Oui Oui Le Tour De France Begins

Finally packed, pressed, pushed and squeezed my summer gear into one suitcase. It took three attempts – and even one where I removed over 50% of the contents to travel light. It was however, a pipe dream. Then broke into a sweat at the thought of surviving a few weeks with only one pair of shoes…so shoved most of it back in! Well if you take the shoes dahhhling, you need the outfits to go with it don’t you? Everyone knows that!

Been a frenetic whirlwind for the past few weeks getting things sorted, writing process documents for my sister Kait who is holding the fort while we are in France. She has the household, two cats and the business to manage – so no pressure! She is so capable that I may just stay away for longer!

One thing bothers me though. When I booked the tickets I told the travel agent that whatever flight we took, it must not be on one of those huge new A380 planes with 5,000 passengers and a double storey fuselage. NO. That would not do. You need to understand that I am one of those people who would still be cooking on a coal stove after the introduction of electricity. I’m like that about hair removal too. Don’t get me started about the pain and suffering of wax – I just won’t go there – AGAIN!

Once the air tickets were issued, sods law prevailed and of course the second leg of our flight from Singapore to Paris is in one of those monstrous huge dangerous looking planes. I’d blocked it out until 3am this morning. But since then, and we leave in three hours, I cant stop thinking about maintaining a steady breathing pattern and calming my frantic heart beat. I’ve had a friend’s son explain to me the physics of flying ….ostensibly to calm my fear. NO. Not working at this hour. Of course Bin Laden had to get killed two weeks before we leave too so I’ll be checking everyone’s demeanor and shoes, shifty looking luggage as I wait in the queues. So packing was just the start of the tension.

I distracted myself by thoughts of entertaining my face book followers with photos of me following the “planking” craze of late. The thing is, I don’t like heights, but figure I could still raise a laugh by planking on the ground. You’ll see – I’ll post some planking pix of me in bed after 26 hrs flying and airport terminals….why do they call it that. “Terminal” it’s so inappropriate! OK. Deep breathing…NO I will not be going anywhere near the Eifel Tower but could plank on the ground at the Arc de Triomph…..will use my waiting time to think of interesting ground level places to get planked! Am mildly amused now..but my heart is still anxious……so will be taking Health Script PM to calm my nerves..and eventually catch up with some sleep!

Clarifying the Calcium Debate

I’ve been told calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide are the most difficult for the body to assimilate. It’s so difficult to decide what really is a good supplement?

Recent studies have indicated that in fact high release Calciums are not good for your body. It gets absorbed too fast and contributes to high levels for a short period of time in the blood, raising the risk of heart problems and/or stroke. Our registered Naturopath Rob Martin, specialist in Phytotherapy and R&D responds: This is why we selected a calcium that is absorbed more slowly to reduce this risk factor – you may have been given the opposite advice as that was certainly the thinking up until the report about six months ago. There is a further study currently being conducted at Auckland university, the results of which should be out next year, backing up previous research that the high-release calciums are one of the leading causes of myocardial infarctions (heart risk). It seems the slower absorbed a calcium is, the lower the peak calcium spike, leading to a longer term absorption.

From a naturopathic view, 90+% of the world gets its Calcium from Calcium Carbonate (the lime in water, dissolved limestone etc) or from Calcium Phosphate – found in milk or bone. If either of these calcium salts were so poorly absorbed, the population of the earth would have died out a long time ago. In my opinion (and I admit it’s contrary to many more ill-informed naturopaths) the Calcium Carbonate is better – The calcium is absorbed well, and the carbonate ion helps to alkalise the blood.

Magnesium Oxide provides magnesium in a pure and simple absorbable form. The Magnesium is easily dissociated in the stomach to the Magnesium ion and absorbed quickly. Magnesium is traditionally used in many sleep formulae for its ‘relaxing’ properties. Therefore it is a vital part of the PM Sleep & Relax formula as well as supplying the magnesium the body needs on a daily basis.

Find out more: www.heathscript.co.nz

Why Don’t Vitamins meet RDA?

