cancers. As for sunscreen, many formulas contain chemicals such as para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), which can cause allergic reactions and, potentially, liver problems as well.

The smart way: Do spend 10 to 20 minutes each day outdoors in the sunshine without sunscreen. If you want to sunbathe longer, liberally apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays and has an SPF of 15. Sunscreen with a higher SPF won’t hurt you, Dr. Holtorf says, but he views the extra strength as a waste of money.

Wash Hands Frequently?

It’s important to wash your hands frequently to avoid cold and flu germs and prevent food-borne disease… but using antibacterial soap causes more problems than it solves. One antibacterial agent of particular concern istriclosan, a common ingredient in liquid hand soaps and dishwashing detergent. Triclosan may disrupt thyroid function and has been implicated in liver toxicity, Dr. Holtorf said. In addition, antibacterial soap is no better at getting your hands clean than regular soap — but its use contributes to the development of drug-resistant “super-germs.”

What to do: Keep washing your hands frequently with regular soap and warm water, but do not use antibacterial soaps — especially those that contain triclosan. To view a list of triclosan-free personal products, visithttp://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/triclosanfree/index.php.

Fortifying Yourself Sick?

More and more packaged foods are fortified with supposedly good-for-you vitamins and other supplements, but these aren’t always the best choices for your health. For some nutrients, such as folic acid, intake may climb too high if you are also taking a multivitamin and, in fact, research now links excessive folic acid consumption with cancer. (See Daily Health News,October 6, 2009, “Excess Folic Acid May Raise Cancer Risk,” for more on this topic.)

Instead: Choose whole, unprocessed, fiber-rich foods, and aim for a balanced diet that naturally provides a multitude of nutrients. One very good way to boost your nutrient intake is to drink freshly made vegetable juices, which contain an ideal balance of trace minerals and antioxidants along with thousands of beneficial phytonutrients that are not available in pill form.

Fat-Phobic and Unhealthy?

Our fat-phobic society has thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Trans fats should absolutely be avoided, but other fats — even saturated ones — are vital to our health. The benefits of unsaturated fats in fish and flax oil are well known, as are the benefits of monounsaturated fats found in nuts, avocado and olive oil — which help balance cholesterol levels. Though saturated fats are generally considered to be unhealthy, they are an essential component of every single cell in our bodies, and there is some evidence that the kind of saturated fat in products such as coconut oil may aid in weight loss, digestion and cardiovascular health.

Try this: Rather than worrying too much about reducing fat intake, avoid simple and concentrated sugars, such as high fructose corn syrup, and avoid simple carbohydrates such as baked goods and white bread. Research shows that these are the worst culprits in weight gain, insulin resistance, high triglycerides and cardiovascular disease.

Fruits, Vegetables… and Food Poisoning?

In the past, food-borne illness was primarily associated with meat and seafood, but recent outbreaks have been traced to fresh produce. Many disease-causing bacteria — such as E. coli, listeria and salmonella — routinely reside on fruits and vegetables, and this is true whether the produce is grown conventionally or organically.

To stay safe: Wash your hands before handling produce. Avoid cross contamination (especially from uncooked meats) by storing produce and proteins in separate parts of the refrigerator — also, use separate cutting boards. Don’t nibble on unwashed produce… and wait until just before preparation of fruits and vegetables to wash them, as washing removes their natural coating and makes them spoil faster. You do not need to use any special detergents, soap or bleach — simple running tap water is effective. Rinse all parts of the fruit or vegetable that may come into contact with a paring knife (even parts that you don’t intend to eat), and remove and discard the outer leaves of lettuce, cabbage and other greens. Scrub firmer fruits and vegetables with a vegetable brush.

Getting Too Much Sleep?

It’s true that most American adults aren’t getting enough sleep — and the trend is growing worse. Yet getting too much sleep is a problem, too. Excessive sleeping is a common symptom of depression and can indicate that something else is amiss — research shows that getting too much sleep (more than eight hours a night) is associated with risk for premature death as much as getting too little sleep, and it also contributes to back pain and memory problems.

