Swanson Health Products - Daily Tips

Wash Your Hands the Right Way

 Keeping your hands clean is one of the biggest and best things your can do to keep yourself from getting sick. Touching puts our health at risk because germs can live on all kinds of surfaces, and dirty hands puts us at risk for coming down with everything from a cold to the flu to an infection. The Centers for Disease Control recommends hand washing to prevent the spread of infection and illnesses. It’s so simple and easy to slow down the spread of illness by keeping hands clean. But are you practicing correct hand hygiene? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to properly wash your hands.

 

How to Wash Your Hands:

1.       Wet your hands with warm water.

2.       Apply soap and rub your hands together, making sure to scrub and lather all surfaces.

3.       Continue rubbing for 15 to 20 seconds.

4.       Rinse your hands under the water.

5.       Dry your hands with a clean towel or air dryer. If possible, use a towel to turn off the faucet.

 

If soap and water aren’t available, hand sanitizers will help reduce the number of germs on your hands. Just squirt some on your hands and keep rubbing it all over until they’re dry.

How to Have a Healthy Holiday Season

It’s the time of year when it seems you have more things to do than time to do them in. Between the shopping, parties and baking, stress is high this time of year, sleep is hard to come by and junk food is plentiful. Plus being around crowded shopping malls and holiday events exposes you to all sorts of germs. All of these things can put your immune system at risk.

 

There are several things you can do to promote good health during the holiday season. First, stick to a sleep schedule. Taking on too much can also affect your sleep and stress level. You’re only one person and can’t do everything and be everywhere. Try only doing what you want to do, not what you feel obligated to do and ask for help when you need it. Make sure to set aside time to relax and rejuvenate your body and mind; whether it’s by reading, taking a bath or watching one of the countless holiday television specials.

 

Take a multivitamin and add in extra vitamin C can also give your immune system a boost. Remember to wash your hands frequently, especially when you’re out shopping in stores that are crowded with people and germs. While it may seem easier to grab some fast food in between shopping stops or to grab a handful of cookies, make sure you’re giving your body healthy, nutritious food to feed the immune system and promote overall health. Don’t forget to save time for exercising. It helps you feel refreshed and healthy. 

 

No one wants to be sick over the holidays. Making sure to sleep, eat right and avoid germs can all help bolster your immune system during the hustle and bustle of the season.

 

The Five Questions to Ask Regarding Sleep Apnea

1. Do you snore? That’s not always a sign of Sleep Apnea but it can be a red flag, especially if you snore and sometimes snort as well—a sign that you’re not getting your breath.

 

2. Are you excessively tired during the day? Fatigue may be caused by a number of things, but those with a sleep disorder do not get into REM sleep long enough or often enough to restore vitality.

 

3. Do you have hypertension (high blood pressure)? This condition is frequently linked with Apnea.

 

4. Have you been told you stop breathing during the night? The airway passage will shut down with Sleep Apnea and breath doesn’t get through, making it necessary to wake up to catch your breath, often several times a minute, though you don’t become fully aroused enough to realize what is happening.

 

5. Is your neck size greater than 17 inches (male) and 16 inches (female)? Obesity plays a major role in disordered sleeping. In fact, all of the contestants on this year’s “Biggest Loser” have Sleep Apnea. The extra weight carried in the neck compresses the air passage. Also, a fat tongue can block the airway passages as well.

 

Where did it all go?

You probably don’t know off hand what level of vitamin D you have in your body. Chances are, however, that you could use more. We say that because a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine states that vitamin D levels have dramatically decreased among Americans in the past two decades. “We found a marked increase in vitamin D deficiency over the past two decades,” Dr. Adit Ginde, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine said. He expanded on the statement: “Over three out of every four Americans now have vitamin D levels below what we believe is necessary for optimal health. African-Americans and Hispanics are at particularly high risk—nearly all have suboptimal levels.” The researchers found that average vitamin D levels were 30 nanograms per milliliter from 1988 to 1994, but decreased to 24 nanograms per milliliter between 2001 and 2004. Moreover, vitamin D levels of less than 10 nanograms per milliliter increased from two percent to six percent over the study period.

Archives of Internal Medicine 169(6):626-632, 2009

 

The Amazing Acai Berry

Acai berry sure is getting a lot of press coverage lately. The health world is buzzing about all the potential benefits this tiny fruit might have. Acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) is the newest super food on the market. The dark berries, which look like grapes, come from acai palm trees in Central and South America.

Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of The Perricone Promise, calls acai berry his number one super food. Acai is a powerhouse for antioxidants – more than is found in grapes or red wine. These antioxidants help skin by slowing down or preventing oxidation damage from free radicals. Free radicals can promote visible signs of aging and can also impact disease processes. Antioxidants also help strengthen the blood vessels.

Acai has also shown promise as a nutrient that can help rejuvenate skin and prevent premature aging. It helps tissues heal quickly, as well as hydrating and restoring skin. Acai contains high amounts of B vitamins and vitamins C and E, all of which have benefits to the skin. It’s not just the outside of the body that reaps the benefits from acai. The vitamin and minerals from the berry can help support health throughout the body. With all these benefits, it’s no wonder acai berry has been getting all this attention!

