"You don't stop laughing because you're old. You grow old because you stop laughing."

Society tends to regard humor as frivolous; however, few activities are as mentally demanding and intellectually stimulating as humor. Humor helps you develop perspective and take yourself too seriously.

Laughing uses a lot of muscles and stimulates the immune system. It exercises our minds. Humor can keep you mentally fit and add fun and enjoyment to your life.

Research shows that only 30% of longevity is genetic. Therefore, 70% you control with your mind on how you think, with your body on how you keep yourself in shape, and the lifestyle you choose to live.

Learn to relax! Stress is one of the most harmful factors with respect to aging. It creates facial wrinkles; it influences digestion, and the absorption of vitamins and minerals by the body and other body functions, which leads to the deterioration of the body over time.

Loma Linda University researchers found that even anticipating a good laugh could produce health-protecting hormones. Endorphins increased 27% and HGH  (an anti-aging hormone) increased as much as 87% when people even just thought about watching a funny movie or video.

When we laugh, negative emotions are pushed away. It is impossible to be stressed and to laugh at the same time.

Laughter also provides exercise for the body. Laughter stimulates heart and blood circulation, improves lung capacity, exercises facial and abdominal muscles. Laughter exercise can be done regularly regardless of age, or level of physical fitness.

So....here’s a fun quote for you.  "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter"  -- Mark Twain  

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How many of you resolved to eat better in the New Year?  Well, it’s mid January....do you know where YOUR tofu is? 

Eating better, like any new habit, can be achieved one baby step at a time.  Perhaps you’ll just substitute all those designer waters (with electrolytes or flavorings) for real spring water.  Drinking pure water is one of the easiest and best things to do for your body AND may help you lose weight.

The formula is to drink ½ your body weight in ounces of good water per day.  Try lining up your needed 70 or 90 ounces in water bottles and try to finish drinking them by 5 PM.  Maybe sipping through a straw is all you can do, in the beginning.  Maybe you need to add a SMALL (I stress ‘small’) amount of natural flavoring.....such as lemon....to make it palatable.  Eventually, as you eat better and drink more water.....plain good water will suffice.  Note:  Even tap water, with its impurities, is better than no water.

Remember that drinking large amounts of any liquid with meals may dilute enzymes needed to digest that food.  Many people say they drink a lot of water, but it’s at mealtime or in the form of tea or coffee.  A liquid is often treated by the body as a food.  Coffee is not water, flavored water uses your enzyme store and milk turns to a solid in your stomach.

A few other tips to eat better include not skipping any meals, get 30 minutes of exercise throughout the day, try fruits and cut-up veggies instead of that candy bar and substitute whole foods for processed. The more you take care of your body, the easier it will become for your body to naturally take care of you. 
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Be sure you read the label on your probiotics and make sure the probiotic numbers in the Billions.  Also, it’s wise to get a probiotic supplement that can withstand stomach acid....so you can eat it with food.  You may also want to get the kind that already is mixed with ‘bacteria food’ (that makes the good bacteria grow faster) for increased proliferation. Another term that is used for things that help the good bacteria to grow is: prebiotics.

Research conducted at the Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research in Tokyo, Japan and published in the journal Gut Microbes found that certain bacteria can reduce the inflammatory response in the body.  Since inflammation has increasingly been linked with many chronic diseases, effective anti-inflammatories like probiotic bacteria may play an important role in the natural treatment of conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and others.
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Aging is a subject that many of us study and aging seems to be related to antioxidants.

As we getting older, we become more sensitive to the long-term effects of oxidative stress and inflammation on the cellular level. Researchers believe that antioxidants and other age-defying compounds help cells prevent harm from free radicals and reduce the impact of aging.

Age-related changes may be slowed, stalled and even eliminated, by taking foods and drinks that are rich in antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory.  If we consume large amounts of saturated or trans fatty acids... starches, and sugars.... insulin levels surge and quicken the process of aging.