Dr. Holtorf suggests: An underactive thyroid is a common cause of daytime sleepiness or an excessive need for sleep. It’s a problem that often goes undiagnosed because the standard blood test for it — the TSH test — is inadequate. Having even “low normal” thyroid levels significantly increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, depression and fatigue. Other causes of oversleeping include depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, hypersomnia (a medical condition that causes sufferers to oversleep), alcohol and some medications. If you are suffering from excessive fatigue, discuss with your doctor what might be the cause.

So, as with everything else, it turns out that moderation is key. Maintaining perspective is important when following health advice — or you will indeed end up taking “the bad with the good,” as I’ve heard people say.

Source(s):

Kent Holtorf, MD, medical director, Holtorf Medical Group, Torrance and Foster City, California (www.holtorfmed.com). Dr. Holtorf is a leading physician in the fields of preventive medicine, endocrine dysfunction and immune disorders and the founder of the National Academy for Hypothyroidism, a nonprofit Web site that gives patients the latest information and studies on hypothyroidism (www.nahypothyroidism.org).

Get involved with the Medifast Diet and make drastic changes to your health. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price with the latest Medifast Coupon Codes.

Chocolate is one of those items many love but are worried that it is unhealthy for them. You will be happy to learn that not all chocolate is bad for you and some can actually help your health out if ate in the right amounts.

Healthy chocolate is out there...

It seemed too good to be true when studies began to tell us, seven or so years ago, that dark chocolate actually is healthy… but since then additional research has made the claims sweeter yet. Cacao beans, the base of chocolate, contain flavonoids (antioxidant-containing plant pigments) that make the antioxidants in dark chocolate nearly eight times as abundant as those in strawberries, which are themselves considered an excellent source. And then we learned that cacao beans help lower blood pressure and LDL (bad) cholesterol and that they can increase levels of serotonin, a natural antidepressant, as well.

With all that going for chocolate, it’s not surprising that there’s now a wide array of “healthy” chocolates for sale pretty much everywhere, from bustling national supermarkets to tiny, Zen-like health-food stores. Soon you will even be able to buy camel-milk chocolate, said (of course) to have health benefits unique to its unusual source. But what makes the difference between a healthful piece of chocolate and just a fattening indulgence? I called über nutritionist and weight-loss expert Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, regular contributor to the “Today” show and author of several books, including her newest, Your Inner Skinny, to ask the question.

Healthy Chocolate

Bauer says the only way to be sure you are getting a reasonable amount of flavonoids in chocolate is to select those containing at least 70% cacao, noting that the health value escalates the higher that percentage climbs. She said that milk chocolate — including the camel-milk variety — can’t compete in the healthy sweepstakes, since the added milk reduces the body’s ability to absorb the antioxidants in cacao. Bauer gave a thumbs down to the heart-shaped boxes of Valentine’s chocolates that have those creamy or caramel centers — these are very heavy on sugar and should definitely be left in the box, she says. On the other hand, “mix-ins” made of nuts and berries are good. As for white chocolate — it isn’t a true chocolate and, not surprisingly, contains almost no flavonoids.

If you are looking for a healthy dark chocolate, Bauer says you don’t have to pay up for a premium brand. While upscale brands use very high-quality cacao beans and are “incredibly delicious,” she says that the health benefit is about the same no matter the price, noting this is true of mass-produced brands, such as Hershey’s and Dove (which is owned by M&M/Mars), and mid-priced brands, such as Lindt or Ghirardelli. And it must be said… allchocolate contains lots of calories along with the flavonoids — averaging 150 calories per ounce, says Bauer — so it is important to enjoy it in moderation.

Source(s):

Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, Today show contributor, and author of several books, including her newest, Your Inner Skinny (William Morrow Cookbooks).

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

It sounds very serious when you hear that someone “needed” a blood transfusion. According to research I’ve recently read, what necessitates a transfusion varies dramatically from one hospital to the next. That’s surprising enough, but I also learned that receiving a transfusion of someone else’s blood lowers immunity to the point that it doubles the likelihood that a patient will suffer infection in the hospital.

