How To Use a Neti Pot For Sinus Infections

A neti pot is a device to aid in nasal irrigation, a practice of using salt water to flush out the nose and sinus tissues along with excessive mucous, dust, debris, and pathogens. This practice can also reduce swelling of the sinuses and nasal passages.

While you can put water in your hands and sniff it up your nose, use a spoon, or use a bulb syringe, a net pot gives you more control and does not force water into sinuses – it merely flushes them.

To make your own saline solution, use 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to 16 ounces (2 cups) of warm water.

Be sure that you use the following:

Distilled water or boiled water.
Real salt. Sea salt is not a good choice because it might contain traces of algae. Make sure the salt is fine and has no additives (no iodine or flavorings).
Baking soda without aluminum.

Heat the water until it is close to body temperature – around 98 degrees.

Irrigating the sinuses is a very old tradition of Ayurvedic medicine (2,000 – 3,000 years old), a daily practice for yogis. Though we do not recommend daily irrigation, the practice is very helpful at the onset of illness (along with gargling to reduce the number of pathogens in the throat) and throughout an illness if mucus is thick and is making breathing difficult.

To use the neti pot, simply lean over a sink, turn your face toward the hand holding the neti pot, place the spout in your upper nostril, and tilt the pot until the water runs in your nose. The water will run up your nostril and come out the lower nostril. You can direct the stream of water towards sinuses by how you tilt your head. Do both sides gently blowing your nose after each side is completed.

To purchase a neti pot, salt, solutions, etc. see Green Lifestyle Market.

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Staying Healthy In This Toxic World

There’s no question our bodies were not meant to battle the number of toxins we are now exposed to each day. The rise in cancer rates is enough of a barometer to incite fear. We can also find warning in the rise of asthma, autism, ADHD, dementias, and auto-immune diseases. So how do we survive, and better yet, achieve optimal health?

What to eat in a toxic world

First and foremost, eat organic whenever possible. This is such a no-brainer. Why would you want to add herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides to your body?

If you eat meat or dairy, remember you are eating on top of the food chain. Organic is vitally important for meat and dairy foods. If you eat conventional, you are exposing yourself to all of the toxins that animal has accumulated, which include those above plus GMOs, antibiotics, and hormones.

Do not ingest artificial chemicals. In other words, do not eat any food with artificial flavorings, colorings, or preservatives. No BHA, BHT, MSG, GMOs, or trans fats. And if you want your immune system to work right, stay away from processed sugar – all processed sugars. The bottom line is this: eat real food – unprocessed, fresh, organic, whole, nutrient dense food. The best possible diet is for 80% or more of your diet to consist of raw produce, more vegetables than fruit.

Drink clean water -distilled or spring water is best. At the very least, filter your water.

Diet is the most important factor in our survival – it is the basis of good health. Even in a cesspool of environmental toxicity (Okinawa) a good diet results in low cancer rates. Yet these same people immigrate to the United States, adopt a Western diet, and their cancer rates mirror our own.

How to cook and store food

Don’t use a microwave and never cook in aluminum. Don’t use non-stick bakeware of any kind. There is a new breed of non-stick pots and pans, but why risk it? Use cast iron, glass, enamel, ceramic, and stainless steel. Cast iron is the original non-stick pan. If you season it right, cast iron is always easy to clean. Even if food is glued to it, a ten-minute soak in hot water is all it takes to completely loosen the food. A quick scrub and it’s clean.

Don’t cook with high heat, and don’t cook quickly unless you’re boiling, steaming, or using a pressure cooker.

Cook with whole herbs that have superfood qualities like turmeric, ginger, garlic, onions, and oregano.

Don’t cook so often. Prepare raw meals and eat lots of raw produce and big salad with the aforementioned herbs.

Store leftovers in glass, not plastic. Chemicals from plastics leach into food. And do your best to avoid buying food in plastic containers. Again, whole foods avoid the packaging issue so common to processed foods.

Don’t pollute your environment

Whenever possible, surround yourself with non-toxic furnishings, carpeting, paints, etc. But since we can’t always take control of what’s already built in to our environment, the least we can do is avoid adding to our home’s toxic load. Use natural cleaners like vinegar, baking soda, and lemons or purchase toxic free cleaners. Do not use air fresheners. If necessary, use essential oils or boil citrus peels on the stove to freshen the air.

