Wendy Quirk's Extreme Health Secrets!

Our eyesight is one of our most valuable assets, and it’s important to keep our eyes healthy.  Eating an abundance of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables will help slow the aging process that affects eyesight.  Key nutrients include vitamins E, C, beta-carotene, zinc and selenium.  Bilberry is also a known herb to improve eyesight, especially at night.  Another great supplement for improving eyesight is astaxanthin.  It crosses the blood-brain barrier and the blood-retinal barrier to improve circulation into the eyes, reduce DNA damage, and acts as a natural anti-inflamatory.  (See Dr. Mercola’s article for more information on astaxanthin.)  Happy sightseeing!

If you are prone to chest congestion, dry bronchial coughs,  and ear infections, you might want to pick up some mullein.  The leaves and flowers are effective and safe for numerous seasonal respiratory issues.  Mullein comes in a tea, capsule, or tinctures and extracts.  For congestion and dry cough, a dropperful of tincture in a little warm water every four hours will work wonders.   Mullein is not recommended  for young children to take internally, however a few drops of warm mullein oil in the ear is safe for children and will help relieve ear infections.  (As with any supplement, pregnant women should discuss mullein with their doctor before use.)  Mullein is an inexpensive and handy product to keep on hand!

Here is a wonderful quote about stress, and how it affects up physically.  In our crazy world of fast-paced media, we tend to forgot to take the time to wind down.  Peace everyone.

“By quieting the mind, which then quiets the body, and the less turbulent the body is, the more the self-repair healing mechanisms get amplified. In fact, scientists have shown that the better your DNA, your genetic machinery is at healing itself, the longer you live. That’s how meditation lowers biological age.”
Deepak Chopra

Hello and Happy New Year bloggers!  I have made it my New Year’s resolution to reduce my chocolate intake.  Dark chocolate is pretty much the only desert-type of food I eat on a regular basis, but sometimes I get carried away and eat more than a few bites!  I used to use carob, but forgot about it for a few years.  I recently bought a can of ground carob and so far have made brownies and Mexican cocoa.  I had forgotten how great it is.. it tastes a lot like like chocolate and is full of nutrients!  You can use carob in place of cocoa in virtually every recipe.  My next experiment will be carob fudgesicles with almond milk.  I have seen a few recipes online for fudgesicle and there are other healthy foods that can be added, such as avacado.

Here are a few of the amazing benefits of eating carob: improves digestion, lowers cholesterol, antioxidant properties, helps treat diarrhea in children and adults, helps with lung expectorant in smokers, helps asthma patients, is high in Vitamin E, contains Gallic acid (an analgesic, anti-allergic and antibacterial) helps prevent polio, and is rich in phosphor and calcium, used to fight osteoporosis.

http://healthmad.com/nutrition/foods-that-are-healthy-to-heart-12-great-benefits-of-carob/

All I can say is… WOW!! Why not pick up some carob and incorporate it into your desert menu!

One of the key staples in my stash of natural remedies is wild oregano oil.  (I even keep it in my purse.)  If you are wondering how oregano could possibly have so many healing properties, ponder no more.  There is a difference between oregano and wild oregano.  Using wild oregano oil goes back to Biblical and ancient Greece times, used for numerous medicinal purposes.  It acts as a natural antibacterial, and antiviral in the body..research has proved that it is extremely effective in killing a wide range of fungi, yeast, bacteria, viruses, and parasites.  It can be used topically for rashes, warts, boils, athlete’s foot, and toothache pain. Taken internally, it helps fight colds, flu, bacterial infections and kills parasites, among a host of other healing properties.  It is available in oil and capsule form, and there is plenty of information about it online.  The brand I prefer is Oreganol, and is available at most heath food stores.  So why not keep some on hand…I wouldn’t be without it! Happy healing!

