July 2018 – Welcome To Mind/Body Connection Hypnosis by Janet Lynas Ph.D., N.H.D.

July 30, 2018 Nutrition

The Myth of a Well-Balanced Diet by Janet Lynas, Ph.D., N.H.D.

What is the myth of a well-balanced diet? We are told that we do not need vitamins, that we can get all the requirements from eating a balanced diet. The myth is, most people do not eat a well balanced diet and the U.S. Food Pyramid” is erroneous in that the base is grains such as breads, rice, cereals, and pasta. As we have learned in our study of the China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the base should be vegetables and fruits. But, with grains being the base in the Food Pyramid, we are loading up on a lot of calories that are often times empty calories. Pasta really does not contribute to nutritious calories or vitamins and minerals. Crackers, chips and white bread certainly do not contribute to our health.

Do any of these grains look very healthy? No, not really. What about people who have grain intolerance or allergies? Corn is nearly impossible to digest both for humans and animals. Let’s face it, the donut, while it taste good is not going to give you the nutritional support to have the energy you will need to get you through the day.

We have talked about diets in past posting, so I will not go into detail on the popular diets. Diet is a four letter word that needs to be eliminated from your vocabulary. “Going on a diet” is a term that sits one up for failure. It suggest that at some point you will “get off” of the diet, cross your fingers and hope that you do not gain the weight back. “Going on a diet” also suggest that one is going to be hungry while on this new diet. We are just setting ourselves up for failure when we do this. So, why do we “go on a diet”? What are the tools we need to have a healthy food source?

If we were getting the nutrients from the foods we eat, then we should not be seeing problems such as osteoporosis. We should be getting the calcium we need for healthy bones from the milk and dairy products we eat. However, we have learned in the China Study that large amounts of milk and dairy products contribute to cancer. Many of the fad diets remove large food groups putting one at danger for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. These diets also put us at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis.

The second myth is that our food has the nutritional value needed to maintain health. This is a grave mistake to think that our food today is as healthy as it was 100 years ago.

The problem with our food supply today is:

Our food travels over a great distance from the farm to market loosing nutritional valve along the way.
Our food is bombarded with the equivalent of up to 233 billion chest x-rays to kill bacteria and add shelf life.
A large portion of our dairy animals are fed genetically engineered bovine growth hormones.

To compound the problem there are environmental pollutions that are affecting our health. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that over sixty thousand chemicals have been dumped or buried throughout our nation and these chemicals are penetration our water supply. Fortunately, certain minerals and vitamins are protective against some of these toxic substances.

A diet rich in carotene-containing foods, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, squash, kale, collard greens, chard and spinach, helps to prevent carcinogenesis and thus radiation-induced cancer. With our food being radiated at the source of packaging and in our kitchens with the microwave, we are ingesting dangerous amounts of radiation.

Buy organic food products as much as possible. When you buy organic you have eliminated a large portion of dangerous health problems. “Organic is expensive!”, I hear you say. So, are cigarettes and the all popular activity of getting a tattoo. If you can afford to smoke and get yet another tattoo, you can afford healthy food.

Turkey Pizza

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped skinned cooked turkey
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°.

Step 2

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley and basil. Remove from heat. Cool completely.

Step 3

Roll dough into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a (12-inch) pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.

Step 4

Spread tomato mixture over crust, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Top with turkey; sprinkle with cheeses. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until golden.

Calories 275
Caloriesfromfat 27%
Fat 8.3g
Satfat 3.2g
Monofat 2.8g
Polyfat 0.9g
Protein 21.5g
Carbohydrate 28.8g
Fiber 1.8g
Cholesterol 49mg
Iron 2.6mg
Sodium 641mg
Calcium 172mg

Recipe from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-pizza

July 20, 2018 Natural Health

Obesity, The China Study Part 5 by Janet Lynas Ph.D., N.H.D.

Obesity, I think, is most likely the number one health concern facing Americans today. Everywhere you look, people are overweight. The statistics on obesity are staggering.