Don’t add toxins to your body through your skin

Our skin absorbs any and everything we put on it. So choose organic skin products – soaps, shampoos, conditioners, shaving cream, lotions, and make-up. Use oils for lotions (like coconut oil or almond oil).

Kill Candida and detox at least twice a year

A bi-annual detox is a necessity, even when you are living as clean a life as possible. There are just too many toxins in the food, water, and air to miss this opportunity to cleanse the body. For more on detoxification, check out Balance Your Eco-system and The Cheap and Easy Detox.

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Flu shot statistics and alternatives

Flu season is upon us. It’s time to decide if you or your children will receive a flu shot this year. After all, 23,607- 35,000 people die from the flu each year, right? You don’t want to be included in this year’s statistics! But are those numbers accurate?

You’re not going to find any clear answers from the CDC. If you start drilling down, searching for the actual numbers of flu victims, flu deaths, and the efficacy of the vaccine on their website, suddenly nothing is clear – except the fact that the vaccine industry is a big business and the CDC does a superior job of hiding actual facts and figures under a mountain of doublespeak.

What are the actual numbers?

No one knows. The CDC uses statistical projections to estimate the number of flu cases based on any illness that may be related to secondary infections caused by the flu.

Why?

States are not required to report flu deaths in adults.
Influenza is rarely listed on the death certificate as a cause of death when patients die of flu-related illnesses.
Many deaths occur weeks after the initial flu infection due to a secondary infection or complications of an existing chronic condition, but most of these people were never tested for the flu!
Tests for the virus must be administered within a week of onset with another test taken later.
False negative test results are common.

So how do they determine the number of deaths due to influenza?

The CDC uses pneumonia along with respiratory and circulatory illness as a cause of death to guess at how many actually died from complications of influenza that was never verified in the first place.

And then, they lump pneumonia and influenza together as one of the top leading causes of death in the U.S.

There are no real facts or figures to tell us how many cause influenza, how many died from influenza, or how effective the flu shot is in preventing the disease.

It is time for the CDC to publish actual facts regarding influenza. They can do this by publishing the following:

What strains of influenza were used for the annual flu shot?
How many actual verified cases of every type of influenza were reported? ?
How many patients were confirmed with each type?
Of these patients, how many of the patients were immunized with the correct vaccine?
How many in each category died?

If this information was readily available to the public, we could decide for ourselves if the risks of catching influenza was greater than the flu shot itself – that is if we were also told the whole truth about the ingredients and the number of vaccine related injuries and deaths.

If you choose to avoid flu vaccination and rely on alternative care for the flu, remember that alternative care for any disease starts with prevention – in other words, a healthy diet and lifestyle. A healthy immune system requires a healthy gut and adequate exercise to circulate lymph throughout the body. Yes, there are tinctures and home remedies to stop viruses in their tracks, but they work the best when you provide the foundation of a healthy lifestyle.

At the first sign of illness, gargle – gargle a lot. Apple cider vinegar is a great choice, but you may need to dilute it at first; it works better if you don’t. Even if you use salt water, gargling reduces the viral load. Eat raw garlic and drinks extra fluids. Avoid all sugar! Sugar feeds bacteria and viruses. Check out Bullet Proof Your Immune System and Detoxify from Vaccinations & Heavy Metals.

6 Great Kitchen Additions for the Healthy Eater

Let’s face it, technology has made many food preparation tasks so much easier. While a mandolin is a thing of beauty, I just can’t seem to get comfortable with it. I’m too sure I am about to lose a fingertip to the blades. Give me a great food processor every time.

If you eat a conventional diet, you open cans, tear open boxes, pop things into the oven or the microwave. But if you eat right, there are a few kitchen gadgets you might truly enjoy. The best possible diet consists of 80% or more raw produce. You can interpret this the simple way – grab raw veggies out of the fridge and eat them. Nothing could be more simple, right? Or the complicated way: you must become a raw chef. I choose the middle ground. I make a lot of salads. A wide variety of vegetables is the preferred eating plan. This means a little prep time. A few gadgets minimize my time in the kitchen.

Food Processor

Most kitchens contain a food processor these days. But is yours a good one? The difference between a cheap food professor and a high end one is surprising. A high end food processor (Breville Sous Chef (16-cup) or Cuisinart Elite (14 cup) are excellent machines. Both have a smaller bowl (the Cuisinart has 2) for smaller jobs and both have seals to keep in liquids, unlike cheaper models. The Breville has an adjustable slicing disk with 24 settings; the Cuisinart, 6 settings.