Acai is Available in Tasty Juice and Convenient Softgels

Americans just aren’t wild about fruits and vegetables. Even though we know the numbers – 5 to 9 servings every day – and we know the nutritional facts – they contain antioxidants that squelch free radicals – many of us still choose garlic mashed potatoes over broccoli when the server asks for choice of side dish with our rib-eye. That being so, when we do decide to eat fruits and vegetables, it’s especially important they’re as nutritionally dense as possible. Like the acai berry. When it comes to antioxidant potential, many nutritionists rate acai near the top of the list. Ahead of apples, ahead of bananas, even ahead of blueberries! Fresh acai is not available in grocery stores, however. This fruit is native to the Amazon rain forest of Brazil. However, you can buy acai juice made from flash-frozen concentrates mixed with other delicious juices. Or if the only fruit you’ll ever go near is a smidgen of strawberry jelly for your peanut butter sandwich, you can still get the powerhouse profile of acai in an extract delivered in capsules and softgels. Both the juice and the extract are available online at Swanson Health Products.

Acai Takes Top ORAC Honors

PSAT, LSATs, MCAT…just because college is behind you doesn’t mean scores attached to acronyms no longer influence your future.  Anyone affected by aging (which, presently, is 100% of us) will want to pay close attention to ORAC, which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. That might not mean much at the moment, but you’ll appreciate it more and more with each passing year. Essentially ORAC is a measurement of which foods are best at mopping up unstable molecules in your body that seek to do you harm – an indicator of their antioxidant ability. These foods are a welcome adjunct to your immune system, and the more you eat of them, the better your chances of remaining vital, active and healthy-looking into advanced age. So which food takes top honors when it comes to antioxidant potential?  While there is some debate on this subject, a relatively unknown fruit from Brazil called the acai berry is right up there with the unprocessed cacao bean. With an ORAC score of 5500 per 100 grams (3.3 ounces), acai scores way ahead of other popular fruits including super healthy blueberries and pomegranates. Even the legendary apple, with its deserved reputation for keeping the doctor away, can’t a hold a candle to acai when it comes to their ORAC score. Since acai is not native to the United States, it can be difficult or impossible to find the fresh fruit locally. However, Swanson Health Products offers an extract of this super fruit in capsule and softgels, as well as acai juice.

Support Healthy Sinuses with Himalayan Crystal Salt

Mr. Kotter’s sweathogs may have been prescribing an Ayurvedic sinus treatment with their famous insult, “Up your nose with a rubber hose.” Change the hose to a ceramic neti pot, fill it with a solution made from Himalayan Crystal Salt plus pure water, and you’ve created one of the best methods for flushing the sinuses and protecting the mucous membranes. Unlike excessively salty seawater, the solution created is only 1% salt, which is equal to the natural salt concentration in the body.

Here’s what to do: 
 

• Dissolve 1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) of Himalayan Crystal Salt in 3.5 ounces of pure water and place in a neti pot.
• Lean forward over a sink and place the spout of the neti pot into one of your nostrils, keeping the mouth closed.
• Turn your head to the side; the solution will flow through one nostril and come out the other side. Repeat this procedure with the other nostril.
• Perform as often as necessary, but twice per day will likely keep the sinuses clear.

So, “Clear the snot with a neti pot!” Himalayan Crystal Salt and a good old fashioned neti pot.

Going Green. Going Alkaline.

What gives spinach, broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage and other salad greens their rich color? It’s the chlorophyll.  Another interesting component of chlorophyll is that it has a molecular structure very similar to that of hemoglobin which helps blood deliver oxygen throughout the body, making the blood stronger and the cells stronger as well. Chlorophyll not only helps oxygenate our bodies, it also helps de-acidify them. In addition to that, chlorophyll breaks down carbon dioxide, which is acidic, and can dissolve other strong acids in the body too. Finally, chlorophyll has a diuretic and purifying effect on the body that helps to eliminate acids. Eating green foods daily will provide the body with alkaline minerals to help neutralize the acids that have accumulated in the tissues, but for many of us, a couple of salads a day and a serving or two of asparagus or broccoli is simply not going to be enough to neutralize an acidic body. That would require eating far more vegetables than would be desirable or reasonable.
 
There are alternatives for going green. There’s Kamut, an ancient form of wheat from Egypt. The word itself is said to translate as: soul of the earth. The pH of Kamut juice or powder is the most alkaline of all green foods, making it an excellent tonic for acidity. Barley grass is another source of concentrated alkalinity. And there’s alfalfa and spirulina too. Best of all, these ingredients, and others like them, can be found in Green Powders and Green Tablets. They are easy to take, loaded with nutrients – and very, very alkalizing. There are many excellent formulas out there that make it convenient to go green.

Taming the Acid Monster

Eat your vegetables. How long have we been hearing that? No one exhorts us to make sure we eat our pastry or all of our candy. We know vegetables are good for us. There’s a story from Daniel in the Bible that paints a great picture of just how beneficial vegetables are.

The story takes place in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar, who was grooming some of the best young Israelites to serve in the palace. They were to be fed on the royal food and wine.  Daniel refused to eat this rich court food, asking the guard to: “Please test your servants for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food.” It was agreed and Daniel and his companions were to be compared accordingly. 

“At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.” (Daniel, 1:12, 13, 13, 15, Thompson Chain-Reference Bible). This is an example of a great vegetarian cleansing diet with all those alkalizing vegetables and pH neutralizing water. Yes, plain water works to tame the acid monster too.

What if we don’t care to undertake a vegetarian cleanse? A more moderate approach would be to minimize sugar, starch, meat and cheese. As much as possible, try to have your dinner plate composed of an 80/20 ratio – 80% alkalizing foods to 20% acid-forming foods, a plate that would look like this, for example: 4 oz. of salmon, ½ cup of brown rice and a sizeable portion of steamed vegetables, plus a salad with alkalizing olive oil and vinegar. Toss in some apricots and almonds for dessert. When balancing isn’t workable and we’re forced to dine on the “rich royal court food” of our modern day era, sip a cup of Alkalizing Tea with a meal to offset the acid, or use pH Protector Drops in beverages and on foods to neutralize acid.