The top five cancer-causing foods

 

1. Hot dogs
Because they are high in nitrates, the Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium nitrate.


2. Processed meats and bacon
Also high in the same sodium nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.


3. Doughnuts
Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.


4. French fries
Like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl amides which occur during the frying process. They should be called cancer fries, not French fries, said Adams .

5. Chips, crackers, and cookies
All are usually made with white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small amounts of trans-fats.

Soul Satisfying Journeys: Tips for Your Travel

 

Good Morning!

Soul Satisfying Journeys: Tips for Your Travel

Our journeys are about making choices. Whether it is a choice about where to go, how to go or when to go, the choice determines our outcome. Soul satisfying journeys are mindful trips that include self-awareness and a look within ourselves. This pertains to any journey, be it from place to place, action to action or decision to decision. The sum of our choices constitutes our life. The journey we take from start to finish. We may not always make the proper choices, but we are always allowed the ability to make another. No matter how far down the "wrong" road we may be, this road we chose, we chose for a reason. Here in lies life's lessons. Learn the lesson, then make your next choice. This is how we discover the daily journeys in a span of time that is ours and ours alone.

"Life is designed by our soul and spirit as our moment-by-moment opportunity to expand our consciousness."

Tips for a Soul Satisfying Journey

1. The Power of Positive Thinking: Negativity is the root that undermines our free flow of thought. The negative ideas we think can manifest in the words we speak. The minute the words leave your lips, is the minute they manifest. Change your thoughts to positive, uplifting ones. Think hope not hopelessness. Think goodness, not evil. Think joy not despair. Energy follows thought. Program thought to be positive and your energy will reflect it!

2. Networking : When traveling on any journey, take the time to meet those who cross your path. If you believe in Universal Attraction, then your purpose for those you meet will unfold.

3. Find Quiet Time: Turn off the cell phone, power down the laptop, cut yourself off from the constant world of communication. Try doing it for 15 minutes. Then add another 15 minutes. Build your time up to an hour, two hours, perhaps all day. Do you remember time before these communication tools?

4. Find Time To Meditate: Become aware of your breath. Learn to close your eyes, sit comfortable and smell the air around you. Enjoy the sounds of nature or your favorite music. Enjoy the many meditations in the meditation village.

5. Enjoy the Company of Those Around You: If you are on vacation with your significant other, your family or children, give them your full and undivided attention. Not only will you understand your will power but you will truly show your loved ones how important your time is with them!

6. Pamper Yourself : Take this time to enjoy a massage. Take a yoga class or give yourself a soothing bath or spa treatment. Do something for yourself that you would not normally do.

7. Be Flexible: You have a rigid, set schedule at work, with the kids or in your daily routine. Learn a lesson from the willow tree and its ability to bend in the great wind. Where as, when we are rigid like the old oak tree, we can easily break apart under the stress of change. Learn to relax and follow the path unfolding before you.

8. Become More Mindful: Mindfulness is the act of being fully aware of what happens in each moment. Try living in the NOW. Be present. Honor each moment you are given. Acknowledge each task you take.

9. Really Appreciating: what we DO have as opposed to what we would like to have, makes a significant difference. This is always an important element in any journey that is often neglected.

10. Find Happiness in Simplicity: and you will find the greatest joys yet revealed to you. Smile when you talk on the phone. Great everyone you pass by or meet today, with a smile. Appreciate the smell of the air, the warmth of the sun and the laughter in children. Make that the stepping stones of your travels.

"The journey is not finding satisfaction in the end but savoring each moment on the road there."

Late Summer and Chinese Medicine Theory

 

Good Morning!

Late Summer and Chinese Medicine Theory

Late Summer is considered the "dog day afternoons" when in late August and "Indian Summer" are hotter and damper days rich in humidity and a feeling of heaviness in the air. This often parallels the way our bodies feel during this period.

Dampness is associated with the element earth and is most active in late summer. Ailments of excessive dampness can be induced by sudden exposure to fog or mist, immersion in water or exposure to rain, and living in excessively damp locations or climates. The surface pores on the body are open. Because summer is humid, the pathogenic factors, which cause diseases in this season always mix with dampness. The symptoms include excessive fluids in the body with symptoms of abdominal bloating, abdominal pains, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, intestinal spasms, diarrhea, lethargy, lack of thirst, feeling of heaviness, heaviness in the chest or being sluggish and stiff, aching or sore joints - are characteristically heavy and sluggish in nature and tend to block the flow of energy throughout the body.

Damp Heat is a condition of dampness and heat combined with symptoms of thick yellow secretions and phlegm such as jaundice, hepatitis, urinary problems, or eczema.

"Inner-dampness" is caused by excess cold consumption of liquor, tea, cold melons, and sweet, greasy foods. These impede spleen functions.

The Spleen and Stomach

In Chinese Medicine, the spleen and stomach are associated with Late Summer. They belong to the element of Earth. The stomach's function is to rot and rippen food and break it down for transportation. The spleen's functions: transform and transport foods and body fluids to make ready for absorption. The spleen raises our (Qi) energy up. The spleen controls the blood and keeps it in the vessels. The spleen also nourishes the muscles.

Signs and symptoms of poor spleen function include dizziness, pale complexion, low energy, prolapse of organs such as the rectum (hemmorhoids) and uterus. Spontaneous bleeding, muscle weakness and muscle atrophy can all be due to problems with the spleen.
Signs and symptoms of poor stomach function are numerous. Stomach heat manifests as too much heat in the stomach and is represented by bad breath, bleeding or swollen gums, burning sensation in the stomach, extreme thirst, frontal headaches and/or mouth ulcers.

The spleen transforms the ingested food and drink to extract the Qi. The function of transformation and transportation is crucial in the process of digestion and the formation of Qi and blood. If this function is impaired there may be a poor appetite, poor digestion, abdominal distention and loose stools. The spleen separates the usable part of fluids from the unusable. If this process is impaired there can be an accumulation of dampness, phlegm, and/or edema. The Spleens ability to transform and transport can be adversely affected by the excessive consumption of cold drinks and raw foods. The action of chewing prepares food for the Spleen to transform and transport. If Spleen-Qi is abnormal, there may be an impairment of the sense of taste or the presence of an abnormal taste , lack of appetite and the lips may be pale and dry. If the Spleen has heat a person may complain of a sweet taste in the mouth and have dry lips.

The stomach transforms food and drink by the process of fermentation. This prepares the ground for the Spleen to separate and extract the refined essence from food. After transformation in the Stomach the food is passed down to the Small Intestine for further separation and absorption.

The Stomach together with the spleen is responsible for transporting food essences to the whole body, especially the limbs. If Stomach Qi is strong a person will feel strong and full of energy. Stomach Qi also ensures that the Qi of the organs reaches the pulse. A pulse with good stomach Qi is said to be neither weak or strong with yin and yang harmonized and it has a regular, slow beat.
The stomach is responsible for the coating on the tongue. A thin white coating on the tongue indicates the Stomach is functioning properly. The absence of coating indicates that the stomach's function of digestion is impaired. A thick white coating reflects either cold or dampness and a thick yellow coating indicates heat.