The large capacity, the multiple disks, the wide mouth, and the ease of cleaning make these machines worth their hefty price tags. (Both are currently listed at $299.00).

Blender

The Vitamix is definitely the top contender when it comes to blenders. It is also the most expensive. But let’s face it, the Vitamix makes nut butters and soups from cold vegetables along with incredible smoothies. It even makes flour out of grains.

Dehydrator

There is a lot you can do with a dehydrator but if your family is trying to kick the chip habit, veggies chips may be your best friend. Kale chips? Zucchini chips? If you bought the Breville food processor, you can make very thin crispy chips. Try flax seed chips, too. And of course you can make dried fruits and veggies. (Bananas? Tomatoes?) along with raw treats such as cookies, bars, and breads. Excalibur makes awesome machines.

Sprouter

Yes, you can grow sprouts in a jar. But it is a lot more fun to grow a whole bunch at one in a self watering sprouter. We park our Freshlife Sprouter on the table and grab sprouts to throw on our meals right there as they grow. You can buy an extra tier to grow twice as many at once!

Spiral Slicer

There are a few brands of spiral slicers or spiralizers out there. I have no idea why someone doesn’t make a serious one constructed out of stainless steel instead of these wimpy plastic ones. None are very expensive; they are all fun. Use spiral slicers to make long strings of veggies in the shape of noodles or ribbons. Very cool for those of us who eat a lot of veggies.

Coconut Opener

If you don’t open coconuts, you have no idea how grateful one could be for a simple kitchen gadget. Without this, opening a coconut is an exercise in both patience and precision as you try to whack the same 4 spots multiple times with a very heavy, very sharp blade. The Coco Jack is a quick, safe, and easy way to open a coconut in seconds.

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4 Steps to True Health

So you’ve decided it’s time to get healthy, but you’re not sure where to start. You know you need to lose weight. And maybe, just maybe, you should stop being a couch potato.

So what now? Prepackaged meals? A gym membership? Less caffeine, chocolate, and alcohol?

There are a hundred things you can do to be a little bit healthier. There are 4 things you can do if you want to become truly healthy.

Eat a truly healthy diet
Detox
Exercise
Get good sleep

The Healthiest Diet

A truly healthy diet isn’t found in a package. It doesn’t have a fancy name. It is a diet that eliminates artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, MSG, trans fats, and GMOs. Stop eating sugar. A full 80% of the diet consists of fresh, raw, organic produce – more vegetables than fruit. It does not include processed, boxed, packaged foods. It is a diverse, organic diet filled with nutrient dense foods and plenty of clean water.

Eat salads. Make big salads (at least 6 cups) with at least 10 different vegetables. Add fresh garlic, turmeric, and fresh cracked pepper.

Detox

It is not enough in this day and age to simply eat the best food. Though diet will always be the foundation of health, our toxic environment requires us to cleanse our bodies of chemicals, heavy metals, parasites, and pathogens twice a year (or more) if we are to achieve optimum health.

Although a full cleanse involves the entire body, the gut is the first and primary focus. The goal is to cleanse the intestinal tract of bad bacteria and Candida and repopulate it with good bacteria. Candida feeds on our body’s tissues as well as our nutrients as does bad bacteria. Both exude toxins. Cleaning up the gut also aids the immune system. Two of the best things you can do to aid in a detox is to drink a lot of cranberry lemonade sweetened with stevia, and eat salads with garlic.

Exercise

Exercise is crucial for a healthy body and a healthy immune system. If you are a couch potato, start slow. Walking and rebounding are gentle exercises that help the lymph circulate in the body. There is no pump for the lymphatic system.

Do bodyweight squats. It’s likely the best exercise there is. We are naturally built to squat. It does much more than just build leg muscles.

For those who cannot squat, “get ups” are a wonderful exercise that works out the whole body. Simply lie down on the floor on your back. Now roll to the left and get up. Lie back down. Roll to the right and get up. Each time be sure to use the other leg to push off the floor. Each day, do as many as you can. You will find the number rises quickly. This is a great work out for the beginner. If that’s not possible try getting in and out of a chair repeatedly. A chair that you can lower as you progress is great for this. As you get stronger, try using as little momentum as possible.

