Fast Fact Friday #10 - Sugar Effects

Hey, Guys!

Here's to another fast fact Friday. Fast fact Fridays are about sharing quick tips and tricks regarding things that we can do or simply know in order to improve and/or maintain our health.

Today's fact is about sugar and how it relates to cancer and our overall health. So, let's face it, sugar is a silent contributor to the detriments of our health. Why?

Here are three (3) quick reasons:

1. Sugar turns into fat within our bodies. Thus, resulting in obesity.
2. It suppresses our immune system, leaving it vulnerable to diseases of all sorts, and
3. Sugar feeds cancer cells, giving them the juice to grow stronger and excel faster.

Well, take care guys until next time and have a healthy and joyous weekend and life in general.

Happy Holidays to you all! xoxo :-)

The Healthy Eating Food Guide

I know a lot of folks talk about eating healthy, but the question is do we know how to eat healthy. Have we done the proper research to even know where to begin? Probably not, and it may have to do with the fact that you simply don't know what to look for, especially if you've been eating a certain way for the most part of your life to the present now. Well, I totally understand that, and so I took the time to compile a great list, a guide if you will, that you can follow to point you in the right direction.

So, without any further adieu, here's a quick list of foods and/or categories that you want to avoid:

• Unhealthy sugars and sweeteners of all sorts. For example: Equal and Nutrasweet aka aspartame - very deadly and found mostly in sodas by popular brands like Pepsi and Coca Cola (see my blog post, Aspartame: The Skull And Bones Death Delivery Artificial Sweetener for more indepth info on that). Others are high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), refined agave, Saccharin bka SugarTwin and Sweet 'N Low, Sucralose aka Splenda, Neotame, and Acesulfame potassium bka  Sunett and Sweet One to name a few.
• All white/bleached foods, like white sugar, white flour, and white rice. They have all been severely processed and are therefore, depleted and void of all nutrients (vitamin, minerals, fiber, enzymes, etc.). So, they are not of much use and are doing you more harm than good. You'll want to elect for the more natural form of those foods, whole wheat flour, raw honey, stevia,  coconut palm sugar, and whole wheat rice. Most brown sugar is essentially the same as white sugar that's been sprayed with molasses and are welcome party for feeding cancer cells and suppressing your immune system. Nonetheless, the white color of flour, sugar, and rice is indicative of the fact they have been bleached/refined, meaning taken from their natural and whole state of being into a unhealthy one. Rice, flour, and sugar were brown in color or whole wheat or whole grain to best describe them. So, you'll want to reach for them in their natural state when out shopping at the market.
• Additionally, you definitely want to avoid all foods that are labeled refined, processed, and genetically modified ingredients that are GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). Foods labeled as such or that have come to be known as such should be avoided at all cost. For GMOs, they are the worst, as they have been genetically engineered in a laboratory where they crossbred natural food seeds/cells with that of animals, like snakes, scorpions, rats, and all sorts of beasts, etc. Research has been conducted that shows that GMOs are known to cause digestive disorders, cancer, and infertility in many. As for refined foods, they have gone through a rigorous heating process where the cellular structure of the food has been broken down, unrecognizable to the body's digestive system. It's very much like what is done when you microwave your foods. Again, heat processing of foods leaves them void of vital nutrients, maybe not all but definitely some of those nutrients. So, it really all depends on what you're using them for and if the ingredients that make up the products are healthy, then I really don't see a threat with that exception. For example, fractionated coconut oil vs. raw organic and pure virgin coconut oil. The difference of the two is that fractionated coconut has been refined through the process of heating to have a more lighter finish (less oily) to be used in cosmetic products as a carrier oil that has a indefinite shelf life. It is an extraction process where you're now receiving part of the whole coconut, meaning you're not getting all of its benefits and therapeutic properties had it been virgin/raw - cold pressed. It's acutally not bad if used without chemicals or additives during extraction. Remember, heat processing destroy some if not all nutrients within foods. 
• Sodas, sports/energy drinks, juices, and junk foods, like chips made from GMO corn - non organic are detrimental to your health. They are comprised of unhealthy ingredients. Sodas like Pepsi, Coco Cola, Sprite, Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Gatorade, and many other are really bad for you because of the unhealthy sweeteners and ingredients used to make them. If they don't make you fat because you may have a high metabolism, they're sure to leave behind their unhealthy residue from bad ingredients used and that over time from continuous consumption of them, will cause serious damage to your health, and with that, one can develop terminal illnesses/diseases like cancer, tumor, fibers, nervous system issues, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Energy drinks, like Red Bull are loaded with just that, "bull cr*p" ingredients and artificial sweeteners, like aspartame that are deadly and that can cause your blood sugar levels to spike, and thus, eventually result in some form of diabetes, kidney and/or liver dysfunctions and/or failure, and Gatorade is one of the worst of all the sports and energy drink out there - yah, not good at all. It's loaded with most unhealthiest of all ingredients. One of the main ingredients in energy drinks is caffeine. It's part of the overall formulation that make-up many of the sports/energy drinks out there today. Caffeine is acidic. Therefore, leaving the body prone to all sorts of diseases when in such an acidic state. Not only that, but "Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system giving the body a sense of alertness as well as dilates blood vessels. It raises heart rate and blood pressure and dehydrates the body." As important, most juices and beverages are loaded with sugar and the worst kinds as mentioned above too. So, you'll want to stick with healthy brands that you may be aware of or simply invest in a juicer or blender and make your own juice and beverages - better safe than sorry. Don't you think?
