Coconuts

Maybe this is why it is such an important item used in Hindu rituals for thousands of years.

 

Did You Know... . . . that coconuts are one of the wonder foods on earth that amply provides for all human needs?  They can even save your life!    Few people (even fewer doctors) understand how important the coconut is to stabilizing blood sugar; lowering cholesterol; healing; hydration; and even replacing blood plasma in an emergency.    Referred to as kalpa vriksha (Sanskrit for "the tree that supplies all that is needed to live") in ancient India, the coconut palm has been recognized as a top immune booster, antifungal, antibiotic, antiviral and antibacterial remedy for thousands of years all over the world.  Yet, it has only been recently that modern researchers have begun to fully discover the massive health benefits this amazing fruit seed offers.    To give just one example of coconuts' live-saving properties, they were used extensively in the Pacific during World War II.  Since blood plasma supplies were scarce, it was very common for medics to siphon pure coconut water from young coconuts to be used as emergency plasma transfusions for soldiers who were injured.  Since coconut water is nearly identical to human blood, it was suitable for people of all blood types..    Because of its strong antioxidant properties, the coconut can be used to:   ==> Lower cholesterol ==> Improve digestion ==> Ward off wrinkles ==> Stabilize glucose levels ==> Fight off viruses ==> Build cells ==> Regulate hormones ==> Increase thyroid production ==> Lose weight ==> Increase metabolism ==> Fight infections ==> Stave off memory loss ==> Kill bacteria ==> And more!

    Considered one of the most treasured foods of all time, coconut products -- including coconut flesh, coconut water, coconut oil, and coconut cream -- each deliver superb health benefits.
 
   Coconut oil, for instance, is considered the best and safest oil to use for cooking -- even superior to extra virgin olive oil when it comes to giving the body what it needs for optimum health.  Unlike other fats and oils that we  typically use for cooking and baking, coconut oil does not form polymerized oils or dangerous trans fatty acids in our bodies, which can raise our cholesterol levels; clog our arteries and even make our skin sag and wrinkle.  Plus, this ultra-safe oil can give your body important antioxidants that can help build stronger cells and improve your overall health and well being.

   Here are a few ways that you can use coconut products to stave off disease and to recapture the look and feeling of youth:

Coconut Water - The coconut is a natural water filter.  It takes almost 9 months for a coconut to filter every quart of water stored within its shell.  This makes the resulting coconut water completely pure and sterile, which is one reason why it can be used for blood transfusions.

Another benefit of coconut water is the fact that it has the highest concentration of electrolytes than anything else found in nature. This makes it an excellent source of hydration.

Coconut Oil - In addition to being superior for cooking and baking, coconut oil also makes a superb topical oil that can help to naturally rid the skin of dangerous toxins.  It also gives the skin the perfect mix of hydration and antioxidants that it needs to stay healthy, smooth and younger-looking longer.

   Another great benefit of coconut oil is in protecting your teeth from the bacteria that can cause cavities and disease.  Simply rubbing a little fresh coconut oil on your gums and teeth can keep them stronger and healthier than virtually any other dental treatment.

   Most people don't realize that coconut oil can actually help you lose weight!  Yes, simply changing your cooking oil from the unsaturated fat variety to coconut oil can help you lose those extra pounds. 

 Here's why:  Unsaturated fats found in canola, corn and other vegetables oils, as well as margarine  suppress the metabolism, which makes it harder to lose weight -- and easier to gain it.  Over time, this metabolism suppression may result in 20-30 pounds of excess weight that your body cannot get rid of.  Coconut oil, on the other hand, helps to increase thyroid function and boost your metabolism -- 2 important components to shedding unwanted pounds.

Coconut Cream - The best skin treatment product one can use to achieve flawless skin may quite possibly be coconut cream.  Unlike traditional skin creams which can actually introduce fats and oils to the skin that will break it down over time, making it look older, creams derived from the coconut can actually replenish the skin, giving it a more youthful and healthy glow than most other skin care products on the market.

   When it comes to buying coconut products, coconuts are not all created equal.  Wild coconuts are always best, but can be hard to obtain if you don't live in a tropical country.  Whether you are using this wonder food to boost your immune system; increase your metabolism or fight wrinkles, using products from young coconuts will help you reap the most benefit.

   Young coconuts contain the purest unsaturated fat, compared to the fat found in the more mature varieties.  This is why they offer the most rejuvenation properties for the body's tissues.  But how can you tell how old a coconut is?  Young coconuts are usually green in colour and oddly shaped.  The brown hairy ones are mature coconuts, and while they offer a lot of healthy benefits, they aren't nearly as good for you as younger varieties.

