I believe in the importance of organic free-range eggs.  They’re important on many levels because of their nutritional completeness AND because they don’t have the toxins in them that non-organic eggs do.  Yes, there are many wonderful, healthy foods, each delivering antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals we need.  Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish, for example, are foods that each provide some of the vital nutrients you need for a healthy body.   I believe the egg, however, is one of nature’s most perfect and complete foods.

Being “free-range” is important.  It means that the chickens are allowed to roam out in the fresh air and eat a natural diet.  That natural diet keeps them away from most of the growth hormones and antibiotics that are fed to standard chickens which, in turn, puts those same toxins into regular eggs.  When the free-range eggs are also ORGANIC, the toxicity levels are at an absolute minimum.

Organic free-range eggs are a perfect source of protein –  at least 4 studies have shown that eggs are the #1 food source for protein.  They’re also one of nature’s best sources of choline.  Choline is essential for cardiovascular and brain function.  And, according to Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, egg yolks actually help prevent the accumulation of cholesterol and fat in the liver.  This is, of course, the opposite of what many of us have been led to believe about egg yolks and cholesterol.   (I, for one, have always thought that the nay-sayers about egg yolks were missing the boat!)  One secret I use to optimize my health is to eat eggs soft-boiled or poached.  This helps avoid oxidizing the cholesterol in the yolk.

Eggs contain all 9 essential amino acids.  They’re rich in vitamin E and vitamin A.  They have trace amounts of more than 156 vitamins and minerals.  They contain selenium – a cancer-fighting trace mineral.  They even contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are considered to be “super nutrients” for eye health.  And there’s so much more that’s healthy in this wonderful package of nutritional completeness.  So, here’s to the egg — one of nature’s most perfect foods!

All Yogurt is not created equal.  Because of that, it’s important to read labels.  In fact, reading labels may be one of the only reliable ways to ensure that you’re getting truthful information.  Recent lawsuits around false advertising have shown that you can’t rely on manufacturers to tell the truth if they can bend the laws and lie – even about something as simple and fundamentally healthy as yogurt.

Yogurt is a great source of probiotics, the friendly bacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract.  According to Dr. Bernard Jensen, author of Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care, there are 3 primary types of probiotics:

1. Lactobacillus acidophilus which guards the large intestine
2. Lactobacillus bifidus, also known as bifidobacterium, which protects the small intestine
3. Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which travels through the entire digestive system and gives the other two a helping hand.

Probiotics support bowel health.  That’s one of the main reasons it’s especially important to have yogurt after being on a program of antibiotics.  The antibiotics kill all the bacteria in the intestines, both the good AND the bad.  Probiotics replace the good bacteria.

The good news is that there are more and more yogurts available that have healthy ingredients.  The only way to know is, as I said, to read the labels.  The bad news is that many of the most popular yogurts – Colombo Classic (Vanilla), Bryers YoCrunch (Raspberry), and Yoplait Original (Harvest Peach), to name just a few – contain HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and modified corn starch, two very nasty, allergy-exacerbating ingredients to seriously avoid taking in at all.  And, unfortunately, they seem to be in everything!  Even in the Greek Style Yogurt from Cabot of Vermont (honey), you’ll find modified corn starch!

What really got me going, however, was this new marketing campaign by Dannon.  Dannon’s marketing hype is for Activia:  They claim that it’s the “only” yogurt that contains “bifidus regularis”.  It turns out that this seems to be a name they made up for bifidobacterium, then trade marked the made up name only for advertising purposes.  It further claims that Activia “has been clinically proven to help naturally strengthen the body’s defenses when consumed daily”.  That would be true of any yogurt that contained sufficient probiotics (including bifidobacerium).

Blessedly, more and more people are paying attention.  There was a class action suit issued against Dannon in January 2008.  YAAAAY FOR AWAKE, LABEL-READING, RESEARCH-DOING CONSUMERS!  The suit, issued against Dannon Co. Inc. by a group from California, calls them to the carpet for mounting a massive false advertising campaign to convince consumers to pay more for their yogurt.  It appears that Dannon has reached a tentative nationwide settlement contingent upon that if Activia doesn’t help naturally regulate your digestive system after two weeks of daily use, they’ll refund your money.  It seems to me that the point is still missed.

There are MANY brands of excellent, healthy yogurt.  Whole Foods Markets have a HUGE selection of healthy choices.  Brown Cow is an excellent organic brand, for example.  The best way to have yogurt is to have it plain, of course, because there are no sweeteners in the plain version.  However, if you love chocolate like I do, read the labels so that you can satisfy your sweet tooth in a HEALTHY way.  One of the reasons I recommend Brown Cow as a healthier choice, for example, is because it uses evaporated cane juice and fruit juice (pineapple, peach, pear, apples) as sweeteners.  There is NO high fructose corn syrup.

Yogurt is great for you, on general principle.  You just have to make sure that the one you pick is actually made to be HEALTHY.  And the best way to do THAT, is to apply your healthy practice of reading labels to yogurt labels, as well.  The marketing people are getting slicker by the day, so stay on your toes and healthy, yummy eating will stay easy and fun!

