Inspire Me

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." – St. Francis of Assisi

Rett Galaxy of Stars

From the Doctor's Desk

The Doctor Weighs In
John Baumann, M.D.

Toxins and Inflammation
Exposure to toxins is dangerous. When our blood carries toxins throughout our body, the result is fatigue, digestive instability, headaches, and, eventually, inflammation. Yet we are surrounded daily with toxic cleaning chemicals, pesticides and fragrances. The battle to escape toxins that our pores are constantly absorbing is unavoidable.
When our body encounters toxins in the blood it prepares to fight them. The redness, swelling and pain of inflammation that we endure is the body’s reaction to these toxins. Redness is the visible effect of an increased blood supply that our body uses to bring antibodies to the location of the toxin. Swelling is the result of reactionary lymphatic fluid that both dilutes toxins and provides valuable repairing proteins that aid toxin-damaged tissues. And finally, pain is a body indicator reminding us to guard the area from further damage.
Instead of attempting the almost impossible task of removing toxins from your life, we suggest insulating your body from these dangerous invaders. Antioxidants can be powerful tools for protecting your precious body from toxic invasion. More specifically, an antioxidant called betalain, which is found in nopal fruit and beets, helps to drain toxins from the body while promoting healing within the cells. TriVita offers an ideal product called Nopalea. Nopalea is made from pure nopal fruit concentrate that arrives to the North American market from the Sonoran desert. For more information on protecting your body from dangerous toxins feel free to inquire about the powerful effects of betalain antioxidants.

Topic of the Week

Diet


What do you think diet means? Do words like weight-loss, food moderation and regime come to mind? For many people, these are the first words that spring to mind, but, in fact, diet is as simple as a habitual manner of eating. The definition, as found in the Meriem Webster dictionary, has nothing to do with our initial inclinations:


di·et
Pronunciation:
\ˈdī-ət\
Function:
noun

1 a: food and drink regularly provided or consumed b: habitual nourishment


The topic of this week will be the importance of achieving a healthy, regular diet in order to have a healthier body.

In Health News

H1N1 Update

As of yesterday, a reported 3,002 confirmed cases of H1N1 have been documented in the contigious United States. Most of the cases have been reported since 5 May and a startling 66% of these cases are documented in youth under 18. The estimated median age range is 15 years old. The countries with the largest quantity of confirmed cases are Canada, the U.K., the U.S and Mexico.

Inspire Me

"Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes."– Washington Irving

News in Eugene: Marathon

The Eugene Marathon had at least 6, 000 entrants from 48 states, and 4 countries. I was there with Dr. John Baumann cheering on athletes and promoting TriVita's new product, Nopalea, which helps prevent inflammation.

Though everyone who attempted the Eugene marathon Sunday morning was a winner, we would like to take the time to congratulate winner of the marathon, Matt Hooley. Of course, we would also like to congratulate all the other veteran and first-time-marathoners who braved the rain Sunday.

Following our theme this week we would like to encourage all participants and non-participants to make an effort to walk a bit more this week. Walking 10,000 steps a day can dramatically affect your health positively. Make an attempt to increase the steps you walk in a day by parking your car a little farther out, walking to the store, taking your dog on a walk or getting up an hour early to take a stroll through the park.

Ten Reasons

This week, we look at 10 big reasons why you should walk.

1. Diabetes Prevention: Studies show that walking walking 150 minutes per week can reduce your risk of diabetes by nearly 60%
   
2. Heart Strength ♂: Mortality rates of retired men halve when they walk more than two miles per day.
   
3. Heart Strength ♀: Women who walk just 3 hours a week reduce their risk of heart attack by 35%, according to the Nurse's Health Study
   
4. Brain Function: Cognitive studies show that women who walk just an hour and a half each week reduce cognitive decline.
   
5. Bone Strength: Walking a mile each day slows bone loss and increases bone density.
   
6. Mind Strength: Walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, has been shown to reduce depression.
   
7. Cancer Prevention: Walking about 2 hours a week has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer by 18% as well as reducing the risk of other cancers.
   
8. Physical Function: Walking has been proven to reduce physical disability in older persons.
   
9. Fitness: Walking just 3o minutes a day can significantly affect your cardio-respiratory health.
   
10. Weight: Walking can burn between 200 and 350 calories an hour!
    

This week, take the time to walk a little more!

Topic of the Week

Walking.

Tie your shoes, stretch your muscles and get ready for a week dedicated to the most common form of excersize: walking!

In Health News

A new scare has surfaced in the news recently: swine flu. Swine flu, historically, is responsible for massive catastrophe. The flu pandemic of 1918 is estimated to have killed 50-100 million people worldwide. The strand of influenza that has been making news, H1N1, is actually a mix of various flu strands, including bird flu and swine flu.

So what should you know about this particular strand of H1N1? First, the misleading title of swine flu has caused some false assumptions to be made.

• There is no risk of infection from the consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.

The second thing you should know is that there are ways to stay healthy. It is advised that you wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis. Washing hands regularly is a good preventative measure against any infection.

If you should develop any of the following symptoms, seek medical attention if they develop:

• fever and chills
  
• cough
• runny nose and sore throat
• body aches and headaches
• fatigue

Stay healthy and we'll continue to update you on Health News each week.
Until next week.