Some of our customers are worried about vitamin deficiency and how the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) effects them: Our registered Naturopath Rob Martin, specialist in Phytotherapy and R&D responds: For example Selenium found in Health Script’s Supplements, is sometimes added to some foods and health drinks. We felt the strong antioxidants and Vitamin B’s took priority, so again, this was the trade-off in developing our formula, focused on energy boosting and healthy aging – so our emphasis in the contents is aimed at that objective.
The RDA of Selenium is much lower than many people believe – it is only 70-80mg/day from all sources. People routinely state the lack of Selenium in NZ soils, however many food crops are imported (grains from Australia, USA, Canada) which tends to have sufficient Selenium in the soils and therefore in the crops grown in them. Also, in NZ, farmers being aware of nutritional deficiencies  in NZ soils tend to supplement their animals with mineral supplements in the form of Selenium going in to water troughs, mineral licks, minerals going into food pellets or added into silage. Minerals are also added to fields (and not just NPK) and so on.

The desire in NZ to supplement Selenium does not take into account ‘From all sources’ and can lead to excessive doses – the symptoms of which are hair loss, fingernails dropping out and curiously, ‘Onion breath’!

If we were to put the full RDA of vitamins in a single multivitamin – the tablet would have to be delivered as a suppository – and even then, the size would make your eyes water! But in all seriousness, we have had to formulate a balance of ingredients to deliver the best results for energy boosting, healthy aging and to maintain and support a healthy balance of nutrients without going overboard.  We believe in clever combining of ingredients, rather than “over dosing,”  which can overload your kidneys and liver, and lead to other health problems. In terms of health supplements, we believe less is more for a better and smarter outcome!

All in the Mind

“Visualize it and it’s yours”. Yeah right! I’ve been visualizing a Lotto win for years. It works well on kids. I would visualize a peaceful evening move the clocks forward, feed them dinner early and convince them it was 8pm bedtime when it was only 6.30pm. Ahhh bliss.

The power of suggestion is not to be under-estimated, so I decided to delve more into the techniques. I’ve read about psychosomatic influences. The power of suggestion. There’s even research where they compare people who had knee ops with those who just had a cut and stitches on their knees but believed they had the full operation. The recovery and success rates for both groups was identical! People believe they are cured and so they are.

How does it work? Little is known about this aspect – but it’s all to do with belief. If you believe you will recover, you enjoy a much higher chance of success. I also discovered that 69% of the response to vitamins was apparently psychosomatic too. So I decided to use myself as a guinea pig. I’ve taken vitamins all my life and TRY and eat healthy and walk or jog about 20-30 minutes a day. I don’t believe in straining myself too much!

I made an appointment with the Nutritionist, Kate Gray at http://www.lifespark.co.nz/  She stood me on this amazing electronic machine, holding onto two handles while an painless electric current went through my wayward body – thankfully she didn’t tell me how it worked until afterwards! It calculated my water and fat content, my muscle tone….in fact about 40 different measurements – even the percentage of fat around my critical internal organs. In conclusion, Kate told me, I was 15 years younger than my biological age! Yippppeee that makes me younger than my husband!

After a conversation about diet with Kate I decided to pull myself back on track. More walking, water drinking and less sugar. At this rate I’ll be 18 by Christmas! Of course it also means I may be working until I’m 90 to pay for the extended years of shopping I’m determined to enjoy!

I didn’t dare confess that the occasional glass of wine and bar of chocolate sometimes consumed at the same time was my secret to success! But it did make me think about the Health Script vitamins I take. Do I really need them? I decided to stop them completely and carry on with my usual routine.

Initially I didn’t notice a thing. But after about a week I started to feel down, tired, every little thing seemed a struggle. I’d suffered disruptive and broken sleep, and just couldn’t be bothered with much…. I pressed on. It’s been nearly three weeks now and I am firmly back on the health supplements. After a week of pill popping I noticed what was missing. Not the power of suggestion, but the power of good quality nutrients. As we age we gradually suffer from vitamin deficiency, out bodies less able to extract some of those critical minerals and vitamins from our food. After taking Health Script Vitamins again I felt like I was flying during my morning walk/jog. I now feel upbeat and energized. I slept through the night for the first time in three weeks. The PM does the trick for a good, relaxing night’s sleep and along with the AM to kick start the mornings, I’m firmly back on track.

