Natural Neda

Stuffing yourself, that is!

A bit of indulgence is to be expected on Thanksgiving, but let's not have one day derail all the hard work you've put into eating healthy and exercising the other 364 days of the year, shall we? Follow these tips to prevent you from being completely stuffed this holiday:

• Drink water: Before your meal, drink a tall glass of H20. The water will not only help you feel full and therefore eat less, but also help break down the food in your stomach and keep your digestive system on track.
• Control portions: Chances are your Thanksgiving table will be filled with much temptation. Green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, yams, peas and corn, oven roasted vegetables -- and those are just the side dishes! Clearly, you can't pick and choose, so practice portion control and serve your plate with just a few bites of your favorites.
• Chew your food: The food looks so appealing and all you want to do is eat.  Slow down and chew your foo. Taste the food with each bite, savor it, make it last as long as it did to actually prepare this wonderful meal.
• Enjoy conversation: Though food will bring us a temporary feeling of joy and satisfaction, it's the quality time we spend with family and friends that will keep us warm through the Winter ahead. Take time during your meal to talk and reconnect with the amazing people at your table.
• Keep moving: Be flexible with your fitness routine and work out when able. If you can only fit in 20 minutes on the elliptical instead of your usual 60-minute spinning class, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up -- or worse, not exercise at all. Can't make it to the gym? Try an exercise video on your cable channel or Netflix Watch Instantly or go for a walk with a family member and enjoy your time together.

Are you one of the 25 million Americans who is suffering from a subtype of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder?  Its also known as the "winter blues".  SAD typically strikes around September or October and then fades away in March and April. (Depression on the other hand can occur year-round.)  SAD can be controlled if you take appropriate action.  If not addressed, it can manifest into a year round major depression.

Light therapy

The primary cause of SAD is light deprivation, so light therapy ranks as the first line of defense. Regular use can reset your body clock and increase serotonin.  Recommended about 20 minutes a day at first, preferably in the morning.  If symptoms remain unchanged, increase to 45 min a day.  You should feel the affects with in 2 to 4 days.

Diet and exercise

Dietary changes also can ease SAD symptoms.  Try a high-protein meal to boost intake of tyrosine. Consuming this amino acid in the morning helps boost your energy throughout the day.  For dinner, try eating less protein and more carbohydrates like whole grains to help the brain synthesize serotonin. In addition to improving your mood, increased serotonin may help people sleep better.

You may also want to add more fish to your diet, too, especially cold water types like mackerel and salmon that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. People with depression often have low levels of omega 3s.

 FAT

In the land of the Three Musketeers, the Gascony region of southwest France, goose and duck fat are slathered on bread instead of butter, the people snack on fried duck skin and eat twice as much foie gras as other Frenchmen, and fifty times as much as Americans.

It was no surprise when Dr. Serge Renaud, in a 10-year epidemiological study that included surveys of eating habits, concluded that Gascons eat a diet higher in saturated fat than any other group of people in the industrialized world....But scientists crinkled a collective brow over Dr. Renaud's related findings about this region, which produces much of the world's foie gras, the fattened livers of ducks and geese.  "The foie gras eaters of the Gers and Lot Departments in Southwest France have the lowest rate of death from cardiovascular disease in the country," he said....The basic Gascon in his blue beret would not be surprised.  Standing n his barnyard Mr. Saint-Pe listened to Dr. Renaud's findings as though he were being told the obvious.  "The people in my family live to be ninety years old," he said.  "We cook everything in duck fat.  We have foie gras on Sunday.  Everybody knows this is the long-life diet."

Article by Elisabeth Rosenthal from New York Times 

H1N1

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation.  The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat.  Due to the stature of this epidemic it is almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu, you can do the following:

1. Frequent hand washing.

2. Hands off the face approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of the face unless eating or bathing.

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water.  H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.  Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventive method.

4. Clean your nostrils once a day with warm salt water.  Blow the nose hard prior to swabbing with q-tips dipped in warm salt water.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods rich in vitamin C or supplement with Isagenix C-lyte.

6. Drink as much warm liquids as you can.  This has the same affect as gargling but in the reverse direction.They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they can not survive.

Watch this video on Youtube for further information regarding the H1N1.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the 36 children who died from H1N1 from April to August, six had no chronic health conditions. But all of them had a co-occurring bacterial infection.

The most common co-occurring infection that causes flu-related deaths is staphylococcus aureus. A third of the population carries it, most in their nose or on their skin.

The flu causes upper respiratory damage, which allows the staph to make its way into the lungs.