Dangers of blood transfusions

I called Neil Blumberg, MD, director of the Transfusion Medicine/Blood Bank at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, to learn more. With an estimated five million Americans receiving blood transfusions each year, it seems to me that this is something we need to know more about.

Transfusion Impacts Your Immune System

Now that strict safety rules regulate the nation’s blood supply, the risk for direct infection (e.g., with the hepatitis B or C virus or HIV) from transfusions is very small, observes Dr. Blumberg — but, he said, many other serious risks persist. Though doctors don’t fully understand why, they know that transfusions dramatically affect your immune system, likely in both the short and the long term. Receiving another person’s blood increases the risk for harm to lung tissue and red blood cells and can trigger an array of allergic reactions. Also, in the immediate post-procedure period, transfusions raise the risk for bacterial infection due to decreased immune function, potential organ failure and possible clotting in key veins and arteries. These problems can lead to heart attack, stroke or deep vein thrombosis.

What Researchers Learned

To measure the health risks posed by transfusions, Dr. Blumberg and his colleagues examined the outcomes of a specific procedure that often involves a large transfusion of stored blood over two to six hours — cardiac bypass surgery. In nearly 25,000 people who underwent a cardiac bypass, they found that…

• About 30% of the variation in transfusion practices (the likelihood of whether or not a person would be transfused) was attributable to the hospital where the procedure was performed, a figure high enough that Dr. Blumberg calls it “striking.”
• Among patients who received another person’s blood, about twice as many suffered postoperative infections as did those who didn’t receive a transfusion.

Findings were published in the July 2009, issue of BMC Medicine.

Less is More

While guidelines regarding blood donation are safe and uniform, guidelines for when a transfusion is needed are imprecise, leaving doctors to make transfusion decisions based on prevailing practices at their own hospitals and on their own training and experience, rather than on scientific evidence, says Dr. Blumberg. He told me that some cardiac surgery programs transfuse almost all patients, others transfuse very few, and the rest are scattered along the spectrum in between.

One fact stands out, however — in most studies to date, fewer transfusions correlate with fewer complications and deaths in surgical patients. Dr. Blumberg believes these programs have better clinical outcomes becausethey are more conservative in their use of transfusion and have technically sophisticated surgeons who take various steps to minimize bleeding, such as using scalpels that clot blood as they cut tissue.

I also asked Dr. Blumberg about bloodless surgery, which uses new surgical techniques and equipment to minimize the use of blood and blood-related products during surgery. This was first developed in the 1960s to meet the needs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religious beliefs do not permit blood transfusion, but it has since become more widely available, as its medical advantages have become apparent. In Dr. Blumberg’s opinion, the presence of a bloodless surgery program or other blood-management program at a hospital is a quality indicator, suggesting that health-care providers pay more attention to transfusion issues. This might translate to better outcomes.

The Underused Safety Measure

There is a process that can dramatically reduce the risk for infection and death in transfusion patients, yet some hospitals still don’t use it. Calledleukoreduction, it is the removal of white blood cells from donated blood. This reduces risk by lowering immunologically driven problems. An array of evidence supports the efficacy of leukoreduction, and the cost is modest. Dr. Blumberg told me that he would like to see this process made universal in every hospital.

In the meantime, if you are going to have surgery, Dr. Blumberg advises that you protect yourself by asking in advance whether you might require a transfusion. If the answer is yes…

• Ask whether the hospital uses leukoreduced blood. If the answer is no, consider looking for a different hospital. Dr. Blumberg advises having surgery at hospitals that have 100% (universal) leukoreduction of transfusion blood — meaning that all the blood for transfusions has the leukocytes removed. “It’s just too risky otherwise,” says Dr. Blumberg.
• Donate your own blood for your exclusive use. This is called autologous donation and is the safest of all ways to receive blood. You can donate your blood in advance of the scheduled surgery, or your surgeon can collect your blood just before surgery and return it to your body at the end of the procedure.