What do the terms “overweight” and “obese” mean? The standard definition of body size is the mass index or BMI. It is the body weight relative to body height. Most definitions of being overweight is having a BMI above 25 and being obese is a BMI of over 30.

CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ADULT

If you are obese, you find that doing everyday things is harder. It is difficult to walk at times, your sex life may be less enjoyable because of the physical stress of moving more weight around, sitting in a chair is more difficult if the chair is normal size and you are not, and just trying to tie your shoes can be exhausting. Clearly, no one wants to be obese and I will not discuss the cost in health care that obesity represents. We’ve all heard the “speech” about the illnesses caused by obesity: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and death to name a few.

I would rather focus on a solution. What is the solution? There is no easy solution, but there are guidelines that can help you save your own life. The best solution to weight loss is whole foods, plant-based diet and yes, exercise. Can you imagine the individuals you have seen who practice eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, consuming french fries, chips, and junk foods? It would not be long before they would be obese. Now, imagine the individuals who have eaten the junk foods, eating fresh vegetables and fruits, and you will see their weight reducing and these people becoming a healthy weight.

Mr. Campbell talks about a study in his book, “The China Study”, where obese people were told to eat as much as they wanted of foods that were mostly low-fat, whole-food and plant-based. In three weeks these people had lost an average of 17 pounds.

But what about someone who eats plant-based and whole foods and does not lose weight? Let’s look at some possible reasons; the diet is laced with large amounts of pastas and potatoes. These high starch foods are readily digested sugars and starches that are oftentimes very high in fat as well. Add in sweets and pastries and you have defeated the whole purpose of eating plant-based foods for weight management.

The second reason weight loss may be escaping you is that you are sitting on the couch or in your recliner watching TV or sleeping in front of the TV. You have to get up and move. Take a walk around your neighborhood, you may find that you actually like your neighbors.

Third, there are certain people who have a predisposition for overweight bodies making losing weight more challenging. While it may be more of a challenge, it is not impossible to lose weight.

WHY THIS WILL WORK FOR YOU

First of all, forget about counting calories. It just sets you up for failure and stresses you out.

Secondly, don’t expect to sacrifice or deprive yourself of good tasting foods. When you are eating healthy, you are most likely eating a larger volume of food, but it will naturally be lower in calories and made up of complex carbohydrates that take more energy to burn.

Studies show that vegetarians consume the same amount or even significantly more calories than their meat-eating friends, and are still slimmer. Part of the reason they are slimmer, is that they may be more active to help burn the calories. Plant based foods also contain calories that are more readily used by the body and not stored in fat tissues.

So, to sum it up, as Mr. Campbell said, “The diet that helps to reduce weight in the short run needs to be the same diet that treats and maintains health in the long run.”

Hypnosis is a useful tool to help with weight loss. Many people find it gives them the boost that they need to get the weight off and keep it off.

July 14, 2018 Spirituality

I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes Part 10 by Janet Lynas, Ph.D., N.H.D.

Do you want world peace? Really, do you? How would we go about finding world peace when it is hard to find peace within our own soul?

As, we come to a close on the review of the book, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes by Glenn Clark, I want to explore Mr. Clark’s thoughts on world peace.

To attain world peace, we must attain peace within our own soul’s inner spirit. This has to happen before we can attain harmony as a nation, then as a world. Changing individual lives is the first step in attaining world peace. It is true that change starts with just one individual.

The second step is the hardest in that it involves addressing the greed that is involved in economic, educational and religious cooperation. The world monetary system will have to be eliminated as well. Sounds like ‘Star Trek’ doesn’t it?

Third, are we willing to move forward to make sure that everyone’s needs are met? Are we as individuals willing to pool our resources and power to make this happen?

The fourth consideration is, are we willing to give the peace away? Are we willing to put peace ahead of our emphasis on materialistic greed?

In 1993 there was an experiment conducted in Washington, D.C. on just this concept. There were several thousand people who came together to pray/meditate on peace. This was a carefully controlled scientific demonstration carried out between June 7 and July 30, 1993. A week or so after the start of the study, violent crime (HRA crime: Homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults, measured by FBI Uniform Crime Statistics) began decreasing and continued to drop until the end of the experiment. In the end, the crime rate in Washington, D.C. was reduced by 23.3%.

