April 2009

• Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
• Soda Pop: Toxic Gremlins in a Can
• Bad to the Core
• Meditate on This

• Cleansing is an ancient health practice for removing impurities and toxins.
• "Nutritional cleansing" improves upon the practice by providing missing essential nutrients.
• Regular practice leads to greater health and well-being.

Throughout history, cultures used natural plants and herbs in a rite of purification and body cleansing that helped support good physical, mental, and spiritual health. The ancients understood that the body was a temple, and the condition of the body was instrumental in achieving states of well being that are all but unknown today. Today, we are able to improve upon this practice by providing the body with missing nutrients that it needs while cleansing. This type of cleansing is referred to as "nutritional cleansing" and is based upon an age old health routine that includes drinking herbal remedies. Cleansing gives the body a chance to rest and regenerate. Cleansing assists the body with its natural ability to remove toxins and impurities. Nutritional cleansing improves upon this ancient practice by replenishing and revitalizing the body with essential nutrients. While cleansing helps to remove impurities from the body, nutritional cleansing speeds up this process by infusing the body with healthy nutrients. Testimonials from those who practice regular nutritional cleansing show that it leads to improved health and a greater sense of well-being. For more information about the benefits of nutritional cleansing and how you can include it in your life, visit www.fit.org.

• There's nothing like a cold, refreshing can of phosphoric acid, bisphenol A, methanol, and benzene. Ahhh...

If you drink soda pop, chances are you are severely deficient in important minerals within your body, which contributes to the loss of bone density, tooth decay, and neurological functions. One of the culprits: phosphoric acid. Bisphenol A, a toxin found in the lining of beverage containers that leaches into soda, leads to a host of illnesses such as cancer, infertility, obesity, insulin resistance, and behavioral effects such as hyperactivity and increased aggressiveness. As sodium benzoate, the preservative commonly used in soda pop, combines with additional ingredients often mixed into soda, it turns into a carcinogen that damages DNA. Think that diet soda containing aspartame is healthy? Think again. When heated beyond a certain point, aspartame becomes a highly toxic substance called methanol that causes tissue damage resulting in symptoms such as headaches, numbness, dizziness, depression. Methanol in the body in turn can break down into formaldehyde, the same chemical funeral homes use to embalm dead bodies! If soda pop is exposed to heat, one of the popular preservatives can digress into a class-A carcinogen called Benzene. Soda pop is a conglomeration of chemicals, additives, sugar, dyes, empty calories and is ultimately lacking any nutrition whatsoever, but this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the impact on our health and well-being. All the more reason to practice nutritional cleansing if you can't give up soda pop. For more information on the health impact of soda pop, see: "Soda Pop - Obesity and Hyperactivity in a Can."

• The core is your foundation for balance.
• A weak core makes you prone to muscle injury.
• A strong core helps keep you fit, even into old age.

You've probably heard it said before, "Strengthen your core!" What in the world is the "core" and why should you strengthen it? "Core" generally refers to your core muscles that are found in the area of your abdomen, mid and lower back, and pelvis. These muscles provide a foundation for balance. They stabilize your spine and work together to keep your trunk stable while your arms and legs move about. The stronger they are, the better your balance, and the more dynamic your arm and leg movements can be. Strong core muscles hold your body upright and they keep your back healthy. Whether it is something as simple as bending down to tie your shoe or extremely dynamic such as the swing of a Major League baseball player, strong core muscles make it easier for you to do most physical activities. A weak core can make you prone to bad posture and lower back pain. With a weak core, other muscles have to take up the slack which makes you susceptible to muscle injury. An added benefit of strong core muscles is that they will help you maintain your fitness well into old age, whereas a weak core will leave you old before your time. With a strong core, you may be old in years, but you won't walk old. To find out what exercises you can do to strengthen your core, visit MayoClinic.com Slide show: Core exercises.

• Studies show that meditation has distinct physical benefits.
• There are significant psychological benefits as well.
• Include meditation in your daily routine -- it's simple.

The idea that meditation is a fundamental support for health may be shocking to many people, however study after study has shown distinctly beneficial physical effects on practitioners. Only in the last few decades has science really dared to explore the effects of this widespread and long used practice. The truly wonderful thing about incorporating meditation into your overall efforts towards health is the clear sense of peace and relaxation you gain by practicing it as part of your daily routine. Some of the physical benefits that can be gained through the practice of meditation include increased blood flow, decreased heart rate, decreased muscle tension, decreased blood pressure, exercise tolerance can be increased, increased production of serotonin which is important to positive mood and behavior, increased pain tolerance, and a boost to the immune system. This is only a portion of the positive physical benefits of regular meditation practice. Some psychological benefits of regular meditation include a greater sense of creativity, less anxiety and depression, increased sense of patience, better memory, feelings of vitality and happiness and a sense of emotional stability. With all these benefits, its worth considering meditation as part of your daily health routine. One method that is similar to many of the most basic types is the simple meditation found here. So take 20 minutes from your hectic day and give yourself the gift of peace and quiet and health.

Physical Fitness - Mental Fitness - Spiritual Fitness