Thanks to Will Bettmann for sending along this thought provoking op-ed piece by Mark Bittman for the New York Times:

THE “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli …” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”

This is just plain wrong. In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)

In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home. You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people. If that’s too much money, substitute a meal of rice and canned beans with bacon, green peppers and onions; it’s easily enough for four people and costs about $9. (Omitting the bacon, using dried beans, which are also lower in sodium, or substituting carrots for the peppers reduces the price further, of course.)

Another argument runs that junk food is cheaper when measured by the calorie, and that this makes fast food essential for the poor because they need cheap calories. But given that half of the people in this country (and a higher percentage of poor people) consume too many calories rather than too few, measuring food’s value by the calorie makes as much sense as measuring a drink’s value by its alcohol content. (Why not drink 95 percent neutral grain spirit, the cheapest way to get drunk?)

Besides, that argument, even if we all needed to gain weight, is not always true. A meal of real food cooked at home can easily contain more calories, most of them of the “healthy” variety. (Olive oil accounts for many of the calories in the roast chicken meal, for example.)In comparing prices of real food and junk food, I used supermarket ingredients, not the pricier organic or local food that many people would consider ideal. But food choices are not black and white; the alternative to fast food is not necessarily organic food, any more than the alternative to soda is Bordeaux.

The alternative to soda is water, and the alternative to junk food is not grass-fed beef and greens from a trendy farmers’ market, but anything other than junk food: rice, grains, pasta, beans, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, bread, peanut butter, a thousand other things cooked at home — in almost every case a far superior alternative.

“Anything that you do that’s not fast food is terrific; cooking once a week is far better than not cooking at all,” says Marion Nestle, professor of food studies at New York University and author of “What to Eat.” “It’s the same argument as exercise: more is better than less and some is a lot better than none.”

THE fact is that most people can afford real food. Even the nearly 50 million Americans who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) receive about $5 per person per day, which is far from ideal but enough to survive. So we have to assume that money alone doesn’t guide decisions about what to eat. There are, of course, the so-called food deserts, places where it’s hard to find food: the Department of Agriculture says that more than two million Americans in low-income rural areas live 10 miles or more from a supermarket, and more than five million households without access to cars live more than a half mile from a supermarket.

Still, 93 percent of those with limited access to supermarkets do have access to vehicles, though it takes them 20 more minutes to travel to the store than the national average. And after a long day of work at one or even two jobs, 20 extra minutes — plus cooking time — must seem like an eternity.

Taking the long route to putting food on the table may not be easy, but for almost all Americans it remains a choice, and if you can drive to McDonald’s you can drive to Safeway. It’s cooking that’s the real challenge. (The real challenge is not “I’m too busy to cook.” In 2010 the average American, regardless of weekly earnings, watched no less than an hour and a half of television per day. The time is there.)

The core problem is that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch. “People really are stressed out with all that they have to do, and they don’t want to cook,” says Julie Guthman, associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of the forthcoming “Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice and the Limits of Capitalism.” “Their reaction is, ‘Let me enjoy what I want to eat, and stop telling me what to do.’ And it’s one of the few things that less well-off people have: they don’t have to cook.”

It’s not just about choice, however, and rational arguments go only so far, because money and access and time and skill are not the only considerations. The ubiquity, convenience and habit-forming appeal of hyperprocessed foods have largely drowned out the alternatives: there arefive fast-food restaurants for every supermarket in the United States; in recent decades the adjusted for inflation price of fresh produce has increased by 40 percent while the price of soda and processed food has decreased by as much as 30 percent; and nearly inconceivable resources go into encouraging consumption in restaurants: fast-food companies spent $4.2 billion on marketing in 2009.

Furthermore, the engineering behind hyperprocessed food makes it virtually addictive. A 2009 study by the Scripps Research Institute indicates that overconsumption of fast food “triggers addiction-like neuroaddictive responses” in the brain, making it harder to trigger the release of dopamine. In other words the more fast food we eat, the more we need to give us pleasure; thus the report suggests that the same mechanisms underlie drug addiction and obesity.

