Whether you’re looking to recover quickly from a tough workout that caused DOMs (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), trying to heal as fast as possible from an injury, or you suffer from chronic aches and pains, this regimen will reduce muscle soreness and cut healing and recovery time in half (or less).

Step 1: Perform hot and cold hydro­therapy immediately after your workout or when muscles are sore for any reason. If you’re working out at a gym with a dry sauna, get in the sauna with the temperature as high as it can go for about 10 minutes then get in a cold shower, or, if there is a fairly cold pool, jump in the pool then get into a cold shower.

Step 2: Flooding the body with anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids will rapidly speed healing. The best way to do this is with Dr. Budwig’s Flax and Quark. Eat this once or twice a day. It is absolutely amazing! Just doing this alone will cut recovery time in half.

Step 3: Deep Tissue Repair Oil is an amazing, natural way to reduce muscle soreness. It dramatically improves blood circulation where the tincture is applied, without swelling. It is an excellent pain reliever, and unlike other balms and ointments for muscle soreness, it actually heals, too.

What to Eat: Ginger is anti-inflammatory, and the University of Georgia recently found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain and soreness caused by exercise. This step is actually most effective if ginger has been consumed daily for the last seven days preceding the muscle soreness.

Cherries, and especially tart cherries have been proven in scientific studies to relieve muscle soreness. The studies typically use tart cherry juice. Black cherry juice works particularly well.   A healthy alkaline based diet will go a long way in reducing muscle soreness and preventing muscle soreness as well. Eat right, eat an alkaline based diet, and consume ginger every day, and muscle soreness will be eliminated or dramatically reduced. Read all about cherries here.

How to make the best raw hummus ever!

I wasn’t crazy about raw hummus when I first tried it, I thought the uncooked garbanzo beans gave it a bitter aftertaste. I decided to do my own recipe, and after some experimenting, I am convinced that this is the best raw hummus recipe out there! In fact, I have grown to like this better than any cooked hummus I’ve had.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dry garbanzo beans (soaked, sprouted, and rinsed)
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 carrot, chopped or shredded
• 1/2 cup oil (olive oil, flax seed oil, and coconut oil blend, equal parts)
•  teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper or ground papaya seed
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
• jalapeño pepper, ground cayenne pepper, or other spice (or hot sauce) to taste

Instructions

Soak garbanzo beans for 24 hours (drain, rinse, and change water 4 times within the 24-hour period). You may need to soak them longer. The need to be just starting to sprout before you use them. Beans should be barely sprouted. Rinse beans well before using. In a food processor combine all ingredients except oil, and mix well. Add oil slowly until the desired texture is achieved (may need more or less oil than specified).

All ingredients are to taste, so play around and see what you like best. Coconut oil may be a little strange in this recipe to some, but I don’t taste it when it’s mixed with the flaxseed and olive oil. And the health benefits of coconut oil are why I add it. The flaxseed oil not only has excellent health benefits, it also introduces an additional, distinct nutty flavor to the dish that works well.

If you would like a thinner consistency, or you want to reduce the oil, you can add water.

You can garnish the dish with some cilantro and paprika on top.

Serve with your favorite vegetables and/or chips (raw blue corn kale chips is a recipe I am working on and I’ll bet it’ll be amazing with this), but make sure you throw in some pear slices! I know what you’re thinking, “Pears with hummus? Really?” Yes. I promise you, pears with hummus are simply amazing. You must try it.

Fitness vs. Health – Letter from the Editor

Natural Remedies for Insomnia

How to Breathe

The Body’s Temperature Tolerance

Chemical Dumbing Down Of Society

Is Caffeine Making You Fat?

Ingredients to Avoid

School Lunches

Cold Sores vs. Canker Sores

Dental Fluorodosis

Five Reasons for Sprouting at Home

Dangers in Cosmetics

The Soap and Shampoo Conspiracy

Natural Deodorant

No High Fructose Corn Syrup!

Uses for Baking Soda

Organic vs. Local

Advanced Glycated End Products

Lance Armstrong, seven time winner of the Tour de France, is a great example of physical fitness. But at one point in his life, this world-class athlete was so unhealthy he was ravaged by cancer. Is he healthy today? It’s hard to say. I would bet he’s healthier than the average person, but I would guess he’s not as healthy as he could be. Men who exercise regularly and consume large quantities of bodybuilding supplements and energy drinks are not healthy. Have you ever read the ingredients on some of those protein powders, muscle gain formulas, and weight loss pills? Filled with everything from artificial colors to sugar, these concoctions do not benefit the body.

