Disease... genetics or lifestyle? Am I doomed?

Words I more often hear than not in regards to a person's individual health around:

• heart disease
• cancer
• diabetes
• obesity
• kidney disease
• auto-immune diseases
• basically all dis - ease that can interfere with individual human health...

The words I am speaking of:

"Oh, there is nothing I can do about it. My mother (father, grandparents, etc.) had this disease. It is in my family. 2 of my 4 siblings already have it. It is just a matter of time and I will have it as well..."

Can I please tell you that nothing could be further form the truth? Your body is unique. Sure, you may have inherited genetic tendencies towards certain dis - ease states BUT those genes are not set up to play out. Your lifestyle choices have a huge impact in how your body's genetic code plays out over your life time. 

Choosing Healthy Living is the Path to Disease Prevention and a Lifetime of Wellness.

Let's look at cancer as one dis - ease of the body.

• All cancers are the result of multiple gene mutations. The risk of cancer is estimated to be based only 5-10% on inherited genes and 90-95% on lifestyle (unhealthy lifestyle choices can create further gene mutations and also affects the activation of genes - or not). Across all cancers, the risk of the same active cancer dis - ease between all twins was found to be about 10%. Between identical twins and breast cancer the risk was only 20%. Your lifestyle has a huge impact on how your genetic code plays out in your life time.  (Genetic cancer risk information from the New England Journal Of Medicine.)

The environmental factors Dr. Craig Venter speaks of are our day in and day out lifestyle choices. You are in control of whether your body becomes diseased or not.

My work in this world (for 3 plus decades now) has been to teach, support, and role model healthy living choices that promote long-term wellness and prevent disease. 

To make my life's work more accessible to all I have created online courses to:

• bring easily understandable information to you,
• in the comfort of your home,
• on your time, course work can be listened to and learned whenever & wherever is convenient for you (although I do not recommend late nights, burning the candle at both ends, to view course materials... plenty of sleep, every night, is one of your body's best healing mechanisms, and
• at affordable tuition.

Each mini-course gives you a deep look into the root causes for health problems and the specific lifestyle choices and strategies you can invite into your own life to prevent disease and heal your body from any current ill health challenge, dis - ease.

My eCourses I offer to you and your vibrant health are listed here:

http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/online-classes-1/

My wish for you, and why I do my work in this world, is for health that shines from your each & every body cell! Cheers, Paula

Coffee and My Calamitous Affair, Revisited

In August of 2014 I wrote a post on Coffee and my calamitous affair with it. Refresh your memory here: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/7/19/my-calamitous-love-affair-with-coffee

Moving forward a few months and seasons:

April 19th, 2015:  My calamitous affair with coffee has continued, on & off. Who can resist the smell, the taste, the sensation in the mouth, throat, and belly? Ah, so tasty, warm, and soothing (well, soothing until the caffeine hits my system exactly 15.2 seconds after the first sip!). 

I have tried many, many coffee substitutes and I have to say all may have been tasty in one aspect or another but all have never, ever, replicated the coffee experience (caffeine jitters aside, of course!). One has to enjoy them on a different level and not be thinking of them as coffee or you will be utterly disappointed.

On our family trip to Jamaica, April 2015, I find the most amazing, tasty, and coffee like drink ever: Sunburst's Products Dandelion Coffee. I picked up a jar at the Kingston Airport as we were preparing to depart Jamaica. I had no idea what I was buying as I obviously had not tried it. My thought was this: "If this stuff is even remotely tasty, it will help with my detox off the Blue Mountain coffee that I drank every morning at 6 AM. Seriously, despite my calamitous relationship with coffee - caffeine, what person in their right mind is going to say no to Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee? When in Jamaica, do as the Jamaicans do! (Thank You Mr. White at Great Huts Ecological Resort in Boston Bay, Jamaica. What a great man he is, greeting me every 6 AM with a "Good Morning Miss Paula, the coffee is ready. Where is Eli? I bet Jake is still sleeping!" All words said with the kindest twinkle in his eye.  Mr. White was the person, while off work duty, he jumped to fix me up with a local remedy poultice to soothe my bee stung foot. Hugs to Mr. White for making awesome Blue Mountain coffee every AM and your sincere Jamaican kindness!)

So now I am home and must detox from coffee OR:

• put up with caffeine side effects every day
• suffer the caffeine withdrawal headache for a day or two

I opt for the wean down off coffee detox plan:

• 1st morning: 3/4 coffee, 1/4 dandelion coffee
• 2nd morning: a 1/2 & 1/2 blend
• 3rd morning: 3/4 dandelion and 1/4 coffee
• 4th morning: 100% dandelion coffee in my cup

Here is what I found upon brewing the dandelion coffee:

• smelled awesome, very coffee like
• looks dark and rich, how I prefer my coffee
• let's taste the stuff! I was not disappointed but pleasantly surprised! Dandelion Coffee is by far the best "substitute" I have ever tasted. I think, if I was given a cup and not told that it was not real coffee, I would not know and believe I was drinking coffee! I would soon be curious as to why the caffeine effects were not quickly kicking in.

When my current jar gets low, I will be ordering more and hoping the product becomes easy to find here in the USA.  http://www.sunburstproducts.com/our-products/

Got Seasonal Allergies Healing Hint:

If seasonal plant and pollen allergies tend to drag you down, try this:

1. 1/4 tsp. of raw, local honey every AM & PM. The honey must be cold extracted from the comb to preserve the properties that will ease your allergy symptoms. If the comb was heated up, as this makes it so much easier to extract the sticky honey, the heat cooks the enzymes, nutrients, and immune healing factors that help to ease seasonal allergies. Sometimes the challenge with this is stopping at 1/4 tsp. Think of it as mind-body-soul healing medicine where truly more is not always better!
2. Stinging nettles. Most healers recommend freeze dried nettles in capsule form (You can find Ecclectic Institute's freeze dried nettles at Nature's Storehouse, Canton, NY). If you have stinging nettles around you, consider yourself fortunate, and indulge in your healing wild garden's bounty. Please be considerate of the plant and leave plenty for re-growth and to prevent soil depletion. With your nettles: make tea, make pesto, gently stir fry or steam.

My quart size bottle of medicine! This jar lasts a very long time. Local, raw honey is widely available in Northern, NY. Check farm stands, the Potsdam Food Coop, Nature's Storehouse in Canton, Martin's Farm Stand, and Garden Share's Local Food Guide for more local sources.