By the way, there is no evidence that receiving blood donated by family members or friends is safer than receiving blood from the national blood supply.

Source(s):

Neil Blumberg, MD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, director, Transfusion Medicine/Blood Bank, and director, clinical laboratories, Strong Memorial Hospital and Highland Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

Whenever a new food, drink or supplement hits the market with great fanfare about its health benefits, I’m suspicious… but I’m also curious. Recently, I’m seeing more and more people sipping coconut water out of bottles and boxes and sometimes even from straws stuck right into the fruit.

Coconut water making changes

I’ve seen health claims tout the ability of this elixir to cure dandruff and prevent acne, treat kidney stones and boost metabolism. I’ve even seen it called “nature’s sports drink,” due to its high electrolyte content.

Unsurprisingly — since they’re always on the alert for such an opportunity — beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola bought in. Pepsi bought Amacoco, the largest coconut-water company in Brazil, and Coke invested heavily in Zico, an up-and-coming US coconut-water company. Does the word “fad” come to mind? Let’s get some perspective.

How Good is it?

Don’t confuse coconut water with coconut milk, which is a lot richer and, in my opinion, far more flavorful. Coconut water is what you’d hear sloshing around if you shook a young coconut. In fact, the taste of coconut water is not much like coconut at all — it’s semisweet and slightly nutty. I found it pleasant and refreshing, though my friend, who also tried it, didn’t care for the flavor at all.

Nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, told me that he considers coconut water to be a “perfectly good option” for people who want to stay hydrated. “It’s high in heart-healthy potassium, with most brands providing about 700 mg in an 11-ounce serving — that’s lots more than you get in a banana,” he noted. “It also has only about 60 calories per 11-ounce serving.”

It’s valid to use coconut water as a sports drink, because it contains plentiful electrolytes (such as the potassium and sodium). I did a comparison to Gatorade, and found that eight ounces of coconut water has fewer calories than Orange Gatorade (44 versus 50)… way more potassium (487 mg versus 30 mg)… and slightly less sugar (10 grams versus 14 grams).

Coconut water is available in supermarkets, health-food stores and even in some vending machines in single-serving sizes (average price, $1.70). “Coconut water is a nice refreshing option,” Bowden said. “But as far as I am concerned, with zero calories, water is still the ultimate rehydration drink.” So coconut water is fun and tasty, but it’s not going to change your life.

Source(s):

Jonny Bowden, CNS, author, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth and The Healthiest Meals on Earth (both published by Fair Winds Press). www.jonnybowden.com.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

If you have diabetes and heart disease — and many Americans do, or will, since the two tend to go hand in hand — it is important to be aware of special considerations regarding your treatment, especially when it comes to invasive heart procedures.

Heart surgery causing conflicts with diabetics

A Landmark Study

Surprisingly, there is no clear consensus on how to treat diabetic patients with heart disease. That, coupled with concern about the exorbitant cost of treating diabetes (it now accounts for one out of every five federal health-care dollars spent), led researchers to undertake the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI 2D) trial, which is a comparative effectiveness study of two different treatments for diabetic patients with heart disease.

In the five-year randomized, clinical trial of 2,368 diabetics with heart disease at 49 sites in six countries, researchers compared optimal medical therapy (medications and lifestyle counseling) with the same plus surgery to see which worked best in preventing a cardiovascular event and/or early death. These patients were generally considered to be at low risk for heart attack and stroke based on the extent of their coronary artery disease and symptoms, such as their degree of angina (chest pain), when the study began. The “optimal medical therapy” (e.g., medications such as beta-blockers and statins) was given to all participants to control blood pressure and cholesterol, and participants were also counseled, as appropriate, to quit smoking and/or lose weight, notes William E. Boden, MD, FACC, clinical chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine and professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo Schools of Medicine & Public Health.