• All GMO infused foods are to be avoided. You simply don't want to fill up and overload your body's system with genetically modified organisms aka genetic engineering (GE) and genetic modification (GM). They are a serious threat to our health. Again, those sort of foods are engineered in labs by mad scientists who've crossbred food gene with that of animals, like scorpions, monkeys, snakes, rats, alligators, swamp things, l o l, but everything that should not be mixed together, they've done it. It's really sick and debased thinking about it - how someone could be so disturbed and cruel in intent to do such a thing - unbelievable, just evil if you ask me. Some well known GMO foods and brands are: U.S. papaya, tomatoes that are non-heirloom, corn for sure, cottonseeds, canola oil, alfalfa, sugar beets, milk, and aspartame, to name a few. The GMO brands are: the monster producer of GMO of course - *Monsanto*, Kraft, Nestle - boo, Enfamil, to name some of them. See here a more comprehensive list of  GMO Companies. Here's also a great link to a resource that can serve as a great guide to buying non-GMO foods, The Non-GMO Project and the The Non-GMO Shopping Guide.
• Certain cooking oils are really bad for you, especially partially hydrogenated and trans fat oil. Why? Because they have been heat processed or refined with harsh chemicals and additives, that leaves the oils depleted of their nutrients and also lowers the level of HDL (good) cholesterol and raises the levels of (bad) cholesterol, LDL. For instance, oils like canola oil are made from GMO corns, that, as we should now know, are really detrimental to our health. Vegetable oil aka partially hydrogenated oil is another poor quality oil and one that you should avoid. Those oils will clog your arteries and pores when they go rancid and subsequently produce free radicals that do further damage, like causing pre-mature aging and heart diseases and diabetes. If you're going to use oils and fry or cook your foods with them, it's best to use organic/raw/virgin coconut oil. It's loaded with many healthy properties and benefits. See my previous posts about coconut oil, Why Coconut Oil & What You Should Be Looking For To Identify It As Being A Good Brand To Buy and Are You Cuckoo For Coconut Yet?. Other oils, such as pumpkin seed oil, flaxseed oil; of course, raw-virgin coconut oil as mentioned before, avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil, to name some of them that are the better of the bunch out there on the market. Be sure to always look for terms like extra-virgin, unrefined, and/or organic when selecting your oils to use on your body or to cook with.
• Non-Orgnaic Dairy products are so bad for our immune system. It really beats the fight out of our bodies defense stystem. Foods that are known as dairy products are cow's milk and cheese and all foods made from them, like pizza, yogurts, pastries, bread, etc. It's best to find healthy dairy alternatives or substitutes, such as almond, hemp, or coconut milk and non-dairy cheese to make your favorite foods, like pizza and those irresistible pastries: cakes, muffins, cookies, and the likes. If you're having trouble gaining a bloated stomach, yeast or fungus infection, you may want to look more at the dairy and gluten products, like breads that you are perhaps consuming on a regular basis. Making healthier choices with those types of foods will help alleviate any ailments that you might be experiencing. As you may or may not know, dairy products are loaded with growth hormones used to make the cows bigger for greater production, and cheese, comprised of the same harmful hormones, causes inflammation within the body. It pretty much swells and expands while going through the digestive system, never really being fully broken down for proper assimilation through the body's system. If you're going to buy dairy products, you'll want to look for those brands that are labeled organic, free of harmful preservatives and hormones, etc.
• Hormone raised meats of any sort, whether beef, chicken, mutton, lamb, turkey, and/or fish or shell fish. It's utterly important to get the brands that are free of growth hormones, wasn't fed pesticide infested foods, or infused with harmful chemical ingredients and preservatives. Therefore, look for labels that read "Free Range", hormone/pesticide free, etc. The more fresh and pure the meat or fish the healthier it'll be. For fishes, wild caught and deep sea are best, except for shell fishes and shrimps that are loaded with high wattage amounts of cholesterol and they are scavengers of the sea - enough said there - ugh, the things they eat - yuck. You simply don't want to know but maybe you do.
• Last but certainly not least, you'll want to *be cautious* about foods that are labeled "Natural". There are no strict guidelines or regulations by the FDA, like that of Organic (USDA) that ensures that those foods that are labeled natural are actually so, free of pesticides, hormones, harmful preservatives, and GMO ingredients. So, it's wise to conduct your own research before buying a particular non-organic food labeled as natural. Those products with such labeling are often times loaded with harmful ingredients and are deceptively marketed to the public as being in a pure form - natural. 