I wasn’t going to say anything – almost felt I couldn’t – shamelessly promoting my own products. What a cheek! I was telling a good friend and she said, “ hell yeah – blog it. Tell them about your response – people can take it or leave it. But even I can see the difference in your whole demeanor!”

So that’s it then – give it a go with good quality health supplements that deliver potent anti-aging antioxidants and all those rich minerals you maybe missing in your diet. Get to feel 15 years younger too! Of course the downside is you’ll be paying taxes for longer – groan – unless you marry a younger work-horse or seven – Liz Taylor had the right idea!

See www.healthscript.co.nz for more information including details about every top quality ingredient used in these products. Gluten and dairy free.

Why do You Need Multi-Vitamins?

Ummm What am I looking for again? Uh-uh can’t remember her name? Having trouble sleeping? Or worried about things that didn’t used to bother you before? Before what? Lack of sleep, stress, low levels of nutrition and poor lifestyle habits can contribute to irritating changes in brain and body function and a sense of operating under par as we age. Add to that the prospect of mid-life crises for men and menopause for woman and your whole wellbeing goes out of whack.

Contributing to this mix is the depleted nutrient level and over processing of foods we eat and toxins in our environment. This is a recipe for under performance in day to day life, at work or recovering from exercise. Feeling tired and unmotivated is just a symptom of the greater picture. As we age our bodies are less effective at extracting vitamins from our food and our bodies become starved of essential nutrients to function at our optimum. Stress impacts harder and we tend to cope less effectively with all kinds of issues.

New Zealand soils are deficient in selenium, magnesium, zinc, and boron. These essential minerals are critical for a healthy body and mind, keeping hormone systems in balance and maintaining immunity, especially during winter. Also a number of chronic diseases have been linked to diets lacking in these elements.

I was talking to a Charge Nurse this week, whose worked in NZ hospitals for the past 32 years. She made an interesting comment about our over drinking of water in recent years. “I see what would be healthy patients, but they drink so much water that they flush all the nutrients through their system. They take vitamins and they eat healthy but they wash all the goodness out of their body,” she explained. Later she talked about a “fluid restricted” diet for those with kidney damage. These patients functioned on 800ml of fluid a day as their kidneys were so damaged from overworking and processing so much fluid for so many years. So while it’s good to maintain normal fluid levels, remember drinks other than water are also fluid and 8 glasses a day should be more than enough for normal body function, which will not flush vitamins out of your system.

There are a total of 13 essential vitamins, including vitamin A, B-complex, C, D, and E.  Each vitamin plays an important role in improving and maintaining your health.  A good quality multi-vitamin will often have other ingredients too like antioxidants to support healthy aging and other nutrients to support cell regeneration and body recovery, etc. A quality multi-vitamin can help in all the metabolic processes of your body and brain, as well as boost your energy levels. Health Script believes a good multi-vitamin supports and maintains your health and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and grains.

What Makes a Quality Multi Vitamin?

Complete: Women in particular, need at least 30 different vitamins and minerals says the latest scientific research.

Guaranteed  Quality: The best health supplements are put through rigorous quality testing so you get exactly what it says on the label.

Bio-available: The nutrients must be in the most bio-available form. Natural  and Free of artificial preservatives, dyes, allergens or other contaminants.

You be the Judge: Try another formula if a multi-vitamin doesn’t make you feel better within the first 30-60 days. All your symptoms my not have improved in that time, but you should notice a real improvement in your overall energy levels and wellbeing.

Find out more about top quality vitamins, formulated and made here in New Zealand at: http://www.healthscript.co.nz/

Is Resveratrol Up to Close Inspection?