For the group that received medical therapy plus surgery, half the participants were randomly assigned to either undergo stent angioplasty or coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Over the five-year period following the intervention, Dr. Boden and his colleagues found that…

• There was little or no difference in outcome between those who underwent angioplasty versus only optimal medical therapy — angioplasty patients had a 10.8% death rate, compared with a 10.2% death rate among those on optimal medical therapy.
• In the bypass group — which included individuals with more severe heart disease — surgery was more effective than optimal medical therapy. Bypass recipients had a 22.4% chance of having a heart attack or stroke or dying in the next five years, compared with 30.5% of participants who only took medications.

These results were published in the June 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

High Tech is Not Always the Answer

We’re often inclined to believe that high-tech devices and interventions are superior, Dr. Boden observes. This is not always the case — sometimes conservative medical therapy is more effective, since it is less invasive and therefore less dangerous, and it costs less, too. The BARI 2D results confirm that intensive medical (non-surgical) therapy can be an effective first line of treatment for diabetics with heart disease, particularly for those with less severe disease.

Source(s):

William E. Boden, MD, FACC, clinical chief, division of cardiovascular medicine, professor of medicine and preventive medicine, University at Buffalo Schools of Medicine & Public Health, medical director, cardiovascular services, Kaleida Health chief of cardiology, Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore Hospitals, Buffalo, New York.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

January is probably the busiest month for psychics, since everyone wonders what the new year holds. But there’s another way to get a view of what lies ahead, one that doesn’t cost a dime but pays off handsomely by improving the quality of your life… it’s your intuition.

Make Intuition Apart of Your Life

We all have intuitive skills, and you don’t have to be psychic to use them. I’ve learned from experience that once you learn how to tap into this valuable resource, you can be far more effective at work, home and play.

I spoke recently with Judith Orloff, MD, a psychiatrist and author of several books, including her newest New York Times best-seller, Emotional Freedom. She told me that intuition is not as mysterious as it sounds. “Intuition,” says Dr. Orloff, “is a talent some people are born with — like math or music. Some have more of a propensity for it, but everyone can learn to develop powerful intuitive skills to serve them in their lives.” She describes intuition as what we feel rather than think. It’s a continuum that runs all the way from trusting your gut to seeing the future. The intuitive process can be used to help you make all types of decisions, including setting goals, resolving relationship issues, solving career problems and controlling your finances. Intuition can even help prevent illness by warning you when something is just starting to be “off.” It’s the body’s way of telling you it’s time to pay attention.

What Does Intuition Feel Like?

You don’t have to have a high IQ to read your intuition. On the contrary, Dr. Orloff often finds that highly intelligent people have more trouble stepping outside their reasoning minds. Intuition is as simple as feeling up or down in a certain situation, with a particular person or when considering a decision. The energetic feeling you have when you meet a dear friend for lunch is your intuition affirming the circumstances — and if you find yourself stepping back and crossing your arms in a tough business negotiation, that’s your unthinking self sending signals of caution.

How do you know if your intuition is working? From Dr. Orloff’s bookEmotional Freedom, here are some simple signals that your intuition is at work:

Signs that your intuition is saying “yes”…

• Your shoulders are relaxed.
• You find yourself leaning toward the person you are talking to.
• You breathe normally.
• You have goose bumps. (Interestingly, goose bumps can indicate that your intuition knows you have hit the mark perfectly.)

Signs that your intuition is saying “no”…

• You feel your gut tighten and you notice a somewhat sinking feeling.
• You feel a lump or constriction in your throat.
• You find that you are holding your breath — a sign that you’re afraid.
• Your skin crawls or you feel chills.
• Your shoulders tighten or you feel knots in them.
• The hair on the back of your neck stands up.
• You feel drained, with a sense of malaise.
• Existing aches and pains feel aggravated.

Turning Myth of Reality

Dr. Orloff told me that when it comes to learning how to be more intuitive, a common challenge is convincing people that intuition really exists and that it is a power we all have… and getting them to let go of their misconceptions and presumptions about all that “touchy-feely stuff.” In particular, she talked about four common myths and how to overcome them…

Myth: You have it or you don’t.