Mindfulness is one of the keys to handling stress in a healthy way. Mindfulness is moment-by-moment awareness. It is being fully present to the task you are doing in any given moment. If you are sitting in a meeting and thinking about all the things you need to be doing, such as producing a shopping list, you are not at the meeting. You are at that moment in the future. If you are thinking about a disagreement you had that morning, you are not at the meeting. You are at that moment in the past. Being present in the moment, being mindful, gives us the opportunity to accept whatever each moment has to offer. So much of our stress reactions happen because we spend enormous amounts of time being preoccupied with the past or the future. None of that is where we are in the NOW.

Mindfulness, when practiced regularly, can transform our relationship with life, with our real self, with the present, past, future, and our thoughts and feelings, with other people and with change itself. When our attention is on what is right in front of us, and ONLY on what is in front of us, we can bring all of our resources – who we are, what we know, any external resources that are applicable to responding optimally in the moment – to bear on that moment. No two moments are the same so being mindful to any situation is only about that moment. There is no comparing, no labeling – it just is – A brand new moment, every moment. We are always adapting to the constancy of change. Our resistance to this change may produce stress in our lives. However, this is the usefulness and beauty of being mindful: it gives us keys to embracing the constant changes, supports our ability to live consciously so that our responses are optimized for effectiveness with respect to any given moment; and, ultimately, helps us be in charge of the way we deal with life as it unfolds.

Some years ago I attended a workshop at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston that was advertised as a Prosperity Course. I arrived early. The hotel had very nicely provided a bowl of apples, so I took one and went to sit in the second row on the center aisle. I proceeded to relax – actually space out and enjoy my apple.

The next thing I became aware of was a man standing in front speaking about the workshop. I realized the workshop was about to begin and I still had my apple core in my hand! No problem – I’d just find a nearby wastebasket and throw my apple core away. I noticed that there was a wastebasket right beside the speaker, however, I thought it seemed a bit tacky to go to the front of the room to throw it away. So I stood and prepared to go to the back of the room to find another wastebasket. As I stood and faced the back of the room, I became aware that about 100 people were now seated waiting for the workshop to begin. But more startling was the fact that, behind all the chairs were 8 straight rows with 8 people in each row standing at attention. These were the workshop assistants. Now at first I was a bit stunned by this army of assistants, but still determined to throw away my apple core, so off I marched down the aisle toward the back of the room. As I approached the first line of assistants, someone offered to take my apple core from me. I said “No, thank you,” I’m going to throw it away.” Then someone in the second line offered to take my apple core. Again, I said, “No, thank you, I’m going to throw it away at the back of the room.” As I proceeded past the rest of the lines, someone from each row offered to assist me in getting rid of my apple core. Each time, I declined their offer because I needed to throw away my own used and useless (I might add) apple core.

Finally I made it past the lines of people and stood in dismay. There was NO WASTEBASKET! And as I stood there – you guessed it – another person approached me to take my apple core.

Now I gave it up and, in a bit of a huff, went back to my seat a little unclear as to what had just happened.

At this point, the leader of the workshop came to the podium. She had witnessed my journey to throw away my apple core and this became a very useful, recurring lesson in the workshop. She used ME to illustrate how we’re unwilling to let go of things that are no longer of any value to us, how we actually struggle to hold onto things that are useless, and how we’re unwilling to let others help us.

My apple core represents the things that we gather, the things we hold on to that are no longer useful and yet we allow to control our lives.

Collagen is a type of protein. It is fibrous in nature. It connects and supports other bodily tissues such as the skin, bones, tendons, muscles, and cartilage. Collagen is also present in the internal organs and in the teeth. Collagen can be found both inside and outside of the cells.

There are more than 25 types of collagens that naturally occur in the body. Collagen makes up about 25% of the total amount of proteins in the body. Collagen makes up 70 percent of the skin and 20 percent of the entire body.

Some refer to collagen as the glue that holds the body together, that without it the body would literally fall apart.

Elastin is a protein that coils and recoils like a spring within the elastic fibers of the connective tissue.

Collagen works with elastin in supporting the body’s tissues. Collagen gives the body firmness and strength. Woven within the collagen are the elastin fibers that give the body flexibility. This is very important for many parts of the body including the lungs, bones, tendons, and blood vessels.

Collagen is made when vitamin C converts the amino acid prolone into hydroxyproline. No Vitamin C, no Collagen. The flexibility of collagen and elastin fibers reduces in time due to damage caused by free radicals. Supporting the body with antioxidants, Vitamin, A, C, E, selenium, and many others helps limit the damage.

Foods that boost the antioxidant level in the body and supports the building of collagen are as follows:

Soy products such as soymilk and cheese contain an element known as genistein. Any soy product has genistein and therefore has collagen production qualities.

Dark green vegetables – Vitamin C

Red fruits and vegetables

Blueberries and blackberries

Salmon, tuna fish, and avocados – Omega 3 fatty acids

Cashews, pecans, almonds, and Brazil nuts

Green and Black olives, fresh cucumbers, and fresh stalks of celery

Raw carrots, fresh cantaloupe, and baked sweet potatoes – Vitamin A

Remember to eat a balanced diet and you will provide your body everything it needs to produce collagen. Soon you will begin to notice a difference in the quality of your skin tone, as well as your overall health.

References

Colbin, A, (1998), Food and our bones.

Holford, P, (1999), The Optimum Nutrition Bible.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-collagen.htm