   The best place to find young fresh coconuts is, of course, in the markets of the tropics, so be sure to seek them out if you travel to those areas.  Coconut-producing regions export coconuts all over the world, however, so it's relatively easy to find coconuts at your local health food store or Asian grocer.

ARTICLE - ALUMINUM POISONING

ARTICLE - ALUMINUM POISONING

 

As the metal aluminum is present in our food, water supply, and soil, most people suffer from some degree of aluminum toxicity. After years of accumulated exposure and storage of it in body tissues, this poison can have results ranging from brain degeneration to skeletal deformities.

Dangers of Aluminum Toxicity

• It is particularly poisonous to the nervous system with a range of symptoms that can include disturbed sleep, nervousness, emotional instability, memory loss, headaches, and impaired intellect.
• It can stop the body's ability to digest and make use of calcium, phosphorus and fluoride. This prevents bone growth and reduces bone density. Aluminum can also cause conditions which actually force calcium out of the bones. Either of these situations can bring on weakness and deformation in the bone structure with crippling effects.
• Toxicity can also result in aching muscles, speech problems, anemia, digestive problems, lowered liver function, colic and impaired kidney function.

Sources of Aluminum

• Over the counter medications can be one of the largest sources of aluminum:
  • Frequent users of buffered aspirin, such as people with arthritis, could possibly take up to 700 mg of this metal each day. But since aluminum contributes to bone damage, the aspirin actually enhances arthritis.
  • Digestive aides such as diarrhea and hemorrhoid medicines can also contain aluminum. A typical dose of aluminum-containing antacids can contain as much as 200 mg. and an entire day's use can supply 800-5000 mg. of aluminum.
• Aluminum is also often added to hygiene aids such as antiperspirants and douches.
• Food that has been cooked or stored in aluminum pots and aluminum foil is another source. Estimates say that as much as 4 milligrams of aluminum can be transferred to each serving of an acidic food such as tomatoes or citrus fruits that has been heated or stored with aluminum.
• Stainless steel cookware can be a source as well as it is made by bonding the stainless steel with layers of aluminum. My testing and experience shows that after stainless steel cookware has been used for a short period of time, aluminum traces begin to enter the food.
• There are six aluminum salts that have been approved as food additives in the United States. The salts most commonly used are sodium aluminum phosphates. They are added to cake mixes, frozen dough, pancake mixes, self-rising flours, processed cheese and cheese foods and beer (in aluminum cans). Just one slice of individually wrapped processed cheese can contain up to 50 mg of aluminum. It is thought that the cheeseburger may contain one of the highest aluminum contents of any food. Baked goods have approximately 5-15 mg per serving.
• An average sized pickle contains 5 to 10 mg if it has been treated in an alum solution which is commonly done. Alum is a form of aluminum sulfate that is used in the pickling solution to firm up the cucumbers.

Nutritional Support

While the first step in ridding your body of this poison is to avoid aluminum intake as much as possible. The next is to provide your body with nutritional support to give it the strength it needs to detoxify this metal. There are several supplements that can assist in this process. They are Core Level C, Core Level Health Reserve and Core Level Liver.

Detoxification Symptoms

When aluminum comes out of its stored locations in your body it can act as an irritant. For example it has a tendency to irritate nerve endings which can irritate muscles. Therefore, when someone is detoxifying aluminum, there can be discomfort involved. And, since the kidneys are the organs that handle this detoxification, there may be pain in the back, over the kidneys, also.
Because aluminum tends to concentrate itself in the brain, the detoxification process can be accompanied by mental confusion.
It can also cause flu-like symptoms with fever, chills and mucous discharge. The detoxification will run its course and the symptoms will go away. Because any nasal discharge will be toxic, spit it out instead of swallowing it.

Reducing Aluminum Exposure

• In your home, you should replace aluminum or metal cookware with one of several options: Enamel coated steel cookware is a safe option. For frying, old-fashioned cast iron works best, but please avoid the non stick surfaces. Corning ware and Visions cookware are also safe but again please use without the non stick surfaces as they are toxic.
• Do not cook with aluminum foil, and minimize its use for food storage. Never use it to wrap acidic foods (oranges, lemons, tomatoes, etc.) or cooked food that is still hot.
• Use bamboo steamers instead of metal vegetable steamers.
• As nearly all cooked restaurant food has aluminum in it, here are a couple options regarding that. - Reduce your cooked choices of food while dining in a restaurant as raw food has no contact with their cooking utensils. Order salads and cole slaw and juice!
  - If you do eat cooked restaurant food, take 3-6 Core Level C's with the meal. This will help your body move out some of the aluminum before it stores in your body.
• Check the labels of all food, medicinal and hygienic products you buy, avoiding those that have aluminum content.
• Minimize your intake of cheese, particularly processed cheeses.
• Minimize your intake of any baked goods that are not homemade without aluminum additives.

