Hello, and welcome to the very first issue of the Women For Balance Newsletter! We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter as much as we’ve enjoyed publishing it for you! We have some very exciting things to share with you this month! First, we want to celebrate the launch of our Women For Balance websites which were created for our online friends, families and contacts as a forum to share information about health initiatives such as: hormone balancing and how it can be corrected safely; environmental toxins and what we as consumers can do about them; how mineral deficiencies dramatically affect our overall health; the importance of proper pH-balance and so much more! Natural health care is important to so many people so we're excited to share information on natural health initiatives through our website and our newsletters.

First, I want to invite you to visit my website at  http://www.women4balance.com/judytovey . While you’re there, please do me a favor and sign my Guestbook. Feel free to share any comments, questions or suggestions with me—I’d really appreciate that! One last thing before we get to the meat of this newsletter, feel free to pass this informative newsletter on to any family or friends that you think would enjoy the information that is being shared. Thanks so much and now.... on with the news!

In this issue, you will find:
A) Emotional Stress: How Chronic Emotional Stress Can Ruin Your Health~ Article by Dr. Ben Kim

B) A Natural Answer To The Global Epidemic Of Depression~ Article by Jeannie Crabtree

C) A closer look at ingredients~

D) Healthy Recipes~

E) Summary

Emotional Stress: How Chronic Emotional Stress Can Ruin Your Health
By Dr. Ben Kim on November 30, 2005 General Health Information

My answer is this: Learn how to manage emotional stress effectively.

All of my clinical and personal experiences over the years have me convinced that no other factor has more influence over your health.

Not diet, not exercise, not even how much you sleep.

Why is emotional stress one of the most significant causes of all chronic health challenges?

Because your body cannot defend itself against the damage that emotional stress creates quietly over time. Your body pays a heavy physiological price for every single moment that you feel anxious, tense, frustrated, and angry.

I'm not suggesting that you should strive to never feel these emotions. Anxiety, tension, frustration, and anger all serve important purposes when they first arise. The danger is in experiencing these emotions on a chronic basis.

Emotional stress sets off a series of reactions in your body that involve your sympathetic nervous system, the portion of your nervous system that would increase your chance of surviving if you were to run into a mountain lion during a hike. In such a situation, your sympathetic nervous system would:

Speed up and intensify your heart and breathing rates so that you could have more oxygen and nutrients available to your muscles to run or fight.

Divert the bulk of your blood supply to your large muscles groups to run or fight.

Slow or even shut down your digestive system so as to not waste blood, nutrients, and oxygen that could be used to run or fight.

Stimulate the release of extra glucose into your blood to give you a burst of energy, just as a cheetah's spleen gushes extra blood into its circulation when it needs a burst of acceleration.

Cause your adrenal glands to release epinephrine and noepinephrine into your system to increase cardiac output and increase blood sugar.

Stimulate the release of cortisol from your adrenal glands to increase blood sugar and energy.

Increase the diameter of your pupils to allow for more light to enter your eyes and more acute vision for fighting and running quickly on any type of terrain.

Clearly, it is to your advantage to have a healthy sympathetic nervous system, one that is capable of providing all of the functions listed above during physical emergencies.

What you don't want is for your body to experience all of the above on a continuous, low-grade level because of emotional stress.

And this is exactly what many of us are suffering from in today's hectic world.

Emotional stress is immensely harmful to your health because your body reacts to it in the same way that it would react if you came upon a wild mountain lion. Not always to the same degree, of course, but there's no question that your sympathetic nervous system increases its output whenever you feel anxious, tense, frustrated, or angry. In other words, whenever you feel stressed.

There's really no need to provide a list of health conditions that are partly caused by emotional stress, because every health condition is partly caused by emotional stress. Emotional stress always equals increased output by the sympathetic nervous system, which always equals accelerated aging and breakdown of your tissues.

So what can you do to effectively manage emotional stressors in your life and prevent them from creating health problems?

1.  Breathe deeply and regularly.
   Doing so can actually decrease the tone of your sympathetic nervous system and increase the tone of your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the portion of your nervous system that promotes relaxation and good digestion.

2.  Spend some quiet time every day in prayer, meditation, or a purposeful relaxation session.
   
   All three have been scientifically proven to facilitate a relaxation response in your body that can decrease blood pressure, decrease pulse rate, and improve blood circulation. Meditation and relaxation sessions can be greatly enhanced by listening to any number of audio CDs that are designed to facilitate optimal relaxation and mental clarity. The one that I use on a regular basis and highly recommend is called EarthRain.

3. Practice visualization
   
   Almost all great athletes practice some form of visualization. As author Wayne Dyer says, "you'll see it when you believe it." Spend some time each day visualizing yourself going about your day in a balanced and emotionally poised manner. You can include visualization in your prayer/meditation/relaxation session.

4. Make sure that you are getting the nutrients that you need for a healthy nervous system
   Your nutritional status can make all the difference between being able to handle a certain amount of stress without breaking down vs. quickly suffering health problems when faced with stress.
   
   While it's important to your overall health that you eat a well balanced and nutrient-dense diet, for emotional health specifically, it is important to ensure adequate intake of B vitamins, Vitamin D, and two long chain omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA. I recommend that you read Experience Your Best Health for a comprehensive approach to ensuring optimal nourishment of your body.