Truth: Though many call it a “gift,” in reality, Dr. Orloff says, we all have intuitive powers but it takes practice to learn how to use them. The more often you use your intuitive powers, the better you will get at making them work for you. Her pointers:

• Turn off the phones, the TVs, the computers. Dr. Orloff says that you have to tune out the external world to tune in to your internal wisdom. She told me that many people find that listening to music they love helps them get out of their heads.
• Get comfortable. Sit quietly for at least five minutes.
• Relax, focus on your breathing.
• Be neutral.
• Feel your body’s subtle energies.

Myth: Dreams symbolize truth.

Truth: While dreams only sometimes represent actual wishes, they always contain information you can learn from, but it is fairly straightforward. Intuitive dreams are neutral, crisp and clean. They don’t involve much emotion, but information does come through. For example, you might be standing naked in front of a classroom and everyone is looking and laughing at you. Though you aren’t aware of feeling anxious in the dream, such a dream reveals that you do have anxiety.

Myth: Dreams are unconscious — they just happen.

Truth: Dr. Orloff says that you can actively use dreaming to help you make decisions or to resolve difficulties. She suggests posing a question to your dreaming self before you go to sleep. Then, immediately upon waking, write down your dream (some keep a dream journal for this) and ask your intuition how your dream applies to your question. If you dreamed of a lonely situation, for example, search for how you might be feeling abandoned in your life. If you dreamed of sadness, consider what losses may bother you more deeply than you realize. When you have an intense reaction to a dream, it likely points to psychological issues in your life. One way to open yourself to a different perspective is to challenge yourself to be in the role of each and every character in your dream, asking what is relevant to your life.

Myth: Intense focus is key to feeling your intuitive powers.

Truth: The opposite is true — you must be relaxed and open to be in touch with your intuition. Dr. Orloff says that some of the best times to tap into your intuition are “hypnagogic” times — the stage between sleep and wakefulness when you haven’t yet organized your thoughts on a particular topic or activity. Insights that arrive to you in this state are important and truthful ones that come from deep within and aren’t as likely to be shaped by outside forces.

For Non-Intuitive Types

I asked Dr. Orloff how those not accustomed to making intuitive decisions could manage to get in touch with their intuition. She pointed out that most of us here in the Western world are conditioned to live from the neck up, ignoring the rest of our body — but that’s where our intuitive powers live. She advises intense thinkers to practice getting quiet instead of over-thinking. She also advises starting with easy decisions.

If you’re not sure, she said, just try it. Don’t let your logic talk you out of the existence of intuition. Trust yourself and take the risk. Keep on trying — it may take two or three attempts. Learning to use your intuition is a process, she said, and, like any process, you’ll learn from your mistakes.

In the end, Dr.Orloff says, both intuitive and analytical decision making are valid, so she suggests blending them for maximum effect. Listen to your gutand your head.

Source(s):

Judith Orloff, MD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, www.drjudithorloff.com. Dr. Orloff’s popular best-seller, Second Sight, will be published in a new paperback edition by Three Rivers Press in March 2010.

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It can be hard knowing whether or not statins will help you survive the flu season and we are going to clarify what can help you through this flu season.

Avoid the flu season now

At a recent meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, researchers in Oregon made a surprising announcement: Among patients hospitalized with the flu, those who take cholesterol-lowering drugs are less likely to die than those who don’t take them. To me that sounded like a bit of a non sequitur… so I decided to learn more.

Daily Health News contributing editor Andrew Rubman, ND, told me he wasn’t surprised to hear about the results of the study — but that no one should interpret this as a reason to take a statin drug. He pointed out that since profits are plunging for pharmaceutical companies as statin after statin goes off patent, they would love to find a new revenue generator amidst this particular family of drugs. As we well know, these potent medications have equally potent and worrisome side effects. Dr. Rubman told me that there are far better ways to achieve the same immune-bolstering effect.

Anti-Inflammatory? Yes. Safe? No.

In the study at the Oregon Public Health Division in Portland, scientists analyzed data on 2,800 flu patients as part of the CDC’s Emerging Infections Program. They found that during the 2007-2008 flu season, of 801 hospitalized patients who had been taking statins to lower cholesterol, 17 (2.1%) died in the hospital or within the next 30 days. Of the 1,999 patients who had not been taking statins, 64 (3.2%) died.

