Now first of all, since we do live in a crazy world, I am going to rattle off the standard list of disclaimers. The information that is contained in this post is in NO WAY intended to take the place of professional medical advice. It is based solely on what has been heard from other individuals and there are no scientific results that I am able to present to back up the validity of the information in this post. Anyone who pursues any course of action that is related to the information in this post does so at their own risk and in no way will I be held accountable for any outcomes of said action. The information in this post is only intend to convey a possibility and not probability. You the reader will be responsible for your actions and making your own conclusions. This is for information and entertainment only.
But don't let the first paragraph be a downer for you. This could actually be very exciting!
Back when I was living in Washington state, I watched a movie called "Medicine Man" starring Sean Connery & Lorraine Braco. The plot centered around an eccentric doctor who took up residence in the Amazon jungle studying the medicinal benefits that could be realized from the plants in the rain forest. This combined with my experiences from learning about my father's belief in Native American mysticism spiked my interest in what I currently refer to as "Mother Nature's medicine chest." In my studies over the years I had become aware of various cultures that relied on their knowledge of local herbs and plants to concoct various remedies for a wide spectrum of ailments.
Recently I acquired a book entitled "The World's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets." Prior to purchasing the book I read an online advertisement containing an endorsement by Hugh Downs ( the broadcaster from the TV show "20/20") whom I had come to respect. This came after reading another book by Kevin Trudeau entitled "Health Secrets They Don't Want You To Know About." What really caught my attention in the first book was the reference to cinnamon as a possible remedy for helping to control diabetes. It described how it was able to regulate glucose in the body. Wow! I thought. This sounds pretty amazing. Why had I not heard more mention of this? The only things that I had heard of up to that point for the control of diabetes were getting proper amounts of exercise as well as eating a diet that contained a minimal amount of sugars and carbohydrates. Oh yes! Don't forget the insulin shots. Being as how I weigh a bit more than I should, I started to take cinnamon capsules on a daily basis. So far, all the results on my blood sugar checks have been good. I also have been getting more exercise and trying to eat better.
During a recent potluck at my work to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, a dish containing cactus named Nopales was served. Several of the ladies I work with made mention of the benefits from eating nopales stating that it was very good for people with diabetes and also was good for controlling cholesterol levels. Hmmm, hearing the news of this wondrous possibility to me sounded miraculous! A simple to prepare dish consisting mainly of a certain variety of cactus had the potential of yielding life transforming benefits for people's health!! Later on in the day, a good friend of mine who is from India mentioned that a squash type plant known as Bitter Melon also provided benefits that resulted in the controlling of blood sugar levels as well as several other benefits. She prepared a dish consisting of rice and bitter melon slices (they call it "bitter" for good reason!) and I tried some. It did take some getting used to but thanks to the excellent preparation involved, I was able to finish the portion that was served to me. She also introduced me to a product called Bitter Gourd Juice that is from the Indian variety of bitter melon. Following the instructions on the label, I mixed about 15 ml of the extract with a glass of water. The taste was a bit noxious so after mixing it with about 10 drops of lemon juice it was more palatable. For more information on the benefits of Bitter Gourd Juice, go to http://bit.ly/9siqGb I also picked up some nopales at a local Mexican grocery store and took it home. By itself, nopales has a bland taste but when mixed with onions, cilantro and tomatoes, it makes a great addition to a dinner salad. To learn more about recipes for the preparation of nopales, go to http://bit.ly/9w5E00.
But just imagine! Here are three natural products that are easily obtained in a health food or ethnic grocery store and the potential benefits for those who have diabetes are enormous! Now granted, I myself have not conducted in experiments in measuring blood sugar levels both before and after consuming these products but the substantial amount of information relating to this makes it warrant further investigation. Other factors that could effect sugar level results would be diet, exercise and overall physical condition.
If you are one who does suffer from diabetes and have difficulty with controlling blood sugar, I encourage you to conduct your own research and see what conclusions you arrive at. As always, consult with your health care professional should you have questions.
May the abundant benefits of nature be yours!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
It's nice when...............the kids come home for a visit.