5. Be honest about your feelings
   There's a reason why “know thyself” is a wise proverb/saying in virtually every culture of our world. Striving to know yourself and what you are truly feeling on a daily basis is absolutely essential to preventing unpleasant but genuine emotions from becoming chronic states. Anger, frustration, and anxiousness can all help to fuel personal growth and character development if you are honest with yourself and seek their root cause(s).
   
   One of the best methods I can recommend to increase your awareness of what you are truly feeling is journal writing. The rules are simple: no censorship, no possibility of another set of eyes being able to read your thoughts, just pure flow of thoughts from your mind and heart onto a piece of paper or your computer screen. Regular journal writing in this manner can be extremely beneficial to your emotional health.

6. Move your body
   It's a well-established fact that regular exercise is one of the best habits you can adopt that will help you avoid depression and stay emotionally balanced. It doesn't matter what kind of exercise you do. What's important is to be active and use your joints and muscles on a regular basis.

Don't make the mistake that many health conscious people make and fret over the percentages of carbs, protein, fat, raw food, and cooked food in your diet while neglecting the emotional stressors in your life.

Yes, eating fresh, nutrient-dense foods is good for your health.

But eating fresh, nutrient-dense foods while feeling emotionally balanced and at peace is even better.

A Natural Answer To The Global Epidemic Of Depression

By Jeannie Crabtree

A World Health Organization report in 2001 identified depression as the No.1 cause of disability in the US and the third biggest, behind heart disease and strokes, in Europe.

Have you ever had the two or more of the following feelings for more than a couple of weeks?

• Bad mood for most of the day, more days than not\poor appetite or overeating

• insomnia or sleeping too much

• low energy or fatigue

• low self-esteem

• poor concentration or difficulty making decisions

• feelings of hopelessness, helplessness

• feel hollow or empty

Two or more of these symptoms together could be an indicator of depression.

Although our own feelings and beliefs about things can cause depression, depression can also be caused by an imbalance in brain chemistry.

Today let us talk about an imbalanced chemistry caused by nutritional deficiencies.

Depression Help And The Food Connection
 

Sometimes something as simple as changing the diet can help with depression. Here is an easy way to see if a change of diet can assist an imbalance in brain chemistry, which can be the cause of depression. Agree with yourself to do this for a month:

Water can make a difference

For the next month, drink plenty of water and leave out all soft drinks, diet drinks, colored and flavored drinks from your diet. These have chemicals that can adversely affect your brain chemistry. Out of balance brain chemistry can lead to depression.

I suggest drinking one quart of water for every 50 pounds of weight. So if you weigh 150 pounds that would be three quarts of water a day.

The brain needs to be hydrated to work at optimal level. As a health consultant I see people who only have a glass or so of water a day. Your body and your brain cannot function very well with dehydration going on. Your nervous system is a conductor of electricity and nerve impulses. Water is an electrical conductor. Drinking enough water can help with depression.

Cut way back on Chemicals and Preservatives

Most snack food contains a tremendous amount of chemicals and preservatives. Things such as Nitrites, Nitrates, MSG, sulfites, Splenda®, also known as Sucralose. These can cause their own chemical reactions in the brain, which can be far less than beneficial. Cut the chemicals out of your diet. Depression can often be helped with kicking the chemicals in your diet.

To cut out the chemicals and preservatives means going back to food in its natural state. Skip the pre-packaged and pre-prepared foods as much as possible.

Eat more Vegetables and Fruit To Help With Depression

• When I do Nutritional Counseling, I run into a good number of people now who eat very little vegetables or fruit. These are your prime source for minerals and vitamins. Minerals are extremely important for nerve and brain balance.

• Fruits and vegetables contain the minerals, vitamins, enzymes and phytochemicals that our body needs everyday to create health. I can tell you for sure that you will not be healthy without eating your vegetables. Mom was right!

• You will get the most minerals, vitamins and enzymes out of your raw foods. Cooking always diminishes these. Increase your vegetable consumption to about half of your meal in vegetables.  If you are concerned about weight, do not eat many starchy vegetables (those grown below ground).

• In addition, a super food powder* is often a good choice in a vitamin mineral supplement that will give you a good source of nutrition.

Depression Help - Start Eating Fish

• Oily fish, such as sardines, mackerel, trout, tuna and salmon, contain Omega-3 fatty acids, vital for a healthy brain and nervous system. Eat fish often.

• A survey commissioned by the British Trout Association, showed that one-fifth of the population eat no oily fish, rising to one-third of those aged 15 to 24. Most people eat half the amount they would have eaten 50 years ago.

• Your brain cannot run at peak efficiency when it does not have the fatty acids it requires. So what to do if you do not eat much fish? Take a fish oil supplement. These can be found in capsules or flavored liquid at the health food store. I generally suggest fish oils be taken at a meal.

Don't Continue To Suffer With Depression!

The world is in the grip of a global epidemic of depression. Something as simple as deleting a few things from the diet and adding a few healthy foods, a couple supplements and water could make a world of difference.

Isn’t it worth it to have a healthy style of eating for a few weeks and see what it will do for you towards helping your depression? If you see improvement in how you feel whether emotionally or physically then stick with it! You will be happy that you did.

Please realize that whether you felt a lessoning of depression or not, you assisted your body in becoming healthier. If you do not see improvement, you may need additional detox and rebuilding strategies.

Summary~