Sleep

Is coffee what gets you through he day? How many hours of sleep do you need? If you sleep more on your days off, catching up on lost sleep, you are not getting enough. How many hours do you need to sleep a night when you are on vacation? For most adults, eight hours is the absolute minimum. If possible, get off of any and all drugs, and that includes caffeine.

Recommended Supplements:

Total Nutrition Formula

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The Paradigm Shift

When you dip your toe in the water and consider a healthier lifestyle, any number of changes may take place. Perhaps you decide that all those reports about aspartame may be true and Diet Dr. Pepper, though it makes you look cool, is not your best friend. Or maybe caffeine is your nemesis. Or candy. Or chips.

It isn’t until you fall all the way down the rabbit hole and learn the truth about food and nutrition that things finally, truly make sense. And when they do, a paradigm shift will take place. You can’t go back.

When you fully accept that whole, unadulterated, fresh, organic produce is the basis of a healthy diet and a means to heal the body, you will realize that nearly every food from a can, box, jar, or other package is crap. And after you’ve been eating right for a while, eating wrong will lose its appeal.

But why is it rare and so hard for someone to switch from a conventional diet to a truly healthy one? Why does it so often take a major health crisis before we even entertain the thought of drastically changing what we eat?

To a large extent, we are creatures of habit. We tend to look back on our childhood as the good old days, believing that whatever was good enough for our parents is good enough for us. The foods we were raised with are often the foods we eat today.

Few people realize that the change in America’s eating, the switch to packaged and processed foods, began during WWII. Prior to this time, America’s diet was much more wholesome. The next generation, the baby boomers, were raised on Jello, Kool-Aid, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, and every prepackaged adulterated food conceived by man. And with processed food came disease. Cancer deaths have tripled since 1900.

Habit isn’t the only hurdle. Eating healthy is so contradictory to our society, a radical change will affect leisure time, friendships, and extended family. Most, if not all, of our gatherings and celebrations include food as the focal point. And not just any food; sinful food seems to be the most revered. Once you truly embrace healthy eating, sugary foods and junk foods lose their appeal along with conventional restaurant food and most of the food still eaten by your friends and family. You have three choices:

Be the host for every party you attend that involves food.
Take your own food to every party or event.
Make new friends.

Don’t let the logistics scare you off; you can do it. Your health and the health of your family come first. And if it gives you any comfort, know that the number of people who embrace health and healthy eating is growing.

Natural Bandages for Minor Skin Wounds

Using a naturally grown bandage for minor skin cuts, scrapes, and burns has advantages over those generic bandages that can be bought in a box at a drugstore. Plants such as lamb’s ear and marsh woundwort have built-in antibacterial properties that can be directly applied to the skin, and an animal product like egg membrane can heal a burn faster than sutures. These natural bandages are a perfect alternative for protecting and healing skin wounds without leaving tape marks or pulling out small body hairs. To speed the healing process, add a drop of aloe juice or Manuka honey to the wound before placing a natural bandage over it. Use a small length of cotton yarn to tie the bandage in place without cutting off the blood flow.

Lamb’s Ear

lamb's ear Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina, see image above) is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The plant is a leafy, silvery-gray perennial with small purple or pink flowers that blossom during the summer months. The leaves are very soft and pliable, with a nap of woolly hairs that feel like a silk carpet when touched. Lamb’s ear contains a natural astringent that cleanses skin wounds in lieu of isopropyl alcohol. Blood clots quickly at the touch of a lamb’s ear leaf. The pliable leaves make it perfect for wrapping around a wound on a finger or arm.

Marsh Woundwort

Marsh woundwort(Stachys palustris) sometimes referred to as clown’s woundwort, which is also a member of the mint family, is related to lamb’s ear and possesses many of the same healing properties. The leaves of this plant are antibacterial and will cleanse any minor skin wounds. Use a small, narrow leaf and wrap it around the affected area of the skin.

Egg Membrane

A chicken egg membrane can also be used for healing minor skin cuts, especially cuts which result in tiny flaps of skin. Wash the skin wound under cold water to prevent any further bacteria from entering. Gently set the skin flap over the wound where it was cut. The egg membrane will seal the flap back into place as it heals. Crack open an egg and peel away the membrane from one half of the eggshell. Wrap the membrane around the skin wound. The membrane will stick to itself so there is no need to tie the bandage in place as with the lamb’s ear or marsh woundwort. Once the wound has healed, remove the hardened egg membrane by softening it with a little bit of warm water.

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