Steroids are another example of how health and fitness are not necessarily synonymous. With a proper fitness program, steroids can elevate one’s fitness to a level that is tough, if not impossible, for one to achieve by natural means. But, as we all know, steroids are not healthy. Like many perfectly legal performance enhancement supplements and bodybuilding supplements, steroids are dangerous. You may have seen yoga practitioners with acne, runners with seasonal allergies, or ironman competitors popping Excedrin for their headaches. These are not healthy individuals.

Fitness and health can certainly complement each other. And you cannot be healthy without some degree of fitness. But health is about living life without the need for prescription drugs. Being healthy is living without allergies. Living healthy means you don’t get diagnosed with Type II diabetes or arthritis in your forties or fifties and blame your age or genetics. Living healthy is living without aches and pains. Living healthy is taking responsibility for your own health and not blindly putting it in the hands of doctors.

Being both physically fit and healthy is an amazing feeling. Imagine waking up after a great night’s sleep full of energy with no aches and pains, at any age, clear headed, and ready to take on the day. For some people this isn’t possible. But for most people, including a great many who think they have no choice, health is a viable option.

Michael Edwards

Editor in Chief

Eliminate stimulants from your diet. Coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, energy drinks… If you won’t give these up, be sure to limit them to the early hours of the day. Thyroid and adrenal fatigue can lead to insomnia and poor quality sleep, so address those glands if needed. B vitamins are essential to the nervous system and deficiencies can result in disruption of sleep cycles. Take a high-quality B complex vitamin each day. If you do not get daily exposure to sunlight or you live north of Atlanta, Georgia or Los Angeles, California, supplement with vitamin D. If you suffer from regular insomnia please check out How To Heal Your Gut and Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones.

Herbal Remedies and Supplements for Insomnia

To fix the biological clock long term,  diet is key; B vitamins, thyroid health, and exercise are paramount.  But the right combination of the following herbal remedies will knock almost anyone out at least for the first few nights they’re used, without the pharmaceutical side effects.

Tryptophan

Our bodies require tryptophan, an amino acid, to make serotonin and melatonin. It can help you fall asleep and improve your quality of sleep by lengthening the time you spend in deep sleep. In addition, studies have shown an increase in alertness upon waking.

Valerian Root

Valerian root also aids in sleep onset as well as quality of sleep. The best results are found when combining valerian root with melatonin or hops. Take 400-500 mg at bedtime.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland. It does not help with the  length of sleep or sleep quality, but it does help with sleep onset. Side effects may include nightmares and daytime drowsiness. Dosage ranges from 1-10 mg.

Hops

Hops extract is another sleep aid that improves sleep and aids in sleep onset. It works well with valerian extract and the combination may help increase alpha brain waves.

Black Cohosh

Black cohosh minimizes sleep disturbances and reduces irritability and mood swings

Passion Flower

Passion flower clears anxiety and restores the body to a more peaceful state

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is known as an adaptogen that block stress messages in the body, promoting relaxation and peacefulness.

Chamomile flower

Chamomile flower and leaf soothes anxiety and has sedative properties

Skullcap

Skullcap promotes calmness and increases the body’s ability to adapt to stress. It also acts as a sedative for aches and pain

My Own Protocol for Insomnia

Exercise. Anytime I need to get to sleep on time no matter what, I make sure I exercised that day. I set the right sleep environment. If thoughts are swirling in my mind, I write them down. A bedside journal can be a great sleep aid.

Before going to sleep, all the lights should be turned off or covered (those little blue, red, flashing lights on electronics inhibit proper sleep rhythms). Absolute darkness aids in melatonin production. It also helps to have a set bedtime. Make sure your bedtime allows for eight hours of sleep. Get up at the same time every morning no matter what. Even if you can’t go to sleep at the right time, going to bed at the right time and staying up eventually fixes one’s sleep schedule.

Get grounded, and take that time to do some peaceful meditation. This can be especially beneficial to our internal clock if done early morning and just before bedtime.

L-Tryptophan, Shillington’s Nerve Sedative Formula, and some B vitamins will knock me out within a half an hour every time. I like L-Tryptophan better than a melatonin supplement because it increases production of melatonin and serotonin.

Take 1,000 to 3,000 (some need 3k but many people only need 1) mgs of L-Tryptophan with two droppers full of Shillington’s Nerve Sedative.

Shillington’s Nerve Sedative Recipe (or click here to purchase):

2 – parts Valerian Root
2 – parts Lobelia Seed Pods
2 – parts Passion Flower
1 – part Hops Flowers
1 – part Black Cohosh
1 – part Blue Cohosh
1 – part Skullcap
1 – part Wild Yam

A “part” is a measurement by volume.  Blend all ingredients together and make into a tincture using a 50 – 50 Blend of Alcohol and distilled water. For more, see How to Make a Tincture.

A dropperful is considered to be about 1/2 way up the dropper from a two ounce bottle.

Be sure to shake well before each use.