Earlier this year, my son began attending Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He is the youngest of our two children so needless to say, my wife and I joined the "empty nesters" club. I must say it was a bit of an adjustment and we made sure that we kept in touch with him on a regular basis to keep abreast of how things were going. After several weeks had passed my wife and I decided that we would have to take a trip to go visit him and we received a call that he had already made plans to come down to visit for the weekend and would be getting a ride with some friends. His mother as well as father were definitely smiling!
At about 4:30 we heard a knock on the door and there he was. He was carrying a small backpack, wearing his hat on backwards and definitely in need of a shave. Adding to that, we could see that he was in the process of recovering from a mohawk haircut. But hey, I guess that college is a time where everyone gets to experience something new now and then. Almost immediately he headed to the refrigerator and commented on how full it was compared to the one in his dorm room and we all sat down for a visit. Evan mentioned that things were going well and that he was enjoying college life. I must say that I am impressed with the all the different things that Humboldt State has to offer its students. He let us know which classes he was enjoying and that he was even considering changing his major (not uncommon). After that we took him out to enjoy dinner at one of his favorite Mexican restaurants and upon returning home, he grabbed the keys to his car and went to go visit some of his high school buddies.
As parents, my wife and I were both glad to see that he was healthy and enjoying the transition to being on his own. I am especially pleased to see that the college experience is turning out to be a positive one but must admit I am eager to see his first grade report. But as with so many other things I am truly grateful that things are going well for my son. It was good to be able to hug him once again. For me this was another reminder to be thankful for what we have.
Tomorrow he will be heading back and we will already be planning for the next time that we can see him. It took some getting used to having to realize that he is free to go where he pleases and does not have to ask his Mom and Dad for the okay to do so. But we know that he has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he his doing. I am proud to be his father.
At about 4:30 we heard a knock on the door and there he was. He was carrying a small backpack, wearing his hat on backwards and definitely in need of a shave. Adding to that, we could see that he was in the process of recovering from a mohawk haircut. But hey, I guess that college is a time where everyone gets to experience something new now and then. Almost immediately he headed to the refrigerator and commented on how full it was compared to the one in his dorm room and we all sat down for a visit. Evan mentioned that things were going well and that he was enjoying college life. I must say that I am impressed with the all the different things that Humboldt State has to offer its students. He let us know which classes he was enjoying and that he was even considering changing his major (not uncommon). After that we took him out to enjoy dinner at one of his favorite Mexican restaurants and upon returning home, he grabbed the keys to his car and went to go visit some of his high school buddies.
As parents, my wife and I were both glad to see that he was healthy and enjoying the transition to being on his own. I am especially pleased to see that the college experience is turning out to be a positive one but must admit I am eager to see his first grade report. But as with so many other things I am truly grateful that things are going well for my son. It was good to be able to hug him once again. For me this was another reminder to be thankful for what we have.
Tomorrow he will be heading back and we will already be planning for the next time that we can see him. It took some getting used to having to realize that he is free to go where he pleases and does not have to ask his Mom and Dad for the okay to do so. But we know that he has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he his doing. I am proud to be his father.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I have something new to be thankful for !!
In a way, this is continuing from the earlier post I submitted this day but I wanted to write a separate post since it is something that made me smile and feel refreshed.
The day before yesterday I submitted an online order for a product using my PayPal account. After my payment was accepted I received a message saying that the page where I was expecting to activate the download for my product was not found. Needless to say this was a bit frustrating. I submitted a dispute form with PayPal and received a response stating that I was awaiting an answer from the seller. Today I received notice that my account had been refunded! I am grateful for having been reinforced in the belief that there are honest people out in online "cyberspace" that you can go business with.
So today I have nothing to say to this person but "Thank You!" and I hope the issue with your website is able to be quickly resolved!
The day before yesterday I submitted an online order for a product using my PayPal account. After my payment was accepted I received a message saying that the page where I was expecting to activate the download for my product was not found. Needless to say this was a bit frustrating. I submitted a dispute form with PayPal and received a response stating that I was awaiting an answer from the seller. Today I received notice that my account had been refunded! I am grateful for having been reinforced in the belief that there are honest people out in online "cyberspace" that you can go business with.
So today I have nothing to say to this person but "Thank You!" and I hope the issue with your website is able to be quickly resolved!
It's nice when you decide to be thankful.