According to the U.S. EPA, when we put a product on our skin, the chemicals are absorbed into the organs of our body and can be traced to a specific organ within 30 seconds! I can’t stress enough how important it is to use natural products on your skin.  With the advent of awareness about health, organics, and going natural, there is an abundance of wonderful new, natural product lines for skin, hair, and makeup.  One of the all-time worst things to put on skin is mineral oil, yet it is usually the main ingredient in every mainstream product on the store shelves.  It plugs up the pores, traps in toxins, and eventually makes the skin dryer. There are a number of online sites that list the toxic chemicals in skin care, but I found this particular one (link below) to be simple and easy to read.  I suggest that you gradually replace your existing products with natural ones, since they can be more expensive.  Then purchase what you need one by one.  The long-term benefits are there..you’re worth it!

http://www.auroranova.com/ToxinsReport.pdf

Ideally our digestive tract should contain about 85% good bacteria and about 15% non-beneficial bacteria.  Sadly, due to our consumption of toxic, polluted, and process food and water, it’s about the opposite in most people!  Probiotics are “good” bacteria that we can supplement into our daily diet to help balance out the ratio between good and bad bacteria.  This is important for optimal bowel, digestive, and floral health and balance in the intestinal tract.  Some common probiotics include Lactobacillus acidophilus and bulgaricus, but there is a wide variety of others too.  The most common place to find probiotics is in yogurt.  To me the good benefit of eating yogurt for the probiotic would be cancelled out by the negative aspects of consuming dairy. (See my post on milk).  There are now alternatives to dairy-processed yogurt: for example, you can now find soy yogurt and coconut milk yogurt.  The best way to make sure your digestive track is in balance would be to take a probiotic supplement daily.  You can ask your local health food store sales person about their recommendations, but usually the product contains at least a billion live bacteria.  That doesn’t sound too appetizing does it!!  But, trust me, the difference is amazing! Balance out your system and see the results!

Neroli hydrosol oil is produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree, often used as a facial toner/mister to hydrate, refresh, balance, and regenerate the skin.  Neroli is very effective on mature or sensitive skin and many report reduced redness, fewer lines, and fewer broken capillaries.  Instead of expensive department store products, try this essential oil and get healthier skin!

I am guessing there’s not a soul out there who doesn’t like the taste of carbonated drinks.  Indeed they are delightful, and addicting.  However, they are also one of the all-time worst things that can be ingested.  Aside from the sugar content, dangerous aspartame, and chemical additives, the phosphoric acid (that makes the bubbles) is one of the worst ingredients.  It causes the bones to weaken and leach out calcium.  People who consume soda pop on a frequent basis will most likely have major issues with osteoporosis.  (Other foods that can cause calcium to leach are salt, caffeine, and animal protein.)

Instead of soda,  why not try flavored decaf herbal teas with flavored stevia.  There are a world of options out there now…save your bones!

It is extremely important to buy organic produce whenever possible.  I try to avoid buying fruits and vegetable that have been genetically modified,  or foods ”sprayed with Raid” as much as I can.  Here is an easy way to know what you are buying:  

When you purchase fruit or veggies look for the numbers on the sticker.  If it starts with a 4 (like 4123 for apples) it  most likely will contain fertilizers and pesticides, be radiated, be genetically engineered, or have had long storage times.  If the sticker starts with the number 8,  like 84123 it is genetically engineered, or genetically modified (GMO) food.  If it starts with the number 9  that means it is not GMO, and is organically grown without pesticides.

I think we all know why we shouldn’t consume pesticides, but many of us are not exactly sure about GMO foods.  Basically, it the process of forcing the genes from one species into the DNA of an unrelated species. Those genes produce proteins that can alter the genetic disposition of the plant.  Why is this bad?  The genetically modified crop can contain proteins that have never before been seen in our food supply.  The FDA would normally regulate a new type of food substance, but these genetically modified foods are labled by the FDA as GRAS-  “generally recognized as safe,”as long as their producers say they are.  Seriously??  Thus said, the FDA does not require any safety labels or safety evaluations on genetically modified foods.

Here’s a few more reasons for concern–farmers have reported that animals fed GMO foods became sick, sterlile, or died from consuming GMO food.  Also there is fear that the modified protein may spill over into animal milk and meet, and thus continue to produce that foreign protein in the human body.  There is a lot more information about this topic in this article posted by Dr. Mercola.  It is definitely worth reading!   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/01/refined-foods-are-bad-but-these-may-be-far-worse.aspx

And the next time you are in the store, remember to check those produce numbers!  Healthy shopping!