This addiction to processed food is the result of decades of vision and hard work by the industry. For 50 years, says David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and author of “The End of Overeating,” companies strove to create food that was “energy-dense, highly stimulating, and went down easy. They put it on every street corner and made it mobile, and they made it socially acceptable to eat anytime and anyplace. They created a food carnival, and that’s where we live. And if you’re used to self-stimulation every 15 minutes, well, you can’t run into the kitchen to satisfy that urge.”

Real cultural changes are needed to turn this around. Somehow, no-nonsense cooking and eating — roasting a chicken, making a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambling an egg, tossing a salad — must become popular again, and valued not just by hipsters in Brooklyn or locavores in Berkeley. The smart campaign is not to get McDonald’s to serve better food but to get people to see cooking as a joy rather than a burden, or at least as part of a normal life.

As with any addictive behavior, this one is most easily countered by educating children about the better way. Children, after all, are born without bad habits. And yet it’s adults who must begin to tear down the food carnival.

The question is how? Efforts are everywhere. The People’s Grocery in Oakland secures affordable groceries for low-income people. Zoning laws in Los Angeles restrict the number of fast-food restaurants in high-obesity neighborhoods. There’s the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a successful Pennsylvania program to build fresh food outlets in underserved areas, now being expanded nationally. FoodCorps and Cooking Matters teach young people how to farm and cook.

As Malik Yakini, executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, says, “We’ve seen minor successes, but the food movement is still at the infant stage, and we need a massive social shift to convince people to consider healthier options.”

HOW do you change a culture? The answers, not surprisingly, are complex. “Once I look at what I’m eating,” says Dr. Kessler, “and realize it’s not food, and I ask ‘what am I doing here?’ that’s the start. It’s not about whether I think it’s good for me, it’s about changing how I feel. And we change how people feel by changing the environment.”

Obviously, in an atmosphere where any regulation is immediately labeled “nanny statism,” changing “the environment” is difficult. But we’ve done this before, with tobacco. The 1998 tobacco settlement limited cigarette marketing and forced manufacturers to finance anti-smoking campaigns — a negotiated change that led to an environmental one that in turn led to a cultural one, after which kids said to their parents, “I wish you didn’t smoke.” Smoking had to be converted from a cool habit into one practiced by pariahs.

A similar victory in the food world is symbolized by the stories parents tell me of their kids booing as they drive by McDonald’s.

To make changes like this more widespread we need action both cultural and political. The cultural lies in celebrating real food; raising our children in homes that don’t program them for fast-produced, eaten-on-the-run, high-calorie, low-nutrition junk; giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.

Political action would mean agitating to limit the marketing of junk; forcing its makers to pay the true costs of production; recognizing that advertising for fast food is not the exercise of free speech but behavior manipulation of addictive substances; and making certain that real food is affordable and available to everyone. The political challenge is the more difficult one, but it cannot be ignored.

What’s easier is to cook at every opportunity, to demonstrate to family and neighbors that the real way is the better way. And even the more fun way: kind of like a carnival.

To cooking,

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According to Dr. Paul Kouchakoff (Suisse), M.D. Nobel Prize Winner “The Influence of Food Cooking on the Blood Formula of Man of the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Lausanne, Switzerland, Proceedings: First International Congress of Microbiology, Paris 1930.

“After every dose of food, we also observe a general augmentation of white corpuscles, and a change in the correlation of their percentage. This phenomenon has been considered, until now, a physiological one, and is called a digestive leukocytosis” After the consumption of the same natural foodstuffs, altered by means of high temperature, we find that the general number of white corpuscles has changed, but the correlation of their percentage has remained the same. After consumption of manufactured foodstuffs not only has the number of white corpuscles changed but also the correlation of percentage between them.