Resveratrol is based on the high anti-oxidants found in red wine but latest research shows that’s it’s not the wine, the grapes or its’ flesh that has the magic anti-aging qualities.

Grape Seed Extract is very high in Anti-aging Anti-oxidants

“Grape Seeds are a particularly rich source of PC’s  containing more than any other grape product, such as red, white or rose wine or grape juices. ..” Herbs & Natural Supplements; 2007, L Braun & M Cohen pp 397)

Read the labels of vitamins you have and check the levels of GRAPE SEED EXTRACT. After undertaking thorough research we put 6,000mg of this active antioxidant in our Health Script AM FEEL Alive formula along with 23 other ingredients to boost your energy and improve your immunity. Ideal multivitamin to ward of winter bugs! See our customer feedback:

http://www.healthscript.co.nz/Feedback.aspx

Four Hot Tips to Avoid Winter Colds

The temperature’s dropping and I no longer kick the duvet off my husband overnight. So less complaints from him. Winter must be just around the corner. Damit!

The worst aspect is sitting next to someone coughing and spluttering. My eardrums want to bleed form the repetitive noise. Where do all those Pre-Neolithic sounds come from? Like some blunt rusted instrument is trying to get ignited! You just know you’re going to get it. There’s no escape! You’re going to feel miserable and struggle for weeks to come right. Winter viruses seem to hit hard and last longer than ever – and you think you’ll never recover, especially if you’re a man. Man Flu doesn’t just affect one man – it’s a misery for everyone in the household – sometimes in the entire world. So here’s how you take action to minimize the risk:

(1)  Wash your hands at every opportunity. Door handles and computer keyboards are alive with all kinds of transferable diseases desperate to climb aboard a fresh host.

(2)  While Vitamin C in 1000mg doses and lashings of fluid can help in the early stages, new research from Australia, says eating eggs (protein to keep your energy levels up so your body has a fighting chance), Avocado rich in vitamins and minerals that help build your immunity and yogurt. Yes that’s not a mistake. Apparently the natural acidophilus bacteria in yogurt attacks winter viruses as they tend to use your stomach as a launching pad to your entire body. They sit there for a day or two having transferred from your hands to your mouth. For a couple of days they lie about in your stomach, building up strength to attack your whole body. But it’s good wholesome yogurt that can kill those bugs before they enter your blood stream. I’m not big on dairy products and prefer taking multi-vitamins. Not cheap, imported, limp wristed ones you get in supermarkets. But a good quality New Zealand made health supplement will boost your immunity. Even my old body always manages to fight the virus intruder off by following these tips.

(3)  The next stage is usually the headache, burning eyes and sore throat. It’s as if you’ve swallowed a blowtorch that wont quit. Some people tend to gargle with some of those commercially available and explosive mint flavoured liquids. This is not good. They are so antiseptic that they tend to kill all the good bacteria in our mouth at the same time leave you more vulnerable to infection. Best to do what your grandmother used to advise. A Tablespoon of salt in warm water (as hot as your raw sandpaper stinging throat can take). Do this every hour or two to try and kill it before the bugs get into your lungs.

(4)  Well there’s no saving you now – once you’re coughing and chocking and your joints are aching it’s down to treating symptoms. I am incredulous every winter at how much mucous the flu virus can generate in children. I want to isolate them and push food to them through a hatch in their bedroom door. Why do they insist on blowing their nose on every tissue in the box then leave the crumpled tissues carpeting the room, usually the lounge where we all partake of the viral atmosphere. Their grubby fingers have spread their evil germs all over the remote, the coffee table and everything they’ve come into contact with. For weeks after they’ve recovered you find crispy bits of tissue paper under their beds, or in corners of the room negotiating a revival with the dust bunnies. The only advice I can give here is to leave home. Take a quality multi-vitamin and yogurt in hand and beat a retreat to some far off sunny island. Of course if it really does get bad, always consult your Doctor!

http://www.healthscript.co.nz/

Avocado, yogurt, eggs and a good multi-vitamin like www.healthscript.co.nz will raise your immunity