Now, that we've talked about the foods we want to avoid. Here are the ones that you'll definitely want to have, and they are: water (alkaline) is the optimum best - not a food. It's a liquid but a good mention here. With that, you'll want to test the PH Levels of the brand(s) that you drink and that of your tap water to ensure that you are indeed drinking PH balanced water at a 7.0 or higher. See my post, Infused Water.... You also want to be sure that you buy foods that are labeled with healthy foods keywords, such as  unrefined, cold and fresh-pressed, extra virgin or virgin, raw or fresh; whole wheat, whole grain, and whole kernel - key term there is "whole" of course, and organic. Those type of labeling terms are ensuring that you're getting the good stuff - free of harmful ingredients of all sorts. As for sweeteners, look for the more healthier brands to go with, like coconut sugar and stevia to name a couple. It's also important to eat more organic fruits and veggies, raw nuts and whole grains. Invest also in a great blender and juicer to make power packed toting smoothies and juices. See here my post about smoothies for more info, Green Smoothie Guide.

Well folks, that's all. Remember, when in doubt, research, research, research, and Google does it best.

Peace + Love + a Long Healthy Life! Take care, until next time. Chow! xoxo :-)


Cited sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073
http://action.greenamerica.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=7608&gclid=CIfC9p6EursCFeYWMgodzxoA-w
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/08/what-are-gmos-and-why-should-i-care
http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/nutrition/are-cooking-oils-good-for-you-123273
http://www.caffeineinformer.com/energy-drink-ingredients

The Vagilicious D.I.Y. Vaginal Care Guide

For some, talking about the ultimate private word, vagina, that describes and matches the definition of private than anything else out there, somehow seems forbidden and should only be spoken of in private quarters. Well, you know me, I'm breaking all the rules here, stepping outside of the box, being bold and audacious to talk about the most private aspect of our life as women, our vagina and its care. Ok, so, let's get right to it. Our vagina is the most private of all of our body parts, and it's important to care for it in the most healthiest of ways to ensure that it remains smelling good, looking good, tight, and clean. How do we do those things you may ask. Well, for most, we think of a single shower each and every day as doing the trick as well as douching using over-the-counter products after each menstrual cycle per month, but douching is detrimental to the health of the vagina due to the harsh and harmful chemical ingredients used to make them. Hence, douching tends to strip the vagina of its natural oils and friendly bacteria, leaving you susceptible to the more unfriendly ones and promotes dryness. Thus, you frequently find yourself having issues with yeast infection, vaginitis, which by the way is over production of the unfriendly bacteria within your vaginal walls. Therefore, it's best to become your own D.I.Y. vaginal care guru (Yup, I said it, and you can do it) by whipping up some healthy/good stuff on your own.

So, here are three recipes/methods that I came up with and personally use interchangeably as I see fit in ensuring that 1. It smells good. 2. It looks good/healthy. 3. It retains its elasticity/tightness. And 4. Its cleanliness. 

My first recipe is one involving some key ingredients of:

• Organic Apple Cider Vingear (ACV)
• Probiotics Juice/Powder
• Rose Essential Oil
• Organic Cold Pressed/Unrefined Coconut oil (melted)
• Jamaica's Black Castor Oil (the absolute best)
• Distilled or Alkaline Water

