Community News
Risk Factors Associated with Gambling

In today’s stress-riddled fast-paced world, with so many people suffering from anxiety and depression, how do you maintain your balance to avoid developing addictions such as gambling? It starts by being aware of risk factors associated with gambling addictions. These include having had a big win early in our gambling history, having had a recent loss or change, such as divorce or death of a loved one or having financial problems. Gambling becomes a concern if you find that you use it to escape from problems or to get relief from anxiety or if it is causes you to ignore your physical and emotional health. If some of the things are making you wonder if you have a problem with gambling, take heart. You have more control over your life than you may realize. In fact, recognizing that you may have a problem is powerful and can be the first step in reaching out for help.

Karen Hlady, Community Engagement & Prevention Service Provider, Gambling Awareness Program, BCResponsibleGambling.ca

What is Holistic Nutrition?

Holistic Nutrition is an integrated look at health that incorporates the whole person – body, mind and spirit. It explores how diet, supplements, lifestyle choices, the health of our minds and spirituality all contribute to, or prevent, many diseases and poor health conditions. Holistic nutrition takes a look at all of these components and strives to find a balance amongst them, using evidence-based science and taking into consideration the health of the individual, society and the health of the planet. Natural nutrients have properties that are best described by these words: “live, natural, good quality”. These simple words can serve as a guide to everyone wishing to improve their health.

Dona Bradley, R.H.N., Manager/CSNN Vancouver Island, csnn.ca/vancouverisland

Fun Foot Facts

The average person will walk over 100,000 miles in a lifetime. That is more than four times around the earth. Walking is the best exercise for your feet. It contributes to your general health by improving circulation and weight control. The average woman walks three miles more per day than the average man, and is four times more likely to experience foot problems, often due to inappropriate footwear. As our population packs on the pounds, feet are spreading to support the extra weight. There are 26 bones in each foot, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles and tendons. A quarter of all the bones in the body are found in the feet, and when they are out of alignment, the knees, hips and back can suffer too. Feet are the body’s foundation; when we take proper care of our feet we take care of our whole body.

Diane Calder BScKIN, Pedorthist
B.D. Mitchell Prosthetics and Orthotics
MitchellPandO.com

Book Club: Why Can’t I get Better?

Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease by Dr. Richard Horowitz. Looks at pain, fatigue, memory and concentration problems, sleep disorders, and much more. Lyme disease and its related conditions are incredibly complicated. You can take the questionnaire yourself, and start doing your own detective work with this book as your guide.

LymeDisease.org

Book Club: Whose Mind Is It Anyway?

Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life by Lisa Esile & Franco Esile. Most of us spend our lives trailing after our minds, allowing our brains to take us in directions that are safe and secure, controlled and conformed. Whose Mind Is It Anyway? will help you learn how to separate what you want from what your brain wants and how to do less when your mind is trying to trick you into doing more. In a colorful, funny, and nonthreatening way, it answers the difficult question of how we can take control of our self-defeating behaviors.

LisaEsile.com

Itchy Skin –  Rosacea – Eczema

Your large intestine and skin are organs that interact with the environment. Part of the function of your skin is to excrete waste.  As a Certified Holistic Health Practitioner for over 21 years, I have observed that many skin conditions are caused by a toxic colon. My mother died of liver and colon cancer. After her death, I found a lot of anti-itch cream in her home. Her body had been trying to get the toxins out through the skin. A friend’s husband had rosacea but did not want to change his eating habits. After a total bowel obstruction and the removal of 40 cm of his colon, the rosacea disappeared. To avoid a toxic colon, people should have at least two eliminations daily. A fibre rich diet, drinking enough water and daily exercise helps with regular eliminations. Minerals, especially Magnesium, are very important. We have to pay attention to the signs our body is giving us.

Anna Christine Doehring, RHFP, RCP
Energy-All-Around.com

Greener Homes

Conventional cleaning products are filled with chemicals that can be very harsh on human (and animal) body systems. After using these products, their gases/synthetic fragrances and chemicals can remain in the air and on surfaces for long periods, leaving the air and surface quality inside our homes poor. Many of these chemicals are added to personal care products, which we then apply to our skin, allowing them to sit on and be absorbed into our bodies. Our bodies are amazing, and can adapt to and deal with many different toxins, but the short and long-term burden to our bodies is not yet fully understood. If we can reduce or eliminate the amount of exposure to some of these toxins, it is a great start to living a healthier life.

Denise Mackinnon, Young Living
Facebook.com/simplehealthideas

Stress Relief with Floatation Therapy

Stress relief is one of the major benefits of floating in a sensory relaxed environment in a super saturated bath of epsom salts that has been heated to body temperature. When the body and mind become negatively stressed, neurochemicals such as Cortisol, ACTH, and epinephrine are released and become toxic. High levels of these chemicals are directly linked to stress and stress related illnesses. Stress can manifest itself in the body in many different ways including heart disease, obesity, headaches, anxiety/depression, gastrointestinal issues and more. Studies show that floatation therapy, by reducing all sources of incoming stimuli, is able to lower the levels of these neurochemicals. Furthermore, while the body rids itself of the negative stress, positive neurochemicals such as endorphins are released, which is one of the body’s natural ways to relieve pain and stress. Float therapy is a simple, effective way to invest in your own health and happiness.

Paul Martin
HarbourCityFloat.com

Clean Eating: Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

1 large red onion
1 large bell pepper
3 carrots
1 small head cauliflower
1 lg. stalk broccoli
1 C almonds, soaked 12-24 hours
1 C sunflower seeds, soaked 5-6 hours
1/4 C sesame seeds, soaked 5-6 hours
5 cloves garlic
2 T Braggs or to taste
1 t cumin
2 T dried Cilantro or 1-2 C fresh

Instructions:

Blend all of the above ingredients and seasonings in a champion juicer with solid plate, or a food processor. This blended food is your patty mixture. Form and put 1/2″ thick patties on a teflex sheet and place trays in dehydrator. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8-12 hours or until desired texture is obtained. Flip your burgers after 4 hours and remove teflex sheets, continue to dehydrate for 4-5 hours or until desired moisture is obtained.

VeganRawFoodRestaurant.com

Natural Nutrition

One of the most crucial problems of modern civilization is malnutrition. Whether we consider malnutrition due to poverty and shortage of food as encountered in third world countries, or witness dietary abuse problems common to the rest of the world, we find enormous suffering caused by the way we feed ourselves. We are dying of malnutrition. It takes courage to face the fact that through ignorance and lack of interest in the needs of our own bodies, we are slowly bringing ourselves to the point of extinction. Fortunately, there is hope. Our modern society is awakening to a new and vital interest in nutrition. This curiosity is not aimed at the traditional dietetic and scientific field. Rather, it involves an emerging sphere of nutrition that encompasses not only the characteristics of food, but also explores the quality of the food source and holism of the consumer. This new area is called “natural nutrition.”

Danielle Perrault, R.H.N., Founding Director, Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, see full article at csnn.ca