The Importance of Using a Sauna in Anti-Candida Programs:

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There is a difference between the sweat excreted via exercise, versus that of sitting still and just sweating from the heat produced in a sauna.

The latter offers us far greater opportunity to expel toxins, and is not only a great compliment to any detoxification program, but is virtually a “must” for any anti-candida/fungus program.  This is not just my opinion, but also that of a specialist who has been helping people with candida for approximately the past 20 years.

There are 3 basic saunas, that of the wet sauna, the newer infra-red varieties (many of which are for home use) and the dry sauna which is my personal favorite.

The dry sauna I use at the local Y varies from 160 degrees F up to 180 depending on the size of the unit.  The first time I ever used one, it took me almost a half hour to sweat.  I honestly didn’t even think I WOULD sweat!  I’m not really a “sweater.”  (As in body liquid, not comfort jacket).

;p

And since then, I sweat much more readily, usually within 15 minutes or so, and will stay in there for up to a half an hour at times.  Hydration afterwards is extremely important, and I always have a bottle of my favorite spring water on hand that I drink both before entering and after exiting the sauna (I don’t bring it in there with me).

For those concerned about proper etiquette in a sauna, most of the time there are two levels to sit on, and the upper level is preferred due to convection, getting more heat out of the experience as it rises, and make sure the door closes behind you.  I wear just my shorts and sandals in, and hit the shower immediately afterwards, which is a must.  You’ll want to wash off all the literal excretions from your skin.  (You’ll notice over a short time that skin issues will slowly dissolve out of your skin, such as acne and similar problems, especially with near-daily use).

I personally bring a little spray bottle with me for the shower, filled with my favorite liquid Dr. Bronner’s liquid unscented baby soap, and first rinse, then spray my body and lather up, and rinse again.

Done.

A great…GREAT…addition and “must” to any detox and anti-candida protocol.

My Awesome, Safe, Resistance Bands:

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I’ve been asked so many times about the resistance bands I use (video sample below) that it was high time I did a post on it to make them easily available to all.

I’ve broke THREE resistance bands in a mere FIVE YEARS.  Folks, that’s a LOT.

“Yes,” I did a silly video with a dramatization of a band breaking.  But I really have broken three of them and did suffer three real injuries, one of which was pretty intense.

At first, I was deliberately TRYING to break them.  “Yes,” it was part a stupid macho-ego inclination that I paid dearly for the first time when the snap-back from the band breaking hit my wrist, and to say “OUCH!” would be putting it very lightly…

Holy CRAP did it ever hurt.

Left me black and blue for days, and I *almost* thought I might have broke my wrist.

But the attempt to “try” to break them was also in part because I wasn’t sure I could break them.  I wanted and needed to know how safe these things were.  And believe me, ANYONE can break them.  They are not nearly as unbreakable as one would think.

So I embarked on a search to find the safest bands I could find.  You would be surprised how long it took to find these things.  One would think by this time, since bands have been out for decades, that these safer bands would be far more readily available than they are.

FINALLY found some awesome, double-banded ones that are just incredibly strong.  The double band is such a great safety feature, since if one band breaks, the other is there to prevent, at least in large part, the horrible snap-back that happens with other bands and leads to injury.

Below is a link to the bands that I use, the best price I could find over at Amazon (and actually one of the few places they can actually be bought).  Would love to see these things become more widely available.  I have yet to break them, and am confident they won’t be breaking any time soon.  I do replace them about once a year, not only to make sure I don’t break them (but they have not shown any sign of breakage during that year yet) but more to retain the resistance they offer; anything stretched over and over again over time will lose some of it’s strength.

So be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back to get new ones next year.  I will make sure that what ever is listed on this page is the best of the best, and will be what I personally and currently use.

BEST PART…They are SOOOO inexpensive!!!

A “MUST” in our exercise arsenal, a part of my personal program, click on the picture below:

 

 

 

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Mom Beats Cancer for Eight Years.

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A new friend of mine lost her mom this past December after an eight year long battle with cancer.

The amazing part is, she did not opt for radiation or chemotherapy until the last two months of her life, after she exhausted all the remedies she knew of that were alternative and more holistic.

This new friend of mine works at a national vitamin store-type chain.  She has access to lots of information on supplements, vitamins, minerals, protein powders…the usual line-up of the popular go-to supplements that are believed to assist people with various ailments.

I unfortunately learned that there was still a lot left to try, that neither the mom nor daughter knew about.

And it makes me angry.

On the positive side, she held a strong stance against western medicine, and refused treatment for most of those 8 years, while trying alternatives that were able to extend her life for quite a long period of time.

I know another man who is sustaining his wife via alternative remedies for about 15 years now.  It’s an on-going battle, but her quality of life is decent, and so far, she’s keeping the cancer at bay.

A solid starting point for anyone can always be to simply experiment with sugar avoidance.  We know cancer tumors have insulin receptors like normal cells and cancer will readily feast on sugar…not unlike fungus/candida issues.

It will never cease to amaze me how, to my knowledge, sugar avoidance is rarely to never even suggested to patients who are contending with cancer conditions.  I’ve never known a single cancer patient to avoid sugar.  Perhaps they are told, but are not adhering to the message. 

And if the person continues to consume sugars that may indeed be feeding cancer, it’s easy to see why so many people would readily opt for chemo or radiation to help control the growth of these cancer cells.