“All our experiments have shown that it is not the quantity, but the quality of food which plays an important role in the alteration of our blood formula, and that 200 milligrams or even 50 milligrams of foodstuffs produce the same reaction as large doses of them”.

Does this occur only when such foodstuffs are heated to boiling point, or is the same phenomenon called forth by lower temperatures?

It appears that every raw foodstuff has its own temperature which must not be surpassed in heating, otherwise it loses its original virtues and calls forth a reaction in the system.

Ordinary drinking water, heated for half an hour to a temperature of 87°(C,) does not change air blood, but this same water, heated to 88° (C,) changes it. We have given the name “critical temperature” to the highest degree of temperature at which a particular food-stuff, can be cooked without changing our blood formula.

This critical temperature is not the same for all raw foodstuffs. It varies within a range of ten degrees.

-The lowest critical temperature for water is 87°; for milk it is 88°; for cereals, tomatoes, cabbage, bananas, 89°; for pears, meat, 90°; for butter, 91°; for apples and oranges, 92°; for potatoes, 93°; for carrots, strawberries and figs, 97°.

(conversion to Fahrenheit)
-The lowest critical temperature for Drinking water 191 degrees F, Milk 191 degrees F, Cereals 192 degrees F, Tomatoes 192 degrees F, Cabbage 192 degrees F, Bananas 192 degrees F, Butter 196 degrees F, Apples 197 degrees F, Oranges 197 degrees F, Potatoes 200 degrees F, Carrots 206 degrees F, Strawberries 206 degrees F, Figs 206 degrees F.

CONCLUSIONS:

After over 300 experiments on ten individuals of different age and sex, we have come to the following conclusions: 1. The augmentation of the number of white corpuscles and the alteration of the correlation of the percentage between them which takes place after every consumption of food, and which was considered until now as a physiological phenomenon, is, in reality, a pathological one, It is called forth by the introduction into the system of foodstuffs altered by means of high temperature, and by complicated treatments of ordinary products produced by nature.

2. After the consumption of fresh raw foodstuffs, produced by nature, our blood formula does not change in any lapse of time, nor in consequence of any combinations.

3. After the consumption of foodstuffs produced by nature, but altered by means of high temperature, an augmentation of the general number of white corpuscles takes place, but the correlation of percentage between them remains the same.

4. After the consumption of foodstuffs produced by nature, but altered by manufacturing processes, an augmentation of the general number of white corpuscles as well as a change in the correlation of their percentage takes place.

5. It has been proved possible to take, without changing the blood formula, every kind of foodstuff which is habitually eaten now, but only by following this rule, viz: – that it must be taken along with raw products, according to a definite formula.

6. In a healthy organism, it is not possible, by the consumption of any food to alter “The Influence of Food Cooking on the Blood Formula of Man correlation of percentage between the white corpuscles, without augmenting their general number.”

7. Foodstuffs do not seem to have any influence on the transitional and the Polymorphonuclear Eosincphiles and the correlation of percentage between them is not altered.

8. We can change our blood formula in the direction we desire by dieting accordingly.

9. Blood examination can only have significance as a diagnosis if it is made on an empty stomach.

Related posts:

1. Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? Thanks to Will Bettmann for sending along this thought...

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It is Critical for an entrepreneur or anyone seeking success to continuously work on your Mindset.

All human beings are born with gifts and talents that are unique to them. All of us have something that we can share with the world that would give us all of the success we desire.

What minimizes our greatness is not having the appropriate Mindset to accomplish what we want to do.

It is the Mindset that determines your thinking and your thinking determines the actions that you take. The actions you take unlock your true Greatness.

#1 Clearly define what it is that you want to do.

Very successful people care about their lives more than the average person. They take the time to analyze their lives, to look closely at their vision and their purpose in life. They put their lives on paper. They take the time to construct mental images that guide them on their journey.  While most people are winging it, they put their life mission and business vision and goals on paper.

They  have imagination. They pull their imagination up in their mind and then they define their vision and then they go to work. Night and Day!

#2 Protect and Manage your Time.

