What's in YOUR milk?

I couldn't help but repost this folks. I grew up on a farm, my mom was a naurotpath, so I'm all about the raw milk idea, but harder to find these day's...but here is a video from one of my favorite naturopath's, Dr. Mercola on they why's of raw milk. Enjoy!

The "why's" of drinking enough water

OK., you know, I know how much water one should be drinking, but do you know the "why"? This is a question asked by many a kids, so thought I'd post a little details of the "why's", so this may clear up some questions out there.

We all know we need no less than 64 oz. of water every day right? That's 8-10 glasses of water depending on how many oz. the glass is. Doesn't seem like much right? HA! Until you start chugging down the first glass and after your done you feel like you could float a river, then your onto glass 4 before noon and the potty breaks start to kick in. Well, if your like me that is, ha ha ha!

The thing is, is your body NEEDS that water just as much as it NEEDS the air you breathe. What you also must understand, is your body will get used to it after some time and you won't have to have those potty breaks quite as often. I'm talking quite the simple gesture on your part to ensure the proper functions of your body, your brain. Did you know that you actually are smarter when you drink water? Yes, no joke here and you know why? Because your brain can actually function more effectively when it is lubricated. That's why people get headaches when they are dehydrated! OK, so there you actually are SMARTER for drinking those 8-10 glasses a day (More if it's over 90 degrees folks)

Now on to your organs. How do you think drinking more water will effect your organs. Let's start with the heart, because it's seriously what keeps us alive, o.k.? Take a look at this:

Want to lower your risk of having a heart attack? Drink more water, and less of everything else, new research reports.

Researchers at Loma Linda University in California found that people who drank at least five glasses of water each day were less likely to die from heat attack than those who drank two or fewer glasses per day.

In contrast, people who drank a lot of other fluids (soda, juice, coffee, tea) were more likely to die from heart attack than those who drank less, with high levels of non-water drinking women associated with more than a two-fold increased risk of death.

Officials at the college said the results of a study to be published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reveal that drinking high amounts of plain water is as important as exercise, diet, or not smoking in preventing coronary heart disease.

"Basically, not drinking enough water can be as harmful to your heart as smoking," said Dr. Jacqueline Chan, principle investigator and lead author of the article.

That's bad, huh? OK, now onto your digestion and metabolism: Digestion & Metabolism
If you're not getting enough water, these functions suffer and don't properly and this may prevent you from losing as much weight as you otherwise would if you were getting enough H2O. One of the definite benefits of drinking water are proper digestion and metabolism. Even mild dehydration can slow down metabolism and cause you to work harder to burn the same number of calories.

Loss of Body Fat
As you begin having success with your weight loss thanks in no small part to the benefits of drinking water, you’ll lose body fat. As a result, your body increases its percentage of water so the amount of water you need to drink increases each day. As you may be realizing already, the benefits of drinking water are part of a cycle. Everything runs smoother and more calories are burned when you have enough water to keep your body working properly.

Curbs Your Appetite
Drinking 64 ounces of water each day will fill you up so you don't overeat. It's the best natural appetite suppressant you'll find.

Now let's move onto your liver and kidney functions: Glycogen Storage
Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate stored in your muscles. It can be used as energy when you're exercising. The more fit you become, the more glycogen is stored in your muscles. Glycogen holds water so the more fit you are, the more water your body will hold and the more water you'll need.
Impaired Liver & Kidney Function: As I said earlier, one of the benefits of drinking water is a properly functioning body. Without enough water, extra amounts of glucose remain in the bloodstream until reaching the liver. The extra glucose is stored as fat. Your body takes water from inside cells in an effort to compensate for a dehydrated state, including fat cells.

The less water you have in your fat cells means less mobilization of fat for energy. One of the liver's primary functions is to turn fat into energy. The kidneys are responsible for filtering toxins, waste, water, and salt out of the bloodstream. If you are dehydrated, the kidneys cannot function properly, and the liver must work overtime to compensate. As a result, it metabolizes (burns) less fat.

Folks, I don't know any other way to get this across to you, but here it is in black and white if that's what you need.

Now, get up of your butt and get to your sink, or your fridge or wherever your water is and DRINK!

Be happy, be healthy and be hydrated!!

What a great day yestday!! Went out exploring for a new private swimming hole up near a really pretty gorge. What a great day to be healthy and active too! We first took the Jeep up a couple of miles on this really bumpy gravel road, then mountain bike up a few more miles all around exploring in the bush :) Hiking where we couldn't bike through the bush is a great time...except for running into this very angry hornets nest ha ha! They we're not happy at all that we had intruded onto their nest. So, I being the slow one treking through the bush decided to be the last one in the group. Low and behold most of them got through ok, except for Shaun who got bit once, as I proceeded to run out of there as fast as I could up rock and through trees as the hornets chasses me biting me at least 3 times...horrible, but still a really great day! :0

Let's do that again!! Next time, we take another way the boy's found, that goes around the bees nest, with some machetes to make a really walkable path to our beautiful, scenic, private swimming hole...yes, life is good!

What do you do for your health?

When going for corn, GO BLUE!

When it comes to corn chips, I am game for any color - yellow, white, or blue. Now, I have a valid reason togo blue. New research indicates that blue corn is more nutritious than its white counterpart.

Researchers from south of the Rio Grande have found blue corn to contain 20 percent more protein than white corn. Not only that, but blue corn also contains less starch and a lower glycemic index, meaning the sugar content of blue corn is absorbed by the body more slowly and provides a steady source of energy, with less chance of creating a blood sugar spike.

I often say, eat for color and now I know this approach to food applies to tortillas and chips as well.

This if from the website www.fitsugar.com and they have some great reading material on health if your interested!

Great things happening...

It has been a great start to the week, things with the Healthy Edge are coming along nicely. I'm learning alot, i'm becoming more comfortable with my place in all of this amazingness going on. I continue on a this path, this journey with a great humbleness now. I wish to be the learner so then I may teach. Teach others how to empower their lives. With this I shall leave you until next time...

Jen