Over the past couple of years, I have been trying to make a point in my life to be grateful for all that I am blessed with. A few days ago, I took out a notebook and began writing down a list of things that I feel to some degree are an enhancement to my life. I was surprised to see how large the list turned out to be!
For those who may feel that they don't have much to be thankful for, I would like to offer the following advice so you can pause to evaluate if it would have a positive impact upon you. Take a moment to pause, look around you and see what is present. Consider what it would be like if the element you are observing was not there. Granted, it may make no difference in your current life situation but see if whatever it is that you are observing is enough for you to say "Thank you for ___________!". If whatever it is you are observing, whether it be physical, situational, or mental is something that is having a negative effect on your life, see if there is something that you can do about it. If there is, that is AWESOME! Now there is something to be thankful and grateful for!
If at the moment there is nothing that can be done, you can elect to accept the moment as it is. In Joel Osteen's book "Your Best Life Now", he gives some excellent perspective on how to deal with adversity. It helps one to assess the situation and to put things in a new frame of reference. This has helped me on numerous occasions on dealing with situations that I had just as soon not have been presented to me. But oh what a joy it was having that kind of guidance to fall back upon!
There is a myriad of references available on the subject of gratitude and the positive effect that a sense of gratitude can have upon your existence. Try not to focus on what is bad but spend more of your energy focusing upon what is good!
May you be blessed with peace, joy and abundance!
For those who may feel that they don't have much to be thankful for, I would like to offer the following advice so you can pause to evaluate if it would have a positive impact upon you. Take a moment to pause, look around you and see what is present. Consider what it would be like if the element you are observing was not there. Granted, it may make no difference in your current life situation but see if whatever it is that you are observing is enough for you to say "Thank you for ___________!". If whatever it is you are observing, whether it be physical, situational, or mental is something that is having a negative effect on your life, see if there is something that you can do about it. If there is, that is AWESOME! Now there is something to be thankful and grateful for!
If at the moment there is nothing that can be done, you can elect to accept the moment as it is. In Joel Osteen's book "Your Best Life Now", he gives some excellent perspective on how to deal with adversity. It helps one to assess the situation and to put things in a new frame of reference. This has helped me on numerous occasions on dealing with situations that I had just as soon not have been presented to me. But oh what a joy it was having that kind of guidance to fall back upon!
There is a myriad of references available on the subject of gratitude and the positive effect that a sense of gratitude can have upon your existence. Try not to focus on what is bad but spend more of your energy focusing upon what is good!
May you be blessed with peace, joy and abundance!
Friday, September 10, 2010
It's nice when you decide to take control (of what thoughts are in your life).
I was on my way to work this morning thinking about how I would have preferred staying at home. I mean really, who doesn't enjoy taking Friday off and having a long weekend? It then occurred to me that I had scheduled a group meeting with personnel that work for me to discuss various issues. Being as how things at work have been a little hectic I decided that today I would take advantage of being able to meet with everyone and get a bunch of items resolved. So the point of this is that I made a decision on how my outlook was going to be with regard to a specific event in my life.
For every situation that we are presented with, we have the option of accepting it or rejecting it. If we elect to reject what is going on in the present moment the question comes up as to whether or not we wish to do something about it. If it is desired to do something concerning the undesirable situation, would it actually be possible? If the option to change the circumstances of the moment was not available; we could then make the decision to then accept the moment or to continue not accepting the moment. It has been said to the effect that stress is caused by the refusal to accept what is. Personally, I would elect to not have the stress present. Life can be much more difficult when stress is involved. The resulting calmness that can potentially evolve after acceptance is introduced can be relief giving as well as strengthening.
Coming into a state of awareness with regard to the magnitude of control that one can exercise over the mental outlook or attitude on things in general can provide one with a strong sense of direction in the course of their daily life. One example that recently applied to me involved dealing with a telecommunications company that pretty much botched the conversion of my phone service from the prior telephone company. By the time that the technician left my home, my phones had no dial tone, the alarm system was not functioning normally and the Internet service was non operational. By the end of the day I was definitely not in a state of acceptance of the situation. I realized that there was not much that I could do (I was able to restore Internet service), so I accepted the notion that I would have to go without regular phone service until another technician was able to return to our home. It felt good making a conscious, positive-minded decision as to how I would deal with the moment at hand.