Conclusion

Once you get your biological clock reset, your new sleep habits require discipline, but you will reap the benefits of healthy, restful sleep. The trick to having a set sleep schedule (besides health) is all in the wakeup time. If 7a.m. is when you want to wake up, then that’s when you wake up, no matter what for the next 6 weeks.

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Nerve Sedative Formula
• L-Tryptophan
• Stress B-Complex – Thorne Research
• Ashwagandha Liquid Phyto-Caps – Gaia Herbs
• Shillington’s Cal-Calm Tea
• SleepThru – Gaia Herbs -or- Sleep & Relax – Gaia Herbs
• Vitamin D
• More supplements for insomnia

Further Reading:

• Insomnia – A Comprehensive Look with Natural Remedies
• Signs of Sleep Deprivation
• Why We Need Sleep
• The Glymphatic System – How Insomnia Leads to a Filthy Mind
• Pure Sleep – 11 Tips for Better Sleep
  
• Thyroid Disease Epidemic – How is Yours Doing?
• Natural Remedies for Adrenal Fatigue
• Mental Health, Physical Health & B Vitamins – Nature’s Valium
• Earthing – Touching Earth
• Earthing – Ground Your Body for Optimal Health

Sources:

• What Is Melatonin? – Live Science
• The Best Natural Sleeping Aids – Dr. Whitaker
• Facts and Stats – National Sleep Foundation, DrowsyDriving.org
• Better Brain Chemistry with Tryptophan – Life Extension Magazine

Believe it or not, most people don’t know how to breathe. Of course we all do it, but most of us don’t do it right. With a little practice, proper breathing will become second nature, and it will improve your mental and physical health as well as your stamina.

Improper Breathing

Most of us are rapid, shallow breathers. We raise our shoulders, pull in our diaphragm, and take a breath that fills only the top portion of our lungs.

How to Breathe Correctly

When you breathe properly, your diaphragm, your stomach, and your ribcage expand, not the pectoral area. Fully exhaling is important, too. Remember, you are breathing in oxygen rich air and releasing carbon dioxide and toxins.

Have you ever watched babies breathe? Their stomachs rise and their rib cages fully expand with each breath they take.  Watch and learn.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

Benefits of Breathing Properly

Every cell in our body requires oxygen to survive. Higher oxygen levels increase function and are vital for good health. Many of the most effective natural treatments for serious life threatening diseases focus on oxygenating the cells. The easiest way to get more oxygen into your body and in every cell of your body is to breathe properly.

Proper breathing dramatically increases stamina and mental clarity, elevates your mood, and helps the body detoxify more efficiently (more toxins are released through breathing than through the pores, urination, and defecation combined).

Learn How to Breathe

In ancient martial arts it is said that the student spends months or years learning how to breathe and to heal, before he learns to defend himself.

Practice by expanding your belly while breathing in. Fill your entire lungs with air. Pull in your belly when you exhale. Breathe slow and deep. When you practice this technique, try to take four breaths per minute. Think quality over quantity.  Breathe only through your nose for several minutes. Then inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth for several minutes.

Practice deliberate breathing as often as possible. Use it during exercise, when you’re trying to go to sleep, when you realize you are stressed. And it’s a great tool when you’re trying to hold your temper. Though it will take practice and effort for proper breathing to become a habitual, unconscious act (4 days to 3 weeks), in time, it will become as easy as breathing (pun intended). Learning to Breathe Properly is life changing. Ad squats into your daily routine, check out Cheap and Easy Detox Diet Plan, and thank me in a couple fo weeks 😉

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Lobelia (used for asthma, bronchitis, epilepsy, compromised breathing, and relaxation)
• Shillington’s Huff and Puff Formula (eases respiratory difficulties)

Recommended Reading:

• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

A Sign of Health

A few days ago I turned off the A.C. and opened the windows. The temperature dived as we move into the fall. Last night, the temperature dropped to 43°. Inside I woke up to a house at 48°. But I wasn’t uncomfortable. My hands and feet were as warm as the rest of my body. I went outside with a t-shirt and shorts and was still comfortable.

I wasn’t always like this, but I am comfortable with temperatures from 40° to 103° F. I used to hate the heat. Back when I was out of shape,  I hated to sweat.  It felt toxic, and it was. I was unhealthy and my sweat smelled bad and felt “icky”. I was overweight. Just about anything temperature under 80° was fine with me. At over 350 pounds I had plenty of insulation for the cold weather.

When I lost weight this changed. Hot weather was a bit easier to deal with, as I did not sweat as easily, but cold weather was much more difficult for me. My feet and hands would get cold easily. If it did get over 85° I would be uncomfortable.

The healthier I became the less temperature extremes bothered me. I noticed that a little bit of sweat, even a lot of sweat, feels good. And the colder weather is more comfortable because my blood is healthier, and I have much better circulation now.