Successful Entrepreneurs Protect and Manage their time. How many people do you know that plan their day before it begins?

The most valuable asset you have is your time.  Plan your days, weeks, months, and years.

#3 Outcome Oriented

Have you known anyone that is absolutely driven to succeed?  No matter what the obstacle they keep going. And in most cases it is because they have extraordinary clarity on the outcome.

They took the time to clearly define what it is that they wanted to do. They stopped and thought about their life, and what it was that they wanted to accomplish and this gave them the drive to see the task all the way to its outcome.

#4 Deal with Actual Facts

Most people make their decisions about their life and careers from emotion and assumptions.  Successful entrepreneurs base their decisions from fact-based thinking.

Successful entrepreneurs strive to make accurate decisions rooted in Actual Facts.

#5 Live To Provide Value

Successful Entrepreneurs know that value must be given. And by providing value they know that value is to be returned.

They practice the Law of Reciprocity. They know for sure that what they give out they shall receive. Successful entrepreneurs do not expect something for nothing.

They are constantly working to make themselves valuable, which of course attracts the personal associations that lead to greater financial success.

#6 Perform a Mind Makeover

Successful people rarely resemble the person that they once were. They are constantly educating themselves and gaining experience that will lead them to the goals they desire. They truly understand the importance of acquiring greater skill sets, which in turn gives them a confidence boost and greater self-worth.

They live by the words of ‘renewing their minds’. These entrepreneurs know this is the key to their transformation and growth.

#7 Focus

This characteristic is what I have found to be the most important when it comes to entrepreneurial success.

Once you have awakened to the possibilities of success, you also realize the many opportunities that abound. And it is easy to allow yourself to become scattered.

Successful people develop the ability to focus and concentrate to maximize their resources and forces.

#8 Success by Association

Have you ever heard when growing up “be careful who you hang around’. Many times you may be ‘guilty by association’. Well, successful entrepreneurs understand that you can also be ‘successful by association.’

In fact it is virtually impossible to be successful without having a mentor or a friend or business associate that helps to quicken your advancement.

Successful entrepreneurs have someone that accelerated their advancement with either some knowledge they possess or some other resource that they did not have.

#9 Understand Self and Others

When you constantly work on yourself, you begin to develop a greater understanding of yourself and a greater belief in yourself, which translates into valuing yourself.

This is what allows you to become an expert in your chosen area. If you don’t understand and value yourself you can bet the entire farm that no one else will understand or value you.

I have also found that those who understand and value themselves have a greater ability to understand and value others. This skill set is so important when you are seeking higher levels of success.

#10 Take Personal Responsibility

This trait is it. I mean this removes all attempts to blame anyone for what takes place in your life.

Successful entrepreneurs never allude to anything that anyone could have done to them. In fact, all the trials that they have, they looked at them as a blessing to learn from. Never giving up control of their lives.

I really love the fact of being in control of your life. Never allowing something outside to control you and the future of your family.

All of these keys, traits, and skill sets make up the Mindset of Successful Entrepreneurs. You probably could think of other variations, but somehow you will end up dealing with these principles.

• I suggest that you start with #1.  Take the time to pause and clearly define what it is that you want to do all and all of the other keys will begin to flow and merge together.

In Success,

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Why do we need a Salad Awareness Day?

Have you had your salad today? Eating salad almost every
day may be one of the most healthy eating habits you can
adopt – and one of the simplest, experts say. Eating salads
is a super-convenient way to work in a couple of servings
of vegetables and/or fruit. Green salads are on the menu of
almost every restaurant. You can even buy a side salad (with
Romaine lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, available with fat free
or reduced-calorie salad dressing) for a buck at many
fast food chains these days. And you can make a green salad
at home in 5 minutes, armed with a bag of pre-washed salad
greens, a few carrots or other veggies, and a bottle of light
salad dressing.
Not only that, but salads are cool, crunchy, and fun to eat
(lots of textures, colors, and flavors). Most people enjoy
eating salads – even kids! You can customize them to include
the fruits and vegetables that appeal to you the most, and
whichever ones you have on hand.