So in closing, when presented with a situation that can prove frustrating, ask yourself how you intend to deal with it. You have the option to choose as to whether or not you will accept or reject the scope of the moment. Also, take the time to pause and consider how any given situation can serve to benefit you as well as what can be learned from it.
May serenity and calmness be yours!
For every situation that we are presented with, we have the option of accepting it or rejecting it. If we elect to reject what is going on in the present moment the question comes up as to whether or not we wish to do something about it. If it is desired to do something concerning the undesirable situation, would it actually be possible? If the option to change the circumstances of the moment was not available; we could then make the decision to then accept the moment or to continue not accepting the moment. It has been said to the effect that stress is caused by the refusal to accept what is. Personally, I would elect to not have the stress present. Life can be much more difficult when stress is involved. The resulting calmness that can potentially evolve after acceptance is introduced can be relief giving as well as strengthening.
Coming into a state of awareness with regard to the magnitude of control that one can exercise over the mental outlook or attitude on things in general can provide one with a strong sense of direction in the course of their daily life. One example that recently applied to me involved dealing with a telecommunications company that pretty much botched the conversion of my phone service from the prior telephone company. By the time that the technician left my home, my phones had no dial tone, the alarm system was not functioning normally and the Internet service was non operational. By the end of the day I was definitely not in a state of acceptance of the situation. I realized that there was not much that I could do (I was able to restore Internet service), so I accepted the notion that I would have to go without regular phone service until another technician was able to return to our home. It felt good making a conscious, positive-minded decision as to how I would deal with the moment at hand.
So in closing, when presented with a situation that can prove frustrating, ask yourself how you intend to deal with it. You have the option to choose as to whether or not you will accept or reject the scope of the moment. Also, take the time to pause and consider how any given situation can serve to benefit you as well as what can be learned from it.
May serenity and calmness be yours!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Oh my goodness it has been awhile!!! (since the last post)
A lot has gone on since the last time I submitted a post. My son began classes at Humboldt State University on August 23rd and so far seems to be liking it pretty well. It was a bit of an adjustment having our youngest child move out of the house but the transition has been getting earlier as time progresses. I am just happy that he has been enjoying the changeover to college life without hopefully too many problems. Now my wife and I just have to see how his grades turn out when the first report cards are due!
The main reason for today's post though has to do with a very nice conversation I had on the phone earlier with a gentleman I do not even know. I made his acquaintance on a networking site to which he and I both belong. At his invitation I contacted him on Skype to discuss various topics having to do with online marketing and the information he provided was most helpful. It was nice to see the beginnings of a good working relationship and I am looking to benefit from much of the information that he has to offer. But along with the receipt of such benevolence comes an obligation; an obligation that I will gladly carry out. Whenever someone performs a kind deed for me, I endeavor to "pay it forward" by helping someone else out in return. Right now I am involved with learning about online marketing and whenever I learn something from someone that is related to this, I like to respond by helping someone else who may benefit from the knowledge that I have gained. Over the course of the last few months I have been learning quite a bit about online marketing; mostly from self study but also from my interactions with others as well.
The practice of doing kindness unto others will only yield in rewards and blessings for yourself. As the saying goes "What goes around comes around"! So when some goodness comes your way, keep it going by passing it along to others. This is a philosophy that can apply to all areas of life.
The main reason for today's post though has to do with a very nice conversation I had on the phone earlier with a gentleman I do not even know. I made his acquaintance on a networking site to which he and I both belong. At his invitation I contacted him on Skype to discuss various topics having to do with online marketing and the information he provided was most helpful. It was nice to see the beginnings of a good working relationship and I am looking to benefit from much of the information that he has to offer. But along with the receipt of such benevolence comes an obligation; an obligation that I will gladly carry out. Whenever someone performs a kind deed for me, I endeavor to "pay it forward" by helping someone else out in return. Right now I am involved with learning about online marketing and whenever I learn something from someone that is related to this, I like to respond by helping someone else who may benefit from the knowledge that I have gained. Over the course of the last few months I have been learning quite a bit about online marketing; mostly from self study but also from my interactions with others as well.
The practice of doing kindness unto others will only yield in rewards and blessings for yourself. As the saying goes "What goes around comes around"! So when some goodness comes your way, keep it going by passing it along to others. This is a philosophy that can apply to all areas of life.
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