Insulin
June 14, 2007
Insulin has two critical roles in the body that we cannot live without, yet it can be the root of many health problems, including diabetes. Insulin carries sugar (glucose), fat and protein into your cells where they are used for energy and the repair of your cells. When you eat, a certain amount of the food will be converted into glucose and enter the bloodstream. As the sugar levels rise, the body senses it and the pancreas secretes insulin to lower the sugar. This is insulin’s second main function.
If you eat too much of any food, especially carbohydrates (starch and sugar) the levels of glucose in the blood rise to very high levels. In turn this triggers a large release of insulin from the pancreas. Your cells will take what they need and then insulin will begin the process of converting the excess glucose, fat and protein into fat and then put it all away in your fat cells. By combining foods the right way for your body, you will maintain optimum levels of insulin throughout the day.
10 Ways to Benchmark Workplace Stress
June 13, 2007
With almost 50% of workers complaining that their jobs are very stressful, it is no surprise that more than two-thirds of all medical problems are stress related.
Each day, workplace stress is credited with more than a million absences and at least 40% of all personnel turnover. Studies show stress is a primary cause of accidents, quality control problems, medical claims, and lost productivity.
Some people debate the exact percentage of stress related costs in each catagory, but few can object to the raw data or the results you see as you take action to control stress and improve productivity throughout your company.
Here are some practical ways to benchmark current stress levels and monitor future conditions.
1. Absenteeism - Require strict reporting of absences for any reason. It isn’t unusual for people to shade the truth to get a day off. Some research indicates that 54% of illnesses phoned in are actually for reasons other than medical. Compare your numbers with the same period last year. Chart how absences coincide with business cycles.
The Success Mindset - The Easy Guide To Self Improvement And Positive Thinking - Part 1 Of 2
June 12, 2007
The Success Mindset - The Easy Guide To Self Improvement And Positive Thinking - Part 1 Of 2
by: Jake Sebastian
Self improvement and Positive Thinking are mantra’s you frequently get told about by Self Help Gurus’s. In fact you are possibly BORED STIFF of hearing about them. But nevertheless, thinking bigger, bolder and brighter is a good place to kickstart our quest to discover exactly what a success mindset constitutes. And more importantly, how YOU can get one for yourself!
In this article I am going to discuss the Success Mindset and how it has the power to change your life. Hypey sounding? No doubt. But true nevertheless. Successful people still have two arms, legs and eyes. So the fundamental differences are not physical. We all know of people (Like Christopher Reeves for example), who have every right to feel sorry for themeselves. In a wheelchair. Paralysed from the neck down. Yet he carried on raising enormous amounts for charity. Starred in a film remake of the Hitchcock Classic ‘Rear Window’, and wrote his autobiography. All from his wheelchair! Never a better example of ‘If you get given a lemon. Make lemonade’ has been illustrated. So, instead of bitching. Stand up and make the best of whatever your situation is. The success mindset starts exactly there. In the mind. So start seeing the obstacles as opportunities. You may as well smile when its raining. Because frowning isn’t gonna close up the clouds!
Supplements and Drugs: A Hazardous Combination
June 11, 2007
As I have become more involved in using functional nutritional therapy in my practice, I have come to realize that many people are still confused about the safety and effectiveness of various dietary supplements. Because these products are "natural", many feel they are always safe to use. Although supplements and herbs can be safer than pharmaceutical drugs, they can still function as drugs in the body and should be used with caution and respect.
It is estimated that over 80% of the world’s population and 60 million Americans use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). However, although many believe CAM compliments their current traditional healthcare, most do not inform their physicians that they are taking these products. And, many providers don’t ask or discuss CAM use with their patients, although one survey of 181 cardiologists found that half of them took antioxidant vitamins, themselves.
What many people don’t realize is that there is no regulatory agency in charge of the supplement industry. Herbal products are not tested for purity, effectiveness and safety as drugs are. In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was enacted that requires the FDA to prove beyond any doubt that a supplement is unsafe before removing it from the market. Other than regulating what can be included on the label, they are unable to enforce any other regulation.
Nothing More Powerful Than Your Words
June 10, 2007
Telling yourself you have to “struggle with this weight issue for the rest of my life,” is as good as telling yourself there’s no point in trying. “Why bother? I’ll just gain it right back. It’s no use. I might as well eat more cake. Poor me. Life is hard. You know the drill. Life’s a beach.
Stop the struggle by stopping the self talk that supports the struggle. You’ve heard it before - what you focus on is what you receive. No where is that more true than in believing it is a struggle to stay healthy. Who would want to be healthy if it’s such a horrible struggle? Yet, you’ve probably seen people who are fit, healthy and happy? You might even know a few. They seem to bounce when they walk. They’re animated, and excited about life, and no, if you asked them, they wouldn’t say it’s a struggle. “What do you mean,” they’d ask? Struggle? Nah, I like it this way,” and they’d mean it.
