Water - it affects every funtion of your body.....

Did you know you can live 5 to 7 weeks without food but the average adult cannot last more than 5 days without water? It is one of the Building Blocks to a healthy life. Water plays a vital role in regulating our body temperature, transporting nutrients and oxygen to our cells, removing waste, cushioning joints, and protecting our organs and tissues to name just a few. For the most part, your body is about 70% water!!!

So why don't we realize it's importance? Why do many of us just drink coffee, sodas, juice, tea, etc? Why do we say, "Well I don't really like the way water tastes?" It seems that many times we are more interested in feeding our taste buds than we are feeding our cells. God designed our bodies in amazing ways to thrive, grow, and resist illness and disease. But guess what? It cannot do it if we are not willing to give it what it needs to function properly!

Do you want to be healthy? You must have enough water on a consistent basis to maintain your health for a lifetime. Today, stop making excuses for why you don't drink water and just drink it! You should be consuming 1/2 your body weight on ounces per day (ie - 150 pound person should drink 75 ounces per day). Don't try to do it all at once though. Just take a gallon jug and fill it up with the ounces you should drink per day. Just drink a little more per day until you reach your goal.

Did You Know....

• Once you feel yourself getting thirsty you are already on your way to being dehydrated.


• When the body is mildly dehydrated, it may restrict blood flow to nonvital areas in order to concentrate it on the vital organs? When you drink enough water constricted blood vessels usually begin to open up, lowering blood pressure.


• Without adequate water, the whole digestive system goes into emergency mode that can result in heartburn, indigestion, constipation, hemorrhoids, etc. The mucous layer of your stomach that protects against stomach acid is 98% water. Without a thick layer of mucous, you may have chronic burning when you eat.
• Water is the main lubricant in the joint spaces and helps prevent arthritis and back pain.


• Water increases the capacity of the immune system.
  

Those are just a VERY few of the things that water does......... So what do you need to do? Get to drinking!!!

February - The Month to Think About Your Heart.....

Your heart is considered the Wellspring of Life for many reasons. Physically it is the “main engine”. It nourishes our tissues with blood and sets our rhythm with a pulse. Spiritually it is to be guarded because of the life giving nature of it (Prov. 4:23).
On the American Heart Association website there is a section entitled “Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning Signs.” Yes, it might be helpful for us to be aware of these things but wouldn’t you rather do what you can today to DETER this from happening? YOU CAN! The question is will you make the changes necessary for this to occur?
A few simple things can help you get started:

1) Start eating more raw vegetables each day. An easy way is to eat a salad full of raw vegetables each day. Add nuts or seeds. Sprinkle your favorite seasoning instead of adding lots of dressing. Why raw? Anytime you cook, can, process, or freeze vegetables, they lose much of their nutritional value. The enzymes that are needed for digestion are killed! Your body is begging for these nutrients in order to function properly.
2) Don’t think about a no fat or low fat diet…Think about a right fat lifestyle! Your body needs fat to absorb vitamins such as A, D, E, and K. But all fats are not created equal. Some are much better for you than others. What are the right kinds of fats? It is best to reduce saturated fats (primarily from animal foods) and increase monounsaturated fats (olives, avocadoes, almonds, peanuts) and polyunsaturated fats (soybean, safflower, sunflower, corn, and cottonseed). It is also important to increase Omega-3 fatty acids (fish such as tuna & salmon, flax, soybeans) and decrease the consumption of Omega-6 fatty acids (land animals and polyunsaturated oils in processed foods.) It is best to eliminate all hydrogenated oils knows as transfats from your daily routine!
3) Drink more water. All body functions depend on water and the lack if it plays a major role in premature disease and aging. The heart is a muscle. Muscles consist mostly of water! Water is essential for our hearts if they are to function long-term to the fullest capacity. How many glasses of water do you drink a day? (coffee, tea, soda, and juice don’t count J!) Begin today adding an additional glass of water until you are drinking half of your body weight in water each day.
4) Exercise. Exercise is a key to proper metabolism. We are able to burn fat and calories, increase our circulation, and it helps us have more energy, stamina and mental clarity! Exercise boosts the supply of oxygen to the heart muscle by expanding the existing arteries and creating tiny new blood vessels. It may also prevent blood clots or promote their breakdown. Exercise helps to regulate blood pressure. What kind of exercise is best?……….Whatever you will commit to do. The best thing is to just get moving…………

Don’t forget: You may think that you are far from the onset of

heart disease but remember:
Diseases usually start to develop in your body MANY years before the onset!
That is why it is vitally important to change your habits today.
They will determine your future…………

What are Phytonutrients?

We now hear the word "phytonutrient" used frequently. What is a phytonutrient, and is it helpful to you? The term "phyto" originated from a Greek word meaning plant. Phytonutrients are certain organic components of plants. Fruits, vegetables, berries, grains, legumes, nuts, and teas are rich sources of phytonutrients.
What do phytonutrients do in the body? The following are commonly proposed ways by which phytonutrients may protect our health.

• Serve as antioxidants


• Enhance immune response


• Enhance cell-to-cell communication


• Convert to vitamin A (beta-carotene is metabolized to vitamin A)
• Cause cancer cells to die (apoptosis)


• Repair DNA damage caused by toxic exposures
• Detoxify carcinogens

So, yes they are VERY helpful to you! They are a must if we would like to reduce the cell damage that goes on in our bodies each day and reduce our. Start today adding more phyto's to your daily routine through eating fruits, veggies, nuts, whole grains, beans, and berries!

Cancer Prevention

The American Cancer Society website states that “today the evidence is even stronger that a diet high in fruits and vegetables can help prevent cancer over a lifetime”. www.cancer.org

Allyson's interesting health facts....

Did you know:
1500 people die from cancer every day
1 in 3 and 1 in 2 men will have cancer in his or her lifetime
1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer
1.1 million Americans have a heart attack every year
500,000 heart attack victims in America die each year
Americans spend $330 billion per year on heart disease
64% of U.S. adults are obese
Diabetes will increase 165% over the next 50 years
33% of Americans suffer from Arthritis

Why settle for being part of these statistics? Start today taking control of your health by eating more raw fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water! What you do determines what will happen with your health.....

Save my Life?

"The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you,
it's that they are so good for you they could save your life."

TIME Magazine, Oct 20th, 2003 p.20

Joys of a Home-based Business

I love being able to get up, fix breakfast, and step into my office that is 3 feet from my kitchen! Since working with NSA, I have been able to spend time in the environment I love best - my home and family.
My husband, Eddie, and I decided that I should dive in and pursue what I love the most - helping others find their health potential. After much research and study, the home based company, NSA, made the most sense! Now, I feel great about my personal business and my family and our health!

Take Charge of Your Child's Health!

• Congratulations for Taking Charge of Your Children’s Health……
  Did you know:
  *Cancer kills more children than any other disease
  *By age 3 children have fatty deposits in their arteries
  *By age 12, 70% have developed beginning stages of hardening of the arteries
  *1 in 4 children is obese
  *Obesity has doubled in the last 20 years
  *Nearly 50% of obese adolescents remain obese as adults
  *In the last 20 years, Type 2 diabetes has increased 10-fold
  *Over 8 million children have asthma, up 232% in the last 40 years
  *7% of school aged children are diagnosed with ADHD
  *Less than 7% of children and adolescents consume the recommended 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables per day.DO NOT underestimate the need for changes to be made in your children's diets in order to prevent short and longterm illness!! What you do for them today, will affect them for the rest of their lives!!