1. For this vaginal rinse, I mix three parts water, w/one part apple cider vinegar. I use the Braggs brand. I then melt it in a pot of hot water and mix 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil to that mix. Next, I add one tablespoon of castor oil, rose essential, oil, and probiotic mango or whatever flavor you'd like juice to the whole mix and shake it vigorously. I then place it in a plastic squirt bottle that I bought from a nearby hair salon or that you can get from a dollar store. I use this mix to wash myself after each visit to the bathroom and/or menstrual cycle. For a more economical daily rinse, you can simply use distilled or alkaline water, with rose water and two tablespoons of vinegar. Either of those mixes will keep things fresh and clean every time. It works like a charm too and leave you smelling great from the usage of the rose essential oil. This mix is great for killing unfriendly bacteria and increases the amount of friendly-bacteria to fight any attack against the vagina's health and PH balance. It also lubricates, tightens, and prevent any chances of having any flair ups of yeast infection or over growth of the unfriendly stuff that leads to vaginitis/vaginosis. As you all know by now, coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-virus, anti-inflammatory, fights cancer (See my previous post, "Why Coconut Oil & What You Should Be Looking For To Identify It As A Good Brand To Buy"). Castor oil is anti-fungal and great for getting rid of warts; thus, fungal infections such as yeast within the vaginal wall. It's also a great lubricant. Use it moderately. Probiotics replaces the friendly bacteria within your vagina to combat the unfriendly ones. Apple cider vinegar cleanses and also tightens the walls of the vagina. Rose essential oil has been found to be affective in alleviating menopause symptoms and in decreasing severity of menstrual cramps. It's also great for dry and sensitive skin and is perfumery or aromatic, making it an ideal oil for the vaginal area.
2. Secondly, I do a bentonite clay detox mask after each menstrual cycle. It's really simple. Just mix 3 tablespoons of  pure bentonite clay, with equal parts distilled or alkaline water and and a teaspoon of tamanu oil in a plastic bowl designated for this purpose and mix until it comes to a paste like texture. (Be sure to keep the bowl in a storage or cubbard in the bathroom, away from the kitchen). Next, scoop a handful of the paste into your hands and apply it to the outer-skirts of your vaginal opening and areas. Let it sit and dry for about 15 to 30 minutes. The clay will have gone to work, pulling out all the bad stuff, balance your vaginal PH, all while tightening the vaginal walls. Afterwards, you'll want to moisturize it with some coconut oil mixed with rose
   
   essential oil. Measurement for this mix is whatever meets the eye. Fyi, Tamanu oil is great for anti-aging, wound infections, septicemia, pneumonia, abscesses, boils, conjunctivitis, diphtheria, infected burns, urinary tract infections, bladder infections, madura foot - which causes the foot’s skin to swell and split, jock itch, ringworm, athlete's foot, scars, leprosy. It has antimicrobial qualities, contains powerful bactericide and fungicide agents, and can be applied directly to skin, undiluted. On the other hand, bentonite clay is powerful and effective. It absorbs toxins and heavy metals/chemicals from the vaginal walls, inner and outer and promotes healthy bacterial balance; thus, it's of a alkaline state of being - the optimum best. However, there are times when it should not be taken or used: Elderly people and pregnant women shouldn’t take or use bentonite clay, and it should not be taken or used within 2 hours of other medications or supplements.
3. Last, squatting and steam distilling your cat, no, not the furry, four legged creature type, but   the hairy and oh so very private one. You do this by squatting over a metal bowl filled with steaming/hot distilled water filled with epsom salt, tea tree or oil of oregano, peppermint, and rose essential oil. The process involves putting all of those lovely ingredients at the bottom of the bowl and then pouring the hot water over them, dissolving the ingredients there within. There's no real measurement for this formula. It's simply whatever meets the eye and that will do the job just right. The step involves placing the bowl in the tub and squat over (not sit or stoop over), 

whereas the bowl is between your legs as you squat. Be sure not to let any part of your skin touch the outer rim or sides of the bowl, as it can burn or scald you a bit. So, be very careful -easy peasy though. Next, cover your thighs/legs with a towel while seated over the bowl to hold in the steam in order to achieve the greatest effect/results thereof it. Stay in that position for about 10 to 15 minutes. The vaporized steam from all the essential oils and the epsom salt will draw out and detox your vagina, its inner and outer walls and surrounding areas of all toxic buildups or residue. Leaving it super clean and well lubricated. This steam cleanse can be done once per month as you see fit.

Be sure to store all containers/bowls used for cleansing yourself in the bathroom, separate from the kitchen containers for sanitary purposes. You'll also want to clean them thoroughly for next use and then store them away, rinsing them with clean water to wash away any storage residue before each use.

Well, give them all a try. See how they work for you and be sure to let me know how it all went. Here's to a well maintained, smell good, super tight, clean, and flexible vagina for the rest of your life.

Take great care of yourselves until next time. :-)

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What's In My Smoothie?

The smoothie sensation has definitely been the talk among many and a daily habit for most. It's a fast concoction of all the daily goodness (vitamin/minerals/essential fatty acids, etc.) that we need in one blend. A great way to supercharge our day each and every day. So, What's in my smoothie today? 

Here it is:

• Goji Berries
• Organic Raspberries
• Organic Strawberries
• Organic Mango Chuncks (frozen)
• Organic Blueberries (frozen)
• Organic Kale
• Organic Fully Ripe/Spotted Banana
• Organic Grapes
• Alkaline Water
• Hemp & Almond Milk
• Extra Boost of Super Foods/Organic Greens Powder

Ok, give a try and let me know how you like it. It's definitely loaded with lots of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power and anti-cancer properties. Enjoy and take great care of yourselves until next time.

PS. Don't forget to like, subscribe, share, and/or comment.