-Excerpt from By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, WebMD Weight Loss Clinic

Health Benefits Of Salads

According to Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat To Live the one food
that research has shown is most highly associated with
longevity is leafy greens…in other words salads. This may
come as a surprise to you, but leafy green vegetables are the
most nutrient packed foods available to us.
Think about it, how do the giraffe, hippo, elephant, gorilla
and cow get so big? Where do they get all the protein they
need to create those big muscles? They get it from the leafy
green vegetation they eat. All protein starts with the process
of photosynthesis in green plants.
The added health benefits of green salads are that they are
raw. To the leafy greens we use for our salad base we add a
lot more fresh, raw vegetables. In Eat To Live, Dr. Fuhrman
reports that a review of 206 studies showed raw vegetable
consumption to be our strongest defense against cancer of
any foods.

http://www.ezhealthydiet.com/green-salads.html

Oriental Salad

Ingredients:
2 Cup sliced or shredded cabbage with cone #4 or #2
½ cup snow peas
1 can Chinese baby corn
1 can water chestnuts
2 carrots shredded with cone #2
½ cup green onions diced
¼ cup red pepper sliced thin
Dressing:
¼ cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste
Preparation: Drain chestnuts and baby corn, slice chestnut
into small slices. Please vegetable ingredients in a bowl and
toss. Add dressing to salad and let marinate for about an
hour. Serve with rice.

Refreshing Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
½ cantaloupe
½ honey dew melon
1 banana
1 pear
½ lemon
½ lime
Preparation: Process cantaloupe and melon using the No.3
cone; banana using the No. 5 cone; apple and pear using the
No. 2 cone. Using the No. 1 cone, grate zest of lemon and
lime. Lemon and lime provide the juice which is the dressing
for the salad and keeps the fruit from turning brown. In a
large bowl, gently toss fruit and mix. Serve chilled.
Variations: Try adding papaya, pineapple or pecans to
your salad. Easily customize this dish to fit your unique
taste preferences.

In Health,

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If you are deciding whether or not to pass the garlic tonight at dinner, this may help you decide to add it more regularly to your diet.

Used since ancient times for both culinary and medicinal purposes, garlic is a relative of the onion and the leek. It has four edible components: the root bulb, leaves, stems and flowers. Cloves, the most commonly used part of the plant, are separated once the bulb is split and stripped of its papery covering. This skin is the only inedible part of the plant. The cloves can be made into oil or used whole, diced or crushed.

Garlic is a familiar food in most kitchens and is a key ingredient in many recipes. Yet the plant’s benefits are much more far reaching than just adding flavor to your dish.

While stomach and prostate cancer are most receptive to the effects of garlic, all forms of cancer may display positive results from garlic consumption.

Garlic has been consumed for thousands of years all over the world for its potential health benefits. Studies have proven garlic to be medicinally positive for individuals with cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

When the bulb is cut, allicin, a chemical with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, is released. In a study where mice with cancer were injected with allicin, those not injected with the compound lived an average of two months while those given the injection survived an average of six months or longer.

While observational studies on garlic consumption are more frequent than clinical studies, 28 of 37 observational studies have concluded that moderate garlic consumption is beneficial to overall health; they also show strong evidence that garlic can help prevent cancer.

Garlic contains several phytochemicals (chemical compounds naturally appearing in plants) that contain sulfur; these phytochemicals include beta-caroten, caffeic acid, allyl sulfur and diallyl disulfide. Allyl sulfur, a compound also found in onions, is primarily responsible for garlic’s cancer-fighting properties, making cells more vulnerable once divided. Cancer cells divide at such a rapid rate that they are extremely susceptible to harmful stressors; allyl sulfur helps prevent tumors from forming while leaving healthy cells basically unaffected.