Over to You

While your body can tolerate low levels of aluminum, you must be sure that the level stays low and does not build up. This requires care and continued monitoring. There are tests such as hair/urine/blood analysis that can be done to help you monitor the aluminum levels in your system. Let us know if you need any assistance in getting these done.

 Sanjana 

Women & Their Power

Many believe that women and big politics are not compatible, but history shows that this is not true. We present you a brief overview of the most important female figures in Policy 20 and 21 centuries from the online version of the magazine TIME.

Indira Gandhi, India.

She was a true daughter of the country, brought up and his people and his father, who was the first Prime Minister of India after years of British rule.. Cover of TIME magazine soon after its election in January of 1966 reads: "The poor of India in women's hands." These hand held India in the next decades through many tests: an economic downturn, famine, India's first test of an atomic bomb, civil war in neighboring Pakistan, and education (with Indira), a new state - Bangaladesh.


Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom.

Also known Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher was a woman of high principles, short patience and a fan of whiskey. A housewife from the outskirts into one of the most influential women in the world, and ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher became the first woman prime minister in Europe, and the first British permerom, elected for three consecutive terms. During his 11 years in power it has increased the share of private capital and led to the grave the Soviet Union. Thatcher is as for their personal qualities, and for the achievements in the state field, the most popular British politician after Winston Churchill.


Shirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka.

Fifty years ago Shirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman in the foreseeable history - the head of government. Her victory is so overwhelmed by all that no one knew how to correctly call. "We need to invent a new word" - wrote the London Evening News the next day after Shirimavo elected Prime Minister of Ceylon (then called Sri Lanka). "What's her name? - Regent? "Bandaranaike led the party after the death of her husband, who was slain by a Buddhist monk in 1959 after winning her party in 1960, she took the reins in his hands and rules until 1965. After that she became prime minister twice - from 1970 to 1977 and from 1994 to 2000. Her daughter was the first-ever woman president in 1994, she appointed her mother prime minister for the last time (it should be noted that this appointment was rather a tribute of respect). Shirimavo resigned in April 2000 and died in the same year.


Corazon Aquino, Philippines

After the death of her charismatic husband, pious Catholic widow Corazon Aquino won the people's love and overthrew the dictatorial regime, who was involved in the murder of her husband. Millions of people took to the streets, and in February 1986 Aquino became president. After crushing the attempts of several military coups, Aquino saved democracy in the country - something for which killed her husband. In 1986, Corazon Aquino, was named "Man of the Year" by magazine TIME - the first woman after the Queen Elizabeth 2, has suffered such an honor.


Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan.

Descendant of an influential Pakistani dynasty, Benazir Bhutto went into politics after his father, and died. Young and beautiful, she clearly stood out from the male Pakistani political establishment. Benazir led the country as prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, and both times was dismissed from office by the President because of corruption charges which she vehemently denied. Benazir was assassinated in 2007, when the country was ruled by a military junta. The current President of Pakistan is her husband, who was also accused of fraud.


Angela Merkel, Germany's Angela.

Merkel - an exceptional phenomenon in German politics: the first female chancellor, also grew up in communist East Germany, as well as the youngest chancellor in history. Its underrated on the continuation of decades, but it is not broken. "I myself have never underestimated himself" - she said in an interview with TIME in January 2010 "There is nothing wrong with ambition, and ambition." She took office in late 2005, and 100 days after the poll showed that it is the most popular chancellor of all German history.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia

In April 2006, First Lady Laura Bush America responded to Ellen as "a woman who did not stop working for the good of their country." "Her courage and dedication inspires me and women around the world," said Mrs. Bush magazine TIME. Johnson-Sirleaf, started her career with the membership of the Council of Ministers in 1970, then in the 90's became a senior administrator of the UN, and in 2006 was elected president of Liberia - the first woman president in Africa. She had to sum up years of civil war in the country. Allen vowed to fight corruption and build a brighter future of the country. George W. Bush presented her with a 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Laura Bush said: "Johnson-Sirleaf - a good example of what can happen if the girls get a good education."


Golda Meir, Israel


Called acute languages "the only guy in the Cabinet" Golda Meir was a formidable and odious figure in Israeli politics. Tall, lean, sharp and decisive, it has become for the world's epitome of the Jewish stubbornness. "There are a variety of women - she said once - that did not allow husbands to overshadow much of the horizon". After a brilliant political career, including as Minister of Labour and Minister of Foreign Affairs and several other senior positions, she went to bed, but had returned to politics in the age of 70 years and led the country as prime minister from 1969 to 1974.