Today, there are several groups of people who are joining together in meditation/prayer focusing on world peace. These groups of people are located all over the world and their efforts are coordinated to meditate at the same time across all time zones. Isn’t it interesting how world affairs are changed when people come together in unity to promote peace for all.

Prayer

I call on the Angel of Peace to help me be an army of one to bring forth peace within myself and this world. I ask that my army of one, grows to an army of billions to bring peace into this world. As, the song says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me…”

July 13, 2018 Nutrition

Vitamins? Minerals? It’s All Confusing! by Janet Lynas, Ph.D., N.H.D.

We see recommendations from the TV doctors shows such as Dr. Oz or The Doctors promoting the newest and latest health fads telling us which vitamins and minerals we should take. They talk about this supplement or that supplement being the greatest miracle in weight loss or in giving one energy. We are bombarded with information claiming to be the latest research on the newest miracle supplement, but how do we wade through all the hype? How do we know what research is based in Evidence Based Practice?

A few years ago there was a big push to drink wine and that it was one of the biggest health benefit that had come along in years. However, if one did a little research, you would find that the wine industry had funded the research program which brought into question how illegitimate the research really was. Also, upon further investigation, there was only one component in the grape that was of benefit. It was not the wine at all, but an element in the grapes.

Let’s take a look at what vitamins and minerals really are. Vitamins are any of a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in small quantities in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the body. Minerals are a solid inorganic substance of natural occurrence needed by the human body for good health.

Vitamins function as enzymes that help our body digest foods. Enzymes break down proteins into essential amino acids which make electrons flow and nerve transmissions possible. Many minerals also function as coenzymes by enabling chemical reactions to occur throughout the body.

Once vitamins and minerals are absorbed by the body, they become part of the cells, enzymes, hormones, muscles, blood, and bones. Some of these vitamins are used immediately and others are stored for use at a later time. The vitamins that are used immediately are called water-soluble and the vitamins that are used at a later time are stored in the fat and called fat-soluble.

Minerals are found in two groups as well. The macro or bulk minerals include calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. The micro minerals include zinc, iron, copper, manganese, chromium, selenium iodine, potassium, and boron. Minerals are primarily stored in the bones and muscle tissues. It is possible to overdose on minerals if you take extremely large amounts.

I’m sure you have heard that taking supplements is a waste of money and that you can get the vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. But, is that true? What kind of foods do you eat? Do you eat a lot of processed foods? Do you eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables? Do you eat mostly take out foods from fast restaurants?

If you are not eating fresh grown vegetables and fruits, then you are not getting the nutrients you need to have a healthy body. On the other hand, it is not necessarily a good idea to take large amounts of vitamins and minerals. Some minerals are stored in the body and it is possible to overdose on some of them.

Having said this, it is difficult to overdose on vitamins and minerals. One would have to take extremely large amounts to do so.

Thousands of people die every year from taking medications both prescriptions and over-the-counter.

Let’s take a closer look at the current prescription drug epidemic in the United States:

In the US alone, an estimated 54 million people over the age of 12 have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons in their lifetime.
Most abused prescription drugs fall under four categories, based on the number of people who misuse the drug:
- Painkillers – 3.3 million users
- Tranquilizers – 2 million users
- Stimulants – 1.7 million users
- Sedatives – 0.5 million users
- Acetaminophen overdoses are also responsible for more than 150 deaths each year in the U.S.

Research involving data from more than 10,500 people who received drugs for poor sleep (hypnotics) showed that “as predicted, patients prescribed any hypnotic had substantially elevated hazards of dying compared to those prescribed no hypnotics” and the association held true even when patients with poor health were taken into account – and even if the patients took fewer than 18 pills in a year.

As you can see OTC drugs are more dangerous than vitamins and minerals when it comes to overdosing and deaths.

In the next posting we will take a look at some of the myths of the well-balanced diet.

Month: July 2018

Ingredients

How to Make It