Diallyl disulfide (DADS) is produced during the breakdown of allicin and has a similar cancer-inhibiting quality, although the chemical reaction that produces DADS begins when raw garlic is peeled or injured. According to medical professionals, the entire process takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and cooking the garlic only after the reaction has finished will stimulate its cancer-fighting potential.

Garlic also enhances the immune system by stimulating white blood cell production. In patients who have surpassed the four to eight month life expectancy for late stage cancer or even gone into full remission of the cancer, the majority had engaged in a form of immune improving therapy or clinical immunology trials. This has led researchers to believe that a strong immune system is critical in defeating cancer.

As with any supplementation or dietary change, cancer patients should consult with their physician before making any nutritional modifications to their diet.

For cancer cooking classes in the San Diego area, please email sadieking@san.rr.com for the schedule.

Photo: Mullica/Flickr

In Health,

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• A blog is something that you want to have if you have something to say or something to teach.  It can also be utilized to add value to a business or service and can help you make more money.  And when it’s free there is no reason not to get yourself a blog.

Photo: Flickr/Hygiene Matters

Here are the 6 steps and tips to being a master at blogging:

#1 Give Valuable Content

• The secret is creating a lot of content, and not just any content, something of value.  Building value based relationships with your followers and friends is more important than just having a lot of friends.

Do: Give value, optimize SEO, brand yourself, borrow “catchy” formats, create community, own your content

Don’t: Pitch without value, use random keywords, speak negatively, shut off comments, host on someone else’s website

• One or two posts isn’t going to cut it, put enough money in the “goodwill” bank before you show your friends how to buy your product or service.

#2 Borrow “catchy” formats

• Find successful blogs in your niche and borrow ideas for hot topics.  Don’t plagiarize or directly take anything from someone’s successful blog.  You can just utilize the ideas and formats that you see.

Formats: The “how-to”, The interview (piggy back off someone else’s success, Breaking news, The throwback (revisit previous successful topics and add more), The “weird” (discover something you’ve never heard of and share)

#3 Easy to Read

79% of readers scan posts.  So use simple language and short sentences and paragraphs.  Utilizing bold headlines and bullet points to make it more scan-able.

#4 Create Community

Use the follow me plug-ins to stay connected through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.  Ask for and encourage comments.

#5 Own Your Content

Host on your own hosting account with your own domain.  When you don’t you lose the ability to fully optimize and customize content, you lose revenue and sales, and it demonstrates a cheap brand.

#6 Get a Self Hosted Customized Blog

Go to: http://www.sadieking.com/getafreeblog

Set it up in 2 minutes.  You will get a pre-customized, socially integrated, premium theme with visual enhancements, hand selected plug-ins to turn visitors into fans and fans into customers.

Please share and tweet this if you find it valuable!

To your success,

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The Probability of Completing a goal:

Hear an idea      10%

Consciously decide to adopt it    25%

Decide when you will do it   40%

Plan how to do it    50%

Commit to someone else you will do it    65%

Have a specific accountability appointment with the person committed to    95%

Source: American Society of Training and Development

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When the Chopra Center for Wellbeing announced its endorsement of a liquid nutritional drink called Zrii, many people were stunned. It was the first product to win an endorsement by the highly prestigious Center founded by Deepak Chopra, MD and David Simon, MD in 1996. Obviously, Zrii wasn’t just another ‘health drink.’ The drink’s special qualities were summarized by the Chopra Center in its endorsement, which categorized Zrii as “a high quality, reliable formulation of the rejuvenatory fruit Amalaki (Emblica officinalis).”

Over 100 scientific studies suggest that this fruit, which has been held in high esteem by Ayurvedic doctors for thousands of years, has measurable health benefits. The Chopra Center has been encouraging a daily dose of Amalaki for over a decade. Zrii provides a balanced, pleasing, and concentrated source of this nutritive food.  Such praise gained the attention of health practitioners around the world, including numerous doctors of chiropractic who have always been at the forefront of the wellness revolution.