Some foods and drinks include powerful substances called phytonutrients. Some researchers believe that they are able to unlock the key of longevity. Phytonutrients belong to the antioxidant family; they scavenge free radicals, which are toxic chemicals that that play a role in the onset of diseases such as heart disorders, osteoporosis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
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Here are some of our favorite links:

•  OrganicResources.net
•  MarketWithHeart.net
•  Katharine Clark's website
•  VibrantHealthHomeopathy.com 
•  Barbara Swanson:  Eat Light  
• Viktoras’ Costa Rica Retreats 
•  Viktoras Kulvinskas:Raw Food 
•  Russell Mariani:  Healing Digestion
•  Cindy Bertrand:  Decisions & Puppets
•  Liselle Vetsch:  algaepeddler@gmail.com 
• Thomas McCauley:  Cold Lasers for Health
• Margarat Nee:  Pet Training & Health 
• Lisa Kalison:Breast Health & Thermography

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Health Tips, continued.....

Your ability to use the calcium in your system is phosphorus dependent: no matter how much calcium you have, you can only use it if there is enough phosphorus present to go with it.

Any additional calcium may become an excess that can cause a number of problems.  Excess calcium may form hard deposits that irritate soft tissue; or sometimes excess calcium is stored in joints.  Most women are far more concerned about having less calcium than is needed.  When this occurs, it can lead to an excess of phosphorus.  An excess of phosphorus-to-calcium ratio in your bloodstream causes a message to be sent to your body that calcium is needed -- and your body will pull that calcium right out of your bones—exactly what most women are worried about.

So....it's a complex balancing act. These minerals do not work by themselves but work only in relation to each other. 

 This is from the book, Natural Healing with Foods by Nancy Appleton.
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Top Ten Raw Food Tips for Busy People 
1. Prepare larger batches of raw foods
2. Forego machinery (easier clean up!)
3. Eat out – find the best salads, guacamole, fruit plates, etc., near you
4. Frequent the other businesses near your favorite juice bars and health food stores
5. Stash convenience foods (dried fruit, energy bars, apples) at work and in your car
6. Locate raw foods on your daily route, from bananas at convenience stores to salad bars at commercial grocery stores
7. Purchase ready-made foods, like flax crackers, raw cookies, granolas, etc.
8. Wash lettuce and veggies ahead of time and store them in your refrigerator until needed
9. Multi-task while preparing recipes and marinating veggies
10. Memorize your favorite recipes!
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Travel and vacation time need not be hard to digest. Did you know that ....acidophilus gets rid of gas?  One time, when my younger son was in college, we had a rare weekend to travel and go camping near his university in Corvallis, Oregon.

We had just pulled the RV into the wilderness campground, when he let one go.  I said, “Oh no, we can’t be spending several days in this tin can with you having gas!”  I gave him two caps of good acidophilus, and his gas was gone in 10 minutes!  So.....if you’re trapped in a tight space with smelly gas, use the acidophilus.  Get it out of the suitcase and have at the ready!  Activated charcoal works, too, but acidophilus does so much more.
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A diet that is low in enzymes, or that lacks them completely, will push an already stressed pancreas to create digestive enzymes to replace what's missing. It is becoming apparent that the pancreas bears the brunt of attack from a number of poor dietary choices. It is no wonder that more than 26 million Americans, many of them children, have diabetes (often linked with obesity, which has its own set of health problems), and the number is growing at a frightening rate. Fiber is another nutrient that has been removed from many foods.
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Animals....just like humans...need enzymatically-rich, raw foods or supplemental enzymes.  Why feed pets a raw diet? 
 Raw food is what dogs and cats would naturally seek out for themselves in the wild. Raw foods often build the immune system to resist disease and parasites.   

Is raw meat safe? Properly prepared raw meat-based diets are very safe for dogs and cats. Dogs and cats have highly acidic digestive juices and their shorter digestive time does not allow harmful bacteria an opportunity to establish themselves. Commercial kibble pet food is processed at extreme temperatures (212 degrees F. or higher) that destroy both enzymes and amino acids that your pet needs.

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