Unfortunately, the cost in doing so is high to the immune system.

I applaud the mom for waiting to try chemo/radiation as a last resort.  This, in my opinion, is proper application of western medicine…to be used only as a last resort.

Vitamin D Likely to Increase Testosterone.

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Testosterone in men is waning.  Especially after middle age, and stats are now showing that this is happening to not only more men than ever, but also measuring lower levels than ever before.

I blame this easily on all sorts of environmental/pollutant causes, essentially endocrine disruptors, a primary culprit likely being plastic exposure as a xenoestrogen.

We also know most people north of Georgia on the longitude line are under-exposed to sunlight on a chronic basis.  This represents a huge number of people world-wide.  And the sun being the best possible source of natural vitamin D production in the human body, this presents an obvious problem.

In an article in Clinical Endocrinology published January 2, 2012 revealed a pronounced relationship between a man’s vitamin D levels, and his level of testosterone.  And I know a couple professional male body builders who use as much as 5000 iu daily of vitamin D3 in an effort to up their testosterone.

The jury is still out on how much vitamin D to get in daily.  I’ve seen some people take minimal amounts and do just fine, and others take the 5000 iu daily and have it barely move their vitamin D levels when tested.  It should also always be complimented with magnesium, such as the topical magnesium I promote and love, since the two work in a synergistic manner.  My personal choice as a supplement would always be only D3, and I’ve taken 5000 iu on an every-other-day basis in the past, but I do not plan on taking that amount again (would do one thousand IU/day instead), but my preferred route of obtaining vitamin D above all else is of course to go tanning, focusing on the UV-B ray-type booths or beds (I prefer stand-up booths personally), where I can count on my body naturally producing maximum amounts, while having the built-in-stop mechanism that assures I can’t possibly “take” too much (I never allow myself to burn, and my exposure is calculated and prudent).

I can tell when my testosterone levels are off.  I will also use maca added to my protein shake as a way to boost my endocrine balance, and it without exception adds to my vigor…and my libido.  Two sure signs my testosterone levels are doing just fine.

Are We Avoiding the Easter Candy?…Please? ;p

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When I was a kid, I participated in the sugar-rush ritual of finding the hidden easter basket filled with approximately ten pounds worth of sugar-filled chocolate, jelly bean, marshmello and who-knows what other forms of colored and disguised sugar cube treats that I would absolutely devour over the coarse of the rest of the day.

While on my sugar high and annoying the living hell out of the rest of my family between my complaining, whining, possibly swearing and other altered-personality traits associated with the consumption of the various forms of legalized and tasty coke, crack and meth substitutes, I had little interest in just about ANY other form of food.

I could have literally LIVED off of this basket of dopamine-enhancing dope, and would have had it not been for family intervention (appropriate word, no?) to force me to eat something…anything…worthwhile with which to obtain more nutrition.

I remember going to a local family-owned store that was within biking distance back in those elementary school days with my friends, all of us having saved up and/or somehow borrowed (stolen?) enough money to afford to buy the candy that this store sold to all the neighborhood kids who could bike out to it.  The store sold only bare-bones groceries, cigarettes, and candy, and little else.

We would get our little brown bags filled with as much of a wide assortment of the candy as we possibly could afford, and eat it both on the way home, a couple miles worth of biking, and then dump it out on the floor to the jealousy of the siblings who did not give us some of their spare change to have us pick up for them, the candies of their choice in turn.

This was our “drug” of the day.

We discovered cigarettes and the rest later on.

But make no mistake…this was most certainly our drug fix.  Some kids would become irritable, impatient, moody and other unpleasant behavioral patterns would emerge if this “fix” was not tended to on a near-daily basis.

Ever see the children at a fast food restaurant, non-stop crying or screaming, sugary soft drink and junk on the plates in front of them?

When will the health of us all over-ride the demands of our tastebuds and the pockets of processed food company shareholders?

Have Your Appendix Removed?

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I did.

Back when I was a kid, in the late 1800‘s, before they know what they know know about the benefits of retaining the appendix if they possibly can as compared to removing it if there is lower abdominal pain.

I awoke one night at the start of 8th grade with excruciating abdominal pain.  It was unlike any pain I’ve felt before, and I’m fairly convinced it was in part stress-induced (school was intensely stressful for me).

Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, being given some intense narcotics, then put to sleep, then waking who-knows-when to promptly vomit (“that wasn’t supposed to happen!” the nurse said) and then about a week’s recovery in the hospital.

Once thought to be a “vestigial organ,” an organ left over from evolution that serves no purpose in our bodies, we have since discovered that it appears to be the bacterial “feed” for our colon when our intestines run low on the healthy bacteria we depend upon for much of our immune system; our sort of septic tank that requires treatment from time to time to assist with maintenance.

What I discovered the hard way, was that if the removed appendix is not made up for…by helping the colon repopulate the healthy bacterial colonies that it and you depend upon for optimal health…one can suffer all sorts of consequences, some of which can be severe and even life-long.

We do this mainly via probiotic supplements, which can be very effective at accomplishing our goal.  Perhaps factor some of the new “prebiotics” in, which can be found in a variety of sources, and we’re relatively assured of having an immune system that is intact and functioning the way it needs to.