With the current decline in the worldwide economy making it more important than ever for DC’s to position themselves as scientific wellness experts, chiropractors began requesting more in-depth information about Zrii.  Zrii is a synergistic blend of seven organic herbs and botanicals that have been used in eastern medicine for over 5,000 years, with more than 1,250 scientific research studies in the last year alone, proving their efficacy.  Zrii contains amalaki, ginger, haritaki, jujube, schizandra, tulsi and turmeric and was formulated by a team of Ayurveda practitioners, integrative medical doctors and nutritional chemists.

Zrii is not only a powerful preventative drink that contains the highest known source of anti-oxidants in the world, but its ingredients have the following effects on the body:

*** Musculoskeletal health. Helps reduce inflammation and pain associated with arthritic conditions; maintains and supports healthy joints; helps increase bone density; useful for fibromyalgia, muscle pain and recovery following trauma.

*** Brain and nerve function. Enhances reflexes, work performance and mental activity; enhances memory and mental clarity; supports eyesight and nervous system; increases visual acuity, peripheral sensitivity and night vision; decreases eye fatigue.

*** Immune response. Provides anti-oxidant protection; has antibacterial and microbial activity; has anti-tumor properties; modulates and enhances the immune system; has antiviral properties; benefits the skin — reducing eczema, psoriasis and various other skin disorders; supports and helps maintain body temperature.

*** Stress and sleep. Eases the effects of everyday tension and stress; supports healthy response to environmental stresses; promotes body’s normal resistance function; promotes healthy adrenal function; regulates the production of cortisol; reduces stress; allows better, more rejuvenating sleep.

*** Aging and longevity. Anti-aging effects by increasing adaptive effects, supports and maintains cellular health and longevity through anti-inflammatory activity and antioxidant protection, helps relieve menopausal symptoms.

*** Anxiety and depression. Elevates mood and spirit; influences neuro-chemistry of brain similar to antidepressant medication; can provide relief from anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders.

*** Blood sugar and weight management. Insulin and glucose normalizing, blood-sugar and blood-lipid normalizing, regulates blood sugar by keeping cortisol levels in balance, supports and enhances proper breakdown of dietary fats, increases energy.

*** Breathing and respiratory. Provides specific benefits to lungs and respiratory systems, inhibits allergies and allergic asthma, beneficial for asthma and bronchitis.

*** Cardiovascular function. Protects heart; stabilizes cholesterol; promotes healthy circulation; supports normal, healthy platelet function and prostaglandin activity; has normalizing effect on blood pressure.

*** Digestion and elimination. Supports healthy liver function and bile secretion, strengthens and supports kidneys and urinary tract, cleanses colon and promotes healthy digestion, promotes efficient digestion, absorption and use of nutrients from food and other herbs, possesses strong anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing properties.

*** Energy and athletic performance. Calming and stimulating at same time; provides alertness without the stimulating effects of caffeine; enhances athletic performance and endurance; decreases respiratory demands during physical activity; helps fight fatigue and increases energy, endurance, strength, stamina and physical performance; tones sexual organs of both mean and women.

Doctors are also finding that being a Zrii distributor can quickly increase their practice revenue. Doctors of chiropractic are in the forefront of the Zrii business. “They are introducing it to people within their sphere of influence: other chiropractors, Ayurvedic doctors, nutritionists, naturopaths, yoga studios and other professionals in the health and wellness arena.”

What our ancestors knew about Ayurveda, a health system dating back 5,000 years, has been passed down from generation to generation. Its primary message is simple, yet profound: align yourself with the wisdom of nature, balance your body from within and tap into your internal pharmacy.  You then can experience vibrant, glowing health. Incorporating this ancient medicine with modern science is the guiding philosophy behind Zrii.

Spearheading this movement are doctors and practitioners whose own undisputed success in helping people reclaim their health using Ayurvedic practices has made them household names. Zrii has taken their recommendations to create products that capture and apply the wisdom of the “science of life.”

Contact me to learn more about this amazing product and opportunity!