This makes sense, says Dr. Rubman, since statins have an anti-inflammatory impact which may help destroy flu-infected cells. The problem is, many people on statins also experience troubling side effects, such as muscle pain and weakness, nerve damage, fatigue and memory loss. The longer you take these drugs, the higher the risk of these side effects. Additionally, as even the researchers themselves noted, there were some serious shortcomings in the Oregon study. It was observational rather than randomized and controlled… it did not distinguish among different statin drugs and dosages… and results were presented at a conference rather than published in a more rigorous peer-reviewed journal.

A Better Way

By lowering inflammation, statins may incidentally strengthen your ability to resist the flu, yet there are smarter ways to do this. Dr. Rubman recommends that you enhance immunity, calm inflammation and stave off the flu the safe and natural way — follow a healthful diet, exercise regularly and get as close to eight hours of sleep each night as you possibly can. He also suggests the following…

• Use omega-3 fatty acid supplements. These strengthen immune function and guard against inflammation in your mucous membranes, where flu germs initially take hold. Doses of one gram daily of the combined omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid may be clinically effective.
• Go fish. Two to three times a week, feast on fatty fish from the ocean, such as wild salmon, herring, sardines and sablefish. These are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and low in contaminants, such as mercury and PCBs. Other good dietary sources of omega-3s are walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil.
• See your doctor. Your best bet is a physician who has training in and experience with supplements, and who can prescribe an anti-flu program to fit your individual needs. Supplements Dr. Rubman typically prescribes include vitamin C, vitamin D, antioxidants, zinc, elderberry, echinacea, goldenseal and NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine).

Whatever you do, don’t let drug companies scare you into taking powerful drugs with powerful side effects when safer alternatives exist. There are better ways to stay healthy this flu season and beyond.

Source(s):

Andrew Rubman, ND, medical director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.naturopath.org.

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Anxiety is not something anyone enjoys dealing with and when you always seem to be affected by it finding a way to help may be necessary. There are many ways you can soothe your anxiety and now probiotics are becoming a good option for this.

Soothe anxiety easily now

You already know that chocolate can do wonders for a dark mood — but…yogurt? If you buy the kind that contains active probiotics, it may indeed brighten your spirits. A new study from Canada demonstrated that probiotics can help modulate anxiety.

The study involved 35 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who experienced a host of gastrointestinal problems, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and constipation. Participants were divided randomly into two groups, one taking a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LaS), and the other taking a placebo that was identical in taste and appearance but had no probiotics. Results: After two months, the probiotic group had a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms, while the placebo group did not. The probiotic group also showed a significant increase inBifidobacteria, which are beneficial for gastrointestinal health, compared with the placebo group.

Intestinal Flora and Your Brain

A. Venketeshwer Rao, MSc, PhD, the study author and professor emeritus of nutritional science at University of Toronto, says that there has been skepticism in the medical world about the role intestinal flora plays in the system of gut-brain communication (the enteric nervous system, often called “the second brain”). He said that this study provides evidence that through their metabolism in the gut, probiotic bacteria can boost levels of the mood-elevating chemicals tryptophan (an amino acid) and serotonin (a neurotransmitter). He added that the regions of the brain affected by CFS also house anxiety and depression. “These parts of the brain seem to respond to changes in the microflora, and most of our behavior patterns are controlled by these areas,” he says.

Dr. Rao says there still is much to learn about the role of gut flora. But many, if not most people, could improve their health by taking probiotics. The study used a probiotic drink, but Dr. Rao says that probiotic supplements may be even more effective, depending on what types and how many of the live microbes they contain. He advises looking for a product that contains Lactobacillus Shirota and Bifidobacteria, with 100 to 120 billion live probiotic bacteria.

Source(s):

A. Venketeshwer Rao, MSc, PhD, professor emeritus of nutritional science, University of Toronto.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.