Can I buy a B, please?
Do you have problems concentrating? Feel tingling in your hands or feet? Have issues with your balance? Feel confused? Forgetful? Find it hard to concentrate? Feel tired and/or dizzy at times?
What if I told you that all you may need is a little B? No, not the stinging type! The yellow powder in a capsule type.
While I’m not a big fan of taking every supplement known to man, there can be some well chosen ones that will make a big difference in how you feel and how healthy you are.
Ideally, you should get a nice balance of what you need from the foods you eat, but, realistically, we know that just isn’t the case a lot of the time.
If you are a vegetarian or even a person who doesn’t tend to eat a lot of meat or eggs, you may not be getting enough B vitamins. In addition, if you are a senior (described as being over age 50, groan!), your body may not be able to absorb enough B vitamins no matter what you eat.
A good multi vitamin is one way you can get enough of any B vitamins you lack. The one I take is called Unbounded Energy, made by New Chapter Organics. I like that it delivers the vitamins via cultured whole food, similar to how I naturally would get them. This is my “insurance,” if you will, that I’m getting enough of what I need.
I also sometimes take an extra B vitamin capsule, especially in the summer because it causes bugs to like me less. I don’t take a mega dose, just a 50 or 100 mg. capsule of a B vitamin complex. B vitamins are water soluble, which basically means your body eliminates what it doesn’t use each day. That still doesn’t mean you want to take large doses you don’t need, though.
It’s a balancing act, but I tend toward a bit extra vs. too little since a B vitamin deficiency often doesn’t produce noticeable symptoms until it becomes serious. If not corrected in time, the problems this causes can become permanent.
Early diagnosis and intervention is, yet again, the way to remain well instead of waiting until major health issues occur. We too often “lock the barn door after the horse is gone” (okay, maybe I do belong in the senior category!) instead of focusing on prevention.
If any of the above symptoms or categories fits you, this may be something you want to add to the routine that keeps you well. Of course, though, check with your doctor or an alternative medicine practitioner to see what is right for your specific needs.
A new life can start today
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~ Maria Robinson
How not to torture yourself to good health
Good health doesn’t have to be torture!
I love teaching people simple, enjoyable ways to boost their health … ways that feel effortless to add to their lifestyle. Which, in turn, makes the whole process so amazingly do-able.
A good example of how I live and teach a healthy, yet completely enjoyable life, occurred last Sunday. After a leisurely breakfast and chat, my stepdaughter and I headed out for a long hike. Not only did we get some nice exercise, we enjoyed beautiful nature, played with my dog and got to chat with some great people.
Like me, my stepdaughter loves hiking. It’s such a nice blend of nature and connection and movement. What’s even better is you can adapt it to fit your needs. You can make it easier or more difficult, shorter or longer.
For dinner that evening, I introduced my stepdaughter to something new — a raw version of the classic Thai dish called Pad Thai. (For a link to the recipe I use, check out my post about raw eating: http://livinginrhymeblog.com/raw-spaghetti-and-meatballs.) She loved it! A simple dinner that’s completely healthy and tasty beyond what you’d expect. I think she was surprised how easy and delicious a raw meal could be.
Her interest in eating raw grew even more, though, when I remembered I had some raw key lime pie in the freezer that my daughter had made. She generally creates small, bite-sized portions, making it easy to get a few out, let thaw a short time, then serve.
This one really hit the top of the meter for my stepdaughter! Her eyes grew wide open as she tasted one, then pronounced, “This is amazing!!” (and proceeded to enjoy a couple more)
All this encouraged her to try some raw dishes for herself when she returned home. While I don’t eat raw the majority of the time, I do appreciate having this extra choice of a healthy yet delicious meal. It’s something to add to the mix so there’s great flexibility in what to eat. Just like hiking is something to add to the mix to keep active.
This is building health, your way. You try out different things here and there. What appeals most? What do you love and fits your lifestyle? What would you relish doing?
There are so many choices. This isn’t a rigid, cookie cutter approach. There is plenty of room to put together a heathy lifestyle your way. We are individuals; shouldn’t our approach to health be just as unique?
Predict good
“If you keep on saying things are going to be bad,
you have a good chance of being a prophet.”
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
The truly dirty dozen
No matter what else you hear or read, eating organically where you can (bear with me here, I’ll make it easier) is good for your health.
Think about it. How can an item that’s been bathed in toxic chemicals be okay for you? It goes back to my post about eating food you can pronounce. You wouldn’t put laundry detergent on your food so why do you want to eat other chemicals? Pesticides are designed to kill things.
It’s not actually about dirt; it’s about chemicals that can be poison to your health. Chemicals that seep through to the inside of a fruit or vegetable. Can you wash every last bit of a strawberry? No, you can’t; it’s too porous. Can you wash the part of a banana where the chemicals lay? Yep, you can! Better yet, you can peel away the layer that is most toxic.
And that’s exactly how you make this easier on yourself: Where and when you can, buy organic for items you can’t peel or effectively wash an outer covering that you won’t be eating. Think of the banana vs. strawberry image.
Luckily, there are non-organic fruits and vegetables you can safely buy that happen to be naturally more resistant to pests. This means farmers don’t feel the need to soak them in chemicals to produce more. You may need to have a cheat sheet if the removable, in effect, outer layer rule doesn’t apply. But the list is short on what is still pretty safe, even if non-organic.
This basic list includes: cabbage (the outer leaves are discarded), eggplant (the waxy surface sheds chemicals), asparagus (they grow so quickly that there isn’t much time for insects to attack) and sweet potato (it has a natural defense to pests so chemicals aren’t used).
Also safe (think about how the rule applies here) are: avocados, corn, melons (watermelon and honeydew), cantaloupe, grapefruit, mangoes, kiwi, onions, pineapple and sweet peas you shell.
So, what makes up the dirty dozen you want to avoid? Here’s the list:
Celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, and spinach, kale and collard greens.
I know organic produce can be more pricey. But, if you eat, for example, non-organic celery, you can be ingesting 67 pesticides with it. What will all that cause in the long run? If it harms your health, the medical costs are going to impact your bank account much more than the price of organic celery.
I know, though, that it’s difficult. In writing this, I realized that a fruit I just discovered and love — white-fleshed nectarines — probably aren’t great to eat. Groan. But I look at, as always, the reasonableness factor. If I have one or two of these once in a while, that’s not as big of deal as if I intend to eat a couple every day. So, I won’t be doing that.
You do what you can when you have the knowledge. You make the best choices given what you need, your challenges, your bank account, the availability near you and so on. But you can’t make those choices if you’re not aware. I hope this information builds on your awareness and understanding.