Adapted from Cindy Virden from globalabundance.wordpress.com, Photo by Planetc1/Flickr

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It might be hard to imagine that our favorite, delicious fruits and vegetables might be carrying some not so delicious toxins.  Conventional farming uses pesticides, herbicides and chemicals and we now have reason to believe that residues from some of these chemicals are left behind on fruit, vegetables, and grains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which monitors pesticide levels in foods, reported in 2006, that 64 percent of fruits and vegetables and 69 percent of wheat grains had measurable residue levels. These results were reported after the food had been power-washed by the USDA. Although some pesticide residue is found on the surface of foods, other pesticides may be taken up through the roots and into the plant and cannot be removed.

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on public health, looked at approximately 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what fruits and vegetables we eat have the highest and lowest amounts of chemical residue.

They have defined the following “Dirty Dozen”—fruits and vegetables containing the highest content of pesticides and other toxins:

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Domestic blueberries
• Nectarines
• Sweet bell peppers
• Spinach, kale and collard greens
• Cherries
• Potatoes
• Imported grapes
• Lettuce

Please remember that all fresh produce, whether it’s grown with or without chemicals, should be washed with water to remove dirt and potentially harmful bacteria.

Here’s a great produce wash you can try:

Put one-quarter cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of salt into a sink or bucket of your fruits and vegetables and let them soak for 15 minutes. This will eliminate much of the dirt, pesticide residue, and waxes and won’t affect the flavor! If needed, you can add a teaspoon or two of baking soda as a scrub. Be sure to rinse your produce thoroughly after scrubbing or soaking.

Adapted from: Are There Toxins on Your Produce? by Marcelle Pick, Photo: Wizan/Flickr

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The future of customer service is here. Technology has made seeking out support faster and easier than ever. But, has your digital age company sacrificed true service in the name of automation?

Today, finding customer support is as simple as writing an e-mail or picking up the phone. But, even though you’re not face-to-face with your customers, you still leave a lasting impression. Do you come across as caring and competent, or menacing and mechanical?

Offering stand-out service on the Internet isn’t as hard as it is rare. Take these simple steps towards old-style service in the digital age:

1. Give Each Customer a Personal Response
2. Be Clear, But Sincere
3. Offer Live Customer Support
4. Make Sure Your Support Reps Have All the Answers

Give Each Customer a Personal Response

When a customer sits down to e-mail your company, it’s because he needs help. He chooses e-mail because it’s quick, but his request still warrants a satisfying and personal response!

Companies eager to save time and money often take automation too far in their customer support. Each customer has a unique question, and deserves a unique answer. Even if you save time by copying and pasting stock replies, change the opening and closing to make the message sound less robotic.

Be Clear, But Sincere

When responding to customers’ e-mail, be sincere and to the point. Before sending a message, try turning the tables. Ask yourself, “Would this answer satisfy me if I were the customer?”

Take that extra moment to give your customer the help he deserves. It might mean the difference between a satisfied customer and a credit card chargeback!

Offer Live Customer Support

E-mail has become an acceptable form of communication. But, live customer support is still necessary. The plethora of information available online can be overwhelming to customers, especially those new to the Internet!

Single your company out from the crowd by providing customers with a real person to talk to. Live phone support is an invaluable way to foster trust. When your customer has reached the end of his Internet rope, and just needs help, your toll free number is the answer he’s looking for.

Make Sure Your Support Reps Have All The Answers

The presence of phone support will do no good if your staff doesn’t know your product! Customer support reps should be warm and friendly, and willing to help with any aspect of your product.

What a good feeling it is to talk to someone who feels confident in his product. It’s even better if he’s knowledgeable enough to solve your problem without transferring you all around the company!

Provide Stand-Out Service; Gain Lifelong Customers

Too many e-businesses skimp on customer service, hiding behind web sites and message boards. Customer support is an integral part of every company, even those operating solely online. Be one of the few to offer stellar service, and gain customers for life!

Posted by Sean Cohen

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