News: October 2012

This one health product will change your life forever!

I was prepared to write a newsletter article on this enlightening discovery, but my husband Jesse beat me to it. He wrote the article for his blog, and I couldn't possibly have said it better myself. Here it is ...

I don't think I've ever directly hawked a product on this blog before (other than maybe some recommendation asides), but this is important. You will not believe how much healthier this product will make you. My wife and I both tried it, and we can look forward to a much healthier life than if we had never used it. And as soon as we had finished our treatment, I immediately lent it to my parents to give it a try, and then I'll loan it to my friends.

This product works directly on the brain, by clearing out toxins caused by today's fast-paced environment. You wouldn't believe how many of these toxins we've all accumulated over our lifetimes - without even knowing it! These toxins include misconceptions, rumors, bad advice, snake oil, old wives' tales, and superstitions. And this product will clear them all away.

That's because it's an educational course, on DVD. (There's an audio version, too - and you can stream them both online as well.) It's one of the Great Courses, a series of lectures by esteemed professors on tons of topics. I've been watching them for years, and I can honestly say this is the best one I've ever seen. My wife and I watched all 24 episodes together, riveted. The content was great, and the presenter, Dr. Steven Novella of the Yale School of Medicine, was excellent.

Debunking myths is a long-time hobby of mine, but the majority of this information was new to me. Unless you're a doctor - and one well-versed in every specialty, who stays up-to-date on recent studies and the scientific consensus - I bet most of it will be new to you, too. Did you know ...

Vitamin C does not help colds. (Try to find a bottle that says it does!)
You don't have to wait after eating before swimming.
Homeopathy is a complete myth.
"Natural" is not inherently better than man-made ... in fact, it's often worse.
Hypnosis is real, but doesn't work the way you'd expect.
Amnesia is real, but people never forget their identities.
Acupuncture is fake, but still beneficial.
Sugar does not lead to hyperactivity.
And what about probiotics? Antioxidants? Toxins? and, and ...

The myths range from harmless to dire. Taking extra vitamin C will not hurt you, for example. But certain of the myths in this series are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people - such as the myth that vaccines cause autism, or the myth that sleeping with a virgin can cure HIV (yes, this is a real belief in some parts of Africa.)

More important than any specific myth is the framework that Dr. Novella shares in how the medical industry works, how doctors think, and how to judge medical claims for yourself. How are drugs evaluated? Are placebos ethical? How does misinformation spread? Does the way we think about specific "diseases" even make sense in many cases? And in general, how should we safeguard our own health - and the health of our children and others we care about - when we swim in such a vast sea of competing medical information?

Watch the DVD and find out. If you've read The Secret Peace, you know that in today's day and age, we each finally have the means and the responsibility to investigate truths for ourselves. This has tremendous potential benefit, but it can also be a burden. This course is a huge help. I wish they had taught this in school; I think it should be essential viewing for everyone.

Make your fitness functional!

You probably know that regular exercise helps strengthen muscles, optimize cardiac and lung function, and improve mood. But did you know that there's a type of exercise that can help you specifically with your day-to-day activities? Functional fitness training is exercise that is designed to help you move through life efficiently and safely. Not only does it help you more easily pursue activities like housework, gardening, or lifting your child, but functional fitness training is ideal for preventing injuries that can keep you from being able to engage in such activities.

I personally prefer this style of exercise as it mimics the way our bodies were meant to move - using multiple muscle groups at a time and moving in multidirectional planes. Take the familiar biceps curl, for example. This involves standing in one place with a weight in one hand, and bending your elbow repeatedly. But doesn't it make more sense to combine biceps curls with squats, mimicking the action of lifting something off the floor? In this way, rather than simply strengthening your biceps, you are working your core, spine, arms, and legs. It's just more practical to train your muscles and joints to work together, as they were meant to, rather than isolating a single muscle.

Click here for free instructional videos by a functional fitness training coach. You can do these exercises at home or at the gym. Try it out and let me know how you feel.