How Team Ferrari Can Accelerate Your Success
June 9, 2007
How Team Ferrari Can Accelerate Your Success
by: Christopher Green
Picture the scene:
It’s the Monaco Grand Prix and the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher is in pole position. The warm-up lap has been completed and Schumacher revs the engine, waiting for the lights to flash in sequence: Ready. Set. GO!
The race begins. Schumacher uses his supreme skill to drive the car to its limits and successfully overcome the challenges presented by the tricky street circuit.
At each third of the race, the perfect opportunity to bring the car into the pits to maintain maximum advantage is determined. Each time the Ferrari makes a pit stop, an efficient pit crew will get to work. The car will be jacked up. Tires will be changed, fuel will be added, visors cleaned, spot checks made.
All completed within 10 seconds. Each team member performs their duties at lightening speed to ensure no time is wasted so the car can maintain or improve the lead.
And as the race progresses, a team of analysts will act on feedback received from the Ferrari’s on-board computers and from the driver. The race strategy will be constantly reviewed and changes will be made if necessary to ensure the car has the best chance of winning the race.
Ten Soul-Tending Principles for Women
June 9, 2007
Feeling restless? Is part of you calling out for change, though you don’t yet know what that looks like, or what you most need?
Well, maybe, just maybe, you need a little soul nurturing. Try one or more of these nurturing principles on for size:
1.) Change expands soul. When the winds of change blow storms into your life, welcome them as much as possible, for what comes will free you in some vital way and make room in your life for newness.
2.) Hope feeds soul. We can endure anything if we have hope. Without hope, we die, body first, then soul. Do not give up!
3.) Proaction moves soul. Reacting to situations and events binds you to someone else’s agenda. Choosing proactivity sets your own soul’s needs into motion.
4.) The unexpected (atemporality) enlivens soul. Unexpected events break time wide open and reveal to us the fragility of existence, yet they also refresh, revive and make more room in our lives for soul.
Good Food/Bad Food Whats Left to Eat?
June 8, 2007
We’ve entered the Twilight Zone when it comes to the multitude of diets being promoted today. Starting with the Atkins Diet, then the South Beach Diet, now the Hamptons Diet and more. All higher in protein, lower in carbs, but the distinction should be quality of carbs, not singling out one nutrient entirely. If you are on the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet or any other variation of a high protein/low carb diet simply adjust from eating low quality carbs like refined flour and sugar products (think if it comes in a box, it’s likely low quality) to eating more whole food products like fresh vegetables and fruits - yes fruits.
Apples vs. Apple Jacks - You be the Judge
I know the traditional Atkins Diet doesn’t advocate much fruit (too high sugar) but think about that for one minute. My strong belief is that an apple is a good food, a bowl of Apple Jacks cereal may not be on an equal level. One is highly processed sweetened by added white sugar and corn syrup, and one is natural, plucked from a tree and sweetened by the sun. Which would you choose? Don’t shun fresh fruit for the sake of following your low carb diet to the letter.
How To Ignite The Success Forces Within You
June 7, 2007
How To Ignite The Success Forces Within You
by: Laura Roman Lopez
Mediocre people choose lives of mediocrity. It’s not that they aren’t smart enough..or lucky enough…or attractive enough.
People who live lives of excellence, on the other hand, make excellent choices (I’m not saying they don’t experience setbacks - I’m saying they approach their day differently).
Imagine with me for a moment: what if there was a way to Ignite the Success Forces within you? Would you practice it?
If we knew something about the difference between those who live in mediocrity and those who live, move and breathe in excellence, do you think that could help us to have more success in our lives?
You bet it could.
So, then: How Do We Ignite the Success Forces Within Us?
The answer may seem somewhat hidden, but I assure you: it is not hidden to men and women of success and achievement.
If you want to have real success in your life, then you absolutely MUST move from moment to moment with a SENSE OF URGENCY.
Have you ever seen a boxer accidently bump heads with his opponent and get a cut over his eye?
Words To Live By?
June 6, 2007
Words To Live By?
by: Steve Gillman
Watching the news the other day, it occurred to me that people who have “words to live by” often begin to attack and even kill others. I thought back to my own angry youth, when I could easily use words to justify violent thoughts which might have become violent actions. Words are tools, and yet it seems that they can be more dangerous than gunpowder.
Imagine two men facing each other, pointing past one another. One is pointing at a tornado that is coming, and the other at a raging fire headed towards them. Each sees their own truth and is angry at the sight of the other’s hand. Each feels that the other’s hand is “wrong.” This may seem silly, but replace the tornado and fire with any modern issues, and the hands with words, and this scene describes how we often try to communicate.
We point past each other with our words, arguing as though we are looking at the same facts and experiences. We want to prove our words are the right ones, instead of learning to look at what the other’s words are pointing at. Words are seductive, and for all their undeniable usefulness, they also can lead us away from understanding when we focus on them, when